300(A New Milestone). The Great Devourer Approaches.
300(A New Milestone). The Great Devourer Approaches.
Regarding the plans for the Wasteland universe, Alex had already made some mental calculations. For now, the only thing to be mindful of were those gang members and various terror groups.
These evil organizations inherited from the old days had numerous members, but most were just a rabble. They were manageable against ordinary people, but it was almost impossible for them to trouble Barton and the others.
Alex's concerns were merely about long-standing super-criminals like Doom or Conners. As long as they didn't make trouble, there wouldn't be any significant issues. However, what Alex hadn't anticipated was that the danger was not coming from Earth, but from beyond the stars.
"Peter Quill, is that the Peter Quill from the Guardians of the Galaxy?!"
Alex couldn't help but ask again. When he looked up, he found a grotesque monster had already approached him.
"I'm not in the mood to play with you right now." Coldly staring at the monstrosity made of flesh, Alex impatiently raised his hand.
Without any extra movements, the next moment, a surge of black mist erupted, transforming into a dark blue massive creature that swallowed the flesh monster whole. Then, a fierce wind kicked up. In this realm of souls, clouds of black mist surged forth from Alex's body, swirling around him and forming towering shadows.
The first to act was Sloth, a huge monster with dark blue skin and crimson eyes. Its enormous size and strength made the ground tremble with every move it made, causing the water to shake.
As the black demonic aura gradually thinned, the shadows behind Alex revealed their forms—six bizarrely shaped demons of different colors, representing the other six of the Seven Deadly Sins.
There was Greed with four arms, Lust with an extraordinarily long tongue, Wrath with wings sprouting from its back, Envy hidden in a dark green mist, Gluttony with a mouth that took up half its body, and the most powerful among them, Pride, stood beside Alex like a servant.
"Cough."
Clearing his throat softly, Alex pointed to his ear and spoke to Pride.
"I'll leave it to you. I need to take a call."
Upon hearing Alex's words, the hollow eyes of the Seven Deadly Sins suddenly showed a hint of clarity.
Without needing any commands, they lunged at the surrounding monsters. The Seven Deadly Sins charged in like wolves among sheep, easily overpowering the grotesque flesh monsters.
Although the minds of the Seven Deadly Sins had been thoroughly filtered, Alex, who controlled their powers, could still use necromancy to animate their bodies and create a physical form for them.
After all, these demons were originally born from the essence of sin, and it was only later that they developed their own physical forms.
It must be said that controlling them was much easier than manipulating the phantoms of the Justice League's seven titans. At least Alex didn't have to worry about these memories breaking free from his control. The current Seven Deadly Sins were equivalent to his avatars, retaining only the most basic thought patterns.
Turning his attention back, Alex didn't concern himself with the battle. With demons of the caliber of the Seven Deadly Sins, those fallen souls stitched together would pose no threat.
Instead, Alex called upon Ms. Minutes to establish a connection with Barton.
The connection between the two sides still relied on Alex's magical mark—the raven sigil—but for interdimensional communication, he still needed Ms. Minutes's powers to achieve it.
("Opening the signal channel. 1% power can maintain an hour of call time; please be aware, sir.")
"Don't worry, it won't take that long." A dark green ethereal glow emanated from Alex's body, and then Barton's voice, guided by Ms. Minutes, entered Alex's mental realm.
"Alex, something big has happened!"
As soon as the call connected, Barton's loud voice rang out, making Alex's mind buzz.
"Lower your voice! I can hear you just fine. Give me the details. What exactly is going on?"
Hawkeye Barton didn't keep him in suspense and immediately began to explain.
"This morning, one of my guys reported seeing an alien spacecraft landing at the edge of the Wasteland territory. Many people witnessed it, causing quite a stir. All factions felt there was profit to be made from the ship, so they swarmed over.
Someone even took a picture of the spacecraft. I thought it looked familiar, and it turned out to be the Guardians of the Galaxy's ship. And Star-Lord Peter Quill was on it. Alex, do you know who Star-Lord is? Should I tell you his story?"
"No need to elaborate; this call is expensive. If the Star-Lord you're talking about is the 'Half-Breed Prince' who has been maintaining the safety of the galaxy with his crew, then I know him well." Alex replied flatly.
"That's him! Sigh, his situation is dire, worse than ours. He claims to have seen his teammates and followed them to Earth to fight against Universal Church of Truth, but I can assure you, I didn't see anything. I suspect he might have lost his sanity."
Hawkeye's eyes had been restored by Alex, so he was still the sharpshooter who never missed. But seeing his old friend turn into a madman was hard for anyone to bear.
"Don't doubt it; he's definitely experiencing some mental issues." Alex said softly, frowning slightly.
Logically speaking, Peter Quill arriving on Earth should be at least ten years in the future. After all, there's a gap between 'Old Man Hawkeye' and 'Old Man Quill', with the intervening 'Old Man Logan' and the 'Wastelanders' side story.
In the meantime, if it weren't for Alex's intervention, Hawkeye would have gone to learn blind combat techniques from Matt Murdock, who had transformed into Stick, and Doctor Doom would have seized the Darkhold to prepare adequately for his future dominance over the Wasteland world.
After Hawkeye fell victim to Hydra's trap and the furious Wolverine Logan killed Red Skull, the entire world's structure would change. Soon, years of conflict and chaos would follow, culminating in Doctor Doom's emergence to quell the war and become the new leader, succeeding Red Skull.
Only then would Star-Lord come to Earth, and he wouldn't arrive safely. He would be shot down by Doom's satellite while approaching Earth's atmosphere.
Alex didn't understand why the storyline had changed so drastically.
Star-Lord's early arrival on Earth wasn't inherently a severe problem; after all, he had been a hero in the past and had greatly benefited Earth's development. But Alex knew that it wasn't just Star-Lord who had come to Earth; behind him was a group of church members following him.
"Where is Quill now?" Alex asked.
"I worked hard with Bishop to save him, but his ship wasn't so lucky. There were too many factions present, and our current combat power wasn't able to confront them head-on, so we prioritized rescuing Quill. He's currently in the Blood Nest."
Barton casually mentioned this, but Alex understood that this operation wasn't easy. Both Hawkeyes were getting on in years, and a careless mistake in fighting those gang members could cost them their lives.
After a pause, Barton suddenly remembered something and continued, "By the way, Quill said he came to warn us. Over forty years ago, a force suddenly emerged in the universe. They call themselves Universal Church of Truth and control various powerful beings, judging many planets in the name of divine selection. Now, their gaze will likely turn to Earth."
"Universal Church of Truth, huh?" Alex understood that if he wanted to control the Wasteland universe, he couldn't avoid this organization.
"Yes, we don't know when this organization was established. After all, you know, over forty years ago, Earth experienced 'that incident,' which severed the connection between Earth and the universe. For years, Earth has been in a state of self-isolation."
Barton sighed and then murmured, "Alex, do you have any impression of this Church?"
After pondering for a moment, Alex sighed deeply. He had no intention of hiding anything and spoke directly.
"I've heard of something similar. If I'm not mistaken, this Church should have been established by the Great Devourer, aimed at helping Him consume planetary energy. As you said, they will judge planets, and the purpose of this judgment is to allow the Great Devourer to descend and feast."
Before Alex finished speaking, a clattering sound came from the other end of the call, along with Kate Bishop's voice as she came over to support Barton and inquire about the details. It was clear how profound an impression the Great Devourer had left on this old Avenger.
"The Great Devourer!!"
Barton's voice trembled; an entity of that level was not something a mere planet like Earth could withstand. If the Avengers were still around, if Tony, Steve, and the others were still alive, if the X-Men and the Fantastic Four's heroes were still here, they might have a fighting chance.
But there were no "ifs" anymore.
The mightiest heroes on Earth had all fallen. At this moment, Earth had no one left to resist the Great Devourer. This realization nearly shattered the flickering flame of hope that had just ignited within Barton.
For him, he had just fought a victorious battle, rescuing the entire planet from Hydra and Red Skull's tyranny. Clearly, in a little while, things would only get better, and dawn was just around the corner.
"Alex! You can't abandon us! We absolutely must not let the Great Devourer descend on Earth, or everything we've done will be in vain!"
Old Barton's voice became hoarse as he shouted, his helplessness almost materializing.
"Don't worry. I will find a way to deal with this."
Alex said solemnly, his serious tone calming Barton's anxious heart a little.
"For now, don't worry about the Great Devourer. Focus on Quill's dissociative state. He cannot accept the fact that his comrades were killed by Universal Church of Truth, so his brain's protective mechanisms have generated the illusion that they are still by his side."
"Is that so?"
"Also, Universal Church of Truth has likely set its sights on Earth and may already be here. So, I need you to spread this message, alerting all factions in the Wasteland, especially Doctor Doom. It's imperative he knows about this."
"Von Doom?" Old Barton paused for a moment.
"Exactly."
Alex's eyes narrowed slightly.
"He is one of the smartest people on Earth. He knows what to do."
.....
📢30 advanced chapters on p@treaon📢
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301. Rescuing Nightwing.
302. A Warm Family - Raven and Trigon.
303. Facing Trigon.
304. Demon Contract and the Imbalance of Good and Evil.
305. The Plan.