socalfunplaces Chapter 157 To prevent this, I first
Chapter 157 To prevent this, I first
Chapter 157 To prevent this, I first
"Ivy, how's the research going?"
When Chen Tao, dressed in a Batman costume, arrived at Poison Ivy's botanical garden in the elevator, he saw her lift the skull of the zombie Black and force-feed him a bottle of potion, making him scream in pain.
This broke Chen Tao's heart:
"Be gentle, he's a very important asset for us. His telepathic abilities can..."
Poison Ivy has been spending over half a year in this pristine botanical garden, taking care of everything from eating and sleeping there.
Before Chen Tao could finish speaking, Poison Ivy snapped her fingers, and Zombie Black let out a "Roar?" and stood up straight from his chair.
"You've successfully taken him under control?"
"Bane is almost a perfect fusion." Poison Ivy didn't directly answer Chen Tao's question, but instead said:
"Strictly speaking, it is not uncommon for two completely different forces to merge in one person. I knew a long time ago that there was a woman named Black Orchid, who was blessed by both the green of all things and the red of all beings, and served as their representative."
(Black Orchid, a second-tier superhero, sometimes translated as Xuanlan by some translation groups, appeared in "The Arrival of the Corrupt Kingdom")
"But for so many years, I still couldn't figure out how the two forces merged together. I've been struggling with how to get both forces to acknowledge that the Agents simultaneously possess them, but now I've realized that the simplest way is actually to force them directly, which is what Bane did."
Chen Tao subconsciously recited a classic Batman line: "The world will only become a better place if you force it?"
Poison Ivy was taken aback: "A very insightful summary, as expected of you."
She continued, "Whether it's the UK, the Kingdom of Life, or plants, they transcend human science; they possess a magical, extraordinary power. But that doesn't mean they are immune to the laws of science."
"Dr. Kurt Longstone," Chen Tao answered her instinctively.
(Kurt Longstone, the supervillain Batman, also known as the Man-Bat, is a low-level representative of "Red," like Killer Croc. He is deaf, so he created a serum and injected himself with it, which cured his hearing loss and transformed him into a giant humanoid bat.)
"Bingo, correct answer."
Poison Ivy said, "So now you understand why I asked you to bring that potion?"
"I understand." Chen Tao opened his palm, and a vial of blue serum lay quietly in his hand.
The initial version of the human-bat serum had many flaws. Not only did it permanently alter the appearance of the subjects, but the long-term rejection of the changes caused by the human-bat serum could even lead to personality splitting.
However, these shortcomings have been gradually overcome in Batman's long-term battle against the human-faced bat.
In the end, thanks to the continuous improvements made by Batman and the Batman-faced, the Bat-faced serum has become a superhuman drug that does not cause personality splits, does not change the human appearance of the serum user, and allows for monster transformation at any time.
Of course, Man-Bat was too deeply involved; the original version of the Man-Bat serum left him with irreversible aftereffects, and even the current version cannot restore his appearance. But this doesn't mean the serum isn't powerful.
Another villain, the woman bat, who is also the bat's wife, even used this formula to build an army of bat-like creatures.
"The Human-Bat Serum has proven that it can reliably turn people into low-level representatives of All-Red," Poison Ivy said. "This is a scientific modification, and All-Red has no choice but to give its power to the test subjects even if it doesn't want to. Although this perfect serum gives the test subjects a pitifully weak power, at most turning living people into giant moths, it can't improve their combat ability at all."
"That's the problem with the Perfect Serum, but all we need is the power of the Crimson of All Beings. As for the quantity, it doesn't matter; we can take it ourselves," Chen Tao added.
"So this is what I'm trying to say, Batman," Poison Ivy said. "So this is the plan I came up with. If you want to try combining the Spirit of Metal and the Crimson of All Beings like Bane, you'll have to give yourself a shot first. Of course, it'll hurt a lot, and the chances of failure are high."
Ivy said with a hint of schadenfreude:
"But this way, you'll be able to meet the requirements you gave me."
Poison Ivy retrieved a vial of pink liquid from the table beside her: "Once you become the embodiment of the Crimson of All Beings, you should give yourself an injection of this. This is a synthetic steroid serum that I extracted from Bane. I believe it contains some of the effects of Amber Gold, or even the result of Amber Gold mutating under the influence of the two forces. In short, it can ensure that the two forces remain in balance within you."
Poison Ivy waved her hand, and a large patch of branches beside her parted, revealing several animals that were half green and half rotting: "As I told you before, the success rate is almost 100% right now."
"So, is that what you're going to do, Batman?"
Chen Tao nodded.
"Just inject it here. You've done so many experiments, you should have the injection equipment ready."
"certainly."
20 minute later.
Chen Tao opened his eyes and saw a row of silver characters appear on his retina for the first time in a long time.
[Batman #52, your danger level is: E]
You have met the protection requirements for the corresponding risk level.
[Your current Batman counterpart is now available for immediate installation.]
Find a live green Tyrannosaurus Rex to complete the loading of the "Bat Dragon," the space Batman from Earth-27!
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"Oh my God," Louis said, clutching his forehead.
"Look at this damn title you wrote!"
Clark and Louis lay in bed in their shared apartment, both wearing pajamas. Outside, the stars shone brightly, and the sky was cloudless.
Ever since Clark almost thought Louis had been found and killed by Black, they had been inseparable for a long time.
Louis walked over barefoot and traded Clark's laptop for a cup of hot chocolate.
Add sugar, add milk, Clark's favorite flavor.
"Hey Louis, I haven't written that article yet..."
"Ah—no way, small-town boy. Even if it's not finished, let me see it first."
She dragged the touchpad on the keyboard, used the mouse to scroll the document to the top, and then read aloud:
"The World's Best Team thwarts Lex Luthor's plot again!"
The accompanying image is a silly picture of Superman and Batman riding on a float through the streets.
The float was even the same model as the wedding float!
"This is clearly a photoshopped image," Louis stated, presenting the facts and reasoning.
"Batman never agreed to go on the parade with you. In the end, you were sitting alone on the float while those noisy idiots took you around the whole way. He only showed up to sit with you for a short while at the very end, and I guarantee that his butt didn't stay on the float's seat for more than 5 seconds until the very end."
Louis concluded, "Nobody knows more about news than me! This is clearly fake news."
She casually tossed Clark's laptop into the air, and as she predicted, Clark caught it with incredible speed and ease.
"The news needed a photo of Batman and Superman together, I had no choice," the big man explained.
"And Batman did participate in the parade at the end, for about... 30 seconds? Although he didn't sit down, he talked to me for a while from the float, so that can't be considered fake news. Participating for 30 seconds counts as involvement."
"Okay, you win, small-town boy," Louis said. "Look at my news."
Louis pulled out his laptop, showing it to Clark with a hint of smugness, then preemptively read aloud to himself:
"Does Batman's refusal to hand Lex Luthor over to law enforcement signify his utter disillusionment with the government's incompetent detention practices, leading him to choose to build his own facility for detaining superpowered individuals? And how will Five Arms react to this illegal detention...?"
"Batman talked to me about this. He told me that he would explain things to me after he met with Luthor, and then make a final decision."
"It doesn't matter," Louis said, putting down his laptop and shrugging.
"In short, as things stand, I have done my best to clear your name in this article by subtly praising you while openly criticizing you."
Although not many people are paying attention to this issue yet, public attention will eventually shift to Batman's illegal detention. Rather than having other reporters expose this matter, distorting the facts and taking things out of context, I'd rather give a fair account and maybe even earn some credit.
"Actually, Batman..."
"Oh, there's no need to explain to me."
The female reporter silenced Clark with a kiss, then cupped his face and said, "I know you boys have your own agendas, and you understand things better than I do. You definitely think more than I do, so obviously, this isn't something I should worry about."
The small-town boy keenly noticed the girl's emotions:
"I know that the bat's behavior of protecting you and my mother together seems to show that he doesn't care about your opinions at all, and I apologize for that."
Clark said:
"But Louis, you should know I have many enemies. If they really do something to you, if that unspeakable thing really happens—I...I will be heartbroken."
He grasped Louise's hand: "I want you to know that I love you, Louise, and I want to hold your hand until the end of my life."
Louis stared at him for a moment, then burst out laughing and rested his head on his chest.
"Why are you suddenly so serious? It's not that I'm blaming Batman for protecting me and Martha, it's just that I feel really bad about not being able to help you... Oh well, let's skip this topic."
Clark knew perfectly well that Lewis's use of the word "jump" had a specific meaning.
The beautiful girl boldly offered him her love, and he responded passionately.
103 minutes later, the two of them took another shower, put on new pajamas, and lay down in bed.
Louis said, "Oh, right, one more thing. Speaking of 'World's Best Partner,' that self-proclaimed title you gave yourself, do you know that the villains secretly call you Batman and Superman now?"
"Haha, it's just a simple matter of swapping the front and back? Wait a minute."
Clark climbed out of bed and went into a drawer. He pulled out a Batman-style mask and put it directly on his head.
Combined with his half-naked upper body and muscular physique, he exuded a certain imposing aura.
"Actually, I quite like the pointed-ear headgear."
He lowered his voice and said, "I am Batman!"
"No, I am Batman."
The two people in the room were startled. Clark quickly scanned behind the door with his X-ray vision and found Batman crouching in the corner outside the door.
He hurriedly opened the door.
"Oh dear, Batman, what's wrong with you...?"
Then Clark suddenly choked.
"When did you arrive?"
"Three minutes ago," Chen Tao told him expressionlessly.
Then he turned to look at Louis Lane:
"Excuse me, Ms. Ryan, may I borrow your boyfriend for a moment?"
"Uh... okay," Louis said.
After the two left.
Louis Lane sat in front of the mirror, carefully curling his hair. After a while, he suddenly started speaking in a coquettish, affected voice to the empty air.
"Oh dear, I'm so sorry, can I borrow your boyfriend for a bit?"
"I'll return it to you soon!"
"Ha, men," she spat.
"Heartless capitalists."
After a long while, she sighed:
"We finally have a lot of time together, but then we have to work overtime again."
Chen Tao and Superman are flying together in the air.
"Clark, I want you to swallow this."
Chen Tao took out a small pink pill.
"What is this?"
Clark asked.
Do you trust me?
"Of course," Clarkhow said without hesitation. "I have complete faith in you, Batman. Whatever you do, it's always for the sake of the battle."
Clark had a vague idea of what Batman wanted to do, but he didn't know exactly what it was.
"This pink pill is a product of my creation, a fusion of the Crimson of All Beings and the Spirit of Metal," Chen Tao told him. "It can control your body, much more deeply than any other creation I made to control your body before. This is control at the genetic and even cellular level. It can help us turn the tide of battle in extreme situations."
He spoke very quickly:
"I'm sorry, Clark. This control isn't irreversible, and I promise I'll remove it for you after this is over. I spoke with Luther, and he gave me a lot of information, which I've analyzed. To prevent you from being controlled by Brainiac, I'm sorry, Clark, I'm afraid I have to take countermeasures beforehand."
Then he said, "And, I'm afraid I have to tell you some bad news."
He paused.
"Luther told me that Brainiac would arrive on Earth in a month."
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(The following text was added after the update, so it's free.)
Waaaaah, time to get to the final push for this volume! Just this one chapter today, I need to work on it a bit more. I'm still busy revising the outline, so sorry! Waaah!!!
In the outline I planned when I started writing the book, Superman was supposed to die suddenly in Volume 2. If you've read the comics, you should have realized when I mentioned the appearance of Cyborg Superman and Connor the Younger Superman; this was clearly a prelude to "The Death of Superman." The fact that Superman died in the protagonist's dream earlier was also a hint.
But just before I was about to write the last short story about Superman's sudden death, I suddenly realized that such a sudden death plot was really unreasonable. Was the protagonist an idiot? Would he just let Superman die like that? I love the classic comic book plot of "The Death of Superman" so much that I tried to forcefully recreate it in my book, which was bound to cause problems in the end.
I am an author, but also a reader. I have unwavering faith in my reader's intuition. If I feel that a plot is fine, it may not actually be fine, but if I feel that it is problematic, then it definitely is problematic.
Fortunately, I didn't write it at all, so I still have a chance to revise it. I plan to change the details of the last unit story without deviating from the original plot, so that Superman doesn't die and it won't affect the plot of Cyborg Superman and Superman Connor.
So we're still revising the outline. It's not that we can't release more content, nor is it that we're abandoning the project. Please stop complaining, everyone.
(End of this chapter)