American comics: What kind of evil intentions could Batman have?

Chapter 515 Rushing into the Darkness with Blood and Courage

Chapter 515 Rushing into the Darkness... With Blood, With Courage (6400-word long chapter)

The Universe of Night Owl, Earth, Gotham City of Night Owl.

When passersby saw a group of strangely dressed people stop two men in black robes, and then the two men in black took off their clothes, one of them turned into a bald human wearing armor, and the other into a blue-cloaked man in a Superpower uniform with strange symbols, the group of Brother Tan's Black Flags quickly ran away.

It's a joke. People who have experienced the ravages of Night Owl know what to do and when. If it were just some ordinary criminals dressed in strange clothes, they might have the courage to shoot them. But the villains who came to ambush them all wore Night Owl badges, which means they work for Night Owl. And in Gotham City, the person you absolutely cannot mess with is Night Owl.

They left the middle of the road to the fighting crowd, and even after escaping to what seemed like a safe distance, they still scattered like birds and beasts.

In the Nite Owl universe, superheroes—if you can call the crime syndicate that—never care about the lives of bystanders when they're battling supervillains.

"You actually use fire against me?" Luther heard the bomb woman's mocking tone: "Don't you know I'm a master of explosives? In this world, the thing I fear least and am most familiar with... is fire!"

The battle erupted completely. The bomb girl kicked up a huge cloud of dust, creating a violent explosion that collided with the fireballs spewed out by the man-made object and then sprayed out like water.

Amidst the raging flames, she actually managed to block the first burst of fire that came rushing towards her:

"You look like a poorly made copy of Superman, but what you don't know is that I once fought Superman for over an hour in the streets of Metropolis without being at a disadvantage. If a fire truck hadn't driven by, Superman would have died that day!"

Upon hearing this, all the villains except for the black bison frozen in the ice immediately turned to look at her. They hadn't realized there was such a skilled fighter among them!

"And once I leave prison, that coward Superman will be gone. I couldn't find Superman to make him die, but killing a low-quality clone for now isn't bad!"

Then she pointed at Luther: "And you, just die peacefully..."

Although the bomb girl was ordered not to kill Luther, it didn't stop her from spouting trash talk about killing him.

however……

"Roar! The artificial creature next to Luthor was initially confused, but when it saw the bomb woman pointing her finger at Lex Luthor and saying words like 'you' and 'die,' it was immediately enraged."

"roar!"

He opened his mouth so wide that it would dislocate a normal person's jaw, and then even more exaggerated flames surged toward his opponent.

With a deafening roar, the Black Bison, freed from the ice, saw the flames unleashed by the Bomb Girl collide with the flames spewed from the mouth of the monster wearing the reverse Superman suit, and then explode.

Before he could recover from the shock of being frozen and figure out how to attack next, he saw the bomb woman being thrown out like a kite with a broken string, enveloped in flames, half of her body charred black by the monster that was clearly a low-level copy of Superman.

The intense flames never stopped, spreading across half of her body. In an instant, the extreme heat turned the bomb woman from a living person into a skeleton, and then, in the next instant, her bones vaporized under the intense heat.

The pillar-thick flames never stopped breathing, piercing through the buildings behind them. The artifacts Luther created shook their heads, and the pillars of flame sliced ​​through several buildings, causing massive explosions that killed countless people.

Do you think everyone is like Clark Kent, who wouldn't dare harm civilians on the street?

Amidst the deafening crashes and the terrified screams of countless civilians who couldn't escape, Luther was caught completely off guard.

"Damn it, man-made thing, didn't I tell you not to make too much noise... Damn it, whatever." Luther said.

"Let's finish this quickly. This farce should end."

Several of Tan Zheng and Hei Qi were too slow to react and didn't have time to run. When they realized their escape route was blocked by the ruins of the building, they desperately pulled out their guns and emptied their magazines at Luther.

But all of that was blocked by Luthor's energy shield. Luthor completely ignored the Gotham City gangsters who attacked him. Although these people were still alive, to Luthor... they were already dead.

When he covered the homeless woman's body with blood-stained clothes, he was also mentally sentencing everyone in the universe to death.

He had already completed his psychological compensation and moral desensitization, so he let the artificial do as it pleased... He could have stopped it, but that would have been pointless and would have only made him more vulnerable.

Luther aimed an energy blast at the hyena that was trying to pounce on his armor. In an instant, the hyena's flesh and blood were pierced by the accelerated particles, as easily as dissolving a block of tofu with vinegar.

The multi-dimensional being replicated numerous copies of itself, and then it heard a chilling sound—the sound of flesh being shattered by something moving at high speed.

In the super-fast world he couldn't react to, Luther's creation appeared behind him. He swung his pale hand and slapped the multiverse in the back. The superhuman with the ability to replicate himself flew out like a cannonball, his entire body exploding on a building not far away, splattering blood all over the wall like a blood-sucking mosquito.

"you!"

The black bison still wanted to chant the spell; he was a mage, but...

A large blob of sticky substance was smeared on his mouth, and the next moment Luther's palm was pressed against his chest, and then it was all over.

"Quick, we have to go." Luther grabbed the artifact that was already enraged and wanted to continue attacking the onlookers: "We're about to be attacked by truly dangerous individuals. Someone of Lady Styx's level is no match for this group..."

puff!

Luther lowered his head in a daze.

He saw a steel bar pierce through his armor's energy shield and plunge into his chest—how could a mere steel bar… Perhaps, some bluish-purple energy had eroded his shield and armor, using them as cover to insert the steel bar into his body.

His armor also automatically retaliated the moment it detected his injury, knocking away the "person" who had secretly attacked Luther with steel bars.

But it wasn't a living human or any other creature... it was a humanoid form formed from dark matter condensed under the control of the Lady of the Styx.

Damn it, Lady Styx wasn't absent; she'd been there all along. She'd been lurking in the shadows, and now she was launching her fatal attack.

Beside him, the artificial being clutched its head and roared as Lady Styx's dark matter invaded its mind, attempting to use it to control its body.

In the comics, during the "Infinite Crisis" era, Lady Styx even used a similar technique. She controlled Animal Man to the point that he had to let Starfire kill him. This dark matter erosion is different from mind control; in this situation, she had the upper hand over the unsuspecting, and Luthor's creation immediately let out a wail.

"No, I've deconstructed your dark matter, all I need is..." Luther grabbed the steel bar, which plugged his wound and prevented him from bleeding heavily. Fortunately, the energy shield of his armor was strong enough, and he still had a chance.

The Mother Box appeared in his palm, and Batman taught Luthor Brainiac the Shrink Ray to conceal these crucial items. But Luthor didn't simply use it to open the Boom Channel; he connected the Mother Box to his armor, and in the next instant, the alien computer was completely integrated into his armor.

Luther placed one hand on the artifact's shoulder, and the Mother Box's ability to manipulate particles instantly neutralized Lady Styx's attack on the artifact using dark matter.

With the opening of the sonic tunnel and a dazzling explosion, Luther and the artifact vanished from their spot.

Lady Styx slowly emerged from her hiding place. She had indigo skin, was about 1.7 meters tall, and had eyes without whites, as black as the night sky, with a faint yellow glow. There was another pair of eyes between her eyebrows, only slightly smaller than her main eyes.

"They got away..." She frowned slightly. "I should be able to track them down... but what good would that do me?"

Would giving Night Owl Lex Luthor make him even stronger? For Lady Styx, although Night Owl and these cosmic overlords are currently in a honeymoon period, she has already considered the future struggle for cosmic supremacy. Night Owl's abilities and plans make her quite wary. She certainly won't let Night Owl become even more powerful. As for Luthor, he either has to surrender to her or be killed. From the beginning, there was no real option of capturing him alive and handing him over to Night Owl.

Therefore, she had already made her move, intending to kill him outright, but she hadn't expected Luther to be the weak scientist she had imagined. Since her attack hadn't killed him, then...

"I've arrived, Styx." Lady Styx turned her head and saw a pink alien flying in from a portal that had opened not far away. He was all muscle and had only one eye on his forehead.

He is Martian Manhunter's nemesis, the Despair Demon. His abilities are almost a carbon copy of Martian Manhunter's, except for super strength, speed, and other superpowers, he also possesses telepathic abilities that are only slightly weaker than Martian Manhunter's.

When facing her opponent, Lady Styx immediately used dark matter to protect her brain.

"Where did the Night Owl's target go?" Lady Styx heard the Despair Demon ask. "Can you track them down to where they fled to?"

Lady Styx, of course, vehemently denied it: "I can't. This target named Luther is stronger than we thought. He escaped, and we must conduct a thorough search of the surrounding area..."

While deceiving the Despair Demon, Lady Styx silently thought to herself.

"Run away, run away... my toy."

"I'll let you dig a mouse hole on this planet and think you're all set..."

"I'll come back and take you back once things are settled."

"You little mouse, you're no big deal to the overall situation."

……

……

……

"Huffing and puffing..."

I have to admit that an hour ago, I considered giving up.

I was severely injured by Lady Styx, which greatly affected my original plan to rescue Nightwing and the others and then steal the Heart of the Planet together.

Moreover, I gradually realized a fact that I had been deliberately ignoring: even if I successfully stole the Heart of the Planet, I could not bring it back to our universe. The two universes are thousands of miles apart, and Night Owl has already activated his entire system, gradually accelerating the entire universe.

The longer time drags on, the faster the entire universe is accelerated. The Night Owl is creating a derailment, pushing his universe into a faster trajectory within the Dark Multiverse, one that can outrun the Anti-Monitor.

Let alone the fact that I have absolutely no ability to travel in the vast multiverse outside of a single universe, even if I did, rashly breaking away from an increasingly fast-moving single universe would make me as pulverized as an ordinary person jumping off a train.

Even if I manage to seize the Heart of the Planet, I won't be able to take it with me.

Therefore, the only way is to forcefully replicate my original plan, but this means I will have to face Lady Styx again, and even a large number of other cosmic-level overlords besides her. This is not about escaping from their clutches, but about defeating them all.

I'd love to say I could, but the truth is, even I couldn't do it.

I could easily change my plans. Surrendering to Night Owl would only make me a caged bird in his cage, but surrendering to those cosmic overlords would give me the ability to form alliances and build a force that rivals Night Owl's after the universe has completely escaped the Anti-Monitor. I have countless plans and future directions to plan... but what would be the point?

Some problems are indeed very difficult, but I never give up.

My name is Lex Luthor.

To others, this name has many meanings; they call me a scientific genius, and even though the Superman clone is so inferior, it still showcases my personal talent.

They call me a greedy shark, they call me a leader, but no matter how others define me, it won't stop me.

I am patient.

Patiently wait for the enemy to bleed profusely...

That instant.

"Cough cough cough..."

Inside the sewer pipe.

Luther had removed his armor, and he used the green armor to fire a laser beam, thoroughly disinfecting the area where he was sitting.

Then he carefully tore off the shirt stuck to his wound. The blood-soaked shirt made him gasp and break out in a cold sweat.

He also tore a large hole in his armor, releasing a small group of nanobots that quickly gnawed through the remaining half of the steel bar still embedded in his body around the wound. Then, the nanobots took over Luther's nervous system, helping him perform a minimally invasive surgery. With a clang, the blood-stained steel bar was thrown to the ground.

The nanobots stopped the bleeding, and then they returned to the armor to begin repairing the breach.

"They didn't even come to Nightwing's cell to ambush me..." Luther's voice was hoarse. Lady Styx's attack had damaged his alveoli, and even with the healing from the nanobots, he wouldn't be fully recovered so quickly. After all, he was just an ordinary person, not a superhuman enhanced by the serum.

After a while...

“Let’s go,” Luther said. “If we go another kilometer along this sewer pipe, we’ll be directly beneath a warehouse that’s closest to Nightwing’s cell. From there, we’ll figure out how to get into Nightwing’s cell. I’ve rehearsed the Nightwing rescue plan many times; it has a high success rate.”

As he walked away, he silently pondered the Styx Lady. He instantly guessed her thoughts from her strange attitude when she hadn't pursued him, and considered how much benefit this attitude could bring him. Even so, the plan's success rate remained very low.

Disturbed, he walked deeper into the sewers, only to see the stupid android he had created standing with its head down in the light, refusing to move into the dark opening.

"Artificial creations, advance!"

"Subject B0, I command you to proceed."

There was no response. Luther took a deep breath, controlling his almost explosive anger; impotent rage was never his style.

"Listen to me, child," he said. "There's nothing to be afraid of. Whether you stay or leave, it doesn't matter to me."

"Roar roar roar..." The artificial creature looked at him blankly, its red pupils beneath its lifeless whites, combined with its pale, uneven skin, making it look somewhat terrifying.

Luther gently stroked his creation, then turned his head to look at the darkness.

"Back when I was about your age, I wasn't afraid of the dark, but there was something else that held me back."

He seemed somewhat melancholy.

"Awooo..."

"I was only 17 when my sister got sick. At that time, no one could do anything about her illness except me. I arrogantly thought I could save her life... but I gave up."

Luther said, "I was afraid of failure, I was afraid of losing the only person in my life who meant me so much, so... I didn't face the unknown challenges, I chose to give up."

Luther's expression shifted, and he looked somewhat bewildered. "She...she didn't make it through that year. Since then, I've never let the fear of failure stop me."

Luther finished speaking, but the artifact remained motionless. He looked dejected and shook his head sharply. "Ha, what's the point of telling you all this? You're just a defective product, a monster without intelligence."

So Luther took another deep breath, abandoned the artifact that stood frozen in the face of darkness, turned his back to it, faced the darkness, and resolved to step into it alone.

No matter what, she...

But then, he felt someone place a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and saw the artificial being he had judged to be defective speaking in a somewhat uncoordinated voice:

"Bizarro...never give up."

(Note: Bizarro sounds similar to B-0, the experimental subject in English. This is also the origin of the name of the DC supervillain "Alien Superman" Bizarro and the origin of his story.)

"Let's go," Luther said. "We need to hurry. Our friend, Lady Styx, will try to sabotage Night Owl out of a desire to prevent me from falling into his hands, but she can't hold his attention for long. Once he discovers what we're up to, things will fall apart."

Soon after.

With a loud bang, Lex Luthor and Bizarro burst through the floor and found themselves behind the stables of Wayne Manor.

well.

I've hacked in... Night Owl's surveillance system is useless against us. All thanks to my prior preparations and Lady Styx's deliberate assistance...

As Luther thought this, he quietly led Bizarro out of the stable. Two horses were stunned to see two living people, and before they could even neigh, Bizarro bit their necks and killed them.

He had an energy shield, so he was actually a little better off, but Bizarro was covered in horse manure. Fortunately, the Inhuman didn't care about that and even picked up a piece of horse manure and ate it.

vomit!

He immediately spat out the secret-recipe burger and then followed behind Luther.

"The surveillance cameras here can't see us..." Luther muttered, his heart pounding as he manipulated the computer through his armor, each step filled with dread.

A vague unease crept into his heart. Despite his thorough preparations, would things really develop so easily in a positive direction? It seemed that Night Owl wasn't taking Nightwing's precautions seriously, so there shouldn't be any problem, right?

He even had a terrifying thought: what if he just walked into Nightwing's room and found Night Owl waiting for him with all the cosmic overlords there? Or what if he entered the room only to find the entire cage closed, and Night Owl's voice came out to tell him that he had been waiting for Lex Luthor to walk right into his trap?

A jumble of thoughts flooded Luther's mind, but he had none left. He had no other options, nor time to make any other plans.

As they rounded the stables, walked along the tree-lined path, crossed the cemetery, and approached Wayne Manor, Luther left Bizarro behind. He then gave the order: "Wait here for me. I'll summon you when I need you, and you'll rush to my rescue. Understand?"

"Roar~" Luther understood what the other party was saying. He knew that the other party did not want to wait here, but he still forcefully gave Bizarro the order.

Then he paused, and added another command: "If I find the enemy too strong, I will issue you another order, and you must leave here immediately and find a place to hide until I summon you again, understand?"

Luther himself knew very well that if he really encountered such a situation, it meant that he had discovered that the enemy was irreversible. Would he really surrender in order to survive?

Luther didn't know, and he didn't intend to think about it.

After a tearful farewell from Bizarro, Luther finally stepped into Wayne Manor, which was empty. He bypassed countless surveillance cameras, followed the wardrobe, hacked into the elevator at the back, and arrived at Owl Cave—the most primitive Owl Cave in the universe, located in the same spot as the most primitive Bat Cave in their universe.

After a search, he actually found a transparent cell on the lower level of Owl Cave, and Nightwing himself was indeed imprisoned inside.

There were no owls, no traps, and no other cosmic overlord legions.

Luther was overjoyed. He rushed to the cage and released Nightwing. Without even exchanging pleasantries, he immediately grabbed Nightwing's hand and asked, "Batman left a dose of the Laughing Virus in your spine. On the surface, there's some left in your spine that can be activated, and another vial is hidden using Brainiac's shrinking ray. I need to give you the Laughing Virus that you've hidden..."

That was the core tool of Luther's plan. Only by obtaining the serum left by Batman could he have a chance to infect Night Owl, and only Night Owl himself could control this system...

Luther was still pondering his plan when Nightwing's words plunged him into an icy abyss:

"It's gone, all gone. Luther, Night Owl found all the Joker virus hidden in my cervical spine, and he took it all..."

Not a single drop was left.

(End of this chapter)