Deliberations, Gorr

"Knull won’t be easy to deal with."

Hearing Steve’s words, Dr. Banner shook his head. "Ancient gods can affect the time around them. I’m not confident I can defeat an ancient god, much less Knull, who is an ancient god among ancient gods."

Thinking of something, Tony turned to Strange and asked, "Magician, can you use the Time Stone to lock down Knull’s time?"

Strange thought for a moment and answered, "I can only stop Him from affecting the time around Him. He’s an ancient god. I can’t freeze Him."

"That’s great."

Everyone’s eyes lit up. Without time acceleration, Knull’s power would be greatly reduced. At the very least, He would no longer be impossible to deal with.

Hulk, Captain Marvel, Thor, the Sorcerer Supreme, and all the Blood God’s disciples—their lineup was quite luxurious.

"If Knull is alone, this is a great opportunity for us."

Steve said excitedly, "A great opportunity to defeat them one by one."

Everyone nodded. Mindy asked Wang Bert, "Master, is Knull alone?"

"Most likely. If I’m not mistaken, Knull should be on the way to find the Necrosword."

Wang Bert briefly explained the matter of the Necrosword, then said, "I humiliated Knull. He’ll definitely seek out the Necrosword to strengthen Himself."

"Is that so?"

Steve considered it, then asked Strange and Doctor Doom, "If Knull teleports something to Venom, can you lock onto His location?"

"Yes, but the Space Channel must remain open for more than ten seconds."

After thinking it over, Strange nodded. Doctor Doom said, "If you and I work together, five seconds will be enough."

"Five seconds? It shouldn’t be difficult to have Venom find a way to stall for a while."

Steve said, "The problem now is how to quietly leave the Frontlines without Annihilus and the others on the other side noticing."

Over the past few days, the allied forces and the insect race had fought several times, successfully keeping the insect race outside the defensive line.

"We can use illusions to confuse them. Asgard’s mages are incredibly skilled. They can even imitate auras."

Thor said, "If that doesn’t work, my mother—the Queen of Asgard, Frigga—can step in. She taught Loki his illusions."

"If we can do that, everything will be much easier."

Everyone was overjoyed and began making detailed plans. Wang Bert could not help but laugh. Calves newborn to the tiger knew no fear—a group of ordinary god-level beings was actually plotting to kill an ancient god.

"Ancient gods are not only capable of affecting time; they are also extremely difficult to kill."

Wang Bert reminded them, "If you don’t have some special means, there’s an eighty percent chance this war will end with both sides badly wounded, after which Knull will escape and return after some time."

Ivan asked, "How hard are they to kill? Wouldn’t even a black hole kill Him?"

"No. Ancient gods can survive inside real black holes, let alone your artificial little black hole."

Wang Bert shook his head. "Also, Knull possesses the concepts of fusion and devouring. As long as a single cell survives, He can revive. He can even fuse with you and seize your bodies.

"Don’t treat Knull as Annihilus. Outside Negative Space, Annihilus can only be considered half an ancient god at most. But Knull is an ancient god among ancient gods, and He has existed longer than the universe."

Everyone’s expressions turned grave. They had indeed been a little too optimistic. Knull was not Annihilus.

"This is too good an opportunity to let slip away. With Knull’s strength, if we can’t deal with Him in advance, He’ll cause us enormous trouble in the final battle."

Steve said, "Bert, can you give us some help?"

Wang Bert shook his head. "If I took action—I mean this avatar—defeating Knull would be no challenge at all. The problem is that my status is too high now. If I act, people will gossip about me bullying the weak."

Black Widow complained, "Why do I feel like you’re showing off?"

"Master, stop bragging. This avatar of yours is only god-level. You’re not that much stronger than us."

Mindy looked at him disdainfully. "We’re not asking you to act. We want you to give us some help, like treasures or equipment."

"Is that any way to speak to your master? Have some respect."

Wang Bert flicked Mindy on the head from afar and said, "There definitely aren’t any treasures or equipment, but I do have a suggestion for you."

Everyone’s eyes lit up. "What suggestion?"

Wang Bert said, "Hell is my territory now, and Hell Lord Satan is also an ancient god."

"You mean?"

Doctor Doom seemed to understand. Wang Bert smiled and said, "You decide for yourselves. I’m a Creator God now, so I can’t act casually. From now on, you’ll basically have to handle matters yourselves."

"You say that as if you weren’t always a hands-off boss before."

Tony complained, and everyone burst into laughter. With Earth’s current strength, they could solve most problems themselves. Wang Bert only needed to be their strong backing.

Under Wang Bert’s leadership, Earth had become exceptionally powerful.

"This time, I’m letting go even more completely. Before, I at least kept an eye on things. From now on, I won’t."

Wang Bert shook his head and said, "Take your time discussing Knull. I’ll quietly be a handsome man and shoot a few documentaries while I’m at it. Please call me Wang, the Invincible Great Director."

At the mention of documentaries, everyone’s expressions varied. Over the past few days, the Insect Extermination Alliance documentary Wang Bert had filmed had been released on all major paid platforms. Sales were excellent, and the Super Heroes had officially left Earth and entered the universe.

Their expressions differed because Wang Bert had included some people’s embarrassing moments in the documentary, such as the footage of Tony Stark nearly falling to his death in a panic.

"Bert, you went too far. You didn’t film any of my heroic moments, but you specifically filmed me embarrassing myself. What’s worse, you’re not even giving me a cut."

Tony said indignantly. Ivan shot him an annoyed look. What an act.

Tony had been extremely popular these past few days. The major empires had sent people one after another to host banquets for him and ask about the Godslayer Armor. Some had even called him the smartest man in the universe.

Slaying a god as a mortal was an astonishing feat, one bound to cause a sensation—especially since Tony had used the power of technology.

Technology was the mainstream power of this universe, and the Three Great Empires were all technological superpowers.

Having gained so much fame, Tony naturally did not care about such a minor embarrassment. His anger was only an act to get a share of the money.

Though Tony was a billionaire on Earth, in the universe, he was Tony Poor Stark.

"Don’t worry, you’ll definitely get a share."

Wang Bert said with a smile. A grin immediately appeared on Tony’s face, but then Wang Bert added, "Everyone except Tony Stark will get a share. Judging from the documentary’s current sales, it won’t be a small amount."

Tony angrily asked, "Why don’t I get any?"

"The reason is simple: you owe me money."

Wang Bert sneered. "For years, you’ve been borrowing my money to buy materials and equipment, and you haven’t repaid a single cent. Am I wrong?"

Tony immediately looked embarrassed. In fact, not only him—Dr. Banner, Dr. Richards, and the other scientists also looked equally awkward. They had borrowed a great deal of money too. Research was expensive, after all.

More than half of Earth’s high-end research was supported by Bert, the Godly Tycoon.

Thinking of something, Tony asked unhappily, "Banner and the others owe you money too, so why do they get a share?"

"Hey, Tony."

Dr. Banner was very displeased. This guy was actually dragging him into it. Wang Bert smiled and said, "Because they don’t have an issue with insufficient endurance and don’t need me to treat them."

"Who has insufficient endurance?"

Tony was displeased at first, then his eyes lit up as he asked, "Wait, you can treat it?"

Wang Bert took a gemstone from his pocket and said, "This gemstone can store Space Energy, enough for your Godslayer Armor to use around a hundred times. I originally planned to give it to you, but since you don’t have an issue with insufficient endurance, forget it."

Seeing Wang Bert prepare to put the gemstone away, Tony hurriedly said, "No, don’t! I have insufficient endurance. I need that."

"Tony, you’ve finally admitted reality."

Everyone burst into laughter. Tony fiercely raised his middle finger at them. These guys were just jealous of him.

Wang Bert shook his head and tossed the gemstone to Tony. "You can recharge it after it runs out of energy. Uh, don’t mess around with it. I only have one of these gemstones."

"No problem. I promise I’ll treasure it."

Tony said excitedly. He could finally get rid of his insufficient endurance problem. Bah, my endurance is excellent. I finally won’t have to return to Earth every day to recharge.

Over the past few days, Tony had gone into battle several times. Every time he got halfway through a fight, he had to return to Earth to replenish his energy. It had been driving him crazy.

"Leave Knull’s matter to yourselves."

Wang Bert said, "Oh, and a reminder: the weapon Knull is looking for, the Necrosword, is in the hands of Gorr the God Butcher. Gorr hates gods to the bone. Whether you recruit him or deal with him is up to you."

Tony was very dissatisfied. "Gorr the God Butcher? He actually copied my name?"

"He’s been using that name for thousands of years. You copied him."

Wang Bert said irritably, "Enough. You decide what to do. I’m going to find Shuri and research the Quantum Deep-Space Network."

The universe was simply too vast, making communication highly inconvenient. Wang Bert had always wanted to create a universal super internet spanning the Entire Universe. That way, he could control the discourse of the universe and even civilian communications.

After Wang Bert left, everyone began carefully studying how to deal with Knull. Ancient gods were not easy to handle. They had to plan properly, or the ones who died could become them at any moment.

At dawn, Gorr the God Butcher woke from Sleep Dream. The first thing he did was not open his eyes, but make sure the Necrosword was still in his hand. Once he felt its familiar presence, Gorr breathed a sigh of relief and got up to wash and clean himself.

Although technology was the dominant force in this universe, many planets still had demon gods because demon gods had once been able to travel freely—either the demon gods themselves or faith in them.

For various reasons, these demon gods often did not leave their planets. They merely acted tyrannically within their territories, ruling as local emperors.

To enter the interstellar age, people had to be enlightened. Once they were, who would still believe in gods? Besides, the great trend of this universe was technology, not demon gods. Demon gods belonged in the outer dimensions.

Gorr had once lived on such a Demon God Planet. From the age of eight, he had worked tirelessly, yet eighty percent of what he earned had to be offered to the gods.

At first, Gorr had not thought there was anything wrong with it, because everyone did the same. Moreover, the god would bless everyone, bringing favorable weather and keeping the believers safe.

Later, Gorr grew up and married a wife who was not beautiful but was kind and virtuous. Yet because of certain matters, the church took her away, and she ultimately became food for the god.

Gorr went mad and cursed the demon god and the church. Naturally, this brought the church’s pursuit upon him.

Just as Gorr was about to be killed, a black sword fell from the sky. Gorr picked it up and slaughtered his way from the church to God Mountain, ultimately cutting off the demon god’s head.

After that, the universe had one fewer believer named Gorr and one more Gorr the God Butcher. For the rest of his life, he did only one thing: kill gods.

"This planet worships an evil god called the Eye Demon. We’ll trick it down here and kill it."

Gorr stroked the Necrosword and muttered to himself. At that moment, a mocking voice suddenly rang out from the cave entrance. "The ignorant fear nothing. Do you know how powerful the Eye Demon is? Even I fear it somewhat."

Gorr abruptly turned around and saw a gaunt, white-haired man entering the cave. Just as he was about to say something, the Necrosword in his hand suddenly shook violently, seeming extremely excited.

Gorr’s expression changed slightly. He gripped the Necrosword tightly and demanded, "Who are you?"

"I am Knull, the god of Symbiotes. The sword in your hand was forged by me."

Knull spoke with a nostalgic expression. "I originally intended to use it to destroy this universe, but the Celestial Group was stronger than I expected. In the end, I lost. Before I was sealed away, I threw the Necrosword into the Chaotic Void. I never expected it to be drawn by your hatred, recognize you as its master, and fight for you."

Gorr asked solemnly, "You want to take this sword back?"

"That’s right. I have encountered a powerful enemy and need the Necrosword to fight alongside me."

Knull said, "Hand it over, and I’ll spare your life."

"No. I won’t give it to you. I will use it to kill gods."

Gorr raised the Necrosword and shouted. Without it, he was merely an ordinary mortal. How could he kill gods?

"You think you have a choice?"

Knull smiled disdainfully and grabbed through the air. Black energy formed into a giant hand and reached for Gorr. Gorr swung the Necrosword with all his strength, trying to sever the hand, but the usually obedient sword did not give him even a trace of energy this time.

In the end, Gorr and the Necrosword were both seized by the giant hand. Knull pulled Gorr before Him and forcibly took the Necrosword, then sneered. "I am the Necrosword’s true master. Why would it resist me for you?"

"Give the Necrosword back to me! I’m going to kill all gods!"

Gorr roared. In that moment, he once again experienced the helplessness he had felt thousands of years ago.

"Too noisy."

Knull smiled contemptuously and raised the Necrosword, preparing to send Gorr on his way. But to His surprise, the Necrosword shook violently, begging Him to spare Gorr.

After thousands of years together, the Necrosword and Gorr had long formed a deep bond. If Knull, its original master, had not appeared, the Necrosword would never have betrayed Gorr.

Knull’s killing intent suddenly surged. Originally, He did not care whether Gorr lived or died. He was merely an ant. But since the Necrosword cared so much about Gorr, Gorr had to die.

As Knull suppressed the Necrosword, He controlled the energy hand and prepared to crush Gorr to death. At that moment, Venom suddenly sent a communication—he had already arrived at the Resource Star and could receive Knull’s "delivery" at any time.