"Do you have any last words or a will?"
Seeing Hel holding the Soul Stone in one hand and the other hand already prepared to cast spells, Su Ming asked his little cousin, even stuffing him with one last cigarette.
In the past, when executing prisoners, they'd give them a cigarette — a farewell smoke for the road.
Because extracting the soul into the Soul Stone is an experiment after all, and now among the people Su Ming knows, it seems only The Ancient One knows how to put a soul back into a body. Wade might have to be a ball for quite a long time.
Deadpool thought about it. He didn't know why but he felt a bit anxious, yet he really wanted to see Death. Driven by his third leg, he still decided to participate in his cousin's experiment.
"Take care of my All Things House, and that Negative Sound Wave who's 'probably polishing the mirror' now, Bullet Head, you take care of as well. But don't you dare take care of my girlfriends for me; I'm coming back. If you sleep with them, I'll never forgive you for the rest of my life."
"You probably have about ten more seconds in this life. Now you just hope Little Saint won't exploit any loopholes in the contract." Su Ming lit his cigarette for him and also joined, lightly exhaling blue-green smoke.
"That's quite a question. Does having the soul out of the body count as death? How do you calculate the duration of this life? I need to think about it..." Deadpool looked at the dark ceiling, the oily green fire of the fireplace making him appear as pale as a dead man.
Su Ming turned his head and nodded to Hel. Hel immediately poked Deadpool on the forehead with her finger, and Deadpool, who was still contemplating the mint candy issue, silently slumped to the ground.
As Hel's finger left Deadpool's forehead, she seemed to draw out a semi-transparent maggot from that decaying fruit, and the maggot grew in the wind in midair, quickly turning into the ghostly form of Deadpool.
It's that classic ghost form, a floating and semi-transparent spiritual body, only the upper half with no legs, replaced by a cloud of Lantern God-style smoke.
"Hmm, it's the first time seeing my handsome sleeping face from this angle; it's almost killing me with my own charm. But does this count as being dead? I obviously still have my consciousness and thoughts. My mind is like a pot of Spanish stew, filled with all sorts of chaotic thoughts."
Deadpool's soul floated between Su Ming and Hel, while he commented on his body on the ground, he kept chattering about his feelings.
"I only care about sending you back to your 'Chika.' What state you're in doesn't concern me." Su Ming shrugged nonchalantly, signaling Hel to proceed to the next step.
Deadpool looked down at himself, only a cloud of smoke below his waist: "Wait, without my Little Wade, why would I go find her? I'm not going, I must make her feel the joy of being a woman to truly say thanks, I..."
Before he could finish, Hel had already cast the spell and dragged him into the Soul Stone, making the castle hall suddenly much quieter.
Hel tossed the Soul Stone to Su Ming, flicked her cape, and sat back on the throne to continue watching her TV show. She tentatively said: "This stone is interesting, as if it was born to imprison souls. I've never seen anything like this."
"There are many things that imprison souls: clay pots, straw dolls, stones; it's just a change to a purple crystal ball now." Su Ming put away the Soul Stone, stuffing it into his hip pouch: "Thanks, I've got to go for a walk."
"Take your trash away, Deadpool's body is polluting the air here." Hel pointed at the corpse on the floor; its body had already lost control of its bladder and bowels in death.
Such filthy things, he couldn't put in his pouch, Su Ming shook his head without even thinking: "Let your dog drag him to the hall entrance; I'm in a hurry."
With that, Strangulation pressed the teleporter on the arm bone inside his body, sending Su Ming to the vast star sea where many universes were arrayed like stars.
Hel's gaze moved from the TV to where Deathstroke had just stood, then to Fenrir's head.
The Winter Wolf looked at her with big, watery eyes and shook its head vigorously.
"Go, drag Deadpool out with your claws, no biting. Too dirty." Hel commanded the dog.
"Woo woo woo..." The big wolf still didn't want to go. Its sense of smell was sharper than anyone else's. To it, Deadpool smelled worse than a restroom that hadn't been cleaned in a century.
But as Hel glared at it seriously, it still went to drag the body reluctantly, leaving a yellow track in the palace.
Hel returned her gaze to the TV show but muttered softly: "Crystal ball? Who are you trying to fool..."
...............
The realm of Death.
To be precise, it seemed more like a garden floating on the unknown level of the cosmos, taking up a rather large space, but the only prominent building was a small pavilion in the center, with no other notable buildings around.
"A special upper-level plane projection in the Multiverse... So, Death in the Monistic Universe is just an avatar?" Su Ming pondered as he descended onto this thin plane.
If that's the case, she's somewhat like Merlin, isn't she? If every Monistic Universe has her existence, where is the higher-level true form of Death?
Or does she exist simultaneously in all Parallel Universes? Then isn't Deadpool in other worlds cuckolding himself?
Could it be the same as Death in DC, where she exists both within and outside of the Cosmos? Does their existence prove the indeterminate state of Quantum?
The myriad thoughts in his mind didn't affect Su Ming's actions. In this vast and endless garden, a long line stretched to the horizon, filled with dead Spiritual Bodies of all kinds of creatures.
They lined up, one after another, walking into the pavilion of Death, awaiting her judgment before her.
However, compared to the Gothic Girl next door, this Death appeared much colder. She was a Skeleton clad in a purple robe, seldom communicating with the dead, and never smiling.
Her method of dealing with souls was to gaze indifferently, and the souls would naturally know their Destiny—whether to dissipate in the Cosmos or head for another distant place.
Su Ming naturally wouldn't queue with the Undead; he descended directly before the pavilion, pushing aside the blocking souls, and faced the hollow Skeletal eye sockets of Death.
On the other side of the Throne of Death, Su Ming saw an acquaintance, none other than the Lord of Hell, Mephisto, who seemed to be here to settle accounts with Death today.
Old Mo politely smiled at Deathstroke, but Su Ming knew he was eager to watch the spectacle of what would happen when the Supreme Mage clashed with Death.
However, Su Ming wouldn't give him the chance to witness a spectacle. Before Death could speak, he took out Wade's Soul Stone and handed it to Death.
Originally intending to speak, Death instead took the Soul Stone with both hands, cradling it in her arms. Through its purple exterior, she seemed to see Wade inside, doing the breakdance.
A breakdance without legs.
She kissed the Soul Stone, but only the sound of teeth clashing against the stone was heard. Deadpool had bypassed Thanos's curse, arriving here in a half-dead state, and she was naturally delighted.
"Stop for now."
Abandoning her duties, Death walked deeper into the garden with the Soul Stone, nodded at Deathstroke, signaling him to follow.
Su Ming glanced at Mephisto, who still smiled silently. The veteran Lord of Hell wore a perpetual smile most of the time, essential for his business.
Death led Su Ming to another more secluded garden. Here, there were not only meticulously trimmed hedges but also expansive seas of roses, with a circular bath located at the center of the lawn, steaming with hot water.
"I've heard Wade talk about you, his brother from the Otherworld." Death sat down on a nearby bench, still holding the Soul Stone, and spoke in a most melodious voice.
If one didn't see the Skeletal face under her hood, one would surely think that the owner of this voice was an unbelievably beautiful Young Lady. The voice was filled with sweetness and happiness, and a happy woman is often beautiful.
"It seems this is our first meeting, and I'm happy to meet you too, Goddess of Death." Su Ming spoke politely, but he sat boldly on the bench with Death, both facing the steaming hot spring pool.
"I'm not a Goddess, just Death. Although I wish to be an Ordinary woman, due to my duties, I can only be one of the Universal Rules." Death lowered her head, looking at the Soul Crystal. Inside, Deadpool's soul was pressing against the transparent walls, puckering his lips as if to kiss her.
So Death approached him with her Skeletal face, brazenly sharing a moment of intimacy with Wade.
Su Ming sighed. He wasn't here to watch others showcase their affection; he had questions to ask and to compare with the answers from the Young Lady from DC to draw some conclusions: "Then you should have guessed why I came to personally deliver Wade, right?"
Inside the Soul Stone, Wade resided in a small purple world, retreating a few steps upon hearing this.
Wasn't it out of brotherhood, unsure of others delivering him? Did his cousin have some dark plan?
Death laughed like a silver bell, as clear as the chirping of a Lark: "At first, I didn't notice, but with your question, I realized you carry with you an unfamiliar yet familiar aura, the essence of Death, but not my essence."
"It's undeniable that outside our All-Powerful Universe, there are layers upon layers of higher Universes, like Matryoshka dolls. Another Death exists at your level, yet you two are vastly different."
Su Ming plucked a black leaf from the hedge, which instantly turned to black ash in his hands, dispersing away.
Death nodded and extended her Skeletal claw: "Give me your hand, not the Symbiote's hand."
Su Ming released the Arm Armor formed by Strangulation and handed his palm to Death, while Wade's soul fetched a handkerchief from somewhere, gripping and gnawing it nervously, as if very anxious.
But Death only held his hand briefly before letting go of Deathstroke's arm, contemplating silently.
After a long pause, she spoke again: "To put it simply, from a human perspective, she's stronger than me. Here, death is just death, but in her realm, death also signifies life. She's entrusted with the dual Concept of Death and Life. However, from a higher standpoint, I'm stronger than her, as I'm more human-like, capable of love, hate, and harboring a bit of freedom."
Su Ming took a bottle of wine from his belt, placing it on the bench as a Christmas gift for Wade: "More like a human...?"