Chapter 233: To Be a Xenomorph is the Greatest Honor
For an ordinary person, the events currently unfolding were catastrophic.
A swarm of strange, silver creatures had appeared, assimilating citizens into identical silver beings at an astonishing rate.
Even when various third-rate superheroes and criminals intervened, they had no effect whatsoever and were assimilated in an instant.
What was even more terrifying was that the Xenomorphs converted from these superhumans most likely possessed their corresponding superpowers, becoming far more powerful than their original selves in a very short time.
After witnessing this scene firsthand, anyone with a bit of combat experience found it futile to decry the events as unscientific. They could only choose to flee.
It wasn't for a lack of effort; these monsters were simply too strong.
"Where's the Justice League?"
"I just saw several Supermen and Batmen fighting, but I suspect I've had too much to drink."
"Xenomorphs... these creatures must be Xenomorphs, right? One of the many races living on Earth? They're just not very famous..."
"What am I seeing? Xenomorphs are fighting these silver Xenomorphs!"
More and more Xenomorphs began to join the fray.
At the same time, a strange voice faintly echoed in the minds of the Main Universe's humans. They couldn't make out the specific words, but they understood the meaning.
Desperate and cornered, the people watched as order rapidly collapsed and a tide of silver monsters blotted out the sky. With no other choice, they followed the voice's guidance and cried out their deepest desires.
In response to the prayers of these pitiful souls, the deity in the shadows displayed his mercy and efficiency.
"A boon!"
And so, a strange substance appeared inside these pitiful people, instantly granting them the power of superhumans. When pushed to the brink, they could even use their own blood as a weapon.
However, everyone soon discovered that this weapon was useless against the silver monsters, who most likely also possessed Xenomorph genes.
As time went on, the Third Army expanded at a rapid pace. Similarly, the number of Xenomorphs surged. The conflict between the two factions gradually spilled beyond Earth, spreading to the Moon and Mars.
It was foreseeable that before long, the entire universe would be filled with similar battles.
"Damn it, some of the monsters created by the Guardians have left Earth and are migrating to other planets!" Wonder Woman looked up, her face etched with worry.
"This was predictable. The Guardians used that strange, giant lantern battery to create these monsters, so they must have also endowed them with the basic abilities of a Lantern."
With his super vision, Superman could see even more clearly. Once these things escaped the planet's gravity, they moved at an absurd speed.
This kind of intergalactic travel speed was something not even Superman possessed, yet it was one of the basic abilities of a Lantern. Even the most lackluster Lantern could cross half the universe in a matter of days.
"The entire universe is in trouble... This might be even more desperate than the Blackest Night," Aquaman sighed. "I don't believe those crazy Guardians would create a biological weapon inferior to a Black Lantern zombie. And this time, we won't have a means like the White Lantern of Life to restore all life forms in the universe."
The entire Main Universe filled with silver Xenomorphs?
That was truly a desperate prospect.
Even more troubling than this were the hordes of ordinary people who had become superhumans.
"If this continues, won't the entire Main Universe become an Alien Universe? Even if we defeat the Guardians, stop their madness, and find a way to reverse the condition of the transformed living people, how are we supposed to face these humanoid Xenomorphs?" Wonder Woman lamented. The scene before her was more unsolvable than any major event she had ever experienced—short of rebooting the Main Universe.
Are they supposed to drag out a Flash and sacrifice him?
Just then, a familiar voice cut into the Justice League's communication channel: "This is likely Du Wa's overt scheme. He's allowing the Guardians' actions, forcing our hand and leaving us no choice but to let the entire universe be filled with all kinds of Xenomorphs in a short amount of time."
"Batman?! So you're alright!"
"I was never in any real danger. My parallel universe counterpart didn't intend to kill me, just imprison me. He probably hoped I would open my eyes and recognize the cruel reality. Honestly, this underlying psychological tendency is somewhat childish, though it's also possible he deliberately let me perceive his thoughts."
The Main Universe Batman had already escaped. His methods were far more numerous than DCEU Batman's; a few Xenomorphs couldn't hold him.
"Batman, tell me you've thought of a good way to solve this problem," Aquaman asked.
"There are no good methods, only less desperate ones. The most crucial thing right now is still to take out the Guardians. For the humans who have been parasitized, we still have a chance to separate them from the Xenomorphs inside them using magic and other means. But for those assimilated into silver Xenomorphs, I can't think of a solution for now. Even if the Entity of Existence came, it would be useless," Batman said.
So, the entire Justice League had, without realizing it, become like monkeys scrambling around. They were supposed to be the strongest hero team on Main Universe Earth, a team that could even make a deity stumble. But as it turned out, the Justice League was the first to suffer a major setback.
"Heheheh, what pitiful creatures. Even if you are the strongest heroes of the Main Universe, you still show fear and humility before a stronger, more mysterious power."
DCEU's Lex Luthor appeared, sitting on the Mobius Chair, mocking them in a strange tone: "I have already seen the future where the Main Universe is destined to fall! Everything will belong to Du Wa! And you will be no exception; you will eventually become just like us!"
Facing the Third Army soldiers swarming in from all directions, Lex Luthor didn't move. The chair he sat on erupted with divine power, completely annihilating all the soldiers.
"We've faced many ancient and powerful deities before, and without exception, they all failed! Darkseid, the Anti-Monitor, Trigon, Black Hand... The God of Xenomorphs you speak of will just become another one of them," Superman shouted back quickly, punching several soldiers to pieces.
"Hmph, most of what you've defeated were just worthless avatars. Black Hand is a special case, but it will still take some time for him to chase us to the Main Universe." Lex Luthor rolled his eyes, brewing a malicious plan.
The Main Universe Justice League wants to defeat Du Wa? Defeating one Du Wa might be simple enough, but how could they defeat hundreds of millions of Du Was? They'd die of exhaustion before they could succeed.
Lex Luthor used the Mobius Chair to receive a massive amount of information. He knew that the Xenomorphs were already spreading rapidly throughout the multiverse. In some universes, major Xenomorph events had even erupted.
Everything was accelerating. Even in the Main Universe, under Du Wa's manipulation, events were constantly speeding up.
Lex Luthor had a strong premonition that what Du Wa was trying to do was already in its final stage. He was just a small trigger away from success.
What would it be like after he succeeded? Would Du Wa attempt to become the supreme God of the Multiverse? Or would he abandon the Multiverse and carve out a Xenomorph World in the domain of the gods? Just as Dream created the Dreaming and the Nightmare World, two dream worlds?
However, while Du Wa had his preparations, he too had his own moves to make.
...
Frank Lamisji thought all of this was just too crazy.
As a former Air Force pilot, after being saved by Green Lantern Hal Jordan in a plane crash, he vowed to become part of the Green Lantern Corps. But no matter how he trained his will and body, even going so far as to work as a security guard at Arkham Asylum, he could never win the favor of a Green Lantern ring.
A Green Lantern ring had never chosen him. Even though multiple Lanterns had already appeared on Earth, he never got a single opportunity.
Until the disaster sweeping the entire universe came once again. This time, no one could help him. Once assimilated as a soldier of the Third Army, he couldn't be brought back to life by the White Lantern of Life, like what happened after the Blackest Night.
"No, I can't accept this!"
"If you can't accept it, then join the Xenomorphs and fight these damned things with us, instead of breaking down and screaming!" a passerby, who was casually climbing a building while the intense fighting destroyed its walls, shouted loudly at the dazed Frank.
"Xenomorph... Xenomorphs are fine, but I want to be a Green Lantern! I've worked so hard, what am I doing wrong?"
Frank cradled his head and wept. He realized that if he didn't do something soon, he was about to die, but... why did he feel so unwilling to give up?
A silver Xenomorph came before him, raised its claws high, and was about to seize him by the neck to turn him into a new silver Xenomorph.
But in the next second, a green ring flew over and knocked the silver Xenomorph away.
"A Green Lantern ring??"
"Frank Lamisji of Earth, you possess extreme cowa... correction, welcome to the corps of cowards."
"My Green Lantern ring, you've finally come!!"
Frank realized something was off about this ring, but at a critical moment like this, who would care? He snatched the ring and eagerly put it on his finger.
"What, this is a Power Ring? And a ring that follows the God of Xenomorphs? Cowards? This..." Frank was stunned, but he quickly accepted it.
Coward or not, Xenomorph or not, he was a Green Lantern now, a mutated one at best.
Frank fought the silver Xenomorphs while rapidly absorbing the various kinds of knowledge stored in the Power Ring, especially about the God of Xenomorphs, and gradually came to understand more.
"So that's how it is! The power of the God of Xenomorphs was coveted by the malevolent Guardians of the Universe! Those Guardians are the ones who created the Green Lantern Corps? They weren't satisfied with the Green Lantern Corps having free will, so they stole the great power of a deity and created these terrifying war machines!"
It all made sense now. The reason countless humans could become Xenomorphs, easily becoming superhumans and using Xenomorphs to fight the strange silver Xenomorphs, was all because of the damned Guardians of the Universe!!
"Guardians... do these evil beings deserve to call themselves Guardians? They're clearly demons bent on the extinction of life in the universe!"
The fiercely righteous Frank was immediately shocked and unusually furious. With a roar, he accepted Du Wa's boon, instantly gaining a powerful host body. Combined with the enhancement from the Power Ring, he now possessed strength surpassing that of an ordinary Green Lantern. He immediately transformed into a streak of green light and rampaged through a group of silver Xenomorphs.
Power Ring Volthoom was extremely vexed and sent a message to Du Wa: "My master, I really don't understand. Why would you bestow me upon such a mediocre fellow?"
"He is not mediocre. He has the ability to wield the various lantern rings, it's just that in terms of willpower, he didn't earn the favor of a Green Lantern ring," Du Wa said casually.
He had noticed this guy Frank by chance. This future master of the Phantom Ring was one of the most unique Lanterns, and might be of some use to Du Wa.
Becoming a Power Ring wielder who also harbored a Xenomorph was a good path for Frank. Perhaps he could even bring out greater power from an evil ring like the Power Ring.
This was one of Du Wa's casual moves.
The real show had begun, the main act that was enough to make Du Wa take action.
"The situation is not good. A large number of Xenomorphs have appeared on Earth, and the surviving humans have also gained Xenomorph-like strength. Our worst fears have come to pass. The God of Xenomorphs has most likely already arrived in the Main Universe."
"Black Hand is such a waste. He couldn't even stop Du Wa. It seems we overestimated his power. There's also the possibility that Du Wa chose to shake off Black Hand and rushed to the Main Universe."
"What connection do the Xenomorphs in the Main Universe have with Du Wa that would allow him to perceive the changes here? Could it be..."
"It's meaningless now. Du Wa is very likely watching us, and maybe he's already preparing to parasitize us, just like how he controls those Earthlings."
"That's impossible. We are protected by the power of the Emotional Spectrum. I don't believe the God of a mere race could be superior to the Emotional Spectrum."
The Guardians would not feel panic. Even if they did, it wouldn't stop them from making the most correct choice at the moment.
The only one who could provide them with immense power to fight this unknown source in a short amount of time was Volthoom.
They just needed to make Volthoom suffer a little more.
As the Guardians extracted too much power to use on the Queen and covered her with the Emotional Spectrum—just like the other silver Xenomorphs—it served as a means to block Du Wa's control.
A colossal silver Queen appeared.
"Go! Go and parasitize Volthoom!"
"Your mission is to use Volthoom's power to defeat Volthoom himself."
"Volthoom can handle the damage from the Emotional Spectrum, but he can't handle being parasitized by you! He is, in essence, a special human."
The Guardians urged the Queen to act quickly, to end all this before Du Wa truly descended upon Earth.
"Du Wa is only part of the problem. The Seven Lantern Corps are also gathering and heading for Oa! We must return to Oa as soon as possible. The entire universe is our target."
The Guardians were worried about Du Wa's strength. After all, it was a power capable of killing the Anti-Monitor and confronting Black Hand. Only Volthoom was powerful enough to kill Du Wa.
But unfortunately, their scheming was still not enough.
"You lot, using my power to create a weapon, then turning it back against me? You've drained too much power from me as a precaution. The cage you built can no longer hold me!!"
Volthoom let out a roar and shattered the multicolored lantern battery.
His first instinct was not even to waste energy on things like the silver Xenomorphs, but to focus his power on killing these damned Maltusians!
But he hesitated for a moment, turning his head in astonishment at an even more unexpected discovery.
"How could this be? This feeling... it's another me? And it's approaching me at high speed??"
(end of chapter)