"Killing, hatred, regret."
Inside a strange galaxy, feeling the invisible spectral energy drifting through it, Thanos sighed softly with narrowed eyes. The energy around him was so lively, so friendly, so eager and warm to welcome him, and guide him in a certain direction.
A mysterious power was calling him with a whisper of strong temptation.
No one can resist the call from deep within, but Thanos can. After being transformed and projected by Luke, his emotional energy priorities naturally took precedence over those set by Luke. He could also synthesize a high-purity Serenity Blue, rendering him immune to the influence of emotions beyond those set by Luke. This effectively gave Thanos a conceptual entry that made him immune to all forms of mental control.
So Thanos could squint his eyes slightly and watch the surrounding forces trying their best to present faces that were familiar yet unfamiliar to him, and even scenes hidden deep in his soul.
That was his home and his people.
Many things he had already forgotten were now presented in vivid detail, as if he had not forgotten them, but had simply hidden these memories in the deepest part of his heart and not recalled them.
That mysterious power, unable to penetrate his mind, could yet reveal all this, astonishing Thanos. Before him lay a familiar star, the former home of the Titans. Yet, from another perspective, he saw a vast void of high-energy concentration.
Or perhaps it shouldn't be called nothingness, but rather a magical, strange star body emitting incredible energy. A black sun!
"What a pleasant surprise." Thanos looked at the living sun, a sun with perception and life. He sensed an energy from this black sun that was no less than the emotional spectrum, or perhaps even similar to it.
The glove on his hand gave rise to an intense greed, a greed so strong that it repeatedly washed away Thanos's mental walls, wanting to influence, guide, and control Thanos, to devour the black sun and plunder all its energy. This desire was even stronger than seeing a lamp beast.
Yes, this glove is not a dead object. As a collection of matter and concepts from several dead galaxies, it possesses power far exceeding that of the Asgardian artifact! And it has an extremely high growth ceiling.
It wasn't the perfect form Luke envisioned, but rather a semi-finished product made of substandard materials and technology. But that didn't affect its power.
The concept of infinity that Luke bestowed upon it is greed! Or, in other words, within the Infinity series, it represents Luke's desire and greed for energy. It can devour both known and unknown energies, and can self-evolve and adapt to accommodate new energies, making them compatible with it.
Of course, its use requirements are also extremely demanding, so demanding that even Thanos, who has not been transformed and strengthened, would feel a heavy burden when wearing it. Furthermore, it is extremely self-involved and contagious. The wearer needs more than just a strong physique; a strong mental will is also required, otherwise they will become its slave, losing their self and becoming its agent.
"Odin's Sucking."
Thanos had no intention of suppressing his instincts, but instead released all boundaries. A delightful sucking sound came from the void, and distant planets and nearby meteorite belts collapsed one by one in this sucking sound, disappearing into the void. It was like entering the stomach of a giant space beast.
The huge, invisible star in the distance that emitted powerful invisible spectral energy, in Thanos's spiritual perception, the huge star also swayed under this sucking. A solar storm broke out, and a large amount of energy was swallowed up. In Thanos' perception, the strange black sun was even sucked from a sphere into a pointed cone.
A furious energy storm raged across the universe, mingling with enough energy to destroy several major planetary systems and sweeping across Thanos. However, Thanos had technically been forcibly elevated by Luke to a higher-dimensional, corporeal being. This blast of energy, enough to repeatedly destroy a planetary system a dozen times, blew into his face, yet he felt nothing like a gentle breeze on the face of an ordinary person, unscathed.
At least half of the energy was absorbed by the gloves without any reservation.
The two sides started a tug-of-war.
The glove frantically sucked all the energy of the galaxy, while the strange black sun on the other side began to move in the universe like a living thing.
One party wants to suck more energy.
One side wants to get rid of this devouring monster.
In the middle of them is an energy belt extending from the black sun. The boundless heat and energy look like a colorful dark ribbon in Thanos' perception, one end connected to the black sun and the other end connected to the void in front of him.
The gloves seemed to sense the black sun's intention to leave, and immediately increased its output energy, keeping the other party within its gravitational range.
The energy that was forcibly sucked out of the black sun caused it to be pulled from its conical form into a rope-like linear shape. Its diameter remained the same, but the torrent of energy that was sucked out was equal to its diameter.
It was unknown how long it took, but after all the surrounding matter within hundreds of light years was plundered and sucked away, and even the black sun disappeared, this gluttonous feast came to an end.
A slightly satisfied burp seemed to echo through the void, and then everything returned to calm, sinking back into true silence. A black pattern, like a burning sun, appeared on the rearranged and reassembled glove.
"The order has changed, and the burden has become heavier." Thanos, feeling a slight heaviness in his body, looked at the gloves in his hands that had become silent, and murmured softly.
He could sense the last black sun, having discarded a vast amount of energy, escaping the glove's range, but he had no intention of recapture. It had been severely damaged, at least half of its energy captured and absorbed by the glove. It would take countless hours for it to recover. The unlucky ones might transform from a unique star-level life form into a "dead" sun with a unique energy source. Perhaps, after docking in a planetary system in the future, it would give rise to some unique life, species, or even civilization capable of harnessing and using its energy.
But these have nothing to do with Thanos anymore.
He could sense another terrifying energy emanating from this place, but for the wireless glove, whose concept was devouring, that terrifying energy had no effect on it for the time being. Furthermore, it was currently in a state of dissipation.
"And the last two."
Looking at the circle formed by the eight inlay positions on the glove, with only two gem positions left on the glove, Thanos once again looked into the depths of the universe.
…
Cave base.
As the invasion alarm sounded, Wayne, who came out of the laboratory fully armed, saw the person who came.
"Who are you?" Wayne frowned as he looked at the man standing before him. Although the man was an intruder, he strangely didn't sense any hostility or malice from him.
"John Jones. A policeman." The man raised his hands to indicate that he meant no harm and answered honestly. "I came to join you and see if I can help you."
"You disguised yourself well, but I can't trust someone who hides his true identity." Wayne said, and inexplicably thought of himself who always wore a bat suit. For a moment, he and the man opposite him looked at each other in silence.
"Well, trust requires some honesty." After a moment's silence, the man shrugged, discarded his disguise, and revealed his true form. He was a strange figure with green skin, just like the Green Lanterns in their energy-covered state, green from head to toe.
"Ron Rongzi, this is my alien name. But I prefer you to call me by the new name I gave me on this planet, John." John Jones, who came to the door, said frankly.
"Aliens?" Wayne was filled with deep suspicion. He'd thought Gotham was crazy enough, but he hadn't expected the situation outside of Gotham to be just as crazy! Aliens and alien equipment kept appearing one after another, and it was impossible to determine how many aliens there were. There were even gods and demigods like Diana hiding in the human world. But considering that even civilizations existed in the bottomless ocean, it seemed understandable and acceptable.
"I'm from your neighboring planet, Mars. My race was wiped out in a catastrophe. I was summoned here by accident during the time of destruction. A human helped me overcome my illness and gave me a new life. Unfortunately, his health is not good." John calmly explained his origins and past. "I was confused for a while after his death, but then I realized that I should help him make this planet a better place and protect it as if it were my home."
"So, you're really here to join us?" Wayne naturally wouldn't believe everything the other party said. He would definitely use his own power to collect and confirm the information John said. Even if the information was verified to be correct, he would still need to deeply understand the other party's psychology, combat capabilities, and weaknesses.
"Of course." John said.
"How did you find us?" Wayne asked. This was the question that concerned him most.
"I have some unique abilities and powers. If I wanted to, I could sense everything happening on the entire planet and even read a target's mind. Of course, I don't usually use this ability. I'm not one to pry into other people's privacy." John said, "I've been observing you since the Battle of Gotham. For nearly a year, I've participated in all your battles and meetings. I can sense your will. If Thanos truly wants to do something to this planet, or even the universe, I will stand with you."
Wayne was silent for a moment, and he began to think in his mind whether the base and his suit needed to be upgraded again and have some new functions added? For example, defense against psychic abilities?
He didn't want himself and his teammates to be exposed to one person without any privacy. And if this weakness could be eliminated before the war began, it would naturally be better to eliminate it.
If Thanos is determined to collect the seven lamps, he will inevitably return here again to ask them for the energy of the purple lamps. This time may be in the future, or it may be in the near future. It is precisely because of this uncertainty that Wayne and others have a sense of urgency at all times.
Everyone is trying to improve their strength and train themselves so that when they face Thanos, they won't collapse at the first blow like they did the first time, without even the strength to resist.
Without the power to resist, there will naturally be no right to negotiate.
This made Wayne very uncomfortable, as he always wanted to control all possibilities in his own hands.
He didn't reject John's offer of joining him, but of course, he didn't immediately trust him, even after using his suit's sensor module to determine he wasn't lying. He couldn't be sure if he could influence his sensor module's judgment. He needed to better understand his opponent's abilities and strengths.
…
Lex Group.
Underground core laboratory.
Sinestro looked in surprise at the life form full of explosive lethality soaked in the nutrient solution.
"You actually did it, incredible!" Sinestro muttered to himself in shock.
"Yes, it's difficult. Just digesting all that Kryptonian technology took me a lot of time." Lex Luthor looked at his work and said softly, "I also have to thank General Zod. It was he who sent me his body and Kryptonian technology. Although I have to share some of it with the military, it doesn't matter. Who cares about those things? That Kryptonian spaceship retains most of the Kryptonian technology. It is a rare treasure."
"According to the description of the technology, he was the most terrifying combat weapon Krypton could create. They called him Doomsday! Of course, according to the records I've read, this technology was successful, and they did create the strongest warrior. But the result was a failure, because they couldn't control that strongest warrior. So they could only imprison him.
This should be the second application of this technology, in my hands. This should also be the second Doomsday of this universe! I have made certain modifications and improvements to the technology, but I am not sure to what extent these modifications and improvements can be achieved. Originally, my best target was Superman, he should be the strongest Kryptonian at present, but unfortunately..."
Luthor sighed, then excitedly gazed at the clone of Doomsday he had created from General Zod's corpse, mentally gesturing. While Doomsday wasn't yet fully formed, only the final steps remained. Once completed, this would become his greatest trump card. This clearly demonstrated that his wisdom and abilities far surpassed those of Superman and the so-called Thanos.