American Comics: Multiverse of Madness

154. Long-term Plans.

Alex was well aware of the consequences that unknown crossings could bring. Just like the cocoon trying to drag the multiverse into the abyss, anything indescribable outside the sandbox would cause massive pollution upon entering it. This pollution wasn't just for future timelines; the countless complex information carried by outsiders would also put this world in extreme danger. The impact of information was invisible and intangible. Similarly, this pollution wasn't unpredictable.

Interestingly, each universe branch had its own unique cycle system. When influenced by information from other universes, the universe would activate a 'self-cleaning' mechanism, like the human immune system, expelling bad information and pollution. But that method only worked for normal multiverses. In a universe that was already nearing its end, practically dead, it had no ability to drive its immune system.

In other words, the will of this universe had long since died. The life remaining on this wasteland was just a group of cells living on a corpse. Someday, maybe in a year, maybe in a hundred years, the corpse of the cosmic starry sky would rot, and their future would lead down a path filled with eternal night.

No one knew what lay at the end of that road, like a boat sailing on a planet full of oceans without a single piece of land, a planet whose will had long perished, with only the aftershocks of the dead remaining.

"Can this universe really be saved? Or rather, are they really worth saving?"

On the top of the valley, Kara gazed at the tragedy below. It wasn't the first time she had seen the darkness of this world, but each time, it made her heart heavier. Below was a looted caravan. These merchants, struggling to survive, had to resort to being traveling vendors to feed their families. They used their savings to buy some camels and carts, traveling across the wasteland, hoping to make a small fortune in the next town.

Perhaps only these merchants could truly see through the world's misery and despair. For them, carrying a large amount of goods and traveling to sell them made them walking gold to gangsters and bandits.

These merchants risked their lives daily, never knowing if tomorrow or an unexpected event would come first. They didn't know if the next town would bring wealth or a knife, but they knew that if they didn't do this, their whole family would starve or become slaves. To ensure safety, merchants often banded together, pooling resources to hire capable mercenaries for protection. Hawkeye used to do this job.

But this was no guarantee. Protection didn't mean a safe journey, as gangsters' attacks were often more fierce than imagined.

For the gangsters, if they didn't rob big this time, the whole gang would collapse. Their relationship was like wolves and sheep.

If the wolves succeeded, the sheep would die.

If the sheep succeeded, the wolves would die.

Nature's law, unchangeable.

In the past, Kara would have rushed down without hesitation upon seeing this. She couldn't watch the gangsters kill and leave unscathed, nor could she accept doing nothing at that moment. She wanted to avenge the dead merchants. But now, she held back.

For the first time, she stopped her body and started using her brain. She wanted to think, to find a real solution, not just treat the symptoms.

"It's good that you can start thinking about the meaning behind all this."

Alex and Pietro stood behind Kara. Seeing her, Alex nodded slightly and continued.

"Kara, I never thought of myself as a hero. The title 'hero' is too big, far from being explained in a few words. But I know one saying: 'Heroes are made by the times.' In this world of moral and order collapse, heroes' appearance would only make things worse."

Alex wasn't just speaking off the cuff. In the comics, after Hawkeye died, Wolverine, due to his wife and daughter's death, retracted his claws and decided to solve everything the hero way. He took Banner's most promising baby Hulk out of the desert, riding a white horse, announcing Wolverine's return to all the world's criminals. Dragging his old, tired body with no longer functioning healing factors and adamantium claws, he even killed his way through the wasteland.

But what was the result?

Wolverine personally destroyed the Hulk Gang, leaving only a mess that ordinary people couldn't handle. Later, the Punisher's gang took over, more vicious than the Hulk Gang, and ordinary people's casualty rate was higher than under the Hulk Gang's rule. You can't kill all the villains. Killing one man-eating shark would only draw more sharks by the scent of blood.

To change everything, you can't use the 'old ways.'

"In Pietro's world, I couldn't change things. I had no power or ability; I could barely protect myself. My goal was to fulfill my promise to Pietro. But now, I want to try to do something, not just for the ordinary people here, but for ourselves."

Even without the 'save all' slogan, Alex had deeper concerns. The cocoon that polluted time and twisted reality loomed like a nightmare over Alex.

Alex knew he wasn't strong enough. There were more secrets on him waiting to be explored. He never thought tearing reality would give him unprecedented power. He knew he was too small for that unknown existence. The cosmic monster and the past of the timepad, these secrets weren't something he could touch now.

These anxieties weren't something Alex could share with anyone. He only knew he should be down-to-earth. After losing the energy supply from the ruinous universe, Alex urgently needed a new universe as his energy source. And here, the wasteland universe under his feet, would be a good start.

This time, Alex didn't want to repeat the ruinous universe's mistakes. He needed an absolutely safe universe, one not on the brink of collapse at all times. To achieve this, there could only be one voice in such a universe.

"What should we do?" Kara blinked.

Hearing this, Alex calmly said.

"We need manpower."

...…..

20 advanced chapters on p@treaon
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157. Count Nefaria.
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159. "Like Before".