bookmarkrole Chapter 732 You are all a great teammate, this mission is entrusted to you
Chapter 732 You are all a great teammate, this mission is entrusted to you
Chapter 732 You guys are all great teammates, this mission... is entrusted to you.
If possible, Chen Tao actually didn't want to deal with the Supreme Little Superman, especially the Supreme Little Superman from the "Final Crisis: Legion of the Three Realms" era.
But in terms of sheer madness, from Crisis on Infinite Earths → Crisis on Infinite Earths → War of the Sinestro Legion → Darkest Night and then to the Legion of the Three Realms, throughout the entire history of Superman, he has never changed.
After the Legion of the Three Realms, Superman Supreme was sucked back into the Origin Universe. His last appearance in the main universe was in a Teen Titans publication.
He was defeated by Superman Connor and Supergirl and stuck to the Origin Wall, where he has remained as a sculpture throughout the New 52 era.
Chen Tao could choose not to travel through the super-time flow to find the Supreme Little Superman from the "Three Realms Legion" era, but instead choose to put the Supreme Little Superman from the Origin Wall in the current timeline.
The problem is that he recruited the young Superman to temporarily make him the Superman of the main universe—but he didn't intend for him to be the Superman forever.
Once he finds the real Superman, P-Superman who was captured by the World Forgers, the Superman Supreme, who has been used up, should be kicked out.
Otherwise, why would they let that madman, Superman the Supreme, actually become the main universe's superhero?
At this point, if Chen Tao were to actually use the current timeline's Superman, simply removing the "position" of Superman from the main universe would be the death of him.
However, if the past Superman from the timeline is used, Chen Tao only needs to send him back, and the position of Superman in the main universe will automatically become vacant.
Plans are in place!
Of course, his actions are altering the timeline. Once he removes the young Superman from the final crisis, the young Superman stuck to the wall in the current timeline will also disappear.
That's right, they disappeared, instead of two Super Junior appearing at the same time.
The Super Time Stream has run out of power; it is no longer able to predetermine the future where "Supreme Superman will return to the end of the Three Realms Legion to complete history."
Chen Tao was even prepared not to return the Supreme Little Superman, because the Three Realms Legion incident was a very rare event with a relatively small impact on the entire time flow of the DC universe.
The entire incident resulted in only two important outcomes:
1. Those trapped in the times are erased.
2. Superman Connor is resurrected.
In other words, even if we don't send Superman back, as long as we kill the Time Trapped and bring Superman back to life in the end, and these two outcomes don't go wrong, the impact on history won't be particularly significant.
(Note: Referring to the example of the Timewalker III dying at the hands of the Parallax Demon at Zero Hour in place of the first generation, the time-travel narrative will not change history as long as the outcome remains the same.)
"In short, that's the situation right now."
Within the Firestorm Matrix space.
At this moment, Chen Tao sat together with his own alliance forces and the remaining alliance members from the main universe.
Chen Tao used the spirit of metal to create a simplified Justice League meeting hall, and also made a large round table for the meeting, so that everyone got a seat.
"...Superman has now been captured by the World Forgers, and based on the Metal Spirit left on Cyborg by Lex Luthor from our universe and the Red of All Beings left on The Flash, we can be fairly certain that neither of them is in mortal danger."
We must first find a way to bring Superman Supreme to the main universe, and then proceed with the rescue plan for the missing members of the Alliance…”
Chen Tao briefly explained the situation to everyone, and then mentioned Supreme Little Superman.
"Pay attention." He explained why they had gone to such great lengths to find the Supreme Superman during the Three Realms Legion era, and then continued:
"During the Infinite Crisis, although Superman Supreme was insane, he still had clear purposes, actions, and methods for doing things, but..."
"After Alexander Luthor Jr.'s Multiverse Tower exploded, the plan completely failed, and he accidentally killed his mentor, Earth 2 Superman. Superman Jr.'s behavior has started to shift from meticulous planning to venting his anger. He has completely gone mad and is determined to destroy what he sees as an imperfect Superman and the entire world."
"Therefore, I formally propose a core principle to everyone: we must never directly deny Superman's demands, but only influence his actions by distorting the path to their realization."
Simply put, the child is too emotionally fragile; a direct refusal will cause him to explode.
"Especially you, Wonder Woman." Chen Tao pointed to Wonder Woman's name from the main universe:
"Even a polite refusal won't work. No matter what Superman says, you have to say 'okay,' and then we can slowly work out the plan."
The two-headed Wonder Woman nodded; the one from the main universe understood the priorities.
"And your appearance needs some saving. I'll cast a transformation spell on you later. Zatana from our universe once taught me—" Chen Tao said, while turning to the Alliance Fish-Head Sea King beside him, "and I'll also reinforce your transformation spell."
The Aquaman from the main universe and his parallel universe counterpart, Fish Head, sat together. The blush on his face had faded, and he was now expressionless.
"But I have a question," Chen Tao asked when he saw Lianmeng Hal raise his hand.
"Obviously, I've seen the information you gave us. Why can't we use the old Superman from Earth-2 instead of Superman Ultraman to serve as the Superman of the main universe?"
He asked this question, and then he saw Luther and the others looking at him.
He looked around: "What's wrong?"
"Because...because the old Superman from Earth-2 was the main force in suppressing the anti-monitors."
Chen Tao said, "During the Crisis on Infinite Earths, he was the main force among the main forces, and he was also the one who ultimately killed the Anti-Monitor. If he came down from the Hypertime Stream, then the Anti-Monitor's main body would also have come down."
"What I mean is, what happens after Crisis on Infinite Earths?"
"After Crisis on Infinite Earths comes Crisis on Infinite Earths. During this period, the old Superman from Earth 2 was one of the main villains in the event."
Chen Tao said:
"Don't think that just because Superman was killed by Superman Jr., he's a hero. He, like Superman Jr., wanted to create a perfect new world."
He was relatively mild-mannered in the early stages, but after Old Louis died in Earth-2, he almost turned into a demon, even crazier than Superman the Primal.
Then he was persuaded by Superman from the main universe, and only then was he killed by Superman Supreme.
"All right."
Hal from the Alliance remained silent.
"So what's the plan?" he asked. "We'll swarm in, beat Superman down, and force him to become..."
Nearby, Hal from the main universe heard his own reckless declaration from the parallel universe, and he covered his head.
He wanted to complain to his best friend, the Flash from the main universe: "Damn, I'm only now realizing how annoying I usually am..."
Then he silently looked at Aquaman, the leader of the Justice League, beside him. He realized that he was no longer in his familiar Justice League hall. The furnishings here were arranged so similarly by the Batman from the parallel universe that he had temporarily forgotten that detail. And their Bruce Wayne wasn't here either. According to the Batman from the parallel universe, their Bruce was employed by a dragon called Barbatos and was working to save the entire multiverse.
Boo!
The Sea King with the fish head blew a bubble at him.
Hal from the main universe stood up abruptly:
"Wait a minute, what I mean is..."
He looked around.
"Has no one thought of looking for Barry? Or Victor?"
He said, "Clark has been captured by that damn World Forger. He's temporarily out of the multiverse. Okay, I understand. We have to keep the multiverse from collapsing before we can rescue him. I understand that too."
He slammed his hand on the table.
"But what about Barry and Victor?!"
He turned to Chen Tao: "I don't understand. You just pointed in a direction, and then everyone seems to have forgotten about Victor and Barry. Your alliance also lost Ron the Martian Manhunter, didn't they? Didn't you think about going to save him? Didn't you consider that he's dying right now?"
He then abruptly turned his head to look at the two-headed Wonder Woman from the main universe:
"Diana, I remember we had a fight about this once."
(Note: The argument Hal mentioned here in the main universe refers to the Justice League's debate during the New 52 era regarding whether or not to immediately rescue Steve. It appears on page 12 of Justice League Volume 11.)
Batman told Hal not to be reckless and to let him handle it, but Hal struck first, and then the two of them got into a public fight over the disagreement.
This was also a major contributing factor to Hal's departure in the later stages of the New 52 series and his long absence from the main Justice League publication.
"I thought you would care about Barry and Victor as much as you did when you were eager to save Steve!"
Peng!
The next second, Hal from the main universe felt Chen Tao appear behind him. When he tried to resist, Hal from the Alliance on his left grabbed his left shoulder, and the fish-headed sea king next to him bit his right shoulder.
With a dull thud, Hal from the main universe collapsed to the ground, falling into a deep, infant-like sleep.
"Hey, wait... are all parallel universes this simple and brutal?" The Aquaman from the main universe jumped up from his seat. Diana from the main universe also controlled her body to stand up, then was controlled by the Alliance Diana to sit back down.
Chen Tao picked up Hal from the main universe and put him back on the chair. Then he snapped his fingers and used his fifth-dimensional divine power to summon some water to splash on Hal's face, waking him up.
"Have you calmed down a bit?"
"..."
"I didn't say we wouldn't go to save them, it's just that they're still alive, splitting up the forces is risky, and whoever captures such a rare resource as the Justice League from the main universe wouldn't be foolish enough to kill the other."
Chen Tao said, "You Justice League members from the main universe are a treasure trove."
Superman can be used as the core of the multiverse, Batman is a multiverse-defining artifact, Wonder Woman is a miracle-maker, Cyborg can use it to connect the energy of the entire multiverse through the X-Element, and the Flash can travel through time without any external force. And Aquaman harbors the power of life within him!
(Note: For information on Neptune's life force, please refer to the DC event "Earth Sinks," image below.)
He kept talking: "And you, a humanoid Pokémon, with the best physique, even Parallax can transform you into a monster like Parallax Demon when possessed by Parallax. Do you know how many people want your body?"
He said, "Do you know what would happen if you and the other members of the Justice League were caught by real bad guys? You have the safety of the entire multiverse at stake. To be honest, I wish I could tie you all up and put you in a bottle for protection."
The main universe's Hal understood Chen Tao's meaning.
He looked at Chen Tao.
"But... I'm afraid I can't." He heard Chen Tao say this.
Fish Head Sea King, Luther, and Alliance Heroine all looked at Chen Tao.
"I'm always afraid of the darkest future, but miracles never happen in glass bottles. Brainiac has shown us how absurd it is to put what you treasure into bottles for protection."
And you, all of you, Lex Luthor, you have proven your potential to me.
Before Hal spoke, I hesitated. I even thought that if no one had mentioned this, we would have really followed my plan exactly, protecting each and every one of you under my watchful eye, and then carrying out my plan step by step.
But now it seems...
I can't do that.
"Lex Luthor".
Chen Tao called out Luther's name.
"You did a great job. The moment you saw the Justice League in the main universe again, you left the ability to track them. You modified yourself and enhanced your power, making you capable of fighting the Justice League. Your intelligence is unparalleled, surpassing that of ordinary people. The task of persuading Superman Supreme will be completed by me and the two Dianas."
"And the rest of the personnel... I plan to entrust them to you," Chen Tao said. "You will travel to the main universe to recruit superheroes other than the Justice League, forming a true legion. Then, as their leader, you will plan the mission to rescue the two missing members of the Justice League. You can do it..."
"Right?"
Chen Tao paused for a moment when he saw Luther, then a smile appeared on his bald head.
"certainly."
Chen Tao heard the answer. Lex Luthor's face once again revealed that cunning, confident expression, his signature smile that immediately conveyed just how incredibly clever and wicked this evil bald man was.
Luther hadn't shown such an expression in a long time. What he had encountered far exceeded what a mirror image of the Dark Multiverse should have endured, and his intelligence and power had been tested far beyond what he should have been able to withstand.
He had been holed up in the lab for so long that many people had forgotten his name.
Chen Tao let out a soft sigh and looked away with a touch of melancholy.
He was the one who struggled the most when making this decision.
He always had a habit of grasping everything in his hands, carrying this immense burden with great fear.
But today.
He needs to try to let go.
Try to trust others.
This is perhaps the most difficult part.
(End of this chapter)