Chapter 196 The World Has Not Yet Despaired, Batman Is Still Fighting
Diana watched the scene before her with red-rimmed eyes. This righteous daughter of Zeus hated her own powerlessness and was horrified by the terror of these visitors from a parallel universe.
How long had it been? These outsiders possessed incomparably tyrannical power and a numerical advantage. Without seeming to take any extra measures, they had effortlessly changed everything.
Superman had become Du Wa's loyal dog. Batman didn't even intend to have any communication with Du Wa and the others, fleeing for his life.
Lex Luthor, with his hair in disarray, was shouting a bunch of meaningless words like a madman.
And the immensely powerful Doomsday, which had given the impression of infinite evolution, was now dead. It was unclear whether it had been killed by Kryptonite or by that parasite.
Diana was numb, completely numb. She felt that this group of people was far more terrifying than Ares.
Although Ares was a god, he was just one god. But these guys from a parallel universe were a whole group.
And they were still frantically extracting the life force of this universe, transforming them into their servants.
"Don't try to attack Du Wa. I've tried that trick many times already." Thanoseid's voice was utterly terrifying, carrying the oppressive weight of a Cosmic Celestial.
Diana felt that the imposing figure before her exuded a far greater sense of pressure than Ares ever had.
"You're a god, too? A deity like you is willing to be his slave?" Diana staggered to her feet, clutching the Godkiller Sword in her hand, still not giving up on the idea of assassinating Du Wa.
If she could kill Du Wa, the controller, perhaps the situation would improve.
Of course, it could also get worse, but Diana had no other choice. She had to take the gamble. After all, even Superman had fallen. What other superhero in the world could be stronger than Superman?
"Slave? Hmph, Amazon, you are the pinnacle of ignorance."
Thanoseid's body was as tall and imposing as a massive boulder, with ravines spreading across his form. Coupled with his habit of keeping his hands behind his back, anyone who didn't know better would subconsciously assume that Thanoseid was the leader of Du Wa's group.
Thanoseid wished he was the leader, but now was not the time.
"I encountered Du Wa far earlier than you people in this universe. I was also his most formidable opponent. I was only temporarily outmaneuvered because I hadn't figured out his methods of combat, which is why I am subservient to him. But this state of affairs will absolutely not last forever," Thanoseid said in a cold voice, looking over at Du Wa, who had already flown towards Doomsday's corpse.
Diana's eyes lit up. The outsiders' inner circle was rife with petty scheming and sharp contradictions. This was an opportunity.
As expected, no matter how powerful a conquering legion was, it was bound to have internal problems. A group of bloodthirsty villains would not easily obey another's commands.
Superman seemed to have been turned into a complete puppet, but the others appeared to have a strong sense of autonomy. Was it because their strength was greater, allowing them to resist the controller's power to some extent?
Diana didn't understand. There were too many mysteries surrounding this group of outsiders.
"It seems you've already found a vulnerability in that Du Wa…" Diana sized up the Thanoseid before her.
Thanoseid revealed a ferocious smile.
Perhaps he had, but Thanoseid himself wasn't sure. No related thought had appeared in his mind, precisely to prevent Du Wa from detecting it.
Thanoseid had long suspected that Du Wa could not only control their bodies but could also spy on their thoughts. Therefore, he had deliberately avoided any detailed thinking about rebelling against Du Wa.
So, Thanoseid knew his instinct had indeed made a discovery, but as for what that discovery was, or what method to use to bypass Du Wa's manipulation and kill the alien inside him, he wouldn't know unless he deliberately engaged in high-intensity thought.
When the time was right, Thanoseid would launch his rebellion, rapidly formulate a plan based on his discovery, and deliver a fatal blow to Du Wa.
The only thing that made Thanoseid feel an instinctual unease was that Du Wa had already conquered several universes in another multiverse and must have taken many an intelligent person captive.
Could it be that every single one of those intelligent people was utterly loyal to Du Wa and had never thought of rebelling? If they did rebel, what plan did they choose? In any case, they must have all failed.
But Thanoseid knew that the major discovery that made his heart pound, the one he forced himself not to think about too deeply, was definitely located within this current Multiverse.
This was a territory Du Wa had never come into contact with. There would definitely be an opportunity.
Thanoseid stared indifferently at Du Wa's figure, emptying his brain, not thinking about anything, as if he were a fighting machine devoid of thought.
This was completely different from the Super-Soldier, who wore his resistance on his sleeve.
The Super-Soldier stared at Superman with an ugly expression. In a daze, he felt as if he were watching from a third-person perspective, seeing himself being forcefully controlled once again. It was a terrible feeling.
"You guys too?" Superman was in extreme pain and rage. It seemed that because the alien in his chest had completely taken control of his body, he finally had the ability to speak. After confirming that Batman had escaped, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Bruce was not someone who feared death. For him to retreat so decisively meant he must have a plan to counter these visitors from the parallel universe…
Next, Superman also had to find a way to get rid of the foreign object in his chest. But right now, it seemed almost impossible. Otherwise, the other version of himself and that burly fellow would have already attacked Du Wa.
"My mind is now filled with Du Wa's name… A lot of knowledge has appeared out of thin air, and I've even established a strange connection with all of you." Superman tried to mobilize his body to exert force, but his body gave no response.
The commands issued by his brain were all intercepted by the alien larva in his chest. Every nerve that transmitted information in his body was being manipulated by the alien larva.
"That guy won't be smug for long. I don't believe a perfect ability exists in this world, even if he is a god!" the Super-Soldier said to Superman with a righteous look on his face. "I need your help."
"Clark, you'd better stay away from the Super-Soldier. This guy is different from you. He's a true blockhead with a one-track mind," Du Wa's voice sounded in Superman's head. "Only half of him can be considered your parallel-universe self. The other half has nothing to do with you, and his personality is largely influenced by that other half."
Superman's heart skipped a beat.
Indeed, the man before him looked very similar to himself, whether in appearance, build, or ability. But wearing his underwear on the outside and carrying a shield as a weapon were not his style.
"Oh… to think it would turn out like this. How unfortunate." Lex Luthor climbed up, the smile on his face somewhat distorted because his face was swollen from Batman's punches.
His intelligence was extremely high. After rapidly assessing the situation, he had reached a tacit understanding with Batman. At this moment, he did the same thing as Thanoseid—he emptied his brain.
"Lex Luthor, this is all your doing!!" Superman was furious.
"Still blaming me at a time like this? After making up with Batman, did you hand your brain over to him too? You should be thanking me. If it weren't for me, you would still be completely ignorant of the existence of these otherworld invaders, let alone understand their abilities! They came here with an army, intending to use our planet as a base to expand their military force!"
Lex Luthor ran his fingers through his hair, pushing it all behind his ears, then pointed at Superman and sneered, "If I hadn't drawn these people out ahead of time, by the time you righteous individuals noticed something was wrong, you'd be facing tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions of aliens!"
In just a few seconds, Lex Luthor had cleared his mind, preparing himself to be inexplicably ensnared and fall just like Superman.
But Du Wa seemed to have little interest in him. He hadn't made a move, instead focusing on standing before Doomsday's corpse, examining the newborn alien.
This alien stood motionless, showing no intention of tearing into Doomsday's corpse.
This was highly unusual.
Aliens themselves also needed to eat, especially right after birth, when they needed to absorb energy to grow rapidly into adults.
But this one before him didn't.
That was because it had acquired the highest-quality genes from within Doomsday.
And one of the characteristics of a bioweapon like Doomsday was that it didn't need to consume food to sustain life. It had a self-contained internal circulation system. Limited energy would become more abundant after cycling through its body, and through this repeated cycle, it would continuously grow stronger.
If not for this internal circulation system, Doomsday wouldn't have possessed the ability to undergo frenzied evolution under various attacks, eventually becoming immune to the very means of attack that had harmed it.
Of course, Doomsdays also came in different grades. The top-tier Doomsday possessed the most perfect and efficient internal circulation system and the most terrifying rate of evolution, a level that even the gods would look upon with awe.
As for this Doomsday from the DCEU, it went without saying. The fact that it could be restrained by Kryptonite meant that even without the alien's chestburst, it would have ultimately been killed by the Kryptonite spear. One could imagine that the quality of this Doomsday was not high.
A true Doomsday would never fear Kryptonite. Before being killed by Kryptonite, it would definitely evolve an immunity to it. That's what a qualified Doomsday was.
But this alien that had burst from its chest had seized Doomsday's highest-quality genes, which was equivalent to a high-intensity purification of Doomsday's genes, which already existed for adaptation and evolution. It was bound to possess an evolutionary ability surpassing this Doomsday.
Without any hesitation, Du Wa picked up the Kryptonite spear from the ground and plunged it into the alien's body.
With a squelch, the alien's body was pierced through, and its life signs began to collapse rapidly. It was on the verge of death.
"What is he doing? Did that alien go out of control?" Watching this scene, Superman felt that things weren't so simple.
Sure enough, just a few seconds later, Superman's already worried heart sank to the depths, a look of deep horror appearing in his eyes.
He saw that the alien's wound was inexplicably and rapidly self-healing. Despite being suppressed by Kryptonite, no different from a Kryptonian, it was gradually beginning to ignore the threat of the Kryptonite spear.
"Evolution…? An evolutionary ability even stronger than that bioweapon! How is this possible? Can this parasitic alien truly seize the host's abilities?" Superman was stunned, as if plunged into an icy cavern. He subconsciously lowered his head and used his X-ray vision to look inside his own chest at the alien larva that was tightly fused with his body.
It wasn't just simple parasitism and control. There was also the chestburst. After the chestburst, this thing would seize all of his abilities. No, it would possess the exact same power as him, but with even greater strength!
He had originally thought Doomsday's existence was absurd enough, but Superman now realized his own ignorance. There existed a parasitic race even more insane than Doomsday.
"Heh, heheh, this is just awful… All the worst-case possibilities I had envisioned have been activated," Lex Luthor muttered, rubbing his face. His expression was extremely ugly, but it quickly returned to normal.
The more desperate the reality, if he, Lex Luthor, were the one to end it all and single-handedly guide the path to victory, wouldn't that just further prove his greatness?
The only pity was that he wouldn't be the one to personally create this future. He knew he couldn't escape.
"Do you understand now, Clark? The Doomsday that gave you a hard fight is nothing. In front of these gods or demons from a parallel universe, you—we—don't even have the qualification for a hard fight. The gap is too wide. We, who are just starting out, can't compare to these outsiders who have surely been through countless battles."
Therefore, it was necessary to use a more perilous and desperate method to break the stalemate. Lex Luthor thought this, but he didn't say the last sentence out loud.
Yes, long before making his move, Lex Luthor had already prepared measures to deal with the worst-case scenario. He would definitely teach that arrogant and condescending bastard—Du Wa—a profound lesson!
Even if you are a god, a god more powerful than Superman, Zod, or any other damn thing, you will suffer a great loss at the hands of me, a human!
"That guy, Lex Luthor… Even without implanting a parasite in him, I can sense the chaotic thoughts emanating from his head…" Du Wa didn't even glance at Lex Luthor, but whenever Lex Luthor's super brain engaged in high-intensity thought, it stirred up a storm on the mental plane, like a divine artifact.
To a Concept God like Du Wa, it was far too conspicuous.
"As for you…"
Du Wa stroked his chin, perceiving the various conditions of the Doomsday alien before him.
He knew this one was special, even more special than the Mephisto Xenomorph or the others. He had a preliminary idea of how to utilize this one's talent.
...
Gotham.
Batman spread his cape, transforming into a bat-like shadow streaking across the night sky.
"Young Master Wayne, I am very pleased to learn that you are still alive. According to the satellite footage, it seems Mr. Clark has defected to the enemy," Alfred contacted Batman at once, sounding overjoyed.
"There's no time, Alfred. We must prepare immediately. Every precious second we seize could change the outcome," Batman said hoarsely, his voice still full of composure.
"Does that mean you have already found a way to win?"
"That's right, I have. That guy Lex Luthor is indeed a crazy genius."
Batman said slowly, "There are at least two ways to achieve victory."
(end of chapter)