The familiar base, the familiar people.
Gwen and a group of soldiers took the body parts of Homelander and the Hulk into the back room. Only Ian remained in the main hall, where a group of researchers were busy, staring at Digital Tony's large machine.
"Which one of you is the Dimension Lord? Or did I actually encounter two Dimension Lords!?" The demon head's brain malfunctioned, and it was thrown into utter confusion, unable to distinguish between them.
Tony looked at the demon head.
Ian, on the other hand, expertly knocked on the demon's head a few times. "Shut up, already. Do you yell about seeing another Dimension Lord every time you see someone new?"
He strongly suspected the demon head wanted to be an exaggerated flatterer.
Perhaps in Hell, complimenting someone by saying they look like a Dimension Lord was the equivalent of a human giving a compliment, akin to the daily greeting of, "I envy you for getting rich again."
"I... I really didn't mean to flatter you."
The demon was extremely wronged.
It dared not speak its mind.
It held one firm thought: thirty thousand years west of the prison, thirty thousand years east of the prison. As long as it was patient enough, the day would come when it would become a Great Demon through bloodline.
Heh.
Just wait until then.
It would definitely have an invincible, hammer-proof, diamond head!
The kind that wouldn't hurt no matter how much it was hit!
Instantly.
The demon felt that life had hope and anticipation again.
"He really is a Dimension Lord... He ate so many, many souls, and hasn't finished digesting them..." After self-regulating its emotions, the demon couldn't help but stick to its view.
"Still being stubborn? Then let Mr. Stark himself say whether he is a Dimension Lord or not!" Ian seized the opportunity to question Digital Tony.
Regardless of the possibility.
He had already played the role of the curious outsider.
Not asking would make him seem insufficiently cautious and unprepared.
"There are no Dimension Lords left in this world." Digital Tony suddenly formed a projection of himself in front of the mainframe. He stared at the demon head on Ian's waist, speaking in a gentle tone.
"However, their souls are all here with me." It was clear that Digital Tony was also somewhat confused, not understanding why he was still able to see a demon that possessed a soul.
"So, you are essentially like a scientific Mother Tree? When people die, their souls return to you, and then you use some kind of technological device to bring them back?"
Ian's eyes flickered with a thirst for knowledge.
Hearing this.
Digital Tony simply had someone bring over a metal box, motioning for Ian to place the demon head inside. Ian didn't hesitate and put the demon head in.
It was just an abyssal demon bucket, and Hell still had a bunch of unfinished products. If Digital Tony lost this one, Ian could rightly ask the guy to compensate him with some genuine hard currency—high-end scientific knowledge.
"Your understanding is not incorrect. I am indeed doing something like that." After instructing the staff to seal the box, Digital Tony slowly responded to Ian's previous question.
"For some well-known reasons, our world is on the brink of fracturing and destruction." Digital Tony waved his hand, and the surrounding researchers and the hall seemed to vanish instantly.
The walls of the entire control room became a starry sky, with countless points of light circulating within. Ian felt as if he was inside the universe, capable of sensing the infinite vastness of space.
"Cool."
Ian knew this was not spatial displacement, but a visual effect similar to a hologram. He was still in the base hall filled with researchers.
Standing in the starry sky, Tony's expression was retrospective. "I still haven't figured out what caused everything. The 'survival' space of the boundless universe began to constantly shrink at a certain point in time. Consequently, some weaker universes began to merge with ours, and things that shouldn't exist squeezed into our world."
This account sounded familiar to Ian. He had heard a similar story from Miss Death. It was clear that both worlds were facing the same crisis.
Was the DC Universe just luckier?
For some reason.
Ian did not hear Digital Tony mention anything about the shattered universe eroding other universes. He still suspected this was because the Marvel Universe was parasitic to him, and Digital Tony was deliberately concealing it.
The boy was deep in thought.
Digital Tony continued to explain the situation to Ian. "Initially, no one thought this was a big problem. Our universe was large enough to accommodate those poor refugees."
"Even the high-dimensional deities were pleased by this, as if this situation increased their enjoyment. At least, initially, they had no intention of stopping it."
Tony's voice became heavy, but Ian didn't feel the emotion intensely. Perhaps Digital Tony was merely simulating the appropriate emotion for the moment.
"It sounds like there's a turning point here?"
Ian acted as the straight man in the comedy duo.
"Yes, a turning point, and a major one at that." Tony nodded. "When that crisis began to engulf us, the high-dimensional entities were no longer capable of dealing with it."
"It wasn't a destruction, nor was it an invasion. It was simply a continuous shrinking of the universe's survival space, causing the entire Multiverse to uncontrollably collapse toward the central universe."
"The consequences of this were obvious."
"The Multiverse ceased to exist, and the high-dimensional entities were consequently demoted, becoming ordinary individuals within the universe, no longer possessing their original power and authority."
As Tony spoke.
The surrounding visuals constantly changed and flowed.
Countless parallel universes squeezed and merged like soap bubbles. In the end, Multiverse-level and even higher-level entities were forced to be confined to a single universe.
This was a fall from grace.
Impossible to guard against.
Utterly abrupt.
Even the most powerful beings were completely powerless to resist.
Ian heard their unwilling roars.
"Uh... Miss Death and the others probably haven't realized this... yet?" Ian's head was buzzing. He felt the events Digital Tony described were absurd yet deeply chilling upon further thought.
The Marvel Universe and the DC Universe were roughly on the same level. Did this mean the DC Universe would suffer the same fate? Ian's expression at this moment was one of extreme astonishment and shock.
"Alarmist talk from the residual shadow of the past, originating from a parasitic universe?"
Ian found it hard to discern the truth, but he also understood that he definitely had to find a way to convey this information to the heavyweights of the DC Universe without compromising himself.
This kind of thing wouldn't stump his super intelligence.
As for whether it was true or false.
That was for the higher-ups to judge.
***
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