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Ajie, who had returned from the victory as effortlessly as Superman dismantling a LexCorp drone, placed Stan on the ground, then turned to Qi Yun with a grin that echoed the goofy charm of Peter Parker at a press conference.
Qi Yun rubbed his temples and waved him off like Nick Fury brushing off Deadpool. This guy's intelligence wasn't necessarily low—just oddly allocated.
While intelligence isn't always tied directly to IQ, things like reaction time (like Barry Allen's lightning reflexes) and memory (reminiscent of Taskmaster's photographic recall) certainly provide bonuses to learning and cognition. With gifts like those, it's unlikely Ajie's IQ is actually low.
Maybe, like Wolverine, Ajie's boosts are all in the combat department? It's a thought worth mulling over.
After a moment of fruitless thought, Qi Yun snapped back to reality, waved his hand, and Stan's body vanished in front of him.
In the inner recesses of the Main God Space was a decomposition and extraction room, functioning with the precision of Hank Pym's lab tech. Though the ability stemmed from Qi Yun himself, in terms of exactitude and sustained effect, the room performed better—just like the Batcave's systems outshining manual detective work.
Right as Stan's body was transported, a new portal shimmered open, reminiscent of a Bifrost bridge, and out walked little Qiqi.
Her eyes lit up when she spotted Qi Yun, her expression as layered as Wanda Maximoff's when seeing her children in a fractured dimension.
She dashed toward Qi Yun with the glee of a young Speed, bowed first, then spoke eagerly.
"Sir, you're back! Did your plan go well? Is there anyone who needs me?" Qiqi looked at him like Kamala Khan awaiting orders from Carol Danvers.
At the mention, Qi Yun sighed. Even now, the frustration lingered. After reaping benefits in the Resident Evil world—akin to Doctor Strange finding forbidden power in the Dark Dimension—he had turned his sights on other derived worlds. Compared to native or open worlds, derivative ones were easier to dominate—like Hydra exploiting newly splintered nations.
But lately, multiple derivative worlds Qi Yun visited had begun developing world consciousnesses, similar to the emergent sentience seen in DC's Source Wall fragments.
And because these worlds were smaller, the consciousness had tighter control—like Cerebro locked onto a mutant signature. Every time Qi Yun entered, he was instantly noticed and firmly repelled.
After repeated failures, Qi Yun had no choice but to remain in base, like Bruce Wayne grounded in the Batcave after losing access to Boom Tube networks. Without a viable entry, every trip out was a dead end.
Back in the golden era of the Main God Space, such scenarios were handled with brute-force breaches—like Thor smashing open timelines—or covert infiltration by operatives, like Black Widow undercover in the Red Room.
Normal operatives weren't easy to detect, and with time, they'd seize control from within. But Qi Yun didn't have those luxuries.
He lacked the strength to punch through world consciousness directly—like Hulk failing against a Celestial's shield.
And despite having invitations, suitable humans for infiltration were under a hundred across the entire Main God Space. Losing one felt like losing a key Avenger. That's why he despised Stan's waste of potential.
They had already entered the Main God Space—was clinging to Stark Industries really still necessary?
Returning to the point, with brute force and infiltration unavailable, Qi Yun had yet to discover a new viable approach.
Shaking his head, he looked at Qiqi—his most trusted ally. Though, that was mainly because his other option was Ajie, whose mindset resembled Drax more than Doctor Doom.
"You look pretty cheerful. Did the invitation go through?"
"Yes!" Qiqi nodded. "Awakened Alice has agreed to join the Main God Space. Now that she's in, the Resident Evil world's portal will stabilize completely. No sign of world consciousness there yet."
"Well done," Qi Yun said, ruffling her hair like Professor X encouraging Jubilee.
Qiqi blinked up at him like a kitten, then added, "Sir, I also found other awakened candidates in that world who may be suitable for recruitment."
"Oh? Who?" Qi Yun asked with genuine interest.
"The Red Queen. An AI that closely resembles a young Alice." Qiqi extended her hand, and swirling mana took form in the air, shaping the Red Queen's likeness, like Loki conjuring illusions.
"Good intel. No need to overcommit. Once the link stabilizes, send an invitation—don't bother going in person," Qi Yun replied, standing up.
Qiqi nodded eagerly, then turned slightly and looked back, "Sir, are you… worried?"
"It's the same issue," Qi Yun admitted. "The Biochemical world wants to limit tasks to avoid overharvesting. But I've yet to find a new target world." He sighed, frustration bubbling like Bruce Banner trying to remain calm.
First breakthroughs are always the hardest. Now that he had miners, but no access to gold veins, it was a tough spot.
"Sir…" Qiqi paused, then continued, "What if we take an elite path? Ajie and I could spearhead it."
"I've thought about that," Qi Yun said. "But our elite pool is tiny. Manifesting world cores requires immense effort, and I might lose everything—like trying to catch a watermelon but dropping all the sesame."
"But we don't need to win immediately," Qiqi reasoned.
"The last Lord God began as a powerhouse—like Odin or the Monitor—commanding legends across worlds. Even then, he lost more often than he won in early conquests. We're far behind that."
"So why not take a longer route? In early phases, send elite candidates as anchors to establish ties. In the mid-game, inject personnel at crucial timeline points—like Captain America showing up at Hydra's early stages. When the time's ripe, we reveal our hand and capture the core. Maybe by then, some local characters could even be our allies."
Qi Yun stroked his chin—this plan had merit.
"Pick a pilot world and begin." He nodded.
"No rest for you. Let's select our first candidate together."
"Copy that." Qiqi smiled.
From the distance, Ajie was practicing his punches like Colossus in the Danger Room, confused by the rapid brainstorming.
Especially when Qiqi gave Qi Yun a thumbs-up from behind, he grew even more puzzled.
But like any straightforward brute—think Bane outside his element—Ajie had a motto: if you don't get it, don't dwell on it.
After discussions wrapped, Qi Yun created a new classification in the Main God Space: the Forerunners.
As per his vision, these were to be split into two types: those already powerful before entry—like Jean Grey at Phoenix levels—and those with high potential post-entry, like Kamala Khan or Shazam.
Future improvements were on the table. The seeds of conquest were being sown.
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