Chapter 246: DC's Du Wa Fan
The verdict of the judgment was in, and the result was...
Du Wa was still standing there, looking completely unscathed. His expression showed no surprise, as if he had anticipated this outcome long ago.
"Is it over? Your power is quite pleasant. It feels warm bathing in it, giving me an opportunity to glimpse a higher level of power." Du Wa did not hold back his praise.
"How can this be? Why are you unharmed? You're clearly an outsider, not a god like Darkseid..." Ghost stared in disbelief, and the flames of his anger quickly shrank.
"That's right, I'm not the same type as Darkseid. Darkseid is responsible for the balance between light and darkness, so he cannot be judged to death by you. Black Hand is darkness itself, without a soul or life, so he can also ignore your power of Judgment..."
"I know that! That's why I'm asking why you aren't dead yet!!" Ghost roared.
"Because I am the third type of god you have encountered who cannot be judged. You can pass Judgment on normal concepts, but you cannot pass it on me... Ghost, you should thank me. Because of me, you have grown once again," Du Wa said.
Although Ghost's origins were extremely noble, he had not obtained enough knowledge and experience from The Presence. He was like a headless fly, blundering through various major events, constantly learning the upper limit of his own ability.
Failing to pass Judgment on Darkseid and failing to pass Judgment on Black Hand allowed Ghost to understand the limits of his authority of Judgment.
But now, Ghost had to admit that another being who could not be judged had appeared. But... on what grounds?!
"My origin also exceeds your imagination. Your Judgment cannot touch the domain where I truly reside," Du Wa said.
Du Wa had already savored the process of the Judgment. It was as if all the Sin he had committed was laid bare under the power of Judgment, like having his Sin placed on a scale by Anubis.
But the problem was... Du Wa had never considered his actions to be Sin. On the contrary, it was a Boon. He had given Rebirth to countless people, allowing countless people to become superhumans.
As for the battle with Doctor Manhattan that left the Multiverse in tatters... Du Wa felt he was practically a great philanthropist. He had saved the DC World from the evil Doctor Manhattan.
Judgment? To put it bluntly, this thing can only judge life forms that have a soul. Ghost had already verified this when he tried to judge Black Hand. Digging deeper, why can it only judge individuals with a soul... frankly, the most crucial point is self-awareness, which involves the conviction born from countless interactions between the soul and the physical world.
Du Wa only needed to think about the Spirits of Vengeance over in Marvel Comics. They were also servants of God, yet they couldn't pass Judgment on someone like Thanos, who never considered his evil deeds to be wrong. Knowing this, he knew how to deal with Ghost.
What's more, Du Wa genuinely felt he had no Sin to speak of. He single-mindedly thought for all creation, bestowing his gifts upon all life. How was that evil?
This was just the first Safeguard. To put it bluntly, even if the Judgment had succeeded, at most it could only kill the Du Wa on the DC Comics side. Ghost's power couldn't possibly reach all the way to Marvel Comics and kill all the Du Was there indiscriminately. That would be underestimating the numerous gods in Marvel Comics.
This led to Ghost's Judgment on Du Wa being completely ineffective. As long as it was impossible to instantly kill all of Du Wa, as a concept god, Du Wa could make a comeback indefinitely, instantly spreading his concept and returning to his peak.
Ghost was completely numb, trembling with anger, his hands and feet growing cold. He felt that the body he was currently using was about to explode from rage.
"Look at you now, it's pathetic. With your strength plummeting, how much power can you have left to remain in the sphere of the gods? Even a Cosmic Celestial can't withstand the scouring of divine waves for long."
Du Wa kindly reminded him, "The body you're using isn't your own. Be careful not to break it."
Ghost had changed many bodies, such as Green Lantern Hal Jordan and Green Arrow. He had even fought for control of a body with the yellow lantern entity, Parallax. And now, the body Ghost was using was precisely that of Jim Corrigan from New 52 Earth.
"My power is enough to protect my body! Besides, I'm passing Judgment on you, and you're telling me to take care of my body?" Ghost's power weakened once more. Having confirmed that Du Wa couldn't be killed by the power of Judgment, he couldn't figure it out for the time being, but he began to suspect that Du Wa also possessed some trait essential to this world, having already become an important part of it.
His burning rage was doused by a universe's worth of ice water and extinguished.
"And that Quantum Deity..." Ghost immediately shifted his attention, looking within the Multiverse.
Du Wa interrupted, "Give up. You have even less of a chance to pass Judgment on that guy. His situation is rather special."
Ghost's breathing became ragged. He took in a few mouthfuls of divine waves, which was a bit much for his current body to bear. Feeling incredibly frustrated, he said, "In that case, you are not to engage in battle in the Multiverse in the future. You must remain permanently in the sphere of the gods!"
"I'll try my best."
"Bastard, don't think you can do whatever you want just because I can't handle you. There are many beings in this world much more powerful than me. If you really go too far, I have ways to kill you," Ghost said in a low voice.
In Heaven, there are many truly formidable beings whose power isn't the fickle power of Judgment, but the true power of God.
Of course, it was hard to say whether the beings in Heaven would acknowledge Ghost. In any case, they would definitely acknowledge Lucifer, having waged war against him more than once.
Ghost left Du Wa behind and returned to the New 52 Universe, feeling like he was about to explode from frustration. After all his bustling about, he had achieved nothing in the end!
"Did you succeed? Did you pass Judgment on those two villains who were fighting?" Pandora asked expectantly, clutching Pandora's Box.
"I clearly displayed almost my greatest power, and yet the result was..." Ghost's cold voice was tinged with frustration.
"You failed? How could that be? Even on New 52 Earth, I could feel the power of Judgment you were emitting! How could you fail after becoming so powerful?" Pandora was shocked.
"Because Du Wa is more trouble than we anticipated... Ghost, you had contact with him, didn't you find out his background? He's clearly from another world, yet he was able to take root in our world and even obtained the opportunity to advance to a multiversal standing," the Phantom Stranger said slowly.
"Just now, I found out."
Ghost looked at the Main Universe, then at the barely surviving Universe 3.
"Where is he from?"
"A world no less significant than our own. Even I didn't dare to venture deep into that world back then. At most, I only assisted a deity from that world in completing one of their missions, severing the possibility of the two worlds colliding and leading to numerous gods discovering each other's worlds."
Ghost's already cold face now showed a hint of bewildered uncertainty.
He saw Dark Claw, he saw Steel Lantern. He only needed to ponder these strange, seemingly familiar yet different characters for a moment to have a vague guess.
Especially after carefully observing Thanoseid, Ghost was left completely numb.
Thanoseid? This guy was clearly the product of a fusion between Darkseid and some native from that massive world!
"Du Wa entered this world through the arranstoneents I left behind back then. No wonder he was so confident that I couldn't kill him with the power of Judgment. So this is the real source of his confidence."
Ghost was truly helpless. He was this world's Spirit of Vengeance. How could he use the power of Judgment, meant specifically for judging this world, to judge a god from a massive world of perhaps equal mass?
The worst part was, he couldn't even sever the tentacles Du Wa had extended from Marvel Comics into DC Comics. Because Du Wa was a concept god, as long as he wasn't annihilated in an instant, he could endlessly generate his concept.
Seeing the inquisitive looks on the faces of the Phantom Stranger and Pandora, Ghost simply shook his head. He didn't say much, nor could he explain in detail.
What could he say? Was he going to say that he had cooperated with a terrifying being called the Living Tribunal? That they had created a special Mixed Universe, and it was suspected that this Du Wa fellow had slipped over from that special universe?
"This isn't the end. I will keep an eye on him, and also that Quantum Deity whose mind doesn't seem to be all there... I will watch them both. The moment they show a weakness, I will make them taste the most terrible punishment in the world—by sending them to the Origin Wall!" Ghost's eyes were filled with ferocity.
The Origin Wall is the ultimate weapon in the DC Comics Universe, a natural counter to all types of gods. Only a special being like Ghost could ignore the pull of the Origin Wall.
The Phantom Stranger tugged on his hat. "That's a good idea, but it seems we don't have the ability to catch them and throw them onto the wall. To achieve that, we need to find an opportunity... or wait for Du Wa to make a mistake himself."
Ghost snorted coldly. Taking advantage of the fact that his immense power had not yet dissipated, he immediately took action to repair the shattered universes, playing the role of a tinker. This should have originally been the job of the Monitor.
But the Monitor was nowhere to be found, and only a group of ordinary Monitors were observing from a safe distance.
"Looks like this can come to an end for now. Ghost, that somewhat harsh and rigid program, has chosen to temporarily retreat... He has probably figured out my origins. Others might not be able to determine the true origin of beings like Thanoseid, but Ghost would surely understand with just a single glance. But he can't do anything to me." Du Wa smiled and shook his head.
In the end, DC Comics' god of judgment couldn't kill a god who had a part of himself placed in Marvel Comics. In a sense, Du Wa's current state of existence could be called cheating.
As long as he didn't offend the top-tier beings in both worlds at the same time, Du Wa would always be safe.
"In your current state, if you single-mindedly want to ensure your existence, no one can do anything to you. What do you plan to do? Settle down now and become a member of the sphere of the gods?" Doctor Manhattan appeared beside Du Wa and asked.
"Heh, how is that possible? I will never stop my advance, just as you will never stop pursuing the Truth. At most, we'll obtain slightly different results due to our different methods," Du Wa said casually. He didn't want to bother with this Doctor Manhattan fellow.
If it were any other god, Du Wa could still try to win them over. But how was he supposed to win over a guy with an excess of divinity? Appeal to his emotions, reason with him? Completely useless.
But Doctor Manhattan was reluctant to leave, constantly tilting his head and staring at Du Wa, who knew what god-vexing thoughts were running through his brain.
"At a time like this, you should leave me and go find the Main Universe Superman. That guy is the center of the Multiverse. I deliberately didn't make him a part of me, which should be enough for you to observe." Du Wa frowned.
But Doctor Manhattan still didn't leave.
Du Wa sneered, "Has your interest in me already surpassed your interest in Superman?"
"That's right. You are more special than Superman. You clearly didn't use any hyper-particles to block my ability to see the future, yet I am still unable to see your complete future. All the traces you've left in this world are chaotic and contradictory."
This is bad!
Du Wa stroked his chin, staring at Doctor Manhattan.
Normally, Doctor Manhattan would be defeated by an enraged Main Universe Superman and then become a renowned Superman fanboy.
But now... this guy was indifferent to Superman and had become interested in him, the God of Xenomorphs?
"I'm very busy and have many things to do. I won't waste too much power on you. The place you're looking for to settle down is not with me," Du Wa said with a wave of his hand.
"You know too much, as if you've read the Script. But you are not Destiny. The power of the Xenomorph is also too special. You will create countless unforeseen futures..." Doctor Manhattan rambled on.
Du Wa didn't want to listen anymore. One of his clones had just quietly left the Multiverse, avoiding the gazes of the numerous gods, and secretly entered... the Dark Multiverse!
Is Doctor Manhattan strong? Very strong. Du Wa had to admit it. He coveted Doctor Manhattan's body, but since he couldn't obtain it, he could only take a roundabout approach.
He would go to the Dark Multiverse and find a quantum life form that had a body—Quantum Batman.
If The Batman Who Laughs could perform a craniotomy on Quantum Batman, transferring his own brain into Quantum Batman's brain to complete the substitution tactic, then there was even less reason for Du Wa to fail. In fact, the process of obtaining Quantum Batman's power would only be simpler.
By then, Du Wa would have a multiverse-level being under his command. In the future, it wouldn't just be Du Wa fighting a lone war; he would have a reliable helper to share the pressure.
The Dark Multiverse.
Du Wa wasn't the only one with designs on the Quantum Deity.
"So that's how it is. Doctor Manhattan, what a great god. I really like his ability too, hehehe..."
The Batman Who Laughs sat in his chair, swirling a half-finished glass of red wine in his hand. His gaze passed through his spiked visor, penetrated the membrane of the universe, and got a general understanding of what had transpired in the Multiverse.
The Quantum Deity was truly amazing, like a jack-of-all-trades. That's why he had set his sights on it early on, watching it along with Adrian and the others. Now, it was time to personally create and hunt a quantum god.
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