allendalepharm Chapter 277 The Land of the Dead and Kara's Betrayal
Chapter 277 The Land of the Dead and Kara's Betrayal
Chapter 277 The Land of the Dead and Kara's Betrayal
When Joey opened his eyes again after losing consciousness, he saw a huge, seemingly endless chasm at his feet.
The entire space was shrouded in mist, and even Joey's eyesight could not penetrate the mist to know what was on the other side of the cliff beneath his feet.
Having been through a lot, he knew in his heart that he had once again carelessly died. His reason told him that it was not a good thing to keep dying like this, but objective reasons caused him to keep jumping between life and death.
This death was completely unnecessary. It would have been better to leave it to the Black Widow, who was at her wit's end. Why did she have to answer Mjolnir's call, transform into Thor, and fight Jormungandr to meet her destined death?
Just as Joey was wondering to himself, "What kind of tricks will they pull this time?", his location finally changed.
A pale skeleton descended from the sky, a skeleton as massive as a mountain range and as long as a star ring, each rib taller than any tree in human history.
The enormous head plummeted, its sharp teeth embedded in the edge of the cliff in front of Joey, while the tail of the other end spiraled out of the cliff, connecting to the other end of the endless abyss before them.
This is the skeleton of a giant snake, and without a doubt, it belongs to Jormungandr, the opponent of Yang Yi just now.
Using the skeleton of the World Serpent as a bridge, Joey was finally able to step forward, cross the mist-shrouded abyss, and head towards the unknown other side.
This snake-bone bridge was supposed to be a distance as long as the circumference of the entire Earth, but Joey reached the end after taking nine steps.
Stepping on the colossal bodies of the mortal world, he crossed from Helheim, the land of the dead, to Valhalla, the temple of heroes, without any hindrance.
This is a newly grown grove of trees, and in the center of the grove is a Viking longhouse.
Legend has it that after settling in a new land, the Vikings would turn over the ship they had come from and use it as a roof to build new houses.
This is why the roof of a traditional Viking longhouse looks so much like the bottom of an overturned boat.
However, this one was different. It had spears as rafters and round shields as roofs. Five hundred and forty doors stood outside, opening one by one to reveal an empty banquet table inside.
It wasn't empty; a Valkyrie, clad in golden armor, a white robe underneath, and adorned with feathers, descended from the sky on a white horse and stood before the door. Only then did Joey notice her long, flowing red hair and her face:
"Black Widow?"
"It was me who sent me to Valhalla, the land of the fallen."
"It seems that Odin's realm of the gods has not been completely destroyed after all."
Joey had always thought that as Ragnarok drew to a close, all divine order would crumble, and that little axe would merely serve a decorative purpose. He never imagined it would send Natasha, the Black Widow, to Valhalla, turning her into a Valkyrie.
"Although Valhalla is currently empty, there's still plenty of wine—would you like to come in and enjoy your victory?"
The Valkyrie's duty, naturally, is to guide the dead into Valhalla in preparation for the next Ragnarok.
Yes, the universe is constantly in a cycle of birth and death, and Ragnarok, the Norse god of the gods, is naturally also in a cycle, which will never end until a chosen hero can break the chains of fate.
"I estimate that we might not have enough time this time."
Having figured this out, Joey declined the Valkyrie Black Widow's invitation and casually picked up a shield to sit down.
"Maybe next time"
Before he could finish speaking, the Jormungandr skeletal bridge behind Joey began to petrify and crack, and a massive gravitational force from beyond the boundary was pulling at his body.
The Valkyrie merely smiled at this sight, watching with no surprise as Joey was pulled back to the mortal realm by a force beyond death:
"goodbye."
When Joey opened his eyes again, he was already standing in the courtyard, his feet on the tail of the corpse of the World Serpent.
Meanwhile, Zhang Parker had almost finished repairing the time machine and it was time for him to leave.
"As for you?"
He raised Mjolnir in his hand and examined it closely, taking in the runes on the side of the hammer. Having received the power of Thor, Joey could now understand the wise inscription without any difficulty.
After silently repeating it twice in his heart, Joey decisively waved his hand, tossing it into the sky. From then on, Mjolnir would travel through the nine realms with its own divine power, without end, until... "As I said before—whoever wields Mjolnir, if he is qualified, can possess the power of Thor!"
Thunder God Power was quite useful, but Joey still gave it up without hesitation.
Firstly, this power ultimately wasn't his own. Secondly, in Joey's view, perhaps this universe, which had just emerged from the tail end of the apocalypse, would need this power far more in the future than he would.
What Joey didn't know was that the brief experience of the true power of God awakened a part of his essence. At the same time, another death caused another part to evolve to the next stage more quickly.
All of this was integrated into his armor, transforming into an information stream imperceptible by normal means, traversing phantom space and infinite dimensions.
They arrived at the terminal of another group of Kryptonians.
To be precise, it was the terminal of Fiora, the Kryptonian lieutenant, located in another universe.
As the person who helped Jor El physically clear one obstacle after another from his path to power, Fiora probably knew far more about Jor El than relatives like Kara.
The suit of armor that Jor El gave to Karl El appears to be fine, but once it's integrated with Karl El's DNA, it will play a role once the latter advances to the next stage.
At least it would allow her to locate the other party's coordinates.
Fiora informed Kara and Nam to prepare for another dimensional traversal; this time, they should be able to truly catch Karl El's tail.
"We're about to catch up with him."
The construction of the teleportation machine did not take much effort; it was merely the tip of the iceberg of the ancient Kryptonian technology that had been revived, far surpassing any primitive civilization they had ever encountered.
The robot, one of the "primitive humans," almost burst out laughing with excitement upon hearing about the Kryptonians' movements—these three humanoid weapons of destruction were finally leaving.
The robot neither knows nor wants to know how terrible and awful Superman's home universe is, that it could give rise to such a powerful and dangerous race.
All he knew was that Invincible Young Hero and his universe were too small to accommodate a big fish like the Kryptonians.
Even an ant standing at the feet of a giant, if it can think, will eventually feel fear.
As the group stepped onto the platform, the teleportation machine made of white crystal activated. Even through the radio, the robot couldn't hide its joy:
"goodbye."
But soon, the robot will realize that he was too optimistic.
Before his sensors could capture any images, the crystal-spirit-like teleporter suddenly exploded. A small mushroom cloud rose from the spot, and the intense heat instantly melted everything near the center of the explosion. The teleportation platform was reduced to nothing in the blink of an eye, and even the drones that the robot had sent out to observe were destroyed on the spot.
Two figures, one large and one small, were thrown backward from the center of the explosion, carving two deep trenches in the ground with unparalleled force.
Their armor was mostly melted by the force of the explosion, and as soon as they hit the ground, it automatically absorbed the material and converted its molecular composition to replenish the armor.
All of this happened so fast that when the robot sent a new drone to check the situation, it could only find Fiora standing there looking unhappy, and Nam still expressionless and silent.
Seeing that two of his living fathers were still there, the robot was extremely frustrated. Even though he noticed Fiora's displeasure, he still cautiously and daringly asked:
"Excuse me, what happened? It seems like one of you is missing—"
"Kara Zo El!"
Fiora gritted her teeth and uttered Kara's name slowly and deliberately, while reaching out to smooth a cut on her face. The wound healed rapidly under the influence of abundant cellular energy, but this did not improve her complexion in the slightest.
"Hello."
The robot was still persistent, but the next second, as if venting its anger, Fiora flicked her wrist and smashed the drone that the robot had sent to ask all sorts of questions into pieces:
"What's it to you?!"
Even as a seasoned Kryptonian lieutenant, Fiora had to admit that because of her special feelings for Jor-El, she had been too indulgent towards the young girl from the El family and hadn't taken her unusual behavior seriously.
With a yellow solar grenade capable of simulating a nuclear fusion explosion, newly equipped Kryptonian blades, and a sudden sneak attack, Kara was able to complete her audacious plan.
At the very last moment of the teleportation, she timed it perfectly and detonated the grenade. The sudden power boost and fusion explosion then drove the other two Kryptonians out of the teleportation platform.
This action was extremely dangerous, so dangerous that even in her anger at being betrayed, Fiora had to admire Kara's courage:
"Truly impressive."
Kara's decision to go alone to find Karl El is an extremely dangerous sign.
Although they all share the same surname, many members of the Al family contradict his ideals, especially for Joe Al, who gained power through special means.
Kara Zo El had proven her loyalty to her uncle long ago, so it's unclear why she has now chosen to betray him.
Should Fiora chase after her and kill her, who is Jor-El's niece?
This matter was beyond Fiora's authority, so she quickly set up communication equipment and sent a briefing to Joe El through the phantom space, despite the significant time difference—
"Kara Zo El has betrayed us."
After waiting anxiously for a while, Joe Al's reply arrived on the terminal immediately—
"Understood. Remain where you are and await further orders."