Web of the Multiverse - 186 (Patreon)

Chapter 186: The Threat of Poison Thanos, Doctor Strange Summons Again

When Peter got a clear look at the tall, purple-skinned man who had appeared inside the glass cell, he froze for a moment.

Peter, of course, knew exactly who this purple man was.

Thanos.

The ruler of Titan.

The most powerful cosmic purger in the universe.

The Mad Titan who, in the name of maintaining the balance of the universe's resources, had used the Infinity Stones to erase half of all life in the universe.

Across all the Multiverses Peter had experienced, Thanos was a name that could never be avoided.

Far too many major events were connected to him.

But the Thanos who had appeared inside the glass cell was somewhat different from the one Peter knew.

This Thanos had muscles like a Greek god carved from stone, his physique even more exaggerated than the Hulk's.

His body was also covered in the distinctive armor of the Poisons, but this set was far more intricate and elaborate than any Poison armor Peter had ever seen.

More importantly, Thanos's purple face was covered by a unique demon mask.

The mask wasn't ghastly white. Instead, it was the same shade of purple as his skin.

Everything about him pointed to the same conclusion. Thanos had become a Poison Host, but an extraordinarily special one.

He stood at the very pinnacle of all Poison Hosts.

Poison Thanos!

Even in his shock, Peter quickly glanced at Sebastian and the White Queen beside him.

Sebastian's brow was tightly furrowed, his expression filled with the confusion of someone looking at a complete stranger.

The White Queen had also narrowed her eyes slightly. Her lips were pressed into a thin line, and an unprecedented gravity filled her gaze.

But Peter could tell that she, too, had most likely never seen the Thanos before them.

Their reactions confirmed something extremely important.

In this universe, Thanos was still completely unknown to Earth.

Neither the Black King nor the White Queen recognized him. They had no idea where he came from, much less what his existence represented.

For Peter, that was both good news and bad news.

The good news was that if neither the Black King nor the White Queen knew who Poison Thanos was, then Poison Thanos had not yet personally descended upon this planet.

The bad news was that this left Peter unable to determine whether Poison Thanos possessed any Infinity Stones.

And if he did, how many did he currently have?

"I just hope that after becoming a Poison Host, Poison Thanos isn't still clinging to that damned theory of cosmic balance."

"Without that belief driving him, Poison Thanos probably won't be as obsessed with hunting down the Infinity Stones."

"Then again, I wonder if there are any Infinity Stones on Earth right now. If there are, getting our hands on them could give us a huge advantage."

Countless thoughts raced through Peter's mind as he rapidly sorted through everything he knew.

Based on what he remembered from the comics, in the Multiverse inhabited by the Poisons, Poison Thanos stood at the very top of their hierarchy, second only to the Poison Queen.

That was also why the Poison Primordial Lifeforms feared Poison Thanos above all others.

Under normal circumstances, the Poison Queen did not personally deal with complicated matters.

Poison Thanos handled them instead.

Whether it was large-scale military operations, plans to conquer planets, or punishment for Poison Hosts who had committed some offense, all such orders came from Poison Thanos.

That was why the Poison Primordial Lifeforms feared him so deeply.

Still, although Poison Thanos's existence had now been confirmed, he was not Peter and the others' most immediate crisis.

Poison Thanos was not currently on Earth. He might not even be in the Milky Way.

If Peter remembered correctly, someone else was actually responsible for overseeing Earth.

Poison Doctor Doom.

If they wanted to defeat the Poisons on Earth, then Poison Doctor Doom would be the final boss they had to face.

By the time that thought crossed his mind, Peter had already worked out his next course of action.

Peter turned to Sebastian, who was still studying Poison Thanos.

"Have you ever seen this purple guy before?"

Sebastian's brow had furrowed into a deep crease.

It was a level of seriousness Peter had never seen on his face before. Even the White Queen remained silent.

"We've never seen this thing before."

Sebastian finally answered.

"Krakoa's intelligence system contains no records of any humanoid creature with purple skin and a height exceeding two meters. The Mutant genetic database doesn't contain anything with similar species characteristics either."

"This creature is neither human nor Mutant. It's most likely an alien humanoid species from outer space."

Peter waited silently for a moment longer, until Sebastian and the White Queen had completely shifted their attention away from Poison Thanos.

Then he spoke.

"I know this guy. In my original universe, his name was Thanos."

Sebastian and the White Queen turned almost simultaneously, fixing Peter with sharp gazes.

"Thanos?"

"That's right. He comes from Titan and commands an enormous interstellar fleet. He's conquered more planets than you could count. Calling him an interstellar overlord wouldn't be an exaggeration."

Peter deliberately slowed his speech, every word carrying unusual weight.

"He once gathered all six Infinity Stones, snapped his fingers, and instantly reduced half of all life in the entire universe to ashes."

The atmosphere in the laboratory seemed to freeze.

No one spoke.

Everyone stared at Peter in shock, almost as though they were questioning whether what he had just said could possibly be true.

"You heard me correctly. Thanos killed half the population of the universe solely because of his theory of cosmic balance. The number of lives lost went far beyond the billions."

"If you tried to estimate it using Earth's population as a frame of reference, we're talking about over a hundred trillion lives. One snap of his fingers, and more than a hundred trillion lives were simply gone."

Peter finished speaking, yet the laboratory remained silent for nearly half a minute.

At some point, Sebastian's hand had clenched tightly into a fist.

The White Queen's breathing had also quickened noticeably. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, and unmistakable shock filled her normally calm blue eyes.

"So this is the enemy we'll have to face in the end?"

Sebastian's voice was slightly hoarse.

Anyone could hear the despair behind the question.

And no one could really blame him.

Any rational person would understand what it meant to face a being capable of wiping out more than a hundred trillion lives across the universe with a single snap of his fingers.

The surviving Mutants on Earth and all the Venom Superheroes combined would not even qualify as opponents in the eyes of such a being.

Fortunately, Peter's next words eased much of the despair that had settled over everyone.

"Actually, we don't need to worry too much about Thanos for the time being. He's responsible for the Poisons across the entire universe, which means Earth is only one battlefield among countless planets. It shouldn't attract his attention anytime soon."

"Right now, we only need to focus on one thing. Wipe out every Poison Host on Earth and delay Poison Thanos from noticing this planet for as long as possible."

After hearing Peter's explanation, Sebastian, the White Queen, and Mister Sinister visibly relaxed.

Once Sebastian had collected himself, he suddenly asked Peter another question.

"What exactly are these six Infinity Stones you mentioned?"

"You can think of the Infinity Stones as some of the earliest things to exist in the universe, as well as the most powerful treasures in existence."

"They embody the laws of the universe and represent space, time, reality, power, mind, and soul."

As Peter spoke, he watched the reactions of the three people before him.

"If all six Infinity Stones are gathered together, their wielder essentially gains control over the absolute laws of this universe."

"Thanos used the power of those absolute laws to erase half the life in the universe."

"If the leader of the Poison Hosts on Earth possesses even a single Infinity Stone, that would be extremely bad news for us. So I need to ask. Do you have any records about the Infinity Stones?"

Sebastian and the White Queen exchanged a glance, then shook their heads.

Sebastian said, "Krakoa's intelligence database doesn't contain any relevant records either. At least since I took control of Krakoa, I've never heard any information concerning the Infinity Stones."

The White Queen added, "I don't think the Poisons possess any Infinity Stones. If they did, they would've used them in the previous wars. There would be no reason to hold them back until now. That wouldn't make any sense."

Peter nodded in agreement.

"There's no evidence right now that the Poisons possess any Infinity Stones, but we still need to keep an eye out for them. If we can find one before they do, we'd essentially have a trump card in our hands, and our chances of winning the final battle would increase considerably."

Sebastian and the White Queen fully supported Peter's suggestion.

Both agreed that they would pay much closer attention to any information concerning the Infinity Stones and notify Peter immediately if they uncovered any leads.

Mister Sinister, meanwhile, remained silent.

He was, at heart, a scholar obsessed with genetics. Things like Infinity Stones and struggles for cosmic supremacy didn't interest him very much.

If the Poisons' parasitism didn't forcibly erase the host's consciousness, he had even considered allowing one to parasitize him personally.

So the current discussion held little interest for him. His mind was far more occupied with his experiments.

With that, the discussion about Thanos more or less came to an end.

Everyone turned their attention back to the glass cell.

The manifestation of Poison Thanos, formed from fear itself, was steadily closing in on the weak, pitiful, and helpless Poison Primordial Lifeform, as though he intended to seize it and crush it to death with his bare hands.

At exactly the right moment, Moonstar deactivated her ability, preventing the Poison Primordial Lifeform from dying on the spot.

"After going through this ordeal, this child has improved considerably in her control over her abilities. It seems her talent is even greater than I thought."

The White Queen sighed with admiration, as though she could see a trace of Professor X in Moonstar.

"We really have found a prodigy. Emma, you'll be fully responsible for this child's training from now on."

...

Moonstar's training would no longer be Peter's responsibility.

However, that also meant Moonstar would have to separate from her original team for a while.

The next day, when Peter began training as usual, the other members of the team were predictably concerned about Moonstar's sudden disappearance.

Fortunately, there was no need to keep Moonstar's situation particularly secret.

After Peter briefly explained what had happened, the others understood. They also sent Moonstar their encouragement, hoping she would finish her special training soon and return to the team.

After that, training proceeded as usual.

The morning session focused on actual combat. The four young Mutants took turns facing Peter one-on-one.

After the battle the previous night, the group had overcome their inner demons, and their progress was remarkably fast.

Their attacks were more decisive and aggressive, and they had become much more proficient at using their abilities.

Magik's improvement was especially dramatic.

Her mastery of swordsmanship had already reached an astonishing level.

Combined with her skillful use of the Teleportation Ability, she had become an elusive assassin.

She could cut an enemy down with her Soulsword before they even had time to react.

Even Peter fully acknowledged how much Magik's combat ability had improved.

Once the morning training session ended, Peter dismissed everyone and let them spend the rest of their time freely. He began packing up, intending to go get some lunch.

But just then, a low rumbling sound came from outside the villa.

Peter looked up and saw a silver-gray maglev vehicle stopping at the villa's front gate.

This kind of maglev vehicle was a standard means of transportation on Krakoa.

Its overall structure resembled a large spindle, hollow on the inside and covered by glass along the top.

A faint blue glow shone beneath the chassis, indicating that the maglev engine was operating normally.

And the ones driving the maglev vehicle that had stopped outside Peter's villa were none other than Venom Rocket Raccoon and Venom Captain America, whom Peter had not seen in several days.

"Long time no see, Spider-Man."

Venom Captain America sat in the passenger seat and waved at Peter.

Then he turned slightly, gestured toward the passenger area behind him, and invited Peter aboard.

"The Doctor is about to perform another summoning. He's recovered pretty well this time. Want to come watch the summoning process?"