fictionpage Chapter 541 Batman finally swallowed that heart!
Chapter 541 Batman finally swallowed that heart!
Chapter 541 Batman... finally swallowed that heart!
"Huffing and puffing..."
Night Owl felt his hands trembling.
On his finger, an orange ring was emitting a somewhat intense orange glow.
This ring comes from the Orange Lantern King Lafferties, and like most emotional spectrum creations except for the Green Lantern ring, it amplifies the greedy emotions of all who wear it, thereby altering their temperament.
Billions of years ago, the Orange Lantern King Lafriz was even affected by this and killed all his companions. In the years that followed, he killed all the creatures affected by the Orange Lantern and turned them all into Orange Lantern ghosts. This made him an army all by himself and the only lone commander in the Seven Colored Lanterns.
This profound emotional impact transformed Lafferties into a different person; even after removing the Orange Light Ring and escaping its influence, he became extremely resistant to putting it back on.
Even Luthor was affected by the Orange Lantern Ring after he put it on, and even attacked his teammates randomly in the "Darkest Night" chapter.
Therefore, logically speaking, the owl who wears the orange lantern ring should immediately become a selfish, self-centered, and utterly insubordinate supervillain. But in reality—
"That's great, Night Owl. Now you're planning to sacrifice everyone to save yourself?"
Night Owl's eyes glowed orange as he glared at the Joker next to him and fired a powerful orange beam at the spot where the Joker was standing, but the Joker was unharmed.
The owl turned its head and saw scorched marks on its body from the light.
From another person's perspective, the schizophrenic Night Owl only shot himself.
"I...I didn't intend to deceive anyone to save myself," Night Owl said. "I didn't plan to do that; I was just thinking about it."
"Come on, there's no point in lying to yourself. You know you are me, our thoughts are connected, man," the Joker said. "The ring can stir up your inner thoughts, which means that these thoughts, to some extent, coincide with your inner desires."
He mocked, "You're far from as selfless as you think. You enjoy presiding over ceremonies that sacrifice others, not because you have to, but because you enjoy wielding the power to decide who deserves to die. But now that power is no longer yours; you've become the one being decided by others. That immediately becomes unacceptable to you."
"So you're fundamentally resistant to working with Batman, aren't you?"
Night Owl fell silent. The Joker's interrogation of him always struck at the heart, because the Joker before him was himself; they were always two sides of the same coin.
Then he heard the Joker say, "But you don't have the ability to solve the problem... so you have to cooperate with him, and that's where things go wrong in the world. Batman's biggest mistake was letting you take charge of this four-pronged push tower system that seemed so important to him."
Believe me, your set of utilitarian rules never includes yourself.
Your life has never been threatened. If it really came down to it, would you really sacrifice yourself to save the world? No, you wouldn't.
"If you could, you'd stab Batman in the back. You know why? Because I know you, Thomas. You're a villain, but you always have the nerve to call yourself an anti-hero among villains."
"That's enough!"
With a furious roar from Night Owl, he let out a maniacal scream, and then Joker vanished before his very eyes.
He was panting heavily, holding his forehead, his temples throbbing.
A lie doesn't hurt anyone because you know deep down it's a lie. But unfortunately, when the Night Owl asked himself the question, he... he couldn't come up with a firm answer.
He didn't have the courage to tell himself that if he had to sacrifice himself... he would definitely die.
He was conflicted, he hesitated, he struggled to make a decision, and he lacked the courage to end his own life.
And that's exactly what angered him the most... his anger at himself.
Just then, a loud crackling of electricity interrupted the owl's thoughts.
"Buzz buzz buzz buzz... Night Owl, can you hear me?" Night Owl immediately abandoned his random thoughts and replied seriously, "I can."
"Are you ready?"
He heard Batman ask.
Wait a minute, this sounds like very important preparation. Should Batman really entrust this to him?
Despite what the owl thought to itself, it still replied, "I've finished."
He paused, then asked the question anyway: "But I still don't understand, Batman."
"What exactly do you want?"
"You know, friend." He could almost hear the clicking of the other man's molars as he clenched his teeth.
"The world will only become a better place if you force it."
Empty words are acceptable, but we still have to face reality.
"I'm afraid I have to tell you," said Night Owl. "Once we lose the Heart of the Planet, we have no energy source to propel the entire universe forward."
He said, "The Heart of the Planet is directly connected to the emotional spectrum itself, making it an inexhaustible source of magical energy. More importantly, its power is immense. Remember middle school physics?"
Energy that doesn't produce enough work per unit time cannot power the propulsion towers. Even if this system were reduced to only four main towers, once it received energy, it would be completely destroyed after propelling our universe a certain distance. However, the system's energy requirements would not decrease at all.
He said, "Where am I supposed to find you a massive energy source that can power the entire universe?"
Despite asking that question aloud, Night Owl was actually secretly looking forward to it.
He figured that since Batman had arranged all of this, he wouldn't have ignored this issue; maybe he could conjure something up...
"Well done," Chen Tao said.
He was just habitually praising Night Owl. He knew he should give his allies positive feedback so they would be more motivated in the future, even though Chen Tao knew that with their current state, whether they had a future was questionable.
He preemptively affirmed everything the Night Owl had done before continuing, "Of course I made preparations."
"What is it?" Night Owl asked.
"Myself," Chen Tao commanded him. "The Propulsion Tower system draws power remotely from the main energy source through intangible magical pathways. I've already simulated it. If the object being drawn from is an inanimate object like the Heart of the Planet, then you'll still need to build a protective tower to actively extract energy from the Heart of the Planet. But if the object being drawn from is a living person, then as long as they are willing to provide energy..."
"What? This is utterly absurd!" Night Owl exclaimed. "What kind of being could provide such a massive amount of energy? Even the Galactic Golem couldn't. I've tried to make a backup plan for this... The answer is that unless I use Superman Supreme as the primary energy source... Wait, did you really think I would adapt to a scenario where a living being becomes the primary energy source? Do you really think you're Superman Supreme?"
"It's very obvious," Chen Tao said. "First, if I were you, I would definitely try to turn Superman into the primary energy source. Second, you don't think this is an important plan, so you didn't hide it from Luther at all. Instead, you used this plan that you threw away in some corner as one of the ways to gain his trust. I guessed you would do this and then let Luther verify it, and sure enough, you found this one among a bunch of backup plans that you yourself couldn't even remember."
Chen Tao said, "You really should do some archiving and organization, and prepare plans specifically for each situation, instead of just making a plan whenever you think of a method and then leaving the plan lying around messily—but never mind, now is not the time to talk about this."
He said, "Connect all four propulsion towers to me."
"You'll be drained in an instant," Night Owl warned. "Even though it can only propel it for a short while, these four propulsion towers are pulling the entire world. Their power was designed to be compatible with the Planetary Heart when they were created. Aside from Superman Supreme, no one can generate such a massive energy supply. If the power isn't enough, it will forcibly extract it. You'll either have to resist the extraction or be drained instantly, destroying the source of your energy, or the person who is the source of your energy..."
"Death," Chen Tao said. "Don't worry, I'm prepared."
He commanded, "Do it that way."
Night Owl agreed, and then he heard Batman say, "I give you the order: begin the energy extraction."
With a deafening roar, Chen Tao opened his eyes and saw the Justice League surrounding the Anti-Monitors. They were hacking and slashing at the Anti-Monitors, but the Anti-Monitors were handling them with complete ease.
He gripped the trident that Hai Wang had thrust at him like the handle of a hammer, and with a swift motion, struck a nearby meteorite, sending it flying. Diana threw the Lasso of Truth at him, which he then caught with his own hand: "Lasso of Truth, then I guess I should tell the truth now:"
He pulled Wonder Woman along, then spun her around like a yo-yo in the air, making a semi-circle before slamming her down onto Mera, who was hugging Aquaman.
"They are easily defeated."
The Water Warrior condensed into a storm of water blades, which couldn't even break through the skin of the Anti-Monitor.
As he beat up the Justice League members, he turned to Batman and said, "Think about it? You know what you have to do. You guessed something's wrong, right? But you still know the sheer amount of power involved can't be faked."
He said, "Give it a try...otherwise..."
In an instant, his speed increased several times over, and he grabbed Aquaman's head in a flash. The head was like an apple in his palm. The Anti-Monitor lifted Aquaman into the air: "You don't really need me to kill one to prove I can do that, do you?"
Then he turned his head and looked at Batman: "It seems that's really what you're planning."
Wonder Woman and Superman team up to rescue them. They are two of the few giants in the League who can pose a significant threat to the Anti-Monitor.
But this doesn't change the overall situation.
When the anti-surveillance agent's palm began to glow white, Chen Tao stopped him.
The counter-surveillance agents, on the other hand, were pleased to see a black heart clutched in the other's palm.
"Well done," he said. "Keep it up, I knew this would work."
Seeing Batman pull out this device, the Anti-Monitor breathed a sigh of relief. Had he been too lenient and not killed any Justice League members during their brief encounter?
That's a joke, of course not. He's already found a way to prevent Batman from getting stronger by killing his teammates—the "teleport and then kill" method—so why would he worry about not being able to kill him?
The problem is that their situation is like an interrogation, and murdering Batman's teammate is like torture.
Anyone who frequently interrogates others knows that for a determined and professionally trained prisoner, resorting to sexually humiliating torture is an extremely risky act.
Yes, if the other party is spineless, torture might force them to submit immediately. But what if they don't submit immediately?
For those being tortured, this can create a preconceived notion that "I've overcome this hurdle," making subsequent breakthroughs even more difficult.
In particular, sexual humiliation and physical torture that result in maiming and causing irreversible damage can lead the victim to think, "Well, it's already like this, so I might as well just stay silent."
Therefore, at the beginning of the interrogation, physical torture was always intended to intimidate rather than to directly torment the victim.
Therefore, for Batman, directly killing his teammates might incite them to share a common hatred, creating the counterproductive effect of "everyone dying together," while what we're seeing now...
Martyrs all yearn to sacrifice themselves, and what you should do is sharpen your sword, place it against their neck, and then silently recite:
3, 2, 1.
Batman brought the black heart to his lips.
"I don't think you want me to rush you," the counter-surveillance agent said.
"Batman, wait, what will happen if we swallow this?" Superman Clark asked.
"Wait, Bat, I think we came here precisely to stop you from going alone. Whatever the effect that thing might have, don't do it yet," Martian Hunter said.
"Wait, let's think of another way."
"I've figured out a way, everyone. I'm sorry. This heart will give me tremendous power."
"You've kept this from us again! You've never told us this before!"
As Wonder Woman spoke, she suddenly turned her head amidst the fierce battle, intending to say something to Batman. However, the Anti-Monitor, who was holding Aquaman who was punching and kicking him, appeared behind him in the next moment and delivered a karate chop that made Wonder Woman's eyes go blank.
But the Amazon warrior was not stunned by the attack as the anti-monitor had expected; instead, she swung her sword at him fiercely.
The anti-monitor used Aquaman as a shield, and the sword stopped at Arthur's forehead.
"You'd better hurry."
"The anti-surveillance advocate urged."
Chen Tao picked up the heart, and even without actually swallowing it, he could feel the powerful energy contained within. But he knew that this energy belonged to Barbatos, and unless he swallowed it, he would never be able to use it, let alone directly use the Anti-Monitor's heart as a substitute for the Planetary Heart.
and so……
I know what to do.
Chen Tao hypnotized himself.
The next moment, he swallowed the heart whole!
"That's fantastic."
The anti-surveillance agent casually tossed Aquaman aside.
It has a smooth texture upon entry, followed by an indescribable feeling of swelling throughout the body.
In the crucible of the world, Barbatos grinned maliciously.
[WARNING! WARNING! Massive contamination detected!]
On Chen Tao's retina, a large number of silvery-white characters surged out frantically, like a seizure:
[Emergency protection procedure is being initiated... You can only sync at most... Error, protection failed!]
[Protection failed!]
【fail!】
【fail!】
The overwhelming presence of words like "failure" filled Chen Tao's entire retina, making him feel as if his eyes were bleeding.
He loudly reassured his companions, "Don't worry, everything is going according to plan."
With a loud popping sound, his limbs made a teeth-grinding sound of bones tearing, and then they swelled up desperately.
"This is all part of the plan," Wonder Woman said, hearing Batman's stubbornness.
"It's okay. Trust me."
(End of this chapter)