Chapter 63: Who Could Fulfill His Fantasy? Could It Really Be Du Wa?
Du Wa had secretly deployed Aliens all over the world, ready to have them metamorphose into Queens at any moment. He used the threat of an Alien disaster as a strategic weapon to hold the entire world hostage.
This was no secret, and it was indeed effective. Even before Du Wa controlled the Alien-Sentry, he could force the entire world to act with caution. Unless absolutely necessary, people were unwilling to have a complete falling out with Du Wa.
But their efforts to find the Aliens never ceased. If they could find a way to lock onto the location of every single Alien and possess the ability to kill them all in an instant, they could neutralize Du Wa's threat of disaster.
Professor X should have been the most suitable person for the job, but unfortunately, for some unknown reason, he had teamed up with Magneto.
Coulson thought this with some regret, but he had already successfully found the perfect candidate to counter the Aliens.
"You say you want to help me? Just with you ordinary people?"
The young man before him was average-looking, but he emanated a strange mental wave, a special kind of telepathic ability.
Most importantly, an Alien that should have been hunting in the South American Rainforest, one of the weapons Du Wa had deployed globally, was now standing quietly behind this young man.
Coulson was greatly reassured. This Eternal before him truly possessed this special ability, a natural ability to influence and control all creatures.
"Mr. Druig, correct? One of the reclusive Eternals. What a fitting name. We went through a lot of trouble to find you," Coulson said with great enthusiasm.
Druig looked at him coldly. "Get out. I'm not interested in the affairs of the outside world."
"Not even interested that your comrades were killed? A lot has happened recently..."
"I know."
Druig interrupted Coulson, his eyes coldly sweeping over the fully armed agents behind him. He then pointed to the Alien beside him and said, "This Alien has been in many battles. I've learned from its mind that my people, unable to stay quiet, clashed with someone named Du Wa and suffered a great loss."
Even Makkari was dead...
A flicker of sadness crossed Druig's cold eyes, but it was just a flicker.
He was different from the other ten Eternals, having sharp ideological conflicts with them. That was why he had remained in seclusion in the tropical rainforest for the past few centuries, refusing all forms of contact with the other Eternals.
If there was anything worthy of his attention, it was this Alien that had, at some unknown time, crossed mountains and ridges to quietly take root in the tropical rainforest. It was his first time seeing such a strange creature.
Born with a natural exoskeleton armor, tall and streamlined, Druig knew with a single glance that this creature of extreme aesthetic beauty was a natural-born killing weapon.
While communicating telepathically with this Alien, Druig confirmed this. He even keenly sensed Du Wa's consciousness.
But it didn't matter. Druig was extremely confident in his own ability. He was, by his very nature, a friend to all animals.
Of course, that should include Aliens.
Look, wasn't this Alien obediently following him? Just like his most loyal guard.
The thing Druig liked most about the Alien wasn't actually related to combat.
"I'm not interested in the disputes of the outside world. My Alien friend also told me that the last batch of Deviants has been wiped out, so I have even less reason to leave with you."
Druig stared impatiently at the heavily armed agents. "If you're here for this Alien, I won't give it to you. I like its incredibly pure mind. It's so much cleaner than you people."
A pure mind?
Coulson's expression stiffened.
Yes, it was indeed quite pure when it was working—single-mindedly focused on killing you or capturing people for parasitism. The vampires had a lot to say about that.
"Your people recommended you to me. Don't you care about that either?"
"My people? What a joke. Are you talking about that traitor Ikaris, or Ajak and her group of reckless attention-seekers?" Druig's face was indignant as he let out a sneer.
Now, Coulson understood why this Eternal was at odds with Ajak and the others. He seemed a bit cynical.
"For the past seven thousand years, we witnessed humanity's journey from savagery to civilization. We saw human history with our own eyes, protecting and guiding them, silently clearing out the Deviants." Druig's expression became ferocious.
Coulson frowned slightly, then quickly relaxed his brow and said cautiously, "Yes, humanity's development is a credit to you all. Therefore, in the face of an evil enemy like Du Wa, you should unite with the other Eternals..."
"Unite? A human, daring to talk to me about unity?!"
Druig's voice suddenly rose to a near-roar. "I've witnessed countless humans slaughtering each other, genocide after genocide! As Eternals, we should have had the power to stop it, to stand up and lead you to peace! But what was the result?! Who caused all of this to happen? Who turned the world into this hellish state? It was Ajak! And now she herself is getting involved in human affairs again. It's a complete joke!"
At that moment, Coulson confirmed Druig's stance: an idealist who, in his subconscious, saw himself as a guardian of human civilization, shouldering the heavy responsibility of leading the way.
But clearly, the other Eternals, especially their leader Ajak, didn't think so. After basically eliminating the Deviants, they disappeared from the sight of human civilization and went into seclusion.
Druig's resentment and his severance of ties with the other Eternals were also due to these severe ideological differences.
"Then, we need you to step up even more. The best time to plant a tree was ten years ago. The second best time is now." Coulson looked at him sincerely. "You have the ability, don't you? Just like you did in the past."
Druig was silent for a moment.
"Fine. I don't know what Ajak told you, and I don't care what ugly conspiracies you people have cooked up."
Druig couldn't hide his irritability. "Ajak must have been wrong. Human society should have been much better than it is now!"
"Yes, we are looking forward to you stepping up."
In his heart, Coulson felt a sense of pity for Druig.
Since when did humanity need an Eternal to lead them?
Druig suddenly shot Coulson a glance and let out a sneer. "You'd better control your mental activity. Even if I don't deliberately try to perceive it, your thoughts are like a flame in the dark, easily noticed by me."
Pity? Druig didn't care about that. If he cared what others thought, how could he have broken away from the other Eternals with whom he had gone through life and death?
"The most pressing matter right now is that we've encountered an extremely evil enemy. He's unscrupulously expanding his army, cruelly capturing all sorts of races to sacrifice to his Aliens," Coulson explained. "From a human perspective, this is unforgivable."
"Then I have a question. This villain you call Du Wa, has he ever parasitized and chestbursted a single human? Even one?" Druig looked at him coldly.
Coulson was stunned. "Yes, he has. As far as I know, he parasitized a human black magician..."
"I told you, this Alien by my side has been in many battles. If it weren't a seasoned veteran, Du Wa wouldn't have trusted it to survive here."
Druig rudely interrupted Coulson, "That black magician killed far more people than the Alien ever did! What else do you have to say?"
Coulson thought for a moment. If mutants were counted as humans, then Du Wa had conquered Alkali Lake and captured a group of brainwashed mutants. He wondered if Du Wa would subject the mutants to chestbursting, hoping that Magneto and Professor X would become hostile towards Du Wa.
Apparently, in this Eternal's perception, parasitism and chestbursting were two completely different concepts.
Coulson calculated carefully and was horrified to discover that, to date, all the hosts Du Wa had captured and plundered on a large scale were either animals or vampires. The number of ordinary humans he had subjected to chestbursting... was practically zero!
What did this mean? Did it mean that Du Wa, this leader of a creature legion who constantly challenged the established order, who had directly and indirectly caused numerous major incidents, and who operated outside the law and rules, was actually a genuine lover of humanity?
This was too absurd!
At this moment, Coulson felt an extreme sense of absurdity. It was like a supervillain who killed people like flies, holding a blood-dripping knife and shouting at all the victims, "I'm doing this for your own good."
By that logic, shouldn't New York's king of the underworld, Kingpin, be considered a human sage and receive the laurel crown of human civilization?
Du Wa's style of rapid, reckless advancement, yet with such clear-cut principles, gave Coulson a deep sense of unease.
Having powerful potential wasn't the most terrifying thing. An astonishing scale wasn't enough to make one feel despair. What was truly frightening was possessing both those advantages, along with an impossibly calm mind.
Druig said, "I have a fondness for creatures with pure minds, like the Alien. Therefore, I'm going to meet Du Wa. If he is not worthy of the Aliens, I will strip him of his control over them."
Coulson smiled. "Of course. He's an ambitious man who is very good at devising strategies, but he would never expect someone like you to exist in this world, Druig... You should be the one to stop him."
The process was a bit different from what Coulson had expected, but the result was the same.
Coulson needed Druig to strip Du Wa of his control over the Aliens. That alone was enough. Without the Aliens, the power Du Wa wielded would be cut in half.
If things went smoothly, they could also take control of the Sentry's gestating larva, and by extension, control the Sentry himself. That would be even better.
Du Wa would have nowhere to run. He was destined for prison. All the fruits of his labor, the entire enterprise he had built, would vanish overnight, all of it becoming the strength of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Smiling, Coulson led Druig and the Alien aboard the helicopter. The group flew quickly from South America to North America.
Even on the plane, Coulson was sizing up Druig and the Alien, deeply anticipating the stunned expression on Du Wa's face when he lost control.
"No matter how cunning Du Wa is, faced with a mysterious Eternal who is far superior, he's bound to suffer an unforeseen setback on the telepathic level," Coulson thought to himself.
Du Wa knew about Ikaris and the others, but could he also be perfectly clear about Druig, who hadn't been involved in worldly affairs for centuries? Impossible. Du Wa wasn't omniscient.
...
Alkali Lake.
The churning floodwaters let out a terrifying, earth-shaking roar, carrying the force of billions of tons as they surged down.
It was foreseeable that before long, the many towns downstream would be in for a disaster. It seemed many people were going to die.
Du Wa and his group forced their way out of the current.
Du Wa looked up at the invisible warplane in the sky and said slowly, "You're late."
Several mutants leaped down from the plane.
"Stryker is dead?"
"That's right, dead. By now, his corpse has probably been crushed into a pulp by countless rocks," Du Wa said casually.
"Serves him right. An evil man like him should have died long ago." Cyclops spat, feeling a sense of satisfaction.
Magneto's face was grim. He stared coldly at Du Wa without a word. Or rather, he really didn't know what to talk to Du Wa about. Should they discuss maintenance tips for the larva in his chest?
He would rather go play with steel.
"Du Wa, those mutants are pitiful children. They're innocent, all brainwashed after being forcibly captured by Stryker! I can hear their pain," Professor X said, his face extremely pale as he sat in his wheelchair.
Hearing this, Du Wa glanced back at his spoils of war.
Each Alien was holding one or two mutants.
"Charles, this is very impolite. Instead of taking the time to recover, you've come to ask me for people? You know I'm more short-staffed than you. You have the X-Men and the Brotherhood, and mutants from all over the world eager to join you. What do I have?" Du Wa shook his head.
Professor X shook his head. "You also have countless humans who want to join you. They are surrounding your new building right now, hoping to become your soldiers and gain your protection."
Du Wa grinned. How could that be the same thing?
A bunch of ordinary people, whether used for chestbursting or not, had limited strength. But mutants were different. Combining with an Alien would allow an individual to be compatible with two genetic systems simultaneously, incorporating the strengths of both. The resulting power would be an exponential increase.
Putting other things aside, just imagine: a mutant with a minor superpower who also gains an incredibly tough physique and an astonishing healing factor. If they were willing to self-harm, they could even use the blood of the Alien larva in their chest to kill enemies. Such a transformation was simply earth-shattering.
Du Wa didn't speak. Sentry sensed his boss's mood, took a step forward, clenched his fists, and sneered, "Who do you think you are? You've done nothing, and you think you can take all our gains with just a few words?"
"What bullshit are you spouting? They're not objects, they're living people!" Wolverine tossed his cigar aside.
This action successfully attracted Sentry's attention. He instantly transformed into a streak of golden light, moving at a speed most people present couldn't react to, and threw a punch. Like a kite with a snapped string, Wolverine went flying into the distance, spraying flesh and blood.
"Didn't punch through his chest? I get it now, he's Wolverine." Sentry shook his fist, feeling extremely unlucky to have run into two freaks with terrifying defense one after another.
But there was no need to worry. At least one of them—Lady Deathstrike—had already fallen into their hands and would soon become one of them.
With Sentry's attack, the atmosphere instantly became tense.
Jean Grey was particularly aggressive. Terrifying energy surged around her, and immense psionic power churned wildly, a stark contrast to her previously gentle and calm style.
"Calm down, Jean. They are not our enemies," Professor X's expression changed.
Sentry grunted twice, his entire body glowing brightly with golden light. "Even if we were, you would just be our defeated opponents."
"Alright, Reynolds, shut up. The flash flood has already gained momentum. Go all out and stop these floodwaters, then divert them to an unpopulated area," Du Wa commanded.
Sentry immediately created an endless golden barrier. It was a crude and extravagant use of energy. When the gold clashed with the flash flood, it produced a deafening roar, and the entire mountain seemed to tremble.
He let out a roar like a giant beast as streams of energy vented everywhere, creating huge cracks in the earth.
"This is no place to talk. We're leaving," Du Wa said, not consulting with the others.
"You can take our plane..."
"No need. I have a better way to travel."
Du Wa swung Thor's hammer and flew into the sky. The Speed Alien used its super speed, and in a few blinks, transported all the present Aliens away.
Including the spoils of war, of course.
"Should we follow them? Starting a conflict with Du Wa at a time like this would be very detrimental to our cause. Besides, he was the one who rescued those mutants. We were a step too late, after all," Magneto said, annoyed.
Constrained at every turn. Whenever he confronted Du Wa, no matter what he did, it felt wrong. It had been a long time since he had felt this frustrated.
The Alien larva in his chest seemed to breathe in and out in response to Magneto's words, making his expression even more complicated.
Professor X fell silent. He glanced into the distance at the Sentry, who was as powerful as a deity and loyally carrying out Du Wa's commands. He said in a low voice, "You didn't understand my meaning. We should protect our brothers and sisters, that's correct, but not without principles... Things are different now. If we are to go out and found a nation, we will inevitably have to give some things up."
Everyone looked at Professor X in surprise, as if they were seeing this highly respected and noble man for the first time.
There were no fools present; they all roughly understood Professor X's underlying meaning.
Wolverine ran back, looking disheveled. It hadn't been long, and it was already the second time he'd been sent flying by a single blow. He immediately asked, "Then why did you say all that just now, risking a complete break with someone like Du Wa?"
"Logan, be more polite to the Professor." Cyclops was fed up with this ill-mannered wild dog and sometimes really wanted to give him a blast of heat vision.
Wolverine glared at Cyclops but didn't say anything more. He looked straight at Professor X.
"What we need to do is unite more people, continuously weaken and kill those who are hostile to us, including even mutants who might obstruct our great cause... Du Wa is different. He might stand on our side and become our ally. That's why I need him to cherish our mutant compatriots."
Unconsciously, Professor X's face grew even paler. He couldn't believe that such blatant politicking would come from the mouth of someone like him, and that he was already starting to implement it.
Magneto looked on with approval. "You've finally awakened, Charles. If you don't even have this level of realization, we might as well give up on independence, go surrender to humanity, and wait for our own extinction."
"So what should we do? Let Du Wa parasitize those mutants?" Jean's voice was cold and clear.
Magneto glanced at Jean, deeply wary of this compatriot whose potential power was absurdly immense. He said, "What else can be done? Don't forget, those guys were brainwashed countless times by Stryker and turned into a group of weapons without a will of their own. At least with Du Wa taking them, he can put them in a suitable position and keep them under firm control, preventing them from running amok."
"It seems Du Wa put you in a 'suitable position' after capturing you. Otherwise, you'd be the one running amok right now." When Jean Grey spoke, her words unconsciously carried a sting, and an invisible mental power began to radiate from her.
The anger in Magneto's eyes flared and vanished in an instant. Just as he was about to do something, Professor X gently shook his head and said to Jean with concern, "We need to have a talk."
"Talk about what?"
"You are an indispensable member of our group. The most urgent task now is to find a way to tap into your potential power and help you control it."
Jean didn't speak. With her main personality still in control, she nodded lightly.
At this moment, the trajectory of fate shifted once again, turning in a direction none of them could have ever imagined.
Du Wa had mentally prepared for this change in fate. He also knew that sooner or later, Professor X and Magneto would go to the living island, Krakoa, to found their own independent nation.
But this shift, in other aspects, was beyond Du Wa's expectations.
"They didn't follow? So that was their plan. It's both a reminder and a warning."
Through the larva inside Magneto, Du Wa understood Professor X's meaning. Cherish them? Being able to make good use of these mutants who had lost their own will was the greatest form of cherishing he could offer.
Otherwise, even if Du Wa hadn't taken them and let Professor X's group have them, while Professor X might have had a chance to restore the mutants' consciousness, it was also possible he wouldn't be able to fully restore them.
In any case, Du Wa would never compromise. How could he hand over what he had obtained through his own strength to Professor X?
"The Professor is a respectable man. The only reason that could make someone like him concede is a great cause." Du Wa recalled that in the many universes, any reality where the two poles—Xavier and Magneto—joined forces was filled with blood and tragedy. As mutant leaders, the number of mutants they killed was countless.
But that had nothing to do with Du Wa. He had no interest in getting involved in mutant affairs; he was just forcefully taking his spoils of war.
However, just as Du Wa returned to Weyland Tower with his army and had barely had time to rest...
"...Hmm, the Alien I sent to South America has returned."
Du Wa was on the 93rd floor of Weyland Tower. It was a sealed floor; the elevator couldn't stop here because this floor was the hive where the Queen laid her eggs.
Du Wa personally placed a Facehugger onto Lady Deathstrike's face, completing his control over this powerful mutant whose combat power surpassed Wolverine's.
He tried to use the Alien larva's consciousness to pry into Lady Deathstrike's original consciousness, only to find that her mind and thoughts were filled with nothing but absolute emptiness and obedience.
As a result, the Alien larva, which should have been dormant, now had to remain awake to control Lady Deathstrike's body.
"This works too. The Alien's combat instinct is no worse than Lady Deathstrike's self-awareness. Combined with her Beta Adamantium skeleton and super healing factor, I can use her corrosive blood to kill enemies without any reservations."
Du Wa was very satisfied. He greatly admired the current Lady Deathstrike. She was a unique creation, just like Sentry.
But in terms of fighting will, Lady Deathstrike far surpassed Sentry. She felt no fear or cowardice, a true killing machine, enough to become Du Wa's right and left hand.
As for letting the larva chestburst and become a complete Alien, Du Wa had considered it but quickly gave up on the idea. An Alien that had undergone a chestburst would no longer have a Beta Adamantium skeleton.
This skeleton possessed a healing factor. Even if shattered by a Skyfather-level power or higher, it could slowly heal itself. It was a special product of the combination of Adamantium and Lady Deathstrike's super healing gene.
With the Beta skeleton, Du Wa would even dare to have Lady Deathstrike withstand a nuclear bomb head-on. This skeleton could ensure she maintained her basic physical frame and protected her crucial brain. As long as her body wasn't completely destroyed, her healing factor would always restore any injuries.
But without the Beta skeleton, there was no way a body of flesh and blood could withstand a nuclear bomb. It would be vaporized the instant it made contact with the nuclear explosion, leaving no chance for self-healing.
Du Wa looked at the indifferent woman before him and nodded in satisfaction. As for the other mutants, he would naturally leave them to the Aliens to be parasitized one by one. They weren't worthy of his personal attention.
Now, Du Wa calmly walked to the window, flanked by Sentry on his left and Lady Deathstrike on his right, and gazed outside.
The next second, a massive, rectangular starship appeared in the sky, its surface engraved with strange golden patterns.
Several figures in skintight blue battle suits had already flown out from the starship, meeting Du Wa's gaze from a distance.
"Ajak, Gilgamesh, Sersi who can reconstruct matter, Kingo with his long-range shooting ability, the ever-changing illusionist Sprite, the crazy female warrior Thena, Phastos who skillfully forges precise weapons from energy... Oh, and leading them is none other than Druig, the one controlling my Alien..."
Almost all the Eternals had come, which gratified Du Wa immensely.
He shattered the glass in front of him with a punch. "It seems you've picked up the script you abandoned centuries ago. How about I give you a new name? Let's call it the Great Eternals' Gathering."
"That's a terrible name, child. A bit childish, but it suits your age."
The female warrior Thena, holding an energy blade, assumed a combat stance. Her matter-of-fact preparation for battle made the other Eternals worried sick.
Thena had mental problems. In Ajak's words, it was because the Celestial Arishem had repeatedly wiped her memories, causing countless memory fragments to mix together, which made Thena become unstable at times.
"Druig, keep an eye on her condition at all times," Ajak signaled to Druig.
But Druig only gave Ajak a cold glance. Having learned that Arishem had been using them on repeat for millions of years, he had completely lost faith in his leader, Ajak, and refused to speak a word to her.
"Leave Du Wa to me. You're here to avenge Makkari and serve Arishem. I'm different. I'm here for Du Wa and the Alien." Druig made no effort to hide his disgust for Arishem.
The other Eternals remained silent, warily watching Du Wa, who had also mobilized his forces in a grand display.
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
The sound of each individual Alien's movement was very faint, but when there were many, it became deafening.
Thousands of Aliens poured out endlessly from Weyland Tower, surrounding the group of Eternals in a deathly silence.
This number put a lot of pressure on the Eternals.
"So these are the Aliens. No wonder Sersi and Ikaris mistook them. They really do look like the Deviants, but they are actually completely different creatures."
"They are more terrifying than the Deviants. At least the Deviants don't have such an exaggerated reproduction capability and growth potential." Ajak's expression was solemn. It had been a long time since she had felt this tense.
To think that on a place like Earth, they would encounter such a terrifying enemy as Du Wa. Both the Eternals and the Deviants had suffered losses at his hands.
Ajak didn't dare to imagine what Du Wa would grow into if given enough time. He would parasitize more powerful individuals, constantly increasing his own strength. If he left Earth in the future and spread to other planets...
Oh, he had already spread. The Asgardians had helped him do it. She had no idea how the war was going.
But that was in the past, because Du Wa no longer had a future. The Aliens, perhaps, still did.
Ajak looked at Druig, who was walking at the very front, completely unlike in the past when he would stand behind her.
"Hiss!"
The Alien following behind Druig let out a screech.
Countless Aliens began to cry out in response. Probably no one except Du Wa and Druig knew what they were shouting.
"Welcome to my territory, members of the Eternals. It seems we can at least reach one consensus: fighting here won't cause too many innocent deaths, so we can go all out without holding back."
Du Wa walked out with Sentry, Lady Deathstrike, and Elektra, commanding a vast number of Aliens.
The ordinary people in the vicinity had already fled in terror the moment the Eternals' starship appeared, observing everything here from a great distance.
Multiple satellites had also been redirected to monitor the developing situation.
"This time, Du Wa has nowhere to run. The biggest mistake he ever made was acquiring the Aliens, only to lose them immediately after."
Several kilometers away, Coulson clenched his fists, extremely excited. He would soon be able to disarm Du Wa of his strongest weapon and either kill him or lock him up.
Aboard the Helicarrier, Fury asked, "This Druig you mentioned, is he really controllable?"
"Don't worry, chief. For an idealist like him, his greatest strength is his superhuman perseverance, which is also his greatest weakness. It makes his personality incredibly obstinate; once he's set on something, he'll never turn back, which makes him very suitable for us to control. Since he has already demonstrated absolute control over the Alien through his actions, he is qualified to be won over by us."
Coulson pointed at the screen and said, "If there's any chance of him becoming a problem, the only thing I can think of is if someone could satisfy this idealist's unrealistic fantasy of permanent peace and an end to all war. But we all know that's simply impossible."
(end of chapter)