Chapter 399: The Great Cosmic Age of Piracy Begins
King Thanos wasn't the only one making moves.
Even God Emperor Doom's Battleworld forces and the Dynasty of Kangs had recently been massing armies and stirring.
Military movements this brazen naturally didn't escape the sharp eyes of the Marvel Universe's other top powers.
The whole of Marvel's upper echelon was caught in this tense, unexplained atmosphere: the ancient secret orders, the up-and-coming interstellar alliance the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Avengers under Sorcerer Supreme Loki, and more.
Speculation and rumors ran wild. Everyone was wondering whether some conspiracy capable of overturning the cosmic order lay behind it all.
The Collector and the major powers all posted bounties: find Chen Ye or his successor, and a rich reward was yours.
Pick any three items from the Collector's collection, for instance, or have God Emperor Doom grant you one wish.
King Thanos, emperor of the cosmos, put it bluntly: "You want my treasure? You want to become the next me? Then find Chen Ye, or anyone connected to him.
"Bring him before me, dead or alive, and everything I have is yours."
Everyone in the universe was now searching for Chen Ye and anything to do with him, each for the goal in their own heart.
Later generations would call this day the dawn of the Great Cosmic Age of Piracy.
The whole universe seemed thrown into a giant whirlpool. Every trace of peace and order was torn to shreds by this sudden storm.
Our protagonist Ethan, however, knew nothing about any of this. Or rather, he knew his situation was very dangerous, just not this dangerous. By now he had been back in Hell's Kitchen for some time.
After Mainline Deadpool and the Wolverine dealt with the Timeline Shredder, the yellow-suited Wolverine became the Anchor Being of Universe 10005.
Their universe could go on. With Ethan's help, Mainline Deadpool got his face restored, and Tony bought the wreckage of the Timeline Shredder from him for ten million dollars.
The deal didn't just pay Deadpool handsomely. It gave him a chance to start over.
With the money, he patched things up with Vanessa, bought a big, roomy house, and adopted a loyal Dogpool.
He didn't forget his old roommate, Blind Al, either. He brought her to the new house so they could all share in this hard-won happiness.
(That's right, I've wrapped! But if the price is right, I'll come back for an encore!
Don't be too sad, dear readers! I left you a little surprise!
Until we meet again, folks!
Deadpool waved to the audience, slapped his own butt, and vanished.)
As for the Deadpool Corps, it was under new management. That's right: Hell's Kitchen Deadpool had been walking on air these past couple of days, ever since he found out Lady Deadpool had given birth to a child.
Far from being put off, he told her with deep feeling, "Let me be the kid's father! From now on, he's my kid."
Lady Deadpool was deeply moved. On top of that, Deadpool kept pestering her relentlessly, and with his original face restored, he was actually very handsome.
So Lady Deadpool half-reluctantly, half-willingly agreed to be with him.
Naturally, the Deadpool Corps was very much against this. They glared hatefully at the Deadpool who'd stolen their boss lady.
After several rounds of friendly sparring between Deadpool and the Corps, plus his promise to take them to the Spider-Society to look for Peter,
the Corps grudgingly accepted Deadpool as their new boss.
Pleased with himself, Deadpool wanted to bring the entire Deadpool Corps to Hell's Kitchen as a package deal.
Ethan's first instinct was to refuse. One Deadpool was annoying enough. Heaven knew what would happen once a whole mob of lawless Deadpools joined Hell's Kitchen.
Hell's Kitchen would be chaos. But Deadpool begged and begged, and the Corps really was a solid fighting force.
Ethan kept some of the Deadpools at Hell's Kitchen Community School as security guards and sent some to the Continental to keep working as assassins.
The rest he dumped on the X-Men, to help build Hogwarts.
With the Punisher and Professor X keeping an eye on them, the Deadpools probably wouldn't stir up too much trouble.
As for the mutants who'd come back from the Void, they joined Hell's Kitchen too.
In these few days, they'd gotten a good look at Hell's Kitchen, and every one of them was stunned!
Elektra even made a fool of herself. She actually got lost in Hell's Kitchen.
"You really lived in Hell's Kitchen? You look more lost than we are." Gambit's teasing voice came from beside her.
He held a deck of cards, letting them dance effortlessly across his fingertips, as if even the air were under his control.
Elektra shook her head helplessly, with a wry smile tinged with self-mockery.
She looked around, trying to find something familiar in her memory, but everything seemed so strange and new.
She could hardly believe this was Hell's Kitchen. It was nothing like the Hell's Kitchen she knew.
A Hell's Kitchen Community School, a Hell's Kitchen LLC, people flying around on broomsticks: what was all this?
And how had the X-Mansion ended up in Hell's Kitchen? Even Magneto and his followers lived here. How had she never noticed before?
If she, back when she was with the Hand, had come to provoke a Hell's Kitchen like this, there would have been only one outcome: death.
She'd heard that this universe's Hand really had been wiped out.
And the neighbors were friendly, even if they still looked awfully tough.
But where had all the junkies and the streetwalkers gone?
This Hell's Kitchen felt completely foreign to her.
This universe's Hell's Kitchen was so strong it frightened her.
Someone like Cassandra would probably get arrested here the moment she tried anything.
But that was fine. Elektra liked this Hell's Kitchen a lot. It made her feel safe.
Elektra followed Daredevil into Wanda's company, Hell's Kitchen LLC.
Blade spent his days having a few drinks with Wolverine.
Ethan had originally wanted Gambit to watch over the casino, but the guy wanted attention and went off to become a card magician instead.
As for X-23, Professor X had dropped her into Hell's Kitchen Community School.
Right now, Ethan was talking with Deadpool and Wanda about the Dark Witch.
"Are you sure you saw the Dark Witch die with your own eyes?"
Ethan had a feeling the Dark Witch wasn't dead. He felt sure they would meet again.
He wasn't wrong. The Dark Witch was laughing madly.
"The Reincarnation Space! Hahahahahaha! I'm not dead! Damn you, Wade, and that Logan! I'll be back!!!!!!!!"
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