Superman from the comics: Starting with the Black Robe

Chapter 383 The Whereabouts of the Aether

Chapter 383 The Whereabouts of the Aether

"Don't you remember? Thousands of years ago, we stood shoulder to shoulder—"

Thor, assuming he was viewing Superman through his own timeline, only realized halfway through his sentence that this wasn't quite right. Clever as he was, he immediately tried to understand the situation: "Ah, right, you really don't remember. My past is part of your future, your future is my past, your present is my present, and your future hasn't happened yet, and then—"

"Thor, Thor!"

Joey snapped his fingers several times to quickly interrupt Thor's overloaded brain: "Stop thinking about it, just tell me about that war related to the Aether!"

"What else could it be? You should know, I told you before, that you fought a war with me that lasted for thousands of years in the future."

"How would I know what will happen before it even happens!"

With his life hanging in the balance, Joey had no time to worry about the future, which was unlikely to happen anytime soon, and he had no idea how he had willingly gone to jail with Thor for a thousand years.

All he wanted to know now was how to get his hands on the Aether, the Reality Stone: "Give me a straight answer, Thor, what exactly do I need to do to get the stone?"

Thor looked troubled: "It's hard to say."

Obtaining the gems was the easiest part; the difficulty lay in what to do with them afterward: "We tried our best, but all we could do was weaken them and then seal them away!"

Taking away the ether particles means releasing those things.

Joey wondered what kind of being could make the brave and fearless God of Thunder tremble: "I don't understand, why would there exist an enemy that even a combination of your past self and your future self, or your future self and your past self, couldn't defeat?"

Joey thought that he should be very strong in the future, so why did he still have enemies he couldn't defeat?

Do we trust the wisdom of future generations?

But the problem is, he should have passed on the problems that he couldn't solve at the moment to his future self, his predecessor—

Just like summer homework that is never done in advance, it is always the present me who digs a hole for the future me. How can someone leave a difficult problem for the past me to solve in the future?

Besides, Thor was still stammering and couldn't give a clear answer, so Joey had to keep pressing him: "What exactly is it, or who is it?"

"I can't say." Thor, who was usually unable to keep any secrets, unusually kept his mouth shut this time: "I can't tell you a single word about that existence."

"What's the reason this time? At least give us a name?"

Joey didn't have time to mess around with Saul. Even if Saul only gave her a name, at least she'd have a direction to prepare in advance: "Don't worry, I absolutely, positively won't beat you up like last time because of our 'sisterhood' issue!"

"That's not the same thing at all."

Thor, who used to be so happy with drinks and laugh like a fool when there wasn't, now had a serious face. The matter was of great importance, and he was unusually calm: "This concerns the survival of the entire universe, so I cannot say."

Unable to obtain the Reality Gem and without an answer, Joey blurted out without thinking, "You don't trust me, do you?"

"If that's what you think," Thor said nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders and delivering his standard two-part response, "then there's nothing I can do about it."

"————" In this moment of silence, Joey could only feel his head rapidly turning red.

Why did this scene seem so familiar to him?

Enraged, Joey wanted nothing more than to tie up that idiot Saul right then and there, hang him up, and torture him to extract a confession. Riddler is just too annoying!

"Can't say?" Joey was slightly puzzled. "Not even a name? What the hell are we sealing away? Tom Riddle? If you release it, I'll crush him with one hand—huh?"

Joey, who had been staring at Thor, suddenly frowned, because when he mentioned the part about "names not being mentioned"—

"I saw it in your eyes, Thor!"

Joey's little tricks, while insufficient to deal with a cunning Batman, were utterly ineffective against Thor, who was far less cunning: "That thing's name really can't be mentioned? What is it? A demon? An evil god?"

"I can't see what you're saying~"

Thor's eyes darted around, and seeing that Superman was about to extract some information from him, he quickly closed his eyes and covered his ears: "I can't hear your expression either!"

Poor Thor was driven to the point where he couldn't even speak properly by Joey.

"Fine, don't tell me then."

Joey gave up too. Not everything can be accomplished by fooling around. Instead of getting bogged down in trivial details that can't be taken care of, it's better to find a way to solve the problem within the existing conditions.

So, after much agonizing thought, Joey decided to pass the buck to Thor: "Think of a way, Thor. I really need the Reality Stone, or our universe and all the other parallel universes will be finished."

He had to tell Thor, an Asgardian, about the multiverse collision crisis.

As one of the hubs in Odin's Nine Realms, they wouldn't just destroy Midgard (Earth), would they?

Upon hearing the news, Thor, also infected by Joey's cries, sat down in deep space with Mjolnir under his buttocks, looking utterly miserable: "You really know how to give me a hard time!"

But not long after, Thor, with his extraordinary wisdom, came up with a solution: "—You mean we just blow up the Earth—Hey, hey, hey, just kidding, don't do it!"

Enraged, Joey kicked him, yelling, "I'll blow you up first!"

When Odin was young, he was willing to risk his life to fight the Celestials in order to protect the Earth. If he heard his rebellious son's words now, he would probably use Gungnir to give him a big eye on the butt!

"I'm afraid it's going to be a bit difficult." Thor, who had been kicked over, rolled over, revealing the golden spear tip on his back: "The old man has fallen asleep again."

As he grew older, Odin, the king of the gods, was no longer as vigorous as he once was, and he often needed to fall into deep sleep to calm his divine power.

In other words, Thor is now in charge of Asgard again.

The burden of protecting the Nine Realms and this universe now rests on his shoulders.

The Aether is now in a dual-purpose situation—Superman needs it to prevent a cosmic collision crisis, while Asgard is unable to remove it from its seal.

"I'll figure out a way to deal with the ether particle issue."

After pondering for a long time, Thor, feeling an extra weight on his shoulders, dusted himself off and got up, as if he had made up his mind: "I'll go visit those old fogies in the Council of Elders and see if they have any other ideas."

The Collector who summoned Thor and Captain Marvel to retrieve the Power Stone is a member of the "Elders of the Universe" that Thor mentioned.

These old fellows are almost all ancient immortals who have existed since the beginning of the universe. Perhaps they are knowledgeable and can offer guidance.

"As for you, I feel that you have a long way to go before you can reach my past."

Thor patted Joey on the shoulder and uttered an ancient Norse phrase: "Farvel (farewell), my old friend."

>