Far off in the DC world, Heisenberg had no idea that a few people who wanted to see him had been detained by Hela on Asgard.
But even if he had known, he wouldn't have cared in the slightest.
At that moment, he was slowly waking up. This time, with no Superman or Batman to disturb him, he slept all the way until ten-thirty.
He turned his pajamas into a bracelet around his wrist, then floated naked into the particle shower room and cleaned a body that didn't really need cleaning.
With an endless lifespan and immense power, Heisenberg felt it was necessary to maintain the habits he'd had as a human.
Besides, he liked the feeling of bathing, and he liked the feeling of eating pork knuckle.
After the shower, he tapped his bracelet, and his usual suit and overcoat appeared on his body.
Draped in his coat, he strolled along the corridor and found Clark, who was busy at work.
"Great-grandfather, you're awake?"
Clark said without turning his head.
"I'm hooking up the water pipes here. There's no need to use the ship's built-in high-grade energy for trivial everyday things.
Using high-energy particles to shower, for example — that's just too wasteful."
"Uh..."
Heisenberg's face went stiff.
"I power the entire ship."
"Exactly. Precisely because the whole ship runs on your bio-energy, we should conserve even more.
It's fine with just the few of us now, but when our people grow in number in the future, we can't have everyone's food, clothing, shelter, and transport relying on your energy, can we?"
"Good point!"
Heisenberg nodded and casually picked up a prepared pipe.
He glanced at the blueprint, and his heat vision instantly plowed a trench into the floor, mapping out the pipeline route.
"Wait, Great-grandfather, we can't bury the sewage pipes near here. I'll go handle the sewer lines."
"OK!"
Heisenberg smiled. The ship now truly gave him the feeling of home.
That feeling had once been very far from him, but he truly loved it.
Of course, Clark felt the same. As the renovation of the ship progressed, the areas Heisenberg had set aside for their people gradually entered the early planning stages.
As he planned, Clark couldn't help but picture what it would be like when their people returned.
He was no longer alone now — he had Heisenberg by his side.
And in the future!
Imagining all the possible scenes to come, Clark, still laying pipes, smiled deeply.
In the distance, the ship's door opened once again, and Batman walked in, carrying a mountain of food.
Approaching, Bruce placed the heaps of food directly onto a table formed from particles.
"You're pretty late today, buddy!"
Heisenberg greeted him casually. Bruce nodded helplessly.
"A bit of trouble. Harley Quinn was mysteriously transferred out of Gotham by the U.S. government, and that's made the Joker a little... restless.
I spent a lot of effort last night just to get him and his lunatic followers under control!"
"Oh?"
Hearing Bruce's words, Heisenberg sat down at the table, unwrapping a package as he asked,
"Sounds like this Joker is capable of giving you trouble. So why not just kill him?"
"Uh..."
At Heisenberg's question, Bruce's face turned cold and he shook his head.
"I've already missed the best opportunity. Killing him now would be meaningless, because the Joker is no longer just a criminal — he's a state of mind.
Like Hitler when he stirred up the Nazi wave, the Joker has become a spiritual leader in the eyes of countless Joker gang members.
They deeply believe that the Joker is right.
If I kill him now, countless versions of him will spring up all over the world, because the spirit in their hearts won't die, and that would cause utter chaos.
So I can only keep locking him up, making him fail again and again. That way, he'll be like Hitler after he was thrown into prison:
as long as he doesn't break out, those who believe in him won't stir up new unrest."
He paused and couldn't help shaking his head.
"I admit my Gotham has enormous problems, and ninety percent of them come from the Joker.
He is the embodiment of chaos, a symbol, a signifier.
Only by letting people witness his personal failures can we suppress the Joker within them.
Once the Joker truly dies, that symbol will sink deep into people's hearts. He'll become the Gandhi and William Wallace of the underworld, and it will also unleash the Joker lurking inside countless others!"
At this, Bruce spread his hands.
"So, there really isn't much I can do about him as things stand. Can I just kill every bastard who believes in him?
Then, when new villains appear, kill the new villains and the new bastards?
If I keep that up, I'll become the villain myself. It's inevitable!"
"As long as you know what you're doing."
Heisenberg nodded noncommittally and began eating the breakfast Bruce had brought.
Between bites, he added,
"But if it were me, I'd just give the entire human race a thorough cleansing.
Clearly, a flawed system breeds someone as purely twisted as the Joker. So I'd smash that system and give Earth a better starting point."
"No, no, no, no, no!!!"
At Heisenberg's words, Clark in the distance looked up sharply.
"Great-grandfather, please don't ever think like that. When we see evil, we should also look more at the hope that stands against it.
Even in Bruce's Gotham — a city overrun by gangs, crawling with villains, and home to the pure evil of the Joker — there are still so many people whose hearts yearn for justice."
"Exactly, Mr. Heisenberg!"
Bruce sat down heavily across from Heisenberg and said seriously,
"Humans are indeed ignorant, blind, vulgar, directionless, and easily stirred up.
Whether they become good people or bad people ultimately depends on the methods we and the villains each employ.
The Joker can lead them to become children of chaos, but I can also turn them into champions of justice!"
"So, Bruce, you're selfish too.
Gotham is just a battlefield for you and the Joker."
Heisenberg said with a smile.
Hearing that, Bruce nodded without denying it.
"I've never denied that, because I'm constantly fighting him.
But even without me and the Joker, the world is still a battlefield between the poor and the rich, between the exploited and the capitalists, between nation and nation, and between belief and belief!
Compared to all those conflicts, I'd rather be the one leading this war. After I win, they'll end up better off than if some other ideology had won."
With that, Bruce picked up a dish in front of him hesitantly and scanned it with the computer on his wrist.
As he scanned, he said,
"All this food was brought by those pilgrims outside. Better we eat it than let it go to waste.
After all, it's really going into the mouth of a god like you.
Still, to be safe from poisoning, I'm going to analyze the composition of the food!"
"Pfft!"
Heisenberg nearly spat out the meat patty in his mouth.
"Could you not say things like that while I'm eating, Bruce!"
"All right. I thought since poison can't harm you, you wouldn't care about food safety.
I didn't expect you'd have that same kind of human-like thinking Clark has.
He doesn't actually need to breathe or walk, but he enjoys strolling around, and he goes through the utterly useless act of breathing just like a human.
I thought he was the only one like that."
"Uh..."
Listening to the stone-faced Bruce, Heisenberg shrugged.
He turned to Clark and said with a laugh,
"Look at our strategist here. Tsk, the things he thinks about all day."
"Yeah, he thinks way too much!"
Clark chimed in, sitting down beside Bruce and casually reaching for a braised pig trotter.
Just as he was about to grab it, Bruce slapped him sharply on the wrist.
"Don't think I can't tell you were just laying sewage pipes.
Go wash your hands!"
"OK!"
Clark nodded heavily, then obediently went to the particle washroom and cleaned his hands.
Watching the two of them interact, Heisenberg burst out laughing.
The DC universe really was just the daily life of Mama Bat and Papa Supes!
Hahahaha!!!!
...
After the meal, Bruce placed the trash into the waste recycler a small robot had brought over and said quietly to Heisenberg,
"Before I went to sleep last night, I took the liberty of preparing the files on the members I've selected.
I think that before Diana brings back good news, we should first recruit the members planned for our initial phase.
Here's the storage card."
As he spoke, Bruce was about to insert the card into the computer on his wrist.
But in the next instant, the card floated into the air and landed in a cluster of particles that was rapidly coalescing nearby.
In mere moments, the particles emitted a faint blue glow, then spread out on a large scale.
All the contents of Bruce's storage card were displayed around them, neatly categorized.
"Relax, the technology of my homeland can interface with ancient tech. So, where do we start, Bruce?"
Heisenberg asked casually, completely oblivious to the fact that the term "ancient tech" had deeply wounded Batman.
After a cold-faced silence, Bruce pointed at the lightning bolt icon and said,
"Let's start with that young man."
"Young man? You mean this lightning bolt?"
Clark asked as he reached out and tapped the lightning bolt symbol formed by particles.
Instantly, a lifelike scene appeared near their table, as if they were really there.
In the footage, a young man was shopping at a supermarket, but clearly, luck wasn't on his side.
The supermarket was being attacked by robbers!
The young man in the scene suddenly vanished, then reappeared in the same spot an instant later.
In a flash, the extremely lucky robbers had their sentence reduced by at least three years because the robbery was only attempted...
Seeing this, Clark nodded in surprise.
"That speed — even I can barely keep up. He's outstanding!"
"He's Barry Allen from Central City. Truly outstanding.
But wait, there's someone even more outstanding!"
Bruce said as he opened another symbol, a circular one.
In the footage, a body so mangled that it was little more than a torso was gradually enveloped by mysterious metal, forming new life.
"Victor Stone, former college football star. He lives right here in Metropolis!"
"Hmm, and the last one?"
Clark asked quietly.
Bruce opened the last symbol, shaped like the tip of a fishbone, and looked at the man dominating the seas in the footage.
"Arthur Curry of Amnesty Bay. I used to think he was just a son of the ocean.
But now, clearly, he's an Atlantean — and a hybrid of Atlantean nobility and human!"
"OK!"
Heisenberg nodded decisively.
"Three targets, and exactly three of us.
So, one each. Let's get this member recruitment plan underway as quickly as possible!"
He then shrank the image of the Flash and held it in his hand.
"I'm very good at communicating with young people, so he's mine!"
"Then I'll go meet this man of steel and iron. After all, we're both from Metropolis."
Clark took the image of Victor Stone.
That left the image of Arthur Curry floating before Bruce.
He pinched the image in his hand and said quietly,
"Fine. I'll recruit this Aquaman. He cares deeply about his home and his neighbors, and his hometown has always been mired in poverty. Looks like I'll need to bring plenty of money.
But then again, that's the one thing I'm not short on, isn't it."
/-\
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