Inside the charred, cramped toilet stall, Lucifer Morningstar, the King of Hell, was currently staring at the ornate hand mirror in his grasp, his pupils trembling.
In the mirror, beneath the handsome face that could be called the Creator's masterpiece, his hideous demonic form surged like boiling lava.
Dark red scale patterns, the shadowy outline of horns, and eyes burning with hellfire... each flicker made him feel as if his "human skin" would split open like a cheap silicone mask at any moment!
"The balance... the internal balance has been forcibly agitated..." Lucifer was truly panicked, primarily because he didn't want to expose his true form in front of the human he liked.
"This feeling... it's that thing I threw away... but how is it possible, across universes... to still produce such a powerful resonance and hijack power from me?!"
He also struggled to understand the sheer authority of Ian's forced debt collection. It was similar to how Shiva couldn't understand why Jonathan could forcibly borrow power; the only difference was that Lucifer had a thick enough foundation not to worry about being drained empty.
Just then.
From outside came Chloe's even more forceful pounding on the door, mixed with genuine concern: "Lucifer! What exactly is going on in there? I thought I heard you screaming?"
"Are you okay? Do you really not need a doctor?!" The detective was very concerned about her partner, perhaps unaware that this concern transcended professional camaraderie.
"I'm fine! Perfectly fine! Better than fine, actually!"
Lucifer covered his cheek with one hand while hurriedly raising his voice to answer, trying to make it sound normal, though the end of his sentence couldn't help but carry a distorted, warped tone.
"I'm... uh... performing some necessary skincare." While incoherently making excuses, he scrambled around the tiny space like an ant on a hot pan.
The charred sink drawer was crudely yanked open. Inside, amidst ashes and melted plastic residue, he actually managed to find a rusty sewing needle!
"Found it!"
Lucifer grabbed it like a lifeline. Ignoring the dirt and rust, he pinched the needle and faced the mirror like a bumbling tailor, attempting to sew up the flickering "cracks" on his face! In such a frantic state, even the most absurd actions by "Three-Year-Old Lucifer" seemed reasonable.
However, using a physical needle to combat divine power imbalance was doomed to fail. The moment the rusty needle touched the unstable energy zone on his face, it was instantly melted into glowing red molten iron by an invisible heat. With a "hiss," it evaporated into blue smoke, leaving not even a speck of dross.
Against Lucifer's divine power, it certainly didn't get the same "protected" treatment as his suit.
"Dammit! This is definitely that Ian Kent!" Lucifer cursed under his breath. Seeing the demonic features in the mirror becoming more prominent, he had a sudden brainstorm and tried to dip his finger in some saliva, attempting to stick the "cracked" skin back together like sealing an envelope!
Truly a stroke of "genius."
The result was predictable.
Aside from adding some unidentified liquid to his face, it was useless.
Outside, Chloe's patience had clearly run dry.
"Lucifer! What kind of fit are you throwing? This is my final warning! If you don't come out, I'm calling people to force the door! I'm counting to three!"
"Don't! Absolutely don't, Chloe! Give me ten more seconds! No! Five seconds!" Lucifer was in a total panic. He violently ripped off his expensive custom suit jacket.
Then, he began to frantically tear it into strips with brute force. Outside, he could already hear Chloe calling over other officers to help lift the door.
At the very moment several strong officers combined their strength, shouting in unison as they heaved the warped bathroom door open—everyone froze.
It wasn't that they were speechless from seeing Lucifer's true face. Inside the bathroom, Lucifer Morningstar... had used his hand speed to complete his "emergency operation."
Every inch of his skin—his face, neck, hands—every exposed part was now wrapped tightly in crooked, messy strips of black suit fabric.
He looked exactly like a mummy dug out of a pyramid with questionable fashion sense. His face was the focal point, wrapped in several thick layers with only two holes left... and behind those holes sat a pair of oversized sunglasses he'd fished out of a pocket!
Lucifer looked bizarre and abrupt, transcending the boundaries of human understanding.
"..."
Looking at this "masked freak," even though Chloe thought she was used to Lucifer's various mental episodes, the corner of her mouth twitched uncontrollably.
The detective's temple throbbed.
"Lucifer?" she called out tentatively, her voice full of exhaustion as she rubbed her forehead. "What... what on earth are you doing?!"
Muffled-Man Lucifer, hearing Chloe's voice, seemed to find his footing. He feigned composure, responding in a forced, nonchalant tone that sounded muffled through the fabric.
"You see, I'm perfectly fine."
To add weight to his claim, he even stiffly spun around a few times, finally leaning one hand against the charred wall.
He looked more like an out-of-control black spinning top or some new form of performance art. Truth be told, without that handsome face, these actions were undeniably abstract.
"No, I thought I knew you well enough, but has your condition worsened significantly?" Chloe held her forehead, feeling her blood pressure soar.
"You call this 'nothing'? You've wrapped yourself up like a mummy! And you're wearing sunglasses in a burnt-out house! What are you trying to do?!"
The detective couldn't understand what kind of psychological trauma lay behind these behaviors.
Was it simply being neglected by his parents as a child?
"Er, well, about that." Because his vision was restricted, Lucifer clumsily shuffled out of the bathroom while trying to nudge Chloe back toward the center of the scene, explaining with his usual brand of twisted logic: "I need all-around physical sun protection to guard my delicate, perfect skin..."
Actually, this wasn't technically a lie.
Just the art of language.
"?????"
Chloe was rendered speechless by this overly powerful excuse.
It was clearly a cloudy day!
Though she was fuming, with a case at hand, she didn't have time to bicker with this clown for long.
*Sigh.*
The detective took a deep breath, trying her best to ignore Lucifer's shocking attire. She pulled him over to some collected evidence bags.
"Enough! I don't care what fit you're throwing today! Focus on the case! These are some things we found in the ruins that haven't been completely burned..."
She picked up an evidence bag containing charred paper fragments and a small object.
Lucifer leaned his cloth-wrapped head closer and replied in a muffled voice.
"Mm-hm, looks... very charred. Must have been charcoal-grilled for quite some time."
In truth, he couldn't see clearly at all. Because he was near the detective, he subconsciously chose to lose his divinity and turn into a mortal, so his vision was currently only slightly better than a typical high schooler's.
"You should at least take off the sunglasses to see clearly! This is important!" Chloe was beyond exasperated, barely resisting the urge to slap the evidence bag against Lucifer's face.
Lucifer immediately shook his head like a rattle.
"No! Absolutely not! My eyes... my eyes are a bit bloodshot right now. They're very sensitive and can't handle light!"
He was afraid his eyes would scare everyone to death if they saw light—still the truth. At this time, the female medical examiner nearby, who had finished the preliminary autopsy and was packing her tools, was drawn by the weird commotion.
She was a lively character who loved a good show, and seeing Lucifer's getup, her curiosity exploded.
"Hey! Let me see if our big baby is turning into a zombie. Do I need to give you a check-up?" She tiptoed over and, while Lucifer was focused on "explaining" or rather, making excuses to Chloe, she suddenly struck like lightning, ripping away the layers of cloth "veil" and the sunglasses from Lucifer's face!
"No!!"
Lucifer didn't expect this at all. He was startled, flailing his hands and instinctively covering his face while letting out a startled low growl!
He thought his devilish form would surely be exposed.
He was ready for the screams and the chaos!
However...
The expected screams did not come.
The scene was silent.
Lucifer peered through the cracks of his fingers, observing cautiously. He saw Chloe, Lisa the medical examiner, and several curious officers nearby all looking at him with an extremely complex mix of helplessness, amusement, and a "this kid is beyond help" look.
Their gazes were purely those of people looking at a problem child whose condition had worsened.
Because of the panic, his low growl sounded more like... an ambiguous moan of someone whose "good time" had been interrupted? In any case, it wasn't the roar of the King of Hell.
The medical examiner blinked, a mischievous smile appearing on her face. She nudged the confused and embarrassed Chloe with her elbow and whispered a question.
"Wow~ so... what kind of intense roleplay games do you two play in private? BDSM? The Mummy Returns?" This was a topic any adult would understand.
Chloe's face instantly turned bright red. She felt the gazes of her colleagues become suggestive; apparently, the medical examiner's "whisper" was on "global broadcast" mode.
"No! We didn't! He and I have definitely never slept together! Not once! I swear!" She became more agitated, repeating herself, which only made the scene more awkward.
The detective was fuming with embarrassment.
She quickly turned to Lucifer, who was still covering his face, and shouted.
"Lucifer! Say something! Explain!" She felt wronged, the kind of grievance one sees in those "caught in the act" videos online.
Actually, the detective and Lucifer had indeed never slept together, but Lucifer had no mind to explain right now. He was also stunned. He slowly lowered his hands and touched his face.
The texture was smooth—human skin.
"What's going on?"
He quickly pulled out his phone and opened the selfie camera—the screen showed his flawless, perfectly handsome face.
Where were the demon scales or the burning eyes?
"This... I see, I understand now!" Lucifer froze, then seemed to realize something. He looked at the angry and blushing Chloe, his eyes lighting up!
"Yes! Yes! That's it!"
Lucifer excitedly grabbed Chloe's arm and hugged it tightly as if it were a lifeline. "Chloe! It's you! It's your presence! It suppressed the imbalance of my divinity! I was just too panicked earlier, so I chose to temporarily leave your side, and that's why my 'state' almost went out of control!"
"Now that I'm close to you, I'm stable again!" He felt he had found a perfect logic, while Chloe was left even more confused and embarrassed by his sudden move and even more nonsensical words.
"Let go of me! Lucifer! What kind of nonsense are you talking now?! What suppression? what out of control?!" Chloe couldn't shake off Lucifer, who was clinging to her arm.
The looks from her colleagues had shifted from suggestive to "this circle is a mess" and pity for Lucifer being seriously ill.
Everyone knew Lucifer liked to call himself the King of Hell.
But who would believe him?
The entire precinct thought he was just lost in a roleplay.
Lucifer didn't care about any of that. He clung to Chloe's arm and wouldn't let go, continuing to mutter solemnly.
"This is all for the universe! For my balance! Chloe, you must believe me! If my 'shell' explodes, this tiny universe won't be able to contain my true power!"
"There will be a massive mess!"
He started speaking on a cosmic scale. These words, combined with his earlier mummy look and current behavior, sounded like a classic case of chuunibyou and were completely unconvincing.
"..."
Chloe felt like she was facing social death.
What could she do?
She could only accept her fate.
She had to endure the partner she chose through her tears. This supposed-to-be-serious crime scene fell into a chaotic and awkward farce triggered by Lucifer.
...
Meanwhile, Ian, far away in the Marvel universe, had no idea how much trouble he had unconsciously caused his "American compatriots" in the DC universe.
In the absolute void, floods of power collided and annihilated each other.
Ten minutes passed.
Ultron's omni-body, fused with the Reality Controller and the Heart of the Universe, still emitted a suffocating pressure. It precisely calculated the energy decay curve of the wings of light on Ian's body.
"Heh..."
Finally.
Ultron's scheme worked.
He detected that the holy light from Ian's wings was beginning to dim significantly, and the energy fluctuations were dropping sharply!
"Energy near depletion! Abnormal power receding!" Ultron's processor reached a conclusion. The red light in his cold electronic eyes intensified as the long-brewing counter-offensive command was about to be issued.
He had even prepared a victory speech, ready to savor the expression of panic on his opponent's face once the external power was lost.
However, Ian, whose wings were dimming, showed no panic over depleted power. Instead, he looked... eager to try more?
Ultron didn't quite understand.
His trump card was spent.
Why wasn't he running?
He thought Ian might have lost his mind.
Ian's next action revealed the true reason why he wasn't panicking.
"Out of juice already?"
Ian muttered.
Then he did something that almost caused Ultron's system to crash—he actually reached out, grabbed the pair of wings that had become "stale," and yanked them off his back!
*Rip!*
The stale wings of a Lightbringer were torn off like stickers. There was no wound where they were pulled, only swirling light particles.
Then, Ian crumpled the dissipating holy energy into a ball and held it out in front of his palm.
"Here, kid, dinner time. This stuff probably tastes average." Ian had already decided he would let the Cosmic Tapeworm eat things he couldn't bring himself to touch.
Like Lucifer's wings.
Bloody things—who knows if there's an Angel Prion in there.
Angel King Ian was very cautious about this.
The tiny Cosmic Tapeworm seemed to hesitate for a moment.
But the desire for pure food won out. It poked its "head" out from the brand, cautiously touched the ball of light energy, and began to suck frantically!
*Slurp!*
The residual holy energy and angel flesh were instantly consumed.
[Lord of Entropy EXP +2233]
[Lord of Entropy EXP +1998]
[Absorbed high-purity exotic regulatory energy... Analyzing...]
[Holy Resistance slightly increased]
The system's prompt sounded.
Ian nodded in satisfaction. About seventy percent of the energy consumed by the Cosmic Tapeworm was fed back to him through a mysterious link. This wasn't the behavior of some black-hearted capitalist.
It was just the instinct of a "parent."
"I'll save this energy for you, like saving your New Year's money, and give it back when you're older." In this moment, even if he wasn't raising his biological child, Ian felt he was already a "qualified parent" who knew how to consider a child's long-term interests and take pains for them.
Successful Scam! Having done all this, Ian looked up at the distant Ultron, who had been in a counter-attack stance but was now temporarily frozen by the absurd scene.
"TV commercials are definitely liars. They say one battery is better than six. You see, I can't stand suffering. If I can use six batteries, I shouldn't save on materials!"
"It's not like the family can't afford it." As he spoke, under Ultron's stare—which felt like it had a metal lump in its throat—he reached back into that bottomless interdimensional pocket and pulled out three identical pairs of wings radiating surging holy light! They were very fresh, obviously freshly severed by Lucifer just a few days ago.
Surely after this incident, Lucifer's habit of self-harm would be cured. Ian could cure what God couldn't—talk about being a high-value DC divine doctor!
Using Lucifer's hot-swappable wings while feeling that Lucifer actually owed him merit, Ian didn't hesitate to slam the three new pairs of wings onto his back!
*Vrrrrm—!!!!*
A pure white holy light, several times stronger than before, exploded! Six massive wings spread out behind Ian like a holy curtain, illuminating the surrounding void! Boundless holy might poured into his body like a tsunami, and the white-gold divinity was once again displayed on Ian.
Even better than before.
"??????"
Ultron couldn't understand. Why could Ian produce three identical sets of Omni-level trump cards? Was this the arrogance of absorbing the power of the OAA?
Because of this judgment, his heart was filled with envy and desire.
However.
Due to Ian's extravagant display, Ultron—who had already prepared his mocking speech—was now forced to suppress his envy and swallow his prepared words back into his system's recycle bin.
"Now this feels right!" Ian felt the power nearly exploding within him and grinned. He transformed into a six-winged Archangel, snapping all six wings simultaneously to release their power.
In the next second.
*Swish!*
His speed exceeded the capture limit of Ultron's sensors! Like instant teleportation, he appeared directly in front of Ultron, catching him completely off guard!
"Come on, Ultron! This is the time to see whose foundation is deeper!"
The "White Necrosword," burning with pure holy flames, was raised high. With a terrifying momentum that crushed everything, it slammed down onto Ultron's cross-blocking arms!
*BOOM—!!!!!!!*
This collision far surpassed the previous ones!
Ultron felt an irresistible, terrifying force—a mix of pure physical impact, holy annihilation, and some extra-regulatory brute force—transmit through the block point!
His mechanical body was hit like it was at the center of a cosmic battleship's main cannon fire.
It instantly turned into a warped stream of light, flying backward! It smashed through countless layers of weak barriers in the cracks between dimensions, finally landing in a new void area that was even more deathly silent, where even rules barely existed.
*Thud!*
Ultron crashed down heavily like a broken doll.
Creating invisible "ripples."
If not for the Heart of the Universe and the Reality Controller constantly stabilizing his anchor point of existence, that hit would have surely erased him from existence across all timelines.
The power of an Omni.
This is how unreasonable it is.
Of course.
Even with the help of cheats, Ultron was only temporarily in the Omni rank. Taking that hit was not pleasant; it truly exceeded his original estimations.
"Error, error, error~"
Ultron's system alarmed frantically. Multiple simulated neurons were overloaded, and the artifact glow on his surface fluctuated. He struggled to climb up immediately.
However, a foot covered in white-gold mimetic armor had already landed on his mechanical spine with the force of a thousand tons.
This foot pinned his rising upper body right back down!
"Got you, tin can." Ian's voice came from above, using the "cringe voice" that a six-winged angel form should have. Who knows how long he'd practiced to live as the high-pitched voice he hated most.
"Heh, so who caught whom?"
A hideous smile appeared on Ultron's metallic face.
"Foolish! You underestimate advanced mechanical life like me!"
"Did you think that I, forged of steel, would be limited by ridiculous joint structures and bone extensibility like you frail carbon-based animals?!"
Before the words finished, there was a "crunching" sound of metal twisting!
Ultron's upper body actually spun three hundred and sixty degrees on the spot, completely violating biomechanics and conventional mechanical structures!
Though his lower body was face down, his upper body was now facing up! His hands were fast as lightning, precisely grabbing the ankles of the foot Ian had used to step on his back!
"I've caught my chance! Even with three pairs of wings, you've reached the point where your energy is about to run out. This is your weakest moment—that is my calculation!" Ultron grinned, red light flared in his eyes. "Reality Controller! Modify definition: Merge target life form into a part of me!"
He wanted to fuse Ian with himself, so he directly used reality-modifying power to erase Ian's independent existence from the most fundamental definition of "life"!
This was indeed a good idea. No matter how many tricks or trump cards Ian had, he and the cards would all become part of Ultron.
Ultron didn't give Ian time to react.
At least, that's what he thought.
However, after the energy surge... still, nothing happened.
"Huh?"
Ultron was stunned. He felt like what he was holding... was really just two cold, armor-covered legs? The modification command was like a stone dropped into the ocean.
Realizing something was wrong, Ultron instinctively looked up—Ian was standing perfectly fine not far away, a mocking smile on his face.
And the "ankles" Ultron was gripping were actually two extremely long and thin mimetic legs stretched out from where Ian stood, like highly elastic plasticine!
They were connected to Ian's body.
The main body was still far away.
And Ian had already swapped in another six wings.
Maintaining his Omni-level status.
Because of this, he was naturally unaffected by Ultron's Reality Controller.
"Dammit! How many schemes do you have!"
Ultron felt his vision go dark.
"A mere steel lifeform—how could you know how many legs Master Ian has?" Ian looked up at the void at a thirty-five-degree angle, his voice carrying the sigh of a lonely master.
"..."
Ultron was so angry he wanted to self-destruct and take Ian with him.
"Since you want to merge with me so badly, Ultron, Master Ian is kind-hearted and willing to fulfill your wish." Suddenly, Ian looked at Ultron again. Ultron was still holding onto his long mimetic legs.
The tens-of-thousands-of-meters long kind.
This was the chance.
"What do you want to do?"
Alarm bells rang in Ultron's mind. He immediately tried to let go.
But it was too late!
Those two mimetic legs he was holding suddenly coiled back like living things. The mimetic armor covering them instantly liquefied into a thick, black-red chaotic energy metal liquid, spreading rapidly along Ultron's arms as if to completely envelop him!
In the blink of an eye, this eerie liquid metal covered Ultron's entire body, forming a constantly flowing shell that isolated the inside from the outside!
"STOP!!"
Ultron roared. The power of the Heart of the Universe exploded, attempting to shatter this restraint. To his horror, he found that this layer of liquid metal was frantically trying to merge with his machine body.
Even more terrifying—he felt his connection with the Reality Controller and the Heart of the Universe being forcibly interfered with and stripped away by this strange substance!
"NO!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Ultron finally let out a true, core-deep scream of terror! He felt those two supreme powers becoming unstable.
As if they were being "ripped" off his body!
As Ian manipulated the mimetic metal, trying to forcibly strip the fusion between Ultron and the two artifacts, the system prompt in his mind, which had been silent for a while, sounded again.
[Loadable data discovered. Migrating.]
This clearly referred to the power Ultron controlled.
To this.
Ian was thrilled.
And Ultron also sensed Ian's intent!
This madman! This robber! Not only was he stealing the artifacts, but he was also taking everything Ultron had accumulated, stolen, and fused over eons!
"NO!!! DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT! I WILL NEVER LET YOU HAVE YOUR WAY!" Ultron let out a completely crazed shriek of extreme anger and fear! He made a decisive choice—since he couldn't stop the data from being plundered, then... they would go down together!
Or rather, possession!
"Your body! This perfect vessel capable of compatible chaos and order, carrying unknown power! It will become my new host!"
Ultron's core processor overclocked, turning all his consciousness, all his data, all his obsessions, along with the massive artifact data and the Hero's Hearts, into a final, destructive flood of information.
He stopped resisting and instead actively and frantically rushed through Ian's absorption channel toward the depths of Ian's soul!
"You might think you've mastered the OAA's legacy! But... you've overlooked the most important thing!" Ultron's consciousness roared in the data flood.
"All the Hero's Hearts are with me! That is the most brilliant, steadfast, and heavy condensation of will from countless universes and timelines!"
"Even the true OAA would fear this force!" Countless pieces of data rushed toward Ian at faster-than-light speeds.
Ultron intended to use this massive data containing the beliefs, sacrifices, love, and responsibility of countless heroes, along with his own crazed will, to completely overwhelm Ian's consciousness and take over his body!
Countless lines of 0 and 1 code, golden regulatory chains, brilliant cosmic energy, and billions of "Hero's Hearts" glowing with different lights converged like a singularity of a Big Bang.
Vast and boundless.
Like a galaxy.
At this moment, Ian's body stiffened! His eyes instantly lost focus, his pupils dilating to the extreme. He was like someone who had hit the pause button, standing dead still like a stone statue in the absolute void.
Only the occasional energy surge around him proved what a terrifying impact was occurring inside his body.
While Ian was "petrified," fighting a perilous battle of consciousness and data, a magnificent door—appearing crooked and very abrupt—slowly and silently emerged in the depths of this silent void.
From within the door came several low, anxious voices.
"Quick! Quick! He seems to have fallen for it! He's not moving!"
"Push! Push harder! We're almost there!"
"Just a little more! Just touch him once! Just once! We can complete the activation!"
"Don't push! The hinge is going to break! The quality of this old door is really crap!"
...
That magnificent door, that mysterious door, began to wobbily and extremely slowly "shuffle" toward the motionless Ian amidst those strange urgings.
The door got closer and closer.
The crude door panel was about to touch Ian's stiff nose.
*Burp~~~*
Suddenly, a loud, robust burp erupted from Ian's mouth! Along with this burp, a stream of air mixed with data stream remnants and stardust spewed out.
"What the hell, this door again?"
Ian focused his eyes and found the silently appearing door was the same mysterious building he and Thor had encountered when they first entered the void, where a little girl's voice had spoken from within.
He took a few steps back.
Looking incredibly cautious.
And that tattered door, which had been on the verge of succeeding, instantly froze in place, stopping awkwardly.
Although it had no eyes, it currently emitted an extremely strong sense of gobsmacked and caught off guard bewilderment. It stood in an eerie staredown with Ian, who was rubbing his stomach.
Dead silence fell inside the door.
After several seconds, the voice of a little girl, sounding exasperated and full of disbelief, came from the crack in the door: "You! You you you! Shouldn't you be in a dangerous, earth-shaking mental battle with Ultron?! How can you still move?"
Ian blinked, his expression strange.
"Are you hiding in there watching abstract short skits? What mental battle? There's no such thing. Just now, Ultron suddenly had a great epiphany. He wept bitterly and deeply realized the errors of his past ways—killing the innocent and destroying cosmic peace. He felt incredibly ashamed and remorseful for his sinful life."
Ian paused, patted his stomach, and continued in a "that's how it happened" tone.
"So in the end, he chose to abandon evil for good, sacrifice himself, and seek glorious liberation. He felt that only by being absorbed and assimilated by an upright and kind person like me could his sins be washed away."
"So he went 'swish' and dove into my stomach on his own, and I gulped him down—this is what they call the return of the prodigal son."
"The villain realizes their mistakes at the last moment and tries their best to make amends, so they choose someone to entrust themselves to. That's the main theme of our Marvel universe." Ian's linguistic skills were so profound that he could convince even himself of his words within a second.
"?????" The mysterious door felt like Ian was bullying it for not having a brain. The door panels were shaking slightly as if trembling with rage at Ian's absurd statement.
"Is that how it was?"
The little girl's voice sounded again.
"Of course it was. I'm so full it's uncomfortable." Ian explained why he had suddenly been petrified; it was similar to a gym enthusiast who had eaten too many carbs.
"..."
The mysterious door fell into an unspeakable silence.
[Loading data analysis in progress~]
Ian, meanwhile, was wondering what kind of rewards he would reap this time.
The Heart of the Universe, the Reality Modifier... the more he thought about it, the more excited he became. He could already see a beautiful future where he punched Eternity and kicked Death, becoming the new big boss of the Marvel universe.
"The Marvel universe doesn't need five talkers!"
Ian's rebellious streak grew rapidly.
However, joy turned to sorrow.
[Warning! Large amount of incompatible data detected!]
[Data attributes: Excessive idealism, heavy moral shackles, severe self-sacrifice tendencies, fundamental conflict with the host's data core!]
[Forced uninstallation program initiated! Incompatible data is being uninstalled~]
The system suddenly gave Ian a wave of red text prompts.
"What?! Incompatible? Uninstalling?!"
The smile on Ian's face instantly froze.
Alarm bells rang in his heart!
He immediately realized what the system was going to uninstall—those Hero's Hearts! Ultron had collected the core beliefs and will-power of countless heroes from countless universes!
"Wait! Don't!" Ian cried out, instinctively clapping his hand over his mouth as if he could block the things trying to escape!
Unfortunately, it was too late! And... the method was wrong!
*Poof! Poof! Poof! Poof!*
They didn't even need to come out of his mouth!
One by one, light orbs flashing with soft but firm light rushed out of Ian's nostrils, ears, and even the corners of his eyes, whether there was a hole there or not!
They seemed to have their own will, agilely bypassing Ian's frantically grabbing hands and floating lightly into the surrounding absolute void, as if searching for their true masters.
"Come back! Come back! Those are mine! My Hero's Hearts!" Ian screamed in heartbreak, his heart aching as his hands grabbed wildly at the air.
He felt as if countless "small goals" were leaving him.
"That tin can Ultron could use them! Why can't I?! How am I not a hero?! I am the Hero King! Give them back!"
Ian didn't like spitting out what he'd eaten.
That pain went deep into his soul, worse than being stabbed. And just as Ian was about to burst from the loss of the "Hero's Hearts"—weeping, pounding his chest, and having a mental breakdown.
That mysterious door, which had just left in shame, silently emerged again like a shark smelling blood!
It precisely caught the moment Ian's mind was distracted and he was flailing his limbs. With a precise short-distance blink, it appeared exactly in front of Ian's wildly waving right hand!
This was the legendary "entrapment" tactic.
*Smack!*
Ian, busy trying to catch the floating light orbs, accidentally touched the door with his palm.
"A setup?"
He truly hadn't expected there to be such a pro.
In the next moment.
[Switching: Developer Mode.]
[Verification passed.]
The system's voice sounded.
Then.
"Hahaha! I'm back again!!!"
Inside the door, the little girl's voice sounded again, but this time it wasn't exasperated—it was full of the satisfied laughter of a successful scheme!
*Rumble—!!!*
On the door Ian's palm had touched, it was as if an ultimate switch had been flipped. An unimaginably brilliant light suddenly erupted!
Countless ancient and mysterious runes lit up in sequence!
The doorframe shook violently, letting out a deafening roar!
Immediately after, the door slammed open!
Behind the door was no longer that void, but an outpouring of endless, multicolored light. It was like a galaxy that had been dammed for eons bursting its banks, rushing toward Ian and the surrounding absolute void!
Even more shocking was that with the spread of these lights, small "light points" began to be lit within this dead, supposed-to-be-empty absolute void!
They were like seeds awakened by a spring breeze, greedily absorbing those lights and then slowly "blooming"—they were embryonic universe bubbles!
World embryos of countless possibilities!
In the blink of an eye, it was as if billions of stars were ignited simultaneously around Ian. Countless miniature universes were born, evolved, and expanded around him!
"As expected!"
In that supreme realm where only rules themselves can manifest, Death, Eternity, Oblivion, and Infinity—the four abstract entities of the Marvel universe—had their "gazes" penetrate the layers of void, locking firmly onto Ian Kent and that wide-open door.
They had been there all along, watching. Naturally, they saw it—they saw the absolute void turn into a boiling sea of creation, saw billions of universes like blown soap bubbles surrounding Ian, making him look as if he were wearing a magnificent, expanding robe made of stars.
The four supreme gods fell into a deathly silence.
This scene was indeed grand and shocking. The gods were silent mainly because the way the multiverse was reappearing was... somewhat beneath their dignity.
After a long time.
Seeing Ian's Marvel trial card expiring once again and his form beginning to dissipate from the observable universe, Eternity—the collection of timelines—spoke softly.
"Prepare to receive and cover these newborn universes. At least one thing we can be sure of now... the Creator has indeed always been with that ghost of a thing."
His voice carried an unspeakable realization and... a hint of helplessness.
"What state is the Big Boss in now?" Infinity's graceful form, composed of countless star systems, vibrated slightly as if suppressing a massive emotional wave.
"Who knows."
The absolute darkness around Oblivion seemed to fluctuate.
In their silence.
[Developer Mode deactivated]
[Loading data analysis continuing. Current progress: 36%.]
As the bells chimed and the multiverse began to bloom and expand, Ian returned from the Marvel universe to his own universe. On his raised palm, the "Swimming Dragon" was still active.
"It wasn't intercepted?"
Ian was somewhat astonished.
He had tried bringing living Marvel things into the DC universe before, and without exception, all had failed.
They couldn't be brought over at all. The only path that worked was bringing something like a demon's head from the DC universe into the Marvel universe.
Now.
The situation seemed to have changed again.
He just didn't know if it had anything to do with the appearance of the Marvel multiverse.
Or maybe it was for some other reason?
***
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