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Chapter 616: Sign
2022-10-19 Author: Great Demon Spirit
Tony opened his eyes, silent.
His spirit body was shattered by Trigon, dying outside the Speed Force wall.
"What happened?" Stephen asked.
Tony walked out of the main hall, looking up at the sky, "You absolutely must not get involved in the Civil War. The Civil War among the earthly heroes has nothing to do with you. Do not get caught up in it; this is not Kamar-Taj's mission."
Stephen nodded.
"I need to make a trip to Earth's Core," Tony said.
Stephen's expression subtly changed: "Be careful. That place is very strange. You also instructed me not to easily explore it."
"I won't go deep, just observe from the outside. If there's nothing I want, I'll leave immediately and won't disturb what's inside."
Tony stepped out, boarded the Mobius Chair, sat down steadily, then a white light flashed, and he quickly dove into the ground, disappearing.
Various soils and minerals flashed upwards before his eyes as Tony piloted the chair rapidly towards the Earth's Core.
Within Earth's Core, the secret to the origin of Earth's life was hidden.
A dead Celestial, a powerful Celestial named The Final Arbiter Lord.
And those cosmic locusts sleeping within The Final Arbiter Lord's corpse.
Four billion years ago, one of The Final Arbiter Lords inexplicably went mad, stumbled through the universe, and eventually died on Earth. The life tissue that disintegrated from his body combined with the cosmic locusts parasitic on him, becoming the origin of Earth's earliest life.
Cosmic locusts themselves didn't have strong combat power, but they could exert terrible influence over their hosts, thereby controlling them. Even the strongest team within the Celestials, The Final Arbiter Lords, fell into the hands of these cosmic locusts.
That's right, entire contingents of The Final Arbiter Lords fell. The one that died on Earth was just one of them. More Arbiters are still somewhere in the universe, controlled by other cosmic locusts.
If Tony accidentally disturbed these locusts dormant in Earth's Core, then the locusts deep in the universe would also be awakened. At that time, swarms of controlled The Final Arbiter Lords would flock.
This was the worst possible outcome, and the one Tony desperately wanted to avoid.
He wasn't interested in The Final Arbiter Lord or the cosmic locusts themselves. He was very concerned whether Earth's Core harbored what he truly needed.
The eighth Infinity Stone, the Rhythm Gem.
As Tony delved deeper, he soon reached a place not far from Earth's Core. Tony slowed his progress, extremely cautious, quietly sensing with the Power of One-Above-All.
But regrettably, there was no special aura.
Tony vaguely perceived many life signatures sleeping, but no Infinity Stone aura.
"It's not here..."
Tony's face showed disappointment.
What a pity. If the Rhythm Gem were on Earth in the Main Universe, it would save a lot of effort.
But now... the Multiverse was so vast, who knew which universe's Earth's Core the Rhythm Gem was in?
Tony quietly returned to the surface, not disturbing the locusts, letting them continue their slumber.
"There's no other way. It seems I'll have to deal with Trigon myself."
Tony floated above Earth's atmosphere, a helpless expression on his face.
The matter of Constantine summoning Trigon to stir up trouble had actually happened in the original work. In Injustice League, the Superman faction and the Batman faction broke apart, leading to a major conflict between the two sides.
Constantine, on Batman's side, summoned the Super Weapon Trigon, who nearly instant killed Superman and others. As always, Constantine was typically 'kill 'em and leave 'em.' After summoning Trigon, he immediately fled in a panic, adept at screwing over his teammates.
If Mr. Mxyzptlk hadn't rushed from the Fifth Dimension to save the day and block Trigon, Superman would have been instant killed without a trace.
"It'll still take some time to block that bastard Trigon outside the Main Universe... this time, I don't have a weapon like an Infinity Stone."
Tony pondered for a moment, then flew directly towards the edge of the cosmic barrier, easily passing through it and arriving in the Endless Blood Domain.
The viscous, crimson energy slowly pulsed, brewing terrible power. Some weaker Level Seven beings would be consumed alive if they plunged in.
But this was nothing to Tony. Although the Blood Realm energy was powerful, it posed no threat to him, as he was already prepared.
Tony looked out, observing the countless pitch-black spheres floating silently, invisible to a mortal's sight.
Each sphere was a universe.
Tony opened his palm, and a Mother Box already rested there. He gently caressed it, and the Mother Box emitted subtle fluctuations under Tony's control.
"This time, Trigon will still die. He doesn't have an artifact like the Omega Effect. Creating a Level Eight combat power clone is extremely difficult, and with two dying consecutively at my hands, Trigon will surely be heartbroken."
Tony caressed the Mother Box, a cold glint in his eyes.
Reasoning with Trigon was useless; only fists spoke. Or rather, first teach him a lesson with fists, then talk reason.
...
Earth.
Stephen summoned Nicodemus, Wong, and Mordo, explaining the relevant matters. After discussing, the few of them quietly activated monitoring magic arrays across Earth, focusing on the Justice League and the Avengers.
Honestly, the situation wasn't pretty.
A clear schism had developed between the Justice League and the Avengers.
Public pressure intensified, seemingly manipulated by unknown forces. Although the lurking Hydra had been almost completely eradicated, it couldn't stop many people from genuinely believing that superheroes should be restricted.
This was nothing to Iron Man, but for people like Batman, accepting oversight was absolutely impossible.
"The situation is quite clear now. Batman, the Mighty Man, and the Pretty Warrior stand against me."
Tony, dressed in an expensive suit with his hands in his pockets, quietly watched Captain America, who was struggling. He spoke playful trash talk, but this time no one laughed; everyone's expression was grim.
"I hope you all sign the document. We Avengers, weren't we initially under S.H.I.E.L.D. oversight?" Tony said.
Captain America held the document with his single arm—his other arm had been severed by Steppenwolf, and the stubborn Captain America had consistently refused a prosthetic limb—and said with a solemn expression, "But S.H.I.E.L.D. has fallen. We are now an independent organization."
"At least that doesn't change the original intention of this team's formation, does it? Alright, I know it's meaningless, but Steve, open your eyes and see the immense destruction we've caused! Unrestricted power is absolutely incredibly dangerous. Once it's out of control, everything is over..."
"Who can guarantee that everyone here can always maintain their original intentions? Who can guarantee that we won't always degenerate?"
Tony held the document, pointed to the bottom right corner, and said to the Avengers, "Sign it. We'll still maintain our independence; it's just an extra excuse to communicate with The Government. Trust me, I know exactly what those officials want."
(end of chapter)
2022-10-19 Author: Great Demon Spirit
Tony opened his eyes, silent.
His spirit body was shattered by Trigon, dying outside the Speed Force wall.
"What happened?" Stephen asked.
Tony walked out of the main hall, looking up at the sky, "You absolutely must not get involved in the Civil War. The Civil War among the earthly heroes has nothing to do with you. Do not get caught up in it; this is not Kamar-Taj's mission."
Stephen nodded.
"I need to make a trip to Earth's Core," Tony said.
Stephen's expression subtly changed: "Be careful. That place is very strange. You also instructed me not to easily explore it."
"I won't go deep, just observe from the outside. If there's nothing I want, I'll leave immediately and won't disturb what's inside."
Tony stepped out, boarded the Mobius Chair, sat down steadily, then a white light flashed, and he quickly dove into the ground, disappearing.
Various soils and minerals flashed upwards before his eyes as Tony piloted the chair rapidly towards the Earth's Core.
Within Earth's Core, the secret to the origin of Earth's life was hidden.
A dead Celestial, a powerful Celestial named The Final Arbiter Lord.
And those cosmic locusts sleeping within The Final Arbiter Lord's corpse.
Four billion years ago, one of The Final Arbiter Lords inexplicably went mad, stumbled through the universe, and eventually died on Earth. The life tissue that disintegrated from his body combined with the cosmic locusts parasitic on him, becoming the origin of Earth's earliest life.
Cosmic locusts themselves didn't have strong combat power, but they could exert terrible influence over their hosts, thereby controlling them. Even the strongest team within the Celestials, The Final Arbiter Lords, fell into the hands of these cosmic locusts.
That's right, entire contingents of The Final Arbiter Lords fell. The one that died on Earth was just one of them. More Arbiters are still somewhere in the universe, controlled by other cosmic locusts.
If Tony accidentally disturbed these locusts dormant in Earth's Core, then the locusts deep in the universe would also be awakened. At that time, swarms of controlled The Final Arbiter Lords would flock.
This was the worst possible outcome, and the one Tony desperately wanted to avoid.
He wasn't interested in The Final Arbiter Lord or the cosmic locusts themselves. He was very concerned whether Earth's Core harbored what he truly needed.
The eighth Infinity Stone, the Rhythm Gem.
As Tony delved deeper, he soon reached a place not far from Earth's Core. Tony slowed his progress, extremely cautious, quietly sensing with the Power of One-Above-All.
But regrettably, there was no special aura.
Tony vaguely perceived many life signatures sleeping, but no Infinity Stone aura.
"It's not here..."
Tony's face showed disappointment.
What a pity. If the Rhythm Gem were on Earth in the Main Universe, it would save a lot of effort.
But now... the Multiverse was so vast, who knew which universe's Earth's Core the Rhythm Gem was in?
Tony quietly returned to the surface, not disturbing the locusts, letting them continue their slumber.
"There's no other way. It seems I'll have to deal with Trigon myself."
Tony floated above Earth's atmosphere, a helpless expression on his face.
The matter of Constantine summoning Trigon to stir up trouble had actually happened in the original work. In Injustice League, the Superman faction and the Batman faction broke apart, leading to a major conflict between the two sides.
Constantine, on Batman's side, summoned the Super Weapon Trigon, who nearly instant killed Superman and others. As always, Constantine was typically 'kill 'em and leave 'em.' After summoning Trigon, he immediately fled in a panic, adept at screwing over his teammates.
If Mr. Mxyzptlk hadn't rushed from the Fifth Dimension to save the day and block Trigon, Superman would have been instant killed without a trace.
"It'll still take some time to block that bastard Trigon outside the Main Universe... this time, I don't have a weapon like an Infinity Stone."
Tony pondered for a moment, then flew directly towards the edge of the cosmic barrier, easily passing through it and arriving in the Endless Blood Domain.
The viscous, crimson energy slowly pulsed, brewing terrible power. Some weaker Level Seven beings would be consumed alive if they plunged in.
But this was nothing to Tony. Although the Blood Realm energy was powerful, it posed no threat to him, as he was already prepared.
Tony looked out, observing the countless pitch-black spheres floating silently, invisible to a mortal's sight.
Each sphere was a universe.
Tony opened his palm, and a Mother Box already rested there. He gently caressed it, and the Mother Box emitted subtle fluctuations under Tony's control.
"This time, Trigon will still die. He doesn't have an artifact like the Omega Effect. Creating a Level Eight combat power clone is extremely difficult, and with two dying consecutively at my hands, Trigon will surely be heartbroken."
Tony caressed the Mother Box, a cold glint in his eyes.
Reasoning with Trigon was useless; only fists spoke. Or rather, first teach him a lesson with fists, then talk reason.
...
Earth.
Stephen summoned Nicodemus, Wong, and Mordo, explaining the relevant matters. After discussing, the few of them quietly activated monitoring magic arrays across Earth, focusing on the Justice League and the Avengers.
Honestly, the situation wasn't pretty.
A clear schism had developed between the Justice League and the Avengers.
Public pressure intensified, seemingly manipulated by unknown forces. Although the lurking Hydra had been almost completely eradicated, it couldn't stop many people from genuinely believing that superheroes should be restricted.
This was nothing to Iron Man, but for people like Batman, accepting oversight was absolutely impossible.
"The situation is quite clear now. Batman, the Mighty Man, and the Pretty Warrior stand against me."
Tony, dressed in an expensive suit with his hands in his pockets, quietly watched Captain America, who was struggling. He spoke playful trash talk, but this time no one laughed; everyone's expression was grim.
"I hope you all sign the document. We Avengers, weren't we initially under S.H.I.E.L.D. oversight?" Tony said.
Captain America held the document with his single arm—his other arm had been severed by Steppenwolf, and the stubborn Captain America had consistently refused a prosthetic limb—and said with a solemn expression, "But S.H.I.E.L.D. has fallen. We are now an independent organization."
"At least that doesn't change the original intention of this team's formation, does it? Alright, I know it's meaningless, but Steve, open your eyes and see the immense destruction we've caused! Unrestricted power is absolutely incredibly dangerous. Once it's out of control, everything is over..."
"Who can guarantee that everyone here can always maintain their original intentions? Who can guarantee that we won't always degenerate?"
Tony held the document, pointed to the bottom right corner, and said to the Avengers, "Sign it. We'll still maintain our independence; it's just an extra excuse to communicate with The Government. Trust me, I know exactly what those officials want."
(end of chapter)