Chapter 153 The Meeting of Two Stranges
What could possibly be more important than obtaining twelve Infinity Stones?
Black Strange was very interested in this, but right now, he was more eager to explore Du Wa's universe. He wanted to know what kind of universe could produce a guy like Du Wa, and what kind of natural environment could foster a terrifying species like the Xenomorphs, which combined potential, reproductive speed, and power.
"You're planning to leave?" Uatu saw through Black Strange's intentions at a glance.
"Aren't you?" Black Strange retorted.
"I want to, but I can't leave so easily. I have to determine who will take my place." Uatu wanted to go too; in any case, he was unwilling to stay in the MCU any longer.
The moment a new Watcher was in place, Uatu would leave here immediately.
This place was too awful. When trouble arose, not a single god stepped forward to solve the problem. In this cluster of universes, the gods were few, their strength was lacking, and they were impossible to find.
"Du Wa, I know you can hear me. I'm going to your universe. Just consider this my payment for helping you—I did give you my Time Stone, did I not?" Black Strange said to Thanos.
Thanos immediately pried the Time Stone from his gauntlet and tossed it back to him.
"He commanded me to do this. Take back your Time Stone."
"Hmph, what an arrogant person. To show no regard for a divine artifact like the Time Stone, just tossing it aside after use..." Black Strange muttered to himself.
Immediately after, Thanos clenched his fist. The Space Stone lit up, opening a channel to a parallel universe, connecting with the equally active Space Stone in the universe where Du Wa's main body was located.
Without any hesitation, Black Strange stepped right in, feeling no attachment to his old world.
He had nothing to be attached to anyway. His universe had already collapsed into a black hole.
"What enviable casualness... If I had their immense strength and had no attachments, I too would embark on a unique journey through a parallel universe, rather than rushing back to save my world."
The heroes from various parallel universes realized, with both relief and helplessness, that they had played little role in this great battle. At most, they had cleaned up a batch of Ultron robots on Earth, which was a far cry from their initial expectations.
With Ultron's defeat, all the Ultron robots were wiped out by Du Wa in a single move.
The results of their desperate, life-risking efforts were, to a being on Du Wa's level, something accomplished in passing. It wasn't that their efforts were meaningless, just that they held little value.
Black Strange carefully placed the Time Stone back into the Eye of Agamotto and arrived in an unfamiliar universe.
At first glance, it was an Earth with a normal level of technology, similar to the Earth of his native universe.
But with just a second look, seeing the frequent and numerous Xenomorphs, Black Strange understood the situation in this universe.
The scene on Earth in Universe 199999, with Xenomorphs everywhere, was child's play compared to this Earth. The Xenomorphs here were more powerful, more numerous, and of a higher quality.
There were also quite a few formidable characters.
"So this is the universe that nurtured Du Wa and the Xenomorphs. I'm not surprised at all to see these scenes."
Black Strange let out a low laugh. With heavy dark circles under his eyes, he walked along the bustling streets of New York.
This stirred a trace of nostalgia in him, because many years ago, he too had wandered through New York City in his own universe just like this.
"But there's one strange thing. The Time Stone is completely useless."
Black Strange looked down at the Eye of Agamotto on his chest.
The Time Stone within was completely devoid of supernatural power, as if it were nothing more than an ordinary green gem.
Besides being pretty, it was less useful than a random stone on the roadside.
This was very interesting. In his past understanding, the Time Stone could function in different universes, and the same was true for the other five Infinity Stones; they wouldn't be affected by different universes.
But here, it was different.
"It seems this is the truly vast multiverse that Du Wa mentioned. My previous understanding of the multiverse was a narrow one... Is it because my corner of reality was so insignificant that a rule allowing Infinity Stones to work across its universes was born? Even the Main Universe isn't a main universe in the true sense of the word."
Black Strange let out a series of strange laughs. A powerful, evil energy emanated from him, causing the surrounding pedestrians to frown and hastily move away, whispering to each other from a distance.
Some pedestrians even shouted out, not for the police, but to first find a Xenomorph and report Black Strange's odd behavior.
But evidently, a Xenomorph merely looked up, its eyeless head paused for a second in Black Strange's direction before it quickly moved on, acting as if it hadn't seen him.
This scene immediately calmed the surrounding pedestrians. The panic from a few seconds ago vanished completely.
On the Earth of this universe, the Xenomorphs had established their status through one war after another. Since the Xenomorphs made no move, it proved that this gaunt figure with dark circles under his eyes was not a dangerous individual.
Black Strange took all this in, his smile growing even more sinister.
Even without the Time Stone, he was still incredibly confident. He was certain that the various dangerous magic he had mastered and the power condensed from the countless cosmic monsters he had absorbed had not dissipated due to the different rules of this universe.
Especially magic, which was backed by a host of multiverse-level beings like the Vishanti. Unless he left the broader multiverse, the magic he wielded was unlikely to be rendered useless on the spot like the Time Stone.
Relying on magic and his powerful physical constitution alone, Black Strange could swagger around anywhere. Facing a single-universe-level being head-on wasn't an issue for him; winning, of course, was the real problem.
He was now very interested in his counterpart from this universe. After a moment of sensing, he immediately opened a portal and entered Kamar-Taj.
"Get out, outsider. You are not welcome here, even if you used some means to gain the approval of Du Wa and the Xenomorphs."
A low, hoarse voice entered Black Strange's ears.
Black Strange turned his head. Even someone as crazy as him couldn't help but feel his eyelid twitch subconsciously at the sight before him.
"I never thought that my counterpart in this universe would be so... wild."
Black Strange mulled over his words and let out a series of admiring exclamations, sizing up the tall, red-skinned demon before him.
Demon Strange had no desire for excessive contact with his parallel-universe counterpart. He glanced at the Eye of Agamotto on Black Strange's chest, his face full of irritation. "Get lost. I don't care where you're from. Stay away, and you might keep your life."
The moment Demon Strange saw this version of himself, who looked like he hadn't slept for days, he felt a wave of annoyance.
Right now, he had no interest in any parallel universe shenanigans. He was filled with even more disgust for another version of himself who had rashly intruded upon his territory.
"Just as Du Wa said, you made choices similar to mine, yet vastly different. I devoured countless monsters and converted them into my energy. You did the same, but you only chose one type, and you weren't picky. Did you devour countless demons, integrating their very bloodlines into your DNA? Truly insane."
Black Strange had always thought of himself as a madman, but now he had met an even bigger one.
Or is it that in this universe, only the insane can thrive? That the sane are either unremarkable or have already died in some muddle-headed fashion?
Is this universe that cutthroat? Who started this trend?
Black Strange really liked this version of himself before him.
"You've taken the Faltine's Maw to a whole new level. With this spell, you have far surpassed me. I think even this universe's Dormammu couldn't compare to you. This can almost be called a completely new spell," Black Strange said, completely ignoring the increasingly violent magic particles swirling around Demon Strange. "But that's right. Ordinary methods can't save Christine."
That single sentence made Demon Strange fall quiet.
"You?"
"That's right. Me too. As far as I know, in many universes, Christine's death is an absolute point in time, unchangeable. I imagine it's the same in this universe, which is part of a much vaster multiverse."
"It's not the same. In this universe, my car crash was the absolute point. Christine didn't have to die. It was a demon from Hell that killed her."
"So that's how it is. No wonder you went crazy and fused with a demon." Black Strange had a look of understanding, and even a bit of envy. "Then Christine should have been savable. Why didn't you save her? Even if she died, you could have resurrected her."
"She can't be. Christine was consumed by Mephisto as a sacrifice for Singhson's Banishment."
The two Doctor Stranges looked at each other, and both fell into silence.
"You plan to take revenge on the demons? Let me make a bold guess. You plan to devour more demons to increase your power, then enter Hell as a demon archmage, perhaps even becoming a half-blood demon, right? To wage a great war against Mephisto. But challenging an ancient great demon as an impure demon won't be easy."
Black Strange had also heard of Mephisto's infamy. After all, the guy was too famous throughout the multiverse. Stories of Mephisto's Hell appeared in the historical records of many universes.
Demon Strange scrutinized the man before him. To be honest, he knew nothing about Black Strange, but just by sensing the terrifying, abyss-like evil and chaotic magical energy on his body, he could form a rough assessment of Black Strange's strength.
Skyfather? No, he might even be stronger than a Skyfather-level being.
Probably only someone like Du Wa had enough confidence to so casually let such a ferocious visitor from a parallel universe in.
Demon Strange didn't care what had happened in the parallel universe.
"I will abide by the rules of Hell, find a way to seize a piece of Hell to become a demon lord, and then encroach on Mephisto's territory step by step. One day, I will tear his main body, hiding in the Hell Dimension, to pieces, and burn his soul with hellfire for a thousand years," Demon Strange said, gritting his teeth.
Black Strange's smile grew even more peculiar.
A thousand years? What a... naive unit of time. It showed that this universe's version of himself lacked sufficient experience and knowledge, and was merely forcing his way forward on raw talent alone.
What was a thousand years? Forget Mephisto, even he himself, after collapsing his own universe, had spent an unknowable amount of time in that collapsed universe where the concept of time didn't exist.
"It seems you're not a Xenomorph yet. If I were you, I would consider asking Du Wa for help. Just like that somewhat eccentric god I know, who, upon facing an unbeatable enemy, immediately sought Du Wa's aid and ultimately resolved the disaster."
"Du Wa..." Demon Strange hesitated. He hadn't thought it through yet. After all, if he did that, he would become a vassal of Du Wa through and through, with no autonomy to speak of.
If Du Wa changed his mind in the future, or decided to consider attacking Hell only after a very, very long time, he would be doomed. Once parasitized, he would have no ability to resist Du Wa, only the "privilege" of absolute obedience.
"Perhaps we can join forces. It's better than you going it alone. Don't misunderstand, I don't care if you live or die. I'm more hopeful that through your attempt, you can provide me with some inspiration, allowing me to find a way to break through an absolute point."
Black Strange laughed deeply, looking more like a demon than Demon Strange himself. "Even if we work ourselves to the bone and find there's truly nothing to be done, we can still consider seeking Du Wa's help."
"Then why don't you go find him now? Ask him to save your Christine who died at an absolute point?"
"Because even Du Wa can't save her. At least, the previous him couldn't. But whether he can do it in the near future is another matter entirely. I can't say for sure..."
Black Strange chuckled lowly. He had never met anyone like Du Wa. He was even more expectant that Du Wa could achieve something that would shock the entire universe based on his discoveries in Universe 199999.
At the same time, Black Strange was also curious about what valuable thing Du Wa had found.
...
"God..."
The joys and sorrows of humanity are not shared, and their goals are vastly different.
Unlike the scene Black Strange imagined, of Du Wa sweating profusely while researching some cosmic rules or divine artifacts,
Du Wa was holding a thermos, reclining on a lounge chair, and gazing at the blue sky and white clouds outside the glass.
He had personally witnessed what it was like to be a single-universe-level being, wielding the divine power of the World Tree and being deified as a god.
But he had relinquished that power, personally giving up a divine position.
This time, he was going to attempt godhood through concept.
To expand the concept of the Xenomorph and become a single-universe-level god.
"Eternity is time, Infinity is space, Death is the end, Galactus is... well, Oblivion is the antithesis of the others. These cosmic entities, referred to as the Creator Gods, are each an ultimate concept."
(end of chapter)