The laboratory was deathly quiet.
All eyes shifted from the multiverse tree being swallowed by darkness to Franklin's languid face.
The T-shirt printed with "I love New York " was stretched and deformed because of his slumped posture in the chair.
Reed Richards stared at his son, his lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he couldn't utter a single word.
The scientific edifice he had built with all his life's learning seemed like a joke in the face of his son's words, "Stop calculating."
"You mean, it's safe here?" Emma Frost broke the silence, staring intently at Franklin, trying to find a clue in his sleepy expression.
Franklin shifted his foot from the keyboard and burped again.
"Relatively safe." He shrugged. "Dad, the place you built your city is called the Knowhere, which is outside the framework of the multiverse. If that 'pale white' spreads over, we'll be the last to be affected. When that happens, I'll just drag the entire Frost City into my pocket dimension. No big deal."
He spoke of it so casually, as if he were simply talking about what to eat for dinner.
But to others, these words were like a thunderclap.
Pocket dimension? Can you fit an entire city, comparable in size to a continent, inside?
Magneto Erik tightened his arms slightly.
He had witnessed the Phoenix Force and the Celestials, but the idea that one could create a world so casually was still beyond his comprehension.
Just what level of monster is this young man?
"Impossible!" Reed finally spoke, his voice trembling slightly, not from fear, but because his world of logic was collapsing.
"Every problem has a solution, every crisis has a pattern, and there's always a way outside the rules!" he practically shouted. "This isn't scientific!"
"Dad, don't you understand?" Franklin sighed, straightening up slightly in his chair, his usual languid demeanor finally softening. "The things that came this time are here to smash your 'science.' Do you think it's just a bunch of Kangs having a meeting at the end of time?"
He pointed to the blackened cosmic light spots on the holographic sand table.
"Those guys are a problem, but at least they still wanted Loki's throne and had some 'rules.' But now, a whole bunch of even crazier ones have come from outside the multiverse. Some aren't even humanoid; they don't even have a physical form. They want nothing—no authority over time, no rule over the universe. They're here to wipe everything clean, for pure destruction."
Franklin's tone was calm, but every word struck like a heavy hammer, hitting the hearts of everyone in the laboratory.
"Everyone's at least at the Multiverse Level?" Valeria's voice was hoarse. She grabbed Franklin's arm, her nails almost digging into his flesh. " Franklin, then you..."
She wanted to ask, "Can you solve this?"
But he swallowed the words back down his throat.
She knew her brother too well; he never said anything he wasn't sure of.
Franklin looked at his sister's anxious face, and unusually, he didn't use his sharp tongue; instead, his gaze became complicated.
He nodded slightly, then shook his head.
"I'll go," he said, "But I'm not sure if I can stop them."
The air in the laboratory seemed to freeze.
Even Doom fell silent.
He could scorn Reed's intelligence and mock the Avengers ' incompetence, but he knew the weight of Franklin Richards ' words.
This young man never lies, and he never exaggerates.
When he says he's unsure, then he truly is unsure.
"Right now, at the end of time, the only ones truly capable of fighting at the table are Thor, Loki halfway there, Jean Grey, and me," Franklin counted on his fingers, "Just the few of us, facing a catastrophe on the Multiverse Level."
After he finished speaking, he stood up, leaving the half-empty glass of cola on the dented control panel.
He looked around at his family.
His gaze lingered on Reed's pale face for a moment, then glanced at Valeria, who was clinging tightly to him.
"So, you should stay out of it, stay home, and wait for us to come back."
No sooner had he finished speaking than Franklin's ordinary flip-flops unexpectedly shattered the space beneath his feet.
The superalloy floor beneath his feet, along with the void itself, silently shattered and collapsed like a piece of broken glass, revealing the chaotic and turbulent energy flow behind it.
An indescribable, terrifying pressure instantly descended upon the laboratory.
Those metal chairs, which had just been affected by Magneto's magnetic field, were now pressed firmly to the ground by an invisible force, along with several heavy server racks, groaning under the weight.
The air became as thick as jelly, and everyone felt as if they were submerged in the deep sea, making it difficult to breathe.
Doom's pupils suddenly contracted beneath his metal mask.
This feeling... it's not energy, it's the sheer power of "existence" itself.
Franklin stepped into that chaos and vanished without a trace.
The shattered space behind him slowly healed, as if nothing had ever happened.
The suffocating pressure then disappeared.
The laboratory fell silent once more.
The only sounds were the hum of the server cooling fans and the heavy breathing of the crowd.
Valeria remained in the outstretched position, staring blankly at the spot where Franklin had disappeared.
Reed stumbled backward, slamming into the main control panel, as if all his strength had been drained away.
Betsy's knuckles turned white as she gripped the knife handle.
She hated this feeling; the enemy was right there, unimaginably powerful, and she couldn't even find a target to swing her knife at.
Thor... just what kind of Hell battlefield is that over there?
Emma Frost stood still, a hint of worry flashing in her icy blue eyes, but it was quickly replaced by an even colder resolve.
She is the lord of Frost City.
Thor entrusted the backyard to her, so she had to guard it.
She took a deep breath, turned around, and stopped looking at the holographic sand table.
Her face once again displayed the pride and indifference befitting a queen.
"Since we can't get involved in the battle over there," her voice wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally clear, carrying throughout the entire core laboratory, "Then let's just guard his backyard!"
Emma Frost raised her hand and pressed her earpiece without hesitation.
Hill.
"Yes, Ms. Emma Frost." Maria Hill's voice was always so calm.
"Initiate Ark Plan."
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the headset.
Hill knew exactly what this plan meant.
That was Frost City's highest-level survival plan; once activated, it meant complete isolation from the world.
"Command confirmed."
Emma Frost's gaze swept over everyone in the laboratory, finally settling on the holographic sand table.
Her voice resonated throughout Frost City via the city's broadcasting system, from the Asgard Asgard to the cyberpunk-inspired neighborhoods below, from the fighting arena in the South District to the ecological park in the North District.
Cold, authoritative, and leaving no room for doubt.
"Announcement to the entire city! Frost City is now under the highest state of emergency! ' Ark Plan ' is activated!"
"All personnel currently outside the city, return immediately! All portals and spatial anchors connecting to the outside world will be permanently closed in six hours!"
"I repeat! This is not a drill!"
"Go immediately and bring back all your family and friends from other parts of the multiverse, everyone you deem worth bringing back!"
"Six hours later, we will completely sever all ties with the multiverse!"
"If you want to live, hurry up!"