Free Web NovelChapter 898: Wait for Me
Darkness spread everywhere. Everything around him had fallen into shadow... Faint, treacherous halos of light drifted and flowed, vanishing in an instant, yet appearing without cease.
"Haa..."
On the bed, a man let out a low groan.
The pain from that time still tormented him. Failure, fear, a broken promise, death... It was as if it were happening right now. The nightmare had never stopped for even a moment, striking at him again and again.
"It wasn’t a dream. I died... I really came back to life."
Tony Stark’s face lay in the cold darkness. His eyes were tightly shut, his brows furrowed. Then he abruptly opened them, breathing rapidly. The motion sensor light flicked on, illuminating his unkempt, stubbled, exhausted face.
Whoosh.
The soundproof and lightproof partition curtains of the single cabin began to move as well.
"Tony, Tony..."
A familiar voice, slightly tense and excited, sounded out. It was the Hulk—Dr. Bruce Banner. With a look of delight on his face, he floated weightlessly toward Stark.
"Doctor, are you playing around in the gravity chamber again?"
"No, I’m studying it. Look, Tony. The gravity regulation system in this cabin is far more precise and multifunctional than anything I’ve seen in other interstellar empires. Zero gravity, simulated Earth gravity, one to ten times gravity—all adjustable. And they’ve even segmented the sleeping quarters for private calibration."
"You’re really optimistic." Hearing this, Stark rubbed his face and forced a bitter smile. "Oh, sorry. I forgot you’ve got experience traveling the universe. But... where are we?"
"Wherever we are, we’re definitely not on Earth." Banner spread his hands. "We just received a message. We’ve arrived at our destination."
As Stark had once done—self-exile, wandering the cosmos for years, even fighting as a gladiator on Sakaar—Banner had seen plenty. At this moment, his state of mind was far steadier than Stark’s.
"At least we’re alive. That big bad Thanos is gone, right?" he continued.
"Yeah." Stark nodded blankly.
To be honest, he had no idea how Thanos—who had already secured ultimate victory in his eyes—had been defeated. Who had beaten him? How had Stark himself come back to life? He hadn’t the faintest clue.
His consciousness had returned in a haze. Then he was told they had won. After that, amid exchanged glances and shared confusion, they were transferred—who knew where—from a military warship to a specialized troop transport vessel.
"The ’Order’—no, the Empire—where are they going to send us? When can we return to Earth?" Rubbing his tightly furrowed brow, Stark urgently wanted answers.
Though the Imperial Navy crew had not spoken much with them, one thing was clear: the so-called Divine Empress Order was a branch of the Demon Inquisitor Chapter under the Sacred Selene Empire’s Inquisition—a strike cruiser fleet.
Their military operations were described as missionary work, patrols, the expansion of new preaching territories, spreading the Lord’s glory. A crusade. There was precedent for that, and Stark did not dwell on it.
Because dwelling on it was useless. Better to think about how he could return to Earth. He still owed someone a grand wedding.
If they were sent to the edge of the universe—or worse, into another universe entirely—he would have nowhere to cry.
What if faster-than-light travel caused temporal discrepancies? He had spent time within a collapsing superdimensional network. If decades had passed on Earth while he was gone—if Pepper had grown old, married someone else, or even passed away...
Concern clouded judgment. The great event was over, yet Stark’s heart remained in turmoil.
"The Imperial Capital," Banner said suddenly.
"The Imperial Capital?"
The geographical term pulled Stark from his thoughts.
"The residence of the Divine Empress," Banner muttered thoughtfully. "Like the domain of the gods. The center of power in the universe. The seat of the ruler who unifies all things. The place where countless races pay homage... Tony, what posture and etiquette should we adopt so we don’t offend anyone?"
"Doctor, you’re overthinking it." Stark shook his head.
He pointed at himself. "What are we? Barbarians from the frontier. Etiquette? We’ll just go with the flow. You think we’re actually going to meet the Divine Empress?"
Getting up, Stark chuckled and clapped Banner on the shoulder.
As for the abstract concept of a god—not someone like Thor, but a true deity—he now believed. But his attitude remained one of distant respect. Reverence was fine. Meeting one? Better not. Contact? Even less.
"If we’re meeting anyone, it’ll probably be Thor. Isn’t he the prince of Odin?"
"Right, right—Thor. Let’s find Thor."
After a few light jokes to ease the tension, the two dressed and washed efficiently, then walked out of the sleeping cabin in orderly fashion. They exchanged brief greetings with fellow "countrymen"—Wolverine and Jean Grey from the former X-Men, former S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, military personnel, street-level heroes—familiar and unfamiliar alike.
Leaving the area that was both vast and confined, they proceeded forward.
The loudspeakers sounded. Naval crew members in crisp uniforms had been waiting. Everything was handled strictly by protocol—no unnecessary pleasantries. After routine verification checks, they were led out of the sleeping quarters and joined with people from other cabin sections.
Thor, grinning broadly with his naturally jovial expression, joined them as well.
He didn’t seem too shaken by death and resurrection. Thanos was dead. It didn’t matter who killed him. During this voyage, rumor had it he had downed over a dozen barrels of Imperial-supplied alcohol.
Amid casual banter to ease nerves, Stark glanced sideways through the porthole at the flickering lights outside.
A sea of stars stretched to the horizon—an ocean of light, a kingdom of radiance.
A colossal "void" spanned the super-celestial-scale spaceport. Traces of warped space and matter shimmered within it. In that intoxicating ocean of super-energies, distortion overlapped with reality itself.
Tap, tap.
They soon reached the deck corridor. The group lined up quickly and organized their personal belongings. Faces—nervous and curious—were half-hidden in shadow.
Amid reports and deployment announcements, the massive unloading gate of the deck opened.
An officer called out in a loud voice, "Pay attention to the designated port sectors! Follow the assigned guides! Observe and ask less—maintain silence. No loud noise!"
Following intelligent port guides, Stark and the others stepped onto the stargate spaceport bridge with the procession. Beneath tasseled, red-backed double-headed eagle banners hanging vertically, among evenly spaced Astartes statues and towering colonnades, they walked along the broad corridor toward an elevated platform marked by flashing holographic indicators.
There, a contingent of Imperial Capital guards and armed exo-mechs stood at the ready.
Beside the tall, faintly luminous figure of Sergeant Major John, a group of individuals in high-ranking white lab coats, wearing chest badges, were engaged in conversation with uniformed port staff.
"Researchers. Scientists. From the Imperial Science Bureau?" Dr. Banner murmured to Stark and Thor.
"Hiss—"
Stark was about to speak when the green-haired beauty at the front—clearly the leader—touched the holographic file display before her. She lifted her head.
Her gaze met Stark’s directly.
A lingering, almost intimate eye contact.
The green-haired beauty narrowed her eyes as though sizing up prey.
Stark instinctively wanted to lower his head. But then he thought, What am I afraid of? She’s not military. She’s a researcher. Picking apprentices or something? Fine, then I’ll stare back.
"Interesting man."
"Him, him, him—and these ones too. I want them. The rest are yours." Her slender finger tapped lightly as Mobius curled her lips into a smile. Interest glimmered within those gradient serpent-like pupils.
Seeing this, Dr. Halsey immediately laughed. "You certainly know how to choose. You picked all the most valuable ones and left me a bunch of strays."
"Hidden talent deserves to be uncovered."
Chuckling softly, Halsey considered it for a moment. "Fine. They’re yours. But I’ll keep this debt on record. Once you’ve brought your useful companions back, I’ll be looking forward to it."
"Just wait and see." Mobius naturally had no objections.
However...
"Not yet." She lifted her head and gazed at the artificial sea of stars above.
"Although I desperately want to request an audience with Her Majesty right now, I know the work in front of me matters more. Rewards are earned through merit. Bringing back the enemies of ’Honkai’—and the most stubborn, hateful, inflexible bunch at that—without sufficient justification or accomplishments to show for it... the Imperial Guards would throw me out of Schönbrunn Palace. That would be far too embarrassing."
To Mobius, the most admirable and awe-inspiring aspect of Selene—the Empress, the Goddess of Honkai born and strengthened through Honkai itself, the Goddess of Finality—was precisely this.
Her broad-mindedness.
As long as one earned enough merit under the laws she established, even former enemies—even enemies personally slain by the Empress herself—had never been forbidden. Selene had never once declared such things impossible.
And that alone was enough.
What was left unsaid meant it was permissible.
If Selene had openly expressed disgust toward the other Flame-Chasers or hostility toward the civilization of the Previous Era, Mobius neither would have nor dared to entertain such thoughts.
To directly petition the Divine Empress? Did you think you were the Supreme Grand Inquisitor or Princess Alyssa?
That could get you killed.
"Mm... we still need more people. Hua, Pardofelis... yes, everyone really ought to gather together." She muttered to herself. "Surely they wouldn’t object to reviving former comrades, friends... loved ones. Kiana, Durandal, Raiden Mei... we’ll need to win them over as well."
"The regrets left behind in the past. The people they loved and cared about... they have them too, don’t they?"
Leaning slightly forward, Mobius gestured for her newly cultivated little subordinate, Orochimaru, to go receive the arrivals. At the same time, her fingers rubbed together restlessly as she considered the current assignments of the Valkyries, Schicksal personnel, and former World Serpent members.
"Kiana Kaslana is still serving her term as planetary governor. If I remember the schedule correctly, Hua and the others took advantage of their rare collective vacation and went there too. Which world was it again... Colony World II-202149 (Attack on Titan). They should be returning soon, I think."
"A perfect opportunity. Everyone just happens to be together."
Her mind raced.
"But Kevin—that blockheaded ice-brain—and Mei, who’s become completely obsessed with anti-Honkai ideology... troublesome. Very troublesome. Hua is deeply sentimental... Himeko’s death..."
She paused.
"Forget it. Leave it to fate. Bringing back even one of them would be enough."
"The new world and the new order have already entered the right track. Honkai now fully coexists with our homeworld (Honkai Impact 3rd), inseparable from it. Even if it happened in this form... could things really become any worse? Once the time is right, compared to Her Majesty, we’re all far too insignificant now."
Wasn’t it tragic?
But what could they do about it?
Perhaps being insignificant was itself a kind of fortune.
Those minor grievances and resentments of the past might, to the Empress, amount to nothing more than a fleeting judgment made during an important moment of her journey—less significant than any single word or stroke she now expended while reviewing Imperial memorials.
Mobius turned to look down upon the vast Honkai supercontinent beneath her feet.
The Imperial Capital was there.
The Grand Palace was there.
The sea of starlight clouds drifted like smoke and mist, as though countless golden gods swam and shifted within them. Reality and illusion intertwined, indistinct and hazy.
Beautiful...
An order that coexisted alongside Honkai.
If they could not witness such a sight for themselves...
Wouldn’t that be a terrible shame?
"Wait for me."
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