LRAB Chapter 743 Your obsession will only cause greater disaster, the bat
Chapter 743 Your obsession will only cause greater disaster, the bat
Chapter 743 Your obsession will only cause greater disaster, the bat
When Chen Tao heard the other person utter the words "What Superman?", he already felt that something was very wrong.
His brain was sending him frantic warnings, ringing incessantly.
The Foolish Owl's head exploded with a bang.
The two of them immediately and simultaneously did the same thing:
They used various methods to prevent Superman from hearing the second half of the sentence, "Superman is in the Presidential Palace."
"What? What did he say next?"
This raised a question for Superman. His super hearing made it almost impossible for him to misunderstand what the other person was saying, but he heard that after the person finished speaking the first half of the sentence, the second half became indistinct.
He immediately realized that Batman Dragon and Killing Machine were working together to cause trouble.
The Supreme Little Superman was somewhat displeased. "God, of course it is so, otherwise what?"
No leader, or even a self-proclaimed leader, can tolerate two subordinates working together to prevent him from knowing something.
In the eyes of Superman the Younger, Batman Dragon and Killing Machine are both his subordinates and should have no reason to deceive him.
"Some unexpected situations have arisen, Superman Supreme."
Then he saw Batman Dragon turn around and say to him with an unusually serious expression, "An enemy that neither of us is aware of."
"That's true. This matter is rather complicated, and we need to discuss it further before giving you an answer."
The killing machines also hurriedly chimed in, but the more they did so, the more they enraged Superman.
"What exactly happened? I need you to explain it to me right now."
While Chen Tao and Yu Xiao were fooling Supreme Superman, the two of them were also frantically exchanging information on the telepathic channel.
"The Laughing Bat?"
"The Laughing Bat"
"Fuck your mother."
"Yes, but he's still Bruce."
"That Superman?"
"Those trapped in the times."
"That's right, that's what I think too. Who else would it be?"
"We can't let Superman just storm into the Presidential Palace and start fighting with the victims."
After saying this, Chen Tao realized that a new conflict had arisen.
This conflict will completely upend the fragile cooperative relationship that he, Superman Supreme, and Killer Machine currently form.
"Why not?"
He heard the killing machine reply to him on the telepathic channel: "The new Superman killed the old Superman. For this timeline, if Superman the Younger can win, then he is still Superman in this timeline."
Chen Tao organized his words:
"If he can't, if their battle destroys the entire planet—"
"We just need to make sure that doesn't happen," the Foolish Owl said, controlling the killing machine. "That's all, isn't it? That's why Superman Supreme needs our help."
Of course not!
For Foolish Owl, Superman Supreme should rush over and fight the Time Trapped right now. As for how many innocent people die in the process, it doesn't matter to him. He only needs to ensure two things: that Superman Supreme wins and that Earth is not destroyed.
As for whether a battle between two Supermen would destroy a city and cause the deaths and displacement of hundreds of millions of people, that's not a concern for Foolish Owl.
"I think you've probably already noticed. Look, I'm an AI robot, and you're an AI robot too. We've moved from a wasteland with no signal to an area with a signal."
The Foolish Owl spoke with the tone of a killing machine, so he also called himself an AI robot: "This timeline is different from the world you remember before. Do you know where you are?"
"Flash point."
"That's right, my friend, Flashpoint. A flawed timeline, a timeline destined to be erased. Think about it. As long as Superman Supreme can restart the timeline according to our plan, no matter how many people die on this timeline, they will all be erased from the new timeline."
"Those mortals whose lives are as worthless as grass, who are about to die in the battle between Superman Supreme and the Time Trapped in this timeline, will not even be born after the New World."
"But this timeline is preserved in the history of the super-time stream," Chen Tao said. "It's all real. Even if a concrete road has been demolished, you can't say that it never existed in the past."
At first, Foolish Owl didn't understand the situation.
But at that moment, after hearing Batman finish speaking, he immediately realized the inevitable difference between the two of them.
Both of them are intelligent people. The Foolish Owl knows very well that he was the one who created the Flashpoint timeline, and he also created these people who should not have been born and this timeline.
Therefore, although he himself did not realize it, he did have a sense of looking down when he looked at this timeline.
He had no reverence for the lives on this timeline; he regarded them only as NPCs, some humanoid data that he had just created.
For him, his ultimate goal was to use Superman Supreme as a vessel to resurrect the New 52 Supermen. Once they needed to erase this timeline, these people would be reshaped and restored to their original form in the main universe timeline.
Since all beings on this timeline will eventually be reshaped anyway, why bother with all this effort? On this point, he could reach a consensus with Superman Supreme.
Without a doubt, this is a manifestation of having too high a level of power and losing one's humanity.
He stripped all living beings on this timeline of their human rights, treating their right to life as mere playthings.
According to Yu Xiao's logic, since everyone has to die anyway, what difference does it make whether I kill him now or later?
But Chen Tao knew that trying to persuade the other party was a pipe dream.
His mind raced, he thought frantically, he had to use his persuasive skills to convince the other party, for whatever reason, damn it—how could he convince the other party?
"No, you don't understand, you don't understand how terrifying the Bat of Laughter is." He carefully crafted his words.
A seducer must communicate with the other person from their perspective, speaking from their heart.
"You see, we've reached a consensus. The Batman Who Laughs must be stirring up trouble. The Time Trapped alone doesn't have the awareness to seize the position of Superman in the main universe at the perfect time."
"We have to consider one possibility: all our actions now are within the Batman Who Laughs's plan."
Chen Tao knew that the paradox of maniacal laughter wouldn't fool the other party for long. This paradox was ultimately just a guess; it couldn't be disproven, but it also couldn't be proven.
"I'm demanding of you, we absolutely cannot act the moment we see a problem. Gather intelligence, remember? Aquaman and Wonder Woman are in our hands now. How can you be so sure that the Flashpoint timeline is still the same as before?"
"Is Superman the ultimate superhero necessarily stronger than the Time Trapped? Maybe before, but not necessarily now, really not... Calm down, don't you think you're getting a little too arrogant?"
"Your pedantry makes it impossible for you to accept that so many ordinary people across timelines died as a result of the battle between two superhumans."
Yu Xiao saw right through Chen Tao's fancy techniques and went straight to his essential thoughts.
"So you want to buy time, to delay the battle between Superman Supreme and the Time Trapped as long as possible, so that you can find a solution in time."
Chen Tao knew that the other party had seen through his purpose, and conventional methods would be difficult to use.
"Yes," he admitted directly, "but my concerns about the Batman Who Laughs are not unfounded."
Yu Xiao was thinking, but Chen Tao didn't give him a chance to think.
The other party must make a decision immediately, and even a wise person like a foolish owl cannot make an absolutely wise decision in a rush.
Enough with the nice things, it's time for a threat.
He said, "You should know about Batman's problems, the mental illness that every Batman is susceptible to."
The Foolish Owl heard Batman say, slowly and deliberately, "I really don't want to cause trouble, to be honest, but Batman's insatiable, boundless desire to save the innocent will make him forever..."
"Always crazy. We do need to gather intelligence, and we also really need to calm Superman down a bit."
After thinking it over, Foolish Owl finally agreed to Batman's suggestion. In fact, he originally hoped that Superman Supreme would first test the fighting power of the Superman in the Presidential Palace and the Time Trapped, and see if they could really stand up to his side.
But Batman clearly objected—he understood Batman's threat, and with the threat of half the Cosmic Tuning Fork and Barbatos, the Foolish Owl had to reconsider.
"But here's a problem: how do you plan to persuade Superman Supreme?"
Yu Xiao said, "If the two of us join forces to persuade Supreme Superman, we can definitely make him stop temporarily. The two of us can control him for now."
"I don't care, but you have to remember, Bat, no matter how long you drag this out, we'll eventually figure out what's going on on this timeline, and you know how blasphemous it is for Superman Jr. to take away the name Superman."
"Have you ever considered that you might actually be fast enough to get him completely out of control...?"
"Is there any way to stop him?"
Chen Tao's mind was in a mess.
The killing machine made it clear to him that there was no point in trying to persuade him here.
Even if the two of them can join forces to calm Superman down temporarily, it won't last long.
"You always want to save everyone. But things can't always go the way you want them to. You think you have everything under control, but things often go awry."
The fool's words silenced Batman.
He finished with a final, devastating blow:
"What happened the last time you tried to save everyone? Earth-15."
"Look at the mess that's created by the hyper-time flow. Look at the timelines and history that have been affected by your actions. What do you think caused the hyper-time flow to collapse to this extent?"
"If you hadn't dealt a fatal blow to the Hypertime Stream—could you imagine such a world? Do you know that the World Forgers changed their behavior primarily because the Hypertime Stream was weaker?"
Have you ever considered the possibility that if you hadn't caused the Earth-15 event, everything would have been different?
"Come on, Batman. Sometimes we have to learn to let go. Even Batman can't save everyone. Your obsession will only cause more disaster and kill more people."
And look at them, they'll be resurrected immediately after time restarts, resurrected, understand? They'll still be the same people as before, just with time reversed... So what's the point of you saving their lives now?"
"Let go, Bat. Look, I completely agree with your suggestion now. You want me to help you persuade Superman Supreme to stop and buy time? Okay."
"I can help you with that. It's not a transaction. I won't even ask anything of you. It's just a small favor out of friendship, or at least as an ally."
"But I still hope you will carefully, very carefully consider your thoughts."
Chen Tao didn't know.
He just...
There are just some...
A little lost.
"I don't know if you've ever regretted witnessing all this disaster, the catastrophe triggered by the abduction of Superman from the main universe. The entire timeline of the main universe has been transformed into the Flashpoint timeline because of this event."
"Countless timelines have collapsed, countless ordinary people's histories have been thrown into chaos because of you, timelines have been severely damaged, Perpetua, Void Hand, Parallax Morhal, Superman Supreme, Time Trapped, Monitor and Anti-Monitor..."
He rattled off a string of villain names:
"They all came into the spotlight because of the shock you caused in the hyper-time flow. You tore open a hole for them to invade reality, thereby creating enormous disaster and destruction. It was all your doing. You did all of this."
You've already tried your best, that's enough. You've given it your all, but you can't force a solution by robbing Peter to pay Paul. [It's perfectly fine now!]
His voice softened:
"What I mean is, I wonder if you've ever regretted... creating the Earth-15 Incident?"
That's enough.
Chen Tao knew this was a little trick the other party used to stir up his emotions.
But emotions and reason are often two different things.
"I hope you'll think this over carefully, Batman. Think it over carefully. Sometimes we have to give up."
He sensed that the killing machine had exited the telepathic channel. He explained to the questioning Supreme Superman before Chen Tao could, "Why shouldn't we rush to the Presidential Palace now?" He spoke eloquently, even better than Chen Tao. Even if Chen Tao himself spoke, he would only use these persuasive techniques.
He knew that the killing machine, or rather, the one controlling it behind the scenes, could surely appease Superman Supreme. All it took was a few words of agreement to make Superman Supreme aware of his two... His subordinates had all reached the same conclusion; even the most stubborn Superman Supreme wouldn't charge forward directly.
But he's not in the mood to speak right now.
Chen Tao... Chen Tao remained silent.
Batman... Batman never gives up.
It sounded like a painful groan, yet also like a self-hypnotic comfort.
It also sounded like weeping.
(End of this chapter)