Alien invasion? Luckily, I'm Superman.

Su Mo roughly threw the members of the Guardians of the Galaxy into the spaceship's cabin.

Star-Lord and the others were piled up like puddles of mud, their limbs intertwined. Rocket Raccoon's tail was pinned down by Groot's branch, and he let out a series of indistinct curses.

Gamora's arm pressed down on Star-Lord's face, and Star-Lord's leg draped over Drax's stomach, forming a crooked human tower.

Su Mo stood at the hatch, glanced speechlessly at the group of "idiots," and turned to walk towards the control panel.

His fingers tapped rapidly on the control panel, and after the encrypted channel was connected, he sent a concise message: "Mission complete."

The receiving end was labeled with the Avengers' communication code and the Justice League's signal frequency band, respectively. Two messages were sent simultaneously.

After dealing with matters on Earth, Su Mo thought of the mission that Yongheng had given him.

He brought up the star map, and the collector's location was in a star field he had never set foot in before, slowly flashing.

He has explored almost all the resources of this universe.

He'd fought all the powerful opponents he could defeat and taken advantage of most of the resources available, so there was nothing left to significantly boost his strength.

As the spaceship traced a pale blue arc in the warp drive and returned to the Dark World's atmosphere, he simply abandoned Star-Lord and the dilapidated Milano at the Sky Eye Society's dock without landing.

The dock staff stared at the group of people who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and it took them several seconds to react and go to catch them.

The next stop is the Land of Nothingness.

As the spaceship hovered in front of the enormous Celestial head, Su Mo looked through the porthole for a long time.

The head was larger than a planet, with deep-set eyes, and its dark golden bones gleamed with an ancient and silent luster under the starlight, like an abandoned statue. Legend has it that it was slain by an unknown powerful being, and Su Mo guessed it might be Nar.

He flew out of the hatch, through the rugged archway beneath the skull, and down the corridor into the heart of the land.

The walls on both sides of the corridor are inlaid with various luminous minerals, and the light is dim and hazy, like walking into an underground mine.

The collector's hall is filled with transparent display cases, and amber lights hang from the ceiling, making each piece of the collection seem to glow.

Among rows of collectible jars and display shelves, Su Mo found the collector himself.

He was bending over, carefully wiping an amber-colored crystal with a velvet cloth, his movements as gentle as if he were caressing a lover's cheek. Only when he heard footsteps did he slowly raise his head.

In this universe, the Collector and the Grandmaster are brothers, unlike in the comics where they belong to the Council of Elders.

But their status and quirks are similar; they're both people who've lived too long and are so bored that they can only pass the time by collecting things.

"Hello, collector." Su Mo stood in front of him, getting straight to the point without any pleasantries. "I'm here to make a deal with you."

The collector put down the amber in his hand and looked him up and down. Two red-skinned maids stood on either side of the collector behind him, their fingers interlaced in front of them, expressionless, like two dolls.

"Do you have any rare collectibles? If so, I'll offer you a price you're happy with." The collector's voice carried a affected elegance, like reciting lines on stage, with each word trailing off.

Before Su Mo could speak, the collector's eyes suddenly lit up, as if he recognized him.

He spread his arms wide and bowed dramatically, his sequined robe glittering under the lights: "Oh, it's the messenger of Galactus, the 'Superman' who defeated Dormammu! Your presence is an honor to our humble establishment."

Su Mo waved his hand and nodded slightly in return: "No need to be so polite, I also have great respect for the Elder of the Universe."

The collector straightened up, his enthusiasm as if he had seen a long-lost relative. He stepped aside and waved, "Please sit down."

Then he turned to the red-skinned maid beside him and ordered, "Go and prepare a feast for my distinguished guest."

"No need for that." Su Mo shook his head, his tone decisive, indicating that the collector didn't need to be so polite. "I'm here to make a transaction, there's no need to be so deliberate."

The collector smiled and did not insist, but the maid still silently retreated.

Su Mo's gaze passed over the collectors and landed on the display cases. The collection was astonishing, including not only various ores and weapons, but also a large number of plants and animals, all enclosed in large crystal cabinets.

The cabinets are made of transparent material, somewhat like thick glass cups. Each cabinet has a label with its number and origin written in a universal language.

Su Mo saw creatures from various planets. Earth had a particularly large number of rare species. He even saw a giant panda munching on bamboo in a cabinet. It was round and chubby, with small eyes and an endearing, clumsy appearance. The way it held the bamboo with its two paws was quite cute. It seemed that a collector was using it to present to Buddha.

The collector followed his gaze, a smug smile playing on his lips: "I really love this adorable creature from Earth. If you like it, I can reluctantly part with it."

Su Mo shook his head, declining his offer. He had no intention of trading a panda with a collector; if he really wanted one, there were plenty on Earth.

To be honest, the collector's appearance was more eye-catching than his collection. He wore dark lipstick and nail polish, and heavy eyeshadow, looking like he had just stepped out of some colorful alien carnival.

Su Mo recalled some Thai photos she had seen online in her previous life, and they subtly matched up.

He looked away and continued walking forward.

In the next display case was an alien. The black monster was curled up in the corner. When it sensed someone approaching, it pounced on the glass, hissing and sticking out a long tongue, making the glass case bang loudly.

Su Mo felt a chill run down his spine and shivered. The image of being tricked into watching a horror movie by a relative when he was a child flashed through his mind. That had left him with a psychological trauma, especially Resident Evil. Su Mo had even thought about what he would do if a zombie crisis really broke out.

The collector keenly sensed his discomfort and immediately pressed a button. The transmission mechanism at the bottom of the display case activated, and the alien creature, along with the case, was moved away cleanly and efficiently.

Su shook her head and continued reading.

Then he saw that blue.

In an inconspicuous corner, there was an incomplete square of transparent material.

It was about the size of a fist, with many tiny cracks on its surface, like a fragment of a Rubik's Cube. Blue light shone through the cracks, soft and beautiful.

Su Mo's heart skipped a beat.

If he's not mistaken, it should be the Cosmic Cube.

It is not the outer shell of the Space Stone, but a cosmic modifier created by the Beyonders that can alter reality.

It is both a supercomputer and a super battery, with its core function being to modify reality and concepts. This modification is "scientific," with almost no intuitive cost, at most triggering a butterfly effect.

It can control elements, manipulate spacetime, modify logic, and even erase existence. It could even transform the Marvel Universe into a fantasy world.

The Beyonders created the Cosmic Cube to explore worlds beyond the Marvel Universe. But judging from the comics, they probably didn't succeed.

The Cosmic Cubes possess self-awareness and can evolve independent personalities, even specific forms. Known individuals in the comics include the Skrull "World Plastic Sculptor" and Earth's "Kobik," roughly equivalent to minor Beyonders, and they continue to grow, surpassing ordinary Beyonders is not a problem.

This fragment was simply placed haphazardly in a corner, without even a separate display case, next to a few ordinary luminous crystals. Clearly, the collector didn't know what it was.

Su Mo shifted his gaze away from the Cosmic Cube so slightly it was almost imperceptible.

He continued walking, pretending to admire the other collections, passing rows of scientific specimens and several sleeping alien creatures, while his mind raced with thoughts.

You can't steal it.

If you show a strong desire for this fragment, the collector will definitely become suspicious.

Putting aside the fact that the collector is cursed by the goddess of death and will live forever, even if they manage to steal it, they'll never have peace again and it will also bring trouble to Earth. The Sky Eye Society has already begun to establish itself in the universe; it can't afford to narrow its path because of a single fragment.

Even if the Collector and the Grandmaster's forces are eventually wiped out, it would still be too much of a loss; not making a profit is a loss.

He stopped and turned around, his tone casual: "Collector, do you have technology that allows for inter-universe teleportation? Or similar collectibles? I can trade something for you."

The collector's wrinkled blue skin creased with resistance, and his voice carried a hint of displeasure, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on: "My collection is never sold to the public."

"That means I have it." Su Mo understood, gave a cold laugh, and took out several items from her pocket, placing them on the table: "Don't worry, I have plenty of things you've never seen before."

Before coming to the collector's place, he had already taken a lot of stuff from DC's Earth that didn't exist in the Marvel Universe.

Kryptonite, N-metal, and strange flowers from the swamp monster.

They are all things that don't exist in the Marvel Universe, or rather, they are all super collectibles that collectors have never seen before.

The function and value of these props are not important. The collector's goal is to collect; he only needs things he has never seen before, even if they are junk.

He collects these things to bring some joy to eternal life and to give himself the motivation to live.

He wouldn't study the junk he got; he'd just lock it in the underground warehouse. He'd only look at particularly rare collectibles, like the piece of amber he was constantly polishing.

Su Mo took out a few items from her storage space and casually placed them on the table.

Kryptonite glowed green, N-metal shimmered with a silvery-white luster, its density unbelievably light, and the swamp monster's flower was still slowly wriggling, with glowing slime dripping from the edges of its petals.

The collector's eyes were glued to him. He rubbed his hands together and leaned forward, his voice trembling with excitement, unable to maintain his feigned elegance: "Can I take a closer look at these treasures? My goodness, so many novel things!"

Su Mo nodded, generously taking a step back to make room: "Now, may I choose the useful collectibles to take with me?"

"Take whatever you like." The collector didn't even look up, already holding the kryptonite in his hand, squinting at it under the light, muttering to himself, "Two for one, no more."

Su Mo didn't haggle. He led the collector's two red-skinned maids and began to browse through the vast collection. The maids followed quietly behind him, only stepping forward to open the display case when he said "this."

He found Kang the Conqueror's arm armor, which could instantly generate blue intercosmic portals with no cooldown.

He found the Time Assimilation Device, a portable device the size of a palm, which can forcibly assimilate the time flows of different universes, opening a stable channel and preventing the chaotic situation where today is a year past and tomorrow is a hundred years past.

He also got the fragment of the Cosmic Cube, which lay quietly among a pile of ore, even covered with a thin layer of dust.

Su Mo mentally scoffed: "Was Kang robbed by collectors? How come he has so many of Kang's high-tech items? I bet that Cosmic Cube fragment was also looted by the Conquerors."

He returned to the collector with the items he had selected.

The collector was still engrossed in the novel items, not even lifting his eyelids, turning the swamp flower over and over in his hand, making sounds of admiration.

Su Mo took out three more "junk" items from different universes from her storage space and placed them on the table.

The collector waved his hand, indicating that he could leave, his gaze never leaving the strange, glowing flower.

Su Mo didn't stand on ceremony, put away her collection, and turned to leave. Behind her came the collector's admiring voice as he examined the swamp flowers under the light, and his voice instructing the maid to "get a new display case."

He was satisfied with the deal. Although Eternity gave him the token, he didn't tell him about the passage to other universes.

Using magic requires paying a price to the demon god; each time it's activated, something has to be sacrificed, which is not cost-effective at all, and in the long run, it's an even bigger loss.

Currently, neither Earth possesses a super scientist capable of freely traversing different universes. Tony and his team want to research this, but he hasn't figured it out yet. The Conqueror's gadgets conveniently fill this gap.

Su Mo passed through the skull archway of the Celestial Race's head and flew back to the spaceship. After placing the newly acquired collectibles into the storage compartment...

Just as Su Mo was preparing to start the spaceship and leave the void, a figure suddenly appeared in front of the transparent porthole of the cockpit.

The man hovered in mid-air, dressed in a brightly colored suit, his gray hair slicked back and shiny, a crazy smile on his lips, his arms outstretched in an exaggerated pose.

Gao Tianzun, the collector's brother.

Su Mo had no idea what he was up to. After hesitating for a moment, he pushed open the hatch and flew out, hovering in front of the Celestial Venerable.

"You made me lose so badly." The Grandmaster shook his head, his tone carrying an emotion that was hard to tell whether he was being genuine or not. "I made a bet with my brother that you wouldn't be able to produce any decent collectibles, and that you would be able to force him to hand over what you wanted, just like Thanos did."

He spoke pitifully, like an unlucky guy who'd been tricked by a friend. But Su Mo wasn't fooled by his act. If Gao Tianzun could beat him, he would have already made his move and won; he wouldn't be putting on this smiling, amiable act.

Su Mo was getting annoyed. He didn't have time to play guessing games with this old thing who had lived before the universe was born.

"Let's make a bet," Su Mo said calmly. "I'll bet on whether I can completely kill you today."

The Celestial Venerable chuckled: "You're quite humorous, you know how to joke."

Before he could finish speaking, Su Mo's hand was already gripping his throat, lifting him into the air. The Celestial Venerable uttered a mocking voice: "The curse of the Goddess of Death makes me immortal! You can't kill me!"

Su Mo didn't let go: "What if I take you to other universes? Like places where even the Goddess of Death can't reach? Or universes where the Goddess of Death has already been killed?"

The Celestial Venerable's pupils suddenly contracted.

"I was wrong." His voice softened, no longer arrogant. "Please let me go. I just made another bet with the collector, I bet..."

Su Mo didn't let him finish speaking.

He thought of his grandmother's sons. He thought of how they gambled away their entire fortune, then abandoned the old woman and disappeared without a trace. He thought of the day his grandmother passed away.

Click.

The Celestial Venerable's neck was broken, and his head was tilted to one side at an abnormal angle.

Su Mo released his grip, and the body fell, crashing to the ground with a thud, raising a small cloud of dust.

Su Mo turned and flew back to the spaceship without looking back. He piloted the spaceship smoothly into the air, passed through the archway of the Celestial Race's head, and disappeared into the depths of space.

In the void, the Grandmaster's body lay motionless on the ground. After about half a minute, his neck made a soft crack, and his tilted head slowly turned back on its own.

He got up from the ground, brushed the dust off his sequined robe, and the smile returned to his face.

The collector emerged from the shadows, stood before him, and shook his head.

"I told you, he wouldn't really kill me." The Grandmaster smiled at his brother. "I won my bet."

The collector didn't reply. He silently handed the bet to the Grandmaster, then turned and left.

The Grandmaster stood there, toying with the little thing he had won. He didn't need it at all; he was just getting more and more bored and had even begun to yearn for real death.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

On the other hand, Su Mo left the void and took out Conqueror Kang's arm armor, putting it on his right forearm.

Pudding held the white metal, and the miniature display screen on the inside of the arm armor lit up, listing the stored inter-universe coordinates.

He randomly selected one and activated the teleportation device.

The teleportation gun on the arm armor started working, the sound growing louder and louder until it emitted a deep hum.

A blue intercosmic portal opened before him. The Conqueror Kang's technology was indeed advanced; the teleportation process was almost flawless, and the ship passed through the portal without even the slightest jolt, smoother than the ship's own warp drive.

The portal closed behind him. Su Mo simply appeared in another universe.

The location seems to be Earth in this universe. The reason I say "seems" is because the planet in front of us does indeed have blue oceans and green land similar to Earth.

But looking down through the atmosphere, there are no lights on the continent; the entire planet is deathly silent.

Su Mo frowned, activated the spaceship's cloaking system, and flew slowly close to the edge of the atmosphere. Lines of data appeared on the scanning panel. After carefully examining them, Su Mo immediately understood why.

It's a zombie virus. A quantum virus from another dimension has swept across Earth, and those infected lose their minds within hours, turning into monsters that only know how to devour flesh.

The Avengers were not spared either; news reports from before the disaster hit Earth showed images of Avengers dying.

The spaceship's scanning system beeped. On the vast plains of Canada, the scanner detected a gigantic, motionless figure—Thanos.

He knelt on one knee in a deep, cracked pit, his skin ashen, his eyes sunken, and dried black blood still lingering in his mouth.

On his right hand, the Infinity Gauntlet was still there, its six Infinity Stones embedded in it, emitting a dazzling light. Thanos had also been infected. Even the Infinity Gauntlet couldn't save him.

Su Mo switched the spaceship to autopilot, allowing the scanning system to continue searching for survivors. He leaned back in his seat, staring at the gray planet outside the window, his mind replaying memories from his past life.

"What If," Marvel's animated universe.

The rating in the previous life was exceptionally low, the combat power was bizarre and unpredictable, and everyone's intelligence was forcibly reduced for the sake of the plot. The only pity was Wasp and Spider-Man, who were killed by their idiotic teammates.

Su Mo withdrew his gaze and stopped looking. He had wanted to complain about this in his previous life: with all six Infinity Stones in hand, how could Thanos possibly be infected? Zombies couldn't even break through Thanos's defenses.

A moment later, another signal from the scanning system caught his attention—a hidden signal, concealed deep underground, indicating that surviving superheroes were searching for survivors.

He retrieved the coordinates for that direction, pushed the control stick, and the spaceship silently turned and flew towards the signal source.