Keeping Pace

We’ve said many times that magic came with a price.

What we hadn’t gone into detail about was how those so-called prices could manifest in all sorts of horrifying ways.

The former X-Men base had now become a field of ruins.

The current calm made it almost impossible to believe that not long ago, terrifying energy had erupted here—power capable of shattering everything around it, legendary strength beyond the reach of ordinary people.

Atop a small hill of broken stone and rubble, Zhang Ye sat quietly, taking occasional drags from his cigarette.

In the Wasteland Universe, tobacco was a rare commodity. These little things that could bring enormous wealth had always been tightly controlled by the major factions.

Most clashes between gang members were related to such goods. Being able to light one up in this day and age was enough to prove one’s status.

Zhang Ye gazed indifferently at the countless mercenary corpses beneath the ruins, his expression utterly calm.

These people were the first to arrive, but they would never be the last. There were far too many people in this world who lived with their heads on the line and treated life and death as nothing.

The power Shadow King had unleashed before dying was incredibly strong. That also meant it would draw the attention of others. Zhang Ye had no idea how many people were rushing here right now, but he knew it was time for him to leave.

He picked up a flask. Like the cigarettes, it had been "delivered" by the mercenaries. It seemed these men were no ordinary hired guns; they were clearly the vanguard of certain gangs, or they would not have been so well supplied.

Tilting his head back, Zhang Ye raised the flask to his lips. The next moment, sweet liquor flowed into his mouth.

"Ptooey! Ptooey! Ptooey!"

Before Zhang Ye could properly savor it, he immediately spat out the sand in his mouth.

Looking at the fragrant liquor still sloshing inside the flask, Zhang Ye pursed his lips before finally tossing it aside.

"Honestly, this price is a little ridiculous."

"Indeed, especially for someone who loves food."

Zhang Ye rolled his eyes and did not respond to Miss Minutes.

Having every bit of food turn into sand the moment it entered his mouth was truly malicious.

This was his first direct encounter with the so-called "price" of magic. Before this, Zhang Ye, who held the energy of an entire universe, had hardly needed to care about any price. Every spell he cast was converted from energy, following the conservation of energy.

But this time was different. Shadow King’s final counterattack had been even fiercer than Zhang Ye had imagined.

It had to be said that Shadow King had taught Zhang Ye a valuable lesson this time, showing him just how much potential could erupt when Abstract Magic and necromancy were combined.

If someone had previously told Zhang Ye that there was a person in this world who could wield—or rather, imitate—the Phoenix Force, he would not necessarily have dismissed it outright, but he would certainly have been skeptical.

Yet this time, seeing the incomparable Phoenix Force on the Jean Grey conjured by Shadow King with his own eyes, Zhang Ye would have been lying if he said he was not shocked.

Although this Phoenix Force had been abstractly simulated and was completely incomparable to the real Phoenix Force, that soul-shaking power still left a deep impression on Zhang Ye.

After losing universal energy as a reserve power source, every spell Zhang Ye cast had to be borne by himself. Under such circumstances, those so-called prices naturally came knocking.

Fortunately, they were still within Zhang Ye’s tolerance. Besides, if he had not previously devoured part of Kraken’s power, this time might have been quite dangerous.

Extinguishing the cigarette in his hand, Zhang Ye slowly rose to his feet. Looking over the ruins beneath him, he brushed the dust from his clothes and prepared to leave.

Devouring the legendary Shadow King had brought Zhang Ye tremendous gains. Not only had he encountered Abstract Magic and necromancy for the first time, but he could now barely wield psychic power as well.

Perhaps after long-term practice, Zhang Ye might barely reach Professor X’s level.

But none of that mattered to Zhang Ye right now. His mind was filled with the declaration of judgment Red Skull had just issued.

Yes, Zhang Ye had received the message too.

He had the mercenaries who came here to die to thank for that. The satellite communication devices in their hands had saved Zhang Ye quite a bit of trouble while also providing him with crucial intelligence.

Although the image from this portable satellite communication was rather blurry, when Zhang Ye saw the prisoner’s neatly folded suit, he quickly recalled the man’s identity—Red Hood.

Red Hood, whose real name was Jason Todd, was the Bat-Family’s second Robin and was also known as "Two-Tube."

Zhang Ye did not know an especially great deal about his story, but he was familiar with several of Jason Todd’s more famous major incidents. What Zhang Ye most wanted to know now was how Jason had come to this universe.

Jason Todd had been killed by Joker while serving as Robin. After being resurrected, he could not accept that Batman had not avenged him. So he forged a new suit, called himself Red Hood, and embarked on the antiheroic path of using killing to stop killing.

Since Jason had already put on Red Hood’s uniform, it could be inferred that the universe he originally came from was likely a relatively complete, large-scale universe. At the very least, groups like the Teen Titans should already have been formed.

And that was what puzzled Zhang Ye most. He could not guess what stage Jason’s universe had reached. Logically speaking, this kind of utterly abnormal "transmigration" often concealed enormous secrets. Perhaps that was also what the two universes had in common.

After experiencing quite a few journeys between universes, Zhang Ye had actually drawn some conclusions. For example, universes headed toward destruction often developed in directions that could not be observed.

In the end, that timeline and that universe would plunge headlong into the world beyond nothingness, vanishing into darkness unknown to anyone.

Meanwhile, a universe artificially interfered with, like Flashpoint, would break its original course of operation. The result could even cause reality to collapse in several nearby parallel universes, just as Barry Allen had done before.

Comparing these two outcomes, it was not difficult to see that if a timeline were compared to a person, then the former was akin to dying of old age, while the latter was murder.

Zhang Ye was not sure which direction the Wasteland Universe was heading, but he could speculate that it belonged to the former.

The Wasteland Universe should be a dying universe that had separated from the Multiverse’s tree of timelines and continued onward toward nothingness.

Under such circumstances, Zhang Ye could not imagine what the DC Universe, which was heading into darkness alongside the Marvel Wasteland Universe, would be like.

Having a fever really feels awful. The weather has been changing these past few days, so everyone should keep warm and take good care of yourselves!