N-A-A Chapter 321 The Reality of Never Being Able to Retire
Chapter 321 The Reality of Never Being Able to Retire
Chapter 321 The Truth About Never Being Able to Retire (Must Read, Complete, 8000 words)
I have a secret.
I come from another world, a world completely opposite to the one I live in now, a parallel universe.
There, the Crime Syndicate rules the world, not the Justice League in the universe I live in now.
But where we come from is not a secret; you will find out soon enough... but not now.
A few years ago, Earth 3.
Another Gotham.
"Can you hear me, Mr. Thomas?"
(Note: Thomas Wayne Jr., also known as Night Owl, is the counterpart of Batman from Earth-3, an evil version of Batman. He is the brother of Bruce Wayne from Earth-3, who is already dead in this universe.)
The outsider, piloting the Owl plane, checked the position of the Night Owl on the monitor.
"I'm trying my best to follow you, sir, but it's always very difficult to keep up whenever you're scaling walls and rooftops."
"Where are the Clawed Men?"
(Note: The Claw mentioned by Night Owl refers to Dick Grayson, who in the normal universe was Batman's first Robin and became the superhero Nightwing after going solo. However, in the Earth-3 parallel universe, he became Claw.)
"His communicator isn't answering. You shouldn't have told him about his parents, sir. Just as you shouldn't have told him the truth about Barbara and the others."
An outsider said:
"You should do it our old way: cheat."
"Talking about this now is a waste of time. We need to get Claws back from the Joker, and then I'm going to kill every single scoundrel who helps the Joker. If anything happens to Dick, I'll tear that laughing clown to pieces."
"Excuse my bluntness, Mr. Thomas, but if you hadn't killed Harley Quinn, the Joker's girlfriend, perhaps he wouldn't have lowered himself to target your underage henchman—"
"Shut up. Contact me again when you find him."
"but……"
"Night Owl, call over."
—You see, Thomas and I have been partners for life, ever since the day I shot his parents.
That day was the only time I saw Thomas completely lose control; that day was the only time Thomas broke down in tears.
He never spoke of that day again; it remained his darkest secret. After that, Thomas no longer expected anything; he chose to take complete control of everything, everything, and everyone with his own hands.
Gotham is a piece of cake, but what about the people? The people are the problem.
My real name is Alfred Pennyworth, also known as the Outsider. I live only to serve the Night Owl.
He never asked me why, but he knew he had to know. He knew my darkest secrets, which is why I would never betray him, why I would help him spy on the police station, Arkham Estate, Tompkins brothel, and Harley's Circus, and why I would die for him.
The two of us worked together to manage Gotham's system, and the system gave him the power to control it; losing control would inevitably lead to rampant chaos.
Allowing any disorder to spread unchecked could cause it to spread like a malignant tumor until the entire system dies.
This is exactly what that person wanted. He fantasized about breaking Night Owl's control over the people, and he fantasized about liberating Gotham from Night Owl's iron fist. That person is Joker.
He was a cancer in this city; he almost killed me.
The Joker used to be the person I feared most; just seeing his smirking mouth made me tremble. That night, Night Owl killed the Joker, finally ending the life of the only person who dared to defy him.
I thought I would never see that maniacal smile again.
however……
At this moment, right now.
"Outsider, answer me."
"How's your reconnaissance of the defenses in that universe going? The situation here is terrible. You'd better hurry."
In a dark underground lair on Earth, the cold, stern face of the Night Owl is reflected on the screen in front of an outsider.
On the machine next to it, the parent box continued to rotate quietly.
"Mr. Thomas... I'm sorry. I've been waiting for your arrival, but in trying to restore order to the world... I underestimated the difficulty of this task."
"Just tell me directly how many people can come through the teleportation channel."
"I'm afraid only one person can come at a time. After one person arrives, it will take some time to recharge before the next one can come. Moreover... the security of the teleportation channel is still questionable. I'm sorry."
"But now that the teleportation channel has been opened, that's good."
An outsider heard Night Owl's voice: "We'll send a member over shortly."
He thought about it.
"Let's choose Sea King. He's the most useless one among us. He doesn't know anything except how to talk to fish. It doesn't matter if he dies. We can just treat it as a test of the teleportation channel's stability."
(Note: Sea King, a member of the criminal syndicate, is an evil version of Aquaman.)
He continued to ask:
"What intelligence have you gathered about the world's defenses?"
"I've already uploaded it to the Owl Computer in Owl Cave after establishing contact," the Outsider said, then he seemed to want to say something more, but stopped himself.
"Just say what you have to say."
"Hmm... Mr. Thomas, in the history of this Earth, your brother Bruce Wayne survived."
"You already told me this information in our contact shortly after you arrived in this world."
"Yes, that's right, Mr. Thomas, but I have to correct you now. The Batman of this world might be a little... different from what we imagine."
The outsider gasped, and the image of Batman's maniacal laughter flashed through his mind.
"Different? How could it be different?"
An outsider heard Night Owl's voice: "After so many years in Gotham, nothing surprises me anymore."
He said, "No matter what kind of Batman this is, can he be more disgusting than the Joker?"
"..." The outsider lowered his head: "You should take a look at the intelligence I sent you."
"I'll go check it out later," Night Owl said. "Night Owl's call is over."
……
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……
In many ways, the universe we live in is like a giant jar.
This is a place bound and ruled by unseen rules, some born of science, some of magic, and others even more mysterious.
However, all life born into this universe is bound by its own laws, like an impenetrable glass barrier.
However, at some point, within a pocket born at the edge of time and space, an incredible vortex was surging beneath the surface.
There, the rules in the usual sense no longer apply; it's a space outside the jar.
The creatures here often give up on themselves before they even reach maturity. Any living thing that appears on that chaotic coast will quickly become extinct. In the end, only one known planet has reached maturity. It is a terrible place. Unlike the simple biological origins and stable evolutionary branches and variants in the usual world, life on this planet has already reached the peak of diversification at the time of its birth.
The bizarre and wild creatures had already displayed their most complete forms in the Sea of Origin, so while life on ordinary planets was flourishing, the process was quite the opposite in this world.
Here, all species begin their existence in war, their sole purpose being to eliminate each other. All creatures join in the ultimate battle of survival of the fittest, and in this ultimate bloodbath, only the most powerful, the most vicious, and the most ruthless can survive.
As time went by, extinction followed extinction.
Ultimately, the planet chose his masterpiece: a species with endless life capable of controlling any mind he came into contact with.
Within this group, an independent entity quietly rises...
After arriving in the multiverse, he destroyed every being, every planet, every civilization, and every thought that stood in his way.
Throughout history, he has acquired many names: Fire Star, Black Star...
His most satisfying title was Staro the Conqueror, because everyone who witnessed his personal campaigns... was tantamount to witnessing his death.
In the boundless starry sky.
A giant starfish coiled its body in space.
Its telepathic abilities traversed mountains and rivers, locking onto a new target...
Earth.
"Target detected: Earth. Starro the Conqueror will conquer Earth!"
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……
……
"Shh!"
"Batman can't hear us."
The red of all living beings.
As the many members of the Totem Council dispersed, the antler totem among them was secretly carrying out his treacherous schemes.
"Listen, the darkness of decay is coming, and no one can help us."
He whispered into the void, and through the crimson connection, he saw the two crimson faces.
Just as the green of all things and the black of decay both have their dark sides, the red of all living beings also has its own side that cannot be shown to the public throughout the long years.
"Hiss hiss hiss... Do you know that?"
"That boy."
The antler totem whispered, "You have truly succeeded."
He said, "Well done. Well done!"
The antler totem looked around for a while before daring to continue, "You have no idea how badly Batman has bullied us."
"He constantly builds structures and hides things within the Crimson of All Beings, and forbids any warrior of the Crimson of All Beings from approaching."
He said:
"He even left those robots in those buildings, creations made entirely of metal, neither plants nor life nor death. It was terrifying, it went against nature."
"He ignored us completely, treating us like complete idiots."
He muttered to himself, "And Batman will pay the price."
He looked at the two blurry red figures: "And you, you have made a great contribution to the red of all living beings."
"—Beast Boy"
"He is the only one we've discovered so far who can truly transform into any animal at will," the antler totem's voice resounded with excitement. "He will be the key to strengthening the red of all beings!"
The two red figures didn't respond, but the antler totem didn't care. He paced back and forth excitedly: "We can turn every single human on this planet—every single one, including superhumans like Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Flash…we can turn them all into beasts, into half-animals…and then they'll be under the control of the Red of Life."
"The Red of All Beings will be stronger and more prosperous than ever before, and will no longer need to fear the threat of the Corrupting Black! Those fools in the Totem Council, those ignorant old fogies who don't understand the situation at all, actually injected the power of life into the body of Animal Hero Buddy Baker's daughter, and then thought they could slowly wait for that embryo to mature? What a joke."
He said, "We must bypass those idiots—and make the red of all beings great again!"
"And it all started with Beast Boy, with the Teen Titans!"
"Brothers...go and carry out our plan, let the whole world feel the terror of the Blood Church!"
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Louisiana.
3 pm.
A large group of heavily armed soldiers searched for their targets in the vast primeval jungle.
"Team Z, report the current situation."
"This is Number 1. We're still tracking the target, but the swamp is affecting our electronic equipment... Our current location is... coordinates..."
"I'm glad you've come to the right place."
Immediately afterward, Soldier Number 1 heard Amanda Waller's voice come through the headset: "Don't ask me any questions after I've finished my business. I'll try to talk as we walk."
The soldiers searched, and Number 1 crouched down. Amanda Waller's voice kept echoing in his ears.
"Captain, I guess you already know what happened in Belhave, or at least as much as others do. Riots, attacks, and things like that."
(Note: Belhave State Penitentiary is a prison in Louisiana designed to incarcerate supervillains.)
"I'm not going to tell you the specifics of that attack, but you need to know that one of the escapees was the Leopard Woman, whose real name is Barbara Minerva. She has several aliases, but Barbara Minerva sounds like her real name..."
Number 1 nodded slowly, continuing to listen attentively to Amanda Waller's mission instructions.
"Dr. Minerva went to great lengths to get a job at the Sky Eye, a department that studies collected mystical items. Barbara Minerva even met Wonder Woman, who had just arrived in America, at the Sky Eye and they became friends."
"However, during her time at the Sky Eye Society, Dr. Minerva came into contact with something called the God-Slaying Blade. In any case, she transformed into Cheetah through various forms of witchcraft. All her senses were enhanced, and she became almost as fast as the Flash, even being called the Speedster without the Speed Force. At the same time, she also became incredibly bloodthirsty."
"So your mission isn't to capture her, but to immediately notify the samurai sword once you find any trace of her—"
(Note: The samurai sword appeared in a previous chapter; the husband's soul resides in the sword. The Japanese woman is a government agent.)
呲!
But before Amanda Waller could finish speaking, he heard a soft sound in his earpiece, like someone gently stroking tough cowhide with their rough hands.
However, it is obvious that there are no cows or cowhides in the swamp.
There were no screams.
There was no sound of gunfire.
There was only one "hiss!" sound after another.
Then came the chilling sound of chewing. Amanda Waller could almost picture a humanoid monster lying on the ground, pulling out something from its chest and gnawing on it like a tomato.
Amanda Waller remained expressionless.
Immediately afterward, she heard a loud bang, and the communicator was shattered by someone's foot. Without saying a word, she directly answered another call: "Hey? This is Amanda Waller, calling Wonder Woman."
Meanwhile, on the other side, the leopard woman stomped on and smashed the communicator next to the dead soldier.
A voice crackled to life on her communicator: "Leopard Woman, the Secret Society needs you. We believe you've completely broken free of Belhaf and are on your way to the rendezvous point... But we're releasing you on conditions. The Outsider is waiting for you; he'll introduce you to a truly powerful group."
"Yes, I'm free. I'll get there as soon as possible."
The leopard woman said, "But before that, I have some personal grudges to settle."
But just as she was about to turn away from the scene of bloodshed, she saw a Japanese woman standing quietly at the edge of the swamp.
The demon sword in her hand glowed with an eerie green light.
"It seems we need to sort out some loose ends before settling personal scores."
"That's what the leopard woman said."
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Louisiana.
Belize Prison.
"Black manta rays live up there."
What's his real name?
"I don't know. Look here: Real name unknown."
Two guards walked down the steel corridor, and a huge robot walked past them. This place was heavily guarded and was a prison built specifically for people with superpowers.
They were chatting, and one of the guards was reading aloud from the words on the paper in his hand:
"Treasure hunters, Aquaman's main adversary, would be invaluable to Black Manta in shipwreck rescue, especially suitable for salvaging aircraft wrecks, tracking suspects, and assassinations—God, did Waller write this?"
"Her signature is below. She wanted him."
"Tsk..."
"Alas……"
"Look at this helmet, how ridiculous, it looks like a giant red-headed fly."
One of the guards weighed the helmet in his hand.
"Honestly, has she not given up on her plan to recruit villains as government agents?"
"Of course not. Waller said she wanted it, so it has to be hers. That thing called... Suicide Squad? That's clearly a rip-off of Batman. Waller won't use that name again, will she?"
"She's the boss, she calls the shots."
One of the guards said, "And we should help him sort it out, and then tell Waller that she'll soon have Black Manta at her beck and call."
The two of them walked to the door of the last cell and handed the documents to the guard.
As the massive iron gate opened, they finally saw Black Manta, a strong black man with three scars on his face.
"Wow, when they first brought you here, we were thinking of getting you a fish tank. But obviously, you can't breathe underwater like your aquarium friends."
A guard walked up to Black Manta, who was sitting at the table. He was wearing heavy shackles and handcuffs, so he didn't have to worry about Black Manta suddenly attacking.
"Tell me, Black Manta—is he really that difficult to deal with?"
Black Manta looked up at him. He knew very well who the "he" referred to.
"You're going to die."
He said suddenly.
"You..." The guard wanted to say something, but he was stared at by the man's sharp gaze and gradually dared not say anything more. The frivolous look on his face slowly disappeared.
He felt inexplicably flustered, so he stopped wasting words and hurriedly began to perform his duties: "If it were a matter of going to jail, you'd probably be there for life, but look, there's a chance for you to get out of here. I can tell you all the details, as long as you sign here..."
"Join the government as a secret agent? Right, everyone knows about that kind of thing, but I'm not into that."
Black Manta's gaze fell upon the helmet that had been placed on the table. The helmet's eye was directly facing the guard.
"You're going to die."
The black manta ray told him.
"What do you mean?" the guard said. "Can you stop joking like that?"
His gaze lingered once more on the other man's heavy shackles and handcuffs.
"You're going to die."
"I'm about to die."
"Dead. Dead. Dead."
Black Manta's voice grew faster and louder. The guard and his companion exchanged glances. He stood up from beside the table, a tremendous terror gripping his heart, though he didn't know where it came from.
"3.2.1."
"QUEIMADURA!" the black manta ray suddenly exclaimed.
(Note: Portuguese for "burning".)
Black Manta stood up. He saw that the guard had half his body burned by the laser from his helmet. He screamed twice on the ground, then quickly went still. A person who could survive and talk after being pierced by such a powerful laser only exists in TV dramas.
"Good heavens, he...he...help!" another guard yelled.
The black manta ray remained seated in the chair, without moving an inch.
"You want to know why Aquaman is so difficult to deal with?"
He said.
"His skin is almost invulnerable to knives and bullets."
Another guard tried to draw his gun, but the helmet on the table suddenly rotated on its own, and a laser shot struck the hand holding the gun, vaporizing his forearm and elbow.
"His muscles are 10 times stronger than yours or mine, and as you said, he can breathe underwater."
"Aaaaaah!" the guard screamed desperately.
Then the body is dissolved by a red laser, like ripe cheese.
"Unlike us," the black manta ray said.
"We gave you the helmet as you requested, Black Manta. We had the guards take the helmet into your cell, which exposed a spy in the Sky Eye Society in the process."
Just then, the helmet on the table spoke: "Now it's time to repay us."
"What do you want me to do?"
Two laser beams shattered Black Manta's handcuffs and shackles. He calmly stood up from his seat and put his helmet on.
The sounds of violent explosions echoed from the distant Belikhef prison; it was a planned mass breakout, and chaos had ensued outside.
"Leave this prison first, then come and join us."
Black Manta heard a voice from inside the helmet: "The Outsider is waiting for you."
……
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"You've been away from home for quite a while, Arthur."
Deep in the ocean, amidst the ruins of a ship, Aquaman Arthur is conversing with someone.
"And so am I."
"That's what the person hiding in the shadows said."
"Thank you for coming," said Aquaman Arthur.
The two men stared at each other in silence for a moment, then the man in the shadows spoke slowly and deliberately:
"What can I do for you, brother?"
Aquaman Arthur glanced at him.
"Two days ago, an Atlantean soldier attacked a US military base to retrieve an Atlantean artifact. Today, Black Manta escaped from Berryhave Prison, attacked my friend, and stole another of the Dead King's treasures."
"Aside from Batman taking the Death King's golden orb last time, he's now stolen two more of the Death King's relics. This makes me wonder what he's up to, or what his employers are up to."
"What is a black manta ray?"
"He's a treasure hunter."
"From the surface world?"
"right."
Aquaman Arthur stared at the other person.
"He was hired by an Atlantean, someone who wanted to obtain ancient Atlantean artifacts."
"And you think that person is me, Arthur? If I wanted those ancient relics, I wouldn't hide it; I would just ask you directly."
"—Unless you don't want me to know why you want them. Black Manta knows this ocean inside and out; he might be able to find the Death King's Scepter through those treasures. I've witnessed its power; it can sink an entire island."
"Arthur, I'm not lying to you, I never have. You're my brother, and if you suspect I want to attack your surface world, you can just ask me directly."
Aquaman Arthur stared into his eyes. He saw that the person in the shadows had hidden his entire face beneath a mask.
After a long silence, he finally spoke, asking, "Are you planning to invade the mainland?"
"Of course not."
The person in the shadows said:
"I am Lord Om, and I never lie."
"In fact, I have only been to the surface world twice. Once was to beg you to come back and take back the throne, but you refused. You chose your father's kingdom instead of ours. But I don't blame you. Although many of my ministers have a lot of opinions about you, I understand that you spent most of your childhood there."
"You'd better believe it."
Aquaman Arthur said, "I entrusted the kingdom to you because I am not suited to be a king. I do not possess the qualities of a king, which is why I ceded it to you when you returned to claim the throne. But that does not mean I will stand idly by and watch you do whatever you want to the world on Earth."
"Being nailed to the ground while breathing that kind of air must have been a terrifying experience."
But Lord Orm did not respond to Aquaman Arthur's words. A look of sympathy appeared on his face beneath the mask.
"...The world up there isn't as bad as you think."
As Neptune Arthur said.
"I'm sure you made it better, Arthur. Just like I did in Atlantis, I thought we could change Atlantis together. But now we're, literally, from two different worlds."
When you first ascended the throne, I brought you to see this ruin to remind you of what land dwellers are capable of.
The people on that ship first murdered our great-grandmother, then brutally killed our great-grandfather. They killed the king and queen, but this ignited the fury of all of Atlantis. Do you remember what happened to that ship afterward?
"It sank, but the crew members were spared."
Aquaman Arthur said:
"The Atlanteans let them live, but threw them into the sea, and then watched coldly as the crew members drowned and sank to the bottom of the ocean one by one, until only the captain of the ship was left to hold on."
"Yes, you're right. The Atlanteans just watched, patiently waiting until the captain could no longer swim. Do you remember what they did next?"
"They brought him ashore."
"Yes, Arthur. And then?"
"But he raised his dagger again and demanded that the Atlanteans take him back to sea. A captain stays with his ship forever."
Aquaman Arthur turned his head and saw a skeleton dressed as a captain floating behind him.
"If we wanted to, we could capsize any ship sailing on the sea, Arthur, we could destroy everything at sea, but we won't do that, and nothing will change that."
Whoever wants that scepter, perhaps they just want to frame Atlantis.
Lord Om said, "I love you, brother. I only wish you happiness."
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Gotham.
Chen Tao examined the large insect.
At this moment, they were inside Gotham Laboratory, with Lucius standing beside Chen Tao.
"The mite is almost completely wiped out."
Chen Tao drew a conclusion directly.
"The immense magical power nearly destroyed his body; it's not something that can be repaired with simple fixes."
He said with some frustration, "He became the main rope, so now it's the one that's broken the most."
"And the situation of the gorilla Grud and the turtle man is not much different; they are equally bad."
Lucius said, "Fortunately, none of them died, but they were all basically beyond help. I did my best to save their lives."
"If I find a way to strengthen them, could I get them to continue sharing the burden for me...?"
"No amount of enhancement will help anymore," Lucius interrupted Chen Tao's daydreaming.
"If you try to do anything to them again, they'll die right now."
"So does this mean I have to find a new person to share the burden with?"
"Damn it," Chen Tao muttered.
"Aren't you about to retire?"
"Lucius asked."
"Yes, yes, that's right, I'm retiring."
Chen Tao immediately changed the subject, saying, "By the way, how's the research on that Phantom Zone going? Can you find General Zod now?"
"Not yet, I need time," Lucius said. "My energy is limited; you can't give me dozens of tasks at once and expect me to complete them all."
"Okay, okay," Chen Tao said.
"You need to speed things up; I need to be prepared."
"..."
Lucius was speechless:
"But you clearly told me you were going to retire. Have you changed your mind?"
"Of course not," Chen Tao said. "I've done enough already, but it's better to be prepared."
He said, "Even without any crisis, we still need to be prepared at all times, don't we?"
He mumbled a lot more words that Lucius couldn't understand, and finally said, "Actually, I know that too. But I just need to have a trump card to deal with unexpected situations."
He said, "After all, although there are no new crises that I need to solve for the time being, we always have to keep some cards up our sleeve."
"You're about to retire, why are you always worrying about so many things?" Lucius shook his head.
"Does this mean you have a whole bunch of things to solve? This is a problem, and you need to get it treated."
He advised, "Stop spending all your time in the lab. Didn't you have a date with Wonder Woman tomorrow?"
"Why don't you go home and get ready now?"
American TV Series World: Starting with Los Angeles Police Department
The daily life of an old salted fish living a life of leisure and waiting to die in the world of American TV series.
(End of this chapter)