fictionpage Chapter 147 Superman Must Die Before Dawn!
Chapter 147 Superman Must Die Before Dawn!
Chapter 147 Superman Must Die Before Dawn!
Can you imagine? One morning. Not too long ago.
You wake up to find the sun already risen.
You hear birds singing from all seven continents, and your loved one is beside you, nestled in your arms.
You turn to the side, looking at the beautiful woman in your arms, quietly gazing into her eyes. Watching her beautiful eyelashes tremble gently in the golden light of dawn, softening the entire world.
Then, finally—
The world is a beautiful place.
You put on your clothes. No rush, no hurry.
It wasn't about changing the bomb in a phone booth or closet when it fell, or about saving her while you were circling in the sky; it was about doing it calmly, casually, and peacefully.
You listen to her talk about how she messed up her latest exclusive news, and you can smell the vanilla in her morning coffee.
Then, you fly into the sky.
Your first stop: the trial. You appear in court as a witness, not as a judge or jury. You swear to God that everything you say is true and that you have nothing to hide. You believe that the judicial process will ultimately yield results, and that justice is always worth upholding and hoping for.
You tell them that the man sitting in the dock never touched the true soul of this city. You tell them that this city means hope to too many people—a hope that, despite all the bad guy’s efforts, he never achieved.
Luther watched silently the whole time.
After that, you investigate, observe, and use your unique vision to see from one side to the other, exploring wondrous evil acts that easily challenge the power of ordinary people, searching for all the chaos that forever calls upon you and needs your help.
Look, look, look... and then yawned.
After a while, you start to get bored. You get up and go to work.
You're typing on the keyboard; you enjoy your job as a journalist.
You wrote a news article about extortion, collusion, and corruption. Behind you, Louis and Perry were arguing about the definition of categories and spelling issues.
Perry roared, spouting off about his decades of experience, but Louis… my God, Louis had him shut up, it was only a matter of time.
So you look at her indulgent smile and go back to work.
You distilled the opening remarks, making them concise, succinct, and slightly poetic, and read them silently in your father's voice.
这就是你想要的。
How would you pronounce "dad"?
Yes, yes, just like that. How wonderful, you just happen to have time to do these beautiful things.
It's time for lunch; have lunch with your old friends.
Make a joke, laugh out loud, reminisce about the past, ask about their worries and concerns, and about their families and children.
Although you have never met Tim, you often hear news about him from Batman.
Tim went to school, Tim got a girlfriend, Tim joined the football team, and on the field, amidst cheers from the crowd, he used the skills that were used to fight murderers and lunatics to defeat a freckled older boy.
Batman said that this is exactly what kids his age should experience.
You smiled again.
Batman tells you he's really retiring this time. You know he's been through so much, and he deserves a happy and fulfilling retirement. You sincerely wish him well.
He entrusted Gotham to you, and you agreed.
You made plans to see each other again, and you knew you would definitely see each other again.
In the afternoon, you went to the park, and the children called out to you.
"Superman!"
"Superman! Superman!"
"Look at me!"
That night, you asked her out, and she agreed.
You dressed your loved one in a spacesuit, and you sat together on the moon, watching the Earth rise.
The azure planet was so beautiful and romantic under the moonlight. You and she leaned against each other, your fingers intertwined, and even in the cold of space, you felt warm.
Later that evening, you returned home and heard kittens meowing all around you.
You concentrate, sharpen your hearing, and search for another layer of crisis.
Alien invasion, hidden massacres, insane robots... and so on. There are always things that are more serious.
But all you hear is this kitten.
So you take it down from the tree and put it in its owner's arms.
You see the cat licking the old woman's cheek, and the old woman is holding her cat.
You stand behind her, hands on your hips, smiling.
Everything was peaceful and beautiful.
boom!!!!
The earth was trembling.
This is Luther's safe house on the outskirts of the metropolis.
A massive green telekinetic wave slammed Superman to the ground.
"Impossible! Batman told me he would take Louis to safety..."
Superman lay prone on the ground, offering no resistance, scanning Louis's entire body with his X-ray vision again and again.
Blake hovered in mid-air, his majestic figure resembling that of a god.
A faint green tinge appeared on his face. He turned his head, and through his skin, three barely noticeable dark pink spots appeared on his forehead before disappearing.
When he looked up, the green on his face disappeared.
"Is that all you've got? Ah, come on, I just gave you a little poke with my telekinetic fist. You didn't even try, Clark—do you need more motivation to fight like a man?"
The ground around Superman suddenly sank, and then, unable to hold on any longer, it exploded, sending debris flying everywhere.
"How about we use the telepathic memories of your wife's last hour of life to revisit everything? Every little detail? Tearing open a narrow crack?"
"Or do you enjoy hearing him curse you for barging into his life? What was he saying again? A dirty alien? Oh, she's really good at cursing, in every sense of the word. Even with her mouth full of blood, you had to strain your ears to hear what she was saying—"
"Ahhhhh—"
A powerful punch from the enraged Kryptonian sent Black flying, and Black retaliated with a telekinetic shockwave.
The earth-shattering battle between two superhumans tore the land apart like tofu. The earth rose and shattered, and trees and rocks were picked up, thrown, and smashed to pieces like weapons.
And finally—
"Stop talking!"
Superman broke through all obstacles and punched Black's head so hard it snapped backwards. Even his powerful telepathic abilities and telekinesis couldn't stop this unparalleled strength.
That's enough!
Superman's hands were shaking. But Black didn't die from that exaggerated tremor.
Superman grabbed Black by the throat, and they fell to the ground like meteors.
What was originally a suburban plain has been transformed into a small basin.
Blood was gushing from his mouth and nose, and the green color on his face became even more pronounced.
"Nice hit, small-town boy, you got me in the chin. Of course, it still looks like your girlfriend hit me. Keep going for your sake, because I'm considering making this an annual event. You know Batman can't protect your mom forever, right? What's that saying? 'No one can guard against a thief forever,' he'll slip up, then Perry, Jimmy…"
"I'm going to kill you."
Blake started laughing strangely.
"That's interesting, Clark. You can't do it, you can't."
"Just like you would never kill those criminals. Now do you understand how those whose loved ones were killed by criminals feel? You sanctimonious hypocrite?"
He slowly recited Superman's lines.
"We are saved by dreams, we are changed by dreams. I swear, I will not stop fighting until the world of dignity, honor and justice that I dream of becomes the reality we all yearn for."
Superman released Black and knelt down opposite him. Black shakily pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and put it in his blood-soaked mouth.
"Nonsense. You simply cannot live in the real world."
"That never happened to you, did it? So you can stick to your ridiculous no-kill rule?"
"So now, you, the high and mighty god, the seemingly pure and flawless perfect being—have fallen to the level of a mortal!"
"So now, come on!"
Blake frantically spread his arms wide. He turned his head, and the green on his face and three dark pink spots under his skin suddenly appeared, then immediately sank back into his cheeks, restoring his complexion to normal.
"Come and kill me!"
Superman stared at him blankly.
I have scanned Louis Lane's body countless times with my X-ray vision, down to every single cell and every piece of DNA.
That was her, without a doubt. My heightened senses reminded me of that fact every moment.
I have never been so angry. I became a raging beast, a raging storm.
I feel that life has become ethereal and unattainable in front of me.
Then I laughed. Louise was still dead. My heart was still filled with hatred; my only achievement was killing my former self.
Part of me wants to kill Blake, wholeheartedly, right now. For what he did, I can do it, I know I can.
Superman's eyes glowed red.
……
……
……
"Everything is just as I said."
Chen Tao's face was grim.
Luthor said, "Superman is going to kill Black. He's going to kill someone."
He originally wanted to say, "You lost, Batman. But luckily I had a backup plan; Superman will find out at the last second that Lois isn't dead—"
But the bald man suddenly got stuck here, and then seemed to lose focus for a moment.
He concluded by saying the following:
"Black will eventually escape, and Superman will eventually discover that the Black he killed was just a phantom he created using telekinesis combined with kryptonite and hallucinogens in the air."
A sinister glint appeared on Luther's face. His face was reflected in his green armor, making it appear somewhat green as well.
"You've messed things up, Batman. You've essentially presented the government with a killer Superman."
"Superman will change his code of conduct in the face of the government, ladies and gentlemen, just as I expected."
Luther said, "While I didn't intend to prove any of this to you, it's clear our overconfident Mr. Batman has shown us just how unstable that little boy who could piss on our anthill at any moment is!"
"Superman's noble character is awe-inspiring, but..."
"What?"
Luther was taken aback: "What are you talking about? Are you out of your mind?"
He turned to look at the Superman on the screen who punched Black away, then turned to look at the holographic projections of government officials still chattering and whispering, and then it dawned on him.
"You fabricated a story for them? You created a false illusion of Superman's glorious justice and put on an animated film for them?"
With Luthor's intelligence, he quickly realized what Batman had done.
"Batman, this is blatant cheating! You never intended for them to witness anything. The live stream they see is manipulated by you. No matter what choice Superman makes, all they'll see is Superman upholding his principles!"
Then he heard Batman's steady voice.
"I never intended to bet fairly, Luthor. If I hadn't proactively transferred the situation to those government officials, you probably would have done it, right? That's very similar to what you would do: spread the Superman threat theory, create tension between Superman and the government, and prove to the government the possibility of Superman turning evil."
"Therefore, to prevent you from doing something bad first, I did this first. At least if I were to connect first, all the images they see would be under my control. I can keep things under control for the time being."
“No, I never even considered doing such a thing,” Luther said. “You’re overthinking it.”
Chen Tao paused slightly.
Luther shook his head: "But what's the point of all this?"
Luthor opened his mouth, intending to say, "If Superman really kills Black and creates a fait accompli, even if you deceive those government officials with your own fabricated illusions, they will eventually find out."
But then he hesitated for a moment, shook his head, and said, "Even if you fool those government officials with those fake illusions, I will tell everyone the truth. Superman killed the illusion that Black had; he really will kill!"
Then he heard Batman say in a deep voice, "No, it's not a phantom. He might kill Black."
"No, no, Blake won't be killed. Blake can use illusions, he can use illusions..."
"I'm going to stop Superman. Superman must never get his hands dirty."
Chen Tao didn't want to deal with Luther anymore. He had confirmed that Black was seeking death, and a guess was forming in his mind: Luther's abnormality, Black's abnormality, the government agencies being manipulated, and the superhuman fear being stirred up.
Everything swirled in his mind, then converged into a single point.
He thought of the laughing bat.
I thought of Batman, who strangled the Joker and then inhaled the Joker's poison gas.
No, Superman can't kill people, or rather, he doesn't dare gamble on the consequences of Superman killing people.
In countless parallel universes, there may be a righteous but murderous Batman (Batman 51), but there will never be a normal Superman who would kill.
Leaving aside the unjust Superman, even the relatively decent Lord Superman is still a tyrannical ruler who believes those who obey him will prosper and those who defy him will perish.
Just as Chen Tao dared not gamble on whether killing the Joker would turn him into the Laughing Maniac, he also dared not gamble on whether Superman would change after killing Black.
Superman... You should be born noble, born unstained by blood. You represent light and hope; you should not, and cannot, be stained with blood.
He immediately changed his original plan.
"I'm going to stop Superman. Whether he kills or not, it's all over."
"No," Luther said.
"If you want to go, you'll have to beat me first. That's why I'm here. Once our battle is over, Superman will be done for. Black and his phantoms will prove—"
Chen Tao sighed.
"Something's wrong with you, very wrong."
"What did you say?"
"Fortunately, I never intended to play this gamble with you properly in the first place."
"What?"
Chen Tao reached up and wiped his face, revealing clumps of brown mud. Then he used his fingers to cut open his body, revealing his hollow core.
"The nanobots and the clay face make up the fake body that's been standing here talking nonsense with you for so long. My real body has already quietly burrowed underground and run away."
(End of this chapter)