Chapter 260: Rather Than Being Superman's Vassal, Praise Me and Become a Xenomorph
Countless gazes were fixed upon the Main Universe.
This important yet tiny world had become a place of intense focus for numerous deities, who were once again witnessing an unbelievable miracle.
Yes, once again. In that moment, even the gods most skilled in calculation couldn't figure out how many times Du Wa had managed to utterly shock them.
This was especially true given that Du Wa had just been brutally killed over and over again by Doomsday not long ago. The gods had secretly nodded in approval, believing that Du Wa's refusal to attack Doomsday, thus giving it no opportunity for evolution, was the absolute correct choice.
If Du Wa had engaged Doomsday in a world-shattering battle like the ones he'd fought against Doctor Manhattan, Ghost, and Barbatos, he would have had to be out of his mind. The original Doomsday was fundamentally different from the Doomsdays born in other universes; it had conquered Death and possessed an unlimited capacity for evolution.
"A clever move, and the most correct one. The one thing Du Wa doesn't lack is clones. He can use sheer numbers to keep Doomsday occupied, permanently tying him down with this method."
Ares was staying in Heaven. The Main Universe was simply too dangerous now. Even for someone as powerful as the God of War of Olympus, he absolutely would not dare to venture there in person. He wasn't even willing to send a clone to the Main Universe anymore.
Without multiversal-level strength, entering the Main Universe meant contributing to Du Wa's great Xenomorph enterprise. And if you did have multiversal-level strength, you had to consider whether, if caught alone, you would be joyfully targeted by Du Wa, who would rush over with Quantum Batman to hold you down for parasitism.
Ares loved war more than anything, but he had to admit that fighting an all-out war against Du Wa in the future would surely be an extremely painful affair.
Unless the entire Heavenly Host—Olympus, Asgard, the Heavenly Palace Pantheon, the Egyptian Pantheon, the Indian Pantheon, the Mayan Pantheon... all the pantheons united. Only with the full mass of the Old Gods could they possibly suppress Du Wa and the Xenomorphs.
Yes, only suppress. It would be very difficult for the Old Gods of Heaven to eradicate the Xenomorphs from this world.
"Give up the fantasy in your head. I can feel the warlike impulses you're emanating from the other side of Mount Olympus," Athena arrived, her voice carrying a coldness that kept others at a distance. "Even if we gathered the full power of the Heavenly Host and mobilized all the Old Gods, the most we could do is defeat the Xenomorphs. We can't kill them all. And you know, if we can't wipe them out completely, we'll be the ones to suffer in the end."
Besides, the various pantheons of the Old Gods would never truly unite. After all, Du Wa hadn't gone mad enough to lead his entire race into the Sphere of Gods and launch an all-out assault on Heaven.
"I don't like it when you flaunt your wisdom, and don't you dare use that wisdom to try and guess my thoughts." A trace of ferocity flashed in Ares's eyes. The God of War was never good-tempered.
Athena was noncommittal. Within the entire Olympian pantheon, there were a few individuals who were extremely dangerous and most likely to cause trouble. Zeus was one, and Ares was another.
Regardless, Athena would not allow any restless individuals to drag the entire pantheon into endless trouble.
Ares said in a low voice, "I know Du Wa is not someone I can deal with. He and the newly recruited Quantum Batman represent at least two powerful deities..."
"And Doctor Manhattan. Even I can't find where He went or what He's doing, but I have a premonition that this guy won't stay quiet for long," Athena interrupted Ares, causing his anger to rise further.
However, she was right. Unless there was some irreconcilable hatred, no faction was willing to go to war with the Xenomorphs.
Athena pondered for a moment. "However, I am quite surprised. Those brilliant mortals actually found a subtle way to lure Doomsday into the Main Universe. It was extremely risky, but it was indeed a way to strike at Du Wa's power, preventing him from having complete, unchecked control."
But soon, Athena was at a loss for words. She watched as Du Wa, after being killed repeatedly, finally chose to act. With a casual wave of his hand, Doomsday froze.
It all happened so bizarrely that Athena had to think for a while before she realized what had occurred.
"Truly astonishing. To think Doomsday could be dealt with this way... But only Du Wa could have done it. In his capacity as the God of Xenomorphs, he united with an intelligent mortal who wields the Mobius Chair, using parasitism to counter evolution..."
It was an incredible move. If Du Wa had failed, Doomsday would have evolved immunity to parasitism, and Du Wa's greatest trump card would have been permanently nullified. But against all odds, Du Wa succeeded. He found the most cost-effective and, at the same time, the simplest and most effective solution among countless impossibilities.
Doomsday, a creature that gave all the gods a headache and was barred from the Sphere of Gods by any means necessary, forcing the multiverse with its numerous mortal lives to slow its evolution, had just been captured by Du Wa.
Even Athena felt her mind couldn't keep up, let alone the other deities.
The gods didn't understand, but they were profoundly shocked. You could do that?!
They had thought that crazily sacrificing lives to perpetually stall Doomsday was already an excellent solution, one that would also tie up a portion of Du Wa's power. But who knew this was even an option?
And now? A bunch of brilliant minds had schemed and calculated, even indirectly involving the Main Universe's Darkseid, and this was the final result?
"Du Wa has obtained Doomsday... Even if he can never truly parasitize and control it, just keeping Doomsday in this immobile state is an incalculably huge threat! Who knows what Du Wa will use Doomsday for in the future," Ares gritted his teeth.
If he can control Doomsday now, won't he try to find ways to tame it in the future?
Ares turned and walked away.
"Where are you going?"
"To find a way to get stronger, and then to save my own skin. You don't want to see a day when we stand on opposite sides, one of us a normal god, the other having already turned into a Xenomorph, do you?"
As the God of War, Ares had watched Du Wa grow from an insignificant cosmic celestial into a terrifyingly formidable being, instigating a series of great battles and acting more belligerently than the God of War himself.
Ares felt he had to do something before Du Wa triggered the next major event.
It wasn't just Ares; countless deities were dumbfounded by this outcome. They had all been preparing for the Main Universe to be smashed to pieces years from now and were even getting ready to deal with the next hard reboot.
Who would have thought it would turn out like this?
"It's happened again. That guy, Du Wa, he's done it again!"
"It's hard for us to predict what kind of solution that guy will come up with! His immense strength is certainly worthy of dread, but these deep, layered countermeasures, even more troublesome than Batman's, put even more pressure on me!"
"How long has it been? We all agreed he was the weakest multiversal deity! Weren't we waiting for him to bring his Xenomorph race into the Sphere of Gods? Even if he refused to join an existing world and chose to build his own Xenomorph world from scratch, that would have been fine. But who could have predicted it would turn out like this?"
"First Quantum Batman, and now Doomsday! In an extreme scenario, Du Wa's side can deploy at least two and a half multiversal combatants!"
Even those beings who had paid Du Wa no mind, focusing wholeheartedly on studying the Source Wall, now felt a little restless.
This was especially true for those in the various worlds of the Sphere of Gods who had not yet reached a multiversal standing. The stronger Du Wa became, the more danger they were in. Didn't this mean they were at risk of becoming a Xenomorph at any moment?
"I have never seen such a troublesome concept god!"
He was even more difficult to deal with than The Endless. The concepts The Endless represented pertained more to ethereal states of being, but Du Wa was different. He was a concept god based on a specific creature, one who could forcibly turn innocent gods into Xenomorphs. This fell within the scope of war and physical transformation.
No one wanted to provoke Du Wa. But it had to be said that while the middle and upper echelons of the various worlds were on high alert as if facing a powerful enemy, for those who were discontent, another option had appeared—a choice to break away from the old order and defect to a new faction and new forces.
A typical example was Apokolips. On this super-planet, there were countless super-cities teeming with crime. If one were to shout Du Wa's name when in danger and transform into a Xenomorph, would they still be considered a resident of Apokolips?
Yes? How could that be? Each Xenomorph was, to a large extent, Du Wa himself. Who would plant a bunch of ticking bombs in their own territory?
No? Then should they be killed or expelled? That course of action was doomed to be endless.
It was a headache for all the deities.
If the situation in the Sphere of Gods could be described as generally stable, albeit with some anxiety...
Then in the Oblivion Bar, the heroes and villains who had escaped from the Main Universe were undoubtedly terrified.
"We failed. That Doomsday was attacked by Du Wa with some kind of method and has fallen into a state of slumber." Zatanna stopped her scrying magic, her face pale. Prying for information in the Main Universe was now extremely difficult and consumed an astonishing amount of magic power.
"Hmph, I told you so. You should have put your faith in Du Wa, not in some other people's plans," Johnny Quick declared his loyalty frantically in front of the group.
He still wasn't entirely clear on what had happened outside, as Du Wa hadn't told him. But the information conveyed through brief conversations with these people from the Main Universe was enough to make Johnny Quick's heart pound with fear.
Du Wa had become a deity comparable to the multiverse?
He had multiple Xenomorphs under his command that could easily destroy a universe?
The original Thanoseid had devoured the divinity of the Main Universe's Darkseid and reached a whole new level?
The world was changing too fast. Johnny Quick trembled.
"As you can see, it's all over."
Du Wa came online, controlling Johnny Quick's body. He walked to the bar and began mixing a drink for himself. "I have little interest in alcohol; I've always preferred boiled water. But since you've chosen to hole up in this bar to eke out a miserable existence, I'm willing to inconvenience myself and reluctantly sample your stored fine wines, and also to see off your soon-to-be-concluded era."
"Dream on, you demon!"
Superman stepped forward. At this moment, when dozens of superheroes were so terrified by Du Wa that they were rooted to the spot, only he could stand up.
"Clark Kent. Yes, it could only be you who would stand before me. No matter the time, you are always the biggest obstacle. Look at the others. They're so stunned by this body I'm using that they can't even speak, just swallowing desperately... Don't feel ashamed or angry. This is a perfectly normal physiological reaction when facing me, a being far beyond your limit who can control your bodies and even your thoughts at will. You've done nothing wrong."
Du Wa casually sipped the fine wine, switched to another, and then opened yet another bottle, treating the Oblivion Bar as if it were his own. He watched the group with great interest.
Although, among these people, impressive figures like Godslayer Batman, Golden Wonder Woman, the Ultimate Predator, and the Dragon of Barbatos would emerge in the future, they were, in the end, just foils.
Foils for the Main Universe Superman.
The more outstanding these individuals were, the more desperately they fought to resolve every crisis, changing the history of the DC World countless times—it was all, at its core, part of the arduous and heroic struggle to protect Superman.
"I will never let you parasitize us, much less become a part of you so you can justifiably rule our world! Free will should not be extinguished! The absolute order you've established is a dead end for all life!" Main Universe Superman declared with a dignified expression.
But Du Wa laughed out loud. "Superman, look at these comrades and former powerful enemies behind you. They are your appendages, too. Since you can tolerate them being your vassals, why can't you let them become my Xenomorphs? That would be fair, wouldn't it?"
"?"
Superman couldn't understand what Du Wa meant. He was not yet aware that he was the de facto core of the multiverse—after the reboot of the Flashpoint event, the tip of the iceberg of truth that had been revealed time and again was once more buried.
At the very least, the secret that Superman was the core of DC Comics had become an open secret when the Thought Robot Superman descended, but it was buried again with successive reboots.
At least the current Superman and the others were unaware of this.
Just then.
The door to the Oblivion Bar was violently pushed open. Constantine rushed in, shouting, "Bad news! I heard a lot of demons in Hell talking about Du Wa, saying he's... alright, looks like I'm too late. So, why is the Speedster from Earth-3 in the Oblivion Bar? Is something wrong with the Speed Force?"
Constantine was clearly in bad shape. A hellish place like Hell required a steep price to be paid for even the most elite human mage to survive normally.
What's more, Constantine had offended many demons. Just making it back alive was already a miracle.
Main Universe Superman clenched his fists, about to attack Du Wa, but he was soon shocked to find that Du Wa had already left. He was facing a frantically fleeing Johnny Quick.
No one gave chase because it was meaningless. Killing a Johnny Quick, whom many believed had died long ago in the great battle on Earth-3, was utterly pointless.
"Just as that guy said, he used a single speedster to dismantle our last refuge," Batman said in a low voice. For the moment, he was out of options. Even with all the anti-parasitism measures he had prepared, they wouldn't have been much use when facing Du Wa directly just now.
But Du Wa hadn't used parasitism on them.
This, in turn, made everyone even more anxious and terrified.
"I think we have our work cut out for us. We need to find out the reason for all this, to figure out Du Wa's purpose—don't look at me like that. If he wanted to make a move on us, he would have done so already. There must be a special reason he didn't... But what could it be?"
Main Universe Lex Luthor looked at Superman thoughtfully, already forming a guess.
...
As the center of all attention, Du Wa, after capturing Doomsday, casually erasing the likes of Alexander Luthor, and cleaning up his internal affairs, became uncharacteristically quiet. It was unsettling.
For a normal god, silence was the default state most of the time. But for the extremely active Du Wa, this silence was the biggest abnormality. This led some deities to suspect that Du Wa was already researching how to completely control Doomsday, which was, without a doubt, another form of stirring up trouble.
(end of chapter)