Chapter 229 Capturing Xenomorphs to Build the Third Army
Universe 0, the core of the multiverse, the very key to the DC World.
It has the most complete rules, the largest galaxies, the most numerous gods and heroes, and likewise, the most vicious and malevolent villains.
A villain who could cause a major crisis in another universe might be swiftly destroyed by a greater power before even making a ripple if they entered the main universe. Don't come here unless you've got what it takes.
At this moment, with the end of the Xenomorph war and the death of New 52 Darkseid, Universe 0 had reclaimed its proper place.
This meant the negative impact of the Flashpoint event on Universe 0 could finally be considered over.
Some of the powerful beings in Universe 0 had already noticed some brand-new changes occurring in this universe.
"Xenomorphs…?"
"But they now truly exist. According to the records in the Book of Darkness, the God of Xenomorphs has stirred up tremendous waves in other universes. Universe 3 has already been shattered, and it seems Black Hand also went to Universe 3, with the outcome unknown. The fluctuations in the Emotional Spectrum verify this."
"But this doesn't explain the contradiction in my memory. In my perception over the past few billion years, I can confirm one thing: Xenomorphs are creatures that exist on Earth. They simply aren't dominant, operate with a low profile, maintain a very small population, and only hunt wild animals. The Green Lantern knowledge base also has records of Xenomorphs."
"But the records of the Book of Darkness cannot be wrong. It records that these are beings from beyond the 52 universes, led by the mysterious God of Xenomorphs, who powerfully conquered Universe 3 and battled against numerous powerful deities."
Oa, the center of the main universe, headquarters of the Green Lantern Corps, and also one of the strongholds of the Maltusians.
These Maltusians, who proclaimed themselves the Guardians of the Universe, gathered together, each with an indifferent expression, devoid of any emotional fluctuation, as they discussed matters around a strange book.
The Book of Darkness is a book of prophecy, and it is the key tool these Maltusians use to observe the future and make arranstoneents in advance.
Whether it was the Spectrum War or the Blackest Night, they foresaw it all in the Book of Darkness and took a series of countermeasures—though it was all utterly useless. They tried hard but accomplished nothing.
A billion years ago, they abandoned their own emotions, retaining only the coldest logic. They broke with the First Lantern, who had gone mad after absorbing all the emotions they had excised, and sealed him away.
The surviving Maltusians then split into two. One group called themselves the Invisibles, responsible for guarding Volthoom and preventing his escape. The other group stationed themselves on Oa, calling themselves the Guardians, and attempted to use the power of the Emotional Spectrum to maintain peace in the universe.
Over a billion years, the Guardians established two legions in succession. The First Legion was the robots they created, but this proved to be a failed experiment; one could not rely on a robot's program to judge the sins of people on various planets. Thus, they turned to using the most stable green light of will, establishing the Green Lantern Corps.
The plan was wonderful. The entire universe was divided into 3600 sectors, with each sector guarded by two Green Lanterns to ensure the perpetual stability of the main universe, while also doing everything in their power to stop the forces of other spectrums.
Unfortunately, it was utterly useless. The other six color Lantern Corps appeared one after another, followed by the Blackest Night and the Brightest Day. The nine colored lights greatly shook the stable order that Oa had established over the entire universe.
The Green Lantern Corps was obsolete. The Green Lanterns were inferior products that should be eliminated by the times. Every single Guardian thought this.
"It seems something we cannot clearly analyze has occurred in the multiverse. Has destiny changed? Has time changed?" Ganthet said coldly.
The Book of Darkness had never been wrong. It was a divine artifact that could connect to the Emotional Spectrum. When reality conflicted with the records in the Book of Darkness, they were more inclined to believe the Book of Darkness.
It wasn't because the Book of Darkness was so advanced, but purely because they prioritized trusting things without emotion. They held suspicion toward all things possessing emotion, and whether it was Xenomorphs or other beings, they all had emotions and could affect reality.
"Perhaps the God of Xenomorphs possesses the means to alter reality, but to say he could modify the history of the main universe... that's not very realistic."
"It could also be a lingering effect of the Flashpoint event. But regardless, that's not important. Our mission is to protect the universe, not to monitor the universe's history like the Monitors. I am more concerned about something else."
"I know. You must be thinking, can we include the Xenomorphs within the scope of our consideration?"
"Correct. No matter how you look at it, the Xenomorphs are exceptionally perfect candidates. Stable emotions, powerful intellect, absolute order, a perfect top-down social structure... A race like this, no matter how you look at it, is more suitable than the Green Lantern Corps."
The First Legion was the robot corps, a complete and utter failure. The Second Legion was the Green Lantern Corps, also a failure.
Now, it is time to establish the Third Army to replace and eliminate the useless Green Lantern Corps. In the Guardians' perception, this cold-blooded approach had nothing to do with treachery. They had no emotions like hatred and only judged matters with absolute, cold reason.
"The green of will cannot be relied upon either. Even though the green spectrum is the most stable and trustworthy of all wavelengths, as long as life forms are using a Green Lantern Ring, their free will often leads them to take irrational, selfish actions, completely ignoring the greater good of cosmic peace!"
"And their strong willpower, in turn, makes them firmly believe in their own erroneous judgments, causing even greater destruction and loss."
"All emotional life is untrustworthy. They are unworthy of being the maintainers of order; they are only fit to be managed. Free will is unacceptable and must be eliminated."
The Guardians communicated indifferently, one after another.
Unwittingly, they had started down the same path as Darkseid—Darkseid himself was always clamoring to eliminate free will.
This, in turn, only served to prove how terrible their past actions had been. When the Guardians first established the Green Lantern Corps, they dispatched over three thousand Lanterns on an expedition to Apokolips, only to be utterly routed by Darkseid. After sacrificing so many Green Lanterns' lives and conducting experiments for hundreds of millions of years, the conclusion they reached was a philosophy that came dangerously close to that of Darkseid himself.
Of course, the Guardians would not admit their mistakes. Trial and error was a necessary process.
And now, the Guardians had become interested in the Xenomorphs, especially when they discovered that Black Hand had also entered Universe 3, a place rife with great battles.
Furthermore, the Green Lantern Ring could collect information on the racial traits of almost every species in the entire universe, which gave them a greater understanding of the Xenomorphs on the main universe's Earth.
Never mind how these Xenomorphs could logically appear on Earth and remain undetected for so long; as long as they were useful, that was all that mattered.
"Indeed, they are suitable candidates for the Third Army... but how do we deal with that God of Xenomorphs?"
"With the power of the Emotional Spectrum, we can forcibly forge the Xenomorphs into a weapon that suits our will. I refuse to believe that the God of Xenomorphs' standing could be greater than that of the Emotional Spectrum."
The Guardians knew some of Perpetua's secrets, and they also knew just how high-level the Emotional Spectrum was, it being a creation force.
Before an ancient creator god like Perpetua, the Emotional Spectrum might just be one of many creation forces she wielded. But to the God of Xenomorphs or other deities, the Emotional Spectrum was an unattainable, powerful force, impossible to control.
The Guardians, however, could skillfully use the power of the Emotional Spectrum.
"Then, we will prioritize the Xenomorphs as our soldier source, eliminate the God of Xenomorphs' control over them, and if they prove unsuitable, we will choose other candidates and proceed with our original plan."
The Guardians spoke one after another.
If not for reading the Book of Darkness, they would never have even noticed this "perfectly ordinary" race of Xenomorphs, let alone learned of the deeds of the God of Xenomorphs.
However, it was not too late.
"We must first find a way to eliminate the Supreme Green Lanterns. Those things are also unstable factors," Ganthet said indifferently.
The Supreme Green Lanterns were enforcers created a billion years ago when they besieged First Lantern Volthoom. They were also life forms chosen for their firm willpower to bear the power of the green of will, but their other emotions were erased at the same time.
For a long time, the Supreme Green Lanterns were the Guardians' trump card. From the Spectrum War to the Blackest Night, they even specifically recruited a batch of Green Lanterns from the Green Lantern Corps, turned them into Supreme Green Lanterns to command the increasingly disobedient Green Lantern Corps, and executed some of the troublesome Lanterns.
But the Supreme Green Lanterns were, after all, emotional beings. If the external stimulus was strong enough and their own willpower was firm enough, there was still a chance for them to break free.
This would not do.
But the Xenomorphs were different. They were simply perfect.
"Hm?"
Suddenly, Ganthet's expression shifted slightly, and he glanced at the Book of Darkness.
"It's Earth."
"A new green spectrum has suddenly appeared on Earth, but we did not send any Green Lanterns to Earth on a mission."
"This green of will also feels... off. It's transmitting information that makes me feel uncomfortable."
All the Guardians noticed the subtle change on Earth, but... who could it be?
Could someone have secretly created a new Green Lantern Ring? But how could that be possible? The Green Lantern Central Power Battery is in their hands. Moreover, this newly appeared Green Lantern Ring was clearly off; it completely lacked the characteristic of firm will.
...
Earth.
A teleportation portal appeared out of thin air, and Du Wa stepped through.
"The main universe's Earth..."
Du Wa stepped onto the ground beneath his feet.
Behind him, figures emerged in single file. Aside from the Dark Walker battling Black Hand in Universe 3 and a few intelligent people currently at each other's throats, one powerful Xenomorph after another arrived in the main universe.
Swoosh!
The native Xenomorphs of the main universe's Earth rushed over at this moment, merging into Du Wa's ranks.
"Thanoseid, cheer up. This place has the multiverse's most powerful Darkseid. He's prey I've saved for you," Du Wa said, looking at the big guy behind him.
Thanoseid stared at him blankly for a long moment without speaking.
He desperately wanted to grab Du Wa by the collar and roar, even if he killed Darkseid, what was the point?
"It's very meaningful to me. You need to become stronger so that you can be of greater value at some point in the future. You must believe one thing: your birth was an accident, but I will make your future an inevitability."
Du Wa encouraged Thanoseid's will, trying to stimulate his initiative. Although he didn't care what Thanoseid was thinking, he just needed someone to replace Darkseid.
"If I kill Darkseid, will I be free?"
"You can try, but I will only be even more powerful than you at that time."
Hearing this, Thanoseid sneered and said no more. He couldn't even die.
Du Wa paid the disheartened Thanoseid no more mind. He tossed the Power Ring into the air, and it emitted an eerie green light, levitating in front of him.
"Great master, I cannot sense the whereabouts of my main body..." Volthoom was a little uneasy. "This is clearly not right. Either my main body isn't here—though I feel that a deity of your level wouldn't resort to using lies to deceive me, who has already been reduced to a program in the Power Ring—or the place sealing my true form is extremely special, capable of isolating it from all external means of perception."
"That's normal. The you right now can almost be considered an independent individual, existing in the form of the Power Ring item. The place where your main body is sealed was also meticulously chosen and modified by that group of Maltusians," Du Wa said.
The Third Army had not yet begun its slaughter of the main universe, which also meant the Guardians hadn't killed all the Invisibles guarding First Lantern Volthoom. The seal placed on First Lantern Volthoom had not yet been weakened, so of course Power Ring Volthoom couldn't sense First Lantern Volthoom's existence.
"I will fulfill my promise and help you rescue the First Lantern. But you and your main body had better serve me with your lives," Du Wa said.
He was about to use the special nature of the main universe to radiate out to more universes. Even the part of himself located in the Marvel Multiverse would synchronize, creating a resonant linkage across the infinite worlds, allowing him to ascend to a multiversal standing in one fell swoop.
Du Wa had a premonition that it would be soon. He would soon advance to become a multiversal god, and a special concept god who straddled two great multiverses at that, making him even more special than those guys from The Endless.
Now, all he needed was a small catalyst, just a single opportunity.
"Of course, supreme God of Xenomorphs, your servant is willing to serve you." Power Ring Volthoom put on an appearance of utmost loyalty. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought this being, who had become incredibly evil after merging with the Power Ring, was truly sincere and devoted.
The moment he returned to his main body, what might happen... well, that was hard to say.
"Very good. Then, we can begin... In the history of the main universe, the Xenomorph was a naturally existing creature, dangerous, but not too much of a problem as long as one didn't foolishly provoke it. But from now on, that will be different."
(end of chapter)