In the center of the massive ring-shaped device, the chaotic vortex spun slowly.
It looked like an insatiable cyclopean eye, peering into the far side of the dimension.
The laboratory was dead silent.
The only sounds were the low hum of the instruments operating and Tony Stark's heavy breathing.
"My, my..."
Frieza stood before the vortex.
His crimson eyes reflected the multicolored turbulence of time and space.
"Is this the door to a new world?"
"It looks a bit... shabby."
He turned his head to glance at Tony and Reed, who were slumped in front of the console.
"Mr. Stark, Mr. Richards."
"Although this Emperor trusts your technology..."
"However..."
A playful smile curled on Frieza's lips.
"Just to be safe, I'll inspect the property personally."
"After all, if I were to send my legions into a garbage dump, it would be quite embarrassing for me."
With that said, Frieza didn't hesitate.
With elegant and arrogant steps, he walked forward.
One step, and he crossed into the chaotic vortex.
Hummm————!
Space distorted.
His figure vanished.
...
Dizziness?
Non-existent.
For Frieza, who possessed the power of the Infinity Stones, crossing dimensional barriers was as simple as opening his own bedroom door.
The next second.
That nauseating sensation of spatial pulling disappeared.
Replacing it was a smell...
A damp odor mixing soot, moldy newspapers, and cheap alcohol.
"Cough, cough..."
Frieza subconsciously raised his hand and waved it in front of his nose.
His brow instantly furrowed into a deep frown.
"What is this godforsaken place?"
"The air quality is even worse than Gotham before I blew it up."
He slowly opened his eyes to examine this new world.
A gray sky, drizzling with light rain.
Narrow streets surrounded him, with yellowed posters pasted on old brick walls.
The people walking on the road weren't modern humans in bright clothes, nor were they strange-looking aliens.
Instead, they were a group of "ancient people" wearing dark trench coats and fedoras, walking hurriedly.
Vintage cars drove past on the waterlogged roads, honking their harsh horns.
In the distance, he could even hear a paperboy shouting:
"Extra! Extra! The Great Depression continues! The stock market crashes again!"
Is this...
Earth?
And Earth in the 1930s?
"Tch."
Frieza hovered in mid-air, looking down at the muddy streets below with a face full of disgust.
"This is the so-called parallel universe?"
"Marvel Noir?"
He activated his super vision and instantly scanned the entire planet.
No Iron Man. No high-tech SHIELD helicarriers.
Only backward industry and a depressed economy.
And a few so-called "superheroes" hiding in the shadows, playing detective games with revolvers.
Weak.
Too weak.
So weak that they couldn't arouse even a shred of desire for conquest.
"This kind of rural backwater..."
Frieza shook his head, the red light in his eyes dimming a few degrees.
"They aren't even qualified to be my foot-washing maids."
"What's the point of conquering this place?"
"To help them with poverty alleviation?"
"I am not a philanthropist."
This kind of low-level civilization had no high technology to plunder, nor any powerful fighters to provide Fear Points.
Even the resources on this planet seemed so barren.
It was essentially a "rotten-tail building" (abandoned construction project) in the real estate world.
"Boring."
"Truly, utterly boring."
Frieza didn't want to stay for even a second longer.
He raised his hand, and the Space Stone flashed slightly.
Hum!
The portal behind him opened again.
Frieza turned around without any lingering attachment and stepped back into the void.
...
Over the next few minutes.
The light of the portal flickered several times.
Each time, the white figure would disappear, and then quickly return with a look of disgust on his face.
The second time.
He went to a world full of zombies.
"Ugh..."
When Frieza came back, he was still dusting off his shoulder.
"Disgusting."
"It smells entirely of rotting corpses."
"Those pieces of rotten meat that only know how to bite... they don't even have value as slaves."
"This Emperor does not want his legion to become a bunch of walking dead."
The third time.
He went to a world that seemed to be made entirely of water.
"So wet."
"I hate water the most. That is a place for fish."
The fourth time...
The fifth time...
Finally.
After more than a dozen consecutive "property inspections."
Frieza's figure walked out of the vortex for the last time.
By now, his face was written with boredom and fatigue.
Like a wealthy lady who had shopped at the mall all day but didn't buy a single piece of clothing she liked.
"Shut it down."
Frieza waved his hand casually and sat back in that comfortable executive chair.
"Mr. Stark, Mr. Richards."
"Although there is nothing wrong with your machine, the quality of these universes..."
"Is simply too poor."
Tony froze for a moment, then trembling, pressed the shutdown button.
Whirrr...
The terrifying vortex slowly dissipated, and the laboratory returned to calm.
Tony looked at Frieza, a sense of absurd relief surging in his heart.
This demon...
Actually gave up on the invasion because he found those universes too shabby?
"Great King..."
Reed asked cautiously, his voice humble to the extreme.
"Then... this device?"
"Keep it for now."
Frieza yawned and leaned back lazily in his chair.
"Although all I see now are garbage dumps..."
"There's no guarantee we won't refresh a few decent high-end residential districts in the future."
"Like places with the Illuminati, or Infinity Ultron, or something."
"Only the real estate there would be worthy of my status."
Speaking of which, Frieza glanced at the starry sky outside the window.
Although the flames of war there had subsided, the reconstruction work would take a long time.
That "Purple Potato" Thanos was leading people to conduct a great purge across the universe.
Which meant physically destroying disobedient civilizations and turning obedient ones into production lines.
This would take time.
"Forget it."
Frieza stood up and stretched.
His perfect body curves extended under the light, exuding a suffocating oppression.
"Watching this kind of trivial renovation work is annoying."
"I am tired."
He turned around and beckoned to Natasha and Hill, who had been waiting at the door.
"Let's go."
"Back to Long Island."
"I need a beauty sleep."
"And this sleep..."
Frieza narrowed his eyes, a meaningful smile curling on his lips.
"I estimate it will last until Thanos has thoroughly cleaned up this universe."
"When I wake up..."
"I hope he can give me a satisfactory financial report."