Chapter 379 |
In the depths of outer space, on a desolate planet.
Josh completed the final step of the ascension array, then placed the Space Gem in the center, and on the other side was the divine essence containing the Azeroth World Soul.
After finishing everything, Josh took a deep breath — although there was no oxygen on this planet at all, as a former human he habitually made this gesture, then activated the array.
Outside the planet, Margot revealed her true celestial form, closely monitoring the entire star system to prevent any disturbances to Josh’s ascension.
With the activation of the array, the vast essence of the world soul surged into John’s body, and just like when Margot ascended, formed an enormous divine cocoon, beginning to reshape his body.
Although Margot had already made thorough preparations, John’s ascension was too intense.
Even Margot, also a celestial, could not fully contain the spread of this energy fluctuation but soon, the energy fluctuation was blocked by another presence.
Then, a figure taller than Margot appeared in this star system.
It was Arishem.
When Josh was first given the Celestial Seed, Arishem had said that Josh could notify him when he needed to ascend, and he would help.
However, Margot did not answer, instead watching Arishem warily.
Although Arishem had taken care of her when she ascended, after all, she still did not fully consider herself a member of the Celestial Race.
Josh was everything to her.
“I see...among such powerful Celestials, after he completes ascension, his strength will probably surpass mine!” Even though Margot didn’t respond, Arishem understood why.
Because the power in the Celestial Seed Josh used for ascension even made him feel shocked.
That made sense.
After all, the Celestial race was not as harmonious as it seemed on the surface.
A Celestial so powerful being born—Arishem, always the judge, might be fine with it, but how the other Celestial felt, he was not sure.
Especially since Josh was a “wild” Celestial who ascended from a mortal.
Actually, ever since Margot appeared the last time, there had already been differing voices among the Celestials.
But at that time Margot was already a Celestial, so even if some Celestials had objections, they couldn’t do much.
But during the ascension process...
“Don’t worry, I will guard here with you!” Arishem was not one of the dissenters, otherwise he wouldn’t have brought Margot back to help her complete ascension.
However, the situation Arishem worried about did not happen, Josh’s ascension went very smoothly.
His ascension lasted a full three months.
During these three months, his divine cocoon continuously absorbed energy and grew larger, even encompassing the planet he was on—this planet was dozens of times the size of Earth.
That means Josh’s body during ascension had already far exceeded Arishem’s size at this moment.
“It seems my judgment was wrong. His existence will surpass all of us!” Looking at the enormous divine cocoon before him, even Arishem expressed sincere admiration.
“Then he should be fine, right?” Margot asked with some concern.
Though both Celestials, the gap between Celestials could be enormous, and clearly Josh’s current level was beyond her ability to judge.
“He’s coming out!” Arishem said.
With his words, cracks began to appear on Josh’s divine cocoon, eventually shattering completely.
As the cocoon broke, a powerful energy storm instantly swept through the entire star system.
Several nearby planets were immediately reduced to cosmic dust.
Even Margot in her divine form could not fully withstand the energy storm; if not for Arishem helping to shield her slightly, she might have been blown far away by the storm.
At the center of the energy storm appeared a golden giant several times larger than Arishem.
Unlike Arishem’s fully armored body with six eyes, this golden giant looked more like a human.
Margot was actually the same in this regard!
There was no doubt—this was the successfully ascended Josh.
“Josh, you succeeded!” As the energy storm dissipated, Margot joyfully teleported before the golden giant to ask.
Originally Margot’s divine form was about the size of Earth, but now she looked like a small figurine in front of Josh.
“Yes, Margot, I succeeded...This feeling is great!” Josh nodded, now feeling as if the entire universe was under his control.
Time, space, past, future...his consciousness could even sense the barrier of this universe and beyond the barrier...
This was not an illusion caused by ascension!
“Hello, young and powerful Celestial...” Beyond the universe’s barrier, a large bald figure sent a friendly message to Josh.
The Watcher—Josh immediately recognized him.
“So, can I now traverse the multiverse?” Josh was surprised. When Margot became a Celestial, he had asked her, and she could not cross beyond the current single universe.
“Yes, in this universe, only three gods could do this before: me, the Eson the Searcher, and Exitar the Exterminator. Now there’s a fourth—you. But I believe there will soon be a fifth!” Arishem also appeared before Josh and said, “Congratulations on joining us!”
“Thank you. The fourth you mentioned should be the Mother Goddess Tiamut, right?” Josh nodded in acknowledgment.
“That’s right. I have always favored Tiamut. In other universes, it was almost impossible to find traces of her peaceful birth, but I think in this universe, her peaceful birth should be no problem!” Arishem said, a hint of joy in his otherwise mechanical tone.
He could feel Josh’s existence had surpassed all the Celestials in this universe.
Josh now had enough power to move Tiamut to another planet without any external help.
“Yes, I can feel it... I can do it!” Josh nodded, then with a thought, he, Arishem, and Margot appeared in the Solar System.
But he concealed their presence, so life on Earth did not detect them.
However, Tiamut could.
“Child, you...you succeeded?” Sensing the familiar aura from Josh, Tiamat happily said.
“Yes, Mother Goddess, I will help you come out now!” Josh said.
“Is that okay? If it’s difficult, don’t force it. Just seeing how much you’ve grown already makes me very pleased!” Tiamut replied.
“Don’t worry, Mother Goddess, it will be soon!” Josh said as he sent his power deep into Earth’s core, enveloping Tiamut completely.
His consciousness extended to a planet belonging to the Kree Empire, roughly seventy to eighty percent similar to Earth in mass and conditions.
The next moment, Tiamat completed a core swap with that planet.
Life on Earth was completely unaware but life on the Kree Empire’s planet was doomed.
They vanished in an instant, like Thanos snapping his fingers, turning to dust.
Watching the extinction of those lives, Josh, Margot, and Tiamut—the three gods—felt no emotional disturbance.
Although the life on that planet was innocent, sacrifice was necessary for Tiamut’s birth.
It was not that Josh was cold-hearted.
Just like if sacrificing a whole colony of ants could buy dozens of years of life for one’s beloved family members, 99% of people would make the same choice as Josh.
With a massive influx of soul energy, the divine body of Tiamut, which was already close to completion, rapidly matured.
Finally, as the planet was annihilated, a deity appeared at the original location of the planet, bearing about seventy to eighty percent similarity to Arishem in appearance and size.
“Thank you, my child!” Tiamut’s size was comparable to Arishem’s, but in front of Josh, it still looked somewhat small.
“I’m glad to witness the birth of two new Celestials. May I have the honor to invite you both to accompany me to our homeland?” Arishem asked Josh and Tiamat.
Upon hearing this, Tiamat looked at Josh, who nodded.
In the next moment, the four Celestials disappeared from the scene.
…………………………
April 7, 1970, Lake Erie Army Military Base, New Jersey.
“…Are you sure they’re all here?” Steve Rogers looked at the abandoned military base before him and asked Tony Stark.
“No… it shouldn’t be like this…at this time this military base should be an important S.H.I.E.L.D. facility, there’s no way it would be abandoned!” Tony Stark gazed at the desolate scene in disbelief.
“…Yes, I know…but obviously, something went wrong!” Steve nodded and said, “So what should we do now?”
“I don’t know…damn it, no Pym particles, no Tesseract, we’re done for!” Tony slumped to the ground dejectedly; things clearly shouldn’t have turned out like this.
“We can’t just give up. Maybe we can find someone to help!” Steve was also down, but he wasn’t ready to give up yet.
“Who to find?” Tony asked.
“Your father! He must have a way!” Steve said.
“But we shouldn’t interfere…”
“Do you have a better plan?” Tony wanted to say more but was immediately interrupted by Steve.
“…Sorry.” Tony fell silent, perhaps this was the only option.
Just as they were about to leave, a blue spatial portal suddenly appeared nearby.
Then a figure dressed similarly to Captain America stepped out from the portal.
But after seeing the person’s face clearly, Steve and Tony were stunned.
“Pe…Peggy?”
“Aunt Peggy?”
The visitor was none other than a young Peggy Carter.
But why was Peggy Carter here, and why was she wearing Captain America’s uniform?
Wait, that’s not right!
Because of the blue teleportation portal’s lighting, they hadn’t noticed at first that Peggy Carter’s uniform was not the original Captain America’s red, white, and blue, but green, white, and red.
The shield’s colors matched as well, and the white star at the center had been replaced by a double-headed eagle.
“Long time no see, Steve! Nice to meet you, Tony Stark!” Before the two could react, Peggy Carter spoke up. “First, I want to clarify, I’m not the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Carter you know, and you really came to the wrong place. This universe is completely different from the one you come from. I know you have many questions, but don’t rush. We have plenty of time to talk. Also, the Tesseract and Pym particles are ready. Follow me!”
Without waiting for their response, Carter turned back into the portal.
Tony and Steve exchanged a glance, hesitating.
Because what Peggy Carter just said was a lot to process.
But after hesitating, the two decided to step into the portal.
After passing through the portal, they found themselves in a place full of advanced technology, with Peggy Carter ahead.
“This is the Alpha Space Station located between Earth and Mars. Earth is right behind you!” Carter said, observing the two looking around.
Hearing this, they were shocked and turned around in unison. Behind them was a huge floor-to-ceiling window, outside of which was the endless universe.
In their view was a small but vividly blue planet, strikingly prominent.
“…Tony, Earth in the 1970s already has this level of technology?” Steve swallowed nervously and asked.
“I must be dreaming…Even before we time traveled, we didn’t have this technology!” Tony replied.
“Don’t use your preconceived notions to view this world. In fact, just a few years after World War II ended, the Austrian Empire had already mastered interstellar travel—though at that time Austria wasn’t yet an empire, and Earth was not unified,” Carter explained.
“I see…Wait, what did you say?” Hearing this, Steve and Tony turned sharply to stare at her. “Earth is unified? And unified under Austria?”
“So the colors on Carter’s uniform are actually Austria’s colors?”
“Yes!” Carter nodded, then introduced and explained how this world had come to be as it is today. “I know the imperial system might be difficult for you two to accept, but when you return to your universe and look beyond Earth, you’ll see that most of the powerful civilizations in the universe are empires. Because once technology is sufficiently advanced to allow citizens to be fully supported, exploitation essentially doesn’t exist. And the existence of artificial intelligence can maximize fairness!”
Steve and Tony said nothing.
The information about this world was just too much and overwhelming; they couldn’t quite accept it all at once.
No wonder the Lake Erie military base became a ruin.
In this world, America no longer exists, so how could there still be a S.H.I.E.L.D. base?
“Alright, to be honest, we’re not really interested in this world’s direction. What we really care about are the Tesseract and Pym particles you mentioned earlier,” after a long silence, Stark finally broke the silence.
“…Follow me!” Carter nodded and led them to a warehouse, handing over a box.
Tony opened the box to see the brilliant blue Tesseract and several rows of Pym particles, dozens of them in total.
Seeing these items, both sighed in relief.
“Thank you, Peggy!” Steve sincerely thanked Carter.
No matter how strange this world’s course was, just for Carter lending them the Space Stone and Pym particles, he owed her his deepest gratitude.
“No need to thank me. I know the problems you face, so you’d better hurry back. Remember to return the stones when you’re done!” Carter accepted Steve’s thanks with a nod.
“Although I know the answer may be shocking, before you leave, I want to ask about my father in this world?” After receiving the Space Stone and Pym particles, Tony and Steve prepared to leave, but Tony couldn’t help asking before leaving.
Upon hearing this, Steve also looked toward Carter.
“The Steve of this world is being protected by the Andromeda Galaxy, his new home…Although Earth has been unified into an empire, there are still many opponents, including you in this world. But for those dissenters, we haven’t exterminated them. Instead, we arranged a planet in the Andromeda Galaxy for them to settle,” Carter told Steve. “Next time you come here, I can take you to see it.”
“As for your father…” Carter’s gaze toward Tony hesitated.
“He’s dead?” Tony felt a bad premonition rising.
“Not exactly. It’s just that in this world, your father never married your mother…instead, he had a bunch of illegitimate children…” Carter shook her head and revealed the truth.
“…Understood!” Tony nodded, feeling both amused and helpless.
That is to say, the future of this world most likely will not include him.
Not to mention that his father never married his mother; even if they hadn’t married, the different timing of the pregnancy would mean the child born wouldn’t be him.
After sorting out his emotions carefully, Captain America and Tony, carrying the box and using the Pym Particles given by Carter, returned to their own timeline.
Seeing their friends appear almost simultaneously before them, Captain America and Tony smiled. Although there seemed to be a mishap when they went to 1970, ending up in an unexpected timeline, at least from the current situation, that timeline apparently hadn’t affected reality.
However, the happiness didn’t last long. They and the other Avengers who had gone to other timelines soon noticed Hawkeye’s strange expression and Natasha’s absence.
Because of the uniqueness of the Soul Stone, their familiar friend, Black Widow Natasha, could not come back.
This news made the entire Avengers team feel depressed.
Yet they had no time to be downhearted because half of the entire universe’s population, who had vanished from this world, were still waiting for them to save.
While they busily embedded the stones into the Infinity Gauntlet and argued about who should snap their fingers, they didn’t notice Nebula, one of the team members, approaching the time machine and starting to act covertly.
This Nebula was not the Nebula familiar to the Avengers, but the 2014 Nebula, who had replaced the timeline’s Nebula and smuggled herself in.
Now, she was going to help the 2014 Thanos reach this world.
So, just as Bruce Banner, the Hulk, endured the pain and snapped his fingers, bringing back those who had vanished from this world, 2014 Thanos arrived with his ship and army, launching an attack on the Avengers, who had just relaxed after saving the universe.
What followed was a fierce battle between the Avengers and their allies against Thanos’ army.
After a brutal fight, Thanos finally grabbed the Gauntlet.
“I am Destiny!” Thanos said with a smile as he snapped his fingers while looking at the Infinity Gauntlet in his hand.
But nothing happened.
Looking closely, the Gauntlet had no stones on it at all.
Not far away, Tony Stark’s Gauntlet shone with the brilliance of all six stones.
“I am…Iron Man!” Feeling the power of the Infinity Stones surging through his body, Tony Stark smiled and snapped his fingers but found he couldn’t complete it.
Looking up, he saw that at some point, a young and handsome guy had appeared by his side, grabbing his hand.
Then, all six Infinity Stones left the control of the Iron Man suit and fell into the other’s hands.
“You did well, Iron Man, but it’s enough now!” Then, to the shock of everyone on the battlefield, this young man didn’t even need to snap his fingers. Just with a wave of his hand, Thanos and his entire army who had been fighting them just moments ago all turned to dust.
“Who are you?” Tony couldn’t help but ask.
“Josh, Josh Kane!” the young man answered, then waved his hand slightly. The injuries on Tony and Dr. Banner caused by the impact of the Infinity Stones’ power instantly healed.
“I’ll take the Space Stone, Soul Stone, and Power Stone. The Space Stone was originally mine. The timeline for the Soul and Power Stones was destined to be erased since Thanos arrived, so it makes no difference whether you return them or not. The rest of the stones are yours!” Josh waved again, and the Time Stone, Reality Stone, and Mind Stone returned to Stark.
Before anyone could say anything, Josh vanished on the spot.
When he reappeared, it was already in his divine form, appearing above the Earth.
“Who are you?” Tiamut, still in the gestation state, felt this familiar yet strange aura and was somewhat confused.
“I am here to help you!” Josh smiled slightly.
“I see…He is from that world…” On Earth, after Josh left, Tony finally realized and said to the others.
“Shall we go back and check?” Steve said, looking at Tony.
Tony nodded.
The two put on their suits again but soon they found themselves in the normal timeline’s 1970.
No matter how hard they tried, they could not reach that special 1970 world.
“Tch, so persistent. But unfortunately, I have completely sealed this universe. Unless they reach my level, it’s impossible for them to come to this timeline!” In the Schönbrunn Palace, Josh sneered while sensing the futile attempts of the persistent Captain America and Iron Man in that universe.
At this moment, beside him, in addition to Margot, there were two beautiful women who looked exactly alike—identical in appearance and figure, even sharing the same name, both called Tiamut!