Damon carefully examined the Ancient One's arm, silently resolving never to casually seek out Eternity.
"Ancient One, have you tried using time to restore your body?"
She shook her head, her voice calm and flat.
"No use. This is a 'blessing' imposed by Eternity. No matter how many times I reset time, I cannot remove it."
Damon furrowed his brows, thinking. "If you don't mind, I'd like to try?"
"You may," she said, then added, "Don't worry about being discovered by Eternity. I've already tried 1,354 different methods, none of which worked."
"Whether it's the powerful corrupting dark forces, the violent and insane Serpent Sea, or the divine power of Vishanti, all they can do is slow the spread of this force."
"It's like a cancer on Earth—infinitely growing, endlessly replicating. It never stops and cannot be eradicated!"
"Until it transforms my entire being into something else… an ugly, terrifying, chaotic, and disordered monster!"
Damon listened intently, recalling his Marvel knowledge, increasingly convinced that this wasn't something from the Marvel canon.
No… there is one force that feels similar: the Cancer Universe.
If that's the case, this universe is probably doomed.
He cautiously asked, "Have you studied the eye demon Schumagras?"
The Ancient One blinked, then nodded. "I did consider whether it was the eye demon's power, but after comparing the two, I realized that while they are somewhat similar in essence, I can confirm they are not the same entity."
"Also, Schumagras, though transcending time, does not surpass Eternity itself. It cannot steal Eternity's power. So it must be someone else entirely."
Damon's mind flickered to the living intestines from the movie Annihilation he had seen in another life.
Although he didn't know exactly what it was, he knew this was a force beyond the world.
Coincidentally, his own power also comes from beyond the world. Damon activated a divine light.
"How is it?"
"Warm… it fills me with courage and confidence."
The Ancient One didn't answer directly, but Damon switched to another ability: Healing, Rejuvenation, Star Infusion.
"No use. The best solution is… never approach Him!"
The Ancient One wasn't disappointed—she had accepted her fate.
Damon scanned his skill library, noting that most abilities were beyond the Marvel universe.
At present, he couldn't unlock bug-level abilities, which explained the apparent helplessness.
"No, it's not necessarily helpless!" Damon thought.
"The Map Editor can edit anything. In theory, it can directly remove this negative state."
"But… Ancient One…"
Damon hesitated. To truly leverage his God-level abilities, he needed her full trust, her genuine belief in him without reservation. That was impossible right now.
Even if she now sought his help, it was merely to make him the successor protector of the world.
Damon had another thought. "If Eternity and Oblivion are unreliable, have you tried seeking Death or Infinity?"
She shook her head, speaking in a strange tone: "I have no right to know Infinity's whereabouts. As for Death…"
"Once I die, I'll meet Her naturally, won't I?"
"Of course, but perhaps not… Death may have already vanished."
Damon twitched at the corner of his mouth. What kind of bugged universe is this?
Could it have been born from a bug?
This trash universe… is it even worth maintaining? It's like a pile of buggy code—if it runs, be grateful. No need for bikes, upgrades, or fixes. What if the bug-master quits?
Damon suspected the universe's stability relied not on justice, but on mutual interference among bugs.
Now, with the Planet Devourer dead, one of these bugs vanished.
The world could collapse like dominoes. The code was about to crash.
No wonder the Ancient One wanted to flee. Damon almost wanted to leave first as a courtesy.
"No… if Death vanished, then death itself shouldn't exist in this world. No one should die."
He thought about the Cancer Universe, where death is sacrificed and darkness rampant. Yet in this world, beings still die. The Ancient One was even seeking Death.
"Death still exists, more Reapers than before, but…"
"Do you know who knows Death best in this universe?"
She asked an odd question. Damon almost said Deadpool—then the image of a bootlicking figure flashed in his mind.
"Thanos?"
The Ancient One was surprised and nodded. "Yes. Thanos knows Death best. Recently, he embarked on a quest to find the Goddess of Death while searching for the Infinity Stones."
So Death exists, yet has disappeared.
Damon was confused, but then guessed:
"You mean… Death exists but is no longer the Death we knew. She maintains the world, taking over the mess left by the old Death."
Damon was speechless.
The four cosmic abstracts maintaining Marvel order—at least three had been replaced. Only the last one, Infinity, remained.
He suspected… Infinity had fled. No—all four cosmic abstracts fled.
This universe was far too extreme. Only the Planet Devourer, always hungry, couldn't escape due to insufficient energy. Hence, it died.
Thinking of his Map Editor and "Anomalous Points," Damon's guess was confirmed.
Perhaps this world was originally normal, until the first anomaly appeared. More anomalies merged in. Now, this universe had become a chaotic, bugged anomaly universe.
Given the countless cosmic concepts integrated, a random Clark (Superman) appearing somewhere was no surprise. One more or less wouldn't matter.
In short… it's doomed.
But Damon had an idea. Why not embrace it fully?
"This world is already in chaos… I might as well add fuel to the fire, make it burn even brighter."
"Anomalies? Fine. Then I'll become the greatest anomaly, and all anomalies will become normal!"