Leave the Washington editorial office.
Aron had essentially defined the DC comics drawn by these artists and the DC universe through which Thanos had traveled.
Even in Aron's opinion…
DC Comics here was also incomplete.
Basically, it still retained the style of old comics, and many characters were not fully developed.
For example, Constantine was a classic example.
A character who should have appeared long ago, but in the end remained only an idea.
"Apokolips, Darkseid, Omega Effect, New God…"
On the way back to the Temple in New York, the Ancient One reviewed the information Jimmy had gathered about Apokolips.
Most of it referred to a villain named Darkseid.
"One multiverse?"
"No, do these artists even know what a multiverse is?"
The more the Ancient One read, the more she felt that something was wrong.
If this Darkseid was really as powerful as described, who could defeat him in the comics?
With doubt in her mind, the Ancient One leaned back.
On the next page of data, the setting was suddenly interrupted and large letters appeared.
"Can this even make sense?"
"Just get used to it."
Aron wasn't impressed.
Marvel, due to its long period of serialization and numerous different authors, often had contradictions and overlaps in the story.
And the same was true for DC.
They had cinematic universes, comic universes, and countless parallel versions of reality.
If one meant the Darkseid from the cinematic universe…
Then, honestly, there wasn't much reason to be afraid.
After all, that scene had already been shown in the movie Justice League:
Darkseid attacks Earth, but Ares, the god of war from the DC universe, cripples him with his axe.
In comparison, Thanos suffered a similar defeat, crippled by the Stormbreaker.
Both were, essentially, seriously weakened.
"If our universe were ever to collide with this DC universe…"
"Then both this Darkseid and…"
The Ancient One opened the next set of information Jimmy had provided.
On the list were names such as The Demons Three, Anti-Monitor, Black Hand, Parallax, Lords of Chaos, Doomsday…
Wait, wait, wait!
An entire gallery of extreme villains!
"These guys are definitely going to give us big trouble!"
The Ancient One closed the document with a sigh.
Although she knew the DC editorial artists couldn't be blamed for everything, she couldn't help but wonder:
"Can't they make fewer villains?"
"It's fine," Aron replied calmly. "We in our universe have our own 'big players.'"
"The Five Gods of Creation, Eternity, Destruction, Death… there are as many as you want."
Aron almost wanted to start a debate, after all, in their universe too, gods fell from the heavens.
Compared to those abstract villains, Aron was more concerned about whether to return the Power Stone.
Now he could imagine a wish using both the Soul and Power Stones together.
"If nothing else works, I can always summon Thanos back…"
"In any case, he no longer poses any threat to me."
...
Soon after, several days passed.
Aron was still thinking about summoning Thanos but had no real intention of doing anything.
Because… a new season had begun.
Aron, busy earning points with Skye, had long left behind stories about DC, Thanos, and the Power Stone.
"Groot! I'm giving you knife-sharpening training! One hundred knives in ten minutes!"
"This is a basic skill if you want to become a professional player!"
Aron had fulfilled his promise.
He traded the Vibranium arm for custody of little Groot.
And where did he even get that Vibranium arm?
It doesn't matter!
The important thing was that Rocket Raccoon wanted that thing, and Aron got it.
Of course, the real reason Rocket agreed to let Groot stay on Earth wasn't just the deal.
It was safety.
Groot was too small to go with them on adventures across the galaxy, that would be far too dangerous.
By contrast, with Aron, the greatest hero on Earth, he would be safe.
And besides…
Aron had already promised them that he would give Groot the best education and train him to become a true hero.
"I trust you!" Rocket said confidently.
And indeed, he had no reason to refuse.
After all, Aron was a hero, even greater than Kevin Bacon!
Rocket was convinced that, under Aron's supervision, Groot would grow into a great tree with an exceptional mind and morals.
"I am Groot!"
(Mission of knife repair completed!)
"Excellent, now start the FPS training! Firearm shooting and precise headshots, these are basic skills!"
Aron didn't even turn around.
To keep Groot, he hadn't hesitated to give Rocket the treasure of the God King, Gram.
So that Rocket Raccoon could open the Bifröst anytime and return to Earth for a visit.
In any case, Aron now possessed an even better sword, the completely black Sword of Death.
"Aron?"
"Isn't it nice that we play together every day?"
"I remember you said two days ago that you were going to summon someone?"
A match had just ended. During the rematch, Skye asked him with a hint of concern.
It's said that with great power comes great responsibility.
But with Aron… it seemed the opposite was true.
The more powerful he became, the more carefree he was.
In the past, the Ancient One could still restrain him, but now, his "wings" had fully matured.
Even the Ancient One could no longer control him, so she simply retreated into the mirror dimension, out of sight, out of mind.
"Summon? Is that even a thing?"
"Forget it. Don't think about nonsense, focus, this is a ranked match for the new season!"
Aron immediately cut Skye off and returned to the game.
While he was busy gathering points, on the other side…
The Avengers were finishing post-war cleanup.
Actually, there wasn't much work to do.
This time, the battle had taken place in space and had almost no impact on Earth.
The only thing left was collecting the remains of spaceships and equipment in orbit.
For that task…
The entire world, now united as the Human Federation, worked together.
Humanity desperately needed the technology found in the space wreckage, especially that related to interstellar navigation.
Meanwhile, while most Avengers rested, others were gathering.
In the city of Attilan, on the other side of the Moon, Black Bolt had convened a meeting.
Namor, the king of Atlantis, who had previously had both conflict and cooperation with Aron, was also invited.
That king from the ocean depths, known for his dual nature, spoke to humans as a man and to demons as a demon.
Thanks to this, he had managed to achieve his long-standing goal, to have demons and humans sign bilateral trade agreements.
"The Inhumans…"
"Atlantis…"
At that moment, Tony Stark finally understood what Aron had meant when he talked about founding the Illuminati.
"So, there are still so many powerful forces on Earth, and I had no idea?"
Tony sighed deeply.
Then he looked at Coulson, who stood nearby, ever ready.
It's time to act, Tony thought.
"Bring me all this data," he said calmly but firmly.
"Understood," Coulson replied, nodding.
But before Coulson could activate his sources and expand the contact network, Attilan's sirens suddenly began to wail!
The sky above the Moon was lit up by a bright light, someone had teleported directly from space.
"Hm?"
"What's this now?"
On the horizon appeared an alien — the only surviving member of the Black Order, Supergiant.
She looked around in confusion.
"Where's the fleet? Where are the others?"
She was completely lost.
Was this supposed to be the invasion of Earth? Where were the armies? Where were the spaceships?
She had been told to find traces of the Soul Stone and, once located, to regroup on Earth.
But now she was here, alone.
"Corvus Glaive?" she called softly.
No one answered.
"Proxima Midnight?"
"Ebony Maw?"
"Black Dwarf?"