Chapter 137 — Seventy Years of Marvel, Seas Turn to Mulberry Fields
When the Sorcerer Supreme, the Ancient One, and Wang Xu exchanged the Infinity Stones, she received an immediate alert from the Lord God.
[The Guide Wang Xu will set the flow of time in the Marvel plane running forward. Any reincarnators without a mission on hand are to return to the Lord God's space in time, or bear all consequences themselves.]
"Set the flow of time of an entire plane running forward?"
The Ancient One's pupils contracted slightly, her mind racing through a thousand turns.
Even with the Time Stone in her grasp, she could only manipulate the time of life and matter on a small scale.
She could not imagine what power and authority it would take to accelerate the passage of time across a whole cosmic plane.
The Sorcerer Supreme stared deeply at Wang Linchuan, then turned and vanished without a trace.
She had returned to the Lord God's space.
Being a Chinese-language teacher at the reincarnation transit station did not earn many reward points, but it was far more comfortable than being shown up by Wang Xu in this plane.
Wang Xu held the Space Stone in his left hand and clutched the Time Stone in his right, his eyes half-closed, his mind sunk deep within.
The Kaguya Sword hanging at his chest like an ornament floated up, radiating an aura of chaos.
The three resonated from afar, forming a stable channel of energy communication.
……
Meanwhile, at the think tank headquarters of the God of Justice, a group of white-coats whose hairlines sat above the normal standard were locked in fierce debate.
"The happiness index has dropped noticeably of late, and we've even found residents inciting others to resist the God of Justice's lawful rule."
"Hmph. Biting the hand that feeds them, the lot of them. Drive them out of the new world, send them back to the surface—then they'll learn how good life is here!"
"They haven't broken any law. We have no right to do that."
"What if some fool gets stirred up by them? Then what?"
After shoving a few vitamin B tablets into his mouth, Ai Chengyu Lensherr of the think tank raised his hand and spoke: "This is an illness. It must be treated with medicine."
At these words, every gaze in the room snapped to him at once, as though anticipating some profound insight.
After months of hard study, what Ai Chengyu had learned was far more than just a foreign language.
"Methamphetamine. Diacetylmorphine."
Ai Chengyu wore the expression of one who held wisdom in his palm: "Residents of inferior intelligence, easy to incite, and residents with ill intentions who always dream of lording it over others—they are all sick. They need these two kinds of medicine."
"The first kind elevates the user's mood, creating the illusion of heightened clarity and omnipotence. It also lifts the spirits, quickens the mind, raises the emotions, and sharpens concentration."
Ai Chengyu was like a missionary, his tongue blooming with lotuses: "For a time after taking the medicine, they won't even feel fatigue or hunger."
"The second is much simpler. It brings pure joy and happiness. Want to be a ruler? Want to stand above others?"
"Just have the doctors give them a shot. In dreams, they can have everything."
Hiss……
The think tank gasped as one.
Using chemical drugs to twist the mind directly…
This was treating those people as less than human!
Yet everyone present felt a stir of temptation at the proposal.
"I object! The side effects of these two drugs are far too severe—a gross violation of human rights!"
A bespectacled, bearded man rose to his feet, protesting with open displeasure: "They cause mental derangement and severe addiction. Stop the medication and the user suffers unbearably, never again able to feel 'joy.' You could call it a living death."
"Dr. Pym, you're talking about a different subject."
Ai Chengyu's brows knitted tight. He fixed his stare on this unreasonable troublemaker, his tone unfriendly: "Let's put it to a vote."
At the far end of the long table, Howard Stark sat with one leg crossed over the other and declared his stance with casual swagger: "Personally, I think the new kid's got a good idea. We're not discussing a Scumbag Protection Act here."
"Dr. Pym, everyone knows your dark history. Relax—so long as you don't slip up again, no one's going to grab you by the tail."
One against many, Dr. Hank Pym's protest was overruled, and Ai Chengyu's proposal was submitted to the super artificial intelligence, the God of Justice.
Zero point five nanoseconds later, the God of Justice responded to the proposal.
"Approved."
……
The blue and green Infinity Stones revolved around Wang Xu.
Slowly, he opened his eyes.
With that motion, the two stones, as though subjected to a force beyond bearing, shattered in an instant into fine dust.
Wang Xu had shattered the Time Stone and the Space Stone, using them to set the flow of time in the Marvel universe running forward, while also using them to comprehend the laws.
Time……
Froze.
Everything in the entire Marvel plane ceased to move.
In that moment, the Wang Huai'an will became linked with the whole Marvel universe.
Endless power, endless joy, endless philosophical contemplation……
It was the feeling of omniscience and omnipotence.
Wang Zhiwei said it was, in fact, an illusion.
Time travelers occasionally become temporarily assimilated with the will of a plane.
The phenomenon has an official scholarly name: "cosmic apotheosis."
Its high comes fast and leaves faster.
The Wang Huai'an will withstood the erosion of that inexplicable joy.
"Domain—Time Flows Forward!"
The entire Marvel plane changed according to his will.
Time raced on……
A seed planted less than a day ago became a towering tree in the blink of an eye.
Brand-new alloy weapons were covered in rust in an instant.
A young man full of ambition swiftly became a feeble old man, stooped and gaunt.
Technology advanced, and God Eaters sprang up like bamboo shoots after rain.
The Aragami, once called the "root of the apocalypse," gradually lost their menace; they were caged and became show animals in amusement parks.
Humanity emerged from underground and rebuilt the surface world.
It was as though a cycle had come around.
Wang Xu watched the passage of time.
Seventy years—by his biological clock, only a few dozen seconds had passed.
No description of time manipulation can ever be perfectly, logically self-consistent.
But subjective feeling and objective reality were both indisputably true.
At the cost of shattering two great Infinity Stones, and with the support of his two sub-classes, [Timeline Observer] and [Plane Traveler], Wang Xu set the flow of time in the Marvel universe running forward seventy years.
The harvest was rich.
Most important was his comprehension of the [Law of Time] and the [Law of Space].
Like two plane-tao talismans glowing with a faint dark light, they appeared within Wang Huai'an's soul.
"Auxiliary program, comprehensively analyze the situation of Phase One of the Marvel strategy."
Wang Xu received a response swiftly.
"Lower-order Law of Time and Law of Space. Additionally, the current resource point balance is ."
"Your current combat level is sufficient to kill an upper-tier god of mighty divine power."
One million one hundred fifty thousand resource points—considerably more than Wang Xu had expected.
As for the auxiliary program's assessment of his power level, Wang Xu merely took it as entertainment and did not truly take it to heart.
An upper-tier god—was that strong?
It depended on the frame of reference.
Now was not yet the time for swelling with conceit.
Seventy years of Marvel, seas turn to mulberry fields.
The heroes of the old era aged one by one, while the heroes of the new era were in their prime.