pertwk Page 464
Page 464
Batman's fingers flew across the control panel, retrieving data from all his satellites and deep-space monitoring stations. His expression grew increasingly grave.
There was even a rare... hint of bewilderment?
Even Batman has moments of being stunned. He stared intently at the spectral analysis chart and energy level reading on the main screen, which represented an unimaginable burst of massive energy. He remained silent for a full ten seconds before finally uttering a single sentence in an extremely dry, machine-like voice.
"Apokolips exploded."
His voice was hoarse and almost dry.
"What?!" Clark couldn't help but exclaim in shock, nearly dropping his water glass. "Apokolips exploded?! How is this possible?!"
Apokolips, Darkseid's stronghold, is a mobile war fortress planet forged by super technology and dark divine power, and its sturdiness ranks among the best in the universe!
Even when he fought against the Golden Superman, he couldn't find a suitable opportunity to completely destroy that planet. How could such a cosmic fortress just disappear like that?
who!
What kind of terrifying being passed by there?!
After the initial shock, Clark's first reaction was surprisingly one of excitement.
“Perhaps…this isn’t entirely a bad thing?” He looked at Bruce, composed himself, and immediately considered the potential cosmic-scale impact of the Apokolips explosion. “The radiation there…especially the residual energy after the explosion…do I need to go to outer space to deal with it? Absorb those harmful substances?”
Batman whirled around, his eyes behind his white goggles filled with astonishment: "Absorbing the radiation from the Apokolips explosion? You have that ability?"
He knew that Kryptonians could absorb yellow solar radiation to become stronger, but directly dealing with the energy aftershocks of a planet's explosion? That was beyond the scope of his information gathering.
“Recently… it seems I’ve evolved quite a bit… I feel like I can do it.” Clark frowned uncertainly, as he was proactively reporting his information to Batman.
Clark himself couldn't explain where this change came from; it was as if his body was instinctively adapting to the stronger energy. This change actually made him somewhat uneasy.
Not everyone craves limitless power. Clark remembers how many times he's been controlled, more than he could count with Ian's mimicry hands.
Therefore.
Revealing his own situation to Batman and having Batman find weaknesses that even his super brain couldn't figure out was something Clark valued more and more.
"What a 'a bit too much'? Is this just a bit too much?" Batman was silent for a few seconds before finally letting out a heartfelt rant under immense pressure.
of course.
The current situation is quite unexpected, so Batman knows he must prioritize his duties. "According to calculations, the main shockwave and harmful radiation from the explosion will be blocked by interstellar dust and a special force field, so they will not affect the solar system, let alone Earth. I have activated the filtering program of the global monitoring network to ensure that nothing goes wrong."
This means that we don't need Superman to step in.
Upon hearing this, Clark breathed a slight sigh of relief.
But Batman's expression became even more serious. He turned around, looking at the data that was still jumping wildly on the main screen, his voice low and terrifying.
"Clark, what we should be worried about has never been the explosion of Apokolips itself..."
His tone was filled with deep concern.
Superman paused for a moment, then instead of using his super brain to calculate all the possibilities, he took the quickest shortcut and asked directly, "Why?"
It is indeed the fastest shortcut.
It also requires the least physical exertion.
Batman took a deep breath, as if recounting an impending nightmare: "You guys just caused trouble on Apokolips, and not long after, this devastating explosion happened on Apokolips."
"Given Darkseid's suspicious, ruthless, and vindictive nature, what do you think he would think?" Batman looked at Clark with a very serious expression.
"He will come after you."
Even the Unjust Superman, who suffers from "pregnancy brain" for seven days, could see through this. Of course, Superman Clark couldn't have failed to understand Batman's meaning, and his expression became somewhat serious.
"But we didn't blow up Apokolips! It was perfectly fine when we left!" Superman's tone was regretful, but that didn't stop him from feeling a little aggrieved at the same time.
"I know."
Batman's voice was icy. "I know it's not you, and it's not Ian. Darkseid wouldn't think that way. Because all he has to do is look through Ian Kent's past 'records of conduct'... and he'll make what he considers the clearest, most reasonable, and most logical judgment."
Bruce's mind flashed back to Ian's epic feat of blowing up Heaven. Clark opened his mouth, trying to refute, but found that any words were powerless in the face of Ian's glorious "achievements." Even he himself couldn't help but have an absurd yet incredibly "reasonable" thought at that moment.
"So, could it really be that Ian blew up Apokolips?"
My father's love is boundless, but his trust has its limits.
If even Superman subconsciously thinks this way, then it's easy to imagine what conclusion Darkseid, who has just suffered a major blow and whose lair has been destroyed, will come to.
The Dark Lord's boundless rage and vengeance will not be confined to any single individual. It will unleash the remaining power of Apokolips, and may even unite with other dark forces, against Earth, against the Kent family, and especially against the "culprit," Ian Kent—that will be the real deal.
Infinite War.
Inside the bat cave, a deathly silence reigned, broken only by the cold hum of the instruments, as if setting the stage for an impending storm that would sweep across the universe.
……
Ian is of course innocent.
At the time of the incident.
He has always bathed in his own "Devil's Manor," and countless demons can attest to that.
Berserker Experience +7
Berserker Experience +6
Berserker Experience +7
The main reason was that Rick's farts were so smelly that Ian washed for a long time, scrubbing until his skin started to turn red and bleed, before he felt that the smell was completely gone.
of course.
Taking a bath at the Devil's Manor was a pleasant experience for Ian, a feeling that even the most extravagant bathers outside had never experienced.
As soon as you step into the bathroom.
The enormous "bathtub," forged from the keratinous layer of some dark creature, would emit a satisfied groan. It was not a static container; its edges undulated gently, like the breathing of a living being. Ian dipped his toes into the water, the temperature just right, carrying a faint scent of sulfur mixed with potion.
This water was not stagnant; it seemed to possess life. As he fully immersed himself in it, the water flowed like countless soft, boneless yet precise little hands, automatically enveloping and caressing his body.
A clever vortex of water was directed at his sore neck and shoulders, with a force powerful enough to shatter human bones, yet it made Ian roll his eyes in comfort.
The "shower" came from an outlet above, carved into the face of a demon groaning in agony. With a glance from Ian, the demon's eyes glowed red, and instead of just spraying water, it spewed out a warm and powerful jet of water that even twisted in the air like a transparent tentacle, precisely washing his hair.
The bone tray holding his toiletries would follow him like a loyal dog, carrying his soap in its mouth. Even the drain would occasionally make a gurgling sound as if it were extremely satisfied with the powerful yet filthy bathwater.
The actual "scrubbing" part is even more enjoyable.
Ian didn't need to lift a finger. He simply raised his arm to a dark red, rough-grained oval boulder embedded in the wall beside the bathtub.
It is called "Lava Tongue" and extends slowly. The lava tongue has a warm and elastic texture, like the tongue of some huge creature.
The hellish massage product gently and thoroughly scraped across Ian's back, arms, and chest, removing all dead skin and dirt, which was instantly absorbed by the surface.
It turned into a wisp of green smoke and disappeared.
When it tried to slide towards Ian's more sensitive lower body, Ian lazily raised his hand and gently patted it.
“That’s not needed, little one.”
The lava tongue seemed to tremble with dissatisfaction, then obediently retreated into the wall, turning back into an inconspicuous decorative stone, as if waiting for the next service.
Even the so-called "bath towels" were hung nearby, waiting to be used.
It was a long scarf of peculiar material, seemingly woven from shadows, with faint black mist drifting along its edges. As Ian finally stood up from the water, it automatically flew up and diligently wrapped around him, not wiping him, but rather, in a wondrous way, instantly drawing all the moisture from his skin.
It leaves the skin feeling dry, refreshed, and slightly cool.
The entire bathing process lasted seven or eight hours, filled with these subtle and heartwarming interactions. In fact, Ian was already lying on his massage bed, which he had imported from hell, when the planet Apocalypse exploded that day.
Hundreds of soft little hands were massaging him, relieving his fatigue. Because the Demon Manor was so wonderful, he kept his eyes closed, completely unaware that countless light-years away, the lair of the Dark Lord Darkseid—Apokolips—had been reduced to cosmic dust in a cataclysmic explosion.
[Experience points for the Mutant Overlord have been calculated.]
Based on the current vitality of your allies, you gain +9 Mutant Overlord experience points.
[You have leveled up, gaining 1 job skill point and 1 more available companion.]
Even as he was enjoying a comfortable massage and quietly fell asleep, Ian was unaware that he had crossed that imperceptible boundary and stepped into the Marvel Universe.
He might unknowingly become a genuine DC film star.
Chapter 200 The Struggle for Heir Apparent and Wholesaling Loki
The explosion of Apokolips.
In any parallel universe, this would be an epic event. The explosive light that originated from the depths of the universe and destroyed a planet traveled across countless light-years. Its residual radiance still powerfully penetrated the Earth's atmosphere, instantly enveloping the entire planet in intense light.
In an instant, the entire Earth became indistinguishable between day and night.
Regardless of whether it's the Eastern or Western Hemisphere, all living beings were forcibly dragged into the blinding "daylight." In the cities, the neon lights, streetlights, and the lights of countless homes were instantly swallowed up and annihilated like candlelight meeting the sun in the face of this pure, destructive light from the depths of the universe.
Earth in the dead of night.
That's something that's hard not to care about.
Human society fell into a brief period of silence, which was then engulfed by immense panic.
Countless people were awakened from their sleep by the blinding light outside their windows, gazing at the sky in bewilderment and fear—there was no sun, yet the light was unsettling. Children cried in terror, while adults rushed to the windows in a panic, grabbing their phones to try and figure out what was happening.
"God... what's wrong now?"
"Did the sun rise early? No, it's only three in the morning!"
"Is it a nuclear explosion?! Is it the end of the world?!"
"Alien invasion! They're wiping out Earth with beam weapons!"
"God's judgment! The prophecy has come true!"
"Quick! Get to the basement!"
"I knew my doomsday food reserves would finally come in handy!"
"Yes, we raised our neighbor to be plump and healthy, all for this day!"
……
It's obvious without even realizing it that the following dialogue comes from Gotham.
Worry, surprise, fear, disbelief… a host of negative emotions spread like a plague across the globe. Humanity, long burdened by countless disasters, has developed incredibly resilient nerves, forged through alien invasions, superpowered battles, and dimensional overlaps, yet also heightened sensitivity. Every unusual celestial phenomenon signifies trouble.
And it's a huge problem.