Chapter 197: The First Plan to Kill Du Wa Is This Insane. What Will the Second Be?
2023-12-07 Author: Great Demon Spirit
Chapter 197: The First Plan to Kill Du Wa Is This Insane. What Will the Second Be?
"It seems I've indeed missed a lot of intelligence. But forgive me for being blunt, I don't recall seeing you have a friendly chat with Lex Luthor at any point."
Alfred couldn't understand Batman's words.
A way to defeat the enemy? And it came from Lex Luthor?
If he didn't know that Batman wouldn't play deceptive jokes on him, Alfred would have suspected he was hearing things.
"Language isn't a very efficient method of communication, at least not human language. I'm not sure if those otherworldly creatures called Xenomorphs have more advanced means of communication."
Beneath the night sky, Batman looked down upon the bustling city of Gotham.
The city has a population of over twenty million. Its crime rate is indeed high, but it is also prosperous enough.
However, tonight was destined to be a sleepless one. By now, news about Doomsday had likely spread across the entire world.
More and more people would learn that LexCorp had created a monster, which was defeated by the reconciled Superman and Batman—a pity that wasn't the whole truth.
He wondered if, in a short while, this world would even have a chance to maintain its current social order. It would most likely become much worse. Thinking this, Batman flew into the Batcave outside Wayne Manor.
"What a turbulent night. Gotham has finally quieted down, only for the world to face an unprecedented crisis."
Alfred had been waiting for a long time. He watched as Batman expertly removed his armor, revealing a weary face.
"Alfred, quickly start up all the computers. I need to begin an experiment."
"An experiment more intense than the time you analyzed kryptonite and created a kryptonite weapon in an extremely short period? I'm glad to see that you still have this kind of drive in your middle age, but you can't keep up this continuous high-intensity action for long."
Alfred advised, "You should rest. You challenged Clark, attacked Doomsday, and now you're about to launch another new operation... You are a human, not a god. A god doesn't need rest, but a human does."
Only Alfred always remembered clearly that Batman was a mortal. He wouldn't use Batman like a wishing well as others did, as if just by shouting his name, Batman would always produce a solution to overcome their predicament.
"This is why I emphasized that time is limited."
After removing his armor, Bruce's eyes were bloodshot, and his body was black and blue. Intense pain wracked his entire body, yet not a hint of it showed on his face, as if he hadn't been injured at all.
"Clark has been taken captive by the enemy, and it's highly likely Lex Luthor will also become their puppet. Their power and wisdom will ultimately be turned into a weapon against us."
Bruce said in a low voice, "Furthermore, I don't have enough intelligence on these outsiders. I'm uncertain if the enemy leader's control will be further enhanced over time. Therefore, the rescue mission must be as swift as possible. Earth cannot lose Superman."
"Doesn't that mean those people, or Xenomorphs as they're called, will know everything you're about to do?"
"I believe Luthor would have cleared his brain first. I can't think of a reason why he wouldn't. If he didn't, it would mean he has more schemes in play, but I can't figure them out."
As Bruce spoke, he took out a high-tech box from his armor.
Alfred could see that the contents of this box were the key.
"When did Luthor give this to you?" Alfred asked.
"I infiltrated LexCorp and stole it. Luthor briefly adjusted LexCorp's security forces specifically for me. While searching for this box, I glanced at the information recorded inside and got a general idea of the direction of Luthor's plans. There are two of them."
Bruce was confident he could further refine the plans Luthor had left behind, and perhaps even find a better way through them.
This was why he emphasized, "at least two methods."
"The communication methods of intelligent people are truly special. Every action contains a massive amount of information."
Alfred watched as Bruce launched into a new round of frantic work and sighed to himself.
An ordinary person would never know which was the true identity of the man before them: Batman or Bruce Wayne.
Bruce's mind worked at full speed, quickly deciphering and learning of the contingency Luthor had left behind.
Just as he had praised, Lex Luthor was indeed a madman, and also a genius.
"Luthor discovered the quietly expanding Xenomorphs far earlier than we did. He also began his secret research much earlier and had already achieved significant results... All his actions that we witnessed were actually a smokescreen!"
Bruce recalled the answer "pheromone" he had received when he questioned Luthor.
Trying to use a pheromone to fight for control of the Xenomorphs? The result was that Luthor himself didn't believe this method was guaranteed to succeed; it was just another necessary test.
The true contingency, the method to end this disaster that had not yet fully erupted—Luthor had already provided the answer.
And only Bruce, in that critical moment, in just a few short seconds, could use the immense computing power befitting a fellow genius to swiftly deduce the potential meaning Lex Luthor was most likely trying to convey through his eyes and actions in that dead-end situation. He decided to personally take over the work Luthor no longer had the opportunity to complete and end the threat from the outsiders.
"So that's how it is... Luthor put all his research on the Xenomorphs in here: physical characteristics, behavioral patterns, social structure, and biological research results. In addition, there's the process of him using Doomsday and Clark on-site to conduct a limit test..."
Bruce now understood the specific steps he needed to take. His expression grew uncharacteristically hesitant. Amid his uncertainty, he helplessly realized that, for now, there seemed to be no other more reliable method than to proceed according to Luthor's steps.
Alfred immediately knew what Bruce was thinking.
"It seems you haven't been able to find a better method in the plans Luthor left behind... Must you act according to the plans he arranged?"
"That's right. But both methods are extremely dangerous."
Bruce's head ached. "Alfred, activate the Batcave's defense mechanisms at full power. Ensure that no form of psionic power, magic, or other such forces can detect our actions."
Alfred was already prepared and did so immediately.
At that moment, the first plan that Bruce was about to implement appeared on his computer.
"What? It's this kind of plan... This is insane. But it certainly fits Lex Luthor's character. To defeat the enemy at their strongest point? Even a weapon on the level of Doomsday was nothing more than an experimental subject to test the Xenomorphs' upper limit..."
Alfred adjusted his glasses, staring in disbelief at the plan that required Bruce's personal operation.
"The first plan: utilize the Xenomorph's characteristic of seizing a host's most superior genes and performing a chestburst in a state that surpasses the host, in order to continuously purify Doomsday's genes, ultimately cultivating a Doomsday that is immune to parasitism?"
Bruce's expression was complicated. This explained it. Lex Luthor had used Krypton's taboo biotechnology, consuming the only remaining high-level gene corpse of General Zod, to create the strongest-level Doomsday possible at this stage, all to test the upper limit of Du Wa and his group.
The results proved that Doomsday died a miserable death, unable to even withstand the lethality of kryptonite. Even at its peak, facing a Xenomorph, it was doomed to perish.
"This data contains detailed Kryptonian technology, which will save us a lot of time. But where are we going to get a Kryptonian more powerful than Zod?" Alfred asked, but he immediately thought of someone.
There was one. On Earth, there was indeed a Kryptonian who, in theory, possessed a more perfect genetic map than General Zod, as well as greater potential and more plasticity—Clark Kent!
Krypton's social hierarchy was exceptionally strict, roughly divided into low-level genes, mid-level genes, and high-level genes.
Kryptonians were created according to societal needs, their fates decided before birth. Their respective gene levels and social statuses were thus determined from the start.
But Clark was an exception. He carried the complete Life Codex within him, possessing all the genes of every Kryptonian.
"Although it's cruel to say, I must admit, in these terrible times, it truly is a brilliant idea. Turning Clark into a Doomsday wouldn't necessarily be stronger than the one made from Zod's corpse, but his potential for variation would be far greater. If you were to add the Xenomorph element at this point..." Alfred muttered to himself, typing rapidly on the keyboard.
To be able to violently activate all of a host's dominant and recessive genes, and seize the most optimal expression... if a Xenomorph were used on a Superman-Doomsday, the result would be truly...
"This way, even if the enemy has Clark under their control and also possesses a super-powerful Superman-Xenomorph, they'll have no way to fight the Doomsday-Xenomorph in our hands!" Bruce said in a low voice.
"Then how do we get a second Superman? Cloning technology? Luthor even prepared for this?"
"More than just the technology, he already gave me the finished product. That guy is a truly admirable madman."
Bruce immediately began preparing for the biological experiment. In his hands, he already had a Doomsday embryo and a Xenomorph embryo, both cultivated from Superman's cells. The next step was to accelerate their maturation.
When the second-generation Doomsday was almost fully formed, he would then implant the Xenomorph embryo into Doomsday's body.
This was the limit of what Luthor and Bruce could achieve in this relay effort. As for the rematch between the enhanced Doomsday and the Xenomorph—whether Doomsday would rapidly evolve and iterate, developing an immunity to the Xenomorph's parasitism, or if the Xenomorph would win again, parasitizing Doomsday like the last version—that was not something Batman could decide.
If the result was not what he hoped for, this was still a necessary trial-and-error process. He would learn from the experience and immediately begin a third experiment—just as Luthor had used the Zod-version of Doomsday to probe and discover numerous characteristics of the Xenomorphs, providing valuable intelligence for Bruce's second experiment.
"Hopefully, this can be resolved in this second biological experiment. Hopefully, the Doomsday based on Clark's cells can fully stimulate its evolutionary ability during development and eliminate the invading Xenomorph embryo that seeks to seize its best genes... The most ideal outcome would be for Doomsday to use the Xenomorph to fully activate its most perfect and superior genes." Bruce also knew this was a huge gamble.
There were too many variables. For instance, what kind of being was this Du Wa? A god? A devil? Or a Xenomorph in human skin? To what extent could he control the Xenomorphs? Would Du Wa interfere once the Xenomorph embryo developed to a certain point inside Doomsday's body?
This was also the reason why Luthor implanted a Xenomorph into the Zod-Doomsday. It was fundamentally a test to see if Du Wa could manipulate an unformed Xenomorph. The results indicated that he likely could not; Du Wa even seemed quite interested in the newborn Doomsday-Xenomorph.
But Bruce was naturally skilled at doubting everything. He silently buried this question in the back of his mind.
Right now, Batman had no choice. If he didn't come up with an effective plan soon, Du Wa's side would only expand its forces exponentially. Once they reached a certain scale, they would truly be unstoppable.
To put it dramatically, how was he supposed to deal with hundreds of millions, or even billions, of Xenomorphs all over Earth?
Would the masters of Earth be humanity or Xenomorphs?
With Alfred's assistance, Bruce ignored his body's exhaustion and frantically cultivated the second-generation Doomsday.
After injecting the Xenomorph embryo into Doomsday's body, he immediately backed away. Layers of alloy doors slammed shut one after another. Bruce and Alfred observed Doomsday's changes through monitoring equipment.
"If things go wrong, if Doomsday ignores the influence of the Xenomorph pheromone, Alfred, I will immediately activate the cryo-system here. Doomsday won't be interested in a frozen, slumbering ordinary person." Batman, fully armed, said in a deep voice, "I'm not certain if this Doomsday, should it go out of control, can overcome the effects of kryptonite. We must prepare for the worst."
"And what about you?"
"My mission is not yet complete."
"Oh, come on. I can imagine that if this Doomsday can become immune to kryptonite, it could just as easily evolve an immunity to your pheromone! Besides, there's no intelligence to prove that damned pheromone would even be effective against a super-Doomsday fused with a Xenomorph. Luthor never had the chance to experiment; at most, he only tested it on some ordinary Xenomorphs!" Alfred said, looking at his young master.
In the face of a bug-like ability like infinite evolution, it was possible for the second-generation Doomsday to become immune to any and all countermeasures. No one could say for sure.
Especially if this Doomsday truly defeated the Xenomorph and fully activated its own superior genes. It would then inevitably possess a terrifying evolutionary efficiency that reached its theoretical limit.
Even Batman couldn't imagine how suffocating that scene would be.
The premise was that the final victor had to be Doomsday, not the Xenomorph.
"You still haven't mentioned the second method to me. I'm guessing that method is even more dangerous, and also related to Doomsday?" Alfred asked.
Batman hesitated for a moment, then said hoarsely, "It has nothing to do with Doomsday at all. But that method... just thinking about it makes my skin crawl. It's even more unreliable than the final plan I came up with on the fly."
(end of chapter)