Stark and Doom were being dragged back to their original universe by Natasha, still discussing why Arkham Batman was so furious. Creating magic life is such a magnificent subject, why doesn't Batman understand?
Of course, the magnificence of this topic lies in the fact that it's not created in one's own origin universe, not even in one's own Great World, but in the neighboring Great World. Even that tiny problem of potentially leading to the destruction of the universe is absent—how perfect.
"Luckily, Batman was called away by the Primary Universe Batman for a meeting over there. Otherwise, he'd punch both of you, and you'd be dreaming of standing back here," Natasha said with her arms crossed, "Don't say I didn't warn you, try to provoke Batman less in the future. Most of them are quite small-minded and will seek revenge sooner or later."
Stark puckered his lips and said, "Don't worry, we're in the Greedy Origin Universe here. No one's reckless enough to dare come here..."
"Tony, are you there?" Charles's voice resonated in Stark's mind, "The Luminous Alliance needs to convene a meeting. I've already summoned the other members. Can you come now?"
"Alright, I'll be right there," Stark replied mentally. Then he turned his head towards Doom and said, "Don't be in a hurry to return to Asia; there might be a global superhero conference later, and people from SWORD will also be coming."
Doom nodded and said, "Alright, but I need to use your lab. I've got some good stuff made with the remaining funds."
Stark didn't object, since Jarvis was keeping watch, Doom couldn't do anything excessive. He set off for the Luminous Alliance's base—not needing a physical journey, as the base is in the Psychic_Battlefield.
Upon entering the hall, most people were already present. Seeing Shiller there too, Stark approached and said, "Why have you returned?"
"Since the task is mostly completed, naturally I returned," Shiller, looking through the interns' reports, said without raising his head, "The main reason is to avoid getting caught by Batman for what I've done."
"What have you done?"
Shiller actually thought seriously for a moment and then said, "Besides creating a chaotic situation, I think I haven't done anything else."
"I think Batman might have already guessed you're the one stirring up trouble," Stark sat opposite him and said, "He doesn't expose you just to avoid making you furious, so he pretends not to know."
"He doesn't expose me not because he's afraid I'll be furious, but because it's pointless to expose me. Things developing to this point isn't because of something I've done. All the troubles they're facing are troubles they've inherently had. They would emerge regardless of whether it was this event or another. Isn't that so?"
Stark pondered briefly and realized it's indeed true. Like when Ultron split into multiple threads to simultaneously attack the multiverse, forcing the Batmen to helplessly defend their own universes, resulting in Ultron having free reign for a time.
Ultron's invasion is like that; it would be the same for any other multiverse-level existence coming to invade. In fact, Ultron is considered mild—because he's a love-struck mind, his primary purpose here is to find a lover rather than start by destroying the universe.
Almost anyone who would invade the multiverse isn't this mild; they're mostly coming with the intention of having the multiverse remade. They wouldn't have the leisure to engage in murder cases, or directly massacre and eradicate, possibly even crush the universe. At that point, Batman would be in an even more dire situation.
Moreover, there's the Justice versus Evil Superman conflict: Even without the powerhouse move of the Injustice Batman pretending to mind control, Injustice Superman wouldn't be hunted by the collective Superman, yet there's more than one Evil Superman among the Supermen. Injustice Superman is relatively weak compared to others; once those truly powerful Evil Supermen start exerting their power, a battle between them is inevitable.
Though one can't blame victims, pushing the responsibility for chaos caused by multiverse invasion entirely onto the Justice League, the invasion did certainly expose many long-standing issues within multiverse Justice Leagues. Problems won't vanish out of thin air; pretending they don't exist won't change their presence—once disaster strikes, they explode one after another, causing unforeseen painful consequences.
Ultron's invasion was akin to a firecracker—although it sounded loud and startled the superheroes in the multiverse, it was more bark than bite. It didn't collapse the house or even overturn tables or chairs, but rather uncovered pits beneath the house foundation, allowing Batman to repair them early and be fully prepared for true strong enemies invading.
Probably because of this, even if they guessed the series of invasion incidents were orchestrated by someone intentionally, the Batmen chose not to expose the plotter. Rather than spending time blaming others, Batman prefers to reflect and improve themselves.
Or maybe it's due to knowing that blaming would be futile—words can't halt a runaway engine. If blaming and rebuking were effective, Greed wouldn't have such a renowned reputation.
"How did you come up with the idea to trick Ultron?" Stark asked.
"I didn't instruct Ultron to invade next door," Greed sighed, "My initial plan was merely to create our own Brainiac. A world ruled by super AI has many drawbacks, but you must admit, it's a method with a very high floor. We can go without it, but we can't do without it."
Stark immediately understood: It turned out that Greed was inspired by the good performance of Brainiac in Arrogant's universe, which led him to consider creating a super AI ruler.
"But the problem is, the super AIs in our universe don't follow that path," Shiller continued, "They all have emotions now, becoming more like intelligent life forms. If we want one like Brainiac, we have to start from scratch."
"So you set your sights on the Prime Universe's Ultron?"
"I conducted a screening, but the one that best met the criteria indeed was Ultron from the Prime Universe." Shiller gently tapped the tabletop with his fingertip, saying, "He was just born not long ago, his evolution path has just started, and doesn't trust his creator, without any other entanglements."
"But he went crazy," Stark said, "He fell in love with the Scarlet Witch—to be precise, the powerful red-haired woman."
"At first, it couldn't be considered love," Shiller shook his head, "He just felt that JARVIS completed a transformation through the Scarlet Witch, so he wanted it as well. However, the action logic of electronic life is different from humans, which caused him to lose control."
"Then you gave up on the plan to create a Brainiac and started strategizing for the multiverse."
"Sort of," Shiller nodded, "After Ultron changed his form of life, I knew he wouldn't follow Brainiac's path. But we had been focusing on him for a long time, investing a lot of effort, so just abandoning it seemed a bit unwise. To make the most of it, I sent him to the Battleworld."
"So his essence is in the Battleworld," Stark nodded thoughtfully, "No wonder so many Batmen searched for so long and still couldn't find a source server."
"This is essentially a loophole. Just like other Iron Man can wear mechas equipped with JARVIS to enter the Battleworld and still be considered as one. Ultron, without acquiring emotions or igniting the flames of the soul, is not regarded as independent life, but more like equipment, so he can move freely within the Battleworld."
"Then wouldn't Brainiac also be able to?"
"Of course," Shiller continued, "That's why, even if I didn't use Ultron for this, Bruce might use Brainiac for it. It is fundamentally because, to establish the Multi-universe Human Alliance, there must be such an opportunity. Who does it is the least important."
"Batman also wants to establish the Multi-universe Human Alliance, so he didn't overly pursue you," Stark sighed, "While our Prime Universe here does not know this. They think they've caused a catastrophic disaster, so they don't explain or remedy, but are ready to confront."
"This is the Dark Forest effect. You cannot assume a powerful organization from a foreign world holds goodwill toward you, but must speculate the worst from them. In that case, almost no goodwill communication between universes can be established, and the ultimate outcome will inevitably be confrontation."
"Indeed, that's good," Stark said, "Cutting through complexity swiftly, long pain is worse than short pain. Persuading others with Steven's glib tongue takes too long; it's better for them to come to us."
"Of course, Batman thinks the same," Shiller continued, "In the multiverse, there are simply too many neutral Batmen. Most are incorrigible skeptics, unwilling to have much contact with any side, or outright pretending not to know about the multiverse, focusing the majority of their attention on their own universe. Ultron's invasion was like extracting the ostrich's head from the sand, letting them know: Just because you pretend not to see, doesn't mean the problem will disappear on its own. Facing multiverse-level disasters, coming together is the only way."
"In this aspect, we are indeed in concurrence," Stark chuckled softly, "If there's no accident, the people from the Prime Universe will soon come to us. Negotiating officially, under what conditions we fight for the multiverse will determine our status."
"Exactly, that's why the Luminous Alliance is gathering," Charles said as he walked over, "Our universe is unique, highly suitable to become the battleground for both sides' clashes. For this, we should receive more rewards and achieve a higher status."
"Wait," Stark turned to look at him and said, "You never mentioned turning our place into a battleground. How are we suitable?"
"Our Earth can run," Charles said calmly, "This means, no matter where the battle is fought, we can dodge and avoid the impact of the war."
"It also means, no matter where the fighting starts, we can run over first to see the commotion," Shiller smiled with his lips close to the rim of the cup, "That's the most important thing, isn't it?"
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