piratefiction Chapter 426 Only One of the Two Worlds Can Live, Luther's Betrayal?
Chapter 426 Only One of the Two Worlds Can Live, Luther's Betrayal?
Chapter 426 Only One of Two Worlds Can Live: Luther's Betrayal?
Lex Luthor sat quietly in the main control room of World of War, appearing completely harmless and wholeheartedly devoted to fighting for Batman.
He wore green armor, a playful smile playing on his bald head, and rested one foot on the side of the control panel. There was no trouble, no mischief, not even any shady human experiments—that was, of course, strictly forbidden by Batman.
During this time, Luthor has managed the Justice League very well, proving to be Batman's best assistant. As a result, Batman's trust in him has gradually increased, and he even brought Luthor along to this operation, rather than bringing the Justice League with him.
However, Lex Luthor himself knew that even with his high level of trust, Batman would only pay lip service to him and in practice, but would never entrust him with the leadership of the Justice League. In Batman's eyes, even Hal Jordan, that idiot, was more suitable to serve as the face of the Justice League than Lex Luthor.
Rather than saying that Batman brought him along on the mission because of so-called "trust," it's more accurate to say that Batman knew this mission was to murder Little Blue Man, so instead of bringing his superhero friends who believed in the ironclad rule of not killing, he brought along his former supervillain, just like you have to bring toilet paper when you go to the toilet, right?
But for Luthor, none of that mattered. Regardless of how others treated him, Lex Luthor always saved the world in his own way. And even those who disliked him had to admit: Luthor was one of the smartest people in the world, and therefore his methods of saving the world were often more efficient, direct, or rather… than those of mediocre individuals.
Cold-blooded.
Behind him lay the corpses of several gladiators dressed as aliens, their blood soaking directly into Luther's other foot, which was resting on the ground.
He disdainfully lifted his foot, shook it, and placed it on the control panel as well.
The control panel displayed the target and location of the attack that World of War had just launched, along with a long string of messy data.
The green armor had an opening on its shoulder, from which several mechanical tentacles extended and inserted themselves into an interface on the control panel.
This is precisely Brainiac's technology, through which Luther can roughly monitor...
Batman appears on the screen. The surveillance camera is very close to Batman, and it looks like some kind of invisible surveillance probe that Luthor created using Brainiac technology and his own knowledge.
On the screen, Batman uses a kryptonite chain, which he likely pulls out from behind his back, to wrap Supergirl in a cocoon, with pink dots glowing on her forehead. He then uses his peculiar transformation ability to read Supergirl's memories.
"How is the situation now?"
Luther stared at the control screen, but a voice echoed in his mind, hoarse and deep, sounding very much like Batman, even the tone was exactly the same, like someone had phlegm stuck in their throat.
"Very smoothly." Luther remained silent, answering the voice in his mind: "Your plan was a success, Night Owl."
On the screen, Batman released his memory reading of Supergirl, revealing a bat-like scratching expression on his face.
"Batman's attention is currently completely focused on Supergirl, which may give you more time to get to work on what the 2000+ Green Lanterns have to do."
Luther said, "Also, I really don't intend to remind you of something so trivial, but I have to say it anyway. Night Owl, Batman is too close to us. You shouldn't be contacting me at this time. I bet Batman has seven or eight surveillance devices around me right now, like the Red of All Beings or the Black of Decay. Whether it's intentional or not."
Luther's gaze lingered on the corpse at his feet and on every corner of the room.
The seemingly dead corpses, the tiny, insect-like creatures inside the room, the machines made of metal...
He warned through his contact with Night Owl: "It's always the swimmers who drown. I don't mind if you attract Batman's attention and ruin your plans, but you'd better not let it affect me."
"I'm here to inform you that all 2000 Green Lanterns have been captured," Night Owl's voice rang out. "And it's time for you to provide me with the parasitic cells and Doomsday cells you promised in our deal."
"So fast?" Luther was somewhat taken aback. He sat up straighter in his chair, appearing to to outsiders as if he were watching Batman on the screen with even greater concentration. In his mind, he answered Night Owl: "How did you take care of them?"
"..."
The owl responded with silence.
Luther waved his hand dismissively: "Never mind, you should know I'm not asking these questions to get an answer, just kidding."
"Stop making excuses, Luthor. You and I both know very well that after those Green Lanterns are modified, they will be completely under your command. You are the creator and actual controller of the parasite. Even these guys that I modified, as long as they contain the parasite's DNA, you can completely control them. This is Lex Luthor's ingenuity. You have never handed over control of the parasite and its creation method to anyone else, not even Batman."
Night Owl said, "You've already gotten a great deal in this transaction, so what are you hesitating for, Luther?"
Luther remained silent.
"General Zod has arrived on Earth. I've kept it a secret for you long enough."
"We managed to keep it a secret long enough by using Mongo," Night Owl added. "Without my intervention with Mongo, do you think his Decaying Darkness could have blocked the Justice League's messages to Batman? Keep in mind, that was transmitted through the Spirit of Metal. Trying to block it with Decaying Darkness without being detected by Batman, who also wields Decaying Darkness, is far more difficult. If you're willing to do it yourself, I won't have to go to all that trouble."
"I'm not stupid," Luther scoffed. "You think I'd personally intercept the information, and then Batman would investigate and find out I was up to no good?"
"Your intelligence is more than capable of keeping Batman from finding out..."
"But you'll leak it to Batman." Luther straightened up slightly, and his words silenced Night Owl, because he would indeed do so.
The Lex Luthor in this world was completely different from the Lex Luthor in his own world, who was practically an idiot, which made Night Owl somewhat uneasy. He mentally examined his subconscious act of projecting the intelligence of his own world's Lex Luthor onto the other.
"You'll come out as a good guy when I can't explain these things to Batman anymore, stirring things up between us, even secretly trying to kill me and force me to break ties with Batman? Come on, Owl, let's just be frank."
Luther sat back down in his chair: "You want me to be on your side."
Night Owl was silent for a moment, then finally spoke: "I admire you, Lex. You're not like those hypocritical bastards and incompetent trash. Really, you're completely different from Alexander Luthor (Note: also known as Shazam the Thunder, an alternate version of Earth's Lex Luthor with similar abilities). Out of respect for your intelligence, I'm willing to reserve a place for you in my world."
Luther didn't answer him. He simply leaned against the control panel and propped his cheek up with one hand.
Night Owl understood Luther's choice, and his voice turned somber: "What a pity."
"Either your world lives, or my world is destroyed," Luther said. "Don't think I'd betray my world. I think any sane person would choose the world they were born into, no matter how generous your offer is."
“I know very little in this world can move you, Lex, but I’ll say it anyway. In my Gotham, you’ll be revered by everyone, you’ll be the savior of the world. Everyone will worship you from the bottom of their hearts,” Nite Owl said. “But look at the ungrateful people you’re protecting. Batman has been away from the people for too long; he’s looking down on the world from a much broader perspective, but you know that, don’t you, Luthor? How much pressure have you and Amanda Waller smoothed over for Batman from the government and the people?”
"Those things will never reach Batman's ears. Those ungrateful mobs, those lying politicians, you and Amanda use even dirtier and more despicable methods to deal with these people, but you know very well that you are like using a dam to block a flood that is about to overflow. Sooner or later, these ungrateful people will break Batman's heart."
The owl whispered, "These people are hopeless. They actually think they're more qualified to be the masters of this world than you are. They're inferior, stupid, rebellious, and ignorant. You and they are practically two different species. What reason do you have to fight for them?"
Night Owl's voice sounded sincere, and Luther knew that the other party was definitely a master negotiator.
"Life is life in your world, and life is life in mine too. Since only one can remain, Luther, why don't we choose the superior one? There are no anti-intellectual idiots or ungrateful bastards, and no foolish politicians trying to control superhumans. They might even kneel down and thank us for our mercy in saving their lives."
Luther remained silent, which, in Night Owl's eyes, was undoubtedly a sign of wavering.
"Typical elitist thinking," Luther commented. "Batman doesn't like that."
Before Night Owl could say anything more, Luther interrupted him: "We'll see. We both have time, don't we?"
The owl's voice lingered in Luther's mind for a moment.
"Yes, we all have time. But time will eventually run out, Luthor. Soon, your world will truly feel the power of the Anti-Monitor. I know you still have illusions, Luthor, that maybe you can defeat the Anti-Monitor, maybe you can defeat it like you did with Darkseid? Maybe Batman has his own little plan?"
"But..." Night Owl didn't finish his sentence. He simply said:
"You'll see when you meet the Anti-Monitor. I want you to defeat him, more than any of you, I truly want you to defeat him. Everything I do is to make your universe stronger overall."
"I sincerely hope you'll consider this, Luther. My world might be more suitable for everyone than the one you live in now. You can bring the elites of your world to mine. As for the trash and dregs... you know. The truth is..."
Luther chimed in, "The truth is, 90% of humanity is completely useless to the progress and development of human civilization; they're just a bunch of parasites."
“That’s true,” Night Owl said. “And now we have the opportunity to select the elites and then choose a world where elites are more likely to emerge.”
Luther paused, hesitant, then changed the subject: "Does General Zod really have the ability to heal Superman?"
“Absolutely genuine,” Night Owl said. “And the Codex of Life can help me breed more Kryptonians, and then create more Doomsdays.”
"A defective Doomsday," Luther added. "Neither you nor I have the ability to replicate the perfect version. I've seen Doomsday's DNA; even the Kryptonians couldn't."
"I will try," Night Owl said, "but if I may be so bold, the Doomsday army is nothing but insignificant cannon fodder when facing the Anti-Monitor."
"...Even if General Zod takes the Life Codex, aren't you afraid that he might kill Superman in a fit of rage?"
"Luther said."
“Don’t doubt my motives, Lex,” Night Owl replied. “I told him Batman would be here soon.”
……
……
……
"This is a ghost."
Seeing the Supergirl still yelling and screaming like a madwoman, Chen Tao scratched his head.
There are three ways to restore a Red Lantern's sanity.
One method is to create a blood pool, but Atositas is completely clueless about this. Chen Tao once described it to him, but he still doesn't know how to make it.
One is the Blue Lantern Ring, but let's not even talk about that. Ganther and Ced (note: two little blue men with emotions who were previously expelled by the Guardians of the Universe) haven't even made this thing yet.
Another possibility is that Green Lantern Mogo helps him with a blood transfusion, essentially using the planet's essence to maintain immortality. However, according to Hal's description, Green Lantern Mogo is currently dealing with General Zod, who escaped from the Phantom Zone. It will probably be some time before he defeats him.
However, while Chen Tao was still considering how to give Super Girl a blood transfusion, he suddenly froze on the spot.
"What's wrong?" Killer Croc flew over, wanting to ask Batman why he suddenly had that expression. But the next second, he saw a sonic boom tunnel appear in front of Batman. Batman threw Supergirl, who was wrapped in chains, at his chest, and passed directly through the tunnel. High-speed bullets immediately hit his body, creating a violent sonic boom, and flew towards Kent Farm on Earth on the other side of the tunnel.
Killer Croc was left standing there, completely bewildered: "What the hell?! Take us back!!!"
(End of this chapter)