Malrick felt the process of transmigration was surprisingly brief.
In the blink of an eye, he found himself in an entirely different world.
There wasn't even the familiar sensation of passing through a dimensional veil.
"That's... odd. Hey, hey, hey! Stay back!"
The moment Malrick opened his eyes, he was met with the horrifying sight of a man stumbling toward him, waving a worn-out copy of Harry Potter.
The man's body was rotting, half his face stripped of flesh, revealing bare bone, while the other half was shriveled and decayed.
A zombie.
Without hesitation, Malrick held his breath and activated his super hearing. In seconds, he understood where he was.
Then, he unleashed his Freezing Breath.
In an instant, the city around him transformed into a frozen wasteland, sealed beneath layers of ice.
Soaring upward, he shot out of Earth's atmosphere in a flash, reaching outer space.
But he didn't stop there.
He willed the Original Nucleus within him to separate from his body. His soul followed, drifting with it in the void.
"This is the zombie universe from the What If...? series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe!?" Malrick's soul exclaimed, stunned.
Only now did he get a moment to breathe, his thoughts racing in disbelief.
During that short encounter, he'd heard voices—familiar ones.
Spider-Man, Winter Soldier, Bruce Banner... all discussing their escape plan: leaving New York to reach New Jersey and find equipment to treat the virus.
That confirmed it. This was indeed the What If...? zombie universe.
What clued him in even more was the presence of Harry Potter.
He remembered watching the series, where Ant-Man had once jokingly cast "Wingardium Leviosa," the levitation spell from Harry Potter.
That meant this world had both Marvel superheroes and the Harry Potter franchise.
"What are the odds..." Malrick muttered as he floated above the Earth.
He recalled the quantum virus that plagued this world, capable of infecting even Thanos with multiple Infinity Stones. It wasn't something he could risk underestimating.
According to Spider-Man's explanation, the virus spread via saliva. So far, Malrick hadn't had any close contact with the infected, and his bio-field had shielded him the entire time.
Still, better safe than sorry.
That's why he had separated his soul and the Original Nucleus from his body so quickly. If his body showed signs of infection, he could immediately flee.
"As long as the Original Nucleus remains untainted, I'm safe," he reasoned. "And if even that gets infected, I'll ditch this version of myself, jump to the Prototype universe, and rebuild a Blacklight Clone from scratch."
He was convinced the Blacklight Virus could consume the quantum virus. That would be his contingency plan.
He'd already decided—if he wasn't infected this time, his second clone would be the Blacklight Virus.
Only by becoming the apex predator of viral worlds could he avoid being caught off guard again. The Marvel and DC universes had no shortage of zombie plagues, each more dangerous than the last.
Even Superman had been turned once.
For twelve hours, Malrick waited in the void, vigilant for any signs of infection. When nothing happened, he finally relaxed.
"I need to leave this place immediately. For safety, I should head to the Resident Evil universe and fully cleanse myself."
Instead of returning the Original Nucleus to his body, he tapped into the energy within it and activated his transmigration ability.
Before leaving, he glanced down one last time at Earth.
"Once I've secured the Blacklight Clone, I'll return here and turn every zombie into nutrients for my evolution."
And with that, he vanished.
After another transition, Malrick appeared in orbit around the Resident Evil universe's Earth.
The World Consciousness greeted him with familiar enthusiasm, radiating a sense of joy.
"Yeah, I'm back," Malrick muttered, gently brushing the energy aside. "But this time, I've got serious work. Go play on your own."
He dismissed the excited entity and scanned his body using his internal authority system.
After a thorough check, he sighed in relief. "Seems clean... but I'll do a full disinfect just to be sure."
He summoned a vast array of cosmic energy and high-frequency radiation to cleanse every cell of his being.
Only after two more days drifting in space did he feel truly at ease.
Truth be told, even if his physical body had been infected, he could always start over—as long as his soul remained intact. The real danger was bringing the quantum virus into other universes.
To confirm his safety, Malrick returned to Earth and landed in the North Pole.
There, he spent a few days interacting with polar bears, letting them gnaw harmlessly on his limbs.
When none of them showed signs of infection, he finally felt reassured.
Back in the Seville Republic, he reunited with Director Bard, Ada, Jill, and the others he hadn't seen in weeks. He stayed for a month, enjoying their company.
Then, it was time to return to the Marvel universe.
---
Kamar-Taj.
Wong had just finished explaining the upcoming magical duel between Kamar-Taj and Asgard.
Tony Stark looked thrilled. "So the gods of myth actually exist, and Malrick is challenging them? Now that's what I call a genius plan."
Bruce Banner, ever the scientist, focused on the implications: "Wait, gods are just aliens? Then their planet's environment must be similar to Earth's. Otherwise, carbon-based life like theirs couldn't function."
While they debated, Malrick suddenly reappeared beside them.
"You're back!" Tony rushed over and pulled him into a quick bear hug. "How'd it go? Did you find the parallel world you were looking for?"
He rattled off questions like rapid-fire: "You better not forget me when this duel happens, alright? Wong said you might leave me out!"
Malrick gave a casual shrug. "That's for later. I went to the wrong world, so I need to try again."
He left out the entire zombie universe ordeal.
Closing his eyes, he entered new criteria for his transmigration.
Keywords: Hogwarts School of Magic, Black and White Magic, No Danger, Dumbledore…
He added a long string of names, determined not to land inside another paperback this time.
[Confirm Transmigration]
He vanished again.
This time, the transition took longer. He passed through a vast void and eventually felt the gentle tug of a dimensional membrane.
Opening his eyes, Malrick instantly knew—this wasn't the Marvel Universe anymore.
...
In another world...
On a high tower's observatory, a group of people in peculiar robes and hairstyles had surrounded an elderly man beside an astronomical instrument.
The man had a long white beard, flowing robes, and the dignified look of a wise elder—he looked well over a hundred.
But the crowd wasn't here to revere him.
They were urging a platinum-blonde youth to strike him down.
The young man hesitated, his face full of conflict.
The old man returned a sorrowful look, silently pleading with him not to go through with it.
As the others grew impatient—
"I'll do it."
A man in a long black robe, pale-skinned with a hooked nose, stepped from the shadows beneath the telescope.
---
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