Chapter 563

From the moment Shiler returned to the Marvel Universe, he discovered that this egg had begun to show signs of movement. For instance, the "thump-thump" heartbeat became more distinct, and his telepathy could sense emotions from within the egg, accompanied by "gurgling" sounds.

Shiler initially assumed the egg was about to hatch, so he began contemplating how to handle it to maximize his gains.

However, after observing it for a few days, Shiler realized something was wrong. The heartbeat continued, and the sounds inside persisted, but there was absolutely no sign of it hatching.

Moreover, as the vitality within the egg grew more vigorous, Shiler could increasingly perceive the emotions inside—a sense of cruelty and madness unique to Doomsday, almost spilling out.

Although he didn't know why the Doomsday from the DC Universe had turned into an egg, since he knew what was inside, Shiler certainly had to prepare early to deal with this monster.

Doomsday is difficult to kill, or rather, in the DC world, he is nearly impossible to kill.

Much like Jason Voorhees in the *Friday the 13th* universe, it isn't that they are truly invincible, but rather a setting of the universe; in that world, they are simply destined to be immortal.

The concept of the "Fourth Wall" has always existed in American comic book worlds, so it can be understood that the writers of that universe decided Death would not claim Doomsday, so naturally, he couldn't die.

However, just because Death in that universe wouldn't claim him doesn't mean the same applies here; that setting might not hold in this universe.

Especially since he shares a similar profile with Ultron—both endure countless hardships, refuse to die, and evolve to become stronger, creating ever-greater trouble for the protagonists. Their settings are nearly identical, but as a local player, Ultron's status is undoubtedly higher.

If one argues based on popularity, when two villains with the same settings appear in one universe, the one with higher popularity is essentially the immortal one. With Doomsday coming to Marvel, it's at most a crossover issue, whereas Ultron is a well-known villain who frequently appears in the main continuity. It goes without saying who is more popular.

This is also why Shiler wanted to use the Marvel Universe to deal with Doomsday.

Handling him requires technique. If he were released, a fight would be inevitable, and he would need a carefully selected battlefield, opponent, and method of death to ensure sufficient rewards.

Following Shiler's style, this would be an immensely complex and tedious plan, containing dozens of subplots, twisting and turning, all to reach the final goal.

Originally, Shiler intended to do just that, but now, he had a more efficient method with greater rewards.

First, he summoned the Gray Mist, then took out the umbrella containing the Cursed Soul, and finally, let the Gray Mist carry the curse into the interior of the egg.

To put it simply, the Gray Mist acted as a syringe, and the Cursed Soul as an insecticide; a single injection of high-concentration insecticide directly into the egg instantly weakened the life activity inside.

Previously, Shiler had tested the efficacy of the Cursed Soul on Black Panther T'Challa. This Cursed Soul, sharing the same origin as John Constantine's, seemed to possess a unique "curse of certain death" that even the Panther Goddess Bast was helpless against.

Moreover, judging by the Black Panther who was cursed, this curse clings to the soul, leaving no external wounds, killing only from within—very much in the style of Constantine.

The Gray Mist acted as the syringe, injecting the Cursed Soul directly into Doomsday's body inside the egg, causing his heartbeat and emotions to drop to their lowest point.

However, a starving camel is still bigger than a horse. After the initial powerful effect, the two sides fell into a stalemate. The Doomsday inside the egg maintained minimal activity, refusing to be completely killed despite the Cursed Soul's attacks.

At this moment, Shiler pulled out another trump card: the refined soul energy of Hydra he had previously fed to the Cursed Soul.

When he sold the souls of Hydra to Mephisto, the commission he received was refined soul energy. Previously, when Shiler fed this to the Cursed Soul, it showed great fondness for it. Now that it needed to work, Shiler certainly wouldn't be stingy with the meal.

The Gray Mist conducted this energy to the Cursed Soul until it was so full it burped. At this point, the Cursed Soul became increasingly powerful, utilizing that potent curse to grind away at Doomsday's soul bit by bit.

The Cursed Soul needed time to absorb the energy, and time to completely destroy the last remnants of the soul. Since Shiler had entered the World Within Restraint in his physical body, he was missing in the real world and couldn't wait there for the Cursed Soul to finish the job.

*Sword of Coming*

He left a portion of the Gray Mist to monitor the situation and then departed the World Within Restraint, returning to reality.

At this moment, Ultron sought him out, leading Shiler to the basement of the sanitarium, where a machine tool and a pile of equipment Shiler couldn't understand had been assembled.

Standing in the center of the room was a suit of armor identical to Iron Man's, though it was significantly larger than Stark's.

Just as Shiler had requested, the limbs had normal structural components, but the chest and abdominal cavity were hollow, fitted with soft, impact-resistant materials, seemingly prepared to house something.

"Excellent, not bad. Can it be used now?" Shiler examined the fake Iron Man armor.

"No, there is one very crucial thing left to do." Ultron walked to the front of the armor and pointed to the chest plate. "Sir, there should be an energy source here."

"But I don't need it to fly. It's not carrying me; I'm carrying it."

"No, that's not it. I mean, Stark's armor possesses a unique light effect, especially the Arc Reactor in the chest, which has almost become the symbol of Iron Man. According to online search results, 60% of New York citizens can recognize the light effect at night. If you want to fake it, you can't avoid this point."

"Can't you just use other lights to fake it?" Shiler asked.

Ultron shook his head. "That isn't just light; it's a special light emitted by a special energy source. Using other lights might mimic it, but it won't be very convincing and could reveal the ruse."

Shiler sighed in frustration. "So, I have to find a lightbulb for it?"

"Uh, if you insist on putting it that way, I suppose so." Ultron clearly didn't approve of Shiler calling the high-tech Arc Reactor a lightbulb.

"Forget it. Wait here." With that, Shiler left the basement and drove toward Stark Tower.

When he walked into the lab at Stark Tower, Stark was, as usual, tinkering with a pile of parts Shiler couldn't understand.

"Something up?" Stark asked without looking up.

"Of course. It's like this: my new sanitarium lobby is missing a brand-new lightbulb..."

"So?" Stark took a sip of water during a pause in his work.

"Can you give me one of your Arc Reactors?"

"Pfft!" Stark spat out his water, then scrambled to move the parts that had been splashed.

Stark stared at Shiler, mouth agape, and seeing Shiler's righteous expression, he found himself momentarily speechless.

"Is it that in your eyes, everything that requires energy and lights up is called a lightbulb?" Stark asked a soul-searching question.

To which Shiler shook his head and said, "In my eyes, things that don't require energy and don't light up can also be called lightbulbs."

Stark scoffed. "That's the same principle as you calling yourself an ordinary person, right?"

With that, he walked to a wall and pressed a few buttons. A door opened, revealing a pitch-black space. Stark walked in and returned less than a minute later, holding a glowing Arc Reactor.

He tossed it to Shiler and said, "It's not the latest model, but it's enough to serve as a lightbulb. Remember to renew my membership for two years so I can enjoy the lobby where the Arc Reactor is used as a lightbulb."

"Aren't you afraid I'll use it for something evil?" Shiler asked.

Stark scoffed again, looking Shiler up and down. "If you could find a use for it other than as a lightbulb, that would be the real surprise!"

With that, he walked back to his workbench to continue his work. Shiler walked out holding the Arc Reactor, muttering to himself:

"If you say so, then I'll have to try."

Returning to the basement of the Arkham Sanitarium, Shiler tossed the Arc Reactor to Ultron. Ultron caught it clumsily, examined it like a treasure, and then regretfully inserted it into the chest of the fake Iron Man armor.

Thus, a convincing fake Iron Man armor was completed.

Or rather, it was actually a real Iron Man armor, because the key to the armor lies in the Arc Reactor in the chest. At this moment, although the reactor wasn't connected to the entire suit and was just a prop, it was still very bright.

Shiler patted the fake armor with satisfaction. Just then, the Gray Mist sent him a notification: the Cursed Soul's work was done, and the soul of Doomsday inside the egg had completely dissipated.

Shiler took the egg out of the World Within Restraint, stuffed it into the body of the fake Iron Man armor, closed the shell, and used the Gray Mist to lift the entire suit, floating it into the New York sky.

It was late at night. The light from the Arc Reactor was brighter than any light shining from the windows. In mid-air, Shiler controlled the flying armor while taking out his phone and calling Loki.

"Loki! Stark says you're a fool! A God of Mischief who got pranked! He's going to broadcast your pathetic look from the day you were stood up all over the Earth!"

"STARK!"

Accompanied by Loki's roar, the light of the Bifrost descended upon the New York sky in an instant. Like a madwoman, Loki appeared above the city.

She scanned the night sky of New York, and there, at the very center, was a super-bright lightbulb. She didn't even need to look closely to know it was the glow of an Iron Man suit's Arc Reactor, like the brightest star in the night sky.

"CRACK!"

A bolt of lightning, incomparably massive, descended from the clouds, carrying light capable of illuminating the entire universe, striking the Iron Man armor in mid-air with a heavy thud.

Inside Stark's lab, Stark was startled by the flash of lightning. He looked out the window, saw nothing unusual, shook his head, and continued burying himself in his experiments.

The next day at noon, Stark, who had just woken up, received a call from Shiler. Shiler said, "I've prepared a birthday gift for you. Come and pick it up."

"Don't start with that. My birthday is in the summer."

Just as Stark was about to hang up, Shiler continued, "You think I'd prepare a boring explosive for you? No, I've prepared a real surprise. You'd better come over quickly to see it..."

Stark clutched his forehead and took a deep breath. He had a bad feeling, so he quickly got dressed and piloted his armor to the Arkham Sanitarium.

Shiler greeted Stark enthusiastically in his office. "I forgot you had a birthday party in the summer, but I was on vacation then. So, I've made up for it with a birthday gift..."

"... What is it?" Stark crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes.

Shiler bent down and, from the side of the desk blocked by the cabinet, pulled out... a little girl.

Shiler held the little girl under her arms and lifted her up, as if holding a pet dog, showing her to Stark, then said, "This is the gift. How about it? Do you like it?"

Stark wore an expression of utter shock, for he saw that on the little girl's chest, there was an Arc Reactor identical to the one in his own chest.

Even more terrifyingly, the little girl Shiler was holding looked at least 80% like Loki.

Schiller held the little girl's armpits with both hands, lifted her up, just like holding a pet dog, displayed her to Stark, and then said: "This is the gift. How is it? Do you like it?"

Stark revealed an incomparably shocked expression, because he saw that on the little girl's chest, there was a reactor exactly the same as the one on his own chest.

What was even more terrifying was that this little girl Schiller was holding looked at least eighty percent like Loki.