Marvel's Shendu: Dominating the Multiverse

Chapter 152 A Planet Without Threat

The Holy Lord stands in the center of the central square, surrounded by fourteen Eternals.

No one moved, not because they didn't want to, but because they couldn't.

Jinger was the first to give way; his knees buckled uncontrollably, but he forced himself to stay upright. He leaned against a broken cone-shaped projectile, his hands trembling, the veins on his forehead throbbing wildly.

What are you doing here?

The Holy Lord ignored him and looked towards the World Engine Core Room, several hundred meters away, separated by buildings and metal plates. "Not bad," the Holy Lord said calmly.

The Holy Lord turned his head and looked around at the Eternals in the square, pausing for two seconds longer except for Icarus.

"This is the second time," the Holy Lord said to Icarus.

Icarus stood there, the energy patterns on his armor completely darkened. He was now just an ordinary person wearing a set of dead armor. Of course, the word "ordinary person" was an insult to the Eternals, but even if he didn't want to admit it, that was indeed the case.

"The second time," Icarus replied, his tone surprisingly calm.

Wanda stood behind Shendu, red chaos magic swirling quietly at her fingertips. Her attention was evenly distributed, thirty percent on the Eternals around her and seventy percent on Shendu.

"Faustus," the Holy Lord called out a name.

A silence fell over the council chamber. Then Faustos's voice drifted out: "Present."

"Come out and talk."

Another silence fell. After about five seconds, Faustos emerged from the council chamber. His steps were steady; he didn't adopt a fighting stance, not because he didn't want to, but because there was no point. He walked to the plaza, stopping about seven or eight meters away from the Holy Lord.

"There is a logical flaw in your engine design," the Lord said.

Fastos paused for a moment. He had prepared many ways to start a conversation—threatening, negotiating, declaring war—but technical discussion was not on the list.

"—What vulnerability?"

"You didn't clean up the original code of the Celestials Group."

"That's not a vulnerability, that's the infrastructure." Phastos's professional instincts kicked in, and he spoke faster: "The World Engine's underlying energy framework is built on Celestial Group technology. I can't tear down the foundation and build a house from scratch, you're saying—"

He stopped.

Because he realized that what the Holy Lord said was indeed true. Leaving the original code of the Celestials at the bottom layer of the engine was not a design choice, but a legacy problem. He had always known that the problem existed, but he never thought that anyone could take advantage of it.

Before the Tiger Talisman, no one could use it.

"Yes." Faustos's shoulders slumped slightly. "It's a loophole."

"Can it be repaired?" the Holy Lord asked.

Faustos raised his head.

The implications of this question are complex. If God wanted to completely destroy the Eternals, he wouldn't need to ask this question. He has already proven that he can sever all energy connections with the Eternals at any time. Asking "Can it be repaired?" implies that he is considering allowing the Eternals to continue operating.

"Theoretically, it can be repaired," Fastos replied, carefully choosing his words, "but it requires time, resources, and also—"

'

"We need the Tiger Tally as a reference." The Holy Lord understood his meaning.

Fastos scratched his head awkwardly and stopped talking.

Jingge had been listening for a long time, and finally couldn't stand it anymore.

"Wait a minute." Jingle's voice was rough and harsh. "You barged in, crippled all of our abilities, and then wanted to discuss technical solutions with our engineers? What exactly are you trying to do?"

The Holy Lord glanced at him.

With just one glance, Jingle felt as if he had been nailed to the spot by something. It wasn't physical immobilization, nor was it mind control; it was purely a kind of pressure coming from an entity on a completely different level.

"I am talking," the Lord said.

Jingge paused for a moment, swallowed hard, and swallowed back what she wanted to say.

Cecilia stepped forward, her pace much slower than Faustos's, each step cautious, not out of fear, but because she was using her remaining senses to read the Lord's intentions.

She couldn't read it; the other party's level of existence was too high. Her perception was no different from that of a blind man touching an elephant in front of the Holy Lord.

"You say you're negotiating," Celcy said, choosing her words carefully. "Negotiation means both sides have leverage. You've proven you can make us lose all our power at any time, so what are our leverage?"

The Holy Lord did not answer immediately.

Wanda moved slightly behind, her gaze sweeping over Celsis to assess the female Eternal's power level: zero. Then she returned her gaze to the Holy Lord's back and continued to follow.

"Your bargaining chip is your survival." The Holy Lord said this in a very calm tone, as if stating a mathematical formula: "The Celestials created you, filled you with energy, and threw you onto different planets as tools. When a tool breaks, it's reset, and then used again. You know this."

The square was very quiet.

This is the history of the Eternal Tribe, which everyone knows, but few people say it so openly.

"I now hold the authority over the Celestials." The Holy Lord raised his right hand, the Tiger Talisman hovering above his palm, black runes slowly swirling within. "I can do anything the Celestials can do. Reset you, erase your memories, transform you into another batch of tools."

"But you didn't," Icarus said.

Everyone looked at Icarus.

Icarus stood still, his armor dark, his eyes devoid of the cosmic ray light, but his expression was more clear-headed than any other Eternal in the square.

"You used it on me once on Earth. That time you didn't erase my consciousness, you only temporarily disabled my abilities. If your purpose was destruction or enslavement, you wouldn't have done that; a complete reset would have been much cleaner." Icarus paused. "You are indeed talking."

The Holy Lord looked at Icarus, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

"You're a little smarter than last time."

"You should learn something from getting beaten up once," Icarus replied.

Makari made a nasal sound next to him, which could be considered as a comment on the statement.

"Conditions," Fastos brought the conversation back on track—he was the most pragmatic of everyone present: "What are your conditions?"

The Holy Lord retrieved the Tiger Talisman, which disappeared into his palm. At the same time, all the Eternals in the plaza simultaneously felt a change: their energy was restored. Not all of it, about thirty percent, but enough for them to regain their footing.

Jinger's finger twitched, and a small wisp of material transformation power flickered at his fingertip. He instinctively wanted to amplify it, but he restrained himself.

This action was noticed by the Holy Lord.

"Use it without worry," the Holy Lord said. "Full range is fine."

Jingle looked at the Holy Lord, gritted his teeth, and ultimately did not activate the ability. It wasn't because the Holy Lord had given permission that he was afraid to use it, but because he had finally realized one thing: whether he used it or not, the result was the same.

The other side didn't even consider their attack as something that needed to be defended against.