"This old hag is unreasonable!" Shan Hai only had time to shout, and the world in front of him instantly turned white.
His delaying tactic failed, and Hela had instantly triggered the collapse of the M'Kraan Crystal.
Before anyone could react, the entire world was enveloped in a white light.
Compared to the white light caused by Ling Jili before, this one was much dimmer.
But its destructive power was worlds apart.
The moment the white light flashed, everyone felt as if they had fallen into a thick, sticky cream cake, their bodies becoming somewhat uncontrollable.
It felt as if every movement required immense effort.
Under these conditions, moving became extremely difficult. Simultaneously, their minds became hazy.
And at the center of the white light, there seemed to be a black hole-like attraction, slowly pulling everyone towards it.
Tony opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but found that he couldn't utter a single sound.
Despite the frantic alarms inside his helmet, he could hear nothing.
He felt as if his soul had left his body, and even thinking became laborious.
Such a scene was happening in countless parallel universe worlds.
Pedestrians walking on the street froze in their tracks.
Passenger planes streaking across the sky, cargo ships sailing on the vast ocean, all stopped as if time had frozen.
Planets that had been orbiting the universe for untold years halted at that moment.
The bubbles that enveloped the universe also ceased their color transformations.
Countless universes began to grind to a halt.
The collapse of the M'Kraan Crystal, linking these worlds, began to slowly crumble them all together.
If nothing intervened, these universes would all perish after some time.
One wonders what the powers that be, who always lurked behind the scenes, would think of so many universes being destroyed simultaneously.
Perhaps they preferred to be like those who hid in their giant heads, silently observing the universe's development from unseen places.
Perhaps the destruction of these universes was nothing new to them.
But, if nothing intervened, then something would.
The universe's collapse had only just begun to show its signs, the aura of annihilation had only just begun to spread to all universes.
Then, as if someone had suddenly pressed the pause button, it stopped.
Subsequently, like a receding tide, it quickly retreated.
In the sky, the whistling sound of planes cutting through the blue sky resumed, and ships carved trails of waves on the vast ocean.
Pedestrians resumed their steps, and planets began to rotate again.
No one noticed the momentary pause; it was as if it had never happened.
"Phew, thank goodness I made it in time!"
In space, Lin Feng's tense emotions eased.
Behind him floated fragments of all the Universe Hearts, emitting a faint glow.
Before teleporting, he had sensed that Hela had detonated something incredibly significant.
He didn't even have time to synchronize the memories from Shan Hai's mind before he urgently teleported over.
By a hair's breadth, he had stopped the M'Kraan Crystal's detonation.
It was indeed quite fortunate.
If it were solely up to Lin Feng, he probably wouldn't have been able to control the M'Kraan Crystal in such a short time.
While it could be controlled, once self-destruct was initiated, with Lin Feng's current abilities, he would likely only be able to teleport to save his own life and deal with other matters later.
But with the augmentation of several Universe Heart fragments, controlling, or rather reversing, the M'Kraan Crystal became effortless.
"Lin Feng!"
"Brother Lin Feng!"
Several voices rang out, all filled with surprise and relief.
"You're awake?"
Seeing Lin Feng, Tony's heart, which had been in his throat, finally settled.
The previous white light had vanished, but the memories of everyone had not.
Without a doubt, Lin Feng must have done something to stop the universe's collapse.
Tony felt his legs go weak and wanted to sit down and rest.
It had been too thrilling; one second the universe was about to explode, and the next, the savior appeared.
He never wanted to experience such excitement a second time!
Among them, he had borne the greatest pressure, simply because he was the weakest.
"Everyone, thank you for your hard work!" Lin Feng nodded and said with a smile.
He shrunk the massive M'Kraan Crystal to the size of his palm and put it away.
He wondered where Hela had gotten this thing.
Hela had also gone into hiding.
But it didn't matter; Lin Feng would find her.
Hela, who was likely gloating in the Realm of Death, probably thought her plan had succeeded.
"Ben... Lin Feng." Shan Hai stepped forward to greet him, nearly letting something slip.
"Since you're here, I'll be leaving."
"You understand what happened, right?" Shan Hai pointed to his head.
Lin Feng knew exactly what he meant; he wanted Lin Feng to synchronize memories and check.
Lin Feng nodded and acknowledged.
It was understandable that his clone had stepped forward to protect him and his family while he was unconscious. If Lin Feng were the clone, he would have done the same.
After all, one had to prioritize what was important.
Shan Hai's actions indeed carried a risk of exposure. Now that Lin Feng was awake, leaving was the best course of action.
Seeing his main body's agreement, Shan Hai nodded to Tony and Ancient One, patted Ling Jili's little head, and vanished from their sight with a teleportation.
"Lin Feng, do you know that person?"
"You don't know, he helped us a lot when you were unconscious."
"By the way, what's his name? I don't even know, and I wanted to invite him for barbecue after this..."
Tony scratched his head, thinking that Shan Hai was a man of few words but willing to help, making him quite amiable.
"No need to elaborate on his origins, Tony. Just pretend he never appeared," Lin Feng said casually.
It was better not to reveal Shan Hai's situation; the more people knew, the more variables there would be.
"Alright, alright, I won't ask about him."
"Then, can I ask if the matter has been resolved now?"
"And... that giant crystal ball, you put it away?"
"And that crazy person in black, do you know her? Why did she try to kill you right off the bat?" Tony gestured with his hands to confirm.
"You don't need to worry about that crazy woman; she's hiding now."
"However, I'll go find her soon. Shall I send you all back to Blue Star first?" Lin Feng replied.
A madwoman, Hela certainly was. To eliminate any future threats, Lin Feng intended to send Tony and the other two back to Blue Star, then go find Hela in the Realm of Death.
After such an incident, it would be a disservice to everyone's efforts of the past half-day if Hela weren't dealt with.
"I can take them back to Blue Star together, Lin Feng."
"I think you should deal with that trouble first!"
Ancient One, who had been a silent observer, finally spoke up.
Who knew if that crazy woman had other means of destroying universes.
At this point, it was better to strike while the iron was hot and eliminate the threat directly.
Lin Feng's brow furrowed slightly.
"Is that so? Very well!"
"Then I shall trouble you, Master Ancient One. Speaking of which, thank you for your help in this matter!"