Chapter 95: To Make It Out Here, You Need Influence. Everyone, Inside and Outside of Earth, is My People.
When he saw the first wave of the symbiote army charging over menacingly, Du Wa was genuinely happy.
The Symbiotes that had just arrived on Earth plummeted from the skies above New York City in great clumps, a truly spectacular sight.
At least in Du Wa's eyes, it was all absolutely beautiful, the most wonderful scenery in the world.
But in the eyes of others, it was an apocalyptic omen, as terrifying as a natural disaster.
"What the hell are those things flying around in the sky? They look like black rivers, and they can change direction flexibly..."
"A swarm? It doesn't look naturally formed. Maybe it's a Mutant or some criminal with the ability to control insects who's trying to do something evil."
"Am I the only one who thinks these things look a bit like that squirming giant dragon from a while ago? I remember when the Female Thor was beating that giant dragon with her hammer, that black, squirming matter was also falling off its body. It's just that these things, in their overall form, don't look like a giant dragon..."
Soon, someone noticed that among the swarm of Symbiotes, giant, dragon-shaped Symbiotes truly did appear, each one's form more capricious than the last, making them appear even more savage and terrifying.
It was as if many Grendels were flying back and forth in the sky.
At that moment, everyone understood. It turned out that the black water scattered across the sky was, in fact, countless Symbiotes.
If it were just this number, it would be one thing. To put it bluntly, even if they dispatched countless fighter jets, tanks, and cannons to bombard them endlessly, or set up sonic cannons in various places to create a frenzy of noise and drop incendiary bombs, they could eventually clean them up bit by bit. It would just be a question of how great the losses would be.
However, as the number of Symbiotes grew and grew, one only had to look up to see what seemed like the sky collapsing. An infinite number of Symbiotes poured in relentlessly from outside Earth, like a boundless black waterfall cascading down from the atmosphere, as if they would not rest until the entire world was corroded.
Now, everyone's morale completely collapsed.
"This quantity... what on Earth is going on!? Where are the satellites? Quickly, use the satellites to see what's happening outside of Earth!"
"This... there are too many, an inestimable number! The ones rushing toward New York are just the first wave. There are tens, even hundreds of times more Symbiotes dispersing to all corners of the world!!"
"How have I never heard that Symbiotes could exist in such numbers? Did we poke the Symbiotes' nest? Where in the world did they come from?"
Even those who had some inkling or suspicion beforehand, and had made certain preparations by observing Du Wa's actions, were stunned.
Everyone had anticipated an enemy, an enemy that would require a large military force to deal with, but no one had expected the numbers to be so ridiculous!
"Nick Fury, I expect an explanation! What is going on with these Symbiotes!"
A member of the World Security Council immediately and aggressively questioned the director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Fury's face was expressionless. In his heart, he had long wanted to start cursing.
What was going on? He damn well wanted to know what was going on too.
"Ladies and gentlemen, one point I want to make clear is that we were indeed the first to discover and utilize that Symbiote giant dragon, and we even established the Symbiote Super Soldier Project because of it. But I do not know what the origin of these Symbiotes is, nor do I know where they come from. If you're asking me, you're asking the wrong person."
"What a wonderful excuse. Before you awakened that giant dragon, this world never had to consider anything related to Symbiotes. But after you let that giant dragon go, everything became a mess, and now you've even attracted so many more Symbiotes! If we don't eliminate them quickly, won't every single human in the world be able to have their own symbiote? Have you thought about the consequences? When that time comes, will we be human, or vassals of the Symbiotes?"
"For you to say something like that means you already have a plan to solve the problem," Fury said impassively.
"Go unite with Du Wa. He defeated the symbiote black dragon and has recently been building a massive army by any means necessary. It must have been to deal with today's situation. Right now, besides him, no one knows how many Xenomorphs there are in the world. They are the greatest asset in dealing with the Symbiotes."
Fury didn't speak immediately. It wasn't that he couldn't think of some things, but thinking and doing were two different matters. He didn't believe that Du Wa, having made so many preparations in advance, would accept S.H.I.E.L.D.'s friendly gesture at a time like this.
Although, Fury was also deeply suspicious of how Du Wa managed to be so prescient, now was not the time to dwell on it.
"There will be a way. No matter how many of these Symbiotes come, we still have a chance to win."
Fury directly ended the call and turned to contact Tony.
"How are your preparations coming along? With your combined intellect, it shouldn't be a problem to make good use of that thing."
"The modifications are basically complete. It's ready for combat. This will be the most powerful armor I've ever built. How about we call it the Anti-Celestial Armor?" Tony was uncharacteristically excited.
"That's fine. I just hope that when you're dealing with those damned Symbiotes, you can act more efficiently. We don't have time to leisurely take care of so many enemies," Fury said.
He was wrestling with another matter in his mind: whether or not to use the Mother Mold in solar orbit. This was the ultimate weapon against Mutants, but after much thought, he decided against it. He couldn't just expose all his cards in a single crisis.
Unless it was confirmed that winning against the enemy with their current strength would be difficult, and not going all-out would almost certainly mean the apocalypse.
But... since Du Wa had prepared so early, Fury felt that no matter how difficult the war, it was still winnable.
To actually feel a sense of security from the rapidly expanding strength of someone like Du Wa... this feeling was truly awful.
...
While Fury was rallying his forces, Du Wa was rallying his as well.
Du Wa only needed to look up at the Symbiotes persistently rushing toward the Weyland Tower to know immediately that this was an order from Loki or Knull.
"Without a deep-seated obsession, there would be no corresponding action. I have deeply felt your enthusiasm. When I lead my Xenomorph Army, each equipped with a Symbiote, to sweep across the entire universe, I will deeply remember your contribution..."
Du Wa looked up, watching the Symbiotes outside through the glass, laughing heartily.
A large number of Xenomorphs had already been deployed. They spread out to the surroundings, stationing themselves on the rooftops and every floor of every building. They also moved through the streets and alleys, engaging in fierce slaughter with the descending Symbiotes.
Admittedly, some Symbiotes would prioritize finding a host for parasitism. Only after gaining a physical body would they turn back to deal with the Xenomorphs.
However, they ultimately wouldn't gain much of a boost, and it wouldn't have a major impact on the outcome... for now.
A fierce war erupted on all fronts. This was a planetary war in the truest sense. As more Symbiotes spread across the globe, the entire planet was plunged into the flames of war. No place was a true sanctuary.
Under these circumstances, the people Du Wa had contacted in advance were mobilized one after another.
Kamar-Taj reacted the fastest. Relying on magic formations alone was not enough to keep such a vast number of Symbiotes out of Earth. The numerous Sorcerers could only use the various Sanctums to carry out targeted clean-ups of the Symbiotes.
T'Challa, who had just returned to the Kingdom of Wakanda, quickly led his entire nation into the war, seizing every second to kill as many as possible. Every one killed was one less, easing the pressure on the rest of the world—they didn't dare to slack off, lest they survive the Symbiote disaster only to be targeted by Du Wa for a post-war reckoning.
Krakoa, which had been quiet for some time, also sprang into action.
"Hmph, to think that our first national battle wouldn't be against humans, but against these alien creatures... If Du Wa hadn't specifically invited us, I wouldn't care about the lives of these humans."
"But in this situation, helping humanity is also helping ourselves, isn't it? This number is too exaggerated. If humanity can't hold them back, the entire world will be covered by this black matter, and then we'll have nowhere to run either."
Magneto and Professor X commanded the Mutant forces from Krakoa, rushing to the battlefield.
Magneto flew into the sky and expanded his magnetic field, creating a massive safe zone with his power alone, keeping the Symbiotes out. He looked at the black matter falling like drizzling rain, his face filled with disgust.
If this stuff was everywhere in the world, what kind of hellscape would Earth become? It would be a tragedy.
Magneto could not tolerate his compatriots and descendants having to survive in such a terrible world, constantly on guard to avoid being parasitized by Symbiotes. This kind of anxiety was fundamentally no different from the anxiety of being ostracized by humanity now.
"Ororo, I need to confirm one last time, are you really okay? Are you sure you can join the battle?"
Mystique, Raven, as a member of Krakoa's Supreme Council, although not outstanding in combat ability, was impeccable in other aspects. She sternly scrutinized Storm, Ororo.
"I remember I already answered the Professor once before. Didn't you already communicate with him afterward? Did he not tell you the result? Why are you asking me again."
Storm, Ororo, said with some irritation, "Let me stress again, my relationship with Namor is not what you all think it is. I have no feelings for Atlantis either. I was just extremely shocked and at a loss when I heard the news of their demise. Anyone would have this normal reaction, right? They were, after all, an incredibly ancient race, gone just like that."
Ororo had been very troubled lately. At most, she had a favorable impression of Namor. If things had developed normally, she might have become lovers with Namor, but that was something for the future, and now it was impossible.
Why were her compatriots always worried that she had already gotten together with Namor, afraid she would make her a target for Du Wa?
Namor had certainly become a Xenomorph by now. Was she supposed to fall in love with a Xenomorph?
Well, considering people have very different tastes, if such a thing were to really happen, it might not be completely out of the question... but at least she had no such thoughts right now.
God, just thinking about it revealed how insane a scene that would be. Ororo didn't think her tastes were that extreme... for now.
Raven nodded secretly. In truth, she intentionally asked this not for herself, but for the Xenomorph larva on her chest to hear, so that Du Wa would ultimately hear it.
Perhaps Du Wa wouldn't care about such a trivial matter, nor would he care if Ororo hated or admired him, but Raven felt that if a negative element could be nipped in the bud, there was no need to take the risk.
Other skilled fighters across the world, whether they were heroes or villain organizations, all sprang into action. Everyone knew that this was not the time to hold back. Allowing the Symbiotes to take root on Earth would be a completely insane decision.
Earthlings could tolerate the capture and imprisonment of a small number of Symbiotes, but they would not accept these things being everywhere in their lives. Symbiotes and humans could not possibly coexist.
Even the underworld emperor Kingpin began to mobilize the entire New York underground, distributing all kinds of weapons. Although these things had little lethality against Symbiotes, these villains felt that only explosive weapons like RPGs, which could create a lot of noise and flames, would have a decent effect.
But they soon discovered they were wrong.
"Dammit, what's going on? Why are the noise, flames, and high temperatures we're creating completely ineffective against these things?"
"S.H.I.E.L.D., those sons of bitches! They must be screwing with us again, spreading false intelligence! Are they trying to get us killed? Even at a time like this, those bastards are still scheming against us. Truly worthy of a spy agency!"
The gangsters felt they were already scumbags who committed all kinds of evil, but in comparison now, they felt like the Virgin Mary. S.H.I.E.L.D. was the real headquarters for a bunch of animals.
Earth was about to be destroyed, and they still hadn't forgotten to screw over a bunch of criminals like them?
In fact, Fury wasn't intentionally setting them up. Even Fury himself hadn't expected that under Knull's manipulation, the Symbiotes' resistance to their own weak points would be so greatly enhanced.
In the past, attacks on weaknesses that worked against an unbound symbiote were now mostly ineffective. A much higher intensity was needed, but that was a level beyond the reach of most ordinary people.
Symbiotes led by Knull and Symbiotes without Knull were on two completely different levels of power.
The forces fighting fiercely against the Symbiotes were not just from Earth.
With the frequent appearance of the Rainbow Bridge, forces from beyond Earth also received Du Wa's information and rushed over at top speed.
First were the Giant Xenomorphs transferred from Jotunheim. Their numbers alone exceeded forty thousand. Then, the Giants who had directly surrendered also joined the battle.
Needless to say, Asgard was even more proactive. Thor, as the heir to the throne, wielded his latest weapon and eagerly led the Asgardian Army straight to Earth.
This was his first war after obtaining Stormbreaker, and he was already eager for a fight.
"Hahaha, I've been waiting for an opportunity like this! Only on a battlefield like this can I test my current strength!"
Thor had been away from the battlefield for too long. Even in the great battle with Jotunheim, he was essentially just a commander. Having lost his divine power, he lacked the ability to lead the charge.
Thor first sent Sif and the Warriors Three to attack everywhere with the Asgardian Army. He himself did not rush onto the battlefield but restrained his fighting spirit and first entered the Weyland Tower to find someone.
"Du Wa, my good brother! Last time you helped me, this time it's finally my turn to help you! Watch the two of us team up to crush these damned creatures! Let them see that we are not to be trifled with!"
"Well said, Thor. But I must remind you, the one leading these Symbiotes to attack Earth is very likely your brother, Loki," Du Wa said, still with a calm and detached expression, as if the chaos outside and the absolutely safe building he was in were two parallel worlds that had nothing to do with each other.
"Oh, he's adopted."
Thor brandished his all-Uru axe. "I will find him, beat him up severely, and then take him back to see Father. Whether he did it willingly or was held hostage by some evil Cosmic God, there must be an accounting."
Thor was genuinely worried that Du Wa, in a fit of rage, would ignore everything and just eliminate Loki.
"I'm relieved to hear you say that. I understand Odin's attitude. Then let's have a big fight. Let me see how much of a boost your new weapon has given you... and how much stronger you are than my Female Thor."
(end of chapter)