Chapter 188

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"Besides, I wonder if Doctor Strange has considered the possibility of persuading Thanos?"

"At first glance, this method might seem far-fetched, but it's actually not impossible."

"In one parallel universe, Star-Lord T'Challa managed to persuade Thanos to abandon his evil ways."

"Not only did Thanos turn over a new leaf, but he also became friends with everyone!"

"Later, when everyone was in a tough fight trying to steal the Genesis Ashes from the Collector, Thanos even risked his life to cover their escape, nearly dying."

"The reformed Thanos is actually quite reliable."

What?

Persuasion?

Zhou Cheng, are you serious?

Tony, who was reading the diary, was thoroughly shocked by this spoiler, almost biting his tongue.

Who is Thanos again?

He's the super lunatic who wiped out half the life in the universe and half the population of Earth!

No matter what his reasons are, doing something like that shows he's a complete madman.

Would such a madman actually listen to reason?

Would such a madman humbly accept others' opinions and abandon his obsession and madness?

Would such a madman give up his plan to erase half the life in the universe just because of a compelling argument?

This sounds so absurd and ridiculous!

It's like a joke!

But Tony never imagined that someone actually managed to do such a thing.

And the one who did it was the unreliable Star-Lord?

The same Star-Lord who danced during the battle with the dread warlord Ronan?

Alright, that also sounds like a joke.

But thinking about how persuading Thanos seems unreliable, Tony felt a bit relieved.

Using an unreliable method to achieve an unexpected result—that's so Star-Lord's style.

However, who the heck is Star-Lord T'Challa?

Star-Lord is just Star-Lord, why the prefix?

A name prefix, no less?

Why didn't the diary include this prefix when previously mentioning Star-Lord?

The logic isn't very complicated. Iron Man made a reasonable guess after a brief thought.

The Star-Lord from this parallel universe mentioned in the diary is likely not the same as the one from his own universe.

That's why the name T'Challa was prefixed for differentiation.

It's highly probable that this Star-Lord T'Challa is named T'Challa.

Wait a minute, T'Challa?

Tony's mind stirred; he remembered.

Isn't T'Challa the royal prince of that mysterious country Wakanda?

And in another universe, a superhero from Guardians of the Galaxy is also named T'Challa?

This doesn't seem like a coincidence at all!

Moreover, the diary had previously spoiled that Star-Lord himself is of Earth origin, or at least has Earth bloodline.

It's because the Celestial Ego visited Earth, met Star-Lord's mother, and they had a child—resulting in Star-Lord.

From this perspective, it's indeed possible that Star-Lord is hidden on Earth!

So, is there some unknown close connection between Star-Lord and T'Challa?

Or, could it be that T'Challa is Star-Lord?

And Zhou Cheng prefixed the name of the Star-Lord from another parallel universe for this reason?

Nonetheless, Tony couldn't come to a definite conclusion right away.

He decided not to dwell on this too much and resumed focusing on the diary.

His expression became quite intriguing.

Befriending Thanos?

Are you kidding me?

That's Thanos!

And risking his life during the Genesis Ashes heist to cover for everyone?

Tony was even more dumbfounded.

Is this really Thanos?

Could it be another person with the same name?

The transformation revealed about Thanos in this spoiler was so significant that it was hard for Iron Man to take in right away.

Besides that.

Tony listed down the Collector as someone to watch out for.

Without a doubt, "Collector" must be an alias.

Having such an alias means this is someone who enjoys collecting things.

The diary didn't detail their true strength.

But owning something like the Genesis Ashes, an item that sounds incredibly powerful and formidable, which even Thanos and his group struggled to fight over, risking Thanos's life...

No matter how you look at it, this Collector is a top-notch cosmic powerhouse.

"To borrow a phrase from Star-Lord T'Challa, sometimes your most powerful weapon might just be a strong argument!"

"All it takes is to make Thanos understand that there's more than one way to redistribute the universe's resources!"

"This is how Thanos was persuaded by Star-Lord T'Challa."

"After all, while what Thanos did was indeed quite cruel, making him seem like a heinous villain..."

"His intentions were actually good, without any selfish motives."

"On the contrary, everything he did was for the sake of the universe's propagation and development; his methods were just too extreme."

What?

Thanos had no selfish motives?

Everything he did was for the universe's development and propagation?

Tony was once again heavily shocked.

What kind of international joke is this!

Thanos is the lunatic collecting the Infinity Stones to wipe out half the life in the universe!

So the diary is saying Thanos is actually a good guy?

That erasing half the universe's life was also for the universe's good?

This is absurd to the core.

Tony has never heard such a ridiculous joke in his life.

But judging by the diary's tone, Zhou Cheng was clearly not joking or being sarcastic.

He was simply stating facts from a third-party perspective.

So after the initial shock, Tony seriously considered this astonishing spoiler.

Star-Lord T'Challa made Thanos understand that there's more than one way to redistribute the universe's resources, leading Thanos to reform.

So, Thanos's plan to wipe out half the universe was to redistribute resources?

And his goal of redistributing those resources was for the universe's propagation and development?

Thinking of this, Tony's brow furrowed slightly.

Has the universe encountered some problem?

Requiring resource redistribution?

If these words from the diary are accurate, lack of redistribution appears to imply severe troubles in development and propagation!

The solution to this problem is to wipe out half the life in the universe!

It is evident that the currently unknown yet potentially immense problem within the universe must be significantly related to the population of living beings.

So, what exactly is this problem?

Iron Man delved deep into thought until a sudden flash of insight struck him, making him realize the answer all at once.

"The Universe Birth Control Commission!"

"So that's what the Universe Birth Control Commission means?" murmured Tony, his eyes sparkling.

The diary had long ago referred to Thanos as the Universe Birth Control Commission.

Such a concept doesn't exist in America, but Tony had done his research and found out it is a unique governmental department in China. Its purpose is simple: to control population and prevent overpopulation. Tony had previously taken it for granted that the Universe Birth Control Commission was Zhou Cheng's way of mocking Thanos for his massive slaughter of life. But now, Tony understood that it wasn't just a mockery. 

Thanos wasn't labeled as the Birth Control Commission by Zhou Cheng merely because he had killed a large number of living beings; it was because Thanos fundamentally acted like the Birth Control Commission, which led him to kill so many!

So, is this the true reason behind Thanos' massacre of half the life in the universe? Because he feared overpopulation would lead to resource allocation problems?

Thanos intervened to redistribute resources, ensuring the development and propagation of the universe?

Tony could never understand why Thanos would resort to such extreme measures, but now the diary had provided a clear answer, one that was entirely unexpected.

Thanos' true nature was different from the stereotypical image of a crazed, psychopathic villain held by Tony and many others.

[So, looking at all of Thanos' actions, despite his abundant slaughter of planets and the countless lives stained on his hands, he always followed the principle of killing half and sparing half, never going to the extent of extermination.]

[Furthermore, all his killings were completely random, not influenced by any other factors.]

[Even when he used the Infinity Stones to eradicate half the life in the universe, it was all random.]

[After achieving victory in the Infinity War and successfully erasing half the life in the universe, what did Thanos do?]

[Despite having the universe's most powerful force at his command, he chose seclusion instead of dominion, becoming a simple farmer and enjoying a peaceful retirement.]

[I fully believe that Thanos had no personal gain in mind.]

"Kill half, leave half" — so that's Thanos' modus operandi?

Having gained some understanding of Thanos' ideology from the earlier glimpses, Tony now began to understand Thanos' seemingly obsessive actions.

However, even if "killing half" was random, it didn't change one fact: Thanos was a maniac! A fanatic.

Regardless of whether his motives were for personal gain or for the entire universe, this undeniable fact remained.

There are many ways to solve a problem; did it really need to resort to slaughter?

And as for Thanos finally living a leisurely pastoral life, Tony found that incredibly frustrating. Such a blood-stained executioner getting peace and retirement? Having a perfect ending?

How ironic!

But according to the diary, Thanos' pastoral life didn't last long — only five years, to be exact. After five years, the Avengers successfully gathered the Infinity Stones from the past, snapping their fingers to save the half of the universe's life Thanos had erased, leading to the final showdown with Thanos. Ultimately, they eliminated Thanos in one decisive stroke.

By this point, Tony had a decent grasp of the overall plot of the Avengers' battle with Thanos, a piece of information of unparalleled importance.

[I just wonder if Thanos knew the High Evolutionary. It seems like the High Evolutionary is a perfect complement to Thanos.]

[While Thanos worried about the overpopulation of various planets consuming too many resources, the High Evolutionary?]

[This individual, dedicated to creating perfect species and top-tier space geneticists, is not limited to biology.]

[This individual can create planets! The "High Evolutionary" refers to not just biological evolution but planetary evolution as well.]

[The renowned "Counter-Earth" is the High Evolutionary's masterpiece!]

[Not sure how they did it in Universe 199999, but in the main universe, the High Evolutionary only needs to use the Evolution Ray. In a matter of hours, it can evolve a palm-sized core over billions of years into a specific life-supporting planet.]

[In the main universe, the planets created by the High Evolutionary even attracted Galactus.]

[To protect his creation from being devoured, the High Evolutionary fought Galactus.]

The High Evolutionary — Tony's attention was immediately captured by the name. The diary had mentioned this guy before, describing how he struggled with a problem that Rocket Raccoon solved, shocking the High Evolutionary.

Apart from making Rocket look smart, there wasn't much elaboration, but Tony deduced that this must be an extraordinary individual. 

Why else would someone dare to call themselves "High Evolutionary"?

Of course, it's also possible "High Evolutionary" wasn't self-styled but a name given by others, which would further imply how remarkable this individual is. And now, looking at it again, it's evident.

No, it's more than evident; it's beyond Tony's wildest imaginations.

Creating planets? 

What a concept! And not just any planets, but life-supporting ones!

The kind that could foster civilizations directly!

This is astoundingly impressive.

If someone can achieve this, it's no exaggeration to call them a god or a creator.

The High Evolutionary, terrifyingly powerful!