Discovery of the Red Skull, Eager to Sacrifice

Steve Rogers felt it was quite normal

"Although we have six players this time, it can be considered as two teams in the team competition, so we can accumulate points quickly."

Natasha Romanoff reminded, "Don't forget, if we lose the game, not only will we lose the points we've earned now, but also the points we've accumulated before."

This was mainly a reminder to Steve Rogers. Although she had also participated in quiz games, her earned points were spent on blind boxes, so losing the game wouldn't be a significant loss for her.

Scott Lang had zero points from the previous round, and Steve Rogers had accumulated quite a few points. If they lost this game, it would be a big setback.

Scott Lang looked at Natasha Romanoff, "Aren't you nervous?"

Natasha shrugged, "I've said it before; everyone is waiting for death. Tony saw his future death the first time he played this game, but he's still lively, isn't he?"

Steve Rogers reassured, "If we can foresee the future in advance, we can prevent tragedies. It's a good thing."

At this moment, a video began playing on the screen.

In the footage, a spaceship entered a mysterious region, and ahead was the location of the Soul Stone—the planet Vormir.

The ones tasked with searching for this stone were Clint Barton, also known as Hawkeye, and Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow. After arriving on this planet, they began climbing a high mountain according to their navigation.

They had to exert a lot of effort to reach the snow-covered mountaintop. Natasha couldn't help but complain, "I bet Rocket and the others don't need to climb mountains."

Clint corrected her, "Strictly speaking, it's not a raccoon."

Natasha teased, "Oh, never mind, it eats garbage anyway."

At that moment, they heard an eerie voice behind them saying, "Welcome."

Both Natasha and Clint were seasoned agents, so they immediately drew their weapons, turned around, and remained vigilant. They saw a cloaked figure emerging from the darkness, who seemed to know their identities, "Welcome, Natasha, daughter of Ivan, Clint, son of Edith..."

Natasha watched the mysterious figure cautiously, "Who are you?"

The cloaked figure spoke gravely, "I am the guide leading everyone to the Soul Stone."

Both Clint and Natasha stayed on guard. "Well, that's convenient. Just tell us the location, and we'll find our way there."

"Darlings, if only it were that simple."

The cloaked figure finally revealed his face, which resembled a sinister red skull, almost inhuman.

"It's him!" Steve Rogers exclaimed when he saw the red skull.

Natasha asked, "Captain, do you know this guy?"

"John Schmidt, he's the leader of HYDRA—the one from before I got frozen. I fought with him, and it seemed like he was sent away by the Tesseract in the end. To be honest, I thought he died in some corner, but he's alive and has become the guide to the Soul Stone!" Steve Rogers explained.

Scott Lang marvelled, "This guy doesn't look like a living person at all. Look, his cloak is emitting smoke... It seems like he's the servant of the Grim Reaper, collecting souls."

In the video, the Red Skull led Natasha and Clint to a cliff's edge, looking down into the abyss below. He said, "What you seek is right before you, accompanied by your fears!"

The Soul Stone was right beneath the cliff, but to obtain this soul stone, both Clint and Natasha had to sacrifice their most beloved person.

Schmidt called it the 'Eternal Transaction,' exchanging one soul for another.

In the video, Natasha and Clint hesitated. They didn't know much about the Red Skull's background and couldn't be sure if what he said was true. But the other players watching knew that what the Red Skull said was likely the truth.

"So, that's why Thanos took his adopted daughter to find the Soul Stone. In the end, he came back alone—he traded his adopted daughter's soul for the Soul Stone!" Tony Stark commented, glancing at Nebula.

Thor raised an eyebrow mockingly, "I can't believe a madman like Thanos had someone he loved."

Nebula added, "He did... favour Gamora. Even from this strange game, I saw that Gamora would eventually betray him. He ordered us to capture Gamora rather than kill her outright."

Thor sneered, "That's because Gamora wasn't a threat to him, and she was crucial to obtaining the Soul Stone. Of course, he wanted to spare her life."

Tony Stark sighed, "Natasha and Clint... they're both willing to sacrifice themselves."

In the video, Natasha was sceptical of the Red Skull's words, but Clint Barton believed it, and the only question left was, who would be the sacrifice for the Soul Stone?

"To get this stone, we must be willing to pay any price!" Natasha Romanoff stated firmly. "If we don't obtain the soul stone, billions won't survive."

"I know," Clint Barton said, with a serious expression. "I think we both know who should do it."

"We do."

They both held hands, both determined to sacrifice themselves.

Natasha made her stance clear, "For the past five years, my only goal has been to get here, and all of this is to bring everyone back!"

She wanted to sacrifice herself to save Hawkeye. But it seemed Hawkeye had the same idea. Over these five years, he seemed to have done some wrongs and wanted to use this sacrifice to redeem himself.

However, Natasha said, "I've never judged a person by right or wrong."

In the end, Clint seemed to give in, "I can't argue with you. Okay, you win."

But at that moment, he took advantage of Natasha's lowered guard and knocked her down, saying, "Tell my family I love them."

However, Natasha quickly got up and knocked him down in return, saying, "No, you should tell them yourself."

Both of them were vying to sacrifice themselves. After Clint Barton got up, he shot an arrow that knocked Natasha Romanoff off the cliff first. But she swiftly followed suit, using a grappling hook to hang in mid-air, one end tied to Clint's hand.