Chapter 161: The Day of Godhood Attainment, The Moment the Alien Universe is Born
No one could comprehend the shock and fury coursing through Thanos at this moment.
Not even Kronos, who was a Cosmic Celestial, could understand.
It was the immense mental impact of having one's supreme faith and lifelong aspiration defiled.
Yes, it was unprecedented.
From birth until now, Thanos had faced countless powerful enemies and encountered innumerable dangers, but everything that had come before, combined, could not shock him more than the scene before him now.
Dead, and their souls return to Du Wa, not Death?
For a faithful follower and admirer of Death like Thanos, this situation was absolutely intolerable. This was the greatest blasphemy against Death.
"That fellow Du Wa has taken away the souls of all the dead Aliens in some way. He must possess a world specifically for containing souls, but it's uncertain how he did it," Kronos said, understanding the situation with a single glance.
"Then we find a way to destroy his soul world and return the Aliens to the domain of Death," Thanos stated coldly.
Kronos stared at his grandson, wanting to say that even if Du Wa had taken the Aliens' souls, they were still theoretically subject to Death. After all, souls themselves could also "die," with their final destination still being Death.
Du Wa's actions were merely an intervention, a deliberate insertion of an intermediate step between the Aliens and Death, placing himself in the middle to prevent Death from directly reaping the Aliens' souls.
Perhaps Du Wa had done all this in preparation for this very moment. As long as he could become a concept god comparable to Death, he could, at least within this universe, disrupt Death's influence over the Aliens to the greatest extent possible.
Thanos left. Taking two Infinity Gems with him, he went back to retrieve the Infinity Gauntlet. With his Black Order army, he departed aboard Sanctuary II.
The tyrant showed no interest whatsoever in the fate of the Ravagers or anyone else.
Kronos also vanished quietly.
"This should be good news. We escaped the Butcher of the Universe with our lives. Once their battleship is a good distance away, we can flee in the other direction. We have a real chance of getting away from that crazy woman," Quill forced a smile.
Yondu's face was stiff as he pointed at the surrounding structure, which had been hideously corroded by Alien blood. "This should also be bad news. Hear that hissing? Our starship has suffered the most severe damage. A decrease in flight speed is a minor issue. The most terrifying thing is that we can't be sure when this ship will disintegrate. Maybe we'll be done for before that woman even has to lift a finger."
The faces of all the Ravagers present turned ugly. No matter how villainous they were, facing a top-tier cosmic villain like Thanos was enough to scare them witless. Having just narrowly escaped with their lives, they now felt a sense of despair over their current predicament.
"My magic has recovered. I can create a portal now."
Kruger suddenly spoke, a look of joy on his face. "I understand now. It must have been that strange fellow standing with Thanos, the one whose true form I couldn't make out, who was secretly preventing me from using magic. He wanted Thanos to see the truth about the Aliens, to lure Thanos into challenging Du Wa!"
"Then what are you waiting for? Open a portal so we can escape!"
"When we escape and buy a new starship, we have to line the interior with the highest-grade, corrosion-resistant metal!"
The group of Ravagers immediately began to clamor, almost crying with joy.
"Let's flee. The farther, the better. We should hide on some remote planet, away from the eyes of those dangerous people."
Yondu's expression remained grave. This only meant they were temporarily safe. If Thanos and that unknown entity were to make a move against Du Wa...
One didn't need to think to know it would be another terrifying, universe-spanning battle. The scale of destruction might not be any less than when Du Wa defeated Knull.
Considering Du Wa might have to face two enemies at once, the battle's devastation would only be greater.
The slightest carelessness, being caught in the terrifying aftershocks, would mean instant annihilation, exploding along with countless planets.
By the time Carol rushed into the starship, she found the hideously corroded place empty. She promptly blew the entire starship to pieces.
"This is the magic of Kamar-Taj. It seems there's a decent magician among the Ravagers."
Tony, piloting the Celestial Armor, flew over. His colossal form stood in the cosmos, facing off against Carol.
His voice entered Carol's mind: "But what I find strange is, if one of them could use teleportation magic, why didn't they just escape from the beginning instead of being chased by you for so long? And then get cornered by Thanos and his group. It's as if this was all an engineered outcome."
"An Earthling?"
Carol sized up the Celestial Armor before her with uncertainty, a look of shock appearing on her face. She could naturally tell that the armor's design was extremely similar to the legendary Celestials.
Moreover, the immensely powerful sense of pressure and the density of the energy it casually emitted far surpassed her own.
"I don't believe there are any normal people left on Earth. You probably have an Alien inside you, too," Carol said, pulling back and observing him cautiously.
Based on the information she had, as well as the message Fury sent her before he died, Carol was completely certain that Earth had become Du Wa's personal playground. Every single living person on it was an Alien.
Carol had once wanted to rush back to Earth to deal with Du Wa and his Aliens. Such a terrifying species would severely disrupt a planet's stability and should not be allowed to continue and expand.
But unfortunately, by the time she received the message and set out for Earth, the situation had changed too quickly. Du Wa had even killed more than one deity. That was a domain she could no longer touch. Rushing back to Earth would just be courting death.
"In fact, the vast majority of people on Earth are normal humans, and the animals are normal too, of course. Your prejudice is quite severe, Ms. Danvers."
"Oh? Your definition of 'normal' is based on the fact that he could turn every Earthling into an Alien at any time, but simply hasn't done so. Don't think I don't know. Anyone in the universe with a bit of status and strength knows he possesses the ability to remotely deploy Aliens. His 'boon' has played a crucial role in the rapid expansion of Aliens across the entire universe," Carol sneered.
Fury's death, at most, made Carol angry and dissatisfied, but it wasn't enough to make her so paranoid.
But the divine advent technique Du Wa developed was what truly horrified her. Anyone who recited his name would have an Alien appear inside their body, transforming from an ordinary person into a superhuman. Furthermore, if they were ruthless enough to self-harm, they could use their corrosive blood to take down enemies far stronger than themselves, or even destroy the critical components of a starship. It was too terrifying, its destructive potential immeasurable.
Coupled with the Ravagers and other villains frantically using magic and starships to transport Aliens across the universe, the Alien population was rapidly spiraling out of control everywhere.
Carol, who saw herself as a guardian of the universe and had spent years traveling between planets to maintain peace and quell wars, was somewhat overwhelmed. She simply couldn't keep up.
And all planets conquered by the Aliens would eventually reach a bizarre state of harmony: once the Aliens reached a certain scale and established global dominance, they would spontaneously cease reproduction, ensuring the planet's ecosystem achieved balance and stability. They would then seek to migrate to other planets, repeating the cycle.
It was a good thing that after Du Wa remotely sent Aliens to his followers, he didn't have them immediately chestburst and transform into a Queen to begin mass reproduction. Otherwise, the universe would truly be teeming with Aliens.
"Unfortunate news, ma'am. It won't be long before you'll have to coexist with the Aliens, instead of being able to use your strength to stop him from stuffing one inside your body."
The massive lights on the surface of Tony's armor blinked. "See this change in the universe? It's normal if you tell me you don't feel anything. Only beings who have reached a certain level can realize that the universe is undergoing a brand-new evolution. The origin of this change is Earth. I'm guessing Du Wa is making a final push for the position of a new Cosmic Celestial. Although he was already a deity, perhaps he's now trying to acquire a dual godhood?"
From a god of raw power, was he trying to become a truly unique, concept god? Other than this, Tony couldn't think of any other possibility that would cause Du Wa to create such a massive commotion.
Tony also thought of Thanos's appearance and the strange fact that the Ravagers couldn't use teleportation magic. He immediately realized that an equally terrifying entity must be secretly making a move, unable to hold back any longer.
There was definitely more than one vicious god like Knull, the God of the Symbiotes, in the universe. Therefore, some deity was bound to make a move against Du Wa.
If Du Wa was defeated, setting aside the fate of the Aliens, Earth's outcome would not be good. All of humanity would face extinction, because if even Du Wa couldn't defeat the enemy, who else could?
But if Du Wa succeeded...
The entire universe would become a hell in the eyes of certain individuals.
The deployment ability of a stronger Du Wa would far exceed anything from the past. As a Cosmic Celestial, his will could easily cover an endlessly vast galaxy, precisely pressing down on the mind of every living thing.
At that time, every living being within the universe would become a potential host for Du Wa. As long as Du Wa wished it, this universe would become a world of Aliens.
"This is his last puzzle piece..." Just imagining such a future sent a chill down Carol's spine, as if she had fallen into an icy abyss.
"Yes, everyone knows that. But so what? Are you going to stop him? Start a war with him? Don't be ridiculous. That would be a meaningless suicide mission."
Tony, on the other hand, appeared indifferent.
In truth, Tony himself knew that if Du Wa wanted to make a move on him and implant an Alien in his body, it would be a matter of minutes. After all, he was merely a mortal. There was no room for resistance.
Unless he lived his entire life 24/7 inside the Celestial Armor, but that would be far too conspicuous. Tony deduced that doing so would instead attract Du Wa's attention and be counterproductive.
It was better to be like he was now. Tony could call out Du Wa's name anytime, anywhere, without worrying about an Alien larva suddenly appearing inside him. He reckoned this situation would remain unchanged even after Du Wa became a deity. After all, if Du Wa truly wanted to do something to him, he could have done it long ago. Why wait until the future?
This indicated that Du Wa had no overwhelming desire to possess Tony and his Celestial Armor.
...
As the changes in the universe grew more and more intense, any being standing at a certain level knew that Du Wa was infinitely close to success.
All sorts of actions immediately erupted across the universe. The God of Time and Thanos were by no means the only ones attempting to make a move.
A few factions quietly intensified their extermination efforts against the Aliens. For a time, the flames of war raged on many planets. Countless weapons and pieces of equipment were manufactured and quickly thrown onto the battlefield.
But everyone knew that even if they killed every Alien in the entire universe, all their efforts would ultimately be for naught if they couldn't stop Du Wa himself.
However, at least in the eyes of the rulers of certain planets and the kings of certain pantheons, since Du Wa was using these Aliens to aid his ascension to a higher tier, then clearing out some Aliens would presumably interfere with him as well.
Over the past few years, due to the rapid emergence of the Aliens, there had been no small number of wars breaking out across the universe, especially among those whose interests were harmed and whose influence was forced to shrink. They hated the Aliens to the bone.
But many more remained on the sidelines, sinking into a deathly silence.
Not to mention the Creator Gods. They were the universe itself. To put it bluntly, even if Du Wa truly advanced to become this universe's concept god, it would have no effect on Them. In the end, he would only be a god of this universe, which didn't even have a designation. They couldn't care less.
Moreover, the Creator Gods other than Galactus maintained communication with their other avatars. They knew Du Wa had also deployed Aliens in other universes. He might fail here, but he would never truly perish.
In this almost unprecedented upheaval, Kronos and Thanos headed straight for Earth.
Many more gods also began to move in secret, watching Earth's every move with gazes of fear and greed. They were prepared to strike at any moment, depending on how the situation changed.
Given the opportunity to become a concept god, a form of existence comparable to the Creator Gods, who would be willing to remain a subordinate deity?
Although a God of Time like Kronos, directly subordinate to Eternity, was near the top of the cosmic pyramid and an object of envy and awe for countless beings, the chance to cast off the status of a vassal and create one's own conceptual system was a temptation to anyone.
On Earth, the center of the storm.
Du Wa slowly opened his eyes. He clearly felt the gazes from across the universe. Instead of feeling any unease or anxiety, a dangerous smile spread across his face.
"Very good. Everything that has happened is to my satisfaction... The moment I become a god again will be the moment this universe completely transforms into the Alien Universe. It will be one of the more special universes in the entire Multiverse."
(end of chapter)