This time the crisis is invisible and has no substance, but it hits Mind Stone directly.
Across the globe, reports began to proliferate - not of physical anomalies, but of collective mental distress. People began to experience the same nightmares, waking up unable to remember the details, leaving only a deep sense of emptiness and inexplicable anxiety. Creativity diminished, moods depressed, and even some of the most optimistic people fell into unfounded despair.
"It's not a mental illness pandemic," Bruce·Banner said in a heavy voice at the S.H.I.E.L.D. command center, looking at the steep decline in the global mental health index. "It's an exogenous mental oppression! There is something that is instilling the concept of 'nothingness' into the collective subconscious of all mankind!"
Nick Fury's single eye scanned the vague but disturbing reports. "Source? Means?"
"The physical source cannot be located!" Maria·Hill responded, "The energy characteristics are extremely weird, like... a pure 'information vacuum' or a 'meaning stripping field' that directly affects consciousness itself through unknown means!"
Tony·Stark tried to use brainwave adjustment technology of various frequencies to fight, but the effect was very little. "Friday analyzed that this is like a...'Anti-Concept' weapon. It is not transmitting negative information, but extracting and diluting the 'sense of meaning' of existence itself!"
Strange and Wang struggled to support themselves in Sanctum Sanctorum. Their magic mainly protected the reality level, and had limited defense effect against attacks directly targeting Mind Stone and the conceptual level. "This does not come from any known dimension... like it comes from the 'gap between concepts'... the void itself is whispering..."
Avengers himself was also affected. Steve felt inexplicably depressed, Tony's thinking became stagnant, Natasha recalled the meaninglessness of the task, Clint doubted the value of his arrows, and even Hulk seemed a little... melancholy.
The world has fallen into a silent spiritual suffocation. Artistic creation has stopped, scientific exploration has lost momentum, and social operations have become mechanical and lack vitality. A slow, invisible death is spreading.
Just when this desperate atmosphere is about to overwhelm everyone--
Malibu Beach.
Xiao Han put down the book in his hand. He felt an extremely subtle but constant "interference", not a sound, not an energy, but an extremely annoying "sense of nothingness" or "sense of stripping of meaning" that tried to penetrate into his consciousness.
This feeling tried to make him think about the "meaninglessness" of sunbathing and make him question the "purpose" of his own existence. This interference with his inner peace and pure enjoyment made him feel extremely unhappy.
"Spiritual pollution." He whispered in disgust, Super-Senses - especially the perception involving the absolute autonomy and certainty of existence at the level of consciousness - instantly locked onto the "Void Whisper" that permeated the collective subconscious of mankind.
To him, it was like trying to drip ink into a clear, pure water source, contaminating its essence.
He didn't even look for the source of the pollution, but subconsciously "radiated" his own consciousness field of absolute "existence" and absolute "self-determination" outward slightly.
Like an absolutely bright beacon, its light instantly dispels all the fog and shadows that try to get closer.
The "Void Whisper" that tries to instill "nihility" and "meaninglessness", at the moment it comes into contact with this consciousness field of absolute "existence" and "self-affirmation", its own "nihility" attribute is like encountering a nemesis, and is instantly filled, covered, and disintegrated.
The collective spiritual oppression that enveloped the world came to an abrupt end.
The nightmares stopped, the anxiety subsided, and the inexplicable sense of emptiness was replaced by the renewed vitality of life. People woke up blankly, as if they had just woken up from a heavy dream. Although they were still frightened, the world became colorful and full of meaning again.
Avengers also felt instantly refreshed, and the previous depression and doubts disappeared.
"The whispering... has stopped?" Steve felt his fighting spirit rekindled.
"It's him again?" Natasha keenly felt that the suffocating pressure disappeared.
Doctor Banner watched the mental health index begin to rebound and murmured, "He... He used his absolute 'sense of existence' to act as a 'base point of meaning'? Forcibly dispelling the 'nothingness'?"
Strange felt the collective subconscious ocean returning to "health" and breathed a long sigh of relief, "For him, maybe he just felt that the 'psychological atmosphere' just now was too depressing and affected his mood to bask in the sun, so he 'purified' it."
In an indescribable "void" beyond the conceptual level, an ancient existence that tried to pull intelligent civilization into the Eternity void recorded this failure.
"Observation record: The target civilization (identification: Terra) has an unanalyzable 'Existence Fortress'. The 'self-definition' of its core individuals is strong enough to distort the logic of local reality and is immune to all forms of 'Meaning Deconstruction' and 'Nothingness Assimilation'. The assimilation protocol failed. The target civilization is included in the 'untouchable' list. Warning: Any further attempts may trigger 'existential backlash.'"
Xiao Han felt that the "normal" and "meaningful" psychological environment around him had returned, and that annoying "whisper of nothingness" completely disappeared.
Peace of mind returns.
This is good.
As for who is whispering? Why spread nothingness?
He has no interest.