Kicking Open the Castle! The Mastermind Appears
At the end of the floating stone path.
An ancient castle, entirely constructed of black meteorite, stands at the end of the river of time.
Two heavy, black wooden doors, each over ten meters tall, were tightly closed. Intricate time runes were carved on the doors.
Jiang Li walked to the door.
He didn't look for the doorknob, nor did he knock.
He raised his right leg, his muscles tensing instantly, and kicked down hard towards the center of the door!
Boom--!!!
A loud bang.
The black wooden gate, supposedly able to withstand the turbulence of time, burst open like a fragile biscuit in an instant! Countless pieces of wood and metal fragments, mixed with the gale, swept through the empty hall at the bottom of the castle.
Jiang Li strode into the castle, stepping over the wood chips scattered on the ground.
In the center of the hall, there was only one elevator driven by dark gold gears.
Jiang Li walked in. The elevator slowly rose, reaching the top floor of the castle.
bite.
The elevator doors opened.
The top floor is an extremely spacious circular office.
There were no guards, no defenses.
Outside the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows, a dazzling golden ribbon of light flowed slowly. It was the only "Sacred Timeline" allowed to exist after being forcibly stripped away and merged.
In the center of the office, there was a messy wooden desk.
Behind the table sat a Black man wearing a dark purple vintage robe.
He held a green apple in one hand, having just taken a bite, and a stack of parchment documents covered in dense writing in the other.
[He Who He Who Remains]
The Kang the Conqueror, the most cunning of countless variants, and ultimately the one who survived. The true creator of TVA.
"You arrived five minutes earlier than I wrote in the script."
The He Who Remains did not panic. He swallowed the apple in his mouth and casually tossed the parchment in his hand onto the table.
He scrutinized Jiang Li, his gaze finally settling on the Omnitrix on Jiang Li's left wrist, which featured four metal spikes.
"It seems that little toy in your hand was indeed not part of my calculations. It not only saved your life, but also allowed you to destroy my Watchdogs."
The He Who Remains leaned back in his chair, extremely relaxed, with a condescending air of composure.
"The Watchdogs was too noisy, so I physically silenced it."
Jiang Li walked to the desk, pulled out a chair, and sat down with an air of authority.
"So you're the Gardener who hides behind the garbage dump and likes to cut people's hair?"
"You may call me the ruler, the god, or the He Who Remains."
The man smiled and placed his hands, crossed, on the table.
"I know you're furious. TVA destroyed your home, or tried to kill you. You want revenge. But you have no idea what you're facing right now."
The He Who Remains stood up, walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window, and pointed to the golden, Sacred Timeline outside.
"You think you're a hero? You shattered TVA and liberated the universe?"
He turned his head, his eyes sharpening.
"Wrong. You're an idiot."
"I established TVA to protect you!"
The voice of the He Who Remains rose a few octaves, "In the past, there were countless parallel universes. In those universes, there were countless 'me's. We discovered each other, and then, war broke out."
"Multiversal War! Those evil variants, in their struggle for territory, have utterly wiped out countless universes!"
"It's me!"
He pointed to his own nose, "It was I who found Alioth, it was I who ended the war, isolated and merged all the timelines, and created this one and only Sacred Timeline! I kept you all captive so that you wouldn't be torn apart by the other 'me's'!"
The He Who Remains walked back to the desk, placed his hands on the surface, and stared intently at Jiang Li.
"Now, I have two proposals."
"First, you killed me. But the moment I die, the Sacred Timeline will collapse. Thousands upon thousands of Kang the Conqueror, a hundred times more evil than I, will immediately descend. They will start a new Multiversal War and burn your Earth to ashes."
"Secondly, you will succeed me. Manage TVA, sit in my seat, and become the god of this entire universe."
The lecture is over.
The He Who Remains picked up the green apple again. He believed that no rational being would choose the first path.
This was his trump card: using countless lives of his own to hold Jiang Li hostage.
The office was silent for a few seconds.
Jiang Li sat in the chair, watching the eloquent He Who Remains.
Then, Jiang Li smiled.
It wasn't a wry smile that came from being hit where it hurt, but a heartfelt, extremely joyful laugh.
"Thousands upon thousands of you?" Jiang Li raised an eyebrow.
"At least a million," the He Who Remains scoffed.
"Very good."
Jiang Li suddenly stood up.
Swish!
A dazzling starlight flashed across the Omnitrix on the left wrist.
The [Ascalon Holy Sword Fragment] that had been integrated into the dial instantly shot out, transforming in Jiang Li's hand into a three-foot-long, sharp sword with a surface flowing with dark silver starlight!
As soon as the sword was drawn, the surrounding space was directly torn open with fine black slits.
The pupils of the He Who Remains suddenly contracted.
He saw no fear in Jiang Li's eyes. He only saw extreme brutality and the greed of a hunter seeing prey scattered across the mountains.
"Are you crazy?! Didn't you understand what I said?!"
The He Who Remains stumbled backward, frantically grabbing the teleportation controller on the table. "If I die, they'll all come! Millions of Kangs! You'll be torn to pieces!"
"They'd better hurry."
Jiang Li gripped the Ascalon Holy Sword tightly, a bloodthirsty smile spreading across his lips.
"I was just worried about not having anywhere to boost my Emotion Points after spending 300 million!"
Swish!
Without any hesitation, and without giving the villains another chance to whine or whine.
Jiang Li a step forward, and the holy sword in his hand transformed into a dark silver stream of light that could cleave through time, sweeping across the area!
Laugh!
The blade sliced through the neck of the He Who Remains as easily as cutting through tofu.
The hand that was trying to press the teleportation button froze in mid-air.
The He Who Remains's eyes widened, filled with incomprehensible shock. He had foreseen countless futures, but he hadn't anticipated that someone would treat the multiverse army destined to destroy the universe as easy targets for experience points.
Thump.
A perfectly healthy head, along with the unfinished green apple, rolled onto the marble floor.
Blood gushed out.
The mastermind behind TVA was killed on the spot.
At the very moment the He Who Remains breathed their last.
Buzz--!!!!!
Outside the window.
The golden, Sacred Timeline that had been flowing smoothly suddenly burst forth with an extremely dazzling light!
Accompanied by a deafening roar that shattered the Multiverse.
That single timeline shattered!
Countless thick, branching timelines, like wildly growing vines, spread and intertwined wildly into the endless void at the speed of light!
The barrier separating parallel universes has completely collapsed.
Jiang Li flicked the blood off the blade and turned to walk towards the French windows.
He gazed out the window at the chaotic, utterly rampaging Multiverse, his eyes burning with fervor.
"Come on. Let me see just how many gold coins you bunch of Kangs can actually drop."