Devouring

In Helheim, Hela led the army of death back to her fief. Looking at the palace reduced to ruins, she could not help cursing Odin. That old fool had actually let Helheim fall into such disrepair.

"You keep saying I’m not fit to be king. Are you any more fit?"

After cursing, Hela raised both hands, and the collapsed palace rapidly restored itself. As the Goddess of Death, Hela possessed the highest authority in Helheim.

Then, with a wave of her hand, the Netherworld Scepter flew from the palace into her grasp. She slammed the scepter down hard, causing all of Helheim to tremble. Countless souls of Asgardian warriors emerged from the ground and knelt before Hela with utmost reverence.

Hela shouted, "Are you willing to conquer the universe with me?"

"We are!"

The warriors shouted excitedly. Asgardian warriors loved only three things: fighting, drinking, and women—or men.

"Very good. From now on, you are all under my command. I will lead you to uphold the balance of the universe."

Hela spread her arms, and surging Death Power poured from her body, merging with Helheim. Immediately afterward, a portion of Helheim was stripped away, transforming into a space that was half-illusory and half-material.

Within that space, every warrior’s soul turned solid. They stared blankly at their hands for a moment, then erupted into cheers, repeatedly shouting Hela’s name.

This was Hela’s Concept Ability, Domain of Death—also known as carrying around a little Helheim.

I, Hela, will definitely do no worse than Thanos.

Hela thought confidently. Thanos had needed to subdue his own army. She did not, because she alone was an army—an immortal army.

Future Time-Space.

Although the entire world was in chaos, Future Tony was still the Party Old Prince, and his skills were formidable. Even under such circumstances, he had managed to gather a group of beautiful women for a celebratory party, including quite a few major Hollywood stars.

Tony walked over to Wang Bert with a glass of red wine and asked, "Bert, why do you look so down? Don’t tell me something happened to our universe?"

"Something did happen."

Wang Bert sighed. Thanks to the Space Stone, he and his main body could sense each other, so he knew everything happening in the Main Universe.

"No way, I was just saying it."

Tony was startled and hurriedly asked, "Bert, what happened in the Main Universe? Don’t tell me that by the time we get back, Earth will be gone?"

"It’s not that exaggerated. Thanos’s successor has just appeared."

"You’ve got to be kidding. We just killed Thanos, and his successor showed up already?"

Tony was dumbfounded. "Did we fight for nothing, then?"

"Unless Death is defeated, this will never end."

Wang Bert shook his head. Hela, Knull, the Soul Stone, and the new Thanos were no weaker than the old Thanos.

Tony frowned. "Defeat Death? That’s impossible, isn’t it? She’s a Creator God."

Even someone as proud as Tony knew how terrifying Creator Gods were.

"We have no choice."

Wang Bert patted Tony on the shoulder and said, "Don’t relax after we return. A great war will arrive before long."

"Got it."

Tony nodded with a grave expression. There was never a moment of peace. Fortunately, Earth had the Blood God, or it was hard to say how many times it would have been destroyed already.

Thinking of something, Tony could not help laughing. "Getting to fight a Creator God means this trip through life won’t have been in vain."

Wang Bert smiled. "The most important thing in life is to live brilliantly."

At that moment, Future Tony and Dr. Strange walked over. Dr. Strange said, "Thank you for your help. Without you, our universe might have been destroyed."

Wang Bert smiled. "It wouldn’t have been. At worst, Tony Stark would have died."

"Tony Stark dying is an extremely serious matter, all right? He’s the core of this universe."

Future Tony said shamelessly, "By the way, how many days are you planning to stay? If it’s for a while, I’ll have the government award you medals."

"We’re heading back tomorrow."

Wang Bert shook his head. "To avoid confusion, the two time-spaces cannot have too much contact. Occasional visits in the future are fine, but large-scale travel between them is out of the question."

"Just what I wanted."

Dr. Strange was delighted to hear that. "Mr. Stark, the Quantum Time Machine must be kept secure. It must never be stolen by anyone else."

"Don’t worry. I’ll remove the core and store it properly."

Future Tony was somewhat disappointed, but he did not object. Then he thought of something and said somewhat awkwardly, "Blood God, could you sell us a batch of food? Over the past five years, no one has had the heart to work. Everyone has just muddled through. Aside from that Eastern country that kept building grain silos everywhere, no other country has enough food at all.

"If this continues, a war over food will be inevitable. By then, the death toll might be even higher than the Snap."

"That’s a small matter. I’ll help you obtain enough food."

Wang Bert smiled. "However, you have to pay. I can’t run a business at a loss. Uh, I don’t accept banknotes. I only accept Vibranium, special technology, and beautiful women."

"Of course—wait, what’s with the beautiful women?"

Future Tony was overjoyed. Dr. Strange asked in surprise, "Will you really have no problem supplying that much food?"

"Yeah, Bert. Although we have plenty of food, this world needs an enormous amount."

Tony also asked. With several billion extra people appearing out of nowhere, the food shortage was no small matter.

"Your horizons are too narrow. Why not purchase food from alien planets?"

Wang Bert smiled. "I’m the Galaxy’s Richest Man."

"That’s true."

Everyone suddenly understood. Both Tonys breathed a sigh of relief, but also felt a little annoyed. That guy had shown off his wealth again.

Next came a proper celebration, with plenty of incidents along the way. For example, Future Black Widow injected herself with the Extremis Virus and nearly burned down Tony’s house.

Star-Lord also begged Wang Bert to save Gamora. When he learned that even Wang Bert was powerless, he drank himself into despair.

Future Nebula silently remained by Star-Lord’s side. Doom had already promised to restore her body, which meant she would become a person again.

Star-Lord isn’t exactly a great choice, but on the Milano, if I don’t choose Star-Lord, I can only choose a tree.

In the end, at Future Tony’s request, everyone took a group photo. Later, to commemorate the event, the government built a large park in Manhattan based on that photo and named it Avengers Park.

That concluded matters in Future Time-Space. The next day, Wang Bert led everyone back to the Main Universe aboard the Celestial Head and the Sanctuary.

As for Loki, she was left behind in this universe.

"I’d rather die than marry that fat bastard! I’ll definitely go back!"

Loki shouted through gritted teeth. At that moment, a square Space Channel appeared before her, and several heavily armed people stepped out, shouting, "Time Variance Authority! Loki Laufey, you are under arrest for violating the Sacred Timeline."

Loki looked utterly bewildered. She blinked and asked, "Could you say that again? The wind was too loud just now, so I didn’t hear you clearly."

That night, Loki Laufeyson, Tony Stark, and Steve Rogers vanished at the same time.

After returning to the Main Universe, Wang Bert immediately went to the chaotic void and integrated the Power Stone into the seal. The seal instantly became impregnable.

Wang Bert used the Main Universe’s Power Stone. After all these years, it had recovered part of its function and was barely sufficient.

"With the Power Stone here, there shouldn’t be any problems for the time being."

Wang Bert’s projection said, "Only for the time being. If Wanda continues growing stronger, Mutant Planet will eventually merge with Earth. Dragon Soul Clone, I think you should tell Wanda the truth and make her stop improving her strength."

"Wanda must have her own reasons for wanting to become stronger. I can’t stop her."

Wang Bert shook his head. "I’ll grow stronger alongside her. A man cannot let a woman sacrifice herself for him."

"You’ve turned into a romantic now?"

The projection rolled his eyes. "If you won’t stop Wanda, you must find a way to completely resolve the issue of Mutant Planet."

"When the boat reaches the bridge, it will straighten itself out. There will be a way."

Wang Bert said, "Enough of that. I’m going to take a look around the parallel worlds. I’ll be back soon."

The projection was stunned. "You’re going already? Aren’t you going to rest for a few days?"

"I’ll rest when I get back. Death will make her move soon."

Wang Bert waved his hand and headed for parallel universe S1. S1 was simply a designation, representing the first parallel universe. He would be visiting many parallel universes next.

The moment Wang Bert arrived in parallel universe S1, five gazes turned toward him. They belonged to the Five Creator Gods.

Wang Bert raised the Infinity Gauntlet and said, "I don’t want a conflict with you. Once I take what I want, I’ll leave immediately and never return."

The Infinity Gauntlet was indeed powerful enough to destroy this universe, but the Five Creator Gods were no weaker. If they truly fought, both sides would most likely suffer. Besides, above the Five Creator Gods stood the Living Tribunal.

So, it was fine to be arrogant, but not too arrogant.

"Fine."

The Five Creator Gods nodded at the same time, though their gazes did not move away. They continued staring at Wang Bert.

Wang Bert scoffed and instantly teleported to Symbiote Planet. The moment Knull saw him, he felt a chill run down his spine. He said, "You’ve killed me before."

"That’s right. And now I’m preparing to kill you a second time. In the future, I’ll kill you a third time, a fourth time…"

Wang Bert raised the Infinity Gauntlet and used the Power Stone and Time Stone to stop Knull’s time, then swallowed him in one bite.

Next, Wang Bert accelerated time. Before long, Knull of parallel universe S1 was completely erased from history.

Wang Bert nodded in satisfaction and traveled through space to Serpent God Set’s dimension.

Sensing the spatial fluctuation, Serpent God Set’s planet-sized body immediately appeared before Wang Bert. He stared at Wang Bert with enormous eyes and sneered, "I never expected an ancient god to come knocking, asking to be devoured. Should I thank you?"

"No, I should thank you. Thank you for the meal."

Wang Bert raised the Infinity Gauntlet and used the Power Stone and Mind Stone to control Set. Then he made Set hand over the Serpent Crown.

Set obediently handed over the crown. At that moment, he suddenly regained clarity, glared at Wang Bert in shock and fury, then turned and fled.

That was right—he turned and fled. Set recognized the Infinity Stones.

"Do you think you can escape?"

Wang Bert sneered and used the Power Stone and Time Stone to reverse time, bringing Set back before him.

Set gritted his teeth and extracted dozens of versions of himself from the Timeline, fleeing in every direction at once. In this dimension, Set could control time. Furthermore, all those Sets were real. As long as one escaped, he could survive.

"Useless."

Wang Bert shook his head. The Power Stone, Soul Stone, Mind Stone, Reality Stone, and Time Stone lit up simultaneously. The dozens of Sets were erased on the spot, leaving only the original one.

Then Wang Bert used the Stones to wipe out Set’s consciousness. Set stood there blankly like a puppet.

"The Infinity Stones really are powerful. Unfortunately, they’re suppressed in other universes. Otherwise, I’d be invincible already."

Wang Bert shook his head, transformed into his true form, and began devouring Set.

Ancient gods like Set often took centuries to devour completely. Fortunately, Wang Bert possessed both the Reality Stone and Time Stone. Working together, they allowed him to devour Set completely before long, bringing the Devouring Concept to complete perfection.

Space, devouring, fusion—Wang Bert possessed three Concepts. He was an ancient god among ancient gods.

Still not enough.

After thinking for a moment, Wang Bert turned his attention toward Eye Demon’s dimension. At that moment, a deep voice suddenly rang out. "Too many ancient gods cannot die."

"I see. I want the complete Blood Concept."

Wang Bert said. As the Blood God, the power of blood was his foundation.

The voice spoke again. "The last one?"

"The last one."

Wang Bert nodded. A moment later, information flooded into his mind: the information and coordinates of the Blood Sea Great Dimension.

The Blood Sea Great Dimension was the territory of the Blood Sea Lord. The Blood Sea Lord possessed the complete Blood Concept. As long as a single drop of blood remained in the universe, he would not die.

Why are blood-based Concept Abilities all related to immortality?

Wang Bert silently complained. The Blood Sea Lord’s immortality was extremely powerful, but it was useless against him, because he would strip away the other party’s Concept.

Without the Concept, there naturally would be no immortal body.

Without wasting words, Wang Bert went directly to the Blood Sea Great Dimension. The moment the Blood Sea Lord saw him, he immediately opened countless Space Channels. Then, with a bang, his body exploded into a massive number of blood spheres that fled through the Space Channels.

"Splitting up the Concept? Interesting."

Wang Bert was somewhat surprised. The Time Stone lit up, and time around them immediately began reversing. The Blood Sea Lord roared, burning blood as he forced his way against the Time Stone’s power and fled outward.

"Useless. With the Stones in hand, the world is mine."

Wang Bert used the Power Stone to enhance the Time Stone’s power, instantly restoring the Blood Sea Lord to his original state through time reversal.

Before the Blood Sea Lord could do anything else, Wang Bert activated the Soul Stone. The Blood Sea Lord’s soul was stripped out and floated nearby.

Wang Bert asked, "Why did you run the moment you saw me? Do you have any manners?"

"You possess the power to kill me. I had to flee."

The Blood Sea Lord asked, "Can you spare my life?"

Wang Bert smiled. "Of course. Hand over the complete Blood Concept and a large quantity of blood, and I’ll let you leave."

"Fine. You’re stronger, so you call the shots."

The Blood Sea Lord agreed readily. The strong devoured the weak; it was that simple. More importantly, he could sense that if he refused, he would die.

Next, the Blood Sea Lord reluctantly handed over the Blood Concept and a large quantity of blood. He sighed, "I’ve been knocked back to my original form. Uh, do you want the Blood Sea dimension?"

"No. Keep it."

Wang Bert put away the Blood Concept and the large quantity of blood. "Of all the gods I’ve met, you’re the one who knows the situation best."