Chapter 72: Regarding My Third Reincarnation as an Alien
Anyone who attempted to invade Du Wa on a mental, spiritual, or conscious level would, without exception, be stunned by the scene within his brain.
After all, as the primary consciousness, to be protected by the consciousness of countless Aliens was an extremely rare life form in the entire universe.
Du Wa had long since clearly understood that the more Aliens there were and the stronger their average strength, the more powerful the force protecting him would be.
Consequently, the mental power Du Wa could wield would also be greater. In the future, he would have no problem completing his own exclusive Alien Astral Projection Art. As long as his consciousness was strong enough, every time he descended—even across universes—the pressure would be shared among countless Aliens.
That's right. Just as the Ancient One cultivated a large number of Ascetic Monks to share the burden of her debts, Du Wa had embarked on a path that was superficially similar but fundamentally different. Using his own abilities, he had accomplished something akin to constructing a system of magic.
The Ancient One sized up the person before her. A few seconds ago, it had been Du Wa; now, it had reverted to Reynolds and an Alien larva.
She had never explored Du Wa's brain, but she faintly sensed that the mental structure within Du Wa's body was unique.
"Too many people think Du Wa is just lucky, that he either fortuitously created the Aliens or stumbled upon them in some secret dimension. But in reality, Du Wa himself is the most special one."
The Ancient One sighed softly. It was the same old sentiment. If this had been a few decades or even a few hundred years ago, as the Sorcerer Supreme, she would have used every means at her disposal to suppress Du Wa, preventing him from excessively expanding his sphere of influence on Earth, lest it affect the planet's stability.
At the very least, the Ancient One did not want the planet she protected to eventually become a world overrun with Aliens. That would be just terrible.
The Ancient One was also unwilling to stand in opposition to someone like Du Wa.
But now, the Ancient One could no longer worry about such things. She had more important matters to attend to.
Forcing Dormammu to retreat this time had left her severely weakened, and who knew how many Ascetic Monks in Kamar-Taj had died.
Normally, she herself rarely needed to use the Ascetic Monks. She had left a larger number of them for Strange just in case, but this situation was rather special.
With a thud, Reynolds collapsed, unconscious.
The Ancient One raised a hand and sent Reynolds through a portal, back to Weyland Tower.
"I know you're in a bad state as well, but I must remind you: if one day in the future, you truly achieve what you set out to do, you must leave some room for Earth... because I very likely won't be here to see that day, let alone stop you then. That will no longer be my mission," said the Ancient One.
This sounded very much like her last words. Perhaps the Ancient One had already prepared for the worst.
So, who had she chosen? Was it still Strange? Spider-Man was dead, so there definitely wouldn't be a Spider-Man Sorcerer Supreme.
As Du Wa thought this, his mind, greatly depleted, fell into a rare, deep slumber.
He slept for two days.
Two days wasn't a long time, but the outside world had already been turned upside down. Things that certain parties had painstakingly tried to cover up could no longer be concealed.
The ones most shaken were undoubtedly the many Skyfathers of the other worlds on the World Tree. These beings had watched the unprecedented battle from afar. They had witnessed Dormammu being forced back step by step by two humans from Midgard, compelled to snatch some strange creatures before retreating into the Dark Dimension.
It was an incomparably perilous battle, and every powerful individual on the World Tree could clearly feel the aftershocks rippling outwards.
Had this taken place in any other region of the universe, countless planets would have likely been shattered, and suns extinguished.
"So Dormammu retreated after all. I originally thought the strongest on Midgard was the Ancient One, but I never expected such a ferocious character to emerge, and with a completely different fighting style."
It's normal for the Ancient One to use magic; after all, the people of Midgard are notoriously frail among the Nine Realms, with the lowest average combat power. But for a powerhouse who excels at melee combat to suddenly appear—that was bound to turn heads.
Personnel from the various worlds scattered, using all sorts of methods to search for relevant information. Soon, they learned of the recent events on Midgard.
"Du Wa? Aliens? Parasitism? Chestburst? How interesting. To think that a place like Midgard could harbor such a peculiar group of creatures."
In Muspelheim, Queen Sindr, daughter of Surtur and a Skyfather-level powerhouse herself, opened her eyes with great interest, recalling the vast amount of information she had just received.
"When Dormammu made his final move, I remember he risked being attacked by those two humans to strike directly at Midgard. It seems it was to seize these Aliens. But no matter how you look at it, these Aliens haven't reached a level that would impress even a deity."
Queen Sindr was very interested in the Aliens, but no matter how she assessed them, she couldn't see anything remarkable about this parasitic life form.
If it wasn't the Aliens that were special, then perhaps their origin was?
The life level of every Skyfather-level being had long since transcended billions of other lives. At the most basic level, their brains had long surpassed computers in the conventional sense. In an extremely short amount of time, they could calculate countless possibilities and eliminate them one by one.
More and more people began to realize that perhaps Dormammu wasn't interested in the Aliens, but in Du Wa—especially with Kaecilius dead.
"Hmph, so the one who created the Aliens is a person from Midgard? I was originally planning to root out the person behind the Aliens after conquering Asgard. I didn't expect him to reveal himself."
If one were to speak of the Skyfather who knew the most about the Aliens, it would naturally be Laufey, the master of Jotunheim. He had already lost too many of his kindred to these fearless Aliens.
These damn things were super-adaptive, born only for battle, and possessed blood so corrosive it could eat through superalloys. The race had started from a very high baseline. To put it bluntly, if the Alien race had existed in the distant past, perhaps an Xenomorph World would have even been born among the many worlds hanging from the World Tree.
Because the Aliens deserved it.
"What I didn't expect was that if the person who created the Aliens was a Midgardian scientist with the ability to control Aliens with his mind, that would be one thing. But now it seems that's not the case. This guy actually has a subordinate who can exchange a few blows with Dormammu..." Laufey narrowed his eyes, a hint of caution appearing in his blue irises.
As an old God King, if he had the choice, he would certainly be happy to eliminate Du Wa and take over the Alien species, making them a subordinate faction of the Frost Giants. Nothing would be more fitting.
But now, that was impossible. He had to be more cautious. What if Du Wa once again displayed the kind of combat power he used against Dormammu? Even someone as strong as Laufey had to weigh whether it was worth provoking such an enemy before completely dealing with Asgard.
"Even the Ancient One only became a Skyfather-level being by relying on the long heritage of Kamar-Taj and hundreds of years of time, and she still depends on the power of magic. But what right does Du Wa have? How long did it take him?"
Laufey couldn't figure it out, and many other Skyfathers couldn't either. Even in more distant regions of the universe, those extremely ancient civilizations and individuals cast a few curious glances.
The tiny planet of Earth had become the topic of discussion for many figures.
"Hey, Quill, did you hear about that? Weren't the coordinates of that great battle right where your old home is? That's where Yondu snatched you from, right?"
"Oh, damn it, stop asking me about this! I've answered it a million times. I was just a kid back then, I don't remember anything about Earth! And I have no desire to go back!" Star-Lord shoved away the drunkard in front of him in extreme annoyance. "I'm not the least bit interested in what happens on that place called Earth!"
Hanging around with the Marauders, he always felt like there was no future in it and was already making plans to leave.
Still, Earth? That place with backward technology and a ridiculously short average lifespan? How could there be such a powerful individual there?
Star-Lord even suspected they had gotten it wrong, that it wasn't the same place at all.
But he still firmly committed the name Du Wa to memory. Just as Du Wa had once said to Dormammu, there was no more convenient and effective way to announce oneself to the entire universe than by stepping on an ancient Demon God.
On Earth, things had also become incredibly chaotic.
Anyone who wasn't blind or a fool saw the terrifying Demon God appear in outer space near Earth.
Some people familiar with history even came forward, presenting numerous papers they had written—once dismissed as lunatic ramblings—to argue for the possible existence of Demon Gods from other dimensions. Although the information released was extremely fragmented and incomplete, it was enough for people to understand what they had faced.
"First, Thor appeared, seemingly proving the existence of Asgard. Then some god from a dark world? Is this universe really the universe we thought we knew?"
"I also saw powerful Magicians step forward to protect Earth. Those trails in the sky, that was magic, right? It looks like magic really exists in this world."
"Having things like vampires was one thing, but now even mythological stories and gods from otherworlds have appeared. I suspect I've been transported to the Earth of a parallel universe."
For Earthlings—or more accurately, the civilians of Earth—these recent days had been too stimulating. They were forced to repeatedly refresh their understanding of reality with each major event. The worldview they had built from information acquired at school and online was shattered to pieces in less than a year.
They could understand it when they saw Tony Stark, because the billionaire used technological means to build himself armor. They could also understand the Hulk, because he was a biochemical monster.
But the more they saw, the less they understood. The world had quietly become completely unrecognizable. A hodgepodge of individuals appeared all at once, as if all of humanity had suddenly transmigrated.
As it turned out, when humanity as a whole began to re-examine their world, it forced people to re-examine and verify things like historical myths.
For a time, the entire Earth was like a pot of boiling soup. Just a few spattered drops of water felt like the blood of an Alien hitting one's skin, making people scream in pain.
There was nothing to be done. In the past, organizations like S.H.I.E.L.D. could still find ways to cover up the news. Even during the battle in New Mexico, when Du Wa raised Thor's Hammer and forcibly changed the weather over a large area, they could use various means to limit the spread of the information as much as possible.
But when the Demon God Dormammu arrived, they were powerless.
The most direct consequence of this was that everyone began to spontaneously seek transcendent power, because they had personally witnessed just how powerful the two people who stood up against Dormammu were, giving them an immense sense of security.
Despite the immense distance, and even with advanced astronomical imaging equipment, it was difficult to capture the entire process of those two fighting the Demon God. But humanity only needed to know that an individual's strength could rival that of a monster from an otherworld. That was enough.
"I think I recognize the person glowing with golden light. It's that superhero named Sentry. He's a follower of Du Wa!"
"Damn it, we didn't get a clear shot of his face with any of our equipment. We only saw that he took off from the Himalayan Mountains region! When did Sentry go to the Himalayas?"
"Looking at the whole world, besides Sentry, who else has abilities like his? Oh, wait, I think there was one, the guy who appeared on Broadway back then. But he's been missing for a long time. Besides, other than Sentry, who would voluntarily step up when we're facing a world-ending crisis?"
"You guys only noticed Sentry. I noticed the person giving Sentry his commands. Sentry is his subordinate! The other person whose figure was unclear might also be someone sent by Du Wa, or of course, it could be Du Wa himself."
Few in the Mortal Realm knew of the Sorcerer Supreme, but they knew Du Wa.
In recent days, during one major event after another, Du Wa's figure was often seen. Even if they couldn't see Du Wa himself, his Aliens were practically everywhere, darting through the darkness like ghost assassins, ready to strike a fatal blow against enemies with their hard tails at any moment. This was the general public's impression of the Aliens.
And more and more people were beginning to understand the consequences of being subjected to Alien parasitism.
To become a superhuman in a single leap—the temptation was simply too great in the current climate.
You have to understand, Mutants, who also possessed superpowers, were shunned and hunted, their circumstances dire. But it wasn't like that for an Alien host. All they had to do was defect to Du Wa.
"The Aliens are the future! Join the glorious evolution!"
"We can take this opportunity to establish an Alien Cult, then trick a bunch of ordinary people into joining and cheat them out of their money..."
"If you want to die, don't drag me down with you! Get lost! From now on, I'm cutting ties with your kind. Who knows if the evil god you're worshipping actually exists."
Then, someone once again dug up Weyland Corporation's recruitment announcement. Instantly, countless people caught wind of it and rushed to join Du Wa's ranks, hoping to become superhumans in a safe, side-effect-free way.
As for the possibility of a chestburst... of course they were aware of it. But as long as they did what they were supposed to do and didn't betray Du Wa, why would they ever suffer a chestburst?
Countless people flocked around Weyland Tower all day, using binoculars to closely watch for any sign of activity in the area. This was especially true whenever an Alien was roaming nearby, as it would be met with the adoration and worship of fanatics.
To be fair, if Du Wa couldn't perceive the mental state of these Aliens in real-time and issue commands, who knows how many reckless ordinary people would have died at their hands.
When Du Wa awoke, he glanced out the window and saw a massive, dense crowd. His super hearing picked up nothing but fanatical cheers.
"It's certainly lively, even more so than before. If I were to open the floodgates just a little, these people would join us without a second thought."
Du Wa first drank a pot of boiled water, smacking his lips. He found the people outside a bit noisy.
As everyone knew, Du Wa had never been very interested in using ordinary humans for parasitism.
"What on earth happened? My head is all muddled, like I had a fragmented dream. And my whole body is in excruciating pain, covered in wounds. Even with constant repairs from star energy, it'll take a slow recovery to fully heal."
Reynolds, uncharacteristically, took the elevator to see Du Wa. Once robust and strong, he was now thin and pale, clearly having suffered severe damage to his life force.
By recalling the fragmented memories in his brain, Reynolds faintly realized that he might have done something incredible.
"Rejoice, Reynolds. Look at the crowds outside. They are all cheering for our accomplishment."
Du Wa pointed outside. "It was this body of yours that single-handedly repelled a Demon God."
Reynolds hesitated. "Did I really do it? But I remember, at that time, it was clearly you..."
"Us. It was *us*, Reynolds," Du Wa interrupted.
"Yes, it was us..."
Reynolds murmured to himself, and his eyes quickly brightened. He felt there was no need to think so much; he just needed to enjoy everything he had now.
He took a step forward, dragging his sickly body, and flew directly out of Weyland Tower. He struggled to mobilize the sluggish energy within him, and his entire being began to shine with a brilliant, dazzling golden light. Naturally, this triggered countless cheers and screams from below, filling Reynolds's heart with immense satisfaction.
Du Wa watched Reynolds flying back and forth in the sky and shook his head. It was just a minor quirk, so he let Reynolds do as he pleased. He wouldn't interfere in such trivial matters.
Compared to this, Du Wa was more willing to spend his time improving himself.
"Over these past two days, many planets must have received the signal I sent out and learned of my existence... This will lay a good foundation for the future, but at the same time, countless malicious individuals will have their eyes on me."
Du Wa stroked his chin thoughtfully, a look of acceptance on his face. He had to admit that there was a side of Delirium and recklessness in his heart. When presented with an opportunity to advance further, he would never give it up. Instead, he would become hysterical like a madman, trying every means possible to seize the future.
"Relying on just Reynolds isn't enough. Although Lady Deathstrike is also very strong, with equally prominent strengths and weaknesses, she's not sufficient as a complete Skyfather-level combat unit. I need more powerful subordinates. Also, Samuel's side has made good progress on the Gene Pool Project. Soon, when the time comes..."
Du Wa pondered. He had already verified that his consciousness could indeed descend upon an Alien's body, and this point was crucial.
He began to contact Thor.
Asgard's Royal Palace.
Thor was also struggling to listen to the words of the Alien before him.
"Hiss! Hrrgh! Hiss!"
"Thor, what is it saying?"
Thor looked troubled and awkward. "I've been listening for a while and still don't get it. Why does it want to ride a sausage to Nidavellir to walk a dog?"
Sif thought for a moment and guessed, "Perhaps it wants to get custom-made equipment, just like us?"
"I'm not sure. At the very least, this shows we need to speed up the development of our Alien language course. Otherwise, we won't even be able to have a normal conversation with these Alien brothers."
"But the war isn't over yet," Sif said with a helpless expression. "We need to station our few remaining forces on many planets to guard against an attack from the Frost Giants at any time. Don't you have a good relationship with Du Wa? I think we can continue to seek his help. It's not like it would be the first time we've asked him for aid."
The warriors of Asgard all turned to look at the Aliens present, their gazes fervent.
That was true. Asking for aid once meant you'd do it countless times. After a while, you just get used to it. It wasn't shameful at all.
They never expected Du Wa to actually don the Destroyer Armor and force back Dormammu. Even though everyone gradually learned that Du Wa's victory was extremely hard-won, and that was with the Ancient One's help, it was still enough to be proud of, enough to make all Asgardians sigh in respectful admiration.
"If the Allfather were still alive and knew about this, he would definitely choose to summon Du Wa," Fandral said with a desolate look.
Everyone present was in low spirits, except for a stiff-faced Loki.
"I want to know when exactly he's going to return the Destroyer Armor. And Mjolnir too, while he's at it. It's not like he can use it now anyway!" Loki interjected coldly.
"The Alien told me that soon, Du Wa will dispatch a new army to come and completely end this war," Thor said in a deep voice.
"This 'end' it mentioned, does that include Laufey, the King of the Frost Giants? Is Du Wa going to kill Laufey? What a joke! He doesn't really think he can do whatever he wants within the confines of the World Tree, does he?" Loki sneered.
Thor glanced at him. He suddenly felt that his brother was becoming more and more of a stranger. "What if he really can?"
Loki just sneered. He knew Odin wasn't dead, and he knew how tenacious his biological father, Laufey, was. At worst, he could still escape. He didn't believe Du Wa possessed the ability to survive and fight in space for extended periods.
No matter how powerful Du Wa was, he couldn't possibly threaten Asgard or Jotunheim, but he could threaten him.
Du Wa's powerful emergence made the ever-arrogant Loki feel at a loss. He sometimes felt very confused. He was clearly superior to Du Wa in every way, and even had an age advantage of over a thousand years, so why was the gap between them constantly widening?
A strong sense of unwillingness rose in Loki's heart. He realized that sitting on this throne, he seemingly controlled everything, yet was in turn controlled by it all. He had become a mere puppet, a tool who could only act in his capacity as king, no longer possessing his former freedom.
"This is also our opportunity. We have gained an extremely powerful ally, and the war will be over soon," Thor announced proudly to everyone. After all, Du Wa and the Aliens were the reinforcements he had requested.
In the very beginning, Thor had swallowed his pride and brazenly asked to borrow an Alien horde of no more than three digits from Du Wa. But now, the total number of Aliens that had arrived on the battlefield had already exceeded ten thousand.
Thor's heart was filled with respect and gratitude for Du Wa, and he pondered how best to express his thanks.
The conversation in the royal palace was overheard in its entirety by the Alien, and thus was naturally also heard by Du Wa. Du Wa appeared very nonchalant about this dispute.
Loki was indeed formidable. A few months ago, Du Wa would have been full of dread and vigilance towards him, but now, that feeling had greatly diminished.
"Unless Loki becomes the Sorcerer Supreme of this universe, he is no longer an enemy I need to face with all my strength. The kind of battle that happened in New Mexico won't occur again."
Du Wa prepared to complete a new round of military expansion, then send his army straight to the continent of Asgard to bring the war to a decisive end.
He needed to acquire a sufficient number of captives and secure a place for himself in the World Tree's chain of divine power.
On the one hand, he sent Aliens to Kamar-Taj to learn magic; on the other, he pushed forward with divine power, trying to catch up.
"Hm? Wait, how did a strange one get mixed in with my Aliens..."
Just as Du Wa was looking down and scheming how to quickly raise a large army, his expression flickered and he looked in a certain direction.
Weyland Tower, 93rd floor.
An Alien, born not long ago after just completing its chestburst, stood blankly in the mangled, bloody chest of a vampire, swiveling its head to look around as it dazedly perceived its surroundings.
The other Aliens immediately noticed something was off about this new Alien. Even those that had also just chestbursted immediately gathered around, surrounding the strange Alien.
"Where is this? Why am I here?? So much flesh and blood on me, and I'm actually feeling... excited? Huh, something's wrong with this reincarnation!"
This strangely behaving Alien was dumbfounded by its current situation. The moment it opened its eyes, it was surrounded by a horde of bizarre monsters. This inexplicable scene terrified her.
As a Mutant with a reincarnation ability, Moira had never encountered such a situation in her past two rebirths. At least in the previous two, she had started as a Mutant. How did it turn out like this? Forget being a Mutant, she wasn't even a human anymore!
What's more, when Moira looked down to observe her own body, she was even more stunned.
"This is my body? White skin, sharp claws, and this tail... and my body is constantly growing rapidly. Is this me? No, I don't even have eyes! I'm really not human anymore!"
This Alien trembled all over, its emotional state far more complex than that of ordinary Aliens. She opened her mouth, subconsciously wanting to say something, but in the end, only managed to produce a few simple syllables.
"Hrrgh! Hrr-hrrgh!"
In response, the surrounding Aliens questioned her in the same language.
Moira discovered to her horror that she could actually understand them.
She wanted to flee, but the moment she moved, she was swarmed by the surrounding Aliens and easily pinned to the ground.
But soon, as if they had received some command, these Aliens who had been eyeing her menacingly all let go and stood quietly nearby, going about their own business.
Only this special Alien was left, all alone.
"Who am I now, and where am I? I'm a Mutant. After my rebirth, I'm supposed to help Professor X and Magneto unite against humanity. So why have I become like this? Did my ability malfunction? Did I reincarnate as a monster? And what is this monster? Why have I never heard of it in my previous two lives..."
This Alien curled into a ball, shivering. She was just a young girl who had lived for three lifetimes.
Her every action, her every thought, was completely perceived by Du Wa.
Du Wa became thoughtful. Without any hesitation, he immediately launched a mental invasion against this peculiar Alien, forcibly reading through her memories of her previous two lives.
Moira also sensed Du Wa's presence at once. Reason told her to resist fiercely; her brain was extremely important and couldn't be casually browsed by some unknown monster. But in terms of order, she strictly adhered to an instinctual absolute obedience. This stark contrast and contradiction nearly drove her mad.
"Who are you? What do you want? You did all this, didn't you? What did you do to me?"
"Be quiet, Moira. I know you're scared, but fear won't solve anything. It will only make things worse, eventually becoming a black hole in reality. A different kind of beginning isn't a bad thing. For you, perhaps this is a rebirth that can change the trajectory of your fate," Du Wa said while browsing Moira's memory, communicating on a mental level with this unprecedented Alien.
He saw Moira's struggles in her past two lives, being humiliated and bullied, and dying tragically one after another.
"I never would have thought something so interesting could happen. A Mutant with a reincarnation ability actually reincarnated as an Alien? Was it because the battle with Dormammu destroyed the old temporal order? Did it cause the original trajectory of fate to deviate slightly? No wonder the Ancient One doesn't like to reveal the future she sees with the Time Stone, saying that everything in the future is chaos."
Du Wa was utterly amazed. As if he had discovered a fun new toy, he unscrupulously toyed with this being that had an Alien's body but a young girl's soul.
(end of chapter)