The human race is most familiar with two celestial bodies apart from Earth: the Sun and the Moon. The Sun is a very typical star, currently in its prime. Both its size and temperature seem as if they were meticulously designed to nurture the beautiful Solar System.
As early as tens of thousands of years ago, the cosmic elders who had visited the Solar System described it this way: "If the Milky Way weren't so remote, the Sun, such a beauty, would have become famous long ago."
The beauty of the Solar System is recognized throughout the cosmos. Other star systems have also nurtured many forms of life, but there is a law in the universe: the harsher the natural environment, the stronger the life forms it breeds; and vice versa. That the Sun can nurture ordinary humans, a race practically useless in the Marvel Universe, is enough to show the kind of meticulous greenhouse it has created with its strength.
If it weren't for the fact that the lords of the Nine Major Kingdoms are too powerful and Odin is too martial, disliking any race that is too fragile, the Solar System would have long been developed into a popular cosmic tourist destination.
The human race is equally devoted to its star to the extent that almost all research revolves around the Sun. It can be said that most of their understanding of stars comes from the Sun. Even as they progress step by step into the cosmos, they still use various data from the Sun to define other stars. Whenever they encounter a star, they discuss its similarities and differences with the Sun.
Such an introduction method is evidently very effective, at least it gives people a basic concept, letting them know whether this celestial body is larger or smaller, hotter or colder than the Sun. Even the most magnificent spectacle in the universe—the Black Hole—is judged by how many Suns it equals in mass. Although not particularly rigorous, it fits well with the human train of thought.
This measurement method has almost never failed. Even if the mass equals millions of Suns, most people immediately understand the magnitude is absurd. But today, the Solar Measuring Method doesn't work.
What appeared before everyone was something they had never seen before, couldn't understand, and had no basis for comparison—a bizarre celestial body.
At first, everyone did not realize this was a planet, it was just something that suddenly appeared, pressing down over everyone's heads. It was as if another star system arrived above the Triangulum Galaxy, completely obscuring it. This alone shows how enormous this bizarre celestial body is.
Although the subsequent alarms of various devices remind them that this is merely a human visual illusion, and this planet is far from the size of a star system, it still exceeds all known largest celestial bodies, and far exceeds them.
If the mass were estimated according to this size... no, it's actually unnecessary to estimate. If there really were such a colossal planet, it would not be able to support its own mass and should have collapsed into a Black Hole long ago. But it hasn't; it merely hangs silently in mid-air, making all surrounding planets and bases look insignificantly small.
The diameter of this planet alone is roughly equal to 30 Solar Systems. One should know that the diameter of one of the largest known Black Holes, the central Black Hole of the Phoenix A Star System, is only about 35 Solar Systems. And the size of a Black Hole is judged by its event horizon, whereas this is a solid planet.
The bizarre aspect is that, even if this planet maintains its existence, according to the law of gravity, the outposts and bases arranged by the Triangulum Galaxy at such a close distance should have been captured by this gigantic planet long ago.
However, their gravitational system is unaffected. This is not a result of anyone's adjustment, but rather as if this scientifically inexplicable massive planet doesn't exist. It's even more terrifying than everything starting to fall onto it as soon as it appeared.
Either this is a ghost planet, visible to the eye but nonexistent in reality, equivalent to some optical phenomenon. This would indeed be the best outcome.
Or, this planet has a gravitational system far beyond any intelligent life's cognition, possibly able to ignore certain cosmic rules, or even directly modify the gravitational data where it exists, resulting in no gravitational reaction being caused. This is the worst outcome.
Because the latter implies that the opponent is a super-civilization with Zenith Star technology, even the Three Great Empires on this side cannot compare. If the gravitational systems of the Three Great Empires could at least touch any fringe of the opponent, they wouldn't be completely disrupted by Earth.
The moment this gigantic planet appeared, all scientists realized this point. They began shouting desperately on the communication channels: "Magneto! Magneto!!! Gravity parameters!!! Hurry!!!!"
For ease of communication, everyone has a communication device in their life support devices, that is, the ring on their finger. Professor X has organized them into different channels, and they can adjust it by turning the ring.
All top scientists on Earth are on the same channel, which is now filled with roaring voices. Everyone is shouting "Don't panic," but everyone sounds very panicked.
"What the hell is this thing?! Are you saying Batman has an alias called God?!!"
"God, my ass! This is just a strange celestial body from another world. As long as we have data, we can analyze it. Hurry up and let Magneto read the gravity parameters! Hurry up!"
"What we need to consider first is, what if the opponent turns off the gravity control system! Everyone quiet down! Listen to me!"
"Don't panic! Don't panic! Earth is safe. The opponent appears to have little mobility!"
"Bullshit, without mobility, how did it get here?!"
"Dear God, physics no longer exists! How are we supposed to live like this?! Newton, please rise and take a look! Einstein, don't sit idle either, we have new material for general relativity!"
"Everyone stop arguing! The Professor told me Magneto has gone over! The IT department should be ready to receive data!"
In the Central Universe, the superhero scientists formed a small group, as they understood Batman better and remained calm. Stark sighed and said, "I knew it, Batman would never come unprepared. But he's more than prepared; this thing is probably the legendary Apocalypse Star."
"The state of this planet is very peculiar. It looks like some kind of quantum superposition," Pym said. "Which means, although it truly exists there, if it doesn't allow it, no one would be able to perceive its existence."
"This doesn't seem to be a simple physical phenomenon," Doom remarked. "Or rather, when technology and magic reach their pinnacle, they converge. Whoever can flawlessly modify cosmic parameters wins."
"Are you saying that this guy achieved it?" Stark frowned and said, "Although that guy named Darkseid is quite formidable, I don't think he could accomplish that."
"Darkseid might not be able to, but that doesn't mean Lucifer's group can't," Doom continued. "We should say, Apocalypse Star is their masterpiece. There should only be one celestial body in such a unique state, and Darkseid just happens to be its master."
Stark remained silent, lost in thought. Pym continued, "I think so too. Because, since the parameters of the Earth over there are about the same as ours, it proves that the laws of physics are also similar and such a special planet could not arise naturally. There must have been the creator's involvement, creating such a peculiar existence. Whether it's Batman or anyone else, they don't have such power; Batman just utilized it."
"The latest parameters are out," Dr. Banner said. "According to Magneto's investigation, this thing can't be considered a planet, more like a domain with a core."
"A domain?"
"Yes, the gigantic object we see isn't entirely solid. What we think to be the surface, that light blue area, is actually its atmosphere, or it can be considered the planet's shield. The actual planet isn't that big, probably around 800 times the size of Earth."
Everyone let out a sigh of relief. Stark felt his stomach convulse and realized it was due to extreme tension, quickly drinking some warm water to calm down, then said, "Luckily, things aren't that bad. Do we have a rough schematic?"
Professor X said, "It's being uploaded and will soon be sent to all of us… oh, here it is."
Everyone's mind was filled with a three-dimensional holographic image, it was the enormous Apocalypse Star. Its exterior was extremely deceptive, looking absurdly big like a planet, but it was more akin to a star system with a shield. The real Apocalypse Star was located in the center of the Apocalypse Domain, although much larger than Earth, at least not overly exaggerated and barely aligned with physical laws.
The real Apocalypse Star wasn't small, but considering this, it was far from their base or anything, the base couldn't be captured by its gravity, hardly even influenced. The distance between the two locations made boarding battles implausible, requiring a spaceship.
But this brought a new question: how could such a small planet have such a big shield? Earth's magical defense network requires many pillars. It's not that mages didn't want to expand; it's just that even a one-meter extension exponentially increases the required energy, making too large an extension unfeasible.
And for Apocalypse Star to maintain such a big shield, the energy required would be astronomical, even said to be unattainable even if they killed lord-level Demon Gods like Mephisto. So it can't be through this method; then how is the Apocalypse Domain maintained?
The ordinary scientists had various opinions, and so did the superhero scientists. But the most reliable speculation ultimately came from the closest, Magneto.
"They're not using energy to maintain the shield; it itself is an energy source."
"What do you mean?"
"Just like Mephisto's Hell Dimension or Dormammu's Dark Domain, it itself is one of the sources of cosmos origin power."
"How is this possible?!" Stark slapped the table, stood up, and said, "How could they bring part of their cosmos' origin power here?! Doesn't Batman know how risky this is?!"
"Maybe he just has confidence he won't lose," Reed said, crossing his arms. "You have to admit, this solves their biggest pain point—energy sustainability issue."
"I'm more curious about how our side's administrators solved the conversion issue. What did they convert their cosmos' origin power into? Is it still origin power here? Really doesn't cause program conflicts?"
"This can only be asked to Eternity. Where's Steven? Have him quickly go to the Temple of Eternity and ask!"
At this moment, Eternity was lying inside the Temple of Eternity. Among the other abstract entities, only Death looked somewhat decent, still able to sit; the others were slumped all over. When Strange arrived, he thought he stumbled into a plane crash site.