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"It seems there are no more surprises."
Seeing Barbatos's hesitation, Stephen, standing alongside Bruce, breathed a sigh of relief. The power Barbatos had just displayed rivaled even the mightiest dimensional demons. If he were at the forefront, he wouldn't have the confidence to match Luke's current level. The best he could do was ensure his own safety and that of Bruce and the others, then seize the opportunity to retreat or confront them.
Stephen's words also drew the inquiring gazes of the two Bruces, who were completely bewildered by what had just happened. Barbatos's power and strange state made them extremely concerned. Bruce in the hospital uniform was especially concerned. He had come into contact with Barbatos before, so he knew the terrifying power he possessed.
It was the multifaceted power that carried all the instability created by the World Crucible, leaning towards the dark and collapsing universe! To say that Barbatos' power was endless was not a metaphor, but a true statement.
Just now, they thought there would be a fierce battle, a battle that would be difficult, dangerous, and accompanied by sacrifices. But they had never expected such a strange scene.
Barbatos could actually be suppressed by Luke's words! This was beyond Bruce's knowledge and understanding of Barbatos.
The other party was a dragon of darkness and destruction, naturally possessing a desire for tyranny and destruction. If one attempted to have a serious conversation with him, or to force him to do something that went against his nature and that he was unwilling to do, the most likely outcome would be that he would be destroyed by Barbatos's dark power, or thrown into some dark universe to be tortured to death.
Barbatos is not a good communicator most of the time.
"Empower!" Seeing the two Bruces looking at him, Stephen, while observing the slightest movement in front of him, did not mind explaining some information to the two of them: "An advanced application of psionic energy. Not only using it as energy, but going a step further, exerting its characteristics and shaping it into a power similar to the super power of rules.
There are many ways and means to apply empowerment. Different people develop different empowerments. As the creator of psionic energy, Luke may possess omnipotence and power.
"Almighty and powerful?" The two Bruces exchanged a glance, their minds etched with the information Stephen had revealed. They believed it might prove useful someday. After all, there was very little information about Luke. Beyond knowing that he was the inventor of many incredible equipment and items, the rest was completely empty.
"Omnipotence refers to the ability of psychic energy to absorb and assimilate various energies and transform their properties to achieve an omnipotent effect. Power is a form of empowerment, which is highly polluting and controlling. It is essentially a manifestation of social rules." Stephen looked at Bruce's two thoughtful faces and took the initiative to speak.
"Is it a form of control and restraint?" Bruce, clad in a hospital gown, observed the strangely changing Barbatos. He felt a sense of realization, yet it was like looking at flowers through a veil, a thin, hazy veil that blurred his vision. This only made him even more absorbed in deducing and guessing the correct answer. He wanted to tear away the veil, take a closer look at the supposed scenery, to see its true face.
"To be precise, it's a kind of oppression that only arises from social life. Class, rights, and power." Stephen looked at the alternative battle in front of him that he couldn't get involved in, so he simply reached out and tore open the gauze for Bruce and the others, and explained it in detail.
"Why wouldn't someone with such great power dare to resist someone who's inferior to him in every way? He would have to be humble before this person, using his own strength to conscientiously carry out all the orders given by the other person.
Because this person with great power has desires! His power can allow him to obtain some things, but in many aspects, pure power is not enough to make his wishes come true.
And the person who is inferior to him in every way, but has what he wants and needs most, can use this to control him, drive him, and eventually tame him little by little, just like taming an unruly beast.
"Class, money, power," Bruce muttered to himself.
"That's right. The psychic power that Luke empowers is the control and distribution of power, resources, etc. It sounds a bit inappropriate to use these to describe a battle, but I think this is the most understandable way of explanation for you." Stephen nodded in agreement.
"But does he have those things? The so-called power, resources, desires..." Bruce in the hospital gown still couldn't believe it. Because these things were meaningless to Barbatos.
"What I said before was just a metaphor to help you understand quickly. In other words, do you really think Barbatos has no desires?" Stephen shook his head slightly in response to Bruce in the hospital gown's question. Looking at the two Bruces who were thinking, he continued, "Any power has certain attributes, and those who possess such power are naturally influenced and controlled by the power, becoming the embodiment of its attributes. Generally speaking, they are like Barbatos, like someone who is extremely paranoid and unable to change."
"Are you saying that Luke can reverse this paranoia? Or, change the other party's power characteristics?" Bruce understood what Stephen wanted to express.
"The facts are right before our eyes, aren't they?" Stephen nodded. He pointed at Barbatos, who was becoming increasingly anthropomorphic and possessing more and more emotions. "Give him an opposing personality, then gradually build a framework, and use psychic energy to subtly erode his mind. Through repeated adjustments, he makes the other person become what the controller wants. Essentially, this is a kind of soul reduction!"
A decisive person may become hesitant.
A person who is not afraid of life and death can become a cowardly person who is afraid of death.
A multiverse god, master of dark forces, whose mind is filled with only destruction and evil, can be controlled by various emotions and concepts just like a human, completely unaware that he has been reduced to a lower dimension of the soul! Freed from the profound influence of the power attribute, he begins to think about random things.
If Becky were here, Stephen would definitely use her own experience to teach her about science by letting Becky take out her pets.
The various dimensional creatures she captured from various dimensional worlds and the edges represented various power attributes and were extremely dangerous. Many of them had no brains or thoughts.
As the current Supreme Sorcerer, Stephen was absolutely unwilling to face or endure the dangers of those [pets], let alone open a petting zoo on his own body.
But why can Becky ignore the dangers of those dimensional creatures that represent various strange power attributes and make them obey him obediently?
Was it because of Becky's power? Powerful, indeed, could bring about the submission of beings capable of reasoning and weighing the pros and cons, but for those without a mind or a single-minded individual who wasn't afraid of death, pure power wouldn't have that effect.
It must be said that these so-called pets, which come from various dimensions and possess various dimensional powers, are almost 100% difficult to tame and communicate with. They are naturally fanatical believers in the dimensional power behind them!
Just like mages believe in magic and humans believe in science, it is their own power and the source of everything. To make them betray their own dimensional power is undoubtedly equivalent to depriving them of the meaning of their existence.
Why can Becky control them?
Because Becky also mastered the power of advanced psychic applications similar to Luke's.
No brains?
Don't be afraid, you will have an organ similar to the brain.
No thinking?
Don't be afraid, you will learn how to think and weigh the pros and cons one day.
Betrayal power attribute?
Creatures imbued with the power of chaos and disorder are inherently chaotic. After being eroded and manipulated by psychic energy, even if they survive, their life forms will simply transform into creatures from another dimension. However, the deceptive nature of psychic energy's transformation allows them to retain a clear mind and still inherit and use their previous powers.
Behind those dimensional lives in the past were them → the back dimension. Now behind these dimensional lives is them → Becky → the back dimension.
In this strange transformation, Becky stood in the middle and became their new master. What if they are still difficult to tame?
There is a way!
It's about giving them thoughts and fear, reducing their dimensionality, and then throwing them to the edge of the abyss for a walk. Generally, they'll become obedient. If they still have some thoughts, they can explore deeper into the abyss.
Time is meaningless to the abyss. Whether you stay at the edge of the abyss for a second or for a long time, the effect and feeling are the same. However, the feeling at the edge of the abyss and closer to the abyss are completely different.
After these few blows, most dimensional beings would become quite tactful in front of Becky. What else could they do if they didn't? Faced with a terrifying human girl who could cut off your energy source at any time and threatened you with the abyss at every turn, dimensional beings had no power to resist.
Seeing Barbatos in front of him, Stephen seemed to see the dimensional lives that fell into Becky's hands.
"This power is too dangerous. Even more terrifying than the Anti-Life Equation!" Bruce made his assessment of Luke's power.
The power of the Anti-Life Equation was already incredibly evil in Bruce's eyes, capable of twisting a person's will, depriving them of their freedom, and forcing them to accept control. But Luke's power was like a superior power to the Anti-Life Equation!
This threat and sense of crisis that felt like a thorn in his throat made Bruce feel uncomfortable all over.
"It's different from the Anti-Life Equation. The Anti-Life Equation is a forced control, a superior force akin to mind control.
Luke's power is not a coercive control, but a subtle influence, growing stronger over time, and eventually giving birth to a new, stable soul.
If the user wasn't strong enough, like Barbatos just now, we would have died in those black thunderbolts long ago." Stephen corrected.
At this moment, the turbulent energy storm ahead finally subsided. The hall, which had been constantly shaking from the energy collision, gradually quieted down.
Stephen and the other two paused their conversation, no longer distracted by the front lines, but focusing their attention on Luke. They realized that the next phase might be a period of negotiation to suspend the fighting.
Of course, it can also be understood as the effective period of Luke's power.
After all, it was hard for Bruce to imagine that the opposing and conflicting enemies would be willing to sit down and negotiate with the enemy before the outcome was determined.
"...Promise me, you will give me the power called the Abyss, and I will take you to the World Forge."
Barbatos' voice resonated in Bruce and the others' minds. This request made Stephen and the other two look at each other involuntarily, each with a strange look in their eyes.
Stephen was shocked that someone dared to ask Luke for the power of the Abyss, even though the other party possessed a dark power of similar attributes.
If Dormammu and Mephisto, who were desperate to avoid the power of the abyss and even wanted to stay away from it, were present, they would probably give Barbatos a look of pity and admiration no matter what.
There is a difference between being tortured into a madman and being tortured into a madman on your own initiative.
As expected of Barbatos, who possesses the attributes of darkness and destructive power, this destructive tendency is not only directed at the universe and life, but also at himself.
Stephen looked at Barbatos's body as tall as a mountain in admiration, biting his lips tightly, with a serious expression and no words.
Bruce and the other two had even faced a projection of the Abyss's power. That foul and dark power was something they didn't even want to recall, for it was a form of mental pollution that tormented their souls. Bruce, in his hospital gown, had a darker expression, for he had once actively drawn the Abyss's attention and thrown himself into its embrace. This suicidal act had left him with a profound impression of the terrible experience.
Of course, the relevant memories are vague, and the experience cannot be reproduced realistically on the body. For protection, this perception and memory are blocked and left in the separated laughing bat.
"Are you sure?" Luke looked at Barbatos: "If you insist."
"I insist! I've received relevant information from the Laughing Bat. So I know it's a very powerful force, and one that suits me very well!" Barbatos looked at Luke warily. Ever since he received intelligence about the power of the Abyss from the Laughing Bat, he'd been eager to find it and claim it for himself.
Now that he knew that the power of the Abyss was in Luke's hands, he could not wait to make a request. In his view, this was a deal, exchanging the World Crucible for the power of the Abyss.