Chapter 83: Xenomorphs Have Personal Equipment Now
In the past, Grendel had always thought of itself as incredibly strong.
Possessing such a colossal body, any piece it broke off could become an independent symbiote. It had even gained the favor of Knull, the god of the Symbiotes, becoming the fleshly vessel to carry the god's consciousness. All of this proved that it was incredibly strong.
But ever since arriving on the tiny planet of Earth, that perception had instantly collapsed.
Although it wasn't a particularly intelligent symbiote, that didn't mean it was a fool with no judgment whatsoever.
Now, being dragged along by this Female Thor who wielded lightning, intense anxiety and panic grew in Grendel's heart. On its large, squirming head, its visual organs—which appeared to be made of some viscous liquid—constantly darted around. Occasionally, they would land on the Female Thor's back, only to quickly move away again.
As one of the few powerful beings on the symbiote planet, and while bearing Knull's consciousness, it had the misfortune of encountering an enemy that perfectly countered it.
Now, forget about itself; even Knull's consciousness had been beaten so badly it had to transfer to Loki and forcibly rip open a spatial tunnel to escape. Who knows which galaxy it had fled to now.
"I'm finished, completely done for. I don't know how these humans will deal with me... No, it's meaningless now. Even if I survive these humans, Knull won't let me go. I was a witness to His entire great humiliation... I'm dead."
Grendel's thoughts were in utter chaos. Pessimism had nearly swallowed its incomplete and underdeveloped mind.
To have the honor of carrying Knull should have been something it could show off and boast about to all symbiotes—even though some symbiotes secretly seemed to have other ideas about the brutal and insane Knull.
But how did things inexplicably turn into this mess? These Earthlings wouldn't let him go, and neither would Knull.
The group returned to Weyland Tower.
Bang!
The Female Thor, dragging the black dragon that was now half its original size, flung it to the ground as if it were a large burlap sack.
"This guy was a bit restless on the way here. I could feel it staring at my back. It was definitely planning to escape. Maybe we should toss it into an incinerator and let this thing get a good feel for fire and high temperatures," the Female Thor suggested excitedly.
My God, this was incredible. Even now, Foster felt like she was dreaming. In front of the entire world, she, in her identity as Thor, had defeated a black dragon!
"That's too cruel. It would be better to pin this guy down with your hammer and let it commune with lightning forever."
Du Wa replied to Foster with a smile, fully understanding the new Female Thor's exhilaration.
Grendel was terrified. Its limp body looked like it was about to melt, and it now cowered into a ball.
"Grendel, I know you can understand me. Your intelligence isn't so low that you can't handle basic communication. Whatever Knull made you do or whatever plans he had, I can tolerate them for now. But don't expect to get away with everything by doing nothing."
From Grendel's perspective, this place was terrifying. It was filled with those strange creatures covered in exoskeletons. Even among the few humans, many had those things inside their bodies.
And the man walking towards it—if one could still call this man human—was even more frightening. Grendel carefully sensed him and immediately trembled, suspecting its senses had been damaged by the Female Thor. What it discovered was unbelievable—all the Xenomorphs were faintly connected to this man through a mental link!
This was too incredible, because this was exactly how Knull had established a mental link with all the symbiotes!
"O great, unknown deity, you know my master, Knull? That explains it. That's why he always suffered setbacks after coming to this planet. It turns out he ran into an opponent like you."
Grendel suppressed its fear and unease, brewing its words for several seconds before uttering a sentence that was not at all clever.
These words surprised the Female Thor and the others.
It can talk?
And why is it being so cooperative now? Why was it so scared on the way here, yet refused to speak?
What they didn't know was that Grendel, as one of the powerful symbiotes, was naturally very familiar with what it meant to have an extensive mental link among all its kin.
Every symbiote could connect with the others, and at the core of this vast psychic network was Knull, the god of the Symbiotes!
That was why no symbiote could refuse Knull's command. This wasn't a simple subordinate relationship between servant and creator; it involved their very souls, spirits, and a vassalage of rules.
This mental network had been maintained until a thousand years ago, when the Knull possessing Grendel was struck down by Thor's hammer, causing it to collapse.
Countless other symbiotes were thus disconnected from their mental link with Knull, which was what enabled them to launch a rebellion and imprison Knull's body.
Therefore, the closer Grendel got to Du Wa, the more keenly it sensed the unbreakable mental link between the numerous Xenomorphs and Du Wa. This gave rise to extreme panic and extinguished any thought of escape.
This mysterious human before it was identical to their deity, Knull, on a spiritual level!
Grendel had reason to believe that Du Wa was a deity just like Knull. Alright, even if he didn't look as dark and terrifying as Knull, who could say for sure? It was even possible that he was an infant Celestial that just needed a great deal of time to develop.
This was not a being it, a common symbiote, could afford to provoke.
Not to mention, it was just a captive right now.
"You can sense it?" Du Wa suddenly asked.
"Yes! I couldn't originally, but after bearing Knull's consciousness, I've been constantly adapting to Him, so..."
"Where is Knull now?" Du Wa interrupted the black dragon.
He didn't even have to think hard to know that Knull surely planned to use Loki to help free his body, thereby achieving the fusion of his consciousness and body and once again becoming that evil god who would kill anyone who rubbed him the wrong way.
With these two evil gods teaming up, things were about to get interesting.
What truly concerned Du Wa was that neither of these two were good guys; each was more petty than the last. Loki was one thing; for now, it seemed his thinking had undergone a subtle shift. But Knull had suffered such a huge loss on Earth. Once he was free, there was no doubt he would charge back to Earth to cause trouble and wash away his own shame.
"He has gone far, far away from here. Even I can only feel a faint mental activity and cannot confirm his exact location. But as far as I know, he should be trying to find a way to Klyntar..." Grendel said in a low, somewhat fawning voice.
Klyntar was the symbiote planet, a planet literally piled together by countless symbiotes.
"Aren't you afraid He'll find out you're leaking information about him to me?"
"I'm not. Knull is our god, and it's true he can control us, but he can't truly monitor the every move of every single symbiote," Grendel said.
"Hehehe, then I understand."
Mr. Blue was the first to let out a strange laugh. He looked back and forth between Du Wa and the incredibly cowardly giant dragon, then his gaze shifted to his own chest.
The intelligent man instantly saw the astonishingly similar relationship between Du Wa and the Xenomorphs. For the first time, he began to suspect: could Du Wa really be, in some sense, a god who had not yet matured?
He knew that Du Wa had the ability to transfer his own consciousness, to abandon this human body at any time and become a Xenomorph.
Or, to take it a step further, he could directly transfer into a host carrying a Xenomorph larva, completing a permanent "occupation." Just think, if Du Wa occupied Reynolds's body and decided not to leave, wouldn't that mean Du Wa would instantly gain a permanent increase in strength?
Although a Xenomorph host like Reynolds already obeyed Du Wa's commands absolutely, representing a power Du Wa completely controlled.
All in all, Du Wa seemed astonishingly similar to Knull, the god of the Symbiotes.
Mr. Blue began to change his mind. He felt that his plan to completely unlock the secrets of the Xenomorphs and ultimately seize control of the Xenomorph Race should be put on hold. He couldn't act rashly just because he had dissected a few facehuggers and built a gene bank. He needed a long-term plan.
Turning on a suspected deity of unknown origins without full preparation was not a good idea.
"This one is thinking of betraying you. Why don't you let me kill him."
Druig had been silent all this time, indifferent to everything before him. But the moment Mr. Blue harbored ill intentions, Druig immediately stepped forward, his eyes glinting with murderous intent.
In fact, as he spoke, Druig had already made his move, launching a massive invasion into Mr. Blue's brain. However, because this man's brain was so overdeveloped, he had a basic level of resistance to mental abilities. At the same time, he had constructed numerous logical barriers in his mind realm to delay the invasion.
"Don't worry about it, Druig. I know. I've always known that Samuel is ambitious. There's nothing wrong with that. Ambitious people have a stronger drive than ordinary people, which keeps them on the path of hard work and progress."
Du Wa simply waved his hand, appearing completely unconcerned by the malicious thoughts filling Mr. Blue's mind.
He truly wasn't concerned. As long as this fellow, Mr. Blue, could put his talent to use and, at least before any rebellion, execute his commands strictly and without reservation, that was enough.
"Fuck, you hear that? Get the hell out of my head, you damn psychic patrol!"
Mr. Blue cursed, a little scared. His brain was the "power" he valued most and the only thing he could rely on, but people like Druig specialized in invading brains.
"He can't betray him," Grendel suddenly said faintly. "I know that feeling very well. To be filled with malice towards someone, to think in your heart that you have awakened, but to be absolutely unable to refuse any of that person's commands. The mix of hatred and adoration is the attitude every one of us symbiotes has towards Knull. I think he is the same as us."
Mr. Blue's eyes widened, his face, already green with shame and anger, became even greener. "What are you talking about? You bastard lizard, how dare a piece of trash like you comment on me..."
"A human with only a few decades of life?" Druig picked up where Grendel left off, sneering mockingly.
This infuriated Mr. Blue, who then concluded that the symbiote creature indeed had huge flaws. At the very least, this powerful symbiote, qualified to be a vessel for the Symbiote god, actually dared to talk back to him in this situation. This at least showed there was something wrong with its brain, a flaw in its judgment of danger.
Du Wa continued to interrogate the giant dragon. "Can you sense your kin on Klyntar?"
"I can sense a little. After Knull awoke, our broken mental link has begun to rebuild, but this will take some time. Also, Knull's consciousness is rather tired and weak, which makes the connection very unstable, intermittent, almost as if it's not there," Grendel said cautiously.
Du Wa fell into thought. He combined Knull's origin and rise to power, contemplating the complex relationship between him and the symbiotes, and vaguely understood the difference between himself and Knull.
To put it bluntly, if they were talking about origins, a hundred Du Was couldn't compare to one of Knull's fingers. That guy was a dark god born from the universe's primordial darkness, possessing an abyssal realm within his body. He woke up and slew a Celestial with one swing of his sword. His starting point was absurdly high.
But Du Wa was different. He knew he was of purely human origin.
But setting aside origin and divine authority, and looking solely at the degree of control over a vassal faction, Du Wa was still very confident in himself.
Du Wa's control over the Xenomorphs had reached a level where he could closely monitor the thoughts of every single Xenomorph. For example, Du Wa could sense the thoughts of Moira, who had been reborn as a Xenomorph.
Only the hosts who had not yet been chest-bursted were beyond his direct brain inspection and search, but he could control their every action if he so wished.
On this point, Du Wa believed he was in no way inferior to Knull, and Grendel's inexplicable respect and fear for him proved it.
Most importantly, when Du Wa transferred his soul's consciousness, he would absolutely not be as reckless as Knull, who had actually transferred himself to a subordinate far inferior to his main body and then roamed around the entire universe. It was utterly absurd.
"Grendel, your cooperation is very satisfactory to me. As the vanquished, you have fulfilled your duties well."
Du Wa did not hold back his praise, then continued, "In that case, continue to cooperate. Use your life to verify a few things for me."
Before Grendel could even try to save itself, Du Wa grabbed it, tore off a piece of squirming matter from its body, and flung it onto a Xenomorph.
As everyone knows, symbiotes have the ability to acquire the superpowers of their hosts. So, what would happen if a symbiote bonded with a Xenomorph?
Du Wa was very interested in this, and the others present also thought of it. Apart from the expressionless Lady Deathstrike, everyone looked over, wanting to see the result.
Soon, a symbiote-Xenomorph was born. This was an unprecedented new individual, formed from the combination of two parasitic species.
Du Wa closed his eyes. From the many consciousnesses in his mind realm, he selected the consciousness of this very Xenomorph and began to carefully experience everything.
"A little interesting. The fusion was completed on a genetic level. Symbiotes really are fun. Doesn't that mean a single host can have its genes copied at least twice—one for the Xenomorph, and one for the symbiote that parasitizes the Xenomorph?"
Du Wa was particularly curious.
Theoretically, the more hosts a symbiote parasitizes, the more abilities it gains, and thus it continuously grows stronger.
Du Wa analyzed this symbiote's thoughts through the Xenomorph, but only felt countless chaotic thoughts. Perhaps it was because this symbiote had just been separated from Grendel, and the traces of evil consciousness left by Knull had formed a terrible corruption on the symbiote.
"Not bad. A rough estimate puts this Xenomorph's strength increase at least forty percent. If it can be controlled well, it will continue to grow," Du Wa said with great interest.
"Really? Doesn't that mean our Alien Legion's strength can eventually be multiplied?" Druig's eyes lit up.
Grendel said in a muffled voice, "It's not that simple. My body has been infected by Knull. The symbiotes separated from me are all chaotic madmen. They're difficult to control and will continuously erode and destroy the host's consciousness."
"Erode consciousness? A joke. The one thing we don't fear is any kind of spiritual attack."
Mr. Blue, no longer being polite, immediately followed suit, tearing a piece of symbiote off Grendel.
Du Wa ignored him, pondering another matter.
"Symbiotes have a crude mental link that works as long as Knull remains conscious. But my Xenomorphs can't directly engage in mental communication with other Xenomorphs. If I can decipher the symbiote's mind, I'll know what to do."
Du Wa had a preliminary plan. He would, step by step, use his own mental consciousness as the hub for the species, constructing a cloud platform for all Xenomorphs and Xenomorph hosts to exchange information.
That's right, just like Dum Dum Dugan!
"After all this, I still need to get my hands on a Dum Dum Dugan to dissect his brain and confirm things."
Dum Dum Dugan was truly a treasure trove of an agent. Fury promoted him, the Ancient One valued him, and now even Du Wa realized his remarkable qualities and decided to vigorously develop Dum Dum Dugan's value.
As for the symbiotes, especially these symbiotes corrupted by Knull...
These things were a very good supplement and auxiliary tool for the Xenomorphs.
"I used to wonder why my Xenomorphs didn't wear powerful equipment like the Asgardians, but now I don't have to worry."
What could be more suitable for a Xenomorph's personal equipment than a mass-producible creature like a symbiote, which was also a parasitic species that fused at the genetic level?
What's that? You ask if the innate evil consciousness carried by these symbiotes will erode a Xenomorph's brain?
Hilarious. Not a shred of fear. If Knull came personally, Du Wa might have many reservations, but if it was just an ordinary symbiote infected by Knull trying to erode a Xenomorph, it wouldn't even make a splash.
It was still unclear who would be corrupting whom.
Du Wa immediately began using this Xenomorph as a springboard to launch a violent mental invasion against the symbiote attached to it.
The symbiote's instinct, under its chaotic consciousness, launched a fierce resistance.
"Stop struggling. Let me see!"
Du Wa violently invaded, picking through a garbage heap of thoughts. After repeated examinations, he confirmed that the symbiote's evil instinct was completely incapable of shaking the Xenomorph's cold and cruel mind.
What's more, even if this Xenomorph really couldn't hold out over time, don't forget, a Xenomorph is never just a single individual. It has other Xenomorphs to help share the burden, and it has Du Wa, the hive mind's core, as support.
Grendel silently watched all this unfold. Regarding what was happening now, it only twitched its body slightly before falling silent again, feeling that if Du Wa was willing to bear the mental negative redundancy, it was only natural that he could suppress the symbiote's evil instinct.
Du Wa thought for a moment, then grew curious about what would happen if a facehugger directly parasitized a symbiote. He even dragged Dracula out, threw him a symbiote to bond with, and then, under the Female Thor's violent hammering, beat him and the symbiote into a dizzy stupor. Du Wa took the opportunity to stuff a new facehugger onto him.
"You demon! I thought you had finally stopped tormenting me, but it turns out I thought too kindly of you! Just you wait, sooner or later I will break free, and then every last one of you will die!!" Dracula roared in despair.
If he had known this day would come, he would have never provoked Du Wa in the first place. He could have lived a better life relying on his immortality, instead of being here now as an infinitely reusable incubation container.
With a sickening squelch, a Xenomorph burst from his chest.
"Hmm, it indeed possesses Dracula's genes, but it's also mixed with some of the symbiote's adaptability, while at the same time eliminating several of the symbiote's weaknesses..."
The Xenomorph's body had become somewhat softened, able to freely control its body parts. It would likely be largely immune to general physical attacks, and it also possessed an even more astonishing life force. It was as if the two creatures, the Xenomorph and the symbiote, had been integrated at the genetic level, but with their respective flaws removed.
Du Wa looked at the weakened Dracula, and at the symbiote that lay on the ground like a pile of sludge, completely dead.
Next, he grew curious again. What would be the result if a Xenomorph parasitized the symbiote that had bonded with Dracula?
The experiment showed the same result as before: it obtained Dracula's genes and the symbiote's abilities.
Everyone's interest was piqued. Even the newcomer, Foster, who should have had a physiological reaction of nausea and vomiting at such a bloody scene, was able to quickly familiarize herself with everything due to the powerful instinct of the Xenomorph larva inside her.
These dangerous individuals gathered together, conducting all sorts of dangerous experiments on the symbiote with great enthusiasm.
Du Wa was already scheming to perfectly strip the entire symbiote species of their superior genes, ultimately transforming all symbiotes into a vassal race of the Xenomorphs.
Any abilities the symbiotes had, a specialized group of Xenomorphs would surely have them too. Likewise, the Xenomorphs would also have abilities that the symbiotes did not.
In a stricter sense, by that time, the independent species of symbiotes would no longer exist in the universe. Every last one of them would eventually be reduced to an appendage of the Xenomorphs.
...
Moira quietly left the terrifying 93rd floor.
Anyone with any knowledge of Weyland Tower knew that the 93rd floor was an absolute forbidden zone, where all sorts of horrific events were always taking place.
Don't get the wrong idea. Moira wasn't leaving because she couldn't handle the bloody scene. She just felt there was no need to see Grendel's fate, now that it had fallen into the hands of a man like Du Wa.
"Based on my understanding of Du Wa, forget Grendel; even Knull has probably already been factored into Du Wa's future plans."
Moira muttered to herself and began to wander aimlessly through the Weyland Tower.
She had no choice. She couldn't get out. Unlike other Xenomorphs who could leave Weyland Tower at any time to carry out various commands—a typical example being a batch of Xenomorphs with specific missions to hunt vampires.
Moira received the best protection, although even she didn't know why Du Wa valued her so much. She was really just a Xenomorph whose ability to be reborn was no longer certain.
"Who's there?!"
Moira abruptly stopped, silently moving to a corner. From this angle, the people on the 93rd floor could directly attack down through the floors to reach her.
"Moira, I don't think this is the first time we've met."
A ghostly, ethereal figure appeared beside Moira.
Wearing a faceless mask, Destiny's voice was cold and clear, having already identified the true nature of the Xenomorph before her.
"Who are you? Oh, I remember now. You must be that mutant named Destiny? I hear you can see through fate, but this is the first time we've met."
Seeing that Destiny didn't attack immediately, Moira relaxed, because she knew that everything she was learning now was being synchronously perceived by Du Wa.
"I don't believe you received permission to enter Weyland Tower. You're very bold. Are you really not afraid of death?" Moira said.
Destiny was noncommittal. She had no such thing as fear in her head. Even Magneto didn't know what she was thinking. "I saw numerous fragments of fate. Originally, these fragments shouldn't have appeared so concentrated, but because you were reborn once more, you greatly changed many things, allowing me to see the entanglement between us. I was supposed to kill you many times, forcing you to be reborn again and again, to inform Professor X and Magneto of the results of your trial and error in advance."
Moira didn't know how to respond to what Destiny said.
It sounded ridiculous.
So, she was supposed to be reborn many times, and be killed by Destiny many times? Such a thing could actually happen.
"It's useless for you to say these things. I have no way of knowing if it's true or not. What do you really want?" Moira asked cautiously.
"For the future. The many fragments of fate I have seen have shown me an extraordinary end."
"The end of the mutants?" Moira pressed.
"Including the mutants," Destiny replied. "However, if the two of us join forces, there will be a way to avoid this outcome."
Moira felt this woman was a bit loopy, saying inexplicable things that sounded like utter nonsense.
"Then why didn't you come find me before?"
"I couldn't before, but now the time is right. You will soon know how I will help you, and you will be grateful to me then."
"If you help me, what do you get?"
"Destiny."
Destiny's head lifted slightly. Even through the faceless mask, Moira could clearly feel an extreme fanaticism.
"I have seen the way to embrace fate. It is something that you and I, alone, could never touch. As long as we succeed, fate will open its gates to us, instead of only letting us see a negligible corner like now!" Destiny's emotions grew somewhat agitated.
This was an extremely rare occurrence. It was likely that not even the twin poles of mutant leadership had ever seen Destiny like this.
Moira fell silent. She had a feeling she shouldn't get mixed up with such a seemingly calm lunatic.
"Agree to her, Moira. She came not only for you, but also for the Xenomorphs and for me... Regarding what she mentioned, I've thought of a few things and have a rough idea of what she plans to do. It won't be bad for you. In the fight against the evil god Knull, the stronger our side is, the better," Du Wa's command promptly entered Moira's mind.
The ripples on the temporal plane will surely become a great storm. Du Wa truly felt the power of this sentence.
"Destiny... actually wants to become Fate? That's right. For someone like her who has seen fragmented scripts, the changes in the present world can hardly hold her interest. Seeing the complete script, and being able to see all kinds of ever-changing scripts, is what she desires most."
Du Wa watched the peculiar symbiote-Xenomorphs before him while observing Destiny.
Just as Du Wa was scheming for the entire symbiote race.
Loki, under Knull's forced control, had crossed a spatial tunnel and arrived in an unknown galaxy.
"Where is this? I'm not like you. I can't survive in space for long periods," Loki said, looking at the planets around him.
"#￥%#@#!!"
"..."
Loki sighed. He felt he should learn Knull's divine language before considering his next move.
With Loki's intelligence and his zero-distance contact with Knull's consciousness, he gradually grasped a few keywords he could understand.
"Klyntar? The planet piled up by the symbiotes you created? This is a terrible idea. You want me to drill into the planetary core and then send you into your body?"
Loki's face turned dark. He couldn't even imagine that this evil god wanted him to do such a dangerous thing.
Just the thought of an entire planet being made of things like Grendel made Loki's scalp tingle.
But... if he succeeded, he might be able to command a sufficiently powerful army! An army comparable to the Xenomorphs, and considering Knull's involvement, perhaps even an army that could surpass Du Wa's!
(end of chapter)