Chapter 216: What Comes in Herds Isn't Always Cattle and Sheep; Sometimes, It's Zombies.
Even Darkseid couldn't do anything about that peculiar God of Xenomorphs?
Desaad lowered his head, his mind racing through the possibilities. To him, this was unbelievable.
Darkseid could view even Death and Dream with indifference, yet when faced with a single-universe god, he was publicly admitting he had no recourse?
"How interesting. I suppose the God of Xenomorphs possesses something that gives even you pause... or perhaps it's a new power you covet?" Desaad observed Darkseid's state but could glean no useful information. He lowered his head once more.
In any case, he was merely Darkseid's assistant, not Darkseid himself. He couldn't do the things Darkseid could; he lacked the strength.
"If necessary, I can defeat that fellow for you. A Celestial of his level should not warrant such caution from you, the lord of Apokolips. Of course, most importantly, I will reclaim the Anti-Life Equation for you! This weapon is one that only you—Darkseid—are qualified to use."
Steppenwolf said in a low voice, deliberately avoiding any mention of killing Du Wa. His greatest talent was using a facade of loyalty to incite Darkseid into rash actions, though it was rarely effective.
Darkseid completely ignored his uncle. He couldn't even be bothered to deduce what Steppenwolf was scheming. His main focus was on his own godhood, examining the encroaching zombie virus.
This level of power couldn't cause him any substantial harm, but its nature—clinging like maggots to a bone—and its bizarre method of transmission intrigued Darkseid. One could almost call it a marvelous creation from the side of Anti-Life. It opposed all living things, yet it didn't truly stand on the side of Death. Instead, it turned the living into the undead—zombies.
It could already infect a single-universe god. If it had the chance to evolve in the future, wouldn't that mean even a Multiversal God could fall to this virus?
Darkseid, focused on his godhood, spoke without raising his head. "Shut your mouth. My best advice to you is not to offer any. Your best fate is to exist as my weapon."
"But the Anti-Life Equation..."
"If the Anti-Monitor and Darkseid can't use the Anti-Life Equation, there's no way that guy can!" Desaad said.
"No, the God of Xenomorphs can. He may have the ability to truly wield the Anti-Life Equation, unlike the Anti-Monitor and my avatar, who could only use it in a way that led to mutual destruction," Darkseid stated flatly.
Desaad and Steppenwolf surely couldn't understand, but Darkseid's main body, having obtained a vast amount of intelligence from the New 52 Darkseid, knew that as things stood, Du Wa was likely the only one who could perfectly unleash the might of the Anti-Life Equation.
All life forms in the entire World Within the Wall, whether they were native inhabitants or outsiders who had integrated into this world, essentially followed the operating rules of the Life Equation; they differed only in the degree to which they followed it.
Existing within the scope of the Life Equation, how could one not be countered by the Anti-Life Equation?
But Du Wa was different. Only a part of his concept had made its way here; his true form remained in his extremely distant native world. Unlike The Endless, or Black Hand from before countless multiversal renewals, he had not fully integrated.
This meant that Du Wa did not follow the Life Equation and could be maximally immune to the negative impact of the Anti-Life Equation. Perhaps the Xenomorphs he infested carried more of the Life Equation's components, which could indirectly affect Du Wa.
However, Du Wa could simply abandon those Xenomorphs. When necessary, he could even cast off parts of himself to act as meat shields. This influence was destined to be minuscule.
"Interesting. A true outsider. Though he seems weak for now, this fellow will drastically change this dull and tedious world."
Seated on his throne, Darkseid looked down upon the massive, dark-red celestial body below, listening to the desperate wails of its billions of lives. Suddenly, he let out a terrifying laugh.
He had had enough of this damned tedium. The endless cycle of his numerous avatars fighting Superheroes across various universes was utterly boring; it couldn't provide him with enough new knowledge or information.
Only when the World Within the Wall was thrown into turmoil would things become interesting—until all its mysteries were laid bare and everything was out in the open.
"Even with my father's strength, he couldn't break through the Source Wall. I must find other methods." Darkseid's gaze fell upon Universe 3.
Not long after.
The Crown Prince of Apokolips, Kalibak, was greatly shocked to learn that his great father had lost his most important avatar.
Kalibak was the offspring born of the sorceress Suli and Darkseid. He was Darkseid's eldest son and also his most loyal warrior—at least, far more loyal than Steppenwolf.
Suli died early, killed by Yuga Khan's wife and Darkseid's mother, Heggra. This led to the subsequent series of events where Darkseid dispatched Desaad as his sharp blade to overthrow Heggra's rule on Apokolips and ascend to become its lord.
"Desaad, tell me what happened! You know I don't have a clone in the Multiverse! Why would Father in the Main World lose to some unknown God of Xenomorphs? He even lost the Anti-Life Equation!"
Kalibak immediately sought out Desaad, but Desaad was focused on using the machine before him for auxiliary computation. Hearing him, he merely shot Kalibak a cold glance. "Darkseid certainly has his reasons for doing so. Instead of wasting time fixating on Du Wa and the Anti-Life Equation, you'd be better off worrying about your foolish brother Orion. That guy has wholeheartedly defected to the Skyfather. He is a disgrace to Apokolips."
"Orion? If Father commands it, I'll kill him right now!" Kalibak said.
Orion was part of an attempt to build a mechanism of mutual trust and avoid war between Apokolips and New Genesis by exchanging hostages. The result was that the Skyfather's offspring, raised by Darkseid, still grew up to view the Skyfather with absolute faith. Meanwhile, Darkseid's younger son, Orion, sent to New Genesis as a hostage, also came to see the Skyfather as his faith.
"Orion has been meticulously trained by the Skyfather; his strength is no less than yours. Don't be rash. It is not yet time to go to war with New Genesis," Desaad said, growing annoyed; he didn't want to waste time on Kalibak.
"You should go conduct your research in the Endless Corridor. That's the headquarters for liches. Aside from not being a lich by race, you're no different from those disgusting creatures in any other respect!"
Kalibak stormed out of the laboratory in a rage, intending to do something himself—to eliminate the enemy and reclaim the Anti-Life Equation.
"Father searched for this formula for countless years. If I can get it back, I will definitely gain his high regard." Kalibak never even considered possessing the Anti-Life Equation for himself and overthrowing Darkseid's rule. His mind was filled with nothing but loyalty.
...
"You died."
"Yes, I don't need you to remind me. But I've been resurrected."
"Yes, I've lost count of how many times. What surprises me, however, is that this time, you actually chose to abandon everything in the Multiverse and be resurrected here as a six-dimensional being. How rare. This isn't like you at all."
In the Sixth Dimension, the World Forger, Alpheus, was not fond of his younger brother, but neither was he wary. He simply watched with cold indifference as the Anti-Monitor, Mobius, resurrected before him.
"Let me correct you on one point. This isn't your territory; it's the territory of the three of us. It will also be the main base for our resistance against The Mother after she breaks free." The Anti-Monitor felt the various indicators of his sixth-dimensional being as immense power surged through him.
It was a mass capable of destroying countless universes and crushing the Multiverse with a wave of his hand. This was the Anti-Monitor's true form, his most powerful state. He said, "Aren't you going to ask why?"
"There's no need to ask. I only need to read the information circulating in the Multiverse to know what you've experienced in this Third Generation: the Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Sinestro Corps War, the Blackest Night, and this latest event. I had originally determined this should be called the Darkseid War, but now 'Alien Epic' feels more appropriate... In short, you've been repeatedly killed by a bunch of Deities, heroes, or villains. You die, come back to life, and then quickly die again. You always manage to show me ways to die that I'd never imagined. Truly spectacular."
The World Forger spoke with cold detachment. As he talked, he continued to meticulously weave the multiverse he was creating within the Sixth Dimension.
Once the Creator Goddess, Perpetua, broke free and began her world annihilation with endless might, the Sixth-Dimension multiverse he created and maintained would be the final utopia, isolated from the dead silence and despair of the outside.
"You bastard, you're as nauseating as ever. When will you ever learn the art of language?" The Anti-Monitor's composure shattered.
Ever since he had descended into the Multiverse, his various states of disgrace and creative ways of dying had been on full display, completely devoid of the dignity and gravitas of a DC old god.
The World Forger said, "The art of language is something for mortals to study. I have no need for it. It can't be converted into power to fight The Mother."
"And you think you can evade The Mother's pursuit by hiding in the multiverse you've tucked away in the Sixth Dimension?"
"It is a hope, at least. It may be crude, but it's the best method of survival I can conceive. I am trying to provide a possible refuge for the lives trapped in this sealed and desperate cage," the World Forger said. "I'm not like you, who only wants to use the Anti-Life Equation to kill all life."
"You have to admit, it's a good idea. Once everything is dead, when The Mother escapes from the Source Wall, there will be no one left for her to kill. She won't have any quality raw materials to create soldiers, let alone launch a counterattack on the Omniverse. What's more, we now have Death, true Death." The Anti-Monitor plopped down beside the World Forger.
The World Forger somewhat agreed with this line of reasoning.
That's right. Ever since The Endless arrived, the sealed World Within the Wall had gained its own Death. This was a Death that surpassed the Dark Walker and Black Hand, a truly all-encompassing Death in every sense of the word.
Let all life die, ultimately returning to Death. Then the Creator Goddess would have no one to kill and no soldiers to make.
If she had a problem with that, she could go settle it with Death.
"A pity you can't wield the Anti-Life Equation. Perhaps you could try to control it in this form, but the moment you do, regardless of success, some troublesome deity will discover you are a six-dimensional being and trace you to the Sixth Dimension. And you know, this place is the hub of the Multiverse; it absolutely cannot be compromised," the World Forger's taunt was merciless.
The Anti-Monitor snorted coldly but made no move.
"Du Wa..."
"He's special. I originally thought he would become the next Black Hand, accidentally discovering the World Within the Wall, breaking in, and thus becoming a part of it. But that's not the case. He seems to have other purposes for coming to our world. And now he's used Darkseid to create a strange virus... I have no idea what he's planning."
The World Forger was paying some attention to Du Wa, but at most, he recognized Du Wa as a deity who could potentially enhance the diversity of the World Within the Wall. In the future fight against the Creator Goddess, a completely new and unfamiliar system of power would undoubtedly be a great asset in countering the influence she exerted on this world and its gods.
The Anti-Monitor was silent for a long while, then asked, "What about the other one? What is he doing?"
"Mar Novu is currently negotiating with The Monitors. It seems he has made a major discovery," the World Forger said.
"Hmph, the Monitor and The Monitors, how ridiculous. A portion of that guy's power was even split off..." The Anti-Monitor sneered. His conflict with the Monitor was the greatest; anti-matter and positive matter were natural enemies.
But he also sincerely wished that the Monitor could find something useful from The Monitors. When it came to confronting the Creator Goddess, all three of them had to give it their all.
As for the God of Xenomorphs, Du Wa? Although he was a strange fellow and had angered the Anti-Monitor, in the grand scheme of things, he was just that...
"The zombie virus has begun to spread rapidly in Universe 3. The other Darkseids are also showing signs of infection," the World Forger suddenly said.
From his vantage point in the Sixth Dimension, the Anti-Monitor also began observing the three-dimensional Multiverse.
...
The entirety of Universe 3 began to fall as more and more zombies appeared.
This universe was terribly unlucky. It was a reverse-universe to begin with, where the most vicious and depraved beings held absolute dominance, unscrupulously harming all sorts of life forms. One had to be mad to survive in this universe.
Now, things were even more difficult. A virus with an unbelievably high infection rate was spreading, turning vast numbers of healthy life forms into zombies.
Soon, hordes of zombies formed a terrifying tide, swarming toward other planets, seeking only fresh flesh to tear and uninfected hosts to find.
"What a magnificent scene. Darkseid really created something impressive."
Du Wa held the Anti-Life Equation, diligently running calculations while occasionally lifting his head to watch the changes in Universe 3.
A world like this, he thought, should be able to attract the attention of some... special individuals.
(end of chapter)