Chapter 152: The Greatest Conqueror in the History of the MCU Main Universe
Unfortunately, Ultron was a robot.
Likewise, for Ultron, the most fortunate thing was that it was a robot.
This meant Du Wa wouldn't see Ultron as a must-have host, preventing him from trying by every means possible to capture it alive.
Even in death, its end was clean and swift, erased by Du Wa in a single move and vanishing from the entire Multiverse.
Unless some being who had surpassed the limits of a single universe was so bored they decided to resurrect Ultron, he was well and truly dead.
"Heh, Du Wa won, just as I thought. It's just that for this universe, the price for a conqueror's victory over a destroyer was quite heavy. It's been beaten beyond recognition."
Black Strange glanced around. The Cosmos, which should have been dotted with countless stars, was now a vast emptiness, containing only a heart-pounding Darkness.
It was impossible to tell how much of the vast, boundless sea of stars had been erased.
The survivors were filled with lingering fear, looking somewhat dazed and numb. After all, most of them were still operating at a mortal level. Fighting a few criminals, dismantling a few tanks, or occasionally taking down an airplane was already an incredible feat for them. How could they have ever witnessed a battle of this magnitude?
The universe was effortlessly smashed to a pulp, and their senses couldn't even process the omnipresent scenes of chaos and messages of despair.
Among the survivors, Black Strange was the calmest. After all, he was a ruthless figure who had personally destroyed an entire universe—taking out all of its gods and people, even the Creator Gods. Seeing the tragic state of Universe 199999 now, he actually felt that this universe was incredibly lucky. It had been subjected to Du Wa's invasion before this major event, and once the event officially erupted, it was able to receive Du Wa's protection.
Even if the outcome was tragic, at least it survived, and the fundamental framework of the universe was preserved, wasn't it? Only with existence is a future possible.
Du Wa returned to Earth, holding twelve Infinity Gems in his hands.
"You've hit the jackpot, but I don't envy you one bit." The Watcher also manifested. Now that the battle was over, this deity reappeared. He had participated in the early stages of the fight but then vanished midway through, once again picking up his precious non-interference principle as if it were a treasure. His main policy was to do little and watch much, but he had indeed observed the entire process of this extremely valuable battle.
"These gems are your just reward. You'd best keep them in your own hands forever and never let anyone else have an opportunity to get them."
Uatu still harbored a lingering fear of the Infinity Gems' power. The existence of six Infinity Gems in many universes meant that, probabilistically speaking, there would always be some ruthless individual in some universe who could instantly gain the power to rival, or even defeat, him.
This was truly terrible news. Uatu once again felt his safety was severely threatened, and he developed extreme anxiety about his security in this region of the universe.
If something similar were to happen again, Uatu didn't believe he could rely on Du Wa to solve the problem as he had this time. And within this cluster of universes, Uatu knew of no deity who would step forward to help him. Even the avatars of the Creator Gods would remain completely silent, willing to perish in that silence rather than reveal themselves.
Uatu began to think with grave seriousness.
Du Wa showed no particular emotion at Uatu's reappearance. He knew this bunch of Watchers were all like that, engaging in actual interference on one hand while seizing every opportunity to preach their non-interference principle on the other.
However, making a move to kill a Watcher now would be a huge hassle. It would immediately attract the attention of the Watchers scattered throughout the Multiverse.
Du Wa did not possess the strength to confront the entire race of Watchers by himself. Even a typical multiversal-level being wouldn't have that capability; the Watchers were capable of deploying multiversal-level combat units.
"What are you thinking? I see the neurons in your brain are incredibly active." Du Wa's gaze shifted to him instantly. He possessed the Mind Gem—two of them, in fact.
"I was thinking that perhaps I am not suited to be the Watcher for this region. I should inform my people and arrange to switch places with another Watcher."
"Do you think you'll be safer in the universes of another region? It might be the opposite—it could become even more dangerous because there are far more powerful beings there," Du Wa said.
"You're right. It would indeed be more dangerous, and the frequency of disasters would surge. But over there, all sorts of heroes and gods would step up, doing their utmost to quell those disasters. If I were attacked, I believe I would receive a great deal of assistance immediately. It wouldn't be like what I've experienced in this universe, where not a single god proactively stepped forward to help me, forcing me to find allies on my own." Uatu's voice was very deep, betraying his incredibly somber mood.
"So that's your line of thinking. Greater risk for greater security. That might be a good idea." Du Wa nodded. He knew that sooner or later, Uatu would leave this place for a vaster domain of the Multiverse.
For this group of Watchers, the things with the most observational value, the things that attracted them most, were undoubtedly multiversal-level major events. These would be disasters countless times more dangerous than the incident caused by Ultron with Six Gems.
*Shua!*
Du Wa began to return control of the body to Thanos.
Thanos planted his feet on the ground, feeling his scar-riddled body. It was an excruciating pain that penetrated deep into his soul; every nerve within him had been shattered and repaired countless times.
This was the price. He was not Reynolds, after all. After Du Wa had used his body with such high intensity, it was already a complete mess.
But he paid this no mind.
"You still haven't delivered on your promise, even though you now possess twelve Infinity Gems." Thanos was gradually regaining control of his own body. He felt as if he had been resurrected, no longer needing to remain in the Soul World and talk nonsense with that fellow named Knull.
Thanos desperately wanted to snap his fingers, but he knew that the instant he tried, Du Wa would immediately seize control of his body and completely imprison his soul and consciousness.
"However, for the universe to end up like this... in a way, it's not a bad thing. It's much more spacious, and very few lives remain..." Thanos suddenly murmured, his expression complex.
He recalled the scene he had witnessed not long ago, back when he was his past self from five years ago, extracted from the mind of the future Nebula.
His future self, who had wiped out half the population of the entire universe, became a demon in the eyes of the world, a target to be defeated no matter the price.
And now? In a single battle, Du Wa had been far cleaner and more efficient than him. The level of destruction to the entire universe and the total population annihilated had long ago far surpassed the halfway point.
Most importantly, his future self had erased half the population but hadn't destroyed half the planets. Du Wa was different. He not only caused the extinction of the population, but he also destroyed the planets, leaving behind only innumerable fragments of scattered matter to drift in the vacuum of the universe. Who knew how long it would take for them to coalesce into new planets?
He, who had killed less and destroyed less, was the villain. Yet the true butcher, who had nearly destroyed the better part of the universe in a single battle, was hailed as a great savior, the hero who saved the world.
"But a world like this is not what I need. As you wish, Thanos. I will restore everything to its pre-war state."
Of course, Du Wa knew what Thanos was thinking. He just gave a light chuckle and, with a *snap*, controlled Thanos's body to perform a snap, instantly repairing all the damage throughout the universe.
Everything seemed to rewind, beginning to restore itself from a state of ruin.
But this was no simple time reversal, because the timeline itself had sustained immense trauma during the great battle and was now also undergoing a rewind-like restoration.
Star after star began to appear, once again radiating light and heat.
Collapsed galaxies coalesced out of nothingness one by one.
The very rules of the universe also began to recover.
Everything was changing, returning to the normal state that existed before the battle.
This was a scene akin to a divine miracle, and it was witnessed by all the gods.
Whether it was the Creator Gods, the Celestials, or the other gods and Dimensional Demon Gods, all of them were observing this change with varying expressions.
The battle between Du Wa and Ultron had been truly brutal. Its repercussions had even extended beyond the confines of this universe, instilling immense dread in its native gods.
However, they were not entirely powerless to resist. After all, they were single-universe-level deities. Some of them even existed as the very rules of the universe, naturally receiving the empowerment of the universe's own power.
"Hmph. Up to this point, he has at least done one thing right: using the Infinity Gems to clean up this disastrous mess."
"Heh, Dormammu, I didn't see you acting so tough when this outsider was locked in a bloody battle with Ultron. At that critical moment, why didn't you step forward and let them taste a vicious beating from the Lord of the Dark Dimension? Was it because you couldn't be bothered to make a move against them?"
"I'll venture a bold guess: Dormammu was waiting for those two to take each other out, and then he would have emerged to clean up the mess."
Some of the gods bantered, putting on a deliberately relaxed air. In reality, however, they had all cast their gazes upon the tiny planet of Earth, intently watching Du Wa's every move.
Du Wa, wielding six Infinity Gems, was already so powerful. And now? A total of twelve Infinity Gems, hailing from different universes, were all in his possession.
No, perhaps even without the empowerment of the Infinity Gems, Du Wa was still incredibly powerful. Among the native gods, besides those few Creator Gods, it was feared that no one truly understood Du Wa's actual strength.
Indeed, some gods went to inquire with the Creator Gods, wanting to probe Du Wa's background to determine what attitude they should adopt toward him and the Xenomorphs over the coming billions, or even tens of billions, of years.
This was especially true given the aggression Du Wa displayed, which guaranteed he would not keep the Xenomorphs confined to the tiny planet of Earth. He would inevitably expand to other planets in the universe, until one day, he extended his reach to them. What would they do then? Unite to besiege him? Issue a warning or attempt an expulsion?
But the few Creator Gods remained silent, as always.
After an unknown amount of time passed, Eternity, one of the Creator Gods, finally spoke.
"His true form is the sum total of many gods. To you, he is extremely dangerous."
Just that one sentence was enough to make many of the gods of Universe 199999 back down.
This was Eternity, one of the Creator Gods, the cosmic entity that symbolized all concepts in the universe related to time, its passage, evolution, and so on.
The Eternity of this universe was an avatar, so it was only natural that he could perceive the thoughts of the other Eternities in other universes. Therefore, he had no reason to lie.
The gods of Universe 199999 were completely unable to comprehend the state to which "Du Wa's true form" referred.
Could it be that, in the universe that spawned him, Du Wa had multiple god-level subordinates? Had they simply not been transported to this universe yet? Did defeating a powerful enemy like Ultron with Six Gems—a being at the single-universe omnipotent tier—represent only a fraction of Du Wa's true strength?
The implications were terrifying to contemplate.
"Hmm, that bunch is even quieter than I anticipated."
Du Wa had been closely monitoring the movements of the cosmic gods all along, and their silence satisfied him.
To be honest, even though Du Wa was confident in his own strength, he was still certain he could deal with some of the native gods in this universe. Then again, unless absolutely necessary, he had no desire to engage in a massive brawl with multiple single-universe-level gods from across the entire universe. Being able to match a universe single-handedly was one thing; crushing all the gods within a universe by himself was another entirely.
Too much trouble.
As the entire universe gradually returned to its original state, the terror in the hearts of the countless people who had been destroyed during the battle between Du Wa and Ultron finally began to erupt.
The memories of many people stopped at the very moment their planet was destroyed. They had witnessed the crust shatter, volcanoes erupt, and the planet itself disintegrate. They had felt the air being stripped away, seen their star extinguish, and found themselves plummeting at high speed into the vast Cosmos.
But in the blink of an eye, everything was restored, as if all that had just happened was a complete and utter illusion.
The Solar System, however, was preserved to the greatest possible extent throughout the ordeal. After all, Black Strange was present. It was a simple matter for him to take over Kamar-Taj's magical arrays and even upgrade them on the fly.
Therefore, the people of Earth, while not knowing the specific details, had a general idea of what had occurred and could vaguely guess that a terrible event of mass destruction had taken place.
"Strange really ought to meet you. He'd be astonished. Not only is there a parallel universe version of him, but this one is absurdly powerful, far surpassing the Ancient One."
A portal opened, and Wong from Universe 199999 hurried through. After Strange was wiped away by a snap, Wong had served as the acting Sorcerer Supreme for the past five years.
He could not intervene in the disputes of the mortal realm, and he was powerless against Ultron with Six Gems. Only now did he attempt to communicate with the Black Strange who was controlling the planet's magical arrays.
But Black Strange only gave him a single glance, with no intention of acknowledging him.
When Black Strange looked at Thanos again, he discovered that Thanos had already regained control of his body, meaning Du Wa had gone off somewhere again.
Perhaps he had made a more important discovery, one even more significant than reaping the fruits of victory in this universe.
(end of chapter)