msmithbooks Chapter 298 Darkseid's Ambitions: A Self-Important Move
Chapter 298 Darkseid's Ambitions: A Self-Important Move
Chapter 298 Darkseid's Ambitions: A Self-Important Move
Chen Tao hid in the shadows, quietly watching Darkseid negotiate with the "Source" (some translations call it "Origin") behind the Origin Wall.
He knew this wasn't an exchange he was qualified to participate in; he just needed to wait quietly for Darkseid to get things done.
As a giant fiery hand scribbled on the wall, Bane quickly descended from the Origin Wall. He floated and drifted in the void behind the wall, his powerful body like a falling leaf.
Chen Taofei went over and caught him.
"Well done," he said.
He grabbed Bain by the back of the neck, his gaze meeting Darkseid's malicious eyes.
"Now it's all over, Batman."
Chen Tao heard Darkseid say, "It's time to keep your promise."
"There's one more thing," Chen Tao said. "I request that you release yourself from controlling the cyborg Hank Henshaw and his cousin, Supergirl Kara Kent."
Darkseid's malice intensified, almost as if it were dripping with Omega energy, and he truly was.
"Okay, I will take care of it. After you help me deal with Superman the Supreme, I swear I will never continue to toy with their minds."
Darkseid was very cooperative.
Despite his fierce-looking face, he seemed as easy to talk to as a street vendor selling low-purity flour outside Arkham Asylum.
The vendors' favorite thing to do was to give away hand grenades with the purchase of flour. Since the price of hand grenades had become so cheap due to the Penguin's competitive pricing, they were practically as cheap as burritos. After buying them, you could enjoy a high-spirited flight while simultaneously firing a shot at Arkham Asylum to save your idol.
Although Darkseid didn't have the fawning smiles of the vendors, his help to Batman was as cheap as the flour sold by those vendors.
Even Bain, who looked dejected and was being carried around like a big cat by Chen Tao, noticed that something was wrong.
He wanted to say something, but wisely kept his mouth shut, letting Chen Tao and Darkseid continue their conversation.
"Before I come to help you one last time, I still have some things to do on Earth. I'll come and help you once I've finished taking care of them; it won't take more than two Earth hours at most."
Although Darkseid's stone face remained unchanged, anyone with eyes could see that his expression had turned slightly cold.
The Dark Lord did not reply immediately. He hovered and flew in front of Batman, just looking at him.
The atmosphere became somewhat tense for a moment, while Bain secretly began to try to mobilize the four different natural energies within his body.
He was proficient in using the three powers of red, green, and black, but he had never been very good at the metal spirit.
Fortunately, the Metal Spirit seems to be controlled by someone and never acts as wildly as the red, green, and black forces.
However, Darkseid did not act as Bane had expected. Instead, he lowered his head and looked down at Batman.
"As you wish. That monster has been wreaking havoc on my planet for so long, what's two more hours?"
He said, "Two hours. Just the last two hours. We'll make our move as soon as the time is up—"
He looked at Batman and said, "Then it's settled. You can't go back on your word."
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"Two hours?"
Two minutes later, Chen Tao and Bain appeared on Ismot, the Red Lantern Legion's base and the location of the Red Lantern Central Energy Battery.
Bane had finally regained some mobility; he had recently broken free from Batman's cat-like grip and started walking on his own.
It wasn't that he was unwilling to let Batman carry him; he had just suggested standing on Batman's back and flying like a skateboard on a sword... but Batman firmly refused.
Since the Red Lantern Corps was still in its infancy, this area remained the same as before, filled with messy wreckage and ruins, as well as desert-like hillsides.
They took a few steps, and soon the huge red light and central energy battery came into view, with Athocitas still performing his shamanistic rituals below it, and William Hank surrounded by the magic circle.
Chen Tao gestured for Bain to stay with him and wait for Atocitas to finish.
"Hey, Bat," Bane said. "You know Darkseid only gave you two hours, and you should also know that this guy is definitely up to something."
Bain said, "I'm a schemer—"
(Batman's gaze)
“At least it used to be,” Bain explained. “That’s not the point. The point is that I can smell the conspiracy that’s practically overflowing from their mouths.”
"When I want to achieve a certain goal..." Bain began to analyze himself, and he was quite qualified to speak on this point:
"I usually give up some things that I don't think are very important in exchange for the key to achieving that goal."
I admit that my plans sometimes lack imagination and humor, but I must acknowledge that Darkseid's current behavior perfectly embodies these characteristics.
He said, "Darkseid is being so cooperative; he must be plotting something. Have you made a decision yet?"
"If you can tell, then of course I can tell."
Bane quickly heard Batman's reply: "Darkseid's conspiracy? I think so."
He turned to look at Bane: "But for Darkseid, absolute power can shatter everything. Any conspiracy that doesn't reach a certain level is a joke to the Lord of Apokolips. And what truly deserves our Lord Darkseid's meticulous planning..."
It's nothing more than manipulating Superman to turn the other person into a henchman like Supergirl Kara or Cyborg Superman.
However, Chen Tao didn't tell Bain this. Some things are best kept to oneself.
He made up a random excuse: "And I don't know what Darkseid's goal is worth all this effort, let's just take it one step at a time."
Darkseid was eager to take on enemies as powerful as Supergirl and Mecha Superman, and he had a tendency to collect powerful subordinates. This was especially true of Superman Supreme, who had given him the taste of being beaten to a pulp.
That powerful monster was simply a natural assistant to Darkseid on his path to ruling over all living beings!
How could he not do everything in his power to get him?
There is only one purpose that could make Darkseid so submissive: for a greater good.
And his actions were made at a very opportune moment: Superman was severely injured!
Darkseid trusts Batman, just as Batman trusts Darkseid. This so-called trust may sound ridiculous, but it truly exists.
Chen Tao never doubted that with his help, Darkseid could defeat Superman Supreme, and vice versa.
It was precisely because Darkseid expected that he would never lose against Superman Supreme that he dared to harbor the ambition to control Superman Supreme, rather than simply reattaching him to the Origin Wall.
However, there's no need to tell Bain any of this.
Chen Tao checked the time and saw that Athositas's shamanistic ritual was gradually slowing down and beginning to wrap up. Chen Tao had previously asked Athositas about the time required for the ritual, and now the timing was perfect.
This is also one of the more important reasons why he came here; he needs to personally protect Atositas's magic.
After all, Athositas's purpose was simply to eliminate the darkness in William Hand's heart. In essence, this spell was no different from the comic book history where the villain William Hand was taken away by the Blue Lamp of Mercy, directly distorting his mind and turning him into a self-repentant person.
However, accidents are very likely to happen during the procedure. If William Hand is accidentally killed, well, that would be a real mess.
In a timeline called "Flashpoint," because Green Lantern Abin Sue did not die, Hal Jordan did not become Green Lantern and therefore could not stop Athositas, who was on his first trip to Earth, from using magic on William Hand in an attempt to prevent the arrival of the Darkest Night. As a result, Athositas failed, and William Hand not only was not erased from his inner darkness, but unfortunately died on the spot.
This not only failed to delay the arrival of night, but actually accelerated it.
As soon as William Hand died, he instantly became a Black Lantern Corpse, allowing the Black Death Emperor to immediately enter the main world, saving him the trouble of whispering in the other's ear to tempt him to commit suicide.
Although his power was not as strong as it was in the original Darkest Night, his Black Lantern Corpse still attacked sector after sector, and the situation immediately deteriorated to an unparalleled level.
Therefore, Chen Tao was worried about such a problem—after all, anything can happen in the Dark Universe, and if the Black Death Emperor were really brought out on the spot, he would be in big trouble.
However, it seems that everything turned out alright. Atocitas's actions were very standard. As William Hand, who had been locked up by the Mite and starving for half a day, let out a high-pitched scream, the already somewhat malnourished opponent fainted on the spot, but was still alive.
"Very good," Chen Tao said.
He walked up to Athocitas and whispered to him, "Now that's the problem we need to worry about."
"About the Blood Slaughter Cow..."
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The mantis slowly opened his eyes. He had been bleeding and had fainted due to excessive blood loss.
He got up from the ground and looked around, finally confirming that Batman was not beside him, which made him overjoyed.
His first thought was to break the spell on him and make a quick getaway, but he soon realized with dismay that he couldn't control the electronic speaker to utter even a single syllable.
Fortunately, he was not entirely hopeless: he still had some of the power of Shazam that he had secretly absorbed before.
He originally established a magical connection with Billy Batson's father, C.C. Batson, thus becoming the first creature in history to wield the power of living lightning without the approval of Shazam.
However, as Billy Batson became utterly disillusioned with his father, C.C. Batson, the living lightning power he had previously shared with him returned to his own body along with his disappointment.
This is the core principle behind Shazam's sharing of his power: Under normal circumstances, the person to whom Shazam shares his power must be someone Billy genuinely believes to be a different member of the same family.
So now there's a very simple logic: CC Batson's living lightning power is gone, so the Mite that established a magical connection with CC Batson to utilize the living lightning power also has no living lightning power to use.
So this matter should have been settled, however, just now the Mite of Meditation discovered a new target from whom the power of living lightning could be borrowed:
batman.
Billy Batson even shared his Shazam power with Batman! What a foolishly generous act.
And how tempting is this to commit a crime?
If he successfully connects with Batman's Shazam power, he will be able to turn his fortunes around and make a comeback, or at least escape his prison.
So, the gambling instincts of the gambler kicked in again, and he went all in once more. And he won again. Despite being utterly defeated and captured by Batman, he managed to steal a sliver of the power of the Living Lightning from him. He then successfully used the connection he had previously established to reconnect with this power of the Living Lightning, thus regaining the power of Shazam the Thunder.
This means that the mite was able to escape!
The Mite of Meditation shook the surging electric light leaping from its body, and the current condensed in front of it into a tiny lightning hand that it could control.
He had pulled his electronic speaker close and was constantly stimulating it with electricity, trying to keep it active so he could chant the spell to escape, but soon Batman's smiling face appeared in front of him.
It was a genuine, smirking smile, with a deathly pale chin and makeup, a wild grin that stretched to the corners of its mouth, and exposed gums—it was as terrifying as it could be.
"What...what do you want to do?"
But the next second, Mite saw Batman begin to heal his injuries. His lower body, which had been crushed by Darkseid, quickly began to heal little by little under Batman's magic, until it was completely intact.
He immediately felt the connection again, and countless magical powers flowed back into his body. The magical power he had absorbed from the seven continents re-established a connection with him.
He looked at Batman, puzzled, and then felt the connection between himself and Batman through the power of Shazam the Thunder, and the entire insect began to tremble.
"No no no no no—"
He already realized what Batman was going to do, but it was all too late.
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Apokolips.
Darkseid watched as the Superman Supreme continued to wreak havoc in the distance.
Beside him, his kind grandmother, missing an arm and a leg, bowed her head.
"The great Darkseid..."
She whispered, "Everything is ready."
"As long as that monster is seriously injured..."
Darkseid replied:
"He will submit to me!"
Not far away, a glimmer of clarity appeared in the eyes of the Supreme Little Superman.
(End of this chapter)