Multiverse: Deathstroke

Chapter 145: Ch.144 Landing

If the world had boundaries, why couldn\'t the strongest beings in the original world break through them? What were they missing?

And what determined whether an entity was at the level of a single universe or a multiverse?

Manhattan was clearly stronger than Barbatos, but the latter was multiverse-level, while Manhattan was only single-universe level. Was this determined by the editors, or was there some unknown reason?

The friction caused by entering the atmosphere severely burned his skin. The armor made of promethium wasn\'t of much use. He had already pulled out the Godslayer, transforming it into a drop pod, but the insulation was only mildly effective.

Enduring endless pain, he could only try to distract himself by thinking about random, unrelated things.

In ancient times, Guan Yu played chess and drank wine while getting poisoned bones scraped. Now, Su Ming distracted himself with random thoughts while crash-landing through the atmosphere.

Fortunately, descending at high speed didn\'t take too long. He could see the blue sky outside, indicating that he was already in the middle layers of the atmosphere.

Through the golden Godslayer, even the sky seemed to emit a faint glow.

He was now at an altitude of about 80,000 meters.

The blue light that had been protecting him had completely vanished, and he was now being pulled by Earth\'s gravity, accelerating under its force. If he continued to accelerate without limit, he would soon exceed his tolerance for speed.

Landing at too high a speed wouldn\'t be called a crash landing; it would be a meteor impact.

This meant that he had to slow down now.

Fortunately, he had the Godslayer. If he were using a regular glider or parachute, it wouldn\'t hold up, but this godly weapon was extremely sturdy and could be used as a deceleration tool.

"Godslayer, glider wings."

The golden weapon instantly expanded, forming a pair of massive golden wings that attached to Su Ming\'s body.

His body jolted slightly, the recoil absorbed by the X-metal bones.

The glider wings didn\'t slow him down much, but the air at this high altitude was too thin. Su Ming couldn\'t hold his breath for too long, even though he had a Bat-oxygen tank for the next step.

He needed to descend to the troposphere, where he could breathe, and then gradually reduce his speed.

The best landing spot would be a large body of water, such as the ocean or a lake, to minimize impact. He could then use the oxygen tank to swim back to land.

The key was that landing in water would help him hide his tracks, as the Marvel world was full of nosy people.

When he was outside the atmosphere, Su Ming\'s focus wasn\'t on Earth itself. If he had been able to endure the pain and look around, he would have noticed that there wasn\'t a single artificial satellite around Earth, making his attempt to remain unnoticed completely unnecessary.

As he continued his descent through layers of clouds, he finally saw the situation below clearly.

A string of green islands spread across the blue ocean like pearls, though he couldn\'t pinpoint the exact location. It was definitely not the polar regions.

Based on the color of the water and the surrounding geography, Slade\'s experience told him that he was somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.

"In that case, I should land near one of the islands. There aren\'t usually many people on islands, and they\'re easy to deal with." Su Ming transformed the glider wings into a parachute. The Godslayer was now his Swiss Army knife, transforming into whatever he needed.

Of course, the Godslayer had its limits. It couldn\'t become something too large or complex, but simple tools were within its capability.

The only problem was that it was still a bright, shiny gold—too conspicuous. Floating in the sky, he probably looked like a giant flare.

Fortunately, it was daytime. Otherwise, he could be seen from 100 nautical miles away.

Floating on the wind, he controlled his direction, heading toward the waters near one of the islands. It wasn\'t time for a freefall yet.

"Boom!"

Despite the deceleration, he still created a massive splash several meters high upon hitting the ocean. His bones shook, but that was the extent of the damage.

He quickly sank to the seafloor.

Coral reefs, clownfish, and various marine creatures swam around him. Sunlight streamed down from above, making it seem like a palace of the Dragon King.

Of course, Su Ming had no artistic appreciation. His first instinct was to confirm his landing point, followed by a sigh about how being a Helljumper or a Space Marine was no easy task.

"A large coral reef cluster. Those large marine animals in the distance should be dolphins, which means there are probably people on one of the nearby islands."

In ancient times, European sailors considered dolphins a good omen. Many legends and stories featured dolphins guiding good ships to safety in times of danger.

In reality, the sailors were simply following dolphins to the areas where they hunted. Unlike sharks and orcas, dolphins preferred to stay near continental shelves and large islands.

These locations, where ocean currents slowed and deposited rich microorganisms, attracted fish. Big fish ate little fish, and the little fish attracted shallow-water predators like dolphins.

In other words, if dolphins were active in an area, there was likely a natural harbor nearby, a place where ocean currents slowed. The ships following the dolphins were often saved by reaching such safe havens.

With natural harbors and island resources, people could survive.

The island was sizable, as Su Ming had confirmed from above. Although the dense vegetation made it difficult to spot signs of human habitation, the possibility of people being present couldn\'t be ruled out.

Pulling out the Bat-oxygen tank and biting down on it, Su Ming oriented himself and began walking toward the shore. Fortunately, this was a volcanic island, so the seabed was solid, and there were plenty of coral reefs to step on. Otherwise, the seafloor\'s sand could have trapped him.

Splash, splash.

He climbed out of the water, clinging to the reefs. Water trickled out of the seams of his armor, refracting the sunlight into a rainbow of colors.

Removing his helmet and oxygen tank, he took a deep breath.

The smell of the sea always had a faint hint of saltiness, accompanied by a refreshing sensation.

The Marvel world felt different. In the DC universe, it always felt like something was weighing on him. Here, he felt like there was much more room to breathe.

Of course, it could just be an illusion. After all, Barbatos had been a constant headache, and Su Ming hadn\'t had a chance to rest.

"When I get the chance, I should consider adding an oxygen system to my helmet. This Bat-oxygen tank is almost out of air."

Su Ming stored the small Bat-toy away—it was, after all, a keepsake. He didn\'t put his helmet back on but instead tucked it under his arm as he started searching for a port along the coastline.

Once he found a port, he could gather information. With his skills, he could build a raft to sail away.

Of course, surrounded by islands, he wouldn\'t end up like Bear Grylls, having to give himself a seawater enema to survive.

On one side was the calm, expansive ocean, and on the other was a lush, deep jungle. The island wasn\'t developed, but the scenery was beautiful.

He walked along the edge of the jungle, surrounded by dense trees and vegetation. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, and shadows of small animals and birds flitted through the jungle.

Animals on islands typically weren\'t very dangerous, at worst wild boars or venomous snakes. If they did appear, it would just mean a chance for Su Ming to have a snack.

The last time he ate was Spam canned meat, and who knows how long ago that was.

After walking for a while, he suddenly spotted a bird with red feathers and a beak curved like a straw perched on a branch. He immediately realized where he was.