Chapter 239: A Grand Invitation from the Gods
Thrilling, this was utterly thrilling.
Just a moment ago, First Lantern Volthoom had shown a tendency to sweep across the Main Universe, and everyone was worried about how to stop him.
But who would have expected that in a turn of events, Volthoom would become a mere jester paving the way for a god, while Du Wa, who had ascended to the Multiverse, was the Deity guiding everything.
Du Wa was now clutching Volthoom, but in the eyes of countless people and gods, he was also gripping the Main Universe with a gigantic hand. He already possessed sufficient strength and divine authority to directly interfere with the existence of the Multiverse.
Of course, Du Wa wouldn't rashly destroy the Multiverse and then face a siege from a host of righteous individuals. Slaughter was merely a means for Du Wa to achieve his goals, not the goal itself.
"Master, my supreme master, do you plan to kill my main body? That's truly a pity, but it might not be a bad idea..."
Power Ring Volthoom hurriedly emitted a strange green light, transmitting information to Du Wa.
Seeing that Volthoom had fallen into Du Wa's hands with no hope of rescue, Power Ring Volthoom tried to incite Du Wa to kill Volthoom directly. A dead main body was far more suitable than a controlled one.
Power Ring Volthoom knew, without even having to think, that once Volthoom became Du Wa's minion, it would be in danger. It might be thrown to Volthoom by Du Wa. By then, being devoured and absorbed would be the best outcome; staying alive would be a form of torture.
"Hmph, ignorant and naive."
Volthoom looked at Power Ring Volthoom with contempt. "This is why, despite giving it your all, you can only exist as part of a ring. You are too fond of showing off your petty cleverness."
"Don't say that. After all, it is you—was you, and perhaps will be you in the future."
Du Wa beckoned to Frank, took the Power Ring off the man's hand, extracted the soul from within the ring, and forcibly pushed it into Volthoom's body. He was completing the man's soul, attempting to lay a claim on the Emotional Spectrum by controlling Volthoom.
"Don't even think about it! I am the First Lantern of the Multiverse, the master of the Emotional Spectrum! I am a god, and I am the very emotions of all living beings! You think you can control me?"
The First Lantern struggled frantically, his body erupting with countless sheens of light, mixed with all sorts of emotions. At this moment, they transformed into tangible energy, repeatedly washing over Du Wa's restraints.
Black Hand also made his move, swinging a scythe at Du Wa. This couldn't actually cause much damage to Du Wa, because the current Black Hand was too weak.
If it were the Black Hand from the time of the Blackest Night, with billions of zombies charging him, his strength would have been considerable. But not now.
"It's useless. Even if the Entity of Existence itself came to deal with me, it couldn't save Volthoom." Du Wa shook his head, but he instantly realized that Black Hand's target wasn't him, but Volthoom.
Black Hand wanted to kill Volthoom directly to stop Du Wa's actions.
Black Lantern Hal's rotten face was filled with coldness. "We cannot let such an unpredictable deity enslave Volthoom, nor can the Emotional Spectrum be controlled by such a being."
If the Emotional Spectrum was manipulated, it meant the Green Lantern Corps would also become Du Wa's servants. This was too terrifying for Hal to accept. Already dead, he displayed extraordinary decisiveness, immediately calling out to Black Hand.
"Very good. My opinion of you has changed, Hal. When you were alive, you were hesitant. Even when crowned with the title of the greatest Green Lantern, your performance rarely impressed me. I didn't expect you to grow so significantly after dying. You should thank Black Hand," Sinestro said, nodding in satisfaction.
Hal had been forced to commit suicide and become a Black Lantern because Sinestro had taken away his only chance of survival—the Green Lantern Ring. By that logic, Sinestro had successfully motivated Hal, allowing the man to grow up quickly.
Sinestro thought himself kind-hearted, but he felt he was far less so than Du Wa.
Du Wa now looked at everyone as if he wanted to grant them a boon. Volthoom seemed to have no choice but to accept it, his desperate resistance only making Du Wa more excited. Even while facing Black Hand's attack, he deliberately protected Volthoom and accelerated the pace of parasitism.
It was a success, yet not a complete one. With one hand pressing down on Black Hand and the other grabbing Volthoom, Du Wa, in a moment of contemplation, threw Volthoom behind him.
Lex Luthor reacted the fastest, manipulating his chair to shoot out a ray of divine light, roughly catching Volthoom.
"Has the parasitism not yet been truly completed? I didn't expect you to slip up," Lex Luthor said with a strange expression.
"This is no slip-up. You're truly unqualified as the God of Knowledge. Even I can see that His Excellency the Deity must be using Volthoom to control the Emotional Spectrum. He is parasitizing the Emotional Spectrum!"
Frank looked down at his palm, at the Power Ring that had lost its core drive program. He slipped it back onto his finger, trying to wield the strange green energy. Without Power Ring Volthoom's active cooperation, the process had become extremely obscure and difficult.
But this did not in the slightest hinder his worship and approval of Du Wa. For an ordinary person, a single grain of sand from the times can be a crushing mountain. When Earth was in crisis, on the verge of being assimilated by the Third Army created by the Guardians, it was Du Wa who granted a boon to countless ordinary people, instantly turning them into superhumans with the power to resist.
"Hmph, not long ago you were resisting becoming a Xenomorph and dreaming of becoming a Green Lantern. How much time has passed for you to become so loyal, as if you've followed Du Wa for countless years? How ridiculous," Lex Luthor sneered, then continued, "Of course I know what he's doing. It is precisely because I know that I understand how difficult it is."
Many people and gods, including him, had realized something: after Du Wa's promotion, it wasn't just his divine authority and absolute strength that had increased. Even his core ability, parasitism, seemed to have been enhanced as well.
Du Wa was already attempting to use indirect methods to directly parasitize non-biological and even non-corporeal entities. This was far too exceptional, but on second thought, it seemed there was no need to do so.
If the parasitism truly succeeded, what would it look like? Would there be any difference?
"Incomprehensible. As a multiversal god, he is fully capable of directly wielding the Emotional Spectrum. Why does he still need to use parasitism?"
Thor muttered to himself, immediately approaching Du Wa. He sent Black Hand flying with a swing of his hammer and said with a sincere expression, "God of Xenomorphs, we sincerely invite you to join Heaven. Heaven is one of the most powerful worlds in the Sphere of Gods, situated at the convergence of countless divine waves..."
"Heaven has many peaks, each one garrisoned by a pantheon. Do you wish for me to join Asgard's peak? Speaking of which, I once had a honeymoon period with 'Asgard'." A strange smile appeared on Du Wa's face as he recalled his exploits in the Marvel Multiverse.
Back then, Marvel's Thor was still borrowing troops from him, attempting a counterattack. This also gave Du Wa the opportunity to completely annex Jotunheim shortly after, obtaining the precious Laufey Xenomorph.
Thinking back now, so much time had passed—for the time Du Wa had experienced, this was already a very long time.
Du Wa was even getting a little nostalgic for the Marvel Multiverse. His main purpose for coming to the DC Multiverse had been achieved. If nothing unexpected happened, he was about to seize a territory of his own here in the DC Multiverse, establish his own sphere of influence, and solidify the transcendent status of both himself and the Xenomorph race.
Every universe will have Xenomorphs. This was a scene that was bound to appear in the DC World's future. The entire Multiverse would be permanently fixed by the changes Du Wa had interfered with.
Xenomorphs, just like the likes of Batman, would become a necessity in every universe.
"There is no need to join a specific peak. We are willing to provide you with an additional peak. You may lead your race to settle there," Ares said decisively.
Du Wa was a multiversal god. Even if Ares suspected that Du Wa's strength and growth upper limit were extremely weak among multiversal gods, no matter how weak, he was still far superior to gods like them who lacked a multiversal standing.
"Occupying a peak all to myself, is that considered generous?" Du Wa clicked his tongue, his tone ambiguous between praise and sarcasm.
Ares hesitated. Thor was at a loss. It wasn't until from within the Sphere of Gods, multiverse-level god-kings like Zeus and Odin directly contacted Du Wa, showing their respect.
No one knew the process of their communication, but all the gods knew the result: Du Wa must have refused.
"Heaven is vast. You can carve out any territory you desire."
"If you feel it's inappropriate, we god-kings can help you create a territory. We only need you to join us."
"Even a being as strong as a multiversal god has their own troubles. In a life of infinite length, one will sooner or later explore the limits of cognition. One step further, and you will be blocked by the Source Wall, forced to be confined within a predetermined range."
"That's right. We should unite to seek the mystery of the Source Wall, to find the lost information, to unearth the secrets of the World Within the Wall and uncover the truth of everything."
More god-kings communicated with Du Wa, but all to no avail.
These were the Old Gods.
On the side of the New Gods, Darkseid made no move. He knew that Du Wa, with Thanoseid under his command, would never join Apokolips. The two were bound to be in opposing factions.
Skyfather, on the other hand, did attempt to communicate with Du Wa, but after a few simple words, he decisively gave up.
"I hope you can let Orion go. He is a good child with a bright mind. Darkseid bore a good son," Skyfather persuaded sincerely.
In reality, an insignificant little character like Orion was completely beneath Du Wa's notice. The way he looked at Orion was no different from how he would look at a mortal animal.
Dream also arrived, appearing directly in Du Wa's dream realm.
"Congratulations. My purpose is the same as last time. You are suited to join The Endless. This time, Delirium and the others have no reason to refuse. Or rather, their refusal is useless," Dream persuaded Du Wa.
The Endless was, in itself, a family composed of concept gods. It wouldn't be wrong to call it an organization of concept gods.
And like Du Wa, none of them were natives of the DC World. They had all joined the DC World for various reasons, enjoying the concept expansion brought by the massive scale of the DC World.
But Dream knew that Du Wa's heart was not entirely in the DC World. The man's native world was also suspected to be a large-scale multiverse.
"I will consider it," Du Wa replied.
"You gave me the same perfunctory answer last time," Dream said with a frown.
"You stood on my side to a certain extent and helped me. I know all this. But you can't forcibly drag a concept god who was never part of The Endless into it. What's more, I'm not a native of the Vertigo Universe. I'm not the same type of concept god as you," Du Wa refused.
The Endless was a powerful backer, that was true. Unfortunately, Du Wa was not one to latch onto others for support. He was very willing and generous in trying to get other people and gods to latch onto his own thigh—and if they refused, he was the type to insist on persuading them to see the error of their ways.
Moreover, aside from Destiny and Death, none of the others in The Endless, including Dream, were easy to deal with.
Dream felt a sense of regret. "Then I hope you will never tell any divine being in this vast world about your native world. Once that news gets out, even if you are a multiverse-level deity, your end will be miserable—Lucifer and a few of the others in Heaven, even I cannot see through them. Their strength must be terrifyingly strong."
"Thank you for your goodwill. We may have excellent cooperation in the future," Du Wa replied.
Dream departed helplessly. He had once again failed to achieve his goal. It seemed the future would be the same; things he wished for one-sidedly would always end in a result that did not satisfy him.
Many gods came, but their visit was in vain, and they had to leave again.
"These fellows are very worried that you will take up permanent residence in the Multiverse. Although they don't usually care about major events within the Multiverse, if a change that affects the worlds within the Wall were to erupt, it would surely happen within the Multiverse. They don't want a powerful and strange deity like you controlling the Multiverse long-term."
Metron, as a renowned socialite among the gods who used to wander everywhere on the Mobius Chair, was crystal clear about the thoughts of the gods in the Sphere of Gods.
"It seems I have no choice? I can only go to the Sphere of Gods and create a Xenomorph world?"
While smiling and conversing with Metron, this New God, Du Wa freed up a hand and casually pressed down on the Guardians who were trying to sneak off Earth.
This single finger carried a weight more terrifying than the universe itself. It was not something these Guardians could withstand.
"Wait, don't kill Ganthet! He is not unpardonably wicked!"
"He only recently regained his own emotions! They were just discovered and forcibly stripped away by the other Guardians!"
Black Lantern Hal, Main Universe Superman, and others tried to plead for Ganthet, but Du Wa paid them no mind.
"The act of me killing Ganthet is not equivalent to the fact that Ganthet must be dead. Of course, you can try to resurrect Ganthet. Feel free to challenge the extent of my mercy."
Splat!
All the Guardians who had participated in the creation of the Third Army were pressed into a pile of flesh paste by Du Wa.
(end of chapter)