Chapter 186: The Captain with Underwear on the Outside and the Bat with the Vibranium Skeleton
"Do all of you from other worlds acquire knowledge this way? Are you planning to just take it by force if you can't get it through normal means?"
"Everyone, be careful. Follow Her Majesty's lead."
The group of Captain Britains were utterly infuriated. They were shocked by the terrifying strength of Du Wa and his two companions, but they also possessed the resolve to fight to the death to protect their Empress.
Protecting the Empress was an important mission of the Captain Britain Corps.
But Empress Saturnyne showed no signs of anger. She was just observing Du Wa intently, and took an even closer look at the two Xenomorphs behind him, her gaze lingering for an extra second on the Demon Xenomorph.
"Although I have observed you from afar across the Multiverse, seeing you up close, I must admit I'm still a little surprised. The Xenomorph is supposed to be a minor Conceptual Entity, one that should only cause insignificant ripples in a very small number of universes before being easily destroyed by a Superhero or a super-villain."
Empress Saturnyne held a scepter and wore a crown, looking regal and magnificent, but Du Wa had no interest in her hollow shell. He only wanted to extract the key information from the Empress's mind.
Theoretically, the simplest method would be to turn the Empress into a Xenomorph. That way, all the knowledge she possessed would become his.
But that was not an option.
"I'm guessing you're worried about Merlin and Roma, but I'm quite curious how you know of them. You even seem to know that their power is immense," Empress Saturnyne asked curiously, surrounded by a group of her Captains.
"Why do you say that?"
"Because when you spoke of magical entities like the Vishanti and Chthon, you didn't seem nearly as cautious as you are now," Saturnyne replied.
"As expected of an Empress, your judgment is spot on. However, I can offer another explanation: I'm not one to kill indiscriminately, nor am I a completely vicious and malevolent Evil God."
"And yet, you are quite enthusiastic about bestowing the Xenomorph boon upon those who don't particularly need it."
To this, Du Wa simply shrugged. He hadn't expressed himself with such a gesture in a very long time.
When the matter involved Merlin, the Archmage of the Omniverse, and Roma, his offspring, Du Wa had every reason to be cautious.
The Empress of Universe 833 and her Captain Britain Corps would soon be wiped out along with the endlessly perishing dimensions anyway.
Therefore, Du Wa had no intention of personally acting to assimilate or eliminate this universe and everyone in it.
The priority was to safely complete his Transmigration to the DC Multiverse, use the two Multiverses to strengthen the Xenomorph concept, and pave the way for his own advancement. This was the simplest and most brutishly effective growth plan Du Wa could devise.
At a critical juncture like this, provoking a sorcerer on Merlin's level was not a good idea.
"Let me repeat, I am not here to invade and conquer. I need the coordinates to Universe 9602. In return, I will provide you with assistance within my power. I hope we can treat this as a bargain, not a one-sided plunder. You are an observer of many worlds. In the past few seconds, you've probably observed my past countless times and know very well what kind of God I am," Du Wa stressed.
"That's right. I only realized what you intend to do a few seconds ago. You, who are so adept at creating miracles, have managed to elevate yourself to the status of a rare Concept God through such an insignificant concept. And it seems you've already found a path to advance even further..."
Empress Saturnyne opened her hand, and a high-tech device resembling a USB drive quickly materialized. It was an encrypted device created with the top-tier technology of Universe 833, in no way inferior to an instrument created through means like magic or divine power.
It contained the coordinates for Universe 9602.
Empress Saturnyne handed it directly to Du Wa.
"What I'm more curious about is this: countless concepts are generated within the Multiverse at every moment, many of which are not born from the Multiverse itself but are foreign concepts that have integrated into it. Why did you specifically choose Universe 9602?" Empress Saturnyne asked. "You should be well aware that what you're attempting is a massive gamble, with no guarantee of success."
"Because Universe 9602 is the most suitable place I could find," Du Wa said.
In truth, across the entire Multiverse and among all its chaotic concepts, Universe 9602 wasn't the only one capable of connecting to the DC Multiverse; other universes could as well.
For instance, there was Universe 7642, which contained major events like *Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man*, *Batman vs. The Incredible Hulk*, and *Punisher/Batman: Deadly Knights*.
Then there was Universe 3839, which had Batman and Captain America.
And there was the most special crossover Earth, a world formed from the collision and fusion of the Marvel 616 Main Universe and DC New Earth, which was also the main battlefield for *Justice League vs. The Avengers*.
Or consider the Black Winter, which originated from Marvel's Sixth Multiverse. During its great extinction event, it easily destroyed a universe, and among the many conceptual things it destroyed, concepts from DC Comics appeared, such as Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and the Flash.
However, all of these single universes that were mixed with concepts from the DC Multiverse generally had problems.
The most troublesome point was that these universes had either not yet been born, or had been born in secret but were hidden away on some deeper level.
In other words, the current Marvel Multiverse had not yet truly entered into large-scale contact and confrontation with the DC Multiverse.
But Universe 9602 was different.
Many of the life forms in this universe were essentially beings created from a mixture of individuals from the two great Multiverses of Marvel and DC Comics.
Its Superheroes were also fusions of well-known heroes from both Multiverses.
This meant that Universe 9602 didn't actually exist as a direct part of the DC Multiverse. Even though shadows of DC's concepts existed there, they were in a weakened state, separated by a layer from the true, complete, and real DC concepts.
This was precisely what made it the safest and most reliable springboard.
But Du Wa had no intention of sharing this secret information with Empress Saturnyne.
"Thank you."
Du Wa read the information from the tech device, a smile appearing on his face. "The information in here is very comprehensive and detailed."
"I'd like to wish you success, but if you do succeed, it will be quite unsettling." Empress Saturnyne sighed. She really had no choice. If Du Wa decided to act recklessly, he could inflict terrible damage on Universe 833 right now.
Although Merlin and Roma were powerful, the father-daughter pair weren't babysitters for Universe 833. It wasn't as if they would intervene in every single crisis.
Du Wa said nonchalantly, "The Vishanti are the gods of White Magic, and they ensure every universe has White Magic. Chthon is the same. If I succeed, you will see a Xenomorph Captain in Universe 833."
If Universe 833 still existed by then, that is.
The two magic powers, White Magic and Black Magic, can exist in every universe, no matter how remote or fragmented.
Going even further, those Creator Gods were able to make concepts like Time, Space, and Death into the fundamental, omnipresent rules that construct the many worlds of the Multiverse.
If Du Wa successfully completed his Transmigration and returned, then having Xenomorphs appear in every universe, making them a "common" transcendent system like White Magic, Black Magic, or the divine power of the World Tree, would be a perfectly normal outcome. It would all happen naturally.
By then, no one would consider the Xenomorphs to be anything rare. At most, there would be groups of heroes or criminals who would reject the Xenomorphs, viewing their power as heresy and subjecting them to expulsion, or even hunting them down.
Just as White Magic and Black Magic are forever in conflict, locked in a cycle of vendettas.
"If you need it, I will provide you with appropriate assistance," Du Wa said.
He gave Empress Saturnyne a deep look and said no more.
Whether Universe 833 would even exist the next time he returned was another matter entirely.
Not even Du Wa himself could guarantee that his plan would succeed; he had simply chosen the path with the highest probability of success.
"Your Majesty, these guys got what they wanted from us this way today. I'm worried it won't be long before other Demon Gods from other dimensions try the same thing."
The group of Captain Britains were infuriated, and a profound sense of shame welled up inside them.
God, was this how they, who had sworn an oath to serve the Empress to the death, were supposed to protect Her Majesty?
"It's not the same. We can resist and kill ordinary invaders from other worlds with our own strength; countless past battles have proven this," Empress Saturnyne said slowly. "It's just that this one is... special. He is a mad God."
Saturnyne sighed softly. In truth, she didn't fully comprehend Du Wa's plans either, and could only make some faint guesses.
As the Omniversal Observer, Empress Saturnyne knew far more secrets than ordinary people. She was well aware that all sorts of chaotic things were being born in the Multiverse at every moment, including innumerable Conceptual Entities from beyond the Multiverse.
Then again, if the Multiverse weren't sufficiently complex and vast, it wouldn't be worthy of the name. If it could be influenced and destroyed in a matter of minutes by new life forms from beyond, it would be an utter humiliation to the host of powerful gods within the Multiverse.
...
"Time to get to work."
Du Wa crushed the USB drive-like tech device in his hand. Standing in the Hyperspace Current between universes, he gazed out at the dense multitude of black spheres that filled his entire vision.
Each black sphere was a universe. As he looked out now, they were endless. At every moment, countless newborn universes were born, and at every moment, countless universes perished.
And the Hyperspace Current, similar to The Bleed from the DC Comics Universe, was the transitional zone between universes, a special form of energy and matter.
The scene before him was the most magnificent spectacle imaginable. Even a god like Du Wa, who could be considered at the peak of the single universe level, had to gasp in amazement just by looking up at this grand sight. He was incapable of fully processing the immeasurably vast amount of information.
Not now, but perhaps he could when he returned.
Du Wa turned his head to look in a certain direction. Among the endless universes, there were a few extremely peculiar ones located in crevices that had been folded countless times, unknown to all.
Universe 9602.
This world, isolated since its birth with no interaction with other parallel universes, was finally welcoming its first-ever Outsider.
The first to notice that something was amiss was the heavy hitter of Universe 9602, the Superhero created from the fusion of Marvel's Captain America and DC's Superman—the Super-Soldier.
He was a blond man with an exceptionally muscular physique. His blue and red bodysuit further accentuated his powerful muscles. A white five-pointed star was stretched taut across his full chest, and his red trunks, worn on the outside, were exceptionally eye-catching.
On his right forearm rested a relatively small pentagonal shield, inscribed with a large 'S'.
He was the righteous and powerful Superhero watched by the entire universe.
In this universe's history, official scientists used cell samples from an extraterrestrial's corpse to create the Universe 9602 version of the Super-Soldier Serum. Using this serum and solar radiation, they transformed a man named Clark Kent into a Super-Soldier.
This was the origin of the Super-Soldier.
The Super-Soldier sensed something was wrong, but even after pushing his Super Vision and Super Hearing to their absolute limits, he couldn't find the source. Yet, his intuition kept screaming at him.
"Perhaps something is happening to the world itself that I can't detect yet."
The Super-Soldier decided to contact another reliable comrade-in-arms: Logan Wayne.
Logan Wayne, nicknamed Dark Claw, was a fusion of Batman and Wolverine. When he was five years old, his parents were tragically murdered by gunfire.
He later joined a secret research initiative codenamed Project X, where he had Vibranium fused to his skeleton, becoming a powerful and intelligent Superhero.
"Logan..."
"No need to say anything, Clark. I already know what's happening."
Logan Wayne's cold voice was tinged with a hint of excitement. "Damn it, our world has been invaded. This is a first in all of history! My previous assessment was correct—parallel universes must exist. For some reason, we've never been able to make contact with other worlds, like an island isolated in the middle of the sea... Hell, I'm about to unravel this mystery with my own two hands! There has to be an incredibly important reason behind all this!"
"Are you sure? This is no small matter."
"The fluctuations in space-time don't lie. This isn't an issue with the universe's natural functions—the total mass of our world has increased! Something big has arrived... no, maybe several big things, enough to put a strain on our entire universe!"
Logan Wayne took a deep breath. "While that crazy bastard The Hyena hasn't shown his face these last couple of days, we need to deal with these outsiders as quickly as possible. Let's just hope they haven't come to invade."
The Hyena, Quinn, was originally his friend. But during Project X, he couldn't take it and went mad. He became a green-haired man who likes to cover his face in thick white makeup, smear on red lipstick, and is especially good at giving a grotesque, wide-mouthed grin.
(end of chapter)