Stone of Decay

"You’re showing off, aren’t you?"

Astros couldn’t help but complain. Gritting her teeth, she said, "Blood God, I admit defeat. What will it take for you to let me go?"

Astros didn’t want to admit defeat, but she had no choice. Even the Stone of Decay she had kept in reserve couldn’t deal with him. If she refused to yield, death was her only path.

Fair Space appeared fair on the surface, but in truth, hehe—once someone entered Fair Space, Wang Bert became the Invincible King. Even ancient gods had to kneel.

"Straightforward."

Wang Bert said, "I originally planned to kill you and turn you into a puppet, but now I’ve changed my mind because I admire you."

Astros looked at him with disdain. "You’re lusting after my body, aren’t you?"

"No, I’m lusting after your Stone of Decay."

Wang Bert smiled. "Give me the Stone of Decay, and serve me for three thousand years. Then I’ll spare you."

Astros was stunned. "You want the Stone of Decay?"

"Yes, I want the Stone of Decay."

Wang Bert nodded. If he kept fighting, even if he managed to seize the Stone of Decay, most of its power would be used up. That would be too wasteful.

Even Creator Gods couldn’t resist the Stone of Decay. In other words, it could help Wang Bert deal with Creator Gods.

"Fine, three thousand years it is."

Astros put down the Stone of Decay and said readily, "I already said it before. If I couldn’t beat you, you could have your way with me for three thousand years."

Wang Bert said with a righteous expression, "I’m a gentleman. Don’t try to seduce me."

"A gentleman who keeps staring at me?"

Astros gave Wang Bert the middle finger. Then she tossed the Stone of Decay to him and said, "For these three thousand years, I’m yours."

Three thousand years was a long time to mortals, but to an ancient god like Astros, it was truly nothing more than the blink of an eye.

Wang Bert caught the Stone of Decay with Godly Shield, then put Godly Shield away and said, "Astros, to prevent you from betraying me, we need to sign a contract."

"You don’t trust me?"

Astros snapped, "When has Astros ever broken her word?"

Wang Bert shook his head. "I don’t know you well enough to know whether you’ll break your word. More importantly, the temptation of souls is too great."

"So the so-called Invincible King is nothing more than this."

Astros snorted. "Fine, we’ll sign a contract. But the terms can’t be too harsh. You can kill me, but you can’t humiliate me."

"No problem."

Wang Bert smiled. "There’s only one clause: betray me, and die."

"Fine."

Astros had no objections. She said, "Let’s sign it."

"Fine."

Without wasting words, Wang Bert summoned the Reality Stone and used it to draft the contract. Astros’s gaze sharpened. "The Reality Stone?"

"That’s right, Astros. A contract signed with the Reality Stone cannot be violated by anyone."

"Whatever. I wasn’t planning to violate it in the first place."

Astros snorted coldly, but inwardly sighed. It seemed she really would have to obediently serve that bastard for three thousand years.

Damn it, that bastard was far too cautious. No wonder he could become a Creator God.

Soon, the contract was signed. Looking around, Astros said unhappily, "Get me out of this place already. This damn Fair Space isn’t fair at all."

"I think it’s very fair."

Wang Bert shrugged and put away Fair Space. The two returned to the banquet hall. Wang Bert changed into a new set of clothes and asked, "How did the negotiations between your Demon God Alliance and Death go?"

"They reached an agreement, but Death’s terms are harsh."

Astros picked up a jug and took a large gulp, then said irritably, "She wants us to be her dogs, but she doesn’t realize that we aren’t dogs. We’re wolves—wolves that will bite back."

Wang Bert shook his head. "Death is playing with fire."

"Creator Gods have always been used to looking down on everyone. Playing with fire is perfectly normal for them."

Astros snorted and asked, "Blood God, what are you planning to do next? The great demon god Chthon won’t be easy to deal with."

Wang Bert said, "I originally wanted to kill you, turn you into a puppet, and use you as an undercover agent. Now that you’ve surrendered to me, the result is the same."

"What kind of lousy plan is that?"

Astros snorted. "You can indeed kill me, but I’m an ancient god. It would take you at least decades to kill me. By then, the universe might already be gone."

"Devouring you won’t take that long. Three years will be enough, and with time acceleration, at most three months."

Wang Bert smiled. "The Concepts my main body possesses are far beyond your imagination."

Astros asked curiously, "Where did you get so many Concepts? Even Creator Gods don’t have spare Concepts lying around."

"I picked them up."

Wang Bert did not elaborate. Thinking of something, he sighed. "It’s a pity Serpent God Set and the others have Prime Planes. I can’t beat them there. Otherwise, things would be much simpler."

"Unless you can trick their true bodies out of their Prime Planes, you definitely aren’t their match."

Astros shook her head. "In their Prime Planes, your Fair Space can’t trap them. They can even travel through Timelines."

"I know."

Wang Bert said, "Astros, from now on, you’ll be my undercover agent in the Demon God Alliance. Report any news to me immediately."

"No problem. They definitely won’t suspect me anyway."

Thinking of something, Astros asked Wang Bert, "Blood God, have you considered joining our Demon God Alliance? We want souls, while you want blood. There’s no conflict. If you join us, we can all become Creator Gods."

"I’m different from you. I want to protect the universe."

Wang Bert waved his hand. "Enough talk. I’m heading back to the Frontlines to compose background music for the movie. Contact me through the contract if anything comes up."

Astros was stunned. "You’re going back to the Frontlines?"

"What, you want to have a round with me?"

Wang Bert said righteously, "I’m not that casual a person. But if you force yourself on me, I won’t just refrain from resisting—I’ll cooperate enthusiastically."

"Get lost."

Astros gave Wang Bert the middle finger and said, "Aren’t you going to find the other demon gods? With your strength, aside from Chthon and the others, the other demon gods are no match for you. You could kill your way through them and turn them all into puppets."

"There’s no need. One undercover agent is enough, and you’re upper management. You definitely know more intelligence than those demon gods. Besides, the more undercover agents there are, the easier it is for information to leak."

Wang Bert said, "Also, I can’t let Chthon and the others know my true strength. If they find out, they definitely won’t dare to descend into the Main Universe in their true bodies."

After a pause, Wang Bert said with icy eyes, "If they don’t descend into the Main Universe, how am I supposed to kill them one by one? They dared invade the Main Universe and oppose me. They truly don’t know what’s good for them."

"Blood God, you really are ruthless."

Astros stared wide-eyed. She had never expected Wang Bert to intend to wipe out Chthon and the others completely.

Thinking of something, Astros said in frustration, "So I’m the only one who got unlucky this time?"

Wang Bert said as if it were only natural, "Of course. Who told you not to have a Prime Plane? You were easy to bully."

"Damn it."

Astros cursed unhappily. She decided that after the three thousand years were up, she would find a Prime Plane and properly develop it, so she would never again run into a bastard like Wang Bert.

"I’m leaving. Uh, I nearly forgot the fruit. I’ll go ask the demon gods for some."

Wang Bert shrugged, then went out to ask the demon gods for fruit. While he was at it, he erased all their memories of himself and the others.

No one could be allowed to know that Wang Bert had met Astros. Otherwise, Astros’s identity might be exposed.

After Wang Bert left, Astros suddenly attacked and killed all the demon gods and everyone in the royal palace. The reason was simple: they had seen Wang Bert.

Such a major matter absolutely had to be kept secret. Astros did not want to be besieged by three ancient gods, especially since she had no Prime Plane.

Damn it, she had to establish a Prime Plane.

Parallel universe.

Purple Giant Galactus threw a punch, shattering the void and twisting even time. Then, his fist appeared out of nowhere before the Dragon Soul Clone.

Just as the fist was about to strike Wang Bert in the chest, he suddenly split into more than a hundred blood shadows. The hundred blood shadows then struck the void at once, causing the entire space to collapse into chaos, as if the end of the world had arrived.

This was a killer move created by evolving the Space Concept to its extreme—Chaotic Void. Simply put, it completely destroyed space and returned it to its original state of chaos.

Seeing this, Galactus shouted and spewed a massive amount of energy from his mouth, forcibly turning the chaos back into void. Then, the force of his fist shook the void, reducing all hundred blood shadows to ashes and wiping them out of existence.

This was the Concept of Creation.

After doing all that, Galactus panted heavily, clearly weakened—not from exhaustion, but from hunger.

The next second, endless bloody light appeared between heaven and earth. Then Wang Bert revived within the blood light. He rolled his neck and said to Galactus, "I didn’t expect you to be unafraid even of chaos. I thought this would definitely seriously injure you."

"I govern destruction and creation. This move of yours is useless against me."

Galactus shook his head. His gaze at Wang Bert was full of displeasure. This guy had fought him for over two months. At first, he had been easy to deal with, but after their repeated battles, his strength had grown greater and greater. By now, he could fight Galactus for an entire day and night.

It was not that Galactus didn’t want to kill Wang Bert; he simply could not. This guy not only had Absolute Exile, but could also revive endlessly.

With the Blood Concept, as long as there was still a drop of blood in the universe, Wang Bert would not die. Astros’s resurrection ability was nothing compared to this.

"Looks like I can only save this move for someone else."

Wang Bert shook his head and said, "Galactus, go devour some planets first. Then we can continue fighting."

"You’re telling me to go eat?"

Galactus was stunned. "Isn’t that wrong? By the usual process, shouldn’t you keep pestering me until I get weaker and weaker, then take the chance to kill me?"

"That would indeed be the usual process."

Wang Bert said, "The problem is, you’re not the one I want to kill. More accurately, not the you from this universe."

Galactus asked curiously, "What do you mean?"

"It’s like this…"

Wang Bert explained what had happened in his own universe, then said, "I’m fighting you to improve my strength so I can defeat the Galactus in my universe. Killing you has no meaning for me, so eat your fill first."

"I see. No wonder you’ve been clinging to me this whole time."

Galactus came to a realization. "But something about what you said is wrong. I have no reason to fixate on Earth, especially when something so major is happening in the universe."

"Why are you asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?"

Wang Bert spread his hands. "Anyway, I have to kill that guy. With the universe in such danger, he still insists on going to Earth. I have no idea what benefit Death gave him."

"Whatever benefit Death gave him would be useless to me. There must be another reason."

Galactus shook his head. "Also, leaving aside whether you can kill him, even if you can, you must not kill him."

Wang Bert asked curiously, "Why? The Galactus from my universe said the same thing."

Galactus said, "Because I am a lock."

After saying that, Galactus turned and flew into the distance. "I’ll fill my stomach first, then we can fight slowly. I really want to see just how far you can grow."

"A lock?"

Wang Bert was somewhat startled, then complained, "Seriously, can you big shots stop being so cryptic all the time? Huh, why does that sound so familiar?"

Then Wang Bert sat cross-legged in the void and carefully absorbed the gains from the past few days of battle, searching for a way to defeat Galactus.

"Galactus possesses the Devouring Concept, making most attacks ineffective against him. At the same time, he has the Concepts of Destruction and Power. Even I can’t withstand his punches."

Wang Bert sighed inwardly. Galactus not only possessed multiple Concepts, but was also immensely powerful himself. In his hands, Concepts were much more powerful than in anyone else’s.

"Perhaps I’ll have to rely on this to defeat Galactus."

With a flick of his hand, a Stone of Decay appeared in Wang Bert’s palm—the main body had just teleported it over.

"The Stone of Decay was left behind after the previous universe perished. If it can bring even a universe to ruin, then a Creator God is nothing."

Wang Bert’s eyes flickered. The question is, how do I get this thing into Galactus’s heart?

It had to be the heart. Galactus could abandon any other body part at any time, making them meaningless.

"Perhaps I should take a different approach. If I can master the Concept of Decay…"

Thinking of something, Wang Bert’s eyes lit up. If he could master the Concept of Decay, his chances of defeating Galactus would be much greater.

This was not impossible. Decay was a type of poison, and Wang Bert possessed a poison dragon head. Moreover, his attainments in poison were extremely high.

At that moment, Wanda suddenly contacted him and said excitedly, "Bert, I’ve already found five Infinity Stones. Only the last one remains."

"Good work."

After thinking for a moment, Wang Bert asked Wanda, "Wanda, can you enter a black hole now?"

"A black hole?"

Wanda replied, "With five Infinity Stones protecting me, there shouldn’t be any problem."

"Good. Use the Reality Stone to make a wish and find black holes containing Stones of Decay. Then go into those black holes and bring the Stones of Decay back for me."

Wang Bert said, "I need Stones of Decay. The more, the better."

"No problem. I’ll gather every Stone of Decay in the universe and bring them to you."

Wanda immediately agreed. Wang Bert smiled. "Good. I’ve already found a way to defeat Galactus. We’ll definitely win."

Wanda smiled. "Of course. Wanda’s man will not lose."

Wang Bert laughed. "I like the sound of that."