Far away in the unobservable megaverse, a giant formed of stars flew into a towering rage.
It was Eternity, one of the Five Great Creator Gods!
"Damn it! Damn it! Lord of the Ming Realm, damn you!"
Eternity gritted his teeth, seething with fury.
Countless galaxies around him trembled, as though cowering in fear.
Bringing the Ancient One under his command was a crucial part of Eternity's plan, and he had made rapid progress. He had already won over every Ancient One across all the Hyper-Multiverses; only the Multiverse-level Ancient Ones remained.
He had never expected that, just as he descended into the Multi-Universe today to recruit the Ancient One, the damned Lord of the Ming Realm would suddenly appear and derail everything he had planned next.
Had only the Vishanti been present, Eternity would have had nothing to fear. Though the Vishanti were powerful, they were still far beneath him, a Hyper-Omniverse-level being.
But the Lord of the Ming Realm's intervention had forced him to give up on the Ancient One in the Multi-Universe.
Eternity felt that even if his true body descended, he would probably struggle to gain any advantage over the Lord of the Ming Realm.
"I need to discuss the plan with Infinity and the others."
Eternity cast one last, lingering look in the direction of the Multi-Universe, then departed.
Meanwhile, news of the Lord of the Ming Realm pursuing Eternity across realms had spread throughout all the Hyper-Multiverses. Even the unobservable megaverse had heard of it.
Countless gods were stunned. The Lord of the Ming Realm stayed out of sight, but whenever he appeared, he caused an enormous stir!
After his previous long disappearance, he had reappeared and decisively defeated the Serpent God Set within the Sea of Serpents dimension.
This time, he had vanished for five hundred years, only to pursue Eternity the moment he returned. He had chased him all the way to the Space-Time Barrier between the Hyper-Multiverse and the megaverse before stopping.
Lu Chen was extremely pleased after bringing the Ancient One under his command. She truly possessed extraordinary talent. Immediately after merging with the Snow Mastiff Armor's true form, she had been able to summon it, her strength leaping straight from Skyfather-level to Single-Universe-level!
Bzz!
Just then, gray death energy billowed out of empty space and enveloped Lu Chen.
Sensing that familiar aura of death, Lu Chen raised an eyebrow. "Death?"
The next moment, a Death Passage leading to the place where all things met their finality manifested before him.
Without hesitation, Lu Chen stepped inside.
The familiar sensation of falling washed over him. When Lu Chen opened his eyes again, he had arrived in the Land of Death, with Death standing before him.
Today, Death took the form of an East Asian high school girl, wearing a fitted, elegant little suit. Her preppy look was youthful and lively.
"Lu Chen, you promised me! Why didn't you keep your word?!"
Death pouted, sulking.
Lu Chen had no idea what she meant. "Wh-what's wrong?"
Death grew even angrier and stamped her foot. "Hmph! You said you'd come see me! Five hundred years have passed, and you haven't visited me once!"
"Death, I..."
Lu Chen opened his mouth, about to explain.
"If I hadn't taken the initiative this time, who knows how long it would've taken you to remember to visit me!"
"Just listen to me..."
Death immediately covered her ears. "I'm not listening, I'm not listening, I'm not listening..."
"Let me..."
"I'm not listening, I'm not listening, I'm not listening!"
"Damn it, you're really pushing it now, aren't you?"
Annoyed, Lu Chen stepped forward and kissed Death right on her cherry-red lips!
"Mmph..."
Death's beautiful eyes widened, and her mind went blank.
Though she was one of the megaverse's Five Great Creator Gods, governing the laws of death and the finality of all things...
At heart, she was still an utterly hopeless romantic.
And so Lu Chen's domineering kiss made her melt completely!
Soon, Death's body went limp in Lu Chen's arms, leaving herself entirely at his mercy.
After a long while, Lu Chen released her.
Death opened her eyes in a daze, surprised that Lu Chen had stopped.
Looking at the girl's delicate face before him, Lu Chen said fiercely, "Are you going to throw another unreasonable tantrum next time?"
Death looked a little aggrieved. "What's your relationship with that Wu Fengji, and that Ancient One...?"
Lu Chen froze, then hurriedly explained, "Master and disciples. I saw their potential and granted them the power of the armors so they could conquer universes and dimensions for me."
Death looked him up and down suspiciously. "Really?"
"Absolutely!"
"All right, I believe you. But you're mine, understand?" Death said.
"I know, I know."
Lu Chen felt a little sheepish. Damn, I've finally managed to appease this hopeless romantic.
After spending a while longer being affectionate with Death, Lu Chen left the land of finality.
Time flew by. In the blink of an eye, more than a thousand years had passed, and the timeline had reached the millennium.
"The millennium already? That means all those major events are about to begin!"
Lu Chen began to look forward to it. Starting with the millennium, Marvel's major events would come one after another without end. Even Infinity War paled in comparison to the major events of the millennium.
In the first year of the millennium, superheroes and supervillains of every stripe would emerge one after another, and terrifying flames of war would consume everything.
"I'll go take a look at Earth."
Lu Chen traveled to an Earth in one of the Multi-Universes and opened a coffee shop in an American Chinatown.
In many of the novels and anime from his previous life, powerful figures seemed to enjoy opening bars or cafés.
Lu Chen had no idea why they did that, so he decided to try it himself and find out what made it appealing.
One sunny, breezy afternoon, Lu Chen sat by the window, sipping coffee he had ground himself, eating delicate pastries, and admiring the scenery outside.
Though it was only the millennium, technology had already far surpassed that of Earth in his previous life. Futuristic buildings and flying vehicles were everywhere outside.
Bzz!
Just then, a Magic Array showering sparks opened beside him, and the Ancient One stepped out.
Sensing the lingering aura of Hell on the Ancient One, Lu Chen asked, "Did you go to the Hell Dimension?"
The Ancient One nodded. "Yes. I also fought Mephisto, the Lord of Hell."
Lu Chen's expression remained calm. "Mephisto won, didn't he?"
"Yes, Mephisto won. He's very strong. Even after upgrading the Snow Mastiff Armor into the Blizzard Demon Mastiff, I still couldn't beat him."
The Ancient One remained composed. Mephisto was a particularly powerful Dimension Demon.
Lu Chen chuckled despite himself. "There's no shame in losing to Mephisto. He's much stronger than that fellow, the Serpent God Set. Though I've never fought him, he should be second only to Cyttorak."
"Yes. Oh, on my way back, I also ran into the summoners of the Earth Tiger Armor, the Black Rhino Armor, and the King Kong Armor," The Ancient One said.
Lu Chen took a casual sip of coffee. "How's their potential?"
"Decent, but their compatibility is a little low. After two thousand years, none of the three has reached ten percent compatibility," The Ancient One replied.
"All right, then there's no need to make a special trip to bring them over. They'll probably need tens of thousands more years to achieve perfect compatibility," Lu Chen said.
Bzz!
Space rippled again, and a woman wearing a fiery-red martial arts outfit stepped out.
It was Wu Fengji, the strongest summoner of the Flame Dragon Armor!