amaotonovel Chapter 4003 MU Superbody Major Event (83)
Chapter 4003 MU Superbody Major Event (83)
Chapter 4003 MU: The Superbody Incident (Chapter 83)
After hanging up the phone, Strange sighed. He had certainly considered this plan, but the problem was that when Batman called, he wouldn't care which Doctor Strange you were. If he chose to stay, he would inevitably get beaten up.
Of course, he could go all out, but that would not only waste energy but also make it difficult to change Doctor Strange's mind. While they might acknowledge his strength, Doctor Strange doesn't possess any inclination to unconditionally submit to the strong; he'll remain stubborn. Therefore, Strange is caught in a dilemma: to intervene or not to intervene.
He sighed and decided to just coast along for now, doing a passable job, so that he could ensure his own safety and teach the others a lesson.
Unbeknownst to him, chaos erupted at the central command headquarters. All the other superheroes had reported to the Asgardian frontline base, and Jarvis, after compiling the report list, discovered that not only were all Doctor Strange missing, but two teams of the Guardians of the Galaxy were gone, three Spider-Man members were missing, and even Venom and Eddie from their own universe were nowhere to be found.
When Jarvis reported the results to central command, the generals were shocked. This was equivalent to two brigades or three battalions of communications personnel disappearing completely, along with their equipment, during ground operations, and war correspondents sent down from above vanishing altogether.
The generals were furious and cursing, but at the same time they were amazed that these people were born at such a good time. If it were during World War II, they would have been shot by them.
But there's not much that can be done. The superheroes in the central universe are relatively easy to manage, but the superheroes in other universes are characterized by disorganization and lack of discipline; it's impossible to make them behave like an army with strict discipline.
"Don't go looking for them!" a general declared. "They might not have been captured; they've probably just gotten lost in space, or maybe they've been caught up in something new and exciting. Unless Batman reports any prisoners, we won't move!"
“That’s what I think too,” Professor X said. “It’s highly unlikely that the Guardians of the Galaxy would be captured silently, and even if the Spider-Men were captured, they definitely wouldn’t be killed. At most, there would be a hostage exchange later. As for Eddie, with Venom around, he should be fine. He’s probably just gone to the other side to take pictures. If we waste resources to rescue them now, it could easily trigger a chain reaction, so let’s forget about it.”
"Where are the mages?" another general slammed his fist on the table and shouted. "All the main force has retreated to the base, where are they? They must be three hours late!"
"They're even less likely to be captured. Could they have deserted in the face of battle?" a general said in surprise. "But this is a battle between two great worlds. They wouldn't possibly defect to the enemy!"
"I think they're just disobeying orders on the battlefield!" another hot-tempered general roared. "These guys are completely lawless! Do they think we can't fight without them?! Immediately move the Ocean-class frigates and Continent-class destroyers to the second-tier front!"
“Wait a moment, I’m making an inquiry,” Professor X said. “The Sorcerer Supreme has replied that the mages are currently not far from the abandoned outpost and seem unwilling to go to the Asgardian base.”
"Unwilling?" The group exchanged bewildered glances. But their confusion wasn't about why they were unwilling; rather, it was that "unwilling" was an option on the battlefield.
Professor X carefully considered his words before saying, "The situation is different in every universe. In some universes, Asgards discriminate against humans severely, and certain gods have caused them a lot of trouble. They also feel that Asgards and humans cannot cooperate, so they did not retreat with the main force but stayed in the direction of the outpost."
"But wouldn't that ruin our plan to divert enemy fire?" a general said, quite troubled. "Weren't we told them the plan before the battle started? Why didn't they raise their objections then?!"
“At that time, they were fighting for leadership within the team,” Professor X said with some helplessness. “They didn’t even remember about this until the main force had already withdrawn.”
“Completely lacking in war etiquette! Completely lacking in combat etiquette! They’re just a bunch of…” A general clenched his fist, but still couldn’t bring himself to utter the most vulgar word. After a long pause, he slammed his fist on the table and said, “Then let them stay there. Fine, let them be the bait, make some noise, lure the fleet away, and then we’ll use the Asgardians to launch a counter-encirclement.”
Professor X had no choice but to relay the message truthfully. Strange also sighed inwardly: Fortunately, this tactic is inherently quite flexible and can be switched at will.
The original plan was to use human outposts as forward bases to lure the enemy to send troops in that direction, and then build very thick defensive lines there so that the enemy could not break through for a while.
At this point, make a grand move to the Asgardian base, letting the enemy understand that the human outpost has been abandoned and that continuing to attack the defense line is pointless, and then send troops to the vicinity of the Asgardian base.
Because the completed Asgard base is mobile, once the enemy deploys troops near the Asgard base, the Asgard base can move back to the human outpost and continue using the previously unbroken defensive line.
As for the point of running around like this, it's simply because they've exploited the opponent's weakness of not being able to outlast them. Even with Apokolips as a source of energy for most of their equipment and spaceships, this energy isn't universal. For example, Apokolips' energy can't be converted into the energy of the emotional spectrum, so the Green Lanterns' energy is still limited. Even if Batman carries a lot, he still has to use it sparingly.
Batman had already used up some energy by moving the Green Lantern Fleet to the defensive line near the human outposts. Moving them to the Asgard base would consume even more energy, and if the Asgard base were to be destroyed, moving them back would still consume energy. This back-and-forth was pointless and a complete waste of energy.
Therefore, when Batman chose to send the Green Lantern Fleet to test the waters instead of activating the Apokolips fleet, the plan was already in place.
However, the fact that the mages didn't retreat from the command center was unexpected. In that case, the Green Lantern Fleet might not necessarily follow them. They might stay and try their luck, hoping to wipe out the mages completely. Even if they couldn't wipe them out, they could still injure some of them, since the mages are significantly more important than the Green Lanterns.
If the opponent chooses to stay and fight the mage, then a war of attrition becomes impossible, and the mages may even suffer losses, which is the worst possible outcome.
Fortunately, the Asgardian base is a safe haven. If the mages can hold off the Green Lantern fleet, they can launch a counter-encirclement.
Thinking of this, Strange patiently said, "Since you're not leaving, then we'll fight them here. They must have already received news of the outpost's withdrawal. As long as we make some noise here, they'll definitely come to investigate."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Doctor Strange from the main universe said, waving his cloak. "Without those God-like brutes, we can do even better."
In the command center on Apokolips, the main universe's Batman frowned as he looked at the intelligence report. He glanced at the main universe's Flash and said, "Are you sure? There's a base about six light-years away, and everyone's evacuated there?"
The Flash from the main universe nodded and said, "I saw it with my own eyes, and the style of that base is completely different from that of humans. It must have been built by the gods over there. They have a lot of spaceships and they look very powerful."
The Batman from the main universe quickly understood what the other party was planning. The Superman from the main universe looked at him and said, "Should we continue to deploy troops?"
“I’m afraid we have no choice but to do this,” the main universe Batman sighed softly. He knew, of course, that the enemy was trying to wear them down, but if they didn’t follow up now, they would become even more passive, and the Green Lantern Fleet could be counterattacked at any moment by the superheroes who had regrouped at their new base in Marvel.
In that case, it would have been better to send the Apokolips fleet in the first place, but in reality, there was no other choice. Apokolips consisted of Darkseid and a few generals, as well as a large Parademon army. While there were enough Parademon in number, their quality was extremely poor. They might not even be able to break through a mass-produced defensive line. No matter how many were sent, they would only be cannon fodder and could not serve as the vanguard to break through the enemy lines.
The current dilemma facing DC is that, since they are playing away from home, they are lacking in many aspects. Therefore, they must fight well in every game and achieve results, and they cannot afford any meaningless attrition, otherwise they will definitely not be able to win.
In this situation, all deployed troops must possess the power to decide the outcome, rather than simply stalling for time. Apokolips' troops are better suited to expanding their gains after achieving initial success, such as overwhelming isolated enemies with sheer numbers to prevent injuries to their heroes, or conducting a more thorough cleanup of destroyed outposts to prevent the enemy from returning.
With this in mind, the main universe Batman made up his mind not to activate the Apokolips fleet, but instead to continue to send the Green Lantern fleet there.
“HAL,” he said into the communicator, “lead the Green Lantern Fleet to the new coordinates. Once there, hold your positions and observe first.”
“Wait, Batman,” Hal’s voice seemed to be interrupted as he said, “we’ve found a group of sorcerers.”
"what?!"
“We’ve found a group of sorcerers,” Hal repeated. “Their codename is Doctor Strange. It seems they’re all gathered here, doing something I don’t know. I’ve had them surrounded.”
The main universe Batman almost immediately realized that it was an accident that the sorcerers stayed behind instead of evacuating, because he had communicated with Strange in the central universe and knew what kind of person he was. Therefore, he deduced that Doctor Strange and his team might have had a conflict with the command center and therefore did not follow the evacuation order and stayed behind.
“Great opportunity,” said the main universe Batman. “Surround them, fight them slowly, and we’ll stage a siege and ambush.”
After the communication was disconnected, the main universe Batman immediately began making arrangements.
"Superman."
"exist."
"You immediately lead a 10-man squad skilled in combat to the west of the outpost. Shazam, you lead a 15-man squad to the north of the outpost. Wonder Woman and Flash, each send 5 men to the south. Ron, you lead a 10-man squad to wait near the enemy's mechanical defenses."
"Okay," everyone responded in unison. The main universe Batman said, "They're unlikely to come from the defensive line, because the mines there haven't been cleared yet, and they might step on them themselves. The west and north aren't the shortest paths; the south is more likely. Once a battle breaks out, all personnel should immediately go to provide support, make sure it's a quick victory, and then return to their defensive posts."
The others quickly accepted the order and set off. The main universe's Batman, intently studying the star map, said, "If I were their commander, I would launch a saturation rescue. The mages are too important to be lost. Besides, only with simultaneous support from all sides is it more likely that we can rescue them."
"Aren't you afraid they'll launch a counter-encirclement?" Darkseid asked from behind his back.
The main universe Batman shook his head and said, "To counter-encircle so many people, we would need too many troops. Unless they launch a large-scale fleet jump, it would be difficult to achieve. And the ships needed to assemble would take time. With such a commotion, the Flash would have already reached the vicinity of Earth and the Andromeda Galaxy. Once the ships are assembled, we will retreat. As long as we don't get greedy, there shouldn't be any major problems."