"Hey, Chief, I'm sure Superman is up to something big," Lois said. She'd met Flash and Wonder Woman, plus earlier with Batman and Kaitou Kid. She felt certain Superman had something important he wasn't telling anyone.
"Lois, you're the star reporter of the Daily Planet, and I want you to get news on Superman. But I can't just let you run off chasing shadows without proof. You need evidence if you want to go digging," the editor-in-chief said, not used to Lois's impulsive decisions. She wanted to go to Gotham City, which was way too dangerous.
"Superman must be planning something big. Otherwise, why would he suddenly start connecting with so many top-tier heroes? Maybe they're putting together a brand-new hero team," Lois said. She wanted to be the first to know any news about Superman.
"I'll say it again: as long as you have proof, you can go report," the chief said.
"I will find out Superman's goal," Lois said firmly.
Jimmy saw Lois come out of the office and quickly walked over. "Lois, I can't find Clark. He still hasn't shown up for work."
"That poor farm boy—he's always been lazy. One day he'll lose this job," Lois waved him off. "I'm going up to the roof for some fresh air. Don't tell the chief."
"As long as you keep your phone on, I won't say a word," Jimmy replied. Lois was a great reporter but had a habit of turning off her phone, which worried everyone.
"Okay."
But as soon as Lois left, Jimmy saw her phone sitting right on her desk. She hadn't taken it with her. Jimmy was speechless.
In the Arctic, at the Fortress of Solitude, the Justice League gathered. The feeling of teleporting was strange—like your whole body became weightless, and in an instant, you crossed half the globe to the Arctic.
"Bunny will hide itself automatically so no satellites can spot it. But to be safe, it's best to store it in a different dimension," Batman said.
Kaitou Kid added, "I think it needs a good cleaning. It's been teleporting too much junk." Batman agreed. But since he needed to study Bunny's systems, he left the cleaning to Kid, Diana, and Flash.
Kid sighed inside. 'Batman's just a rich guy who can't stand cleaning, so he pretends it's research.' Superman joined in to help, and everyone got moving.
They pulled out dinosaur bones, vending machines, household trash, and many censored unknown objects. Some corners stank so badly it was unbelievable the Elite had lived in such filth.
Superman realized they needed water. He used his Heat Vision to cut into the glacier, channeling seawater in to wash everything down.
Huge piles of useless stuff were thrown out, then vaporized by Superman's Heat Vision. He was basically a multi-function cleaning tool.
Bunny looked very happy. Its AI was extremely advanced. Back when it mistakenly teleported the Elite onto the spaceship, it had politely welcomed them. But after the Elite figured out its systems, they shut down the ship's intelligence, forcing it to obey their every order.
Bunny's wish was simply to go home. But that wouldn't happen overnight. Still, it was willing to wait and agreed to work with the Justice League in the meantime.
"My home planet explored countless worlds over tens of thousands of years, but none of them ever built a spaceship this advanced. So finding Bunny's birthplace won't be easy. But I'll do my best," Superman said, looking at the cleaned spaceship.
This ship didn't just have a teleportation system—it had all kinds of production equipment, too. It looked like a full-fledged colony ship. Sadly, the crew's fate was a mystery, and all of Bunny's voyage records had been lost. It might even have come from the center of the universe. Whatever civilization made this subspace ship, their technology was definitely top-notch.
This whole incident with Superman brought everyone closer. Superman's power and principles impressed them—he wasn't some naive boy scout but a real champion of justice.
"I finally understand why you told me to hide my sword," Diana said to Kaitou Kid. Back when she first left Themyscira for Washington, Liu A'dou had warned her a thousand times to keep her sword hidden and only use it in life-or-death emergencies, never to hurt people unnecessarily.
"You'd just left Paradise Island back then, and you know your own temper. You were the kind to draw your sword at the first sign of injustice, which is why I warned you," Kid chuckled. "But now you're Wonder Woman. You know how to show restraint."
Diana had listened, using mainly her bracers and Lasso of Truth. Thinking about it now, she realized Kid really did follow the rules. She couldn't help it—she had to laugh. A thief who obeyed the law was just too funny.
"Thank you all so much for helping. Without you, I couldn't have pulled off this act," Superman said with a bitter smile. After today, his image would never be the same.
"Superman, you did the right thing. What we strive for is to make every criminal who tries to break the law and hurt others feel fear. Fear is the best guarantee that people will follow the rules. We don't need to be heroes or have everyone's admiration. All we need is a peaceful world," Batman said.
Wonder Woman added her thoughts. "Justice and righteousness will always exist. We don't need to flatter or compromise with anyone. We're both the straw that saves lives and the whip that brings pain. My mother always taught me: a tribe's prosperity is inseparable from its rules, and as a leader, you must protect the sanctity of those rules so no one dares cross them. Superman, you were right."
Flash wanted to say something too, but he didn't have enough experience to give a long speech. So he simply said, "My father told me to follow the law. The world needs us only because we can catch criminals the police can't. That doesn't mean we can do whatever we want, so I support you, Superman."
Liu A'dou didn't say anything. Everyone else had already covered it all. He just tilted his head back at a forty-five-degree angle and stared at the sky. After hearing so many moral speeches, he needed a break.
In anime, people fight while trash-talking. In American comics, they finish fighting first, then do the trash-talking.
Everyone went their separate ways, and Liu A'dou and Superman returned to Metropolis.
The uproar wasn't over yet. "I guess I'll have to give Lois an exclusive interview," Superman said. He knew he had a lot of explaining to do after everything that happened.
"So are you going to reveal the existence of the Justice League?"
"There's no need to hide the Justice League. I have a feeling we'll be working together more often in the future. But I also think we don't need to promote it. Quietly doing our duty suits us better," Superman replied. He finally understood he needed allies. Of course, he wouldn't bother the Justice League with every little thing. He planned to develop a group of robots to handle minor problems so they wouldn't need to get involved unnecessarily.
"I get the same feeling," Liu A'dou said. Villains were getting more creative.
Once a league of heroes appeared, a league of villains would surely follow. The things to come would only get bigger and more dangerous. Heroes had to stay prepared so they wouldn't be caught off guard when evil struck.
There was no room to relax. Liu A'dou looked back at Metropolis, then shot into the sky at full speed.