American comics: Starting with Luke the Maker

Everything returned to normal.

Spirit of Existence.

White Ring Legion.

Barry in a running stance.

And Clark and the others.

"Barry, get ready!" Wayne took a deep breath, having made his decision.

"Barry?" Seeing Barry's unresponsive and dejected state, Wayne was filled with confusion in the mental link.

"It's no use," Barry transmitted back to Wayne.

"No use? You've already tried it?" Wayne was initially stunned, but as if realizing something, he asked Barry with a serious expression.

"I've traveled through time many times, but I encounter him every time. He's the one who sent me back," Barry said, filled with despair. "He's locked onto our timeline. I don't know how he did it, but he did. He's seized all the futures and converged them into one."

"Now?" Everyone present was also in the mental link, hearing Wayne and Barry's exchange. Looking in the direction of Thanos, even those who had held onto hope felt immense pressure.

Without a doubt, the fact that the opponent chose this timeline meant that the continuation of this timeline signified: the opponent's goal was achieved, and their attempts to stop him had failed.

For a moment, even though everyone was surging with powerful energy, they clearly felt their helplessness. They were at their wit's end.

The universe was sealed off.

The timeline was locked.

The seal had completely failed.

Fight? That was also a long and despairing choice.

The worst part was that even if they chose to fight, they would be powerless to stop the invasion that they would face in the near future.

In this situation, was there any point in fighting?

For a moment, everyone felt a sense of confusion.

"Not struggling or resisting?" Accurately grasping the somewhat low morale of the opposing side, Thanos did not choose to attack proactively, as if he wasn't the one who had just stifled their hope and brought them despair. He even bypassed a distant meteorite, shaping it into a large seat, and sat down in front of Clark and the others.

"We will fight to the last moment," Wayne gave his answer.

"I truly envy you," Thanos said with a smile on his face, expressing his admiration for Wayne and the others who stood up again with a tragic and determined morale.

"Envy?" Wayne and the others realized that Thanos's current state seemed somewhat off. The previously brave, violent, and incomparably powerful enemy seemed to have disappeared, replaced by a seemingly senile person who had lost all desires and only retained some memories. They even had trouble understanding his words.

What was there to envy about them?

Envy their struggles, failures, and willingness to die?

"You are able to choose to resist and fight, isn't that something to be envied? Don't look at me as if you're facing a great enemy. My mission has been accomplished, and what happens next has nothing to do with me. I just want to enjoy this moment of tranquility," Thanos said calmly.

For a moment, Clark and the others actually felt sincerity in Thanos's tone. He was genuinely envious of them. Envious of them, the losers!

"He's coming?" After a moment of silence, Wayne asked Thanos.

"Yes, he may be coming, but he may not come either," Thanos said words that made people frown. He indeed seemed to lack any desires at this moment, as if a hungry person had been satiated, a thirsty person had drunk their fill, and a desire had been fulfilled. His sharpness had all been restrained and dissipated, and his entire temperament had become peaceful.

"You envy us because we can resist you, but you can't resist that Luke?" Wayne, wearing the White Ring, had already noticed the seven forces in the universe converging to send some kind of energy signal outside the universe. They could no longer stop the beacon towers from operating. He now only wanted to obtain more information about that Luke from Thanos.

"Isn't it sad? I can defeat you, but I can't resist Luke. I'm just a creation. A clone made based on the original. I was given a mission that I couldn't refuse, and I was implanted with this core," Thanos said, tearing open his chest with the gauntlet, revealing a core beating like a heart in his chest cavity.

"Heart of Obsession, an advanced application of mental energy technology." As if he just wanted to pour out his feelings, Thanos pointed to his [heart] under the horrified gaze of Wayne and the others. A circle of energy was corroding his flesh on his chest, competing with his own self-healing ability, making it impossible for the wound in his chest cavity to heal.

"Luke extracted my obsession and used the energy he created to make this heart. Based on its emotional attributes, he named it the Heart of Obsession. It's powerful, resilient, and has incredible power. Luke set a task for me in this heart.

This task has become my obsession!

Who can resist their own obsession? Only when one's obsession is satisfied will it be content. Before that, it will drive you to achieve your obsession by any means, regardless of the cost!

What's even more unsolvable is that it has a tenacity more stubborn than hope. If the obsession is not satisfied, the executor will never stop and will never die.

The Spirit Energy Gauntlet, which gathers the emotional spectrum energies, is a heavy burden. The reason I've been able to persist until now is that the Heart of Obsession is forcibly maintaining the balance of life and power. Now that this heart has been satisfied, it is no longer bearing those burdens for me."

As Thanos spoke, he reached out and took the Spirit Energy Gauntlet off his hand, as if this powerful artifact was an ordinary glove, and threw it down next to his seat. He let out a long sigh of relief, crossed his hands and leaned back in the high-backed chair made of meteorite, squinting his eyes, like a peaceful old man in his twilight years lying by the stove.

"You can't resist Luke?" Hal and the others, listening to Thanos's outpouring, felt even more depressed. Even a powerful being like Thanos couldn't resist that Luke, did they really have a future?

"To be precise, I can't resist my obsession. And my obsession comes from the task that Luke set for me. I won't say sorry to you, nor will I give you any advice, that would be too cruel for you.

I just want to enjoy this moment of peace that belongs to me alone in the last moment of my life. We may meet again in the future, but that will no longer be the current me."

Thanos's voice grew lower and lower, as if he was about to fall into slumber. His body was shattered by some force, turning into countless firefly-like points of light, leaving only the beating Heart of Obsession.

A brilliant and dazzling light burst out from the Heart of Obsession, like the Big Bang. Everyone lost their sight, hearing, touch, and consciousness in the torrent of energy.

When they finally regained their ability to think, Thanos and the heart had completely disappeared, leaving only the Spirit Energy Gauntlet, which had lost all its luster and Spirit Beasts, lying alone in the void next to the seat.

Wayne and the others sensitively noticed that something had been added to the universe, but they couldn't determine exactly what it was. Their hearts were also somewhat empty at this moment, not knowing what kind of emotions to express to their masters.

PS: Thanks to Ji Xuanji and Li Ling for the rewards.