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[Superman] Chapter 164: Survivor from a Certain Zombie Universe
🕑 Added 2024-06-30 05:18:40 +0000 UTCIn Reed's plan, they were preparing to initially invite five different versions of Reed from various universes.
The individual before them now was the first member Reed intended to invite.
He was simply a leader of a world-renowned company in his universe, without any superpowers.
Subsequently, Reed introduced several others to Peter, another version of him who was to be invited as council members.
Apart from the first one, who came from decades into the future, there were four others among the first batch of invitees from different universes.
Unlike the other two Reeds from the remaining universes, the four in question began their destinies under surprisingly similar circumstances.
Each encountered a special cosmic storm during a unique sky mission, which granted them a unique ability.
Their bodies could undergo incredible transformations, compressions, and distortions akin to rubber.
Alongside their companions similarly affected by the cosmic storm, they founded Earth's most famous superhero organization—Fantastic Four.
However, their subsequent fates underwent minor to significant changes.
For instance, one of them, after gaining powers, successfully defeated an investor who also acquired superpowers while carrying out a space mission.
Soon after, he married his girlfriend, Susan, during the wedding ceremony, an alien invader on a silver surfboard arrived from beyond Earth.
Ultimately, the Fantastic Four united to convince this silver surfer, and they worked together to repel the planet-devouring Galactus.
"I never imagined that in another universe, Susan and I would actually get married in the near future!"
Reed watched another version of himself walk down the aisle with Susan, his eyes betraying a hint of envy and anticipation.
"Don't worry, your wish will soon come true!"
Encouraging the somewhat envious Reed, Peter agreed to shuttle through the endless universes once again, arriving in the universe where the next invited member resided.
This time, the experiences of the new member they were about to invite were initially similar to those of the Reed who had just married, but their fates diverged completely thereafter.
"Sir, this is a particularly unique universe similar to ours."
"Here, not only do we have the Fantastic Four superhero organization we just saw, but also numerous other superhero groups such as the Avengers, Defenders, Thunderbolts, and Big Hero 6."
Even Reed was quite surprised upon learning about the uniqueness of this universe.
In this universe, it seemed like a paradise for superheroes and supervillains.
Almost every day, the world witnessed battles between heroes and villains.
Moreover, there were occasional special conflicts between different organizations.
Recently, even the world's largest hero organization, the Avengers, split, resulting in a widespread civil war among their supporters.
During this internal conflict, countless heroes suffered varying degrees of injury.
The losing side was even imprisoned.
Subsequently, perhaps to prevent such unique internal conflicts in the future, leaders of several superhero organizations convened to establish a special organization called the Illuminati.
This organization wasn't publicized; only its members knew of its existence. Composed of Earth's brightest minds, it aimed to address threats from beyond Earth within the cosmos and prevent potential friction or chaos among Earth's various organizations.
"The person we are about to invite is one of the members of this Illuminati, the leader of the Fantastic Four, Reed!"
Reed couldn't help but marvel that it seemed each version of himself in every universe was doing quite well.
...
For the third invited member, Peter had no objections.
Although the name Illuminati made him somewhat hesitant, since it had just been established, it shouldn't cause much controversy.
Following this, as they once again traversed the miniature universes within the vast cosmos,
Their gaze slowly entered another unique universe.
What slowly appeared before them was a child who looked only a few years old.
Noticing the subtle expression on Reed's face through the holographic projection, Peter sensed a strange significance.
Eyes filled with affection and envy watched the child playing alone with LEGO in a living room.
"Reed, you're not telling me that the fourth invited member is this child, are you?"
Peter naturally understood where Reed's particular emotions were coming from at this moment, teasing Reed.
"Ahem, sorry, sir, I got a bit distracted. The person we want to invite is certainly not a child!"
Detecting a hint of teasing in Peter's tone, Reed seemed a bit embarrassed, hastily continuing, finally recalling their original purpose.
"It's actually this child's father..."
With Reed's words, the LEGO toys the child was constructing inexplicably collapsed.
Soon after, accompanied by the sound of scattered toys, a figure quickly opened the door and rushed into the living room.
"Heh, I never expected you to have the potential to be a dad..."
Following the rushing figure, Peter couldn't help turning to look at Reed, who covered his face and seemed unable to face anyone, slowly saying.
"Ahem, sir, this is just an infinite universe, full of endless possibilities."
At this moment, Reed also realized that becoming a dad was just another version of himself in another universe. Although he still felt a bit embarrassed, he began to introduce him to Peter.
"As you can see, in this universe, another version of me has a special identity. Shortly after marrying Susan, he quickly had a son and became a devoted dad focusing on taking care of his son..."
"Of course, there's a reason why he's a candidate we want to invite."
"Even though he became a dad taking care of his child in his life, he never stopped exploring science."
"And he almost poured more time and energy into researching some special technologies..."
"His kindness and character are something he can't say much more about naturally."
Reed finished the introduction to his alter-ego dad in this universe right away.
With Peter's consent, they departed this universe.
Meanwhile, the Reed who had become a dad, upon seeing his child, was not accidentally returned to his room again.
And in a situation where no one noticed, the child was playing with toys in the living room, his eyes seeming to have had a special inspiration.
The next moment, the Lego toys in front of him were floating in the air without anyone controlling them, and then they built a magnificent building taller than the boy himself with an unidentifiable speed.
It seemed like a futuristic city.
Even more bizarrely, with a blink of light in the boy's eyes, it seemed as if the entire city suddenly came alive at that moment.
...
"Only one remains..."
As their gaze returned once more to the dazzling multi-dimensional universe, Reed had now introduced four prospective members of the Multiverse Council.
There was only one left whom Peter had not yet been introduced to.
"Sir, the next invited member is somewhat special. Please prepare yourself..."
Just before the introduction of the final member, Reed seemed hesitant yet eager to remind Peter.
"Special? In what way?"
Peter was curious, never having seen Reed use such a tone before.
"You'll find out soon enough!"
With Reed's voice, countless fluorescent universes swiftly zoomed past them once again.
A dim red sphere, entwined with strands of green thread, emerged before them, marking this particular universe as distinctive.
"Hmm? It seems this universe does indeed possess some uniqueness..."
This was Peter's first time seeing a universe with such a different surface effect compared to the many monochrome spheres.
While other universes' surfaces varied between dim and bright, almost all emitted a consistent red glow.
Only this universe had a dim red sphere with eerie green threads still entwined around it.
Following Peter's curious gaze, they rapidly entered this universe.
Soon, they arrived on Earth in this universe.
However, this Earth, when viewed from space, appeared eerily silent, as if the entire planet had lost all signs of human habitation.
"Could this universe be..."
As Peter looked at this silent planet, a peculiar premonition suddenly arose in his mind, as if he had guessed something.
Yet, their gaze did not stop with Peter's surprise.
Slowly, their eyes approached the surface of this Earth and entered a modern city.
Initially viewed from above, it still appeared modern.
However, as their gaze drew nearer, they discovered that this city had long since become deserted.
The streets were overgrown with grass, some of which had grown rapidly, climbing up skyscrapers to even higher heights.
The entire city seemed engulfed in complete silence, as if no one had maintained or lived there for years.
Yet, the abandoned city was not what surprised Peter the most.
What shocked him was the constant wandering of humanoid figures resembling zombies on the deserted city streets!
"Ahh!"
Suddenly, a sound seemed to startle the figures as they roamed.
They abruptly raised their heads, their sunken eye sockets and half-exposed skeletal faces gaping wide, dripping with viscous saliva...
The next moment, awakened by the sound, they sprinted swiftly.
Their speed was several times faster than that of ordinary people, covering a hundred meters in just a few seconds.
Soon, a group of zombie-like creatures rushed to the source of the sound, which turned out to be a wild wolf entering the city from the wilderness.
Of course, it might have escaped from a zoo in the city.
In any case, the zombies spotted a wild wolf searching for food.
In an instant, countless figures rushed towards the wolf, jaws wide open and claws outstretched, as if they intended to tear the wolf to shreds.
In fact, that was exactly what happened. The poor wolf was surrounded by hundreds of zombies, its body torn and gnawed, bones picked clean in moments.
"Is this... the infamous Zombie Universe?"
Peter stared in astonishment at the grotesque spectacle unfolding in the city.
"Indeed, sir. This is indeed a paradise where, after being ravaged by some virus, humanity has turned into emotionless killers, reveling in the joy of slaughter!"
Reed gazed upon this horrifying scene, his eyes filled with pity and a hint of fear.
...
The Zombie Universe.
In Peter's memory, it was indeed a particularly unique existence.
He knew that one day, he might encounter such a special Marvel universe.
But he hadn't expected it to be now.
"Sir, as you can see, this city, and indeed the entire Earth, was swept by a specific virus several years ago."
"With the heroes who originally protected civilians being the first to be infected by this special virus, they instantly turned into sources of infection, spreading at a speed that neither humans nor the military could resist, infecting the entire world."
"In less than half a year, the whole world had fallen completely. Countless heroes who resisted them bravely sacrificed themselves, eventually becoming the flesh in the mouths of the zombies or joining their ranks..."
"The entire world has almost completely descended into a human hell, a paradise for zombies..."
Reed looked down at the terrifying zombies below, who seemed never satisfied, constantly roaring and looking up, his tone filled with regret and loss as he introduced Peter.
Peter nodded, his gaze still scanning the city below.
Among them, besides the ordinary civilian zombies, he also spotted several figures that seemed familiar to him.
There was the Old King in mage robes, darting through the city, and figures flying in the air wearing tattered steel armor...
These terrifying zombies were once admired heroes.
"Alright, take me to meet the Council members we're preparing to invite!"
Peter had little interest in observing this world full of bloodshed and chaos.
He knew there must be survivors here; otherwise, Reed wouldn't have set the Council invitation in this universe.
"Very well, sir!"
Reed nodded, and suddenly, the scene before them shifted to a fortress-like building covered in moss.
"This is a secret base established by SHIELD in this universe, located in the desolate wilderness where no one treads, hence it hasn't been discovered by the zombies..."
As Reed introduced, their gaze pierced through the fortress's silver metal walls and descended hundreds of meters underground.
Soon, they arrived in a laboratory.
There, they saw a figure conducting an experiment.
To their surprise, the subject of his experiment was a zombie that kept roaring at him!
They watched as he slowly injected a potion emitting a blue glow into the zombie's body.
After waiting for a moment and seeing the zombie gradually quiet down, his eyes filled with anticipation.
However, the peace lasted less than a minute before the zombie suddenly became more violent, twisting its body in an incredible manner, seemingly craving blood and flesh so much it even tried to bite itself.
"Unfortunately, Zombie Serum Experiment #1864 has failed..."
"Damn it!"
The cold, robotic voice of the system made the figure's hopeful face instantly turn extremely grim.
Disappointment filled his weathered, dirty face.
"Give it a quick end!"
With his command, flames suddenly engulfed the experimental device, quickly incinerating the zombie.
"Record the experimental data and prepare for the next trial..."
...
(End of this chapter)
