Chương 123: Chapter 123: First Steps into the Void 

Returning to his apartment, Luke let Galacta play with the massive, terrifying Shadow-Eater for a little while. He watched in mild horror as this seemingly delicate, beautiful girl casually punched the twenty-meter-tall, pitch-black monstrosity so hard it was physically forced back into the Dark Dimension. 

I seriously underestimated her raw physical strength. 

Luke mentally noted never to anger his cosmic hamster. 2

Leaving the slightly depressed Galacta to pout on the sofa—she was sad she had accidentally punched her toy away—Luke immediately contacted several highly exclusive, ultra-premium interior design and architectural firms. 

Although the 'United Earth Federation' headquarters Galacta had designed was structurally magnificent, the uniform, obsidian-black aesthetic was still slightly monotonous. Luke wanted to heavily customize the interior design of each of the six outer skyscrapers to perfectly reflect the unique cultural aesthetics and environments of the various cosmic delegations that would eventually occupy them. 

After securing the necessary contacts and funding, he casually delegated the massive, complex interior design project to Galacta, instructing her to coordinate with the human contractors. 

While she eagerly dove back into her holographic blueprints—motivated by the promise of more food—Luke sat on the sofa and opened the System interface, intending to quickly clear out the remaining newly discovered Minor Dimensions. 

After aggressively invading the remaining dimensions and absorbing their minimal energy yields, Luke sighed heavily. 

Finding Mid-Tier Dimensions is significantly harder than I thought. 

Previously, he had been incredibly lucky to discover the Dark Demon's dimension shortly after unlocking the Exploration Module. However, based on his recent scans, locating another dimension large enough to provide a massive, substantial boost to his Maximum Energy Capacity could take months, or even years. 

If dimensional exploration proved too slow, his only other viable option for rapid expansion was to physically travel into deep space and directly devour massive asteroids or uninhabited planets. 

While devouring a single, average-sized asteroid only provided a relatively small energy boost, if he could locate a dense, massive asteroid belt, he could potentially devour thousands of rocks in a single trip, easily netting tens or hundreds of millions of Energy Points! 

Hiss. The more I think about it, the more tempting it sounds. I should seriously consider taking a trip into deep space soon. 

But what about interstellar transport? 

Luke glanced over at Galacta, who was currently humming happily while manipulating a holographic projection of an Asgardian-themed grand hall. 

Wait, she literally has a highly advanced, cloaked spaceship parked on my roof right now! Given that Galactus built it, it has to be incredibly fast, right? 

Having completely subdued the final few Minor Dimensions, Luke walked over and sat down beside Galacta. 

"Hey, Galacta. Exactly how fast is your personal ship?" 

Galacta didn't look up from her holographic interface, her fingers continuing to fly across the glowing keys. She thought for a second before replying casually. 

"Assuming optimal energy reserves, the vessel my father provided me is fully capable of sustained, faster-than-light travel. For significantly longer interstellar journeys, it is also equipped with a highly advanced spatial warp-drive. Why do you ask? Do you want to go to space?" 

Luke nodded eagerly. "Does your ship currently possess sufficient energy reserves? I want to take a quick trip to the nearest dense asteroid belt to grab some 'snacks' for my dimension." 

Galacta's hands instantly froze over the holographic keyboard. She slowly turned her head and looked at Luke, her expression incredibly awkward and highly sheepish. 

"Uh... the closest significantly dense asteroid belt is located between Mars and Jupiter. In terms of cosmic scale, that distance is practically nothing for my ship." 

Hearing that it was 'practically nothing,' Luke smiled. That meant they could literally leave right now and farm some serious energy! 

"Excellent! Can you take me there right now?" Luke asked expectantly. 

Galacta awkwardly scratched her cheek, looking anywhere but at Luke. 

"Well... probably not right now. You see... the last time I got really, really hungry before I met you... I kind of completely lost control and literally ate the ship's entire primary reserve power core." 

Luke stared at her blankly. 

He sighed heavily, rubbing his temples. I really should have seen that coming. This girl literally loses her mind at the sight of a hotdog stand. How could she possibly resist the temptation of a massive, glowing, high-yield cosmic energy core sitting right in her living room? 

Seeing Luke's profound exasperation, Galacta quickly offered a reassuring, highly apologetic smile. "But it's okay! The ship is equipped with highly efficient, passive solar-collection arrays! Whenever I'm not using it, I usually park it just outside Earth's atmosphere so it can recharge faster in direct sunlight!" 

Luke breathed a sigh of relief. "Alright, so roughly how long until the primary reserves are fully recharged?" 

Galacta tapped her wrist-mounted utility belt, pulling up a highly complex, glowing diagnostic readout of the ship's systems. 

"Based on the current, passive solar-collection rate... it will take approximately fifty-two Earth years to reach 100% capacity." 

Luke stared at her. 

"However!" Galacta quickly added, sensing his impending frustration. "If we only require sufficient energy to execute a round-trip jump to the Martian asteroid belt... it should only take roughly three days to charge!" 

"Of course," she added casually, "If you are in a massive hurry, you could simply manually fuel the ship using your highly compressed Dark Energy Crystals." 

Luke opened his mouth to complain, then closed it. He simply stared at Galacta and sighed again, accepting his fate as her eternal sugar daddy. 

"Fine. Exactly how much dark energy do we need for the trip?" 

"Oh, barely any! Because your dark energy is significantly denser and more potent than standard solar radiation, the amount you fed me for breakfast this morning should easily be enough to fully charge the primary drive!" 

Nodding, Luke casually materialized a massive handful of Dark Energy Crystals from the Dark Dimension and handed them to her. Since her Cosmic Tapeworm was currently busy digesting her breakfast, she thankfully couldn't eat these. 

Galacta happily accepted the crystals, quickly saved her architectural designs, and led Luke up to the roof of the apartment building. 

Standing on the roof, Galacta tapped a specific sequence into her utility belt. 

Instantly, the localized optical camouflage dissolved, revealing a sleek, highly advanced, predominantly purple spacecraft hovering silently above them. 

Hey! Why isn't it bright, obnoxious pink?! I demand a refund! Luke joked internally. 

However, looking at Galacta, he suddenly realized her entire outfit was primarily composed of various shades of purple. Wow, I literally just noticed that. Her aesthetic is highly consistent. 

Following Galacta, Luke stepped onto the anti-gravity platform and was smoothly carried up into the ship. 

The interior of the vessel was surprisingly spacious, roughly equivalent in volume to Luke's entire seven-story apartment building. Galacta gave him a quick tour. 

Luke watched her casually toss the handful of incredibly volatile Dark Energy Crystals directly into the primary reactor core. She then practically skipped down the corridor, leading him into the primary living quarters. 

To Luke's mild surprise, the interior design of the living area was incredibly... mundane. It looked almost exactly like a standard, slightly messy, highly comfortable Earth apartment, complete with soft couches, a large television, and scattered video game controllers. 

Clearly, Galacta had grown incredibly fond of human culture during her centuries of hiding. 

Gesturing for Luke to sit on a comfortable sofa, Galacta swiped her hand through the air. A highly complex, interactive holographic projection of the Sol System instantly materialized above the sleek coffee table. 

"I am currently programming the automated navigation systems to execute a highly precise, localized warp-jump directly to the primary asteroid belt," Galacta stated, her fingers flying across the holographic interface. After confirming the coordinates, she immediately turned back to her Stark Pad to continue working on Luke's interior design project. 

Luke nodded, sinking comfortably into the sofa. Realizing they had a few minutes before the jump, he mentally commanded his Shadow Ninjas to prepare some snacks. 

Several Shadow Ninjas silently materialized from the corners of the room, respectfully placing various bowls of fresh fruit, chips, and a cold Coke on the coffee table before vanishing back into the shadows. 

Luke grabbed a small cluster of grapes and began casually eating. Galacta, noticing the food, also eagerly grabbed a handful of grapes. 

While Earth food contained absolutely zero cosmic energy and couldn't satiate her terrifying hunger, she had to admit, carbon-based biological lifeforms had perfected the art of flavor. These tiny, squishy water-sacs tasted infinitely better than the dry, tasteless, highly radioactive cosmic ores she usually ate. And now that she wasn't constantly starving, she could actually slow down and enjoy the taste! 

Just as Luke was relaxing, his cell phone suddenly rang. 

"Tony?" Luke answered, surprised. 

Miles below, inside the massive, highly advanced Stark Tower (which hadn't been rebranded as Avengers Tower in this timeline), Tony Stark was currently standing in his lab, projecting highly complex, overlapping holographic blueprints of a revolutionary new armor design. 

Hearing Luke answer, Tony casually swiped away a holographic schematic. 

"Hey, Luke. Quick question: could you give me the exact geographical coordinates for Kamar-Taj? I intend to head over there shortly to study some localized magical theories." 

Luke glanced at the holographic projection of the Sol System hovering above the coffee table, watching as their ship rapidly ascended through the upper atmosphere. 

"Well, your timing is incredibly unfortunate." 

"Why? Is there an emergency on your end?" Tony asked, frowning slightly as he listened to the background noise on the call. The only thing he could hear was Luke loudly crunching on potato chips. 

"Seriously, man? Am I interrupting your incredibly intense snacking session?" 

"No, no," Luke laughed. "It's just that I'm currently heading out on a long-distance business trip, and I'm about to completely lose cell reception." 

"Alright, well, since I'm going to be out of contact for a bit, if you want to visit Kamar-Taj, just go to 177A Bleecker Street in Manhattan. There's a hidden, magical doorway there that connects directly to the sanctuary." 

The exact microsecond Luke finished speaking, the spacecraft aggressively breached the exosphere, narrowly dodging a commercial communications satellite, and entered the freezing void of deep space. The cell signal instantly died. 

"We will initiate the localized spatial warp in precisely ten seconds. Even accelerating to the absolute maximum speed of light within standard real-space, it would take us far too long to reach the asteroid belt," Galacta casually announced without looking up from her Stark Pad. 

Luke nodded, casually popping another grape into his mouth. 

As the countdown reached zero, Luke felt a bizarre, highly unnatural sensation, as if his entire physical body was being simultaneously stretched and violently compressed. 

The next microsecond, the stars outside the viewport blurred into blinding streaks of light, and the ship violently slingshotted out of Earth's orbit. 

Back in Stark Tower. 

Tony frowned deeply, staring at his phone as it beeped, indicating a lost signal. He raised an eyebrow. 

"'Long-distance business trip' that completely loses cell reception?" 

Just as he muttered to himself, F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s highly efficient voice echoed through the lab. 

"Boss. I have just detected a highly anomalous, localized spatial disturbance in the upper atmosphere above Los Angeles. A previously undetected, highly advanced extraterrestrial vessel just aggressively broke orbit and accelerated out of the system. The exact timestamp of the vessel's departure aligns perfectly with the termination of your call with Mr. Luke." 

Tony frowned deeply. He instructed F.R.I.D.A.Y. to display the highly degraded, blurry satellite footage of the sleek, purple vessel violently launching into space. 

"This guy literally treats deep space travel like he's just popping over to the neighbor's house," Tony muttered, shaking his head. "F.R.I.D.A.Y., log the coordinates Luke just provided. 177A Bleecker Street. I need to go see exactly what kind of 'magic' they're practicing over there." 

"Confirmed, Boss," F.R.I.D.A.Y. replied efficiently. 

Tony nodded. He looked back at his highly complex armor schematics and initiated a secure backup protocol. Soon, he would integrate actual, fundamental magical theory into his technological paradigm. 

He then reached into his pocket and pulled out the single, highly compressed Dark Energy Crystal Luke had given him during the Battle of New York. He smiled warmly. 

"F.R.I.D.A.Y. Are you excited? You're going to get your very own physical body soon. In fact... if my theories are correct, you might even transcend basic programming and become a truly sentient, biological lifeform." 

"I lack the emotional subroutines to accurately quantify 'excitement,' Boss. However, if acquiring a physical form allows me to assist you more efficiently, I am highly agreeable to the prospect." 

"We have arrived," Galacta announced casually. 

Luke nodded. He placed his half-eaten bowl of fruit back onto the coffee table and stood up. 

"Do you have any spare, highly durable spacesuits on board? I need to step outside for a bit, but I honestly have absolutely no idea if my current biological durability is sufficient to survive hard vacuum," Luke asked, turning to Galacta. 

He was genuinely unsure. 

The Hulk was incredibly strong, but Luke couldn't recall ever seeing the Hulk casually floating in the vacuum of space in the MCU. 

Star-Lord, an ordinary-looking half-human, had miraculously managed to survive in hard vacuum for several agonizing minutes to save Gamora. 

Conversely, Ebony Maw—an incredibly powerful, highly skilled telekinetic who had effortlessly dominated multiple Avengers simultaneously—had instantly, pathetically frozen to death the moment Iron Man blew him out the airlock. 

Therefore, Luke was currently highly anxious. He had absolutely no desire to test if his highly augmented, system-enhanced body could passively resist the absolute zero temperatures and terrifying cosmic radiation of deep space. 

"Just press this device directly against your chest. It will automatically deploy a highly advanced, form-fitting environmental suit," Galacta said, casually tossing him a sleek, metallic disc. 

"Can you survive in the vacuum of space without a suit?" Luke asked curiously, catching the disc. 

"Uh... technically, yes. But my biology is fundamentally, drastically different from yours. I don't require standard atmospheric oxygen to sustain cellular function, and I can simply passively absorb the highly lethal cosmic radiation and utilize it as a minor energy source. The vacuum environment poses absolutely zero threat to me." 

Luke nodded, thoroughly impressed by her terrifying cosmic biology. 

Following her instructions, Luke walked to the primary airlock. He pressed the metallic disc against his chest. Instantly, highly advanced, sleek nanomaterials rapidly flowed outward from the disc, completely encasing his body in a highly durable, surprisingly flexible spacesuit, complete with a transparent, highly reinforced helmet. 

After executing a few quick stretches to confirm the suit didn't restrict his mobility, Luke slammed his hand onto the airlock release panel. 

The heavy, reinforced outer doors hissed open. Luke leaned forward and smoothly propelled himself out of the ship, entering the vast, silent void of deep space. 

Although he had previously visited Asgard, this was his first true experience free-floating in the absolute vacuum of the cosmos. 

Floating outside the ship, Luke didn't feel anything particularly strange, thanks to the advanced environmental protections of the suit. However, the complete, absolute absence of gravity and the total loss of any discernible 'up' or 'down' was incredibly disorienting and highly fascinating. 

Utilizing the highly intuitive, localized maneuvering thrusters integrated into the suit's backplate, Luke casually flew around the ship for a few minutes, completely enjoying the sensation of absolute zero-gravity. 

While Luke was happily performing backflips in the void, Galacta's voice crackled through his helmet's internal comms. 

"Do you want to conduct a localized, controlled test to see if your highly augmented biology can passively resist the vacuum environment?" 

"How exactly do I test that safely?" Luke asked, using his thrusters to stabilize his position relative to the ship. 

"Your helmet maintains a completely independent, localized life-support and oxygen-supply system. You can manually retract the material covering your hand and expose it directly to the vacuum." 

Luke smiled confidently. "Alright, let's test it." 

He mentally commanded the nanotech suit to retract the material covering his right hand. 

Whoosh! 

Because a tiny amount of pressurized air existed between his skin and the suit, the absolute microsecond the seal was broken, the air was violently sucked out into the void! The remaining material of the suit instantly vacuum-sealed tightly against his arm. 

However, aside from the sudden pressure drop, Luke's exposed hand didn't instantly explode or lose sensation. Instead, he felt an incredibly rapid, deeply uncomfortable sensation of his body heat being aggressively, violently siphoned away into the freezing void. It was incredibly, terrifyingly cold. 

"Your biological vitals are completely stable. It appears your highly augmented physiology is more than capable of passively resisting the explosive decompression and radiation of the vacuum," Galacta reported cheerfully, actively monitoring his telemetry from the ship. 

"Stable, yes. But this is absolutely freezing. It's highly uncomfortable," Luke frowned, staring at his exposed right hand, which was already beginning to turn a sickly shade of pale purple from the absolute zero temperature. 

Thinking quickly, Luke actively channeled a localized, highly concentrated flow of Dark Energy to the surface of his skin, carefully molding it to form a skin-tight, pitch-black 'glove' over his exposed hand. 

Instantly, the terrifying, heat-siphoning cold vanished! The dark energy perfectly insulated his flesh from the harsh cosmic environment. 

Realizing his theory was completely correct, Luke smiled broadly. 

He aggressively unleashed massive torrents of dark energy, completely enveloping his entire body in an impenetrable, pitch-black aura. Simultaneously, he mentally commanded the advanced nanotech suit to completely retract, leaving only the independent, life-sustaining helmet covering his head. 

"Much better," Luke sighed in profound relief, casually stretching his limbs as he floated freely in the void, completely protected by his own magical power. 

Turning his attention toward the massive, chaotic expanse of the asteroid belt stretching out before him, Luke's eyes gleamed with intense anticipation. 

He aggressively flared his dark energy, rocketing forward and leaving a faint, pitch-black contrail in the absolute vacuum, resembling a dark shooting star. He instantly accelerated to a terrifying speed of over a hundred kilometers per second, rapidly approaching the dense cluster of massive space rocks. 

Relying entirely on his highly augmented, superhuman reflexes, Luke effortlessly navigated the treacherous, chaotic field of debris, rapidly dodging massive, spinning boulders while actively scanning for optimally sized targets. 

The meteorites that occasionally survived atmospheric reentry and struck Earth were typically incredibly small. The asteroids floating in this primordial belt, however, were absolutely colossal. Many of them were several kilometers in diameter; compared to them, Luke was literally nothing more than a microscopic speck of dust. 

However, this tiny speck of dust was currently actively, aggressively 'hunting' these celestial behemoths. 

Spotting a relatively small, isolated asteroid—roughly the size of a large mountain—Luke aggressively accelerated toward it. 

As he approached, he violently channeled his power, forcing the localized boundary of the Dark Dimension to aggressively overlap with real-space. 

A massive, terrifyingly large dimensional rift violently tore open directly in the asteroid's path! Pushing his magical power to the absolute limit, Luke forced the rift to expand massively, transforming it into a colossal, pitch-black gateway. 

He hovered nearby, waiting patiently for the delivery. 

The massive asteroid, completely oblivious to the dimensional trap, hurtled forward and plunged directly into the gaping maw of the Dark Dimension! 

The moment the massive rock was successfully swallowed, Luke checked his System interface. 

His Maximum Energy Capacity had instantly spiked by over ten thousand points! 

Staring at the seemingly endless, densely packed expanse of the asteroid belt stretching out to the horizon, Luke's eyes burned with absolute, unadulterated excitement.