Chapter 251: Batman! I Am The God Of Speed!
To be honest.
Ian was somewhat surprised by the system’s sudden prompt.
He was well aware of how difficult it was to awaken a new profession in the DC Universe. All the professions he had already awakened were either related to the Outer Universe or the Marvel Universe.
He really had none that were tainted with the native aura of the DC Universe. For this reason, he had once thought that the powers and laws of the DC Universe might not provide him with any professions.
Who would have thought that this time, after finally overcoming his reluctance, he bravely ventured alone into the Speed Force for the sake of his two older brothers and one unimportant cousin, determined to seek justice, and it turned out to be a case of good deeds being rewarded. The Speed Force brought him a brand new profession.
Paradox Knight!
Although the name of this profession didn’t sound domineering enough, the profession description was still very imposing. Perhaps it was the kind of profession that was more restrained and not ostentatious.
It fit very well with the temperament of professions that could be awakened in the DC Universe.
The actual meaning it represented.
Was no weaker than other ultimate professions. It fused the ultimate kinetic energy of the Speed Force with the profound laws of 【Flashpoint】 Paradox, making it both the embodiment of speed and the rift in logic.
【Paradox Knight: You are the Eternal Arbiter who wields the scales of spacetime, the guardian who forges eternal oaths amid time paradoxes, and the battlefield meat grinder that manipulates Paradox Energy to create logic collapse battlefields, crushing conventional forces with 「causality pollution」. You are the Knight of the End that all things dread seeing approach.
All beings drift with the torrent of time, but only the Paradox Knight can rise above the timeline, using divine power as the brush and paradox as the ink to freely add and delete on the scroll of history—your will can birth a millennium civilization in an instant or annihilate an eternal divine kingdom in a flash.
As a Paradox Knight, you will control the 「revision rights of timelines」 and the 「exemption rights from causality」, becoming the sole 「exceptional existence」 unbound by rules in the river of spacetime—while all things in the world follow the eternal iron law of 「cause begets effect, effect has cause」, the Paradox Knight is the god-slaying blade that severs the chains of logic.
Built on the cornerstone of 「impossibility」, feeding on 「contradiction」, birthing 「absolutely unattainable victory」 from 「absolutely unreachable fate」. 】
Anyway, it was still that mystical description that gave an inexplicable sense of awe upon reading it. Ian didn’t know if awakening the new profession was because his system was giving him special treatment, or if the DC Universe truly had powers that could awaken new professions for him. Perhaps it was related to the Speed Force being an entity of pillar-level power?
Ian pondered thoughtfully.
Besides that.
There was also the possibility that the Speed Force had unknowingly been tainted by the Outer Universe, thus acquiring an Outer Universe aura that allowed him to awaken a new profession.
However, Ian didn’t plan to think deeply about it here. The reason was unknown, but the newly obtained profession was real and required his inspection.
“I wonder how hard it is to awaken this profession?”
Ian curiously “looked” at the profession system interface that appeared in his consciousness.
The profession icon for 【Paradox Knight】 was a Chaos Lightning that constantly twisted around itself, forming a Möbius strip shape, emanating alluring yet dangerous light.
The job transfer mission description below was concise yet eerie.
【Job Transfer Mission: Mission: On the timeline, fool once, achieve one paradox.】
As the saying goes, the fewer the words, the more refined and troublesome the matter. This seemingly simple job transfer mission was likely the complex kind that could drag on for a long time without completion.
“Hmm? What does that mean?” Ian tilted his currently enormous head, unable to fully comprehend the specific requirements of the mission for the moment.
Fool whom?
Fool Time?
Or fool a specific person or event? Achieve paradox… does that mean creating a logical dead loop, or accomplishing some inversion at the causal level?
Despite feeling a bit confused about this mission.
Ian could clearly sense that although this 【Paradox Knight】 profession had not yet been formally awakened, that was just a matter between him and the mysterious system within his body. On the DC Universe side, the Speed Force… had already become like an extension of his body, controllable like an arm.
An unprecedented feeling of controlling the flow of time surged into his heart.
He didn’t need to run like Barry to connect to the Speed Force, nor steal power like Reverse-Flash. He was one of the masters of this dimension.
“I am the God of Speed!”
Out and about.
The vest was one he created himself.
The Savitar Armor he pulled out wasn’t used, but it didn’t stop Ian from directly completing a account takeover. Since Savitar didn’t step up to refute, it proved Ian was the legitimate version.
With the surging of the Speed Force.
His enormous figure began to fade and blur within the vast Speed Force. The next moment, he charged directly into the passage leading to the past and future.
That was the timeline torrent like a raging river.
“Run, youth! Run! I am Super Runner!” Giving himself a pep talk like this was not awkward for Ian at all; instead, it made him seem somewhat serious.
Unlike other speedsters.
Ian’s legs moving or not had no effect at all. He swiftly used his legs just to satisfy the sense of ritual; in reality, he didn’t need to truly run along the time flow.
The treatment of a master differs from that of a user.
Ian only needed to stroll to walk upon time. Wherever he passed, time ripples spread, and fragments of history made way.
The massive projection belonging to the “Temporal Lord” that loomed over countless timelines silently declared the birth and manifestation of a new entity of pillar-level power.
The time master who ascended to godhood in an extremely overbearing manner.
Had already been born.
And what he brought—order, or deeper chaos—perhaps no one could give an answer. But the commotion resounding throughout the entire timeline might already be some kind of omen.
“Run, youth! Run! I am Super Runner!”
Perhaps not yet adapted to being an entity of pillar-level power, Ian actually hadn’t realized that his voice wasn’t just audible to himself or some other person.
It directly echoed throughout the entire timeline, piercing through the past, present, and future.
Yes, Ian—or rather, the Ian who had just preliminarily mastered the Speed Force and possessed the 【Temporal Lord】 mythological form— was far from adapted to his identity as an entity of pillar-level power in the universe.
He was just looking at the ceaselessly surging river of time below his feet, feeling an itch in his mouth, and while frolicking and running on it, he couldn’t help but chirp a few lines of The Flash’s catchphrase for fun.
Who would have thought.
This would have more “audience” than a global live stream.
His original intent was perhaps just mumbling to himself, or at most saying it to the “river” below his feet.
However, he forgot.
Or rather, he hadn’t realized at all.
His current existence.
Was inherently in a state deeply bound to the entire time dimension. His voice was no longer simple sound wave vibration, but a decree synchronously transmitted by his own 【dharma form】!
Thus, this chuunibyou-filled phrase brimming with inexplicable encouragement exploded like a nuke dropped into a calm lake, instantly resounding through the entire timeline in a way that transcended causality!
Its sense of incongruity was indescribable in words.
“????”
It could stun even the dinosaurs of ancient times, who looked up at Ian’s dharma form in shock. Despite having more brain cells than elephants, they still couldn’t escape the fate of being dumbfounded.
“What is that?”
“Looks like food.”
“We’re more like food.”
This was the dinosaurs’ conversation. Historians are all small-town fantasy writers; what do they know about dinosaurs? Anyway, in this universe’s timeline, dinosaurs could talk.
And their own civilization.
Was no different from later humans.
Victorian era London.
Humans’ courage was clearly not as great as the dinosaurs’.
In the sky, that massive “dharma form” composed of cosmic nebulae and raging lightning, emanating endless majesty and indifference, suddenly opened its indistinct “mouth” seemingly formed from galactic vortices and emitted a crystal-clear voice with the unique tone of a youth.
“Run, youth! Run!”
The populace, just about to kneel and pray, instantly froze, their half-drawn crosses suspended in midair.
“Y-Youth?” A man who had been shouting “demon” moments ago had his expression frozen on his face, filled with absurdity, his brain feeling utterly insufficient.
That was normal.
Even dinosaurs with more brains than him couldn’t handle it.
“Wh-Who’s it encouraging to run?” Another woman looked around in bewilderment, unable to comprehend why this terrifying existence would emit such a down-to-earth voice.
In English, no less.
The atmosphere of panic was temporarily replaced by ultimate astonishment and confusion. It felt like at a solemn coronation ceremony, the king suddenly grabbing a microphone and shouting, “Friends over there, raise your glow sticks so I can see them!”—full of subversive absurdity and unbelievable oddity.
Of course.
For certain groups, this era’s London was already absurd and bizarre. The figure in the sky having such a whim actually fit the era’s background quite well.
“Sh-Sherlock Holmes! Did you hear that? That… that ‘god’ is speaking! It says… run?” In 221B Baker Street, Doctor Watson’s medical kit clattered to the floor. He gaped, his mouth big enough to fit an egg or something else.
And Sherlock Holmes standing by the window.
Had his pipe trembling slightly in his hand.
“Youth…” The usual calm and confidence from deduction on his face completely shattered, replaced by a shock from having his cognition utterly overturned.
God knows how much this great detective had deduced from this information alone, and what traces this event would leave that could influence the future.
Modern world.
Justice League headquarters.
The heroes on high alert also heard the voice resounding in their minds.
“This voice…” Cyborg tried to analyze the sound wave frequency but found the data in chaos. He really wasn’t good at using the technology equipment left by Batman.
“I can’t parse the source…”
Cyborg sighed.
“Youth?” Wonder Woman Diana frowned tightly, her bulky body tensing with vigilance. “Which youth? What does it want?”
Aquaman Arthur looked at his glowing scaly arm, then at the sky: “I feel like… this tone is a bit familiar… It must be Ian who has become a speedster.”
An ominous premonition rose in his heart.
And in an apartment in Metropolis, Supergirl Kara Danvers, who had just discovered due to timeline changes that her uniform had turned into a rebellious crop top and ripped jeans with streaked dyed hair, was staring at the mirror doubting her life. Suddenly, Ian’s voice resounding through the timeline exploded directly in her mind.
“Run, youth! Run!”
Kara froze abruptly. This voice… too familiar! Wasn’t it that Ian Kent who, even now, messaged her every day asking if she was interested in joining the new Justice League as a legendary divine beast! Her cousin Clark Kent’s son, her little nephew who longed to ride on her back again!
“Ian?!!”
Kara looked shocked at the terrifying massive projection in the sky outside the window, then down at her “delinquent girl” outfit. An absurd yet seemingly the only reasonable guess emerged.
“Could it be… that thing in the sky… is Ian’s doing?! He… he turned into that thing?! And my clothes… also because of him?!”
“Clark must be crazy! Letting that little madman mess with these things… Oh, maybe Ian kidnapped The Flash and turned The Flash into a time-traveling war chariot!?”
She felt her Kryptonian brain was about to overload and burn out.
Near-Earth orbit.
The lonely Superman sneezed because of Supergirl’s muttering. Actually, Superman Clark, who was desperately flying in reverse trying to drag Earth, was the one hit the hardest.
The Kryptonian Gene in his body was already in an extremely unstable chaotic state due to the drastic timeline changes.
The Codex of Life seemed activated.
Countless unfamiliar power sensations bred and clashed within his body, causing him immense pain.
Just as he was fully concentrating to resist the spacetime torsion, Ian’s all-too-familiar voice rang like a great bell directly in the depths of his soul.
Who could withstand this!
“Ian——!!!”
Clark’s mind shook violently, his flight path instantly disordered. The massive energy gathered around him nearly went out of control! The genetic chaos in his body exploded to the extreme at this moment, as if countless voices screamed within his cells, power surging like a wild horse yet completely uncontrollable!
“What the hell did they do in the past!” Clark let out a roar of pain and fury. He was almost certain the anomaly in the sky and this voice resounding through the world were absolutely related to Ian! His little son had become that massive figure enveloping the entire universe?!
This moment of distraction.
The already extremely reluctant reverse flight could no longer be maintained.
The spacetime torsion applied to Earth suddenly weakened. He felt not only had he failed to reverse time, but it was like crashing into an ever-thickening spacetime barrier!
“Urgh—!”
Intense backlash hit, Clark spat a mouthful of golden blood, his whole body flung away like a meteor, tumbling in space as rolling Superman.
Of course.
This didn’t affect him still growing stronger.
His injuries recovered almost instantly.
Not only that.
He was continuously drawing terrifying power from his past self.
That Codex of Life had been activated.
It was originally because certain events in the past triggered its activation. Now, the power Superman was receiving was its gift from the past concentrated fire up to this present moment.
【Past Spacetime – Batcave.】
The young Bruce Wayne was also panicking.
He had just activated that machine using a Speed Force sample to spy on the future, trying to figure out the truth about those three youths claiming to be from the future and his “son.”
However, the instant the machine operated, everything deviated completely from his expectations.
Things slid into a weirdness Batman had never anticipated. A vast, chaotic torrent of time information far beyond his comprehension and endurance surged into his consciousness like a breached flood!
“Urgh!”
Bruce only managed a muffled grunt. His sharp blue eyes, like the most precise detectors, endured an overload information bombardment in a billionth of a second.
And directly beheld Ian’s dharma form standing on the timeline.
The next moment, the unbearable price descended upon Batman. With a muffled grunt, the crystals and vessels in his eyeballs shattered like glass thrown into a steel furnace.
Instantly covered in cracks.
And then—
“Pfft!”
A faint bursting sound rang out, intense pain assaulted him, and his world plunged into complete, despairing darkness. His eyeballs evaporated like cracked lava burning.
Completely scrapped.
“Damn it! What was that!” As expected of Batman—even suffering such severe damage, he swallowed his cry of pain, his clenched teeth nearly cracking.
Rolling on the floor?
That wasn’t Batman’s style.
Relying on his astonishing willpower and familiarity with every inch of the Batcave, he endured the heart-piercing pain and panic of blindness, fumbling chaotically to his feet from the ground.
‘Machine! Must stop the machine!’ His brain raced. Compared to his blinded eyes, that still-frantically operating machine drawing unstable Speed Force was the greater threat!
God knows what disaster it would cause if it kept running!
Just a fleeting glimpse.
And Batman knew he had probed something he shouldn’t have.
Relying on memory and touch, he staggered toward the main console, hands frantically yet firmly groping the cold instrument surface, finally finding the emergency physical power cutoff switch.
Then.
“Bang!”
Batman slammed it down with all his strength!
“Click!”
The machine’s main power was cut, the operating hum gradually fading.
However, Bruce’s heart sank. Because he could “feel”—not with his eyes, but with his battle-hardened instinct for danger.
Though the machine stopped, the sealed Speed Force within not only didn’t calm but surged even more frantically, as if enraged!
These Speed Forces even began to gather on their own!
“No! This won’t do!”
The blind Batman cursed lowly. He fumbled a custom walkie-talkie from his belt, pressed the comm key, his voice hoarse from pain and urgency.
“Alfred! I’ve caused big trouble! Quickly contact that damn Super…” Batman seemed completely unaware that he had just beaten and schemed against Superman.
Mainly, his first reaction now was that the only hero who could contend with that glimpsed existence was the Superman he originally saw as an alien tumor.
Perhaps.
Superman’s existence.
Wasn’t just a super threat to Earth?
For messes like this, he could only hope for Superman.
“To think I’d have to call that guy to clean up my mess… Heh, I want to spit on myself.”
Because his company was destroyed and he witnessed countless people die before him, the Batman full of hatred for Superman actually had his mindset changed in this situation.
“Yes, tell Superman he can lock me up as a dangerous element, but…”
Batman held the walkie-talkie.
He hadn’t finished speaking.
“Buzz!!!”
A powerful energy fluctuation erupted in the Batcave center! The gathered Speed Force suddenly collapsed and stretched, forming a dazzling golden energy door spinning with blinding light!
Immediately after.
A figure with an extremely bizarre appearance stepped out from the door. His body was covered in ornate armor woven from Speed Force, flowing with gray-white and golden electric arcs. Tall in stature, even more shocking were the three heads growing from his shoulders and the six arms of pure energy extending behind him!
It was the 【three heads and six arms】 version of the Time King Armor that Ian had just tinkered with. Since running with it felt uncoordinated, he abandoned the eight legs idea.
“Damn it! What are you!” Though visionless, Bruce’s superhuman perception still made him clearly aware that some terrifying existence had emerged.
Moreover, that figure emanating terrifying energy fluctuations and speedster traits had appeared directly in front of him like teleportation.
His whole body tensed, entering maximum alert state.
“Eh, the first one I run into is you… Whatever, Uncle Bruce… You’re doomed! I am the God of Speed!! I am the future you cannot defeat!”
Ian deliberately pinched his voice, imitating the low, majestic, slightly evil tone of Savitar from his memory, trying to create an aura of ancient power.
Plagiarism.
He was serious.
“God of Speed?”
Alarms blared in Bruce’s mind, instantly linking to countless possibilities. Of course, the only thing he was certain of was that he had indeed provoked a terrifying trouble.
Due to carelessness, he had released an ancient and powerful existence.
This was undoubtedly a huge crisis… Just as Bruce’s mind raced with countermeasures, even starting to draft last words, only wanting to stall for Superman’s arrival.
That “God of Speed” suddenly changed tack. The three heads simultaneously spoke in different tones, with a deliberate, low, and “gentle” intonation.
“Alright, back to business, young Bruce Wayne… Thank you for releasing me from eternal imprisonment. Now, I shall repay you.”
“I’m good at repaying kindness, so tell me—because you gazed upon my unspeakable ancient god form, which exploded: these golden eyeballs or these silver ones?”
Ian held up a pair of pure gold eyeballs in one hand and a pair of pure silver eyeballs in the other. Too bad Batman was blind and couldn’t see how cool he looked.
His current operation was mainly because he discovered Batman had gone blind. To avoid Batman becoming a knockoff Daredevil, he had to think of a solution on the fly.
“No worries, speak boldly. I have mercury liquid eyeballs too, lots of hot-swappable styles here, plug-and-play eyeballs for you.”
“Oh, right.” The third head suddenly added in a salesman’s enthusiastic tone, “How about Cthulhu-style big eyeballs?”
“Can plug right into the back of your head. It’s trendy now, 360-degree field of view no blind spots! Comes with inverted imaging and active radar functions.”
The God of Speed’s eager voice, full of anticipation, echoed in the empty Batcave. Every word was English, but strung together, the young Batman couldn’t understand a thing.
“????”
Even middle-aged Batman couldn’t handle Ian, let alone expect the young Batman to figure it out. Bruce Wayne, the Dark Knight, Gotham’s guardian—at this moment, though his vision was pitch black, his mind was crystal clear. Cold sweat instantly soaked the lining inside his battle suit.
His spine chilled.
“This is truly doomed…”
Releasing an ancient existence wasn’t scary.
At worst, this ancient mysterious being would plot some grand ambition, like self-damaging world destruction or single-mindedly wanting to become emperor of the universe.
But.
The current situation, Batman had judged, was completely different from those traditional scenarios. An ancient existence wasn’t scary, but if that ancient existence was a madman.
Then the problem was very serious!
Extremely, extremely serious!
This meant the opponent’s behavior would be completely unpredictable, defying normal logic, with destructive power and danger exponentially increasing!
“Damn… what did I release…” For the first time, Batman felt things might have spiraled utterly out of control to a height even his wildest nightmares couldn’t reach.
“Actually, if you say thank you, buy one get eight hundred free isn’t impossible. Even leather swallow eye sockets can take eyeballs. I’m just that generous as an ancient god.”
Ian was still enthusiastically selling.
Mainly, he also knew.
Batman’s situation was due to timeline changes, so to not affect the future, he really needed to restore Batman’s eyesight.
No matter what form of light.
As the saying goes.
Time will automatically smooth out those minor fluctuation deviations.
