Chapter 49: The Song of Ice and Fire · Ripples in Spacetime
The tragic, futile attempt by Cloak and Dagger, which touched upon the fundamental source of existence, was like a final, despairing sigh, extinguishing all sound on the battlefield. The remaining heroes lay amidst the ruins, lacking even the strength to lift their eyelids, their consciousness adrift in a boundless sea of darkness and nothingness.Sun Wukong shouldered his golden-hooped staff, turned around with utter disinterest, and prepared to leave this "boring beyond belief" battlefield. He couldn't even be bothered to glance back at the fallen challengers.However, at the very moment he was about to take his first step—Two faint yet极其特殊的能量波动 (jíqí tèshū de néngliàng bōdòng -极其特殊的能量波动), like struggling flames igniting on an ice field, flared up almost simultaneously from two corners of the ruins.To the left, a pile of frozen debris exploded violently! Bobby Drake, Iceman, knelt on one knee, radiating astonishing cold. But the air around him wasn't simply freezing; it was flowing and resonating诡异 (yǐguǐ -诡异) under an extreme low temperature! He wasn't creating ice walls or spikes; he was attempting an absolute zero field, trying to reduce the motion of微观粒子 (wéiguān lìzǐ -微观粒子) to its limit, to freeze the flow of time and energy transfer within that space!To the right, from amidst a pile of molten metal wreckage, John Allerdyce, Pyro, struggled to his feet. The flames around him weren't burning狂暴地 (bàokuáng de -狂暴地), but appeared restrained, highly ionized, glowing with an幽蓝色 (yōu lán sè -幽蓝色)! He held his hands虚握 (xū wò -虚握), desperately compressing and controlling this极度不稳定的等离子体 (jí dù bù wěndìng de děnglízǐtǐ -极度不稳定的等离子体), not for an explosion, but to create a超高能量密度的奇点 (chāogāo néngliàng mìdù de qídiǎn -超高能量密度的奇点), to disrupt or even撕裂空间结构 (sīliè kōngjiān jiégòu -撕裂空间结构)!Ice and Fire, two seemingly绝对对立 (juéduì duìlì -绝对对立) forces, were now, in this desperate situation, being pushed by the two mutants beyond their limits into截然不同的形态 (jiérán bùtóng de xíngtài -截然不同的形态) that touched upon higher levels of power!They did not communicate, nor even look at each other. A模糊的共鸣 (móhú de gòngmíng -模糊的共鸣) with the essence of power, born from extremity, led them to the same insane decision—not to attack Sun Wukong, but to attack the very "space" he occupied!"Absolute... Zero... Domain!" Iceman roared,榨干最后的精神力 (zhà gān zuìhòu de jīngshénlì -榨干最后的精神力), pointing towards the area beneath Sun Wukong's feet!"Psi-Energy... Singularity... Burst!" Pyro screamed, blood streaming from his seven orifices, launching the极致压缩 (jízhì yāsuō -极致压缩) plasma ball towards the exact same spot Iceman targeted!Ultimate stillness and ultimate motion!Ultimate order (particle stasis) and ultimate chaos (energy撕裂 (sīliè -撕裂))!These two forces, diametrically opposed in nature yet both touching upon the本源 (běnyuán -本源) of space and time, did not merge. Instead, at the coordinate point where Sun Wukong stood, they engaged in the most intense, most unstable confrontation and annihilation!There was no deafening explosion, only a heart-stopping,诡异嗡鸣 (yǐguǐ wēngmíng -诡异嗡鸣) of space being forcibly扭曲 (niǔqū -扭曲), folded, and torn! Centered on Sun Wukong, the space within a radius of several meters instantly became光怪陆离 (guāng guài lù lí -光怪陆离), like shattered mirrors; the flow of time became混乱不堪 (hǔnluàn bùkān -混乱不堪), fluctuating wildly! An极其不稳定 (jíqí bù wěndìng -极其不稳定),随时可能崩溃 (suíshí kěnéng bēngkuì -随时可能崩溃) miniature spacetime turbulence was forcibly created!This was not meant to harm Sun Wukong, but to create an extreme spacetime prison, aiming to banish or trap him for even an instant!This sudden, completely unexpected combined attack made Sun Wukong, who was about to leave, pause mid-step. He uttered a soft "Huh?", a flicker of genuine surprise in his Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils."Somewhat interesting!" He looked down at the space around him, which was constantly shattering and reforming, its time流速紊乱 (liúsù wěnluàn -流速紊乱). "One uses extreme cold to stabilize the primal essence, the other uses extreme heat to破空 (pò kōng -破空). Yin and Yang clash in reverse, spacetime turns upside down? You two youngsters have actually stumbled upon the边缘 (biānyuán -边缘) of颠覆阴阳 (diānfù yīnyáng -颠覆阴阳) and错乱时空 (cuòluàn shíkōng -错乱时空)! Pity the力道太散 (lìdào tài sǎn -力道太散),控制太差 (kòngzhì tài chà -控制太差). You have the form but not the substance,反噬自身 (fǎnshì zìshēn -反噬自身)!"He could feel the剧烈波动 (jùliè bōdòng -剧烈波动) of spacetime around him, but to him, it was like a breeze brushing a mountain ridge. He didn't even use his supernatural powers to stabilize it, simply allowing the spacetime turbulence to wash over him,感受着其中那微弱却新颖的法则变化 (gǎnshòu zhe qízhōng nà wéiruò què xīnyǐng de fǎzé biànhuà -感受着其中那微弱却新颖的法则变化).Iceman and Pyro, however, suffered恐怖的反噬 (kǒngbù de fǎnshì -恐怖的反噬) the moment their forces collided. Both vomited blood and collapsed, completely unconscious. Their bodies simply couldn't withstand the backlash from this level of force confrontation.The miniature spacetime turbulence,失去维持 (shīqù wéichí -失去维持), quickly subsided and消散 (xiāosàn -消散).Sun Wukong stood where he was,毫发无伤 (háo fà wú shāng -毫发无伤), not even a corner of his clothing disturbed. He rubbed his chin, looked at the two fallen mutants, and nodded. "The approach is wild, but the idea isn't bad. With sufficient法力 (fǎlì -法力) and微操 (wēi cāo -微操), it could potentially be refined into a trapping and killing technique. A pity, a pity."This unexpected spectacle—the奇景 (qíjǐng -奇景) of ice and fire clashing in reverse to disrupt spacetime, created by two weak mutants burning their lives—became the final footnote to this long battle of attrition.Sun Wukong shouldered his golden-hooped staff once more. This time, he truly felt completely and utterly bored."Enough, enough. The show's over, tired of fighting. Time to find some proper food."He shook his head, paid no further heed to the ravaged land or the unconscious heroes, and with a flicker of his form, prepared to ride his cloud and depart.