blogombal Page 442
Page 442
Even though Clark Kent's super brain didn't want to move, it still started thinking uncontrollably. He didn't make a sound, and his face remained calm.
No one else noticed.
However, the only person present who also possessed world-class observation and reasoning abilities, Batman, had already keenly caught Clark's fleeting, subtle reaction with his eyes hidden behind his white goggles.
"A paradox..." Batman remained unmoved, but silently added the name that Clark had already mentioned once to his list of dangerous individuals.
and.
The connection between this name and the Kent family remains uncertain, requiring further information to determine when this uncertainty will be resolved.
“You have to tell us everything you know about the Supreme Alliance, about that ‘paradox,’ about your speculation about the ‘final catastrophe.’ All the details.”
Batman's wheelchair slid forward half an inch, almost touching Injustice Superman's knee. His voice, processed with a voice changer, carried an undeniable sense of oppression.
Injustice Superman slowly raised his head.
Instead of answering directly, he raised a hand and gently tapped his seemingly flat abdomen, which appeared to bear an immense burden.
"Want information? Sure."
Injustice Superman mimicked Batman's tone, but with an added touch of reckless mockery: "But on the condition that you first take care of the trouble caused by that underworld kid inside."
He emphasized the words "child from the underworld" and glanced meaningfully at Ian, who was still blowing colorful bubbles in the cage in the distance.
This is clearly negotiating terms.
Batman's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly beneath his mask.
In his view, although Ian's actions were eccentric and unconventional, most of the "trouble" he caused was still within a controllable range. With the technology of the Batcave and the physical characteristics of Kryptonians, resolving these issues shouldn't be too difficult. Compared to the intelligence value that Injustice Superman might provide, this exchange was acceptable.
“Okay. We’ll take care of your…abdominal ‘condition’.” Batman, unaware of the seriousness of the problem, thought it was just a minor issue and readily agreed.
He even used relatively neutral terms.
Injustice Superman seemed somewhat surprised by the other party's straightforwardness, a hint of doubt flashing in his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by a numb feeling that "it can't get any worse anyway."
He nodded, just about to say something else—
"Uh... guys?" Aquaman Arthur's voice broke in, tinged with embarrassment and urgency. He waved what looked like an old-fashioned pager in his hand.
"I might... need to leave for a bit."
The pager screen in Aquaman Arthur's hand was flashing red wavy signals.
Clark turned around and asked with concern, "Is there some emergency in Atlantis? Do you need help?"
He instinctively assumed that some underwater kingdom had launched another rebellion, or that some ancient sea monster had awakened. However, the Sea King's face revealed a bitter smile that was more like a grimace.
“Clark, my friend, you can lift continental plates, you can move planets, you can shoot lasers from your eyes… but you can’t stop humans from dumping garbage into my house non-stop.” He shook his head, his smile filled with helplessness. “Yes, you can do many things, but you can’t stop humans from polluting the oceans.”
Clark fell silent instantly.
Of course he understands.
As a superhero, he can solve countless earth-shattering crises, but he does feel a deep sense of powerlessness when it comes to this slow and continuous "poisoning" of the living environment by human civilization itself.
His superhuman senses had already told him what the ocean was going through, but it was a huge and complex systemic problem that could not be solved by punch after punch.
The destruction of Krypton also stemmed from the inherent flaws that arose from the development of this civilization.
"Is it... the cause of the nuclear-contaminated water?"
Clark's voice lowered, carrying a heavy, confirming tone.
Aquaman nodded heavily, his expression turning strange. "My brother Orm just contacted me via encrypted channel... He said his leg might have undergone some... unexpected 'mutation' because of that damn radioactive water. He begged me to hurry back and take him ashore to see a doctor or biologist."
“Oh, speaking of which, by the way, what do you think… for his condition, should I take him to a veterinarian, or should I just take him to an aquarium to see a specialist?” Aquaman Arthur scratched his head, looking at the land representatives present, his tone full of genuine confusion.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Aquaman always surprises people with his unexpected remarks.
After an eerie silence, Diana couldn't help but turn her head away, her shoulders trembling slightly; Clark coughed awkwardly; even Batman's jawline seemed to soften for a moment.
“He can come to me first.” Batman’s voice remained calm, devoid of emotion. “The Batcave has state-of-the-art medical scanning equipment that can analyze his… mutation.”
"No! Thank you! Really, it's not necessary!" Aquaman shook his head like a rattle-drum, refusing almost reflexively. He would rather accept his brother growing more than twenty fluorescent tails than send him into Batman's "medical lab," which looked like a place where people were dissected and studied.
Wouldn't that really turn into a battle for the crown prince position?
“To be honest, I’d rather believe Ian’s brilliant plan.” As he spoke, he seemed to remember something and quickly pulled something out of the leather pouch at his waist—a bulging little bag woven from some kind of colorful fish scales and glowing seaweed, with the words “Brilliant Plan” embroidered on it in crooked terrestrial script.
It seems that Aquaman had just discussed the issue of ocean pollution with Ian.
Looking at the ominous-smelling brocade pouch, and then at Ian, who was happily blowing bubbles in the cage, everyone suddenly began to doubt whether the Sea King was really a fish.
"Then good luck to Atlantis," Batman said, seemingly not intending to press the matter, offering only a dry blessing. After all, using Ian's "brilliant plan" to combat human-caused pollution was, in a sense, fighting fire with fire. He bet that if things went well, Atlantis would no longer be a sovereign civilization.
It's more or less mixed with a term that's been popular in Gotham lately—the Ian virus.
In this regard.
Unaware of what was happening, Aquaman nodded and turned to summon water from the sewers. At that moment, Mera hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward to stand before Batman.
Her beautiful face, which seemed to dislike independent toilets even less than that of Indians, was etched with worry.
“Bruce, I know you don’t easily get involved in politics… but could you please use your influence on land… at least to make an appeal? It’s not just a pollution issue anymore…”
Queen Mera's voice was low, tinged with a barely perceptible fear.
“I can feel that the ocean’s suffering is intensifying, and something ancient and terrible that sleeps in the deepest trenches seems to be being awakened by this pollution.”
She looked at Batman, her tone earnest.
The atmosphere instantly became even more tense.
Just then, a slightly hoarse and mocking voice suddenly rang out.
"Perhaps... I shouldn't have expressed my opinion."
The usually silent Injustice Superman suddenly raised his hand, like a student asking a question in class. Clearly, while he said that, his behavior meant he couldn't resist the urge to teach.
Everyone looked at him.
He met everyone's gazes, his tone calm yet carrying a chilling coldness.
"Here's the simplest and most direct advice you can give: mobilize your resources to find and cut off all major submarine fiber optic cables, and sever all maritime energy channels and shipping routes."
“Once people on land lose the global network, instant communication, stable energy supply and transoceanic trade... 90 percent of human ‘industrial civilization’ will be paralyzed instantly. They will no longer have any ‘extra’ time or resources to argue, to bicker, or to dump pollutants into the sea that they themselves dare not handle.”
Injustice paused, noticing the sudden change in everyone's expressions, and continued, "Survival will become humanity's only goal, and in order to survive, life itself will find... a new way out."
His move was undeniably ruthless.
As soon as he finished speaking, the entire ruins fell into a deathly silence. Everyone looked at this superman from a parallel universe with extremely complex expressions.
Everyone realized the difference between Injustice Superman and Clark Kent.
This is the mindset of an iron-fisted ruler—efficient, direct, and reckless, willing to destroy the entire system that caused the problem in order to "solve" it.
Batman's gaze behind his white-rimmed glasses was sharp as a knife, as if trying to dissect him completely. Clark's brows furrowed tightly, his eyes filled with disapproval. Wonder Woman and Mera, on the other hand, sensed a wariness of absolute power and ruthlessness stemming from ancient memories.
Unjust Superman met their gazes and simply shrugged indifferently, as if it were nothing more than a casual suggestion about what to eat for dinner.
"It's just a suggestion."
He added softly, then lowered his head again, resuming his silent, "it's none of my business" posture, as if the person who had just proposed the shocking plan was someone else.
at the same time.
Ian and Black Adam are still blowing bubbles.
The main reason was that Ian's consciousness invasion brought a considerable burden to both himself and Black Adam. It wasn't just about gaining experience points; neither Ian nor Black Adam expected what would happen.
At the beginning.
Things are progressing normally.
Ian's consciousness, like a slippery fish, darted freely through Black Adam's vast and turbulent sea of memories. He traversed the ancient Kandak Temple, witnessing the bestowal of Shazam's power. He felt the pain of patricide and a thousand years of imprisonment, and also experienced the impact of modern society on Black Adam and his own thirst for revenge.
Finally, Ian was drawn by a deeper, thicker dark force, descending deeper and deeper until he reached the very bottom of his consciousness. There, no longer were specific fragments of memory, but a chaotic mental realm corrupted by an external will. Suddenly, an irresistible suction force pulled him in.
Ian felt his consciousness being suddenly pulled in! When he came to his senses again, he found himself not floating in a mental space, but actually standing on a street.
The streets are lined with typical Japanese buildings, wooden signs with incomprehensible kana characters, and pedestrians in various costumes throng around, their chatter filling the air.
The air was filled with the mixed smell of takoyaki and gasoline.
"what happened?"
Ian instinctively pinched his cheek.
"Echoes of the past? Illusions formed from fragments of memory? Or the allure of a lingering shadow created by some extraterrestrial force?" He hadn't expected that such a seemingly normal and vibrant scene, full of life, would be hidden deep within the consciousness of Black Adam, this ancient, rough man. This was completely different from the evil lair and dark temple he had envisioned.
Just as Ian was cautiously looking around, trying to find a flaw in the illusion, a little boy who looked about seven or eight years old, carrying a huge strange egg, ran up to him.
The other person looked up at him with big, expectant eyes and uttered a stunning sentence in Japanese.
"Big brother, are you still a virgin?"
That's why people find Japanese annoying.
"?????"
Ian never imagined he would be silenced by a child younger than himself. Even with his extraordinary experiences, he was stunned for a moment by this soul-searching question.
"Shut up, if you can't speak properly, then don't speak at all. Whose child is so rude? Believe me or not, I'll give you eight hundred sets of test papers." This threat had little effect on the Japanese child.
The child seemed taken aback by the scolding, shrinking back slightly, but his grip on the egg tightened. He hesitated for a moment, then pulled a few coins from his pocket and said cautiously, "I...I'll pay! My egg needs the urine of nine hundred and ninety-nine virgin boys to hatch! Please, big brother!"
His words didn't sound like something a normal person would say.
"Do I look like someone who needs a few coins like yours? And, little brat, let me tell you, although I have an amazingly large bladder, I'm way past the age of playing with poop and pee! Don't come to me with these low-level collection tasks!" Ian rolled his eyes; after all, he was almost fifteen years old.
This is the age when people pay attention to their personal image.
of course.
Ian's kind upbringing instilled in him a kind nature as well.
“Let me give you a tip. Go to an orphanage and dig up their sewers. You might just find a big prize. High-quality baby urine with three parts sugar is hard to find on the market without a super bladder.” Ian gave a very constructive suggestion. The child didn’t understand, but nodded thoughtfully.
Ian's matter-of-fact and righteous demeanor convinced the boy, who felt a sense of awe and wonder, as if the strange older brother in front of him made a lot of sense.