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[Superman] Chapter 195: The Sudden Destruction of the Universe
🕑 Added 2024-08-11 09:32:13 +0000 UTC"What an... Infinite Ultron Plan?"
After listening to Loki's direct explanation of Ultron's plan to destroy the entire multiverse, Peter finally understood everything.
With the destruction of infinite universes and an endless army of Ultrons who can replicate infinitely and wield the full power of the six Infinity Stones, who could possibly stand against them as they sweep through the multiverse?
It was just like the Ultron crisis that occurred in the Marvel universe during Avengers: Age of Ultron.
In that crisis, Ultron, who controlled all networks and advanced technology, continuously used humanity's resources to create duplicates of himself, eventually triggering the Ultron crisis across Earth.
If it weren't for the Avengers being the true protagonists of that story, and with the help of the Vision, who was practically overpowered, it would have been nearly impossible to completely eradicate all the Ultrons with the available power and technology.
And as long as one Ultron survived, Ultron would never be fully eradicated.
Now, the original Ultron had adapted this plan on a grander scale, applying it directly to the entire multiverse.
With the overwhelming power of the Infinity Stones combined with the ability to infinitely replicate himself, Ultron would soon spread his influence throughout the multiverse.
"How can we possibly stop such a plan?"
Even Peter, who could easily kill a single Ultron, felt a bit troubled at this moment.
After all, the infinitely replicating Ultrons would grow exponentially, and at some point, they would reach a limit where they would sweep across the entire multiverse.
Even if he could defeat ten, a hundred, or even a thousand Ultrons, he could never deal with an infinite number of them.
"Mr. Superman, you must now realize that the time left to save the entire multiverse is running out,"
Loki said seriously, as he waved his hand to disperse the magical display that had explained Ultron's true plan.
"Time... Yes, perhaps now we can only do something unconventional with time!"
Peter, watching Loki's green magic dissipate, suddenly recalled the time energy that was similarly green and began to understand.
Just like in the DC universe, when faced with an unsolvable disaster, they would often rely on the Flash to alter the timeline and reboot the entire universe.
Now, the simplest way they could think of to solve the Infinite Ultron crisis was to travel through time, arriving before the original Ultron initiated his infinite plan and destroying him.
If they could erase him from the timeline, the future wouldn't be destroyed by his infinite plan.
As Peter's expression suddenly firmed up, seemingly having found a way to resolve the crisis, Loki looked at him with a strange expression.
"Mr. Superman, you're not planning to travel through time to kill the original Ultron before he starts, are you?"
Loki's inquiry seemed more like he already knew what Peter was thinking.
"Hmm? If you can guess it, then it seems this plan won't work!"
Hearing Loki's words and seeing the odd look on his face, Peter instantly realized that erasing the original Ultron from the timeline might not be a feasible solution.
Perhaps Loki had already tried such a plan in the future.
But the result was evident—it didn't work. If it had, Loki wouldn't have needed to seek Peter's help.
"Mr. Superman, the reason this crisis is so difficult to resolve, the reason it's truly threatening the destruction of the entire multiverse, is that there's no easy solution,"
Loki said with a heavy heart. His ability to traverse various timelines wasn't a gift of omniscience or omnipotence.
Because he had witnessed the destruction of the multiverse countless times across endless timelines.
He had also seen his loved ones, dear friends, and those he cared about being wiped out before his eyes.
The endless power of time travel had not brought him joy in foreseeing the future, but rather endless pain from facing a cruel future he couldn't change, no matter how hard he tried.
At this moment, Loki's gaze slowly shifted as if he could see through the walls of the laboratory and the barriers of the entire space station, looking out into the distant cosmic sky.
There, from the far reaches of the universe, a beam of light, a billion times more brilliant than the sun, was rapidly surging toward Earth—or perhaps the entire universe.
"Mr. Superman, as I said, time really... is running out!"
In Loki's eyes, a light as brilliant as the cosmos itself seemed to shine at this moment.
"Damn, this energy surge? Why is it coming so fast?"
Even Peter, who had remained calm in the face of the destruction of dozens of universes, couldn't fully maintain his composure now.
Because the energy surge that had erupted in the destroyed universes was suddenly descending upon their universe.
Boom!
With Peter's shocked words, a terrifying burst of energy exploded at the center of the universe.
The terrifying energy shockwave almost instantly swept across the entire universe.
Earth was no exception. The energy blast instantly erased Earth from existence.
The immense power reduced nearly everything in the universe to nothingness.
The entire universe was utterly destroyed.
Only one figure remained, staring angrily in the direction from which the energy came. Then, in a flash, that figure disappeared.
...
*Within the Time Variance Authority.*
Loki's body convulsed, as if suddenly possessed by another soul, his eyes reflecting a completely different expression from before.
"Could it be that this path... is also wrong?"
Loki's face grew somber. The recent events seemed to suggest that his quest to find a way to save the universe had once again led him down the wrong path.
"Ah!"
Suddenly, a scream echoed from outside the TVA.
A figure clad in a time radiation protection suit was torn apart by the escalating time radiation, disintegrating into countless strands like spaghetti.
"Damn it, we've failed. Are we really unable to save the Temporal Loom, to save all the timelines and the multiverse?"
Mobius, his hair now gray, gazed at Victor, who had been shredded by the time radiation, a look of despair crossing his eyes.
The final chance had been lost, meaning that the entire TVA would be destroyed along with the Temporal Loom.
More crucially, without the Temporal Loom to manage the infinite timelines and the multiverse, all timelines would eventually wither away, taking the entire multiverse with them into oblivion.
In the vast hall, everyone wore expressions of helplessness and frustration at that moment.
Despite their best efforts, they were still unable to save the endless timelines and the entire multiverse.
Boom!
As timelines multiplied exponentially with every passing second, it took only a few moments for the rapidly emerging timelines to overwhelm the Temporal Loom.
A terrifying burst of time radiation erupted, and even the TVA's defenses couldn't withstand the onslaught.
In an instant, the entire hall was engulfed by the overwhelming time radiation.
Time, in that moment, displayed its most direct destructive power.
Nothing could withstand the endless erosion of time—not even the entire universe.
Endless timelines withered before Loki's eyes, and the entire hall began to collapse rapidly under the force of time, twisting and warping into grotesque shapes like strands of noodles.
"Ah!"
Mobius and an Asian figure standing in front of Loki were shredded into strands by the time radiation.
As the massive surge of time radiation was about to tear Loki apart, he suddenly turned around, looking back at the sorrowful female Loki behind him.
"Could it be that I really made a mistake back then?"
As the timelines collapsed completely, and the entire multiverse neared its demise, the female Loki seemed to finally realize that it was her insistence on killing the He Who Remains that had led to this catastrophe.
The powerful time radiation did not stop its relentless spread. The entire TVA was gradually being unraveled into strands.
The time radiation passed through Loki's body, yet it could not harm him.
However, the female Loki in front of him was not so fortunate, unable to withstand the damage caused by the temporal forces.
Before Loki's eyes, she was twisted and distorted by the time radiation, turning into countless strands.
...
"Is it really impossible for me to stop all of this from happening?"
Once again, friends and loved ones met a tragic end before Loki's eyes, victims of the Temporal Loom's destruction. In that moment, Loki's gaze revealed a deep sense of helplessness.
He had crossed countless timelines, time and again, in a desperate attempt to find a way to prevent this disaster. He had even spent centuries studying with Victor and other scientists, absorbing vast amounts of scientific knowledge to reinforce the Temporal Loom.
Centuries—such an incredibly long time that it nearly drove Loki to the brink of madness. All of it was done to buy more time for the plan to save the Temporal Loom and to steer toward a future where it would succeed.
However, the rate at which timelines were multiplying was simply too fast. Especially right before they were about to execute their rescue plan, the timeline growth rate suddenly surged exponentially.
In a matter of mere seconds, the number of branching timelines multiplied several times over.
And it was this sudden exponential increase that became the final, most devastating blow to the Temporal Loom, causing it to collapse and trigger the downfall and destruction of the multiverse.
No matter how hard Loki tried, no matter how carefully he treasured each precious moment, despite making thousands of attempts, he was never able to complete the plan to save the Temporal Loom before the universe and timelines were entirely obliterated.
Even in the fastest attempt, Victor was still nearly halfway from reaching the amplification device.
It seemed as though this outcome was a predetermined fact, unchangeable by any means.
The timelines would inevitably collapse, and the multiverse would inevitably perish along with them.
But Loki, filled with unwillingness, did not give up.
In his quest to save his dear friends, he continued to traverse the timelines, searching for the true cause behind the sudden acceleration in timeline growth before the universe's destruction.
He eventually discovered the root cause: the emergence of Infinite Ultron, which caused a significant mutation in the timelines.
Afterward, Loki tried countless methods and sought out countless powerful beings, all in an effort to stop the creation and development of the Infinite Ultron plan.
But each of these attempts ended in failure.
He even broke the TVA's longstanding rules and ventured to an independent, sacred timeline, separate from all other branches, in search of a solution.
In the end, this only led to the destruction of what was supposed to be the last surviving timeline in this crisis, leaving nothing behind.
"The He Who Remains... could he be the only one who knows how to resolve all of this?"
At that moment, Loki recalled how it was after the female Loki killed He Who Remains that the timeline branches began to multiply uncontrollably. It dawned on him that He Who Remains might be the key to solving everything.
Time and history seemed to revert to the beginning. Loki's entire body started to distort, and the world around him—twisted into strands by the intense time radiation—began to rewind and reshape.
Whoosh!
When Loki came to his senses, he found himself once again at the End of Time, in the grand hall where He Who Remains resided.
And before him was a figure he knew all too well—it was the female Loki, the very one who had just been torn apart by time radiation before his eyes.
But this time, the relationship between them was not yet as close or trusting.
Especially since the short dagger in her hand was now pressed against Loki's throat.
"No, you can't kill him!"
Gazing at the familiar figure before him, Loki's eyes reflected a trace of nostalgia, which quickly turned into resolve as he spoke without hesitation.
...
Just as Loki was tirelessly traversing through time at the End of Time, trying his best to prevent the female Loki from killing He Who Remains...
Meanwhile, in the universe that had already been destroyed, Peter's figure emerged, revealing an unprecedented level of power and speed for the first time.
As the universe disintegrated, Peter's form instantly appeared at the very epicenter of the energy burst that had destroyed the universe. And there, within that chaos, he saw a familiar figure.
Another Ultron, this one with five Infinity Stones embedded in its chest!
"Hmm? There are still survivors in this universe?" Ultron continued executing the program it had set for itself. Upon entering this universe, it unleashed a massive amount of energy without hesitation, obliterating everything.
Yet, to its surprise, there was a survivor in this now silent universe, unaffected by its energy.
Suddenly, Ultron focused on Peter, its crimson eyes processing streams of data.
"So it's you... the one who killed my original form..."
The infinite versions of Ultron seemed to share memories, and the moment it saw Peter, it knew he was the one who had killed the original Ultron.
"Foolish human, there's no way you could defeat me twice... uh... no!"
Before Ultron could finish its sentence, Peter had already appeared in front of it. His right hand spread its five fingers wide, pressing them against Ultron's head.
A terrifying surge of energy erupted instantly.
Before Ultron could even muster the thought to resist, its entire body was obliterated by the overwhelming force.
In a fit of intense anger, Peter did not hesitate to annihilate this version of Ultron. His body then vanished from the once-intact, now lifeless universe, reappearing in the void of the multiverse.
Boom! Boom! Boom...
As soon as Peter materialized within the void of the multiverse, he was met with the sight of dazzling lights erupting all around him and the continual destruction of countless universes within the void.
The cascading energy and the shattering universes seemed like brilliant fireworks blooming in the deep void. In that moment, they composed a unique symphony—both beautiful and magnificent.
Amid the dazzling starlight, one universe after another met its end.
...
(End of Chapter)
