Chapter 184: Golden Superman! Darkseid Is Stunned!
The destructive power of Mars exploding is actually not that great.
Mars is a rocky planet, its internal structure mainly composed of silicate rocks and a metal core, lacking the nuclear fusion fuel and sustained fusion reaction conditions like that of a star.
Even if the Mars explosion released all its gravitational binding energy, it would only be three millionths of the sun’s energy per second, so the aftermath of this explosion would not impact the direction of Earth.
However.
The energy blooming from those two golden figures was different. Mars exploded, but at this moment, the flames and shockwaves sweeping the planet seemed so dim.
At the very center of the explosion, two figures were confronting each other in a way that transcended the laws of physics, the light they emitted making even supernovas pale in comparison.
This is not science.
It is Kryptonian Philosophy.
Krypton’s idealism philosophy.
The instant those two figures collided at the core, all the firelight, dust, and shockwaves became background. At the explosion center, two golden figures were engaging in a physical struggle.
One wore a red and blue battle suit, his eyes blazing like stars, it was Superman, Clark Kent, the symbol of hope. The other, even his battle suit was golden in hue, was also Superman Clark Kent. However, this one was Old Man Ian’s counterpart from another universe, with an incredibly resolute and cold expression.
“They showed me everything, let me witness the endgame… Only when there is only one Superman left can we save this multiverse in time!”
The golden Superman whispered to Ian’s Old Man. The authentic Clark of this universe did not approve of this slaughter of counterparts for salvation; he said nothing and collided his arms with the other’s.
The mere clash of their energies had already torn the fabric of spacetime.
Boom——!!!
A beam of light impossible to describe with words erupted from the center of their clash.
It was not just light.
It was also the pure torrent of their wills, the most pure manifestation of “hope” from the depths of Kryptonian bloodline, a light of conviction powerful enough to rewrite the laws of physics.
It swept through, and the stellar debris along the way vanished like pencil marks erased by a rubber. Even spacetime itself twisted and deformed. The golden energy poured like an inverted galaxy, instantly engulfing the Mars debris, Phobos, and all floating clone corpses. All the celestial bodies, meteoroids, and everything along the way.
Even light itself was evaporated, distorted, and reconstituted by this force into pure light dust. This light was intensely powerful, far exceeding the brightness of any burning star.
As if to ignite all the darkness in the multiverse.
“Light Superman! The authentic M78 Nebula in DC!”
Ian rode on Injustice Superman, his hands tightly wrenching the other’s fingers, Injustice Superman’s knuckles emitting creaking sounds of strain, on the verge of having his sixth finger broken by Ian.
However.
The light was already erupting toward them.
“How could this be… Your Clark shouldn’t have this kind of potential…” Injustice Superman, his emotions suppressed, was still dazed when Ian yanked him up and used him as a human shield.
“Use Superman to fight Superman!”
Ian hid his face behind the other. The instant the light engulfed them, Ian felt his blood boiling—not figuratively, but actual golden-red flames igniting in his veins.
Even little Ian felt a burning sensation as if being ignited.
【Berserker Experience Points+99】
【Berserker Experience Points+99】
【Berserker Experience Points+99】
……
【Warning: Detected surge in reproductive cell activity, recommend immediate cooldown】
The golden light surged like a tsunami.
It was not physical heat, but a burning at the level of existence.
Injustice Superman was blocked in front of Ian himself, yet even so, as the light approached and engulfed, Ian still felt his little Ian burning as if ignited.
“Cooldown my ass!” Ian clung tightly to Injustice Superman, feeling like he was struggling on a surfboard in a tsunami, “Is this something you can cooldown?!”
Ian screamed sharply.
Not far away, Batman’s hell armor emitted a piercing overload alarm. Under the mask, Bruce Wayne’s pupils reflected the approaching golden tide.
He looked up at the golden light sweeping everything, true fear appearing in his eyes for the first time.
“No… this impact… I can’t withstand it…” He abruptly raised his left arm, a mini card reader popping out from the armor, a gold card gripped in his hand.
“Unlock temporary magic superpower! Highest authority!”
Hell Batman roared, forcibly swiping the card while trying to stay calm. This was the little surprise Ian designed for him—swipe to unlock the various magic superpowers Ian had inscribed on it.
It could be considered an added value service; Ian knew Bruce Wayne would eventually thank him, as he made Bruce Wayne’s money power even more fitting.
【Beep——】
【Insufficient balance.】
Of course, no money meant a whole different story. Since this battle suit’s “network” service was provided by the Marvel Black Box, even in this place and environment, the signal normally wouldn’t be affected. But while the network signal didn’t fail, Batman’s money power hit a wall.
“What?!” Batman was stunned. Though he had just grabbed a card at random, it shouldn’t have been depleted this quickly. The King of Gotham’s eyes nearly popped out.
“This card has eighty billion! Used up in eight minutes?!” Even Batman, who 【doesn’t care about money】, felt a robbed mood at this moment.
【Using money power is like this】
The armor’s AI projected a flashing red line in front of him.
“FUC—”
Just as Batman saw the AI message prompting that it could provide 【Ian loan】 for Batman, the light arrived, swallowing Batman’s final curse completely.
Perhaps no universe’s Clark Kent harbors malice toward Batman, so their light contained critical hit damage that was super effective against Batman.
The Kent faction hell armor was fine, especially the card reader which was stronger than any part, but this armor couldn’t protect against the light that penetrated it.
The light didn’t explode or impact; it just gently covered him, but the next instant—Bruce’s flesh and blood didn’t even leave ashes.
Flesh, bones, nerves, memories disintegrated like grains of sand; everything constituting Bruce Wayne’s body turned to nothingness silently.
He didn’t even have time to scream.
Like dust casually brushed away by a deity.
The golden light continued spreading, devouring everything.
“No! Uncle Bruce! You can’t reunite with your son yet! Leave me one hand… one hand that can open those secret treasures hidden in Gotham!” Ian hugged Injustice Superman’s remains, rolling in the light, his eyes unable to see, the last sight being the two figures punching again in the sea of light.
The entire galaxy seemed to tremble under that strike.
At the same time.
Earth, Gotham, inside the Wayne Family’s 666th Batcave. In the dark room, dozens of monitors lit up with glaring red light simultaneously.
Gotham’s new hero, Wheelchair Batman, Bruce Wayne suddenly opened his eyes, chest heaving violently. His hands gripped the wheelchair armrests tightly.
Sweat dripped from Bruce Wayne’s chin onto the golden throne armrests, the droplets shattering on the intricately carved reliefs.
His muscles spasmed uncontrollably, as if just pierced by 100,000 volts—factually close, the psyker overload aftermath making his nerve endings burn with pain.
Due to overly intense emotions.
The psyker power not belonging to him began to lose control again.
In the room with no equipment, various daily items still burst, floated, or mutated because of it. Fortunately, the mechanical arm was injecting psyker suppressant. The medicine syringe automatically pierced his neck, injecting pale blue nanobots into the nerves. Seconds later, those gray-blue eyes regained their cold sharpness.
Batman suppressed the power inside him that felt like a burden.
“37th clone death, suggest Young Master pause neural link.” Alfred’s voice came from the walkie-talkie, the old butler’s tone laced with concern.
He feared his Young Master was addicted to this taboo research.
Bruce didn’t respond. His retinas still held the clone’s final vision. That golden light devouring everything was more violent than the sun and crueler than doomsday—the clone’s pain nerves burned out in a thousandth of a second, yet still transmitted absurd sensory data to the main body.
Yes.
Batman was still overestimated by Ian; he hadn’t truly solved the wheelchair issue, just found a way to stand before crowds without being discovered.
People thought they met the real Batman, unaware he had deceived everyone. The “Batman” stepped on by Injustice Superman on Phobos and ultimately devoured by golden light was just his meticulously made puppet. The real him had been hiding in this secret room since the Wheelchair Batman hype.
He used the taboo psyker power force-fed from the Warhammer Universe to project his consciousness onto the clone, controlling it to act, fight, even stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Superman.
As for the clone’s origin, it was simple commercial theft—don’t forget, the comatose Lex Luthor was always in his hands.
“Damn! I still underestimated Kryptonians!” With the drug’s help, Batman quickly regained nimble thinking, maneuvering the wheelchair to the computer and tapping the keyboard furiously.
“Activate orbital defense protocol.”
Bruce Wayne’s voice was hoarse to the extreme, the command entering his defense system via nine authorizations including voice and fingerprint.
In space, on Earth’s orbit, thousands of devices disguised as space debris suddenly deployed.
They were not weapons, but foldable defense devices made of nanomaterial, something Batman tinkered with after watching a 《dinosaur extinction mystery》 TV show one day.
No one expected it to come in handy now; under Bruce’s command, they swiftly moved, combined, and unfolded, like billions of metal bats weaving a giant net in the night sky.
These micro devices spliced together, forming a massive black membrane on Earth’s orbit—a mere minutes later, an umbrella-shaped energy shield spanning Earth-Moon orbit took shape. From the Moon observatory, one would see a bat-shaped shadow emerging over the northern hemisphere.
It was like a real big black umbrella.
To shield the light shining from Mars’ direction, attempting to distort, deflect, absorb the impending light flood, buying Earth a chance at survival.
But.
“Can’t block it…” Bruce stared at real-time astronomical data, pupils contracting. The golden light’s speed far exceeded his cognition, its energy readings off the scale of all instruments.
The shield’s build progress bar hit 37% when the light’s vanguard reached Earth-Moon distance. On Earth, not just Batman, even ordinary people sensed something wrong.
When that golden light tearing the night sky appeared outside the atmosphere, Earth’s social media exploded, with America’s panicked operations being the most bizarre.
Arizona, desert campsite.
A bearded man in a “Welcome to Area 51” T-shirt raised a telescope and suddenly roared: “God! It’s God’s flashlight! He’s coming to pick us up! Repent now!”
The group beside him knelt in prayer; some began burning credit cards, calling them “worldly sins.”
“Fam! Aliens are hitting us up! This is their signal!” A group of sunbathing youths pointed at the sky, obsessed with UFOs and KFC.
This is America’s beautiful landscape.
At a Texas gas station, tinfoil hat truck driver Roy kicked open the convenience store door, shotgun aimed at the cashier.
“Quick! Give me all the anti-radiation beef jerky! The government finally activated the blue light plan! Doomsday is here!” Clearly, doomsday conspiracy theorists weren’t a minority.
The cashier rolled his eyes, continuing to scroll TikTok’s #NightSkyLight trend. In the video, a famous conspiracy theorist streamer on New York’s Times Square big screen screamed at the camera.
“This is Bill Gates’ 5G nanobots! They’ll control our shitting frequency via vaccine chips!” In the background, youths in “I’m an Alien and Proud” T-shirts played along.
“Definitely Musk’s Starlink new feature; he tweeted last week about ramping up military cooperation!” Silicon Valley tech elites swiftly held an emergency online meeting.
They didn’t seem much smarter.
Florida’s style was always unique. Police helicopter footage showed at least thirty old men in dinosaur inflatables spraying disinfectant from garden hoses at the sky.
“We’re on the ozone layer repair plan! If disinfectant kills viruses, it can fix the ozone layer… Oh, is ozone the same as our farts?”
The lead dinosaur man, education probably capped at America public elementary. Uneven education resources, all learning finance, showed its flaws now.
At the White House press conference, the spokesperson just said “this may be a natural astronomical phenomenon” when the room erupted. A Fox News reporter jumped up yelling the official was testing secret lethal weapons.
“Clearly Russia’s weather weapon!”
CNN reporter countered instantly; they nearly fought on the spot. Glossy people vied in political struggle while real scientists collapsed at NASA control center.
Many scholars observing the space anomaly and analyzing it were panicked, but calmed after seeing Twitter trends like #AliensDickLightingProject. Many silently straightened clothes, ready to perish with this fucked world.
Facing such a disaster.
Society’s reaction was bizarre; perhaps used to superheroes saving the world, some e-commerce platform even rushed to list “anti-alien peeping” curtains.
【Not me, but worth considering next time】 Even the open-source emperor, saint of rockets, cars, and industries, tweeted a quip.
Of course.
The one who posted was just this capitalist’s assistant; don’t waste internet heat. In reality, he had urgently hunkered in an underground doomsday bunker.
“This… this isn’t destruction, but more… grand than destruction.” Wonder Woman Diana abruptly looked up, Lasso of Truth unconsciously tightening.
Her truth-seeing eyes stung from the light. The Flash was eating a hot dog in Central City when an alarm choked him. He looked up, sausage dropping. Aquaman rose from his deep-sea throne, trident humming in hand. Seawater boiled around him, fish fleeing in panic.
Cyborg’s cybernetic eyes flashed wildly, system popping warning windows. Green Lantern Hal Jordan on Oa duty got Earth’s emergency alert from his ring.
“What’s the situation?” He constructed a giant telescope, heart nearly stopping seeing Earth engulfed in white light; Batman’s emergency comm cut into everyone’s earpieces.
“All who can fly, airborne now! This is not a request, it’s an order!”
No hesitation, heroes took to the skies. Even non-flyers used technology equipment, assembling above clouds, assuming defensive stances against the overwhelming light.
“Can we block it?” The Flash swallowed.
“Block or die trying!” Green Lantern gritted teeth, ring bursting brightest green light.
The instant the light descended.
Everyone closed their eyes. They all felt an overwhelming power, a sense of personal insignificance; raising hands only to block the oncoming light.
Almost every hero thought they were done for.
However.
The imagined horrific end didn’t come. They felt not destructive impact, but a strange warmth, like a mother’s embrace or newborn sunrise.
“This” Wonder Woman opened her eyes, her armor unscathed, “We’re okay?”
On Earth, people were equally confused. Street couples stopped arguing, gazing at the sky; hospital patients felt pain ease; even Gotham Crime Alley thugs dropped guns.
Mysteriously picking up a shopping bag for an old lady.
Only Batman’s surveillance footage showed the shocking truth—at the instant the white light touched the atmosphere, a transparent membrane quietly appeared.
It filtered all harmful radiation, leaving only energy symbolizing beauty and hope.
“Did someone intervene?”
Bruce wheeled out of the Batcave to Gotham streets. His pale face lit by the last light rays, long-unhealed old wounds suddenly painless.
In the sky, the mysterious membrane dissipated, quietly retreating after its task.
“Who?”
Batman’s voice was shocked.
“Who could do this?”
He felt both post-crisis relief and paranoid persecution complex flaring. No answer, just a pale little hand slowly lowering in an unseen alleyway.
“How did I do?”
A boy around ten turned back, red cape fluttering lightly.
“Very good, looks like you’ve absorbed the Spectre’s power well, but…” The Black Robe started to speak, but before finishing, a whoosh came from behind.
“I heard! I saw!”
In exaggerated exclamation, a black bald head flew straight at him. Black Robe only managed “Who are you!” before being smashed down by Joker using Archangel Amanadiel as a human cannonball.
“Don’t be scared~”
Joker bashed Black Robe with the angel’s head while reassuring the boy, “This is my mount, occasionally guest-starring as a weapon—trust me, you won’t find a more just weapon!”
He patted the bloody “weapon” affectionately.
The boy tilted his head at the blood-splattering scene, showing curiosity.
“Why do you kill?”
He asked calmly.
“Because—this is the best way to change your guardian! Skips worldly processes, yes kid, don’t give me that look, no choice, I declare, new guardian. From now on you’re my child, hmm, nice, kids I pick are definitely my flesh and blood—I actually know who you are, Clark Kent from another universe.”
“You’ll feel the fatherly love I squeezed from others for you, I assure.”
Joker, panting, set the “weapon’s” head down, covered in blood, while the Black Robe bashed by the angel was no longer humanoid.
The boy’s lashes didn’t even twitch. The bloody scent was like air to him.
“In the multiverse, there are many Clark Kents.” He said calmly, “I prefer the title those two Supermen who brought me here call me to train—Supreme Superman.”
The boy’s lips curved dangerously.
“Cool, right?”
He seemed pleased with the chuunibyou name; normal for ten-ish, younger than Ian, prime age for peak chuunibyou.
“I love that cocky vibe!”
Joker clapped laughing, “Right, you coming willingly, or should I ‘help’ you come?”
He was eager.
The self-proclaimed Supreme Superman boy raised a brow. If Ian were here, he’d recognize the origin: Supreme Superman from Source Earth, a parallel universe pre-“Crisis on Infinite Earths.” There, Superman, Batman, etc., were fictional comic heroes.
Only he was a real Kryptonian.
Also the fastest-growing Superman in the multiverse, gaining anti-monitor-level power quickly, with allegedly the most “OP” potential.
Obviously.
That so-called supreme council wanted to house the 【Spectre】 power in this underage Supreme Superman’s body—the true supreme power.
“You want to take me? Give me love? Frankly, you’re asking for trouble.” The boy eyed the corpse—not his guardian, but his jailer.
“I know way more than you, than Batman” Joker magicked out a sack, “I’ll be the ultimate Joker, even The Batman Who Laughs goes down the drain for me.”
The instant the sack covered, the boy didn’t resist.
“Every Joker is this confident.”
His muffled voice emerged.
“Oh? Really?” Joker shouldered the sack, dragging the angel he’d knocked out for days, “We’ll see, I don’t believe every Joker actively caught Ian Virus.”
Gotham streets miraculously empty; folks felt their good deeds odd, so they flocked to Arkham for meds. Joker hummed passing an office building, night wind lifting bloodstains from his coat hem, dark red flecks drifting to the 【museum】 glass curtain wall.
On the history museum’s stained glass, crimson blood droplets slowly slid. Moonlight through bloodstains cast web-like shadows on the Egypt exhibit floor.
The drifting blood droplet was about to drip from the sill.
Suddenly, it crawled upward defying gravity, like a living thing slipping through window frame gaps. One drop, two, three—moving in surveillance blind spots.
“What’s going on?”
“Why, why this anomaly.”
“It’s the influence of that mysterious light in the sky earlier!”
“God”
The White-haired Professor tremblingly touched the hot coffin lid.
“These Egyptian inscriptions are reorganizing!”
In the exhibit center, a glowing stone coffin buzzed from Superman’s light. Archaeologists circled it, instruments showing inner radiation spiking to critical.
“Incredible… The previous light altered its molecular structure!” A White-haired Professor trembled recording.
“No, it activated dormant energy!” The young assistant exclaimed. They didn’t notice the cosmic blood droplet had quietly fallen on the marble floor and started crawling.
Unnoticed.
The blood droplet crawled along the stone coffin relief into the coffin, as if drawn by unknown force—blood entered. Instantly, the sarcophagus exploded!
Wood shavings shot like blades, shattering all museum glass.
Blast wave flipped three scholars, gravel raining in slow-motion time. In the smoke, a shroud-wrapped skeleton slowly sat up.
Black energy surged from its hollow eye sockets.
The skeleton’s gaze swept the terrified crowd. It raised finger bones; a blood droplet crawled up its cervical vertebra—where it passed, withered muscle fibers writhed and regenerated like snakes.
Outside the museum’s glass dome, Gotham’s night sky thundered. Smoke cleared slowly; a mangled figure emerged from the broken coffin.
He slowly raised a hand, fingers splaying, feeling the long-lost air.
“In nightmares… trapped so long…” The blood-fleshed mysterious existence’s voice was low, hoarse, carrying millennial fatigue and fury.
“Now… I, Teth-Adam, am back.” He looked down at his newborn body—flesh visibly growing over skeleton, muscles bulging with explosive power. The black garb, like an extension of his will, rose slightly with breath.
“With the nightmare’s gift to me…”
Before finishing, he looked up sharply; all scholars in sight, regardless of age or distance, froze.
Their eyes instantly turned the same hue as the man’s, becoming puppets—the ancient monarch gazed out the window at the changed world, feeling alien.
However.
“I’ll paint it my desired color, as promised to the nightmare…” Black Adam hovered before the glass window, murmuring lowly at the streets outside.
As if conversing with some existence.
……
Earth’s crisis averted, but in the universe, the two Supermen still fought fiercely, picking up Ian whom they’d kneaded back together, dragging the comatose Injustice Superman.
He swallowed, watching the receding figures; Old Man and foe fought turning galaxies upside down, sun and moon dimmed—no chance or qualification for Ian to intervene.
“This isn’t fighting, this is erasing the Dao itself.” Ian watched the distant figures, the two Supermen locked in cosmic stalemate.
Normal enough; all idealist Supermen, rounded off as regular Supermen, so the battle being grand yet evenly matched made sense.
Starry sky wailed.
The glowing Supermen looked ready to fight to universe’s edge—but Ian guessed wrong; Darkseid pondering cosmic changes at his lair could attest.
Not to universe’s edge.
Because Darkseid looked up.
And saw the two figures crash his turf.
This moment.
The baffled Cosmic Overlord was truly willing to open universal bets on whether this was intentional.
