Chapter 219: In the Dark Multiverse, on a Killing Spree
Volthoom was utterly stunned.
He suspected something was wrong with his hearing. After being made into the core of the Power Ring by the sorcerer Mordru, was he now unable to properly receive information transmitted by deities from the outside world? Did he occasionally suffer from analysis errors?
"Black Hand?? Is the Black Hand you're talking about the same one I'm thinking of??" Volthoom raised his head dazedly, looking up at Du Wa, who towered over him like a giant.
"There is only one Black Hand in this world. Even if you haven't seen Black Hand, as the first person to come into contact with the Emotional Spectrum and master its use, you should be aware of His existence."
Du Wa was filled with admiration for Volthoom's knowledge and clear cognition. At the very least, this Volthoom was far more rational than the First Lantern, Volthoom, who had run off to the Main Universe and gone insane after being flooded with a massive amount of emotion. This one was capable of calm conversation.
Volthoom murmured, "Black Hand... the Lantern Entity of the black spectrum on the Emotional Spectrum? I did faintly sense that guy's existence, and I know a little about the Entities of the other colored lights... but I've never truly seen a single one! Let alone the incomparably mysterious black Death Entity!"
He was completely bewildered. Was he supposed to take on a mission with a difficulty factor that broke the cosmic limit right from the get-go? Perhaps he shouldn't have tried to borrow troops from this mysterious and terrifying Deity, Du Wa?
"Don't doubt your own talent. As you are now, facing an ordinary Lantern Entity would be no issue."
"Has my sealed main body dealt with the other Entities before?" Volthoom asked, full of hope.
"Not to my knowledge."
"...I thought you'd at least lie to me and say he successfully defeated all the Entities."
Volthoom's entire soul trembled. He truly thought Du Wa had gone mad, sending someone like him to deal with Black Hand!
Especially when his main body, which had run off to the Main Universe and seemingly caused a huge turmoil, had never accomplished such a thing, nor had it ever made contact with any Lantern Entity!
Du Wa assessed the Volthoom before him. Indeed, from every angle, he seemed to lack much talent and, more importantly, confidence. The Power Ring's selection mechanism itself was specifically designed to choose cowards as its Lanterns, and it would make its wielder even more cowardly.
As the core of the Power Ring, it would be a cold day in hell if this Volthoom's personality was courageous and indomitable.
However, Du Wa truly saw great potential in this fellow.
According to the normal course of events, Universe 0 at this time, while not the Main Universe on the surface due to the soft reboot of the Flashpoint event, would have its status as the Main World temporarily replaced by the New 52 Universe. But after Du Wa killed both the Anti-Monitor and New 52 Darkseid, and with the Anti-Life Equation falling into his hands, Universe 0 would gradually reclaim its position as the Main Universe, existing as the core of the Multiverse, just as it had in the past.
The Main Universe should have long since passed the Spectrum War. The days when the Seven Lantern Corps frantically recruited members across the Entire Universe, slaughtering each other in a grim and dark conflict that piled up mountains of bones, were already over.
During the Blackest Night, Black Hand had wildly flung rings across the Main Universe, transforming billions of lives into Black Lantern Zombies and beating the host of heroes until they fled in terror. Then, during the Brightest Day, he was instantly killed by the Entity of Existence—the Lantern Entity of the white ring of life.
It was during the Blackest Night that the Anti-Monitor was controlled by a Black Lantern Ring, becoming Black Hand's tool and losing all his dignity.
In other words, Volthoom's main body, sealed in the Main Universe, should not have escaped its prison yet.
The First Lantern, Volthoom, at full firepower, could completely crush the seven common lights. He could easily wield any spectrum of visible light.
Will, rage, greed, compassion... he could obtain these powers with ease, without any need to acquire a ring of the corresponding color; he could use them out of thin air.
Theoretically, the incomplete version of Volthoom before him also had this potential, despite not having the Origin Lantern Ring, not having the Great Heart implanted, and never having truly merged with the Emotional Spectrum.
Du Wa remembered that the Main Universe Volthoom, even when besieged and having his Great Heart gouged out by the Maltusians, could still freely wield the visible light portion of the Emotional Spectrum.
More importantly, the Main Universe Volthoom had already achieved "immortality." Even if he was ultimately killed, he could still slowly resurrect over a long period of time with the help of the Emotional Spectrum.
"Right now, you have great limitations and are in no way comparable to your Main Universe self. But it doesn't matter. You were lucky enough to meet me. The God of Xenomorphs will generously grant you endless possibilities, allowing you to surpass your main body." Du Wa was indeed very optimistic about Volthoom's potential. Cultivating this Volthoom was also part of Du Wa's plan.
"Even so, I have no way to deal with Black Hand. I don't know how much you know about him, but based on what I can sense from the Emotional Spectrum, the black spectrum is an absolute forbidden zone that must not be touched," Volthoom tried to argue.
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, black, and white—plus special spectrums like ultraviolet—different colors represented different concepts and could unleash powers with different characteristics.
For example, a Red Lantern of Rage, upon putting on a Red Lantern Ring, could transform their own blood into various weapons, just as a Green Lantern uses the green energy of will to create various constructs. But the moment the Red Lantern Ring is removed, the wielder dies on the spot.
As for the Black Lantern, if a living person put on a Black Lantern Ring, they'd croak instantly, their soul returning to Black Hand to become a zombie. And the dead? No problem, the Black Lantern Ring would proactively seek out the deceased and "resurrect" them as zombies.
"I'm just the core program of the Power Ring now, not even a normal Green Lantern ring. It's impossible for me to fight a terrifying Lantern Entity like Black Hand!"
"Do your best. I will intervene at the critical moment."
"I don't have the Travel Lantern. My main body took that thing to the Main Universe. I can't travel across universes to find Black Hand."
"I have a way. This is why I sought you out," Du Wa said with great patience, having already laid out a meticulous plan for Volthoom.
"Great Deity, you are truly so considerate and meticulous. To encounter a great being as thorough and generous as you... is this my good fortune?"
Volthoom felt like the sky was falling. How was he supposed to fight Black Hand? He was afraid he would never get the chance to borrow troops from Du Wa to attack the Main Universe and save his main body.
Outside.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Du Wa gripped the Power Ring and studied it for a while.
"We have a new objective."
Du Wa looked at his subordinates and, while he was at it, replenished them with a batch of concepts. He had no choice, as he had to constantly resist the corrosive infection of the zombie virus.
Constant regeneration and suicide—this was what Du Wa had been doing all along. Even though he possessed the Anti-Life Equation, and theoretically had the ability to use the equation to create a cure for the zombie virus, he still hadn't done so.
From beginning to end, Du Wa had never truly used the Anti-Life Equation to accomplish anything.
"It seems you've found something of critical importance within the Power Ring," Ultraman said with a fawning, somewhat timid expression. "It is an honor to serve you."
Du Wa glanced at him. He didn't care whether his subordinates were brave or cowardly. Because they were infused with his concept, Du Wa could make them incomparably brave when necessary.
Just then, Dark Claw suddenly spoke up. "You've allowed the entire Universe 3 to degenerate into a Zombie Universe. This must be intrinsically linked to the actions you want us to take after you took the Power Ring... Although I can't figure out what you're planning, other intelligent people have probably reached the same conclusion as me."
The vast Universe 3 was teeming with villains, but they were now being converted into zombies in large batches. Faced with a zombie virus that could spread via rules, the natives on various planets had no way to resist. After all, this was a terrifying virus that could even infect a Cosmic Celestial.
"Death. I am calling Death," Du Wa said faintly, leaving everyone with a look of confusion.
Except for a very small number of individuals who hadn't given up and were still trying to find ways to resist Du Wa, the others had already begun to consider what they could do to better serve him.
As long as Du Wa could maintain his own power and advantage, the vast majority of them would not betray him and would instead work hard to scheme on his behalf. But if Du Wa showed any signs of weakness or fell into a helpless situation, some subtle thoughts would inevitably sprout among them—this was normal. These were the thoughts of a normal, self-aware life form.
The Dark Walker, silent as a shadow, spoke in a low voice, "Death... I understand. You're targeting that guy."
"Who?" the two Lex Luthors asked in unison.
"A god of death, like me. The god of death of the Emotional Spectrum. I've heard about what that guy has done during my assassination missions across various universes."
After that, no matter how the two Luthors took turns asking, the Dark Walker remained silent.
The entire Earth was immediately plunged into a grim, murderous atmosphere.
Beyond the atmosphere, zombies that had traveled to Earth from the depths of the Universe using technology, magic, or other means were constantly arriving. They charged forward one after another, wanting to hunt on this planet with its abundance of meat to satisfy their desire to bite, but they were firmly held back by Du Wa's power.
Within Earth, people would occasionally get infected by the zombie virus and turn into zombies, but they were always killed by the Xenomorphs at the first opportunity.
Of course, a Xenomorph that killed a zombie was also infected with the virus. It could only kill as many zombies as possible before it turned, and then be dissipated by Du Wa through the destruction of its concept.
The survivors across Earth also gradually learned what was happening outside their planet. They only needed to pick up an astronomical telescope and look into outer space to occasionally spot decaying zombies wandering about, trying to enter Earth but being blocked by Du Wa's power.
"God, those monsters are constantly popping up among us, and now they're all over the place outside of Earth too?"
"Their numbers are growing... I'm afraid that in a few more years, or a few decades, outer space will be filled with hordes of zombies!"
"In that case, we have the Xenomorphs to thank for our protection. Although people get infected and die periodically, we can maintain overall stability..."
"Just let it be destroyed, this damned world! The first half of my life was ruled by the heinous Crime Syndicate, living day to day in fear. A while ago, we faced a full-scale invasion by the Xenomorphs. Is the second half of my life going to be spent under the protection of Xenomorphs, endlessly fighting against zombies??"
The people of Earth-3 already knew that the outsider who ruled the Xenomorphs had defeated the Crime Syndicate and become the new master of Earth. It seemed he had also launched a staggering cosmic war in the distant depths of the Universe. Who was he fighting? Could it be the God of Zombies?
Thanks to the years of tyranny under the Crime Syndicate, the people of Earth-3 had developed a higher tolerance for various disasters in advance.
Then, more people without superpowers chose to voluntarily join Du Wa's ranks, becoming Xenomorphs to gain powerful strength to fight the zombies that had appeared from nowhere. At the very least, after a bout of slaughtering zombies, when they themselves were about to mutate, they could be erased by Du Wa immediately, protecting Earth to the greatest extent.
Earth had, in effect, become one of the few shelters in Universe 3.
Those in the Universe who could survive until now were all capable individuals. They naturally knew that Du Wa had killed the Anti-Monitor and Darkseid and were closely watching his every move.
They wanted to go to Earth, but for one, the difficulty of crossing the Universe was incredibly high, and they could run into hordes of zombies at any moment. On the other hand, they couldn't figure out Du Wa's actions and motives. If they went to Earth and brought the zombie virus with them, would they be killed by Du Wa on the spot?
It was better to hide on some remote planet, cut off all contact with the outside world, and eke out a longer existence.
But there were always those with peculiar ways of thinking who didn't take the beaten path and noticed the unusual changes.
"Du Wa, the God of Xenomorphs... if I'm not mistaken, he killed the Anti-Monitor and the two Darkseids to seize the Anti-Life Equation. But now, why has it triggered a zombie crisis? Did he screw up?"
A strange figure climbed out of the endless sand of a dead planet. With a wave of his hand, he threw out a magical spell, sweeping away several zombies that tried to attack him. At the same time, he cast a magical defense on himself to resist the bizarre infection methods of the zombie virus as much as possible.
He shouldn't have awakened. Even if the Anti-Monitor had invaded Universe 3 and wiped out all life to increase his own power, he shouldn't have woken up. But the successive, fierce battles between Du Wa, the Anti-Monitor, and Darkseid had a destructive force that surpassed this Universe itself, startling him awake.
More importantly, from the direction of Earth, he sensed that the magic he had left on the Power Ring he created back then had been destroyed by this Deity, Du Wa.
"Such a brutally crude method. This is the arrogance of an otherworld Deity." He, Mordru, was the very sorcerer who had helped Volthoom, then a newcomer to Universe 3, to carve out a part of his soul and create the evil Power Ring.
Thinking back, that event had occurred at some point billions of years ago in Universe 3.
"However, zombies and the Power Ring... could what that Deity wants to do be related to the Emotional Spectrum? Damn you, Volthoom! Back then, you refused to share more of the Emotional Spectrum with me, not even telling me the most basic knowledge, causing me to study it for so many years and still only have a partial understanding of its power!"
A deep suspicion and dread appeared on Mordru's face. He had a faint feeling that if he didn't awaken now, he might not get another chance. He might even croak along with this entire universe.
However, after so many years, he wasn't without progress. As a high-level mage proficient in soul cutting and capable of creating a Lantern Ring like the Power Ring, it was a testament that he had some research on the Emotional Spectrum, albeit not much.
"Let me think, a spectrum related to negative emotion that causes death..." The more Mordru thought, the more he felt that things were going terribly wrong.
This high-level mage's premonition was correct.
At this moment, in the Dark Multiverse.
Black Hand, having suffered a great loss in the Main Universe, was on a killing spree in a malformed universe within the Dark Multiverse.
(end of chapter)