Chapter 326: Chapter 326: Doctor Doom’s Invitation
The green projection solidified at the center of the altar.
Rabum Alal’s figure emerged from the swirling vortex of distorted energy.
He made no move to attack.
Instead, he studied Levi with visible interest, his gaze peering through the narrow slits of his metal mask as though evaluating a fascinating specimen.
Clark and Wanda had already moved toward the cross, preparing to rescue the Molecule Man covered in tubes, but Levi raised a hand, signaling them to wait.
The air around the altar thickened.
An invisible will seemed to suppress the entire space.
Doctor Doom spoke slowly.
His voice was deep and carried unquestionable authority.
"You are more interesting than I anticipated."
"To reverse-infiltrate the Beyonders’ network and devour the memory fragments left behind by Yabbat... those capabilities already surpass ordinary multiversal entities."
He paused, and a trace of admiration entered his tone.
"You have seen the prototype of Battleworld."
"You should understand what I am doing."
"The death of all things is inevitable. The Beyonders’ cleansing protocol has already begun. Every universe will be formatted within six months."
"Rather than waiting helplessly for extinction, I have chosen to act first—to use the fragments of doomed universes and forge a new order."
Levi said nothing.
His golden-red and silver-white eyes remained fixed on the projection.
He could feel Doctor Doom probing him.
Every sentence was a carefully designed trap, an attempt to pull him into Doom’s way of thinking.
The Molecule Man hanging on the cross let out a weak groan.
The extraction machinery continued draining the Beyonder energy from his body.
His life was running out.
Chaos Magic flickered at Wanda’s fingertips, ready to act at any moment.
Still, Levi gave no signal.
"I know what you’re thinking," Doctor Doom continued, sounding almost sincere.
"You think I am slaughtering innocents."
"That I am playing the role of executioner."
"But you are wrong."
"I am saving them."
"The Molecule Men I executed purchased freedom for their universes."
"Their deaths severed those realities from the Beyonders’ surveillance network ahead of schedule."
"Yes, those universes collapsed."
"But at least they were not reduced to experimental data."
"As for the Molecule Men I have contained, their power will become the foundation of Battleworld."
"A new world capable of resisting the Beyonders."
He extended his hand toward Levi.
The projected palm condensed into something almost tangible.
"Join me."
"With your power, Battleworld can become even more perfect."
"When the death of all things arrives, together we can make the new world the sole refuge of the multiverse."
The altar shook.
With Yabbat dead and the extraction system destabilized, Universe-621 was collapsing faster and faster.
Clark looked toward Levi.
Wanda’s Chaos Magic had already spread around the cross.
At any moment she could sever the tubes.
Yet Levi remained motionless.
He stared at Doctor Doom’s projection.
A cold smile appeared at the corner of his lips.
For nearly three seconds, he simply stood there.
The energy burning within his dual-colored eyes grew increasingly intense.
Slowly, he raised his right hand.
A sphere of intertwined gold and silver energy condensed above his palm.
Countless runes covered its surface.
Each rune revolved according to one of the fourteen concepts and laws under his control.
"Saving them?"
Levi’s voice was terrifyingly calm.
"You call a throne built upon the corpses of countless universes salvation?"
"Those Molecule Men you executed—how many lives existed within each of their universes?"
"A single universe contains trillions of living beings."
"You’ve killed one hundred and thirty-seven Molecule Men."
"That means you exterminated every lifeform in one hundred and thirty-seven universes."
"How exactly did you arrive at the word salvation?"
The projection paused.
Then Doctor Doom laughed softly.
"You truly are different."
"Most heroes react to my proposal with anger. Condemnation. Moral judgment."
"But not you."
"You calculate."
"You weigh outcomes."
"You examine the logic beneath the choice."
He lowered his hand.
His tone grew more serious.
"Yes."
"One hundred and thirty-seven universes perished because of me."
"But do you know what happens if I do nothing?"
"The Beyonders will detonate every Molecule Man six months from now."
"One thousand three hundred and seventy-two universes will be erased in an instant."
"I sacrificed one hundred and thirty-seven to buy time for the remaining thousand."
"To give them a chance."
"It is the most rational choice."
"The only choice."
"The only choice?"
Levi let out a mocking laugh.
The energy sphere in his hand suddenly expanded, illuminating the entire altar.
"Since when has Doctor Doom needed excuses?"
"Let’s be honest."
"You simply want to get ahead of the apocalypse."
"You want to use the Molecule Men’s energy to build Battleworld and become its sole ruler."
"The universes you sacrificed were nothing more than stepping stones."
"Don’t try to sell me on rationality."
"You never wanted to save the multiverse."
"You wanted to control it."
Doctor Doom fell silent.
The green energy surrounding the projection fluctuated violently.
Even his emotional state was affecting its stability.
Clark’s super hearing picked up the sounds of space tearing apart in the distance.
Universe-621 was collapsing faster.
Time was running out.
Wanda’s Chaos Magic had already touched the first tube attached to the cross.
One word from Levi and she could begin.
"You are intelligent."
Doctor Doom finally spoke.
The admiration in his voice had vanished.
Only cold scrutiny remained.
"But intelligent people often make one mistake."
"They overestimate themselves."
"You think your current power is enough to oppose the Beyonders?"
"To save everything you wish to protect?"
He raised a hand.
With a casual gesture, an enormous holographic image appeared above the altar.
The entire multiverse was displayed before them.
Each point of light represented a universe.
Yet between them stretched countless blood-red fractures.
The cracks spread like a plague, devouring the structure of reality itself.
Levi instantly understood.
These fractures were not caused by the Beyonders directly.
They were side effects of the Molecule Man network.
Whenever a Molecule Man died, a crack appeared in the corresponding universe.
The crack then propagated through connected realities, eventually collapsing every linked universe.
Doctor Doom’s voice echoed throughout the chamber.
"Do you see?"
"This is the Beyonders’ true weapon."
"They designed the Molecule Men as living bombs."
"Not only to filter civilizations."
"But to create enough fractures before the cleansing begins."
"When the death of all things arrives six months from now, those fractures will become invasion corridors."
"At that point, no matter how powerful you are, you won’t save anyone."
Levi stared at the hologram.
The Source of Dominion activated instinctively, analyzing the cracks.
Soon he realized something troubling.
These fractures were not purely physical.
They represented conceptual corruption.
Each one rewrote the foundational rules of a universe, replacing order with chaos.
The process was irreversible.
Even the Source of Dominion could only treat the symptoms.
Not the cause.
"So your solution is to accelerate the process?"
Levi’s voice remained calm.
The energy sphere in his hand expanded outward.
Golden and silver light formed a ten-meter domain of laws above the altar.
"You create fractures by hunting Molecule Men."
"Then use the resulting fragments as construction materials for Battleworld."
"You’re clever."
"You turned the Beyonders’ weapon into your own foundation."
"But have you considered what happens when you kill the thousandth Molecule Man?"
"The multiverse itself will collapse."
"At that point, what foundation will Battleworld even have left?"
Doctor Doom did not answer.
Instead, he stepped forward.
The green energy surrounding him formed a colossal vortex.
At its center appeared a live image of Battleworld.
A world assembled from countless fragments of shattered universes.
Every piece retained traces of its original reality.
Yet all had been forcibly fused together.
Levi saw New York from Marvel.
Buildings from Gotham City.
Landscapes from worlds he didn’t even recognize.
The fragments resembled pieces of a puzzle forcibly glued together.
Stable—barely.
Along every seam leaked dark-red energy.
The scars left behind by dying universes.
"Battleworld is not sustained by the multiverse."
"It is sustained by my will."
Doctor Doom’s voice carried unmistakable fanaticism.
"As long as I live, Battleworld will never collapse."
"This world was built from the fragments of one hundred and thirty-seven universes and the energy cores of three hundred and twenty-one Molecule Men."
"It possesses enough power to survive the Beyonders’ cleansing."
"And you—"
"If you join me, Battleworld can become even greater."
"Perhaps it could even become the seed from which a new multiverse is born after the death of all things."
Levi listened.
The cold smile on his face deepened.
The energy sphere in his hand suddenly compressed.
From ten meters in diameter to the size of a fist.
Yet its pressure increased tenfold.
Golden-red and silver-white ripples spread through the air.
Every wave cracked the surrounding space.
"You’re right about one thing."
Levi’s voice turned icy.
"Battleworld really is perfect."
"So perfect it makes me sick."
"Three hundred and twenty-one Molecule Men."
"Which means three hundred and twenty-one universes reduced to fuel."
"And you call that the seed of a new multiverse?"
"To me, it looks more like a monument built from countless corpses."
His fist clenched.
The energy sphere exploded.
The Concept of Greed and the Source of Dominion erupted simultaneously.
Golden threads spread through the air.
Following the green energy of Doctor Doom’s projection backward.
Like parasitic organisms, they burrowed into the connection itself.
Doctor Doom’s expression changed for the first time.
He immediately realized what Levi was doing.
Levi wasn’t attacking the projection.
He was tracing the connection back to the original source.
"You’re insane!"
Doctor Doom growled.
Green energy surged violently, attempting to sever the golden threads.
But the Concept of Greed was a bottomless abyss.
Any energy that opposed it was instantly consumed and converted into even more threads.
"Insane?"
Levi laughed coldly.
"You destroyed more than three hundred universes."
"Funny how nobody called you insane."
"Now that I’m tracing the signal back to you, suddenly that’s too much?"
The golden threads pierced the final layer of defense.
They reached the energy core linking the projection to its creator.
Levi closed his eyes.
His consciousness surged forward.
He felt the location of Doctor Doom’s true body.
A colossal platform floating in the void.
Hundreds of transparent cells surrounded it.
Each imprisoned a Molecule Man.
At the center stood Doctor Doom himself.
Seated upon a throne of pure energy.
His hands gripped the armrests.
Fine beads of sweat covered his forehead.
Without hesitation, Levi called upon the Phoenix Source.
A psychic attack carrying both destruction and rebirth shot through the golden threads.
It became a blazing sword.
Piercing through the energy connection.
Driving straight toward Doctor Doom’s consciousness.
Doctor Doom grunted.
Cracks appeared in the metallic armrests of his throne.
He forcibly severed the connection.
The green projection at the altar shattered like a crushed bubble.
Yet before disappearing completely, he left behind one final sentence.
"You will regret this."
"When the death of all things arrives in six months..."
"You will realize that I was right."
The projection vanished.
The green energy faded with it.
But Levi immediately sensed that Doctor Doom had activated a contingency before retreating.
The Molecule Man on the cross suddenly erupted with blinding white light.
Every tube connected to the extraction system exploded.
Vast quantities of Beyonder energy burst from his body.
The surrounding space began to corrode and distort at an alarming rate.
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