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Chapter 568: Would You Fucking Stop Chasing Me!
Tony cornered Steppenwolf, driving him toward the old Mage like a pig to the slaughter.
The old Mage looked at Steppenwolf indifferently, raised the Infinity Stone in his hand, and blasted it at Steppenwolf along with pure white magic.
"The sin from Apokolips should be annihilated!" the old Mage said.
Sin?
Steppenwolf was about to go crazy with rage.
No one had ever dared to speak to him like that, except for the ignorant. Anyone who knew of his noble origins wouldn't dare humiliate him with such words.
This was an insult to a great god!
But that rule had been broken. The way Tony looked at him was no different from looking at an animal, single-mindedly focused on killing him. The newly arrived old Mage directly treated him as a sin, the kind that was a waste of air just by being alive.
Several different powers violently bombarded Steppenwolf at the center. Steppenwolf was under immense pressure. The battle-axe in his hand let out a whine. Before Steppenwolf's astonished eyes, it began to bend bit by bit as faint cracks started to appear.
"You..." Steppenwolf's eyes were red as he was about to erupt.
"Don't forget our deal," Tony added, twisting the knife.
Steppenwolf froze for an instant. The cracking sound grew louder, and the battle-axe in his hand finally shattered, unable to withstand the immense power.
Immediately after, several violent attacks devoured him. A scream rang out as Steppenwolf's body collapsed bit by bit, disintegrating in the blinding light.
In the end, Steppenwolf glared at Tony with ferocious and brutal eyes.
It seemed, apparently, that this so-called deal didn't include his life at all.
With a silent roar, Steppenwolf was utterly killed. His body, having lost its soul and willpower, began to disintegrate on its own. This was a great disappointment to Tony, who had wanted to grab some of his biological tissue for research.
The turbulent mystic energy around the old Mage slowly receded, and he let out a sigh of relief.
"He was easier to deal with than I thought." The old Mage stroked his white beard, hands on his hips, looking quite pleased with himself.
"That's because this clone of his was never that strong to begin with. If one at the peak of Level Seven had come, then we'd have been in trouble."
Tony sat on his chair, controlling its energy source and gradually powering it down.
"Even if a peak Level Seven really did show up, you'd have a way to deal with it, right?" The old Mage stroked his beard and chuckled.
"Maybe. Who knows," Tony said noncommittally.
If a peak Level Seven were to truly appear, he had plenty of ways to handle it. If he couldn't win on his own, he'd call for backup: Earth's Wizard Shazam, Cybertron's artificial Celestials, and so on. If all else failed, he could also try to win over Amatsu-Mikaboshi.
There were many methods; he just had to find an efficient one.
"Here's your gem back." The old Mage tossed the orange gem.
"You don't want it?" Tony raised his eyebrows.
The old Mage shook his head. "This thing isn't for me. Messing with souls... it's a terrible feeling."
Tony nodded and casually put away the orange gem.
The Infinity Gauntlet he'd snatched from Thanos, along with the fragments of the other five Infinity Stones, were still stored in the Iacon Archives on Cybertron. He could retrieve them for use at any time, although their power was greatly diminished.
"Right, there's something I need to remind you about," the old Mage said suddenly.
"Is there news about Amatsu-Mikaboshi and Thor?"
"Not yet. Those two charged out of the Prime Universe and fought their way into the Blood Realm. No idea if they're dead or alive."
"We'll see who can last until the end. That damned Blood Realm is a burden even for a Level Seven. A blood war in that place is a complete nightmare," Tony said, shaking his head.
He just hoped Thor wouldn't die. Even if he couldn't win, he had to escape and come back. As long as he was alive, there was hope... Well, worst case, Tony could just inject Thor with Doomsday cells again.
Considering Thor's powerful body and tenacious willpower, there was nothing a vial of Doomsday cells couldn't solve—unless he couldn't withstand it and just died.
If he were to inject new Doomsday cells into Thor, who had already been implanted with the Celestial gene... it might cause Thor's life form to take another leap forward.
This time, Eternity surely wouldn't come looking for trouble with him again in a rage, right? That would be way too petty.
Tony stroked his chin, a serious expression on his face as he contemplated the feasibility of subjecting Thor to a second round of human experimentation.
Thor was so great. He was easy to get along with, agreeable, and not too quick on the uptake. Give him a shot and he wouldn't even get angry.
The last time he injected Thor with the Celestial gene, it had drastically advanced the progress on the artificial Celestial project. Based on the valuable data obtained from Thor's body and the numerous incomplete genetic templates that had started to emerge before being erased by Thor himself, Cybertron was now confident it could create a battle-ready artificial Celestial. The only question was whether it would be controllable.
If they created one but couldn't keep it in check, that would be a huge problem.
Besides, wasn't Thor a living example? A living, new Celestial. Not to mention, the Cybertron Academy of Sciences had stored blood from over a hundred thousand Asgardians. The genetic code of the Asgardian divine race held almost no secrets for Tony and his people.
"Just wait. That guy Thor is tough to kill. He won't die. Even if he's down to his last breath, he'll make it back to Cybertron before he kicks the bucket. Right, what was it you wanted to say?"
Tony smacked his lips, wiping the terrifying expression from his face that had made the old Mage's heart pound.
"It's Megatron. He went to the Academy of Sciences wanting to implant an Infinity Stone," the old Mage said gravely.
"Implant? He's really got some nerve." Tony was a bit surprised. He glanced down at his chest, where the Plot Gem was still faithfully concealing his presence.
Otherwise, Tony definitely wouldn't have survived this long. Countless gods would have swarmed long ago, tearing the multiverse apart to find him.
"It's not impossible, but the drawbacks of a regular Infinity Stone are too great. You can only run rampant within a single universe for a while. Outside that universe, it becomes useless, less effective than a wooden stick."
Tony nodded, then shook his head, making it unclear whether he agreed or disagreed.
"So Megatron proposed an even more deranged method." The old Mage shrugged. "He wants to use the power of the Infinity Stone to enrich his gene chain, perfecting every single useful and useless gene and cell in his body."
"Has he gone mad?"
Tony was speechless.
A regular Infinity Stone is the personification of a certain power within a single universe. It wasn't entirely out of the question to simply consume an Infinity Stone like a super-tonic, but the danger level...
"He feels like he's been left in the dust by Optimus Prime, and he himself looks down on sophisticated things like the Emotional Spectrum, so he's set his sights on the Infinity Stones," the old Mage said with a sigh.
"Alright, I'll talk to him privately. Directly destroying an Infinity Stone just to devour its power core... there's a good chance he'll die."
Tony stroked his chin, then directly opened a portal and returned to Cybertron.
He had to talk to Megatron about this insane, yet very Megatron-like idea, which was full of a certain short-sighted ambition but possessed a considerable degree of feasibility.
...
At the same time, on Earth, the Earth Alliance was gradually gaining the upper hand. Although Cybertron's armies were retreating in an orderly fashion, wiping out the remaining Parademons was only a matter of time.
While war raged across Earth, a blue vortex suddenly appeared, followed by a flash of yellow electric arcs. A red figure ran out of the vortex.
The Flash ran in a frantic hurry, glancing back from time to time at the Time Wraith that was relentlessly pursuing him. He snapped in frustration, "Would you fucking stop chasing me?! I didn't even do anything! History hasn't changed at all!"
(end of chapter)
Tony cornered Steppenwolf, driving him toward the old Mage like a pig to the slaughter.
The old Mage looked at Steppenwolf indifferently, raised the Infinity Stone in his hand, and blasted it at Steppenwolf along with pure white magic.
"The sin from Apokolips should be annihilated!" the old Mage said.
Sin?
Steppenwolf was about to go crazy with rage.
No one had ever dared to speak to him like that, except for the ignorant. Anyone who knew of his noble origins wouldn't dare humiliate him with such words.
This was an insult to a great god!
But that rule had been broken. The way Tony looked at him was no different from looking at an animal, single-mindedly focused on killing him. The newly arrived old Mage directly treated him as a sin, the kind that was a waste of air just by being alive.
Several different powers violently bombarded Steppenwolf at the center. Steppenwolf was under immense pressure. The battle-axe in his hand let out a whine. Before Steppenwolf's astonished eyes, it began to bend bit by bit as faint cracks started to appear.
"You..." Steppenwolf's eyes were red as he was about to erupt.
"Don't forget our deal," Tony added, twisting the knife.
Steppenwolf froze for an instant. The cracking sound grew louder, and the battle-axe in his hand finally shattered, unable to withstand the immense power.
Immediately after, several violent attacks devoured him. A scream rang out as Steppenwolf's body collapsed bit by bit, disintegrating in the blinding light.
In the end, Steppenwolf glared at Tony with ferocious and brutal eyes.
It seemed, apparently, that this so-called deal didn't include his life at all.
With a silent roar, Steppenwolf was utterly killed. His body, having lost its soul and willpower, began to disintegrate on its own. This was a great disappointment to Tony, who had wanted to grab some of his biological tissue for research.
The turbulent mystic energy around the old Mage slowly receded, and he let out a sigh of relief.
"He was easier to deal with than I thought." The old Mage stroked his white beard, hands on his hips, looking quite pleased with himself.
"That's because this clone of his was never that strong to begin with. If one at the peak of Level Seven had come, then we'd have been in trouble."
Tony sat on his chair, controlling its energy source and gradually powering it down.
"Even if a peak Level Seven really did show up, you'd have a way to deal with it, right?" The old Mage stroked his beard and chuckled.
"Maybe. Who knows," Tony said noncommittally.
If a peak Level Seven were to truly appear, he had plenty of ways to handle it. If he couldn't win on his own, he'd call for backup: Earth's Wizard Shazam, Cybertron's artificial Celestials, and so on. If all else failed, he could also try to win over Amatsu-Mikaboshi.
There were many methods; he just had to find an efficient one.
"Here's your gem back." The old Mage tossed the orange gem.
"You don't want it?" Tony raised his eyebrows.
The old Mage shook his head. "This thing isn't for me. Messing with souls... it's a terrible feeling."
Tony nodded and casually put away the orange gem.
The Infinity Gauntlet he'd snatched from Thanos, along with the fragments of the other five Infinity Stones, were still stored in the Iacon Archives on Cybertron. He could retrieve them for use at any time, although their power was greatly diminished.
"Right, there's something I need to remind you about," the old Mage said suddenly.
"Is there news about Amatsu-Mikaboshi and Thor?"
"Not yet. Those two charged out of the Prime Universe and fought their way into the Blood Realm. No idea if they're dead or alive."
"We'll see who can last until the end. That damned Blood Realm is a burden even for a Level Seven. A blood war in that place is a complete nightmare," Tony said, shaking his head.
He just hoped Thor wouldn't die. Even if he couldn't win, he had to escape and come back. As long as he was alive, there was hope... Well, worst case, Tony could just inject Thor with Doomsday cells again.
Considering Thor's powerful body and tenacious willpower, there was nothing a vial of Doomsday cells couldn't solve—unless he couldn't withstand it and just died.
If he were to inject new Doomsday cells into Thor, who had already been implanted with the Celestial gene... it might cause Thor's life form to take another leap forward.
This time, Eternity surely wouldn't come looking for trouble with him again in a rage, right? That would be way too petty.
Tony stroked his chin, a serious expression on his face as he contemplated the feasibility of subjecting Thor to a second round of human experimentation.
Thor was so great. He was easy to get along with, agreeable, and not too quick on the uptake. Give him a shot and he wouldn't even get angry.
The last time he injected Thor with the Celestial gene, it had drastically advanced the progress on the artificial Celestial project. Based on the valuable data obtained from Thor's body and the numerous incomplete genetic templates that had started to emerge before being erased by Thor himself, Cybertron was now confident it could create a battle-ready artificial Celestial. The only question was whether it would be controllable.
If they created one but couldn't keep it in check, that would be a huge problem.
Besides, wasn't Thor a living example? A living, new Celestial. Not to mention, the Cybertron Academy of Sciences had stored blood from over a hundred thousand Asgardians. The genetic code of the Asgardian divine race held almost no secrets for Tony and his people.
"Just wait. That guy Thor is tough to kill. He won't die. Even if he's down to his last breath, he'll make it back to Cybertron before he kicks the bucket. Right, what was it you wanted to say?"
Tony smacked his lips, wiping the terrifying expression from his face that had made the old Mage's heart pound.
"It's Megatron. He went to the Academy of Sciences wanting to implant an Infinity Stone," the old Mage said gravely.
"Implant? He's really got some nerve." Tony was a bit surprised. He glanced down at his chest, where the Plot Gem was still faithfully concealing his presence.
Otherwise, Tony definitely wouldn't have survived this long. Countless gods would have swarmed long ago, tearing the multiverse apart to find him.
"It's not impossible, but the drawbacks of a regular Infinity Stone are too great. You can only run rampant within a single universe for a while. Outside that universe, it becomes useless, less effective than a wooden stick."
Tony nodded, then shook his head, making it unclear whether he agreed or disagreed.
"So Megatron proposed an even more deranged method." The old Mage shrugged. "He wants to use the power of the Infinity Stone to enrich his gene chain, perfecting every single useful and useless gene and cell in his body."
"Has he gone mad?"
Tony was speechless.
A regular Infinity Stone is the personification of a certain power within a single universe. It wasn't entirely out of the question to simply consume an Infinity Stone like a super-tonic, but the danger level...
"He feels like he's been left in the dust by Optimus Prime, and he himself looks down on sophisticated things like the Emotional Spectrum, so he's set his sights on the Infinity Stones," the old Mage said with a sigh.
"Alright, I'll talk to him privately. Directly destroying an Infinity Stone just to devour its power core... there's a good chance he'll die."
Tony stroked his chin, then directly opened a portal and returned to Cybertron.
He had to talk to Megatron about this insane, yet very Megatron-like idea, which was full of a certain short-sighted ambition but possessed a considerable degree of feasibility.
...
At the same time, on Earth, the Earth Alliance was gradually gaining the upper hand. Although Cybertron's armies were retreating in an orderly fashion, wiping out the remaining Parademons was only a matter of time.
While war raged across Earth, a blue vortex suddenly appeared, followed by a flash of yellow electric arcs. A red figure ran out of the vortex.
The Flash ran in a frantic hurry, glancing back from time to time at the Time Wraith that was relentlessly pursuing him. He snapped in frustration, "Would you fucking stop chasing me?! I didn't even do anything! History hasn't changed at all!"
(end of chapter)
