Chapter 133: The Era of Divine Descent, Praise Be to Du Wa!
Soon, more and more people noticed the civil war that had erupted within S.H.I.E.L.D.
Originally, judging solely from the perspective of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s internal strife, people didn't find it all that surprising.
Under Du Wa's long-term, immense pressure, S.H.I.E.L.D. was already rapidly collapsing. Its strongholds scattered across the globe were being found and destroyed one after another by the roaming Alien Legions.
One by one, world-renowned top agents met tragic ends.
Countless classified documents were seized by the Aliens.
The behemoth, built upon the countless hours and fortunes spent by the world's nations, was collapsing on all fronts under Du Wa's casual attacks.
With S.H.I.E.L.D. becoming more and more of a lost cause, internal strife was to be expected. Under such immense terror, someone was bound to choose to leave S.H.I.E.L.D.'s ranks, or even launch a rebellion to make a final score.
But when various influential figures learned the identity of this rebellion's instigator, they were all stunned, unable to believe their eyes.
"What did you say? The one who rebelled is none other than Captain America?"
"You're telling me a man like him launched a rebellion?! That's the biggest joke of the year. I was already shocked that Du Wa could become a legendary Deity and strike down another Deity, but that's nothing compared to the shock of what you're telling me now."
"Steve Rogers, he's the symbol of justice, the conscience of humanity! Anyone could betray S.H.I.E.L.D. and defect to Du Wa, but how could it possibly be him?"
"What about Iron Man? Is Tony Stark involved? Is it only Captain America who launched the rebellion, or is this a joint operation by the entire Avengers? Are there really some suicidal superheroes or supervillains in this world who want to test Du Wa's iron fist?"
The high-level dignitaries who received the news were in an uproar. They had just barely recovered from the major event where Du Wa crushed a powerful enemy and quelled the countless Symbiotes once again, only to hear of this utterly absurd matter.
A very small number of people who knew that Captain America had been captured by a swarm of Symbiotes during the last Symbiote invasion of Earth seriously suspected that this so-called Captain America had long since been brainwashed, turned into a lunatic with a scrambled mind.
Only that would make sense.
But when Tony Stark publicly came forward to deny any alliance with Captain America, everyone was at a loss for words.
This wasn't how things were supposed to go; it was all extremely bizarre.
As one of Earth's most intelligent people, Tony Stark felt the situation was incredibly messed up.
That's right, he had indeed been in contact with Captain America.
At first, Tony truly believed that this Captain America had been brainwashed by Knull, or at the very least, that his personality had drastically changed due to being possessed by a Symbiote for a time. If that were the case, it would be quite normal, and Tony could completely understand.
Data collected by Jarvis showed that all the elite soldiers who participated in the Symbiote project in the 1970s had turned into madmen, their brains changed and they became mentally unstable.
Never mind the present, where even the Deity of the Symbiotes had launched successive attacks on Earth. To say that Captain America's brain had been swapped out, changing his personality, would actually be logical.
But now, Tony was completely unable to comprehend the logic of what was happening to Captain America.
"So, what Steve told me might be true? He doesn't want to do this himself, but he's being forced to because he inexplicably has an Alien inside him?"
Tony stared at the holographic image of Captain America displayed on the virtual screen before him.
A massive amount of data was streaming rapidly—the result of Jarvis mobilizing all the world's surveillance devices to monitor Captain America's every move and perform quick data analysis.
But the result of the comprehensive analysis was something Tony found rather hard to accept.
"Shouldn't he have returned to normal after Knull was defeated by Du Wa? Then he should have found his way back to S.H.I.E.L.D. That's how it's supposed to be. But according to the message he sent me and an analysis of his behavior, he actually became one of Du Wa's men? He's already an Alien?"
Tony held his wine glass, feeling that even the fine wine in his hand had lost its flavor.
"But how on earth did he do it?" Tony was extremely puzzled. "Jarvis, have you found anything?"
"Nothing at all, sir. Based on the intelligence we've gathered by continuously contacting the agents who were lucky enough to survive, the Captain suddenly became an Alien. To describe it in less-than-scientific terms, it was as if he was afflicted by a curse named Alien."
"Is that so? I believe in science, but I won't blindly worship it. Perhaps Du Wa has mastered some brand-new technology. He's always like this. After every victory, he pulls out some new trick in the next event. This has always convinced me that he gains new rewards and discoveries from every incident," Tony shrugged and downed the wine in his glass in one gulp.
Otherwise, he really didn't know what he should do. Was he supposed to stand up for a captain who had gone mad and break ties with Du Wa?
Don't be ridiculous. He was Tony Stark, a brilliant, intelligent person, not the leader of some world organization who needed to foot the bill for others.
Although losing Captain America as a teammate was undoubtedly disheartening and had thrown Tony into a state of confusion for a time—because no matter how you looked at it, letting a teammate with a problem go unchecked was not the right thing to do.
But what could he do?
Thinking this, he poured himself another glass.
"Sir, Ms. Pepper specifically instructed me not to let you drink too much. The data shows that your alcohol consumption is increasing daily. If you don't exercise restraint, you might develop an alcohol addiction."
"Oh, come on, Jarvis. I'm well aware of my own physical condition."
Tony swiped his finger across the virtual screen, looking at the satellite image of Captain America's figure, and fell into silence.
He put down his wine glass and turned to study the Celestial Armor. Since S.H.I.E.L.D. was no longer reliable, he decided to devote all his time to the Celestial Armor, hoping to forge a super armor that could unleash its full strength.
"Jarvis, continue to advance the progress on bypassing S.H.I.E.L.D.'s control permissions. I need to get full control access to the Celestial Armor before S.H.I.E.L.D. is completely destroyed by Steve and the Aliens. It's not like in the past, where every time I used the Celestial Armor to save the world, I actually had to request permission from S.H.I.E.L.D.! It's as if I'm not fighting foreign enemies, but robbing a bank, having to negotiate the division of spoils with other villains first."
Tony complained loudly, "Contact Wakanda. I need to purchase a batch of Vibranium from them. I have a hunch that if I can truly and thoroughly repair the Celestial Armor, and even upgrade certain aspects, this big guy might not be much weaker than those so-called Deities."
Tony's expression was incredibly grave. He didn't know when it started, but he felt that he was a superhero in name only. More than two years ago, he could still fight various supervillains, but now? He'd even lost that job. He wasn't needed for the major events, and the minor ones didn't require him.
This was because Aliens swarmed every corner of the world, and no criminal, no matter how insane, could escape their endless pursuit and hunt.
Before mastering strength on the same level as Du Wa, not many villains dared to cause trouble anymore.
...
As Du Wa once again began selecting a few lucky individuals around the world and using his Divine Descent technique, some terrifying rumors about the Aliens began to quietly circulate in the underground world.
It was just like the legends of vampires and werewolves, or the tales of ominous sorceresses prevalent in Europe during the Middle Ages, becoming a modern-day dark mythology.
The problem was that this terror was real. Anyone who chanted Du Wa's name might feel his gaze and, as a result, have an Alien appear inside their body.
At first, most people scoffed at this ridiculous rumor. Even some of the guys who had been duped by Carl Burbank and foolishly joined the Alien Cult maintained a silent attitude toward this rumor.
But gradually, as one living example after another emerged, others, out of curiosity, compiled the recent activities of these examples and were stunned to find that it might actually be true.
Some people also connected Captain America's bizarre slaughter of S.H.I.E.L.D. with this rumor and realized something.
The news quickly exploded. Even though it was only spreading rapidly within a small circle for the time being, it was still capable of causing an extraordinary sensation.
"What? Something like this can happen? That's hilarious. It seems some braindead followers couldn't figure out how to worship Du Wa, so they came up with such a terrible idea. This is just a pious fantasy that only the most naive would believe..."
"Yes, everyone, don't believe it. Leave all the opportunities for me. The fewer times you all say his name, the more my chanting is worth by comparison, right? My chances of an Alien growing inside me will be that much greater!"
"Well said, you're a real mathematical genius. In that case, I have an idea: I'll set up a hundred loudspeakers in my house, all recording my voice, and then loop it 24 hours a day. Wouldn't that be equivalent to a hundred and one of me chanting Du Wa's name at the same time?"
"New York's First Psychiatric Hospital has been rebuilt and will provide the most complete services to all admitted patients..."
"Doesn't matter if you're mentally ill. As long as you succeed and are parasitized by an Alien, you'll be instantly cured, even if you're braindead."
"By Du Wa, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! I used to worry about whether I could gain Du Wa's favor and become a superhuman before I die of old age. Now it seems entirely possible."
"Joining his ranks just means getting an Alien larva inside you, but what's the reward? Super strength, super speed, super healing, super hearing, extended lifespan, and a super backer... and your backer is a Deity! With so many benefits, isn't it worth risking your life to join?"
Countless people were on the verge of frenzy, willing to offer everything just to defect to Du Wa.
If this had been a few years ago, many might have hesitated.
But now, after several major events had erupted, an unknown number of people had died all over the world.
The survivors needed only to recall the terror that had enveloped the entire cosmos and covered the endless sea of stars in an instant to shudder with fear. Never before had they felt so small and insignificant, their entire worldview shattered to pieces.
Even the most foolish person could clearly realize that the world of the future is a domain of Gods.
And one of those Gods will definitely be Du Wa.
But they didn't know that, in terms of divine authority, Du Wa was no longer a God. He had abandoned his position as the God of the World Tree, generously distributing it among his subordinates.
But Du Wa himself obviously didn't care about this.
"So this is your purpose for capturing me alive and transforming me into your possession? A genius idea, indeed."
Knull would never pass up any opportunity. He used an ancient language to communicate with Du Wa. Despite being suppressed by Du Wa, as an ancient evil God, how could he possibly give up the chance to escape.
The lifespan of a Cosmic Celestial could basically be considered equivalent to the lifespan of the universe itself. For Knull, no matter how tragic his fate, as long as he wasn't dead, he theoretically still had a great chance.
"The current you is no different from All-Black the Necrosword. You're both divine artifacts. An artifact should have the self-awareness of an artifact," Du Wa said.
Just as Knull was about to say something, he was rebooted. Only then did he get the chance to speak: "Using me as a container for your consciousness and that of countless Aliens, then by studying that foreign Serpent and acquiring his method of separating and directionally reorganizing power, you can directly take the Alien consciousness from me and carry out targeted deployment within a specific range..."
Knull had completely seen through Du Wa's operations. In other words, Du Wa had squeezed out the value of every one of his enemies and utilized it to achieve today's results.
Under these circumstances, defeating Du Wa might not be difficult, but killing him would be extremely hard.
Du Wa could transfer his soul and consciousness to an Alien's body. His previous teleportation of Aliens to various planets was a way to avoid risk. Even if Earth was blown up in a major event, Du Wa wouldn't die. He would just switch to another body and make a comeback on another planet in the vast universe.
But now, Du Wa could actively select a target, deploy an Alien to it, and successfully achieve parasitism. This meant Du Wa could now transfer his soul anytime, anywhere, and change his body at will, having shored up a crucial weakness.
The Astral Projection Technique paired with the Divine Descent technique—although neither of these were magic in the true sense, but rather abilities activated by imitating magic—was enough to leave even Knull in silence.
At this rate, how long would he have to endure before he could get his revenge on Du Wa?
Currently, he had lost the immense power of his peak, was completely suppressed by Du Wa, and had also been plunged into Moira's Terror Loop...
Du Wa paid no mind to Knull's wild thoughts. After all, Knull wasn't the only one who wanted to backstab him, and he couldn't be bothered to waste time on it.
"Hmm, so Strange has finally made a move... Let me see what that guy Mephisto plans to do to you. This might influence which plan I use when I attack Mephisto's main body in the Hell Dimension in the future."
(end of chapter)