Thor knew there were only two options now: either hit them hard enough to force a retreat, or drag it out like a tug-of-war to see who loses steam first.
"Thor." A childish voice sounded in Thor's ear. He turned his head to see Reed's son, Franklin.
"What's up?" he asked.
"My dad and I built a machine that can open a portal to the Antimatter Universe. As long as we release the Destroying Worms from there, both sides can offset each other in numbers, saving us some effort."
"Why is he still fixated on the Antimatter Universe?!" Thor couldn't help but say.
"But this is the best solution right now," Franklin said, "Even if the human race's strength is infinite, our energy is finite. Aunt Wanda is pregnant, and we can't have her overexerting herself."
Thor thought about it and felt Franklin made a good point. It's not entirely because Wanda is pregnant, but mainly because humans, unlike mechanical life, suffer from mental fatigue. It's manageable for an hour or two, but any longer, and there's a risk of distraction; even longer, and fatigue becomes unavoidable.
Those two empires probably have the same idea: use cannon fodder to exhaust the human race's energy, then make a decisive breakthrough when humans get distracted and cause significant damage.
To prevent this, rotations are necessary. But some roles are irreplaceable, like the Scarlet Witch. Currently, only a few Scarlet Witches are left, and some of the younger ones aren't as strong as Wanda from the Central Universe. They can't eliminate cannon fodder as quickly as she can. Once Wanda gets tired, they would immediately be overwhelmed by the mechanical army.
"Does your machine really work?" Thor asked, feeling it was redundant to ask but couldn't help it.
"Don't worry. Of course, I know my dad! If you ask him to open a standard escape route, he might fling you who knows where; but if you ask him to open an attack channel with countless terrifying bugs behind it, he'll guarantee you end up in the buggiest place."
"Are you proud of that?" Thor was a bit speechless.
"Definitely! Because it's not luck, it's calculated. How else could it be so accurate? Our Richards family has top-notch scientific research capabilities!"
Thor waved and said, "Do as you see fit. But once the battle is over, you'll be responsible for putting the bugs back."
"No problem. We're building a Multiverse travel device that requires lots of Antimatter Energy. We can just shove them all into the batteries. We might even sell it to other universes."
After Franklin finished speaking, he vanished. Not long after, on the front line near the two empires, a purple sphere appeared. It was about the size of the moon and kept expanding, releasing an alarming amount of energy.
The mechanical soldiers nearby clearly hesitated but not because of the energy interference. Their command center was briefly puzzled because they couldn't understand what it was.
Reed and his son always took unconventional paths; the technology they developed didn't seem to follow any particular technology tree but more like it was conjured out of thin air. If you had to describe it, it's like Batman and Iron Man gave birth to a Joker—wisdom and inspiration producing an absurdity.
The Supreme Wisdom scoured the technical database but couldn't figure out what that thing was. He sent some probe robots to detect the Antimatter Energy leaking, but since they didn't know what the Antimatter Universe was, he had no way to stop the machine from working.
So, when the sphere suddenly cracked open, revealing a pitch-black gap from which an exceptionally ugly giant worm emerged, the Supreme Wisdom was stunned.
Mechanical life seems to lack aesthetics, but the existence of logical organisms naturally possesses a kind of orderly beauty; on the other hand, intelligent life is different because reproduction highlights the randomness of genetic combinations as if today's completion won't exist tomorrow.
The Demonic types those outsider humans came up with were already widely recognized as ugly, but this took it to a new level. Where did these disgusting bugs come from?!
The Destroying Worms looked shockingly grotesque. The moment they appeared, you instantly knew they were here to obliterate the universe—any creature even slightly good-hearted couldn't possibly look like this!
While mechanical life was filled with disdain, the Destroying Worms were equally bewildered. Though they had planned an invasion of the universe, it was only a plan not yet executed. Most of the Insect Race were still asleep, and suddenly, a giant vacuum cleaner dropped out of the sky, sucking all their kin into this unfamiliar universe.
Indeed, the machine Reed and his son created didn't just open a portal; it constructed a bridging siphon effect between this universe and the Antimatter Universe. The Destroying Worms from the Antimatter Universe were continuously being sucked over; they couldn't stay away even if they wanted to.
The suction of this machine mainly comes from the mass difference between the two universes. The greater the difference, the stronger the suction. Don't even mention the ordinary Destroying Worms; even those major generals under the Annihilator, wearing pajamas and nightcaps, were tossed onto the battlefield, bleary-eyed.
Thor wasn't worried at all that they would turn against Asgard and the Human race. The main reason was that the two empires had dispatched too many troops.
Let's put it this way: if the two empires keep transporting troops like this, dark matter might no longer be the main material of the universe. Instead, the universe's highest content will be the soldiers of the two empires.
Asgard and the Human race, such a small number of people, couldn't even be considered rare gases; they might be seen as a molecule in the universe because of their relatively high strength.
The entire space was surrounded by robots on all sides. Even if they attacked indiscriminately, from a probabilistic point of view, it was almost impossible to hit the Asgardians and the Human race.
And indeed, as soon as the Destroying Worms landed, all they saw was an innumerable mechanical army. These bugs were no pushovers, and sooner or later, they were going to invade the universe; might as well be today!
Meanwhile, the same kind of purple spheres that had previously appeared kept appearing on the field. These were actually the teleportation passages created by the Richards father and son, continuously spewing out insects.
Thor couldn't help but click his tongue: Batman had calculated for a long time and went around the ends of the earth, only to open a breach on the Nine Major Kingdoms; while within just half a minute, the Richards father and son had cut through dimensions over two hundred times. If anything, professional matters should be left to professionals. What super strength, super wisdom, none of these compared to a super universe destruction engine.
The entry of the Destroying Worms did alleviate the pressure on the human side to eliminate cannon fodder. Though the bugs' group attack power wasn't very strong, their numbers were huge. The Annihilation Wave that invades the universe is known for its numbers, and in comics, this force once slaughtered a million worlds in one day, triggering the Great Annihilation Event. They were the original masters of the human wave tactic.
The two forces, both renowned for their sheer numbers, clashed continuously, devouring each other, yet seemingly without end, with neither side suffering visible losses. It seemed like these tiny individuals were devouring each other, but it was more akin to an eternal natural mighty power.
Of course, Humans and Asgardians were busy taking sides. Since the Richards father and son claimed to have a way to deal with the Destroying Worms, they naturally pressed on the two empires. However, this time they stopped focusing on the cannon fodder and began targeting more valuable objectives like star ships and turrets.
Don't underestimate these group attackers; their single-target capabilities were also strong. Indeed, humans were more adept at the assassin style, teleporting face-to-face, stabbing, and then quickly retreating. In terms of mobility, they were unparalleled.
Coincidentally, Asgard shared a similar combat style, summoning the Rainbow Bridge to strike and then run, without entangling too much with the target. Without the pressure of a massive army at the gates, their tactical deployment became flexible again.
Before this, to deal with being outnumbered, humans couldn't help but focus their efforts on command; but with the inclusion of bugs, their numbers became equal, so no complex tactics were needed. They just charged forward. The Human race no longer needed to hold the front lines, and therefore, no commanding was necessary. They hit whatever they could, freeing up the commanders too.
Thor, who had been closely watching the situation, finally breathed a sigh of relief and could unleash his combat prowess. Locked in half a day, he was itching for action; if he hadn't remembered himself as Asgard's Divine King, he would have rushed to the front lines already.
Thor raised his long spear, and the Thors gathered under his banner. Despite significant sacrifices earlier, they had brought plenty of strength, remaining an unignorable force. In addition, the Frost Giants of this universe were fighting under the leadership of the blue-skinned Frost Giant Loki, who came from the universe.
Compared to the more fragile-looking central universe Loki, this Frost Giant-formed Loki was evidently more welcomed among the Frost Giants, at least because they shared similar body sizes, preventing any accidental deadly trampling.
Thor, leading the Thors, targeted a highly valuable target: the nest hiding behind endless mechanical armies.
Logically, destroying this nest should have been their priority, but its troop-producing capability was so strong that they were overwhelmed by endless mechanical armies before they even got close. Besides, it was protected by every Shield they could put on, even specializing against Divine Power, making remote solutions nearly impossible; they had to push forward and give it a jab.
Thor summoned the Rainbow Bridge. With a flash, he appeared above the massive nest and thrust down with his spear. The Shield of the nest flickered but was not broken through in one hit, showing its hardness.
Yet Thor was not discouraged at all. Together with the Thors behind him, they concentrated an extremely powerful super thunderbolt. As the thunderbolt struck with a destructive aura, the nest exploded in response.
At the moment the nest blew up, a vacuum area formed here. But this was just one of them; there were over ten thousand such nests, otherwise, they couldn't have produced so many troops.
However, since one could be destroyed, the rest wouldn't be a problem, just a matter of time. Besides, they weren't the only team doing this. Iron Demon Stark had apparently targeted the nests as well.
After Thor's team blew up the first nest, Stark's side also destroyed one, followed by a second. This time, however, he didn't choose to smash the nest directly but used a giant phantom to grab one, intending to take it back for research.