What? Teammate lives in Arkham Asylum?

Chapter 1155 "Let the Milky Way Burn!" "As you wish, son."

"Your Majesty, Josh Brolin's rebel army has reached the outskirts of the palace." The commander of the Imperial Guard, clad in golden armor, stood behind Emperor Thanos. "Should we... engage them?"

"...War Commander."

"what?"

"You must address my son as Warmaster." Emperor Thanos turned around, his eyes filled with incomprehension and regret. "I have not yet relieved him of his duties."

"Alright, War Commander... So, are you going to meet your War Commander now?" The Imperial Guard Commander asked without any sarcasm.

"Go and assemble the Imperial Guards first. I still have something to say to the Elders."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The commander of the Imperial Guards nodded, then saluted and withdrew, showing no sign of the impending departure for a battlefield against which victory was impossible.

As the doors of the research institute slowly closed, Emperor Thanos sighed and then turned around.

"Grandpa Niu, is this... my end? Is this the end of my destiny?"

"Are you asking me?"

Cheng Fengniu floated in mid-air, looking at Emperor Thanos's face, feeling regret, confusion, and anger... but ultimately his expression turned into a calm and serene relief.

"No, perhaps I'm just asking myself." Emperor Thanos gazed at the dimensional network beneath the golden throne, nearly complete. "Just a little bit more... just ten more years, and the network will be fully built..."

"It's not been ten years anymore."

“Yes, they are gone.” Thanos slowly removed his crown, his face now etched with wrinkles, making him look like an incredibly weary middle-aged man. “I think… the Old Ones, you must have known my fate from the very beginning, didn’t you?”

"Why do you say that?" Cheng Fengniu floated in front of Emperor Thanos. "I think... I've covered it up very well."

“I was just kidding you.” Thanos grinned, as if joking with an old friend. “I just had a feeling that everything was going too smoothly, so smoothly that it felt like a dream… belonging to the entire universe.”

"Is this why you named your flagship 'Overlord's Dream'?"

"Perhaps my subconscious is telling me... this is ultimately just an unattainable dream?"

"Will you hate me?" Cheng Fengniu curled his lip. "Of course, it's no use if you hate me... I have no conscience."

Thanos shook his head.

He reached out and touched the edge of the net, revealing a childlike smile.

"Why should I hate you? You made the infamous Mad Titan the emperor of humanity, followed by billions of lives, and you even gave me twenty excellent offspring... Even if the ending wasn't perfect, it was good enough." Thanos raised his head and met the gaze of the Wind Bull floating in mid-air. "The Old Ones, the reason you came here... is it for that being who is so similar to the Celestials?"

“Not ‘individuals,’ but ‘group.’ They are a race… They are also creating everything before them for a shattered dream.”

"Ha, it sounds like they're just like me."

"Hilarious, he's way better than you..."

"What good is fighting? In this world, power matters..." Emperor Thanos grinned, not finishing the tired joke he'd learned from Cheng Fengniu, "...I want to know, after their grand illusion ends, where will my sons go? You know...I promised them a garden-like world..."

"The 'garden' you told Josh about was blown up by passing rebels ten years ago, during the height of the rebellion."

"...Is that so?" Emperor Thanos was taken aback, his eyes flickering as he looked at Cheng Fengniu. "As an Ancient One...you really are ruthless."

After saying that, Emperor Thanos took off his white coat and put on the golden armor he wore when he "beared the mandate of heaven".

He walked towards the gate of the research institute.

"Then farewell, you ancients, from whom we know not, and to whom we know not..."

"The ruler of the human empire, the guardian of billions of people, is about to meet his end."

"...to welcome that shattered dream."

The door opened, then closed again.

The footsteps faded into the distance.

“We really made a fool of ourselves this time,” Dr. Martin Stein sighed.

"What's wrong with that? I've been a jerk far too many times." Howard Stark shrugged, seemingly unconcerned, but his eyes kept glancing at the crown left behind by Emperor Thanos. "Tsk..."

“But on the bright side… at least they don’t have to face the end of the timeline.” Ray Palmer told a dry joke that no one could laugh at.

"You scientists are so fussy." He had been holding a bottle of beer the whole time, downed it in one gulp, and roughly wiped his mouth. "This is clearly a true king going to meet his end... Sadness? No, only regret and glory."

……

After many years, the emperor once again walked on the land of the earth.

But this time, he wasn't greeted with endless flowers and enthusiastic cheers...

Instead, there was only boundless silence.

Whether it's the loyalist Primarchs and the Imperial Guard, or the rebel Primarchs and the rebels.

All their attention was focused on Emperor Thanos as he emerged from the Himalayan palace.

He was still wearing that golden armor of destiny.

But he was not wearing the crown that symbolized imperial status.

Everyone, including the Primarch of Rebellion, discovered it...

He seems...to have aged.

At that moment, Josh Brolin's resolute gaze softened for a fleeting instant; he wanted to rush forward and embrace his father, to stroke his wrinkles...

But soon, the light belonging to the four gods filled his eyes again.

Emperor Thanos took everything into his view.

He knew that all of this was a destiny arranged for him by the Ancient One.

He... gladly accepted.

“You have come, my Titan Moon, my Firstborn Son, my Warmaster… my traitor.”

"Father!"

Josh Brolin shook off the half-congealed blood from his power claws and stepped onto the ground, which had been stained red.

"This is never what I wanted."

"I never intended to turn against my own people."

"Together we banished the ignorant old night..."

"But you betrayed me! You betrayed all of us!"

"You attempted to ascend to godhood by sacrificing the human empire, and you lied to your sons."

"Humanity... has only one chance to rise again. You gave it up, but I won't!"

"So, the war began."

"From the Earth's sky to the edge of the Milky Way!"

"Let the sea of ​​stars boil, let the stars fall!"

"Even if I shed my last drop of blood, I will see the Milky Way liberated once again!"

“If I cannot save it from your failures and lies, Father…”

"Then let the galaxy burn!"

Emperor Thanos looked at his son, who was pretending to be insane, and answered calmly.

"Yes, as you wish, my son..."

"Let it... burn."