The universe is vast and boundless.
Planets are like grains of sand in the sea.
Innumerable places that life has never reached, waiting in solitude to be explored.
Perhaps, until the day the universe extinguishes, they will still remain undiscovered.
The Sanctuary II spacecraft floats silently above a planet.
Thanos, aboard a small aircraft, arrives at an unnamed planet.
It has its own coordinates, yet since its birth, no life has ever set foot on it.
This is simply because it is a planet shrouded in darkness.
And this planet has no native species.
All that exists is the boundless, eerie black mist that covers the entire planet.
Beneath the mist, ceaseless black storms rage across the land, whipping up sand and dust day and night.
Although the galaxy has yellow dwarf stars, similar to our sun,
the intense light still cannot entirely penetrate the black mist enveloping the planet.
Only a few sparse rays of light manage to filter through, just enough to vaguely make out what lies ahead.
Thanos walks across this desolate land.
Nebula and Ebony Maw follow behind him.
His vision extends less than a hundred meters; beyond that, only blurry outlines are visible.
Thanos's heavy body leaves footprints, which are quickly covered by the sand brought by the raging winds.
Facing the hurricane, Thanos's resilient skin shows no fear.
Nebula, battling the storm, approaches Thanos.
"Father!"
"Is the information possibly false?"
Nebula frowns, looking at the barren landscape before her.
This planet doesn't even have any valuable minerals.
She cannot comprehend why Thanos would believe such seemingly worthless information, the coordinates of which point to a desolate planet in the middle of nowhere with extremely low visibility, and why he would personally come here.
"How can life possibly exist on a planet like this!"
Thanos doesn't turn his head, merely shaking it and continuing to walk.
Nebula has always been less exceptional than Gamora.
Thanos understands that some things are beyond her comprehension.
Not long ago, on the day after his battle with Lin Feng,
Thanos received a message.
The message contained only a single line:
To save the universe, come to these coordinates…
The sender was unknown.
The coordinates were for a barren planet that no one had ever reached.
Devoid of any life.
After contemplation, Thanos decided to investigate.
"No one can deceive me, nor would anyone dare to try!"
A powerful being's intuition is often terrifyingly accurate.
Thanos sensed that he would find what he was looking for on this planet.
Thanos uttered this, and continued walking in the direction indicated by the coordinates.
Seeing this, Nebula dared not speak further and could only press on against the storm.
In truth, she still wanted to ask why they weren't traveling by aircraft.
But Thanos dislikes talkative people, and his father must have his reasons for doing this!
The trio, master and servants, had not advanced far when they spotted a massive dark silhouette in the distance.
Its outline was just barely discernible.
Upon seeing this, Thanos finally stopped. He raised his large hand, shielding himself from the storm, and observed.
"My lord! It appears to be an ancient structure!" Ebony Maw stepped forward two paces, practicing his art of stating the obvious.
Thanos glanced at Ebony Maw as if looking at an idiot.
His sycophantic advisor had now learned to speak platitudes.
Ebony Maw seemed to realize his foolishness and lowered his head in shame.
"My lord, I meant to say, it seems the message is correct…"
"Hmm… Let's continue."
With that, Thanos brushed some dust off his person and resumed his journey.
Not far ahead lay a colossal ancient edifice.
Soon, the three arrived before the structure.
It was a massive palace, entirely constructed from ancient stones.
In front of the palace stood two colossal stone doors,
covered in intricate symbols.
Thanos reached out to touch the stone door, about to push it open with force.
At that very moment.
The stone door began to creak, and to his surprise, it swung inward automatically.
"My lord has been waiting for a long time!"
"Please, follow me!"
As the door opened, a voice emanated from within.
Accompanying the voice, Thanos saw a raging inferno.
The appearance of the flames illuminated a small portion of the space.
Thanos focused his gaze and saw that the one opening the door was a skull clad in metallic armor.
Yellow and red flames burned upon the skull.
It was the very flame Thanos had first seen.
Thanos nodded and, without fear, stepped inside.
He had encountered many strange beings before, so a skull wreathed in flames was nothing extraordinary.
Ebony Maw and Nebula, however, proceeded with extreme caution, their eyes scanning the surroundings warily.
Passing through a wide corridor carved from massive stones, they arrived at the very center of the palace.
Apart from the circular pillars, there was nothing else.
Only a colossal throne sat in the center of the palace, strikingly prominent.
The throne was a ghastly greyish-white.
"..."
Thanos narrowed his eyes. The appearance of the throne was terrifying.
It was even more imposing than his own throne.
The palace throne was entirely pieced together from the skulls of various creatures!
It exuded an air of dominance and bloodshed!
Some of the skulls had already turned into stark white bones, while others still dripped with fresh blood.
It was filled with the aura of death and malevolence.
Upon the throne sat a colossal figure.
His face was shrouded in darkness, revealing only a giant clad in golden armor.
And beside the throne, a monstrous green creature was chained with heavy iron links.
The creature held a long bone in its hand, like a snack.
It noticed the newcomers and bared its teeth, roaring silently at them.
After leading Thanos closer, the flaming skull knelt respectfully on one knee, its empty eye sockets displaying a human-like expression of respect and fear.
"Master!"
"Hmm..."
The master of the throne waved his hand, signaling the skull to retreat.
His massive palm rested on the armrest of the throne, gently tapping a withered skull, producing a crisp cracking sound.
"Thanos. Thanos!"
The master of the throne uttered Thanos's name.
His voice was deep and somewhat aged, yet it evoked an inexplicable sense of familiarity in Thanos.
"You did not disappoint me; you have indeed come."
Seemingly pleased with Thanos's arrival, one could detect a tone of relief in the throne master's voice.
"Was it you who sent me the message?" Thanos confirmed.
"Correct!"
"It was I who sent you the message!"
"Here, you will fulfill your destiny!" the throne master declared with confidence and authority.
As if his very presence was enough to quell all opposition.
"...Who are you?" Thanos asked, his voice filled with confusion.
The more he listened, the more familiar the voice became.
Moreover, the throne master exuded a peculiar aura.
It made Thanos feel as if he were conversing with himself!
The colossal shadow stood up and moved into the light.
He reached out and removed the golden helmet he wore.
What followed next left Thanos utterly stunned.
Purple skin, a golden helmet, and a neatly trimmed white beard.
He was a spitting image of an elderly version of himself!