ushernet Chapter 238 Metaverse
Chapter 238 Metaverse
Chapter 238 Metaverse
After hesitating for a long time, Aji still couldn't pull the trigger to test the authenticity of this Superman who had fallen from the sky. Instead, he lowered the gun he had raised.
"Come with us."
As the two entered the sealed-off complex through the only entrance, Rick grew increasingly alarmed the deeper they went into this group's lair.
This is a nursing home with a pleasant environment and complete facilities.
The rooms inside were not filled with various weapons workshops, medicine-making facilities, and burly men guarding them, as Rick and his companions had imagined. Instead, they were crammed with all sorts of beds, housing dozens of elderly people who were over seventy years old, had difficulty moving around, and could barely understand what was being said.
The "Mexican gang" members who had confronted the three of them on the previous two occasions were almost all the able-bodied young men in the park.
Aji pointed towards the deep corridor of the nursing home: "Your people are over there."
Looking in that direction, Rick found Glenn, who had been kidnapped earlier, unharmed. Not only did he show no signs of abuse, but he was also squatting in a corner, playing with a Chihuahua that was less than 20 centimeters long.
Rick, with his quick wit, figured it out almost instantly.
He looked at Aji, and felt an overwhelming sense of fear.
If they hadn't run into Invincible Young Hero and Superman today, they would have come with guns and wiped out everyone on Aji's side.
In his anger, he almost grabbed Aji by the collar and started cursing at the little dog at his feet:
"This is the 'vicious dog' you were talking about? You're such a reckless idiot!"
Rick was almost misled by the other party's feigned bravado and ended up carrying out a barbaric and inhuman massacre!
From Rick's perspective and in his storytelling, Aji is a ruthless Mexican gangster, while his side consists of ordinary survivors struggling to survive in the post-apocalyptic world.
From Aji's perspective, however, it's a different story.
This is a story of a wolf in sheep's clothing pretending to be weak while actually being strong.
The difference is that the one who pretends to be weak to take advantage of others is actually a real tiger coming down from the mountain, while Aji, who seems to be a Mexican gangster, is the one pretending to be weak, and he runs into Rick and his two real tigers.
Aji wasn't a gang leader, the burly Mexican man with him wasn't a top-notch enforcer, he didn't have any man-eating dogs, and this place wasn't a gang hideout.
"When the disaster struck, everyone in the nursing home—the nurses, the doctors, the director—ran away." Aji shrugged.
"So Philip and I had no choice but to stay and take care of these abandoned elderly people together."
The Mexican strongman named Philip was hired as a caregiver at the nursing home because of his strength, while Aji, who was called "boss" by everyone, was a former security guard at the nursing home.
Instead of abandoning the elderly and running away like other medical staff, they stayed behind, gathered the families of the elderly in the nursing home that day, and other survivors, and worked together to collect resources and try to survive.
The hostility and aggression in the several contacts with Rick's side were also because Aji's side had to make such a gesture.
This world has been transformed into a primeval jungle; once they show weakness, all that awaits them is to be devoured alive by other plunderers.
This is the story of Aji's side.
"Oh, this—"
The invincible young hero, who had just returned from the moon, listened to the entire story of both sides and felt a mix of emotions, unsure of what to say.
A misunderstanding almost led to a bloodbath that killed hundreds of people.
"This is the result of the collapse of order."
Joey was no stranger to the current situation; he had seen it many times when he was carrying a camera.
"Put people into society, and they become human beings, capable of creating brilliant civilizations; put people into the jungle, and they can seamlessly transform into wild beasts, unleashing their primal instincts for survival."
The difference is that I was powerless back then, but now I can solve their problems with a single thought.
"Speaking of which, what exactly is the purpose of that thing you asked me to put on the moon?"
The invincible young hero took advantage of the time Joey was traveling the world defusing several deadly conflicts to run an errand for him, dropping a seemingly ordinary metal ball onto the surface of the moon:
"Can that solve the zombie virus problem?"
"No, it's just a transmitter. I took it from the drone Iron Man gave me to use for transmitting information, locating coordinates, receiving support, and issuing warnings."
On their journey to defeat Angstrom with the invincible young hero, they would have to traverse countless worlds, and Joey couldn't abandon this world.
To prevent any accidents from happening to the world during their journey, Joey decided to leave something behind.
The transmitter was originally designed to allow users to send messages across dimensions to the receiver—that is, Iron Man's side—in times of crisis.
Joey has already included a description of the world's situation within it, so that in case of any unexpected events, the transmitter will summon professionals to deal with the intruders.
Mark astutely caught the key phrase in the conversation: "Invaders? You mean—"
"It's possible, and very likely."
After nodding, Joey once again scanned the airborne viral agents to confirm:
"The viral structure that turned these people into zombies is unlikely to have formed naturally."
Joey had previously concluded that the zombie virus in this world had a very perfect operating mechanism: it first spreads in an asymptomatic form, and then finally breaks out after it has covered most of the population.
Every step was perfectly timed, like a pre-programmed living biological weapon. Such precise control far surpassed the technological level of Earth, leaving Joey with no choice but to have doubts.
The outbreak of the zombie crisis is very likely the work of some extraterrestrial civilization.
Joey also told these things to the two groups of survivors present.
"But aren't you Superman?"
Several of the young men questioned Joey, believing that Superman should be omnipotent:
"Why can't we just find the culprit who released the virus, give them an eye for an eye, and kill all those disgusting aliens!"
Before the questioner could finish speaking, Miguel slapped him hard across the back of the head with lightning speed.
"Think before you speak. Don't just spout off generalizations. Don't forget, Superman is an alien too!"
Fortunately, neither the Kryptonians nor the Voidlings who were accidentally hit by the unknown area-of-effect attack were the kind of people who had much identification with their home planet, and they didn't care at all about such an offense.
As for the other party's suggestion, Joey had considered it, but it would be a bit troublesome to implement. "I have already checked, and there are as many as seven civilizations with this capability or suspicion on a scale of two thousand light-years."
With limited time, Joey could neither visit without any evidence nor simply wait here for the other party to come to him. Who knew when they would start the next step of their intrusion plan?
It could be a week later, or it could be sixty years later.
That's why Joey removed the transmitter and made a beacon. One reason was to call for help from outer space, and the other was to broadcast to the alien fleets entering the solar system, warning them not to get involved in a language they could absolutely understand.
If the other party ignores such warnings, the information Joey has embedded in the beacon will take effect—the zombie virus is almost only effective against humans, and has no effect on animals on Earth, let alone those that are not even human.
Joey has already informed the other end, and soon Tony should follow his instructions and simply teleport either Green Lantern Spider-Man or Yamashiro Takuya over.
"Iron Man, Green Lantern, Spider-Man, and 400 middle-aged women?"
Several young comic book fans were confused after hearing these terms. Are these words a vocabulary that can be combined?
"Welcome to the multiverse." Joey shrugged noncommittally. "There's no DMCA here."
"Next, I'll talk about the first point to note—"
The reason why the zombie crisis in this world can so suddenly bring the entire social order to the brink of collapse is mainly due to their hidden nature.
Joey will convey the secrets to everyone in the world:
"I've fixed a doomsday survival frequency on radio bands around the world, and you'll be receiving the same content every night."
But there's no harm in listening to it now—”
Firstly, the vast majority of zombies worldwide are already dead, so there's no need to live in fear anymore.
This brief catastrophe wiped out 70-80% of the Earth's population, and there are enough resources for everyone. Let's stop killing each other.
Secondly, the zombie virus is a biological weapon from an extraterrestrial civilization, used to undermine Earth's organization.
The best course of action is to rebuild civilization and restore productivity as soon as possible.
Thirdly, the weakness of zombies lies in their brainstem.
Those who have survived to this day are likely already aware of this.
Fourthly, the zombie virus has already spread all over the world, and everyone is an asymptomatic patient who has been infected.
Being bitten by a zombie will quickly turn you into a zombie, and any dead body will also transform into a new source of infection in a short time.
Fifth, the antidote for the zombie virus is already in production and will be available soon.
Until then, please maintain your humanity; the world will eventually return to order.
Having accomplished all this, Joey could now confidently accompany Mark to the next universe.
As for Officer Rick and his group versus the other group at the nursing home, now that the zombie crisis has been eliminated, Joey has only one piece of advice: unity is strength.
Traveling alone in the apocalypse sounds cool, but that's based on the premise that those lone wolves can take on a hundred enemies single-handedly.
Humans have been social animals even before they came down from the trees; natural selection has already proven everything.
"Anyway, there are plenty of empty rooms here."
After a heated exchange just hours earlier, Rick and Aggie shook hands and made peace: "We're willing to try."
"This isn't a matter of trying or not trying. The apocalypse isn't over yet, Rick. You're a sheriff; you have to get to work on restoring order to Atlanta."
Joey's opinion of these two groups was significantly higher than that of the other survivors in the city. At least before Joey arrived, they were genuinely willing to struggle for survival with the elderly, women, and children, rather than viewing them as a burden.
"Don't think it's difficult. You'll have new help coming soon, and remember—I'll be back."
As soon as Joey finished speaking, a green portal lit up next to the Invincible Young Hero.
Mark, who was exchanging words with Glenn, whose voice was similar to his own, hesitated. He was unsure whether he should still leave with Superman.
"Superman, are you sure you still want to leave with me?"
Mark was deeply concerned about the safety of his mother and brother, and with each passing second, this worry intensified, almost overwhelming him.
Even so, he still felt that, compared to himself, whose mother and brother had been kidnapped, it was clear that the people in this universe struggling with the apocalypse needed Superman more.
"Don't worry, a suitable person will be available to replace me soon."
If there weren't enough heroes to choose from in another universe, Joey probably wouldn't have dared to leave this world, which had been ravaged by the walking dead, so easily.
"A Green Lantern Ring or a Leopardton ring is enough to suppress all armed forces in the entire galaxy within this universe."
"Wuhu!"
Several younger teenagers present cheered. A Green Lantern was about to arrive in their universe, and it was even a Spider-Man version of Green Lantern. This made them feel less sad and reluctant to see Superman leave temporarily.
"When will he arrive?!"
~Slap~
On the moon, Spider-Man, holding the lamp ring, was sent across dimensions to the moon by a one-way teleporter that Iron Man had hastily created, landing face-first.
".—！.—.—.！&%*....—·&！
I wanted to complain about how poorly made Tony's teleportation device was; Spider-Man almost suffocated on the near-vacuum surface of the moon.
Fortunately, his physical condition was excellent, and he belatedly activated the green light ring:
"Good heavens, no one told me we'd be landing on the moon!"
He arrived shortly afterward.
Seeing this scene, Joey was finally relieved. He said a few words and then stepped into the portal with Mark.
A fledgling Spider-Man should be reliable, right?
Stepping through the portal, Joey tensed up again, analyzing the situation with lightning speed, only to realize that the two of them had failed to return to Mark's universe once more.
"No, it isn't!"
The two stepped out of the portal and found themselves in a large bus with a large passenger capacity.
Apart from Joey and Mark, everyone else sat quietly in their seats, their eyes fixed straight ahead, as if waiting for something.
As his gaze swept across the carriage, which was packed like sardine cans, Joey spotted many familiar faces and figures among the numerous "passengers":
On the left, some familiar faces include: a cosmic bounty hunter with a child, clad in Bescar steel; a blond, middle-parted, slovenly assassin who leaves nothing but desolation in his wake; and a Florentine assassin master in white robes. Turning his head again, on the right is a white-haired witcher with a metal wolf badge around his neck, often suffering from osteoporosis; and someone who absolutely loves dogs.
Is the ruthless, suit-clad thug who kills without hesitation, or the bald man covered in white ashes with a menacing look, the person Joey is thinking of?
Looking up again, they realized through the exterior of the bus that the two of them were standing on was connected to a huge hot air balloon by chains, and was being pulled into the sky by it.
"Countdown, 10! 9! —"
A voice came from the void, and the passengers on the train pressed the buttons, causing them to plummet to the ground via a track-drop.
This familiar sense of déjà vu made it hard for Joey not to think of a battle royale game he'd played in a past life. "Where did I end up? Is this still the multiverse?"
The two are now getting further and further apart in Angstrom's portal.
This can already be considered a metaverse!