As expected, what fused into him were Ego's memories.
From Ego's very birth, through his gradual growth, Arthur followed everything from Ego's perspective, witnessing his rise step by step.
The original purity.
The latter transformation.
The birth of ambition.
The swelling of loneliness…
Millions of years of time flowed before Arthur's eyes, worn away bit by bit! It was a long, draining, cold, almost unbearable torment.
Arthur simply endured it silently, following Ego's perspective, living through millions of years at his side. When everything finally reached its end, Arthur opened his eyes.
What filled his sight was the universe, the encircling stars. The golden energy surged like a tide, condensed further and further, until it drew back into Arthur's chest and coalesced into a single point of golden light that completely disappeared into his body.
[Disassembler Upgrade Complete!]
The prompt that appeared before him gave Arthur, for a split second, a strange, alien feeling. But in the next instant, everything was reabsorbed into his mind. After a mental journey spanning millions of years, he had almost lost his original self!
Silent, yet deadly dangerous.
It had only been an instant, but if he had truly lost himself in those millions of years, then perhaps he would no longer be Arthur at all. He closed his eyes, reorganizing his thoughts. Everything roiled within his mind, churned, and finally settled into calm.
All of Ego's experiences began to fade from his memory. The ambition, the darkness, those negative forces vanished rapidly, until nothing remained.
Only then did Arthur truly exhale in relief.
This upgrade had been more perilous than he'd ever expected.
Because the Disassembler had been below the necessary level, forcing the disassembly of Ego had created side effects that were carried directly into the upgrade process!
It had led to him being completely played in the palm of Ego's hand at the start. If Natasha hadn't risked her life to rush into the golden energy… if his soul hadn't been constantly alert… if he hadn't shaken off his confusion at the critical moment… this time he might truly have been finished.
And that wandering through millions of years, losing himself in an instant and regaining himself the next, though summarized in a few light sentences, had been the true danger of the upgrade.
The very first time the Disassembler had issued an important upgrade prompt, it had warned: "Unshakable will required."
The reason was simple. During the upgrade, one could lose oneself inside another's soul. And Ego's soul had turned out to be unexpectedly powerful!
That, though it had caused Arthur endless trouble, was also the very reason the Disassembler had been able to successfully upgrade at all.
"Soul…"
Arthur drew in a deep breath. After this upgrade, he could clearly feel it, the Disassembler, rippling everywhere inside his soul, omnipresent.
In truth, perhaps it wasn't even a machine. Though it manifested as one before his eyes, it might only be a special form of energy within the soul itself.
It was a mystery!
Even if one day Arthur achieved immortality and existed in this universe for endless time and endless ages, he might still never unravel it.
He changed into a new combat suit, unfurled the Crow God Wings behind him, accelerated, and in an instant vanished into the cosmos. The next moment, he reappeared aboard the spaceship.
Inside the spaceship, everyone was quietly waiting.
When Arthur appeared inside the spaceship, everyone finally let out a breath of relief.
Tony looked at Arthur. "It's over?"
Arthur removed his mask, storing it inside the Disassemble Space, and nodded silently.
"Natasha…" Tony began.
Although they had seen Arthur wake up earlier and heal Natasha, they didn't know the exact details of what had happened.
Arthur said, "Prepare a room. She needs to rest."
"Understood."
For a moment, no one knew what to do. As soon as Arthur said this, everyone immediately sprang into action. In no time, the lower deck's rest cabin had been cleaned spotless. The small table inside was piled high with all kinds of food and drinks.
Arthur placed Natasha gently onto the bed.
Her body had been completely repaired by Arthur's Eye of Horus, but unlike before, she didn't wake up directly from unconsciousness. Instead, her eyes remained tightly shut, as if in a deep sleep.
Tony brought over a Šumer, using its light-wave scanner to confirm that her body was unharmed. Only then did everyone breathe easier.
The others glanced at each other, and seeing that Arthur seemed uninterested in speaking with them, they tactfully returned to the upper deck of the spaceship.
Only Tony stayed behind, looking at Arthur sitting quietly at Natasha's bedside, his eyes fixed on her. After a moment's thought, Tony said, "I've tried to talk to you about this more than once, but I still have to say it. For her to do what she just did already proves she's willing to give her life for you at any time. A woman like that, if you don't cherish her, it'd be a real shame."
Arthur said nothing.
"I don't know what you've been through," Tony continued, "or what that golden energy actually was, some sort of defense mechanism, or something else entirely… But I can't shake the feeling that since you came back this time, you seem older."
"But age means wisdom," Tony said. "Gain and loss… I don't think I need to tell you any more than that, do I?"
"It's not about gain and loss…" Arthur finally spoke, his voice a little hoarse. "They're all good women. I've steeled my heart and kept rejecting them, hoping to hurt them a little… because hurt can heal. But time doesn't flow backwards. Wasting their precious time on me isn't worth it. I thought she'd eventually give up, but I never imagined she'd… This is truly terrifying. If I had still been blind to everything at that moment, maybe I'd have wanted to destroy myself."
He shook his head, covering his face with his hands. His eyes were a little red, though not a single tear fell. He spoke softly: "I don't know how to repay feelings like hers. I don't even know… how to handle a relationship like this. But I feel like I should be brave. Whether it's right or wrong, at the very least, I should take a step forward. I shouldn't keep letting harm fall on them while being afraid that stepping forward might hurt them even more… Tony, do you understand how I feel?"
(End of Chapter)
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