amaotonovel Chapter 4299 Body of Steel (4)
Chapter 4299 Body of Steel (4)
Chapter 4299 Body of Steel (Part 4)
When this squid-shaped alien spaceship appeared over the metropolis, armed forces around the world witnessed this astonishing scene via live broadcast. The "meteorite" that had appeared on aviation monitoring equipment turned out to be an alien spaceship.
The building was illuminated, people were jolted awake, and countless experts rushed into their offices. They thought this would be the most thrilling moment of their lives—extraterrestrial life had indeed visited Earth!
But then, something even more shocking happened: Superman appeared, punched the spaceship to pieces, and shattered everyone's illusions about a friendly third kind of contact.
Superman stood in the night wind, his cape fluttering. The night sky over Metropolis grew brighter, almost engulfing him in light. The shock and fear in the eyes of his fully armed kin on the sampans were indistinguishable from those of humans.
This made him finally realize that the one who could change everything was not the Kryptonians, but him, Clark Kent.
The noise of the helicopter rotors rose, and the sirens grew increasingly piercing, but Clark's thoughts began to drift. He recalled what had happened a few months ago.
A man in a plaid shirt came downstairs with a cup of coffee and raised his hand to greet his colleague. The colleague, however, stopped him and said, "Mr. Kent, there's a letter for you."
"My letter? Is it a bill? Why wasn't it sent to my apartment?"
"I'm not sure. Maybe it's a fan submission. Here you go."
Clark took the letter from him, put his coffee cup aside, and tore open the envelope. What he saw was not ordinary letter paper, but an invitation emitting a faint light, which read "Invitation to the Battle Realm".
The sunset outside the apartment's floor-to-ceiling windows resembled a painting gradually dissolving. Clark's handsome profile seemed to blend into the painting. He sat on the sofa, repeatedly examining the mysterious invitation. And just as the thought, "Perhaps I should go and take a look," crossed his mind, he found himself in a white space.
"Oh, another new person has arrived. Should you go or I go?"
"I'll go. After all, I'm the Superman of the 'Main Universe,' and it's my turn to welcome the newcomer."
The white light gradually faded. Clark looked up and saw a man who looked somewhat like him, wearing a bodysuit in the same color scheme but with a slightly different style, standing before him.
"Hello, welcome to the Battle Realm. I am Superman, but from another universe. I know you're confused, but that's okay. Come over here, and I'll explain things to you slowly."
Clark was led along by him in a daze, his mind being bombarded with some seemingly reasonable but actually absurd knowledge.
Multiverse, same entity, battle realm...
Clark asked him many questions, which he answered one by one. Despite his detailed answers, it still took Clark a long time to process them all. The other person also asked him some questions, and finally, he had an expression of sudden realization.
"It seems you're still quite young, haven't met Batman yet, and haven't joined the Justice League. But be careful, the enemy won't wait for you for long."
"enemy?"
"Yes, you haven't encountered any enemies?"
Clark opened his mouth, but for a moment he didn't know what to say. Were the classmates who mocked him as a child enemies? Were the colleagues who ostracized him as an adult enemies? Were the people who discovered his extraordinary abilities and wanted to expose him enemies? He didn't know.
“Listen, young man. Your enemies have never been human. To be precise, most of the powerful adversaries who could pose a threat to you come from beyond Earth. For example, General Zod, have you ever met him?”
Clark shook his head; he had never seen or even heard of Zod. The Superman from the main universe briefly explained General Zod's origins to him, saying, "Why Zod came to Earth varies slightly from universe to universe. But what they all have in common is that he wants to destroy Earth. If you're not the kind of evil Superman, he'll definitely be your enemy."
"Of course, you have many more enemies than just this one. After you join the Justice League, you will also... Oh, wait, you haven't even met Batman yet."
“Batman?” Clark asked, but after a pause, he said, “I think I’ve heard of him, the masked man from the next city.”
“That’s right.” The Superman from the main universe smiled and said, “He should be here too. I’ll ask the others to see if we can get in touch with him. Maybe you can get to know each other beforehand to facilitate future cooperation.”
Clark neither agreed nor disagreed. He didn't even know what his and Batman's roles were, why he needed to know him, or why they would later cooperate. It was all a mystery.
But he soon realized he wouldn't like this guy. They made a very bad first impression on each other, and their first meeting ended badly.
“Oh, don’t do that, Clark.” Back at Superman’s base, another Superman put his arm around his shoulder and said, “You should try to accept him and get to know him better. At least give him another chance.”
“I don’t understand,” Clark said, looking at him. “Why should I get to know him? I believe people should have the right to choose their friends. We’re not suited to be friends.”
Superman looked shocked. After gesturing for a moment, he said, "But you...you probably...I mean...God, don't you think he's amazing? Very attractive?"
“I’m not gay.” Clark left.
A day later, when he and Bruce Wayne were standing in the same queue area for the same instance, Clark decided to bring up a topic that would make them less awkward.
“They said you were amazing.”
"Who?"
"Other Supermen".
"That's not about me."
"They say all Batmen are awesome."
"You came to see me just to see what it's like?"
Clark turned his head back, took a breath, and said, "They say we'll end up together. I don't think so."
"I am not gay."
“That’s not what I meant. They think we’ll become allies fighting side by side, and that we’ll form an organization called the Justice League to deal with cosmic-level crises.”
"What do you think?"
"I don't think you're a good teammate for now, nor do I see any need for us to cooperate. But I think we can give each other a chance, right?"
“You try so hard to appear open and inclusive, but you know you aren’t. You just need a reason to sentence me and some organization that might emerge in the future to death. If that’s what you want, then go ahead.”
Clark glared at him.
Then, the entire experience felt like a dream. Seeing the villains get their comeuppance left him with a lingering resentment that had been building up inside him. Even during his long conversation with Batman, he still harbored that anger, even viewing his own words as cowardly. He wanted to do it, he could do it, he was capable of doing it. Why not?
A flash of white light streaked past, and Clark instinctively looked in that direction. The searchlight from the helicopter shone directly into his eyes. In the pilot's vision, those deep blue eyes were almost devoid of color. Coupled with his slightly angry, icy expression, his voice trembled involuntarily as he shouted.
"No...no...I mean, put down your weapons, don't resist...uh..."
A rich red glow erupted in the light. The heat rays sheared off the helicopter's rotor. In the instant the helicopter plummeted, a figure swept past below, and then the helicopter was brought to a smooth landing on the rooftop of a nearby building.
Clark didn't take off again. Instead, he stood on the edge of the rooftop, watching the helicopters that had been gathering there recede like a tide. The sound of the propellers gradually faded, and the piercing sirens stopped abruptly.
The sense of control that came with this power did not make him feel any better; instead, his anger burned even brighter and more intensely. The red light of the air raid siren swept over him again and again, sometimes a glacial blue, sometimes a deep, earth-like red.
Clark soared into the sky, grabbing the last shrapnel of the spaceship and climbing upwards. His kin fell one after another, screaming and cursing, but he still managed to carry them out of the atmosphere.
Standing atop this blue planet, Clark's gaze swept across the area. Sure enough, he spotted an even larger spaceship in near-Earth orbit.
He flew over carrying the wreckage, lifted it up, and slammed it onto the spaceship. A sharp, mournful screech erupted from one of the engines. As his figure slowly landed before the enormous floor-to-ceiling window, everyone inside saw his lips move:
"Leave Earth, or die."
With a "whoosh," his figure disappeared.
When he reappeared over the metropolis, ground forces were already assembled. Police cars blocked all the nearby streets, and fighter jets began circling overhead.
Clark landed on the ground. He exhaled softly, closed his eyes, and raised his hands towards the dark muzzle of the gun.
Just diagonally above him, Lex Luthor, who was witnessing this scene from the floor-to-ceiling window, clenched his fists tightly, veins bulging on the back of his hands, and his whole body was trembling.
As Clark boarded the prison van, he keenly sensed a gaze upon his back. He glanced back; in the direction of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a woman stood in the shadows, watching him depart.
Diana sighed deeply. One really shouldn't steal at night, or they'll be punished. Who could have imagined that she'd stumbled upon such a spectacle right after returning from Luther Manor?
Superman, the superhero who had only been in Metropolis for a short time but had already risen to fame, displayed such immense power to the public for the first time. Diana, being an immortal being, understood that this was not the end, but only the beginning—the beginning of a long and arduous catastrophe.
She thought of the missing snake tail again. A gut feeling told her that the two things might be connected. However, while she could use her abilities to sneak into Luther Manor at night, she couldn't actually storm into the US military base and witness them interrogating Superman.
Diana looked up and saw the Luther Tower standing tall in the night. This modernist building seemed to have no end, its top completely hidden in the night fog, appearing not so much as if it were standing, but rather hanging upside down.
The wind howled between the cold buildings, and the asphalt roads resembled a dark, Styx. People and vehicles emerged from another world, disappearing into the mist under the moonlight. In the absolute darkness before dawn, the world seemed to have died once and then been resurrected in the sunlight.
Standing in the Batcave, Bruce Wayne met Clark's gaze in that final glance as he turned back. He knew Clark was watching him, because he could see and hear the location of the cameras he had set up.
This reminded him of the blue eyes that looked at him when death was approaching, which contained not pain and guilt, but a chilling anger.
(End of this chapter)