Chapter 256: The Final Stand to End Du Wa, and the Third Plan!
Some people hoped Du Wa would keep winning forever, because Du Wa could always bring the longest possible period of peace to the Mortal World—so long as he wasn't at war with other Gods. Once a war began, no matter how "benevolent" Du Wa was, he couldn't afford to protect the billions of weak lives; he had to focus all his efforts on killing the powerful enemy.
To put it bluntly, even if ordinary people were caught in the crossfire and died, as long as Du Wa lived, the souls and consciousness of all the deceased would live on within him. This was another form of immortality, a fact of which the living, ordinary Xenomorph individuals were completely unaware.
But if Du Wa were to lose, the very concept of the Xenomorph would perish, and countless beings would instantly turn to dust. The relatively stable Alien Society would completely collapse.
Now, individuals from various worlds, who had rarely consulted one another and had only communicated indirectly through cryptic messages, had, through an inevitable coincidence, joined forces. They were attempting to make one last stand against Du Wa.
"Hmph, that Du Wa fellow is frantically expanding his faction across the Multiverse, forcibly converting countless innocent lives into Xenomorphs. Utterly evil! A plague this wicked must be completely eradicated!"
"That fellow Starro, when invading some insignificant fringe universe, also viewed all his actions as righteous. He clamored that by parasitizing all of humanity, he was essentially ensuring a world without war. He argued that the Justice League shouldn't resist him, but should actively join him..."
"Compared to Du Wa, Starro is like a harmless little girl, gentle and pretty!"
Starro the Conqueror had never been the problem, not even with his troublesome abilities. The real problem was Du Wa, a Multiversal God countless times more powerful and terrifying than Starro.
The moment Starro scattered his spores, spreading them throughout the Main Universe and even into other universes...
"The time is ripe."
The God of Knowledge, Lex Luthor, looked up and sighed. "After preparing for so long, I'm genuinely curious to see how far this plan of yours can go. Can that... thing... really defeat Du Wa?"
"It can. In theory, it can. More importantly, we have no other choice. This is truly our last stand. If we succeed, even if Du Wa doesn't die, he will flee the Main Universe like a beaten dog. His Xenomorphs will no longer be the key force driving the progression of the Multiverse."
Alexander Luthor had already entered his Zansha form, his divine power surging. This wasn't a precaution against Du Wa—he didn't have that kind of power—but purely to avoid being obliterated by the shockwaves of the coming battle.
"And if we fail?" Lex Luthor asked slowly. "You said it yourself, this is our last stand. Du Wa will certainly not give us another chance... Even someone like Barbatos, the master of a multiverse, was helpless against Du Wa. We have even less of a chance."
Alexander Luthor forced a difficult smile. "That's why we did so much, waited so long, to attract that thing. Conventional Gods, no matter how ancient, mysterious, or powerful, are meaningless before Du Wa. Only an unconventional entity, something that can't even be called a God, can kill a being like Du Wa."
Du Wa was simply too hard to kill. After obtaining the Quantum Batman, his greatest weakness—a lack of peak power—had been fully addressed. It could be said that among Multiverse-level beings, Du Wa's overall power was extremely strong, he was extremely difficult to kill, and he was the most well-rounded, with no discernible shortcomings. When he made a move, it was with every advantage on his side!
The options were either to gather multiple Multiversal Gods and risk shattering the Multiverse and severely damaging the Sphere of Gods just to kill Du Wa, or... after much deliberation, they concluded that their current plan was the most reliable one.
"Hmph, initially, I formulated three plans to deal with Du Wa. The first two failed, and one of them was the very one you're using now." Lex Luthor sat on the Mobius Chair, recalling the time Du Wa had just entered the DCEU Universe and effortlessly swept aside everything in his path.
That was an invincible, absolute power.
"I've heard. Your two plans were practically child's play. But I'm very interested in your third plan, which you have yet to reveal," Alexander Luthor said, looking at him.
The two Luthors looked at each other, each with their own ulterior motives, and let out a series of cold sneers.
***
Oblivion Bar.
This was a mystical place that did not exist in Reality, and it was the last safe zone for the Main Universe's Justice League.
Only the Flash could lead people here.
"I have a feeling the God of Xenomorphs will find us soon. There's no point in hiding anymore," Flash said, looking at the heroes present. "He has an ability to respond to us saying his name, even across countless space-times. No matter how secret the Oblivion Bar is, it can't escape his search."
After the Flashpoint event erupted, the Speed Force, one of the Powers of Creation, also underwent a major change. It transformed from a tangible wall into a strange alternate dimension.
It was the Flash who had led everyone here, taking advantage of the utter chaos in the Main Universe to escape into the Oblivion Bar through the Speed Force.
"The New 52 Universe's Batman can be declared a failure. Darkseid is dead too. Du Wa, as he has many times in the past, got the result he wanted. But for us, this will be the beginning of the counterattack."
Batman stepped forward, his cold gaze sweeping over the dozens of people present. These were the only relatively reliable people left on Earth who could stand up and resist Du Wa.
This number was pitifully small. It was impossible to kill Du Wa by any conventional method, let alone eliminate the billions of Xenomorphs.
"Can we leave this place now? If we don't act soon, the Batman of the New 52 Universe is going to die!" Superman declared with a dignified expression. Hiding and passively waiting for the situation to change was completely contrary to his style. "Flash, we need to leave here as soon as possible."
"Wait a little longer. Be patient, my friend. If we rush out recklessly like this, even if we save that Batman, we won't be able to escape Du Wa's pursuit." Flash held up both hands, pressing them down in the air in a gesture to calm everyone.
He put down his glass. While everyone else was fraught with worry, he had managed to have a rare drink to calm his anxious heart. Now, it was time to start running again.
As long as he ran fast enough, with the protection of the Speed Force, he could briefly evade Du Wa's perception, traverse the outside world, and gather the intelligence they needed.
"Are we really not considering contacting the heroes from other universes? I still think we're too short-handed," Damian grumbled, along with his young companions.
Jon shook his head. "Stop the meaningless complaints. The more people we have, the easier it is for him to exploit an opening. That guy is different from any opponent we've ever faced or imagined."
*Whoosh!*
The Speed Force began to vibrate. The Flash was about to start running.
But someone else ran into this small pocket of the Speed Force at an even greater speed.
"Who is it?!"
"Is that Wally? Or a Flash from another universe?"
But the heroes soon realized they had guessed wrong, because the person who ran in was a Speedster they had never seen before.
Johnny Quick, a member of Universe 3's Crime Syndicate.
Back then, Du Wa had extended his reach into Universe 3, successively killing the Anti-Monitor and New 52 Darkseid. The terrifying great battle had nearly destroyed Universe 3. The members of the Crime Syndicate who had defected to Du Wa used various means to escape the aftershocks of the battle.
Johnny Quick, in a state of extreme terror at the time, had fled into the Speed Force and had been running ever since. He had only just emerged, not expecting so much time to have passed in the outside world.
But Johnny Quick didn't care about the flow of time. As an evil Speedster, he paid no mind to the transition of time nodes. Moreover, he was already a Xenomorph. With the Xenomorph as his primary anchor point, as long as Du Wa existed, so would he.
He also discovered that the Xenomorph inside him had undergone an even greater transformation, becoming stronger and possessing a more vigorous life force, which made him even more afraid to resist.
"Heh, what an unexpected discovery." Johnny Quick looked at the group of superheroes, subconsciously taking two steps back and letting out a dry laugh. He was never a death-defying warrior to begin with, and he was even more stunned to find himself here so bewilderingly.
"Outsider, who are you? Which universe are you from?" Flash asked, looking at the man suspiciously.
Batman had already made a move, but he was merely a mortal. He couldn't even touch a single hair on Johnny Quick.
More heroes began to act, surrounding him. When Flash also joined the fray, Johnny Quick had nowhere left to run.
"I don't know why I came to this... bar?" Johnny Quick dodged in terror. The Xenomorph inside him always gave him the most precise assistance, allowing him to evade several attacks. He yelled, "This must be Du Wa's instruction! I'm one of Du Wa's men, you can't afford to provoke me!"
Everyone fell silent. The gazes of the assembled superheroes subconsciously shifted to Johnny Quick's chest.
"He's telling the truth. We have nowhere left to run," Zatanna said, her face ashen after she closed her eyes and used a little magic.
Du Wa had found the Oblivion Bar after all. He had found them.
No, it would be more accurate to say that Du Wa had finally put an end to this cat and mouse game, because Du Wa had never tried to stop them from secretly escaping the Main Universe in the first place.
"I considered many possibilities, but I never thought I'd be tripped up by this kind of Speedster!" The Main Universe's Lex Luthor glared at the terrified Johnny Quick, his mood utterly foul, as disgusted as if he had just swallowed a fly.
What if Du Wa had broken into the Oblivion Bar himself?
Even if Du Wa didn't come personally, what if it was Thanoseid or someone else? As long as a powerful individual arrived, it would have weakened the power Du Wa could directly wield, facilitating what was about to happen.
Lex Luthor said coldly, "However, the plan so many of us schemed has succeeded by half. It's enough to drag that guy into the Main Universe. Du Wa, you have already failed. I refuse to believe you can still look at me with that condescending attitude and completely ignore me!"
"Ignore you? No, Luthor, I have never ignored you. I was merely watching your actions, which added a bit of trivial amusement for me."
Du Wa's voice emanated from Johnny Quick. "I never do anything superfluous. Right now, by using an insignificant chess piece like Johnny Quick, I have destroyed the last stronghold you depended on for survival. What do you have to fight me with?"
Who is the peak of intelligence in the DC World? It should be the Main Universe's Lex Luthor, but that doesn't mean he's flawless. The man also has a history of acting as Perpetua's dog.
There was no reason Du Wa couldn't accomplish what Perpetua did, although he had little interest in Lex Luthor.
"You tyrant! We will never let the Multiverse fall into your hands," the Main Universe Superman declared, stepping forward and clenching his fists.
"I have no interest in the Multiverse you speak of. To the me of today, this place is already too small. Even the Sphere of Gods cannot satisfy my appetite," Du Wa replied. "But I am indeed interested in what you and the others have meticulously plotted. I am waiting for its arrival. In fact, the moment I saw Starro inexplicably run into the Main Universe and start scattering spores everywhere, I had already guessed some of the truth."
"That's impossible! Unless someone changed their mind, removed their own mental blocks, and informed on us," Batman denied flatly.
Johnny Quick shook his head uncontrollably, standing in the bar and acting as Du Wa's eyes to watch the group. "There's no need for informants. I have many, many other means. Just watch slowly."
Du Wa took one last look at the Main Universe Superman. He really couldn't figure out what level of strength the man was at right now. Perhaps one second he was ordinary, and the next he could shatter the Multiverse. He was impossible to accurately assess.
Even Superman himself didn't really know how strong he was.
Finally, the big guy that some had been waiting for arrived.
As the Hellbat armor shattered and Batman desperately searched for a sliver of hope to survive, the residual energy within his armor erupted uncontrollably. It resonated with a Father Box on Apokolips, opening an inter-universal Boom Tube.
This was the result of the Main Universe Darkseid's covert interference while he was undercover as an editor in the Editorial Department, guiding that big guy to find the Main Universe and "proactively" rush over through the Boom Tube.
"It's finally here. This is the thing of legend, the most perfect Kryptonian, true infinite evolution, a being even Darkseid is no match for... the original Doomsday!"
Alexander Luthor let out a terrifying laugh, his divine power scattering as his body trembled.
But he failed to notice that the God of Knowledge, the DCEU's Lex Luthor, had a corner of his mouth twitch into a cold smile. The path these fools were betting on was not the plan he was most satisfied with.
Now, it was time to unveil the third plan he had formulated back in the DCEU Universe, one that he had never implemented—a plan that could potentially eliminate the threat of Du Wa forever.
(end of chapter)I think people don't understand it. I have a personal website where I post advanced free chapters — there are 10 new chapters per day, so you can check it out here: soollhooaf.com