The day went by quickly, and at last, it was time to put the plan into action.
Norrin Radd once again stood on his silver surfboard. Although the Galaxy Glaze had been stripped from his body by Shin, under the enhancement from the surfboard, his form reignited with a radiant silver glow, making him look no different from before.
Moments later, a flash of silver light tore through the Earth's atmosphere and vanished into the vastness of space.
Unbeknownst to the others, Shin had discreetly placed a Flying Thunder God coordinate on the board. He strongly suspected that multiple individuals had tampered with it or possibly even with Norrin Radd himself.
Superheroes are not necessarily pure symbols of greatness and justice. Among the many individuals involved in this mission, quite a few were far from heroic.
Doctor Doom, for instance, almost certainly meddled with the board. Hank Pym was harder to read, though suspicion remained. And then there was a certain bald professor who always projected an air of trust but whose countless dark comic book histories made him no less suspect.
Whether someone tampered with Norrin directly, only the psychic manipulators involved would truly know.
General Ross had always advocated for psychic brainwashing of Norrin Radd, and even if the psychics involved denied it, only they would know for sure whether they acted secretly.
"The rest is just a waiting game," Shin murmured, closing his eyes as he began to draw stellar energy from the dark dimension. If he could absorb more of that power, he hoped to strengthen himself further during this short window of calm.
Even if Shin absorbed the stellar energy with everything he had, it would still take several months maybe close to a year to fully assimilate. But once completed, Shin believed he could match the raw power of the original comic book Superman. Perhaps he'd still lack certain abilities like heat vision or freeze breath, but in terms of durability, super strength, and speed, he'd be close.
If he could eventually complete the Kryptonian gene fusion, he might one day reach the level of the standard Superman from the comics.
In some comic depictions, Superman casually bench-pressed the weight of the Earth for five consecutive days without sunlight for energy replenishment. Compared to that, the movie version wasn't even in the same league.
These thoughts briefly flashed through Shin's mind. As powerful as he already was, he knew he hadn't reached that level. If he had, he wouldn't be worrying about Galactus. He'd be eliminating the threat head-on.
"Kevin, aren't you nervous?" Scarlet Witch's voice broke the silence. Her face was tight with anxiety as she sat beside him, her voice trembling.
Shin was slightly surprised but gave a small smile. "Not really. We've done all we can. Whatever happens now, we accept it. We've prepared as best as we could."
In truth, Shin was calm because he didn't have deep emotional ties to this world. If things truly fell apart, he could escape possibly with a few allies. His ability to travel through parallel universes still had limitations, but he was confident he could flee if needed.
But for these people, this world was everything, their home, their memories, their loved ones. Their entire existence was built here. They couldn't just abandon it.
Even Wanda and Quicksilver, who had relatively few connections and weren't fully immersed in the superhero mindset, wouldn't casually turn their backs on Earth. As for someone like Tony Stark? He was still obsessively upgrading his new armor.
This time, Stark was building his suit from secondary adamantium alloy and reinforcing the exterior with vibranium. In the past, he would never use such rare materials for armor that might soon be outdated. But this time, the stakes were higher than ever. If they didn't survive, there wouldn't be a future.
Thanks to General Ross opening military access to rare metals like adamantium, Stark could finally be indulgent with his materials.
Shin glanced across the lab. Other top scientists were hard at work on their gear.
Doctor Doom, perhaps inspired by Stark, was constructing his own armor. While not quite at Stark's level in engineering, Doom compensated with sorcery. He was starting to resemble his comic counterpart more and more. Once he began mass-producing Doombot, it would be a sign that he had truly evolved into Doctor Doom.
Despite his reputation, Doom wasn't a pure villain. At his core, he was an ambitious visionary. When Earth faced true annihilation, Doom's contributions were as valuable as any hero's.
Elsewhere, Hank Pym had dusted off his old Ant-Man suit and was preparing to join the fight.
Reed Richards was running endless calculations, devising some unknown piece of theoretical tech. This time, Galactus had no glaring weaknesses like the Ultimate Nullifier. That cosmic artifact powerful enough to reset the entire Marvel multiverse likely only existed in the main timeline, not this alternate reality.
Meanwhile, the twin Phoenix were chatting with Cyclops. They were smiling, but something about their expressions was unsettling. Cyclops, caught between them, looked like a man clinging to sanity. He probably wished the two would merge back into one entity soon. Perhaps this strange interaction was how the Phoenix duo managed stress.
Elsewhere, Bruce Banner had already transformed into the Hulk. He was sparring with General Ross both of them wielding massive axes forged from pure adamantium. Without Ross's high-level military clearance, those weapons would've been impossible to acquire.
Shin still had no idea how anyone could sharpen adamantium, but clearly, the father-in-law and son-in-law weren't letting past conflicts get in the way.
Other heroes were deep in preparation. Some meditated, others reinforced their gear, and some spoke with loved ones in hushed, heartfelt tones. Even Jessica Jones, who typically turned to alcohol under stress, was chain-smoking instead clearly tense.
Quicksilver, usually shadowing any conversation between Shin and Wanda, was off selecting weapons provided by the military. Everyone was preparing in their own way.
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