Within the Speed Force.
Here, everything is colorful—without space, without matter, without any concept of time.
Everything twists like static snowflakes on a screen, yet light imbued with velocity continues to flash and shuttle through.
This place is far from peaceful.
Bardi's body floated and sank within this 'space,' drifting through its barrenness and void like a giant, constantly swelling, expanding, and growing in madness.
From seven meters, to seventy meters, to seven hundred meters, his form surged wildly.
And within the Speed Force, amidst the emptiness, within the colorful light, particles of light—like every universe in existence, like every Bardi in every parallel universe—seemed to pour into him. Every Bardi, every iteration across all realities, became invisible, transparent figures flooding into Bardi's body.
"Ah…"
Bardi groaned. The pain made his eyes burst open. Every cell in his body was tearing apart. Every transparent figure that appeared was a version of himself.
The Bardi from one second ago, from the previous second, and the second before that—all the re-engraved versions from infinite time were flooding into his body. Not even the Doomsday body could withstand such insanity, such overload of Bardi clones from across time integrating into his being.
If left unchecked, the sheer quantity of incoming selves, carrying differing information, would cause an overload and explosion. Even his unique soul couldn't keep up with the flood of this chaotic information.
This influx was targeting Bardi's soul, trying to burst it apart, trying to annihilate and erase this one-of-a-kind soul.
At this moment, Bardi was the only Bardi, the sole version with a unique soul.
In that instant of infinite agony, Bardi realized he couldn't withstand it.
With the overload of infinite versions and information pouring into his being, his soul was at its limit and on the verge of collapse.
The next moment, Bardi's limbs exploded, then began slowly reconstructing. Even the Doomsday cells couldn't sustain him much longer. In a short span of time, over one hundred million versions of himself had merged into his soul, and the explicit information they carried nearly shattered his body.
He was not ignorant of the soul. From Raven and the projections of Trigon, he had gained understanding and had long studied his own soul.
Now, within Bardi's massive form, the soul seemed almost visible, glowing with phosphorescent light and reflecting his essence.
"Shatter!!"
Bardi suddenly roared. His body restructured again. Bone pierced outward once more.
His soul, like water, split into countless droplets, fusing completely into the traits of each Doomsday cell and its evolutionary path.
This happened rapidly. In an instant, Bardi's soul fused entirely with his body.
Soul and flesh became one.
Every cell was his soul.
Every drop of blood was him.
Every strand of hair was him.
His singular soul was shattered, dissolved into the Doomsday cells, then evolved into a terrifying new form—his one and only body.
The genes within him instantly collapsed.
Doomsday genes.
Kryptonian genes.
Genes from his magical true form.
The collapse twisted Bardi into a grotesque, fleshy mass.
But in the next moment, this mass reshaped into a five-meter-tall humanoid. Based on the magical true form, Bardi reconstructed his newest and only body.
His upper-body muscles knotted like ancient tree roots. His face was hard as marble. Thick white bones pierced through his body, forming skeletal armor across his chest and limbs. His sinewy muscles were veined with sharp white bone, enhancing the ferocity of his power. With overwhelming savagery, he stood—an embodiment of destruction.
This was the strongest physical form nature could produce. This was the flesh of a god.
The singular divine body, tyrannical and overwhelmingly powerful. White bone, bone armor, and spikes protruded from his joints, radiating dread and might.
Bardi's awe-inspiring face was massive, his mouth twisted in a crazed grin. Countless humanoid forms continued to merge into him, flooding him with excruciating pain—and a violent pleasure born of infinite evolution.
Haa…
Bardi grinned and suddenly made a wild movement. He inhaled sharply, and a hurricane formed. Countless versions of his past self were sucked into his mouth like a funnel. At that moment, he devoured them with abandon, smiling in his frenzy.
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha…!"
At this moment, Bardi laughed madly!
The Flash could not destroy him!
All his past selves had been absorbed and merged into one true being!
Heaven, Earth, the universe, past and future, infinite realities, internal and external multiverses!
A sense of enlightenment surged within Bardi's heart.
I am… the God of Evolution!
...
Fifth-Dimensional Space.
A golden Superman, his entire body glowing as if bathed in molten gold, with a golden S emblazoned on his chest, walked through the cosmos beside a silver-haired woman.
Suddenly, he looked up. The dark void of the fifth-dimensional universe was pierced by his omniscient gaze. Uncertainty flickered across his golden face.
"How can there be a unique existence in the multiverse?"
His golden brow furrowed in confusion.
"Clark, what's wrong?" asked the silver-haired Lois beside him, puzzled.
"It's nothing."
Clark shook his head slightly, his golden features darkened by a frown.
...
Hell.
In the domain ruled by the great lord of Trigon, a grotesque, terrifying, twisted demon sat in his throne. He leaned on one hand, indifferent and bored, as his subordinates reported on the creation of their strongest descendant—the heir project.
Suddenly.
He stood abruptly. His colossal demonic form rose like a mountain. His horns pierced the skies, threatening to tear the universe apart.
"Damn it! He became the only one so quickly!"
His expression turned grim. To be unable to intervene in that multidimensional timeline was his greatest loss.
...
New Genesis.
"A newly born god! What kind of god is this?"
"We must establish contact with him. In that multiverse, with my clone… he must join my pantheon."
...
Apokolips.
Lava erupted violently. The ruler of Apokolips, the universal tyrant Darkseid, stood with cracked stone-like skin radiating terrifying dominance, strong enough to split the universe.
"A new god!"
"He must fall under my command. Otherwise, I will not hesitate to break the One God's pact with the multiverse!"
...
In the Realm of the Gods.
Vast and boundless, populated by deities.
The birth of the God of Evolution shocked all singularities.
The Olympus pantheon, Asgard, Heaven…
"This is impossible. The multiverse does not contain enough resources to give birth to a singular god!"
"That source was already drained. It should be impossible to create a divine position!"
"He must join Olympus!"
"Alaska will offer him anything he desires!"
"Great Sage Equal to Heaven, go and recruit the new one."
...
Prime Universe.
DC Newsroom.
Boom!
Superboy-Prime burst through the wall, shattering concrete. Debris crashed into monitors and glass.
His face twisted in fury, his eyes red with rage, and he bellowed wildly.
"What did you do!!"
"What kind of character did you design!!"
"What are you doing to my peaceful life! A singular being just appeared!"
"You! What are you trying to do?!"
"Are you trying to erase me with a comic storyline?!"
The superhero's crazed face loomed as he grabbed the terrified middle-aged DC editor who had originally designed him.
"No! We're working on No More Justice after Dark Nights: Metal!"
"No one designed a singular being!!"
Siegel stammered in terror, held in the grip of the Superboy-Prime. The hero's bloodshot eyes signaled imminent death.
"You better not be lying to me!"
(To be continued.)