I Bit Someone

As his words trailed off, Heisenberg flashed his usual cold smile, but soon after, his brow furrowed.

He finally realized why he had specifically gone to meet Spider-Man, who was only eight years old, and given the watch to Little Spider.

Why he had returned to the rooftop to plan his future.

Whether it was saying goodbye to the past or looking ahead to what was to come.

All of it, every bit, came down to the fact that he no longer wanted to go back to being the ordinary version of himself he once was!

So he was the truly greedy one—once he got a taste of this power, he never wanted to be ordinary again...

Then, he might as well stop being human.

Heisenberg nodded to himself and addressed the system.

"It costs over six thousand units of Origin Matter to return to the Origin Universe, right?"

"Yes."

"And coming back? What's the fare to return to the Marvel Universe?"

"The round trip costs the same."

"When I go home, will the Marvel Universe keep running, or will it pause?"

"As an Order Keeper, if you wish it to run, it will run!"

"Heh, I don't know what you, this system, actually want me to do. My authority is too great, and my responsibilities seem too few.

But fine, send me home. Pause the Marvel Universe for now!"

As Heisenberg spoke, The Ancient One, far away in Kamar-Taj, broke into a radiant smile.

She felt the space-time around her gradually freeze—a temporal halt even she could not control.

She felt no fear, because she had long seen that every time Heisenberg brought about such a pause, the universe became better for it.

And Heisenberg silently dissolved into dust, into a black hole, spiraling back into the Origin Universe!

Pop...!

Like a stone dropped into rippling water, Heisenberg materialized quietly at the foot of the most famous mountain in Phoenix City, drawing no attention at all.

That was where his home had been—the place where, before his transmigration, he ran a mahjong parlor.

But now...

Heisenberg glanced left and right—his mahjong parlor was actually sealed off?!!

Rage surged into his heart. Was he really stumbling into some God of War returns plot?

Had someone, while he was gone, started bullying his aging parents, trashing his mahjong parlor, and even furiously petting his orange cat's head?!!

"How much time has passed in the Origin Universe while I've been away?"

"All timelines are based on the Order Keeper. Eleven days have passed in the Origin Universe."

"To project everything that happened in Phoenix City over these days into memory fragments and feed them into my brain—how much Origin Matter would that cost?"

"That's simple. One hundred eighty-six units."

"Do it!"

Heisenberg gave the order, and everything that had happened in Phoenix City over the past eleven days unfolded inside his mind.

Only a Kryptonian brain could handle such a massive influx of information. After sifting through it, Heisenberg finally picked out the parts he needed.

Seeing it all, a flood of mixed emotions washed over him.

"What gives? What are you people even doing? Weren't you his good friends? Good friends don't just lose someone! He was a living, breathing person—why did only my son disappear?!"

"I told him long ago not to stir up trouble, to stay out of it. How did he just vanish? Was he kidnapped? Ask us for money—we'll pay, we'll pay!!!"

"Seal it up. It's too painful to keep."

"Sell it? On what grounds? That was my son's place. I'd rather rebuild it as a memorial hall!"

"Where did he go? His father, you need to find him! Go ask his friends again!"

"We're calling the police. Yes, yes, yes, I'm Hai Dayou. My son is missing!"

"Can't find him? Not a single clue? What the hell are you cops for? A person! If you can't find him, keep looking! A living person! Please, I'm begging you!!!"

"Honey, I... I really can't find our son anymore. Where else am I supposed to look?!"

"Husband, our son is back! He came back! That watch of his is gone—he must have taken it!!"

"What watch?"

"The one in the pile of clothes he left at the mahjong parlor. There was a watch inside—his favorite one, worth hundreds of thousands. I kept it on me all the time. It's gone. He must have come back and taken it!"

"Why did he have to disappear? Did he owe money? We're not short on cash. He gave us plenty every year!"

"Did he go bankrupt? Did he piss someone off?"

"Calm down. He'll be back—he must have run into trouble, but he'll return sooner or later!"

"Yeah, our son will come back!"

For a moment, Heisenberg's eyes welled up...

Well, the deeply melancholy Heisenberg suddenly realized that even under the impact of such immense emotion, he still couldn't shed a single tear.

His parents still loved him as much as ever, but he had changed, become... unbelievable...

Feeling the clear sorrow in his heart, he also clearly discovered his innermost true thoughts.

No matter how much his parents loved him, no matter how much they needed him.

He couldn't bear to give up everything he had gained.

His heart had gone wild; he wanted to visit every universe and experience the brilliance of each different civilization.

He didn't want to stay in the Origin Universe with all his power, returning to the ordinary man he once was!

Or become a Superman of the Origin Universe!

Besides...

Heisenberg thought it over and shook his head helplessly.

What his parents needed now wasn't this version of him—the one who no longer valued life, who was full of ambition and a desire for control!

"System, recreate a me—a past me. Give him all my memories from before I crossed over!"

"Received. Requires two hundred and twenty-six cubic units of Origin Matter."

"Do it. Send this me to my parents. They need me!"

As his words fell, Heisenberg shot into the sky. He manipulated his force field to refract the surrounding light, making it impossible for any camera to capture him clearly.

Flying all the way out of the universe, Heisenberg stopped on the moon and looked back at Earth, which wasn't far from him.

He stared for a long time, then finally shook his head.

"When you're away from home, you always think the people back home are more beautiful, the water sweeter.

But after coming back, you realize it's not much different.

To me, even this world called Origin—ordinary as it is—is far less exciting than other universes!"

Heisenberg took one last look at Origin Earth, then turned around and spoke softly.

"System, come out and talk."

"I've been here all along."

"Yeah, always here. Even before I existed, you were still there. So what about the me before—your other hosts? Did they transcend, or did they die?"

"They left behind unfinished work."

"Hmph, so they all died. After all, the living only have goals, not unfinished work!"

Heisenberg nodded in understanding, then continued asking the system.

"I'm an Order Keeper, but to be honest, my work doesn't seem orderly at all.

So tell me, what kind of changes will my work bring to the universe? What meaning does it have?"

"Whether order or chaos, the universe does not need the endless extension of a single thought. Only the balance between order and chaos can ensure the universe never approaches its end.

Whether good or evil, a universe that loses diversity will approach the limit of entropy faster than a normal one. So your work, Host, is to bring change to the universe. Every shift, every alteration, adds weight to the balance and continuation of the cosmos.

As the Order Keeper chosen by the Great Cosmic Will, you are one of the lives most suited to this task. You will bring order to chaotic worlds, let righteous worlds taste evil, reignite passion in decadent worlds, and calm war-torn worlds.

This is your work."

"Ha? Hahahaha!"

Heisenberg burst into laughter. So this was the true meaning of being an Order Keeper.

His order wasn't about preserving order—it was about bringing the world into balance.

Life couldn't be too good, nor too evil. He needed to ensure the balance of justice and evil in a universe—playing the villain in an overly righteous world, and the hero in an overly evil one.

Life couldn't develop too fast, nor too slow. Heisenberg needed to interfere with the universe's development, shaping the overall environment to what the universe truly needed!

"But System, I can't even see the level of balance in the universe—the so-called increase in entropy. So how do I judge whether my actions are effective?"

"You don't need to judge that. The unchanging multiverse has always followed the fate it was meant to.

But once an Order Keeper enters that unchanging multiverse, they inject the factor of change into it.

You don't need to deliberately pursue balance. Everything you do, every thread of fate you nudge, every bit of Origin Matter you harvest—all of it extends the path of the universe toward destruction.

You are neither righteous nor evil, neither good nor bad. But you are undoubtedly the most special and meaningful life within the scope of the Great Cosmos. No doubt about it."

"Hah, who knows if you're telling the truth or not. But I like what you said—the most meaningful life, huh?"

Heisenberg smiled, then shook his head.

"Rather than saying I'm the most meaningful life, I should thank you for giving me this extraordinarily meaningful existence. Let's go back to Marvel!"

As his voice fell, he dissolved into dust once more and vanished from the Origin Universe in an instant.

In the Marvel Universe, Heisenberg opened his eyes.

He was still standing on the rooftop.

Good—it seemed his departure had indeed left no impact on Marvel.

Heisenberg knew full well that Marvel had its share of higher beings, but the system's authority proved to be even higher than theirs.

OAA, the One Above All, right? Heisenberg looked forward to the day he'd cut him down.

But that was a matter for the future. For now, he had to continue his plan.

Accelerate S.H.I.E.L.D.'s research on the Cosmic Cube!

But this required the right person to lead the charge.

With the United Nations in chaos and unable to influence S.H.I.E.L.D., the New York branch was practically run by Captain America alone.

His personality would never allow him to tamper with the Cosmic Cube.

So Heisenberg had to make sure the Skrulls sent Nick Fury and Hill back soon.

Nick Fury...

Heisenberg shook his head. He had to die. His nature of hiding and controlling everything would inevitably become a problem.

So let Hill take over as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. ahead of schedule!

Origin Earth, Phoenix Mountain Police Station...

Heisenberg stared blankly at the cops peppering him with questions.

"Indecent exposure?!"

"Exposure my ass! I was playing cards, you know? The kind where you don't bet real money—and then suddenly I was out on the street!!!"

"What? You say I lost two hundred and thirty thousand in one hand?"

"That was a joke! We were playing for happy beans!!!"

"What do you mean my friends confessed? They turned themselves in for gambling to hide from the trouble of me going missing?!!"

"When did I go missing!"

"How could I be missing... What's the date today?"

"Oh my god, right—what happened to me? How did I just vanish while playing cards?"

"This is a special case, okay? And even if I lost a lot, I never paid them! Can't you just treat it like I was bragging? Why are you arresting me, why!!!"

"Arresting me for indecent exposure..."

"You think I wanted this? Fine, I'll come clean—I was abducted by aliens!!!"

"Where's the press? Where's the Approaching Science crew? Isn't this weirder than a sow screaming in the middle of the night?!"

"Let me go, I'm not crazy! Let go, get off me! I'll bite, I swear I'll bite!!!"