Chapter 193: What If I Do This, and Then This? How Would Superman and Batman Respond?
According to the intelligence scale of the DC Multiverse, Batman's intelligence is at Level 9, while Lex Luthor's reaches Level 12, the pinnacle of the Multiverse, overwhelming the vast majority of high-level gods.
But this doesn't mean Luthor is truly infallible, as if he's read the script and knows the past and future, never making a mistake and never failing.
What's more, Luthors from different universes vary in intelligence. There are plenty of Luthors who die in a muddle-headed fashion, like mere background characters.
For instance, the Lex Luthor of this DCEU Universe actually dared to seek out Du Wa, which, in Du Wa's eyes, was a mistake.
"You've made a mistake. You shouldn't have sought me out so rashly. Perhaps you believe that compared to what you might gain, a slight risk is not worth mentioning."
In front of the visitor, Du Wa poured himself a glass of boiling water. The sight of the scalding water made the man's eyelids twitch violently.
"My apologies for speaking with you in this manner, but this was the safest plan I could devise—I wouldn't come myself, so I could only arrange for a mouthpiece to be here. I considered using cloning technology to create a version of myself to speak with you, but I ultimately gave up on that idea. The current cloning technology is imperfect, and it would have cost me a little bit of time."
The person before Du Wa was merely a puppet. The one controlling the communication device on his body was the real Luthor.
"And what you lack most right now is time. So why come looking for me, a person of unknown identity?" Du Wa watched with a smile. He was in a good mood. Interacting with the locals during this brief period of accumulating power in the DC World was a leisurely pastime for him.
"It seems you know me very well, but I've searched the entire world and found no record of a person like you, nor any information related to those little darlings outside. It's as if you all appeared out of thin air. Even if you were conducting biological experiments, you would need a basic laboratory, equipment, and gene samples. And especially as a researcher, it's impossible to gain knowledge from nothing. You would have had to learn it."
But Luthor had found none of that.
"Alien. That's the name of these little guys. As for me, you can call me... God," Du Wa said slowly.
Far away in LexCorp Tower, Luthor was completely unable to determine the truthfulness of Du Wa's words.
Because it was too absurd.
The impending battle between man and God had not even begun, and a mysterious, unknown species had appeared out of nowhere. And the one leading these monsters even called himself a god?
Intelligent people have a wonderful characteristic: they tend to question everything but are slow to deny anything. This allows them to always discover the truth of the world from various perspectives.
Luthor wanted to say more, but in the next second, the head of the unlucky bastard he had sent was already separated from his body.
"...Dead? That's even stranger."
Luthor hid in his safe house.
It was definitely the most advanced safe house in the world, equipped with countless high-tech devices.
Every second, Luthor's brain was performing calculations more complex than those of all the world's computers combined, conceiving all sorts of possibilities. He watched the video of Du Wa's expressions and movements over and over again.
"There's no change in his micro-expressions at all. He's like a robot in human skin. Either he's not human at all, or..."
Luthor then recalled all the information he had collected about the xenomorphs, his mind filled with countless, densely packed 3D models.
He had long since analyzed the characteristics of the xenomorph, knowing it was a creature that could acquire the superior genes of its host.
"Chestbursting and not... If I'm not mistaken, even those who weren't subjected to a chestburster, who seemed to have instantly become normal superhumans, are actually under the control of that mysterious man."
Luthor had already figured out the basic characteristics of the xenomorph. He had even specifically collected some of its drool, confirming that the substance flowing from the xenomorph's mouth was pure water.
Luthor then recalled the scene of Du Wa drinking boiling water.
"Heat resistant, able to seize a host's superior genes, and quantity is not an issue... What a wonderful creature. I still don't know the xenomorph's upper limit. Since it can turn an ordinary person into a superhuman, with all physical indicators soaring, it proves that the xenomorph's own genes are extremely powerful, and it can be shared with the host."
Lex Luthor naturally thought of a possibility.
What would happen if this thing also parasitized Superman?
Either the parasitism would fail from the start, with the xenomorph unable to penetrate Superman's body, or even if it did get inside, it would be easily killed by Superman.
Or... could it possibly succeed?
"Actually, it doesn't matter even if it fails. The xenomorph's upper limit is not my upper limit. I can totally breed stronger xenomorphs selectively. When that time comes, no matter what level of being they are, be it an extraterrestrial or some other monster, they will be nothing."
All intelligent people share a common trait: self-confidence, a belief that they can achieve what others cannot.
This was especially true for Lex Luthor. His mind had originally been full of ideas about instigating a battle between Batman and Superman, then taking the opportunity to unravel the mysteries of the Kryptonians. He wanted to prove the superiority of humanity.
But if there was an opportunity to acquire the means to completely control Superman, or even to obtain combat power greater than Superman's, that would be far more valuable than simply defeating him.
"However, that man who calls himself a god... he makes it difficult for me to make up my mind. From a logical standpoint, he shouldn't have engaged in an amicable conversation with me, only to kill the man I sent after just a few words."
No matter how intelligent Luthor was, he would never have imagined that Du Wa was a conceptual god who had crossed over from another multiverse, whose power in his prime was the strongest beneath the multiversal level.
This was a result of his cognitive framework. The current Luthor had not yet been through the baptism of various universe-level events and was completely unable to imagine what kind of being a god truly was.
In the eyes of the world, Superman was already a god, a god among men.
Perhaps Diana of Themyscira should also be counted? But that woman was a demigod at best. Only if Zeus himself appeared could he provide Luthor with more reliable information.
...
"Although I've switched to a different multiverse, Luthor's choices won't be that different. Right now, he should be scheming how to acquire a xenomorph."
Du Wa completely understood Luthor's ambition.
After all, this was a creature that could directly steal a host's highest quality genes and achieve transcendence in a stronger form. The people of Earth envied the Kryptonians' power, and at this critical juncture, the appearance of numerous xenomorphs made them the ultimate weapon that certain individuals had always dreamed of—the kind they wouldn't trade for a hundred Tsar Bombas.
In reality, there was already Superman, a being who carried the genetic codex, his body alone possessing the most complete set of genes in Kryptonian history.
As long as Luthor's brain was working, he would definitely consider the possibility of having a xenomorph parasitize Superman, whether to control him or to simply have it burst from his chest, thereby obtaining a weapon with even greater strength than Superman.
Especially at this point in time, Luthor was already preparing to use Krypton's biotechnology to do something with General Zod's corpse.
Du Wa was once tempted to send a xenomorph to Luthor, just to see what kind of tricks the man could come up with. He wasn't particularly worried about Luthor losing control. If he managed to seize control of the xenomorphs, it would be the greatest insult to Du Wa, a conceptual god.
The Luthor of this universe had neither the ability nor the opportunity to acquire the power of a multiversal-level being.
Du Wa wasn't in a hurry at all. He had already locked onto Luthor's position.
With just a thought, Du Wa could complete the parasitism of Luthor.
"I'm looking forward to that guy's performance... However, conquering this universe and accumulating enough power before being taken seriously by Darkseid's avatar or the avatars of other multiversal gods—that's the real business."
Du Wa maintained a calm state of mind, watching the two upcoming protagonists—Batman and Superman—with the mentality of someone playing with ants.
...
Everything unfolded as scheduled.
Except for Superman himself, everyone else was filled with anticipation for this battle.
Even Batman, the challenger, was carrying his carefully prepared Kryptonite weapon, ready for a fight with Superman, eager to prove that a man was stronger than a god.
On the deserted street, a torrential downpour raged.
Icy raindrops battered their bodies, stripping away precious heat and bringing a bone-chilling cold that made even normal breathing a luxury.
But neither Batman nor Superman paid it any mind.
"Bruce, calm down! We've both been deceived! It's Luthor! This is all Lex Luthor's conspiracy! He wants us to fight each other!"
Superman shouted as soon as he landed, trying to stop this battle that never should have happened.
"Don't try to cover up the inevitability of this fight with cheap rhetoric." Wearing his exoskeleton armor, Batman took heavy steps, his footfalls thudding as he approached Superman.
"I really don't understand what you're thinking!" Superman grew angry; he couldn't comprehend Batman's reasoning.
He knew Batman's intellect was great, perhaps no less than his own with his super-brain, but why would he jump into what was so clearly a trap?
Was it really so important to defeat him, an extraterrestrial, as a human?
Superman was anxious and restless, in a hurry to get back and save his adoptive mother and his lover. "I'm not a villain or a criminal! I was raised by humans, and I've been trying to protect humanity ever since..."
"Protect? You call the disaster you brought and the even more astonishing destruction you caused protection? Do you have any idea how many people were killed in your fight with Zod? You can't even count how many buildings collapsed!"
Batman walked up to Superman. In the darkness, the eyes of his armor glowed. "Someone like you should never have appeared on Earth in the first place. Humanity has no need for your brand of protection, the one you're so proud of. Humanity is far more powerful than you, this god among men!"
Batman himself had killed quite a few people—the Batman of the DCEU Universe never played the "no-kill" game, using lethal force when clearing out minions—but the total number of people he'd killed in his entire life probably didn't even amount to a fraction of Superman's count.
Look at the battle between Superman and Zod. Those two could destroy a building in a single exchange. How many people were killed indirectly by just one of their moves?
Humanity doesn't need such an ugly guardian, and Earth doesn't need such a protector god.
Humanity's affairs should be handled by humans.
Superman closed his eyes in pain. With just a stretch of his hand, a light push sent Batman flying seven or eight meters.
"Bruce! The gap between us is huge, you're no match for me! We should team up to dismantle Luthor's conspiracy..."
Superman tried hard to restrain his temper, attempting to convey his goodwill through the logic of "I am far stronger than you, so killing you would be instantaneous, but I am choosing not to"—look, I'm powerful, patient, and even proactively 'showing weakness.' Isn't this the greatest sincerity?
But this completely infuriated Batman.
On the ground, various pre-prepared autocannons burst from the surface and opened fire on Superman with all their might.
As expected, they couldn't even scratch him.
But the moment Batman took out the Kryptonite weapon, things changed. It was his turn to brutally beat Superman.
"What a magnificent showdown. A man can beat down a god. Although he used some clever tricks, it's still a remarkable achievement."
Everyone was watching this battle; the sky was filled with satellites.
But Luthor only occasionally glanced at the tablet in his hand. Looking at the screen, he swiped a finger and switched to another interface.
Immediately after, he carried his high-alloy case, entered the Kryptonian ship, and after activating the artificial intelligence, he opened the case.
Inside the high-alloy case was a severed tail.
It was a small section of a xenomorph's tail.
He had lost several soldiers to obtain it.
"Kryptonian..."
Luthor stroked his chin again, observing Zod's corpse. After a brief moment of hesitation, he immediately began inputting a command into the Kryptonian ship's computer.
"Warning, this is a severe violation of Kryptonian law..."
The entire ship sounded an alarm, but the key Luthor had obtained from Superman had the highest authority, so this warning had no effect on him.
"Hehehe, let me see what kind of monster can be created if I cast aside all morality and law, and purely amplify the power of technology to its absolute limit... Is Zod's genetic profile high-grade? Doesn't matter, I'll know the result soon enough."
Luthor ran a hand through his long hair, put his hands on his hips, and looked at General Zod before him. After a moment's thought, he carefully picked up the xenomorph's tail.
Although he had already drained the highly corrosive blood in advance and immediately froze the tail section to minimize degradation, Luthor still maintained the highest level of vigilance.
It was a good thing he had confirmed that the xenomorph wasn't like a snake, with its entire body covered in low-level nerve centers, otherwise this tail section might have suddenly leaped up and slit his throat.
"Hehehe, first this, then this... Now this is interesting. Adding my own research, though the time was short, it should be enough..."
(end of chapter)