When Pierce heard the former leader of HYDRA say this, he felt both regret and relief.
After all, having held power for so many years, if another person capable of threatening his position were to emerge, no one would feel comfortable.
"Leader Schmidt, what is the Soul Stone?"
As a native Earthling, it was normal for Pierce not to know these things, which were considered secrets even in the Universe.
"The Soul Stone, like the Tesseract, is a cosmic artifact possessing infinite energy; in fact, Tesseract is merely what we call it, its true name is the Space Stone."
"There are six such Stones in total, formed from the essence of six singularities with infinite energy at the dawn of the Universe."
"Each Stone possesses the mighty power to destroy the World, and I am the Guardian of the most unique among them, the Soul Stone."
Decades of solitude caused Red Skull to share more cosmic secrets with this junior who could communicate with him.
Hearing this, Pierce felt his heart pound even more intensely in his chest.
He had no idea that he had always held such a powerful weapon in his hands, and there was another weapon just as powerful here. Pierce admitted he was tempted!
"Leader Schmidt, such powerful strength is exactly what we HYDRA need. I believe that as long as we possess the power of the Stone, our HYDRA organization will truly control the World."
Pierce began to try and stir the dormant heart of his opponent with the grand blueprint Red Skull had once laid out.
"To obtain the Soul Stone, you must sacrifice the person you love most to the Stone!"
Red Skull did not hide anything, looking directly into Pierce's eyes as he stated the condition for acquiring the Soul Stone. This was his mission as a guide.
Upon hearing this, Pierce's brow furrowed involuntarily.
"Then, besides this, is there any other way to obtain the Stone?"
Pierce asked, somewhat unwilling to give up.
Red Skull slowly shook his head.
"Leader, do you know how to leave this place?"
"Because an unknown strong individual attacked our HYDRA Base's headquarters, the Tesseract's energy was activated, and I was teleported here by that power."
Pierce asked his old senior for a way to leave Vormir.
"Come with me!"
Although Red Skull had become the Guardian of the Soul Stone, his consciousness had not been lost.
For decades, day and night, he watched the Stone he coveted right before his eyes, yet could not possess it. This suffering deeply tormented Red Skull.
Now, the appearance of his successor gave him hope for liberation.
Rather than living in this state of neither life nor death, he preferred complete liberation, even if it meant truly dying.
Although Pierce did not fully believe Red Skull's words, seeing the dark and desolate landscape around him, he had no other choice, so he could only follow the old leader up the mountain peak.
And standing behind him, Pierce saw that Red Skull at this moment seemed no longer human!
His cloak was not a physical object; it was more like it was woven from souls, and with each sway, invisible black mist formed wailing soul bodies.
Forcing down the fear in his heart, Pierce could only hope that this old HYDRA leader would help him, his successor who had inherited the other's will, out of a sense of legacy.
After climbing to the top of the mountain, Pierce saw the mysterious wonder before him, like a sliver of sky, surrounded by broken runes he had never seen before.
"To leave here, you only need to pass through that Soul Gate, and you will return to where you came from."
"However, as a price, after you die, your Soul will return here and become a slave to the Stone."
Red Skull pointed to the door-like object in front of them and said.
When Pierce heard that the price of returning would be his Soul after death, he actually believed Red Skull's words a little more.
Because, in his view, there was no such thing as something for nothing in this World; this was the creed he believed in.
Compared to dying here, becoming a slave after death did not scare him. He had weighed the considerations of life and death very clearly.
"Leader Schmidt, please come back with me! HYDRA needs you."
However, for Pierce, such a statement could not be fully trusted, so he probed Red Skull.
"Pierce, HYDRA is a thing of the past for me. Cut off my head, and a new head like yours will still grow. Hail HYDRA."
"However, I am now the Guardian of the Soul Stone. As long as the Stone is immortal, I, too, will be Eternal. Do you understand?"
Red Skull was well aware of his junior's little schemes, feeling disdain but not showing it on his face.
So Red Skull made his situation sound very tempting, his goal being to make Pierce completely drop his guard against him.
Indeed, when Pierce heard Red Skull's words, there was a momentary change in the expression on his face.
"So that's it, the temptation of immortality?"
Pierce thought he knew what Red Skull was thinking.
After all, ever since HYDRA had repeatedly suffered setbacks due to someone injected with the Super Soldier Serum, they had also been researching their own gene agents.
Although the strategic goal was to create stronger warriors, the extension of lifespan was also a very important aspect.
After all, HYDRA's ambition was vast, so vast that it required more time to achieve in an increasingly fast-changing World.
They had already created an inferior imitation of the Super Soldier Serum, an 'Infinite Potion,' which could strengthen the human body to a certain extent, and more importantly, greatly extend the user's lifespan.
Now, hearing that his old senior had embarked on the path of immortality, Pierce naturally believed that the other party had willingly become what he was now.
"Leader Schmidt, thank you for your guidance. Hail HYDRA."
At this moment, Pierce gave Red Skull the highest salute, expressing his gratitude to him.
"Go!"
Red Skull urged Pierce to leave, because the sooner he stepped through there, the sooner he himself would be liberated.
At this moment, after saluting, Pierce walked straight towards the Soul Gate.
When his two feet finally stepped through that door, the imagined event did not happen; he still stood there, stunned.
However, before he could question Red Skull, the current Red Skull suddenly knelt to the ground, and the cloak on him transformed into countless flying Souls.
Soon, those Souls found a new target and rushed straight towards Pierce.
Before long, a new Stone Guardian appeared.
Red Skull felt the long-lost freedom return to him, no longer feeling that sense of restraint, and even, due to the Stone's influence, he now felt he possessed some strange abilities.
"My successor, I will find a way to return to Earth and continue HYDRA's unfinished great cause. You can stay here peacefully until the end of Time!"
Red Skull ignored the glaring Pierce and easily uttered these words, then transformed into a ghostly soul body and floated down the mountain peak.
This was the special ability he had acquired: to transform himself into a ghost, and even possess any living being, much like taking over a body.
"I curse you! May your Soul suffer the torment of hell Fire forever after death."
Watching the departing Red Skull, Pierce cursed him with grief and indignation.