The matter of Galactus was finally put to rest.
Several months passed, yet he never came to trouble Alex again.
It seemed that Galactus had tacitly accepted the fact that Alex had kept one of his herald's surfboards.
This did not surprise Alex.
After all, the Silver Surfer was only one of Galactus's many heralds.
Besides, when facing someone who could easily defeat him, Galactus had no reason to pursue the matter further.
And so, the surfboard officially became Alex's cheat item.
He stood on it at all times, using it to absorb the surrounding cosmic energy.
With the boost from the surfboard, Alex's strength grew at a speed he had never even dared to imagine before.
And after the Galactus incident, the Marvel world returned to peace.
No powerful supervillains appeared.
No events occurred that could truly catch Alex's attention.
At the same time, there were no new opportunities for him to grow stronger.
Or rather—
Such an opportunity arrived a year later.
---
"Alex, it worked!"
"I did it!"
After more than two years of nonstop research, Hank and his scientific team finally solved the problem of low kryptonite conversion efficiency.
"Three years!"
"Alex, give me three years, and I can convert all of the ore into kryptonite!"
With dark circles under his eyes, Hank spoke excitedly.
Alex couldn't help but feel excited as well.
Three years!
Using Oliver Queen's original technology, this process would have taken fifty years.
Hank had shortened it by more than tenfold.
"That's amazing, Hank. You've really helped me out."
"I knew I could always count on you."
Alex gave Hank a firm pat on the shoulder.
"I'm just glad I could help."
Hank was equally excited. The burden he'd been carrying was finally lifted.
Although Alex had never pressured him, Hank knew exactly how important this matter was to Alex.
He had been pushing himself relentlessly, anxious over the lack of progress.
But in the end, he didn't let Alex down.
---
What followed needed no explanation.
Hank immediately mobilized all of Krakoa's resources and began converting the massive kryptonite mountain Alex had brought back.
Alex, of course, didn't wait for the full conversion to be completed.
Each time a batch of kryptonite was finished, he absorbed it.
Every absorption boosted him by roughly 100,000 origin points.
Every few months, Alex could clearly feel a dramatic leap in power.
It was intoxicating.
By the time the entire kryptonite mountain was exhausted, Alex had gained one million origin points in total.
Combined with his triple cosmic energy absorption rate, his strength had increased severalfold compared to before.
His raw power now reached 200,000 tons,
and his speed soared to 100,000 meters per second.
This level of strength was undeniably terrifying.
Of course—
No one ever feels satisfied with becoming stronger, and Alex was no exception.
Since taking the surfboard from the Silver Surfer, Marvel had offered no new growth opportunities.
For years, Alex had merely waited for the kryptonite conversion.
But now, the kryptonite mountain was completely gone.
So—
"Time to visit another world."
Alex made his decision.
As for which world?
After brief consideration, he chose to return to the neighboring DC Universe.
It had been several years since he last left.
Back then, Superman was still just a high school senior.
Batman was a green rookie.
Green Arrow, the Flash, and the others were still in their early stages.
Alex was genuinely curious how much they had changed.
Beyond that—
There were opportunities in the DC world he had long had his eye on.
For example, Atlantis's Sacred Trident.
A divine artifact capable of commanding all ocean life.
By lore, it was literally a weapon of a sea god.
There was no way Alex would let that slip by.
And that wasn't all.
By his estimation, the DC timeline should now be entering its main storyline.
Based on past experience, that meant a high chance of system missions.
And where there were missions—
There were origin points.
Far better than Marvel, where missions barely appeared once a year.
After all, Marvel's main and side storylines were basically exhausted.
If Alex wanted to keep farming origin points, he had to explore new worlds.
"That settles it."
Alex finalized his decision.
That very night, he gathered all the mutant leaders and announced his departure.
---
"What? Alex, you're leaving again?"
"To another universe like last time?"
The leaders were caught completely off guard.
Last time, Alex had been gone six years.
He'd only been back a few years this time.
Still, everyone knew Alex well.
Once he made a decision, he wouldn't change it.
So no one tried to persuade him.
"This time… you won't disappear for years again, right?"
Raven glanced at him with mild resentment.
"That's not exactly what a responsible king does."
"Raven has a point,"
Charles said with a smile.
"Maybe this time you could come back more often. You do have the Infinity Stones."
"My fault."
Alex shrugged.
"Last time was special circumstances. This time, I'll be back regularly."
Only then did the expressions of the mutant leaders soften.
After handling Krakoa's affairs and bidding farewell, Alex prepared to leave.
But before departing, he called America Chavez over.
In front of her, he opened a portal leading to the DC Universe.
"I'll be in this universe."
"If anything happens to Krakoa, come here and find me."
After saying this, Alex stepped straight through the space gate.
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