The Flash looked up into Superman's calm eyes and suddenly realized that Clark must have known about Ian's abnormal state for a long time; otherwise, Clark could never be this composed.
"I will keep this secret." Barry Allen's eyes met Superman's. After a few seconds of silence, he blurted out a promise as if by some strange impulse.
The other party hadn't even asked.
Yet, he spoke the words with a nervous tone, not knowing himself why he suddenly felt the need to say it. Perhaps it was the sheer pressure of Superman's gaze.
"Best to."
Superman nodded, his tone remaining gentle. He turned to look at his youngest son. The lights of the underground base cast patches of shadow and light over Ian's utterly still body. Ian was also in that strange state of being both here and not here, somewhat similar to the anomaly now affecting Batman.
"It shouldn't just be a coincidence."
Thinking back to the Flash's earlier words, Clark couldn't help but ponder for a moment. Just then, after trying and failing yet again to touch Ian, feeling only air, the Flash couldn't resist asking a question.
"Has he been like this since he was a child? Since he was born and drinking milk?" He wasn't trying to pry into Ian's secrets, but Barry Allen was always immensely curious.
And his imagination was quite vivid.
He couldn't imagine a baby Ian who, if he wanted milk at midnight, would suddenly phase out halfway through feeding and drop from Lois's hands onto the floor.
"..."
Superman clearly perceived the Flash's inner thoughts. He didn't want to peek into others' minds, but this new ability now felt like a passive effect, and he hadn't found a way to effectively control it.
He either had to turn off his Super-Hearing entirely, or turning it on came with this extra side effect. Since he wasn't in Metropolis, Superman truly didn't dare to turn off his Super-Hearing.
"No, he hasn't been like this since he was small. I only discovered it by accident and don't know when he first developed this ability." Clark's gaze never left Ian on the floor.
"By accident?"
Barry looked like he had more to say, his expression subtly changing. He clearly suspected Superman liked to be a peeping tom at home, monitoring his three children with Super-Vision and Super-Hearing.
That genuinely bordered on violating children's privacy.
How could Superman respond to that? He knew he needed to save his reputation.
"If one day you saw your high-achieving, yet somewhat peculiar son hiding in his room and the bathroom, secretly cutting his wrists, I believe you would also increase your attention on your child like me." Clark had indeed started paying attention to Ian after the boy first experimented with his abilities and healed himself in the bathroom.
Normally, he was very respectful of his two sons' privacy. As for Jordan, Clark tried his best to be respectful, but the noise Jordan made every night was truly too loud.
Heaven knows how many times his intimate moments with Lois were cut short by the sounds of Jordan. Faced with this, the complicated feelings in Superman's heart truly couldn't be empathized with by the Flash.
"I'm not even married yet, let alone have children..." The Flash also longed to enter the grave of marriage, but he'd been a complete bachelor for over thirty years.
Aside from his fear of confessing to his childhood sweetheart, Barry Allen also had his own unspeakable difficulty. Let's just say, he didn't know what caused the result, but the day he was struck by lightning—
It not only made him the Flash on the land but also made him the fastest man 'running' in his own bedroom. The Speed Force always seemed to gather where it shouldn't.
Barry Allen dared not tell anyone about this embarrassing secret.
"Believe in yourself, you will also reach this stage of life eventually." Superman replied softly, looking at the Flash with a strange expression that suggested he had more to say.
The Flash didn't catch on.
"Assuming I live to see that stage."
He was still worried about his life potentially ending at any moment. If Batman, Bruce, failed against the external universe, the Flash felt it was practically guaranteed that the external universe would finish him off.
"You said that the life residing inside you once released goodwill towards you," Superman recalled the Flash's earlier description and suddenly asked.
The Flash nodded.
"Yes, but I believe that goodwill is very likely some kind of disguise."
He held out his arm, which was now free of scars.
Of course.
Even though the mark was gone, he didn't believe the "Seven-Day Death" curse had vanished because of it. Although the boy had said he didn't want to contaminate him, who would trust the words of someone whose origins were unknown?
At least the Flash, who had been tricked by stranger's goodwill over a dozen times, didn't dare to trust it.
"Not necessarily." Superman's attitude favored holding judgment, believing the truth still needed investigation. He recalled the figure seated on a throne he saw inside Bruce's mind.
The open mind was so pure it didn't contain a single trace of impurity.
The Flash glanced at Superman and sighed heavily, "I hope you are right—after being unlucky for so many years, I should finally run into a good person."
"However, even if that boy didn't lie to me, then according to him, even if he doesn't actively invade me, his world will eventually crush me one day."
Barry Allen sorted through his thoughts. It seemed he was destined to die one way or another, merely a matter of sooner or later, unless he could truly solve the problem by helping the boy and his universe find their home, which neither he nor anyone else knew where the hell it was hidden.
"If Bruce succeeds, he will certainly be able to help you solve the problem." Superman looked at Bruce, who was still locked in a fierce confrontation, the strange scars on his body growing more numerous.
Those bizarre scars looked as if many things hidden in the universe inside Bruce were attempting to escape, but due to some reason, they couldn't truly adhere to anything else besides Bruce.
"What exactly is Bruce experimenting with?"
The Flash still didn't know what Superman had just discovered. He asked the question, and Superman organized his thoughts before telling him what he had seen and heard.
"Bruce is using one kind of pollution to fight another? No wonder his expression was so serious before, he's going crazy again!" The Flash felt he would absolutely not dare to attempt such a near-certain-death trial.
He also looked at Batman on the sickbed—Bruce's unblinking eyes were now protruding several centimeters, making his face look like something out of a horror movie.
"One kind of pollution is already almost too much for me to bear, let alone two... Maybe there are other ways. Let's save Bruce first. Do you think Diana might have a way to preserve Bruce's soul, and then we could throw Bruce's body into a cremator, burning away the universe inside him along with it?"
This might be the moment the Batman-hater in him truly showed his horns.
"????????"
Superman couldn't help but stare at the solemn-faced Flash several times.
"Let me try my method first." As a radical in the approach to Gotham's weirdos, he felt the conservative Flash was being a bit too aggressive.
"You've thought of a way?"
The Flash temporarily abandoned his strange ideas.
"We can use the method Bruce used." As soon as he finished speaking, Superman instantly disappeared. When he reappeared less than a second later, he was clad in a semi-finished armor suit.
The metal surface was etched with dense, non-ancient runes. The runes looked like small emojis, wriggling and dancing like little figures on the armor.
"Has that plan been put into action already?" The Flash recognized it as the Ultimate Armor that Batman had developed a few years ago, rumored to be able to withstand the rebellion of the entire Justice League.
"It's just a semi-finished product, but I hope those runes on it really are magical." Superman walked straight to the warehouse and effortlessly tore down the coded door that the Flash had tried to crack for weeks.
Brute force works, that's the principle.
With enough strength, you can tear down the entire wall along with the coded door. When Clark walked out again, he held a test tube labeled [Extremely Toxic Substance] in his hand.
Inside was a red liquid that had not yet solidified.
"Fighting pollution with pollution?"
The Flash stared at the substance in the tube.
"Is what you have a second source of contamination?"
He suspected Superman might have gone mad too.
Superman did not answer directly, merely walking calmly back to the bedside. He placed his hand back on Bruce's chest, and the power of empathy once again carried his consciousness across the boundary between reality and illusion.
Meanwhile, the Flash, still in reality, moved his gaze back and forth between the unmoving Batman on the bed and the contemplative Superman. He knew there was nothing he could do to help at the moment.
"The recent big events are getting weirder and weirder." The Flash sighed, feeling that Speedsters couldn't keep up with the changes. He sat down in a chair to wait quietly.
"Rich people really know how to live."
Finding the chair overly comfortable, the Flash looked up the price of the same model online. The six-figure price tag made him sigh once more that the power of cash truly is omnipotent.
It could not only boost combat power but also provide better lumbar support—the fact that the Flash was sitting in a chair pondering such a trivial matter clearly showed how idle he was right now.
He didn't dare to leave easily and return to his city to find friends. Time passed second by second, with only the low hum of the underground base's ventilation system filling the silence.
Just as the Flash was about to find something to do, perhaps clean the underground base, suddenly—
"Superman's child is not right."
The familiar boy's voice echoed in his mind again.
The Flash was startled at first.
Then he replied with a sense of the obvious.
"Everyone in the Justice League knows that all three of Superman's sons are acting strangely. His dad said he's always been this way, so he probably doesn't need you to save him." The Flash frowned, wondering what trick the mysterious boy in his mind was trying to pull now. He was preemptively guarding against the boy's possible scare tactics.
The voice in his mind sighed.
"He certainly doesn't need me to save him, but the world he is invading might need your help." The mysterious boy followed the Flash's statement and brought up something that caught the Flash completely off guard.
"What do you mean?"
The Flash was stunned.
Not just because he didn't understand the boy's words, but also because he realized he couldn't find a broom in this base, only a dozen robotic vacuum cleaners.
"Though I can't sense his exact status, I am certain he is currently invading a certain universe." As the boy spoke, the Flash noticed the scars reappearing on his arm.
It was clear that the other party was starting to inspect this world again.
"Hold on? Explain yourself clearly. Don't be a Riddler like Bruce." The Flash was alarmed. Compared to the anomaly on his arm, he was clearly more concerned about the boy's information-packed statement.
"I think I've been very clear. You experienced it before, didn't you—fighting pollution with pollution. Batman tried it once before he experimented on himself." The boy's voice carried an unprecedented seriousness, and a deep understanding of why Batman never took unnecessary risks.
"!!!!?????" The Flash's pupils dilated violently. His shock was evident, his eyes bulging almost as much as Batman's. He suddenly remembered the test tube in Superman's hand, the mysterious "purification liquid," and even Wonder Woman's Lasso of Truth.
"I knew it!" Barry couldn't help but exclaim, "Ian is not the child of Superman and Lois! He must be the product of Superman sleeping with some external universe itself!"
"No wonder Clark has been so secretive. It looks like I've found the truth now!" The Flash had always been the Justice League's most imaginative superhero.
His voice echoed in the underground base.
Looking at Superman, who was as still as Bruce, the Flash felt he was gradually figuring everything out. He shivered and immediately covered his mouth.
"I don't know anything! Stop trying to corrupt me, please shut up! I don't want Superman to silence me. I fought him once, and I never want to fight him a second time."
The Flash didn't want to speculate on what Superman might do to hide the truth. He only knew that the jaw he broke during his last fight with Superman ached faintly every year.
Oh.
And the butt-first fall he took when he realized Superman could still keep up with his Speed Force-enhanced speed, no one wanted to have that butt-pad split into more pieces again.
"You're quite the coward."
The boy in his mind couldn't help but mock him.
"Perhaps you could go over and try to touch him."
The boy then made his request.
"I can't even touch him!"
The Flash gave a helpless reply in his mind.
The mysterious boy was not surprised.
"That's because you don't have my help."
He merely gave a confident, composed emphasis.
"What are you plotting?"
The Flash gritted his teeth, his expression deeply suspicious.
"I'm merely curious if Superman's son is truly helping your universe to invade other universes." The boy certainly didn't believe the Flash's earlier theory.
He thought Ian might be a Conqueror chosen by the DC Universe itself.
"You're definitely plotting something bad. I won't let your conspiracy succeed, don't even think about tricking me into agreeing to anything." The Flash held a high degree of vigilance.
The moment of silence in his mind made him even more uneasy.
Sure enough.
The silence was followed by the boy's sudden chuckle.
"Do you still remember I said I was very, very bad?" His words sent a shiver down Barry's spine. In the next second, his consciousness felt like it was struck by a heavy hammer and went black.
Like a blow to the back of the head.
Barry Allen's consciousness instantly plunged into darkness.
After an unknown amount of time, the Flash slowly awoke. He was horrified to find himself crouching next to Ian, his hands bizarrely passing straight through the boy's translucent body.
"What did you do!?"
The Flash was terrified that he might have caused Ian some problem. If so, not only would he be unable to forgive himself, but the most powerful man on Earth would also be unable to forgive him.
"That shouldn't be!"
The boy in his mind let out an astonished cry.
It seemed he had attempted something but failed. Before the Flash could even react to his confusion, the scars on his arm suddenly all lit up!
Countless streams of light poured out of the scars, flowing toward Ian's body as if being pulled by a magnet. Barry felt an unprecedented sense of ease—even his Speed Force, which had felt sticky before, returned to normal!
However.
He couldn't be happy about it.
The joy was fleeting.
After all, the Flash saw the phantom image of an entire universe being peeled from his body, like a star chart slowly unfurling by an invisible hand, suspended in mid-air.
It began as a speck of light in the darkness.
Then it suddenly expanded, galaxies rushing forth from it, spiral nebulae, burning stars, and quiet dark matter bands all flowing across the void's curtain.
This cosmic projection was not static; it was being tugged by some unseen force, its edges rippling and distorting, as if it were being sucked into an invisible vortex.
Yes.
A universe.
It was now entering Ian's translucent body. Ian's figure was also hazy, yet he generated gravity like a black hole, drawing the phantom of the universe madly into his form.
"Is this going from invading me to invading Ian now!?" The Flash was panic-stricken. He felt he could already see the future where Superman slammed his head into the Earth's core.
"Damn it! What are you doing!"
The Flash screamed in terror at the boy in the phantom.
However.
The mysterious boy.
Franklin Richards' expression looked even more terrified than his.
"I don't know! This guy is going to eat us!" The boy's voice was filled with fear of the unknown. "Save me! Flash! Save us!"
This was absolutely an unexpected twist for the Flash. He had assumed the scene before him was the mysterious boy's doing, but the boy's cry for help didn't sound like acting at all.
The mysterious boy in the dream was genuinely screaming in a sharp burst of noise.
"This is the DC Universe! It's the DC Universe! How can Superman's son... No! His essence is terrifying! I need to escape further, save me..."
The mysterious boy's scream abruptly stopped, echoing through the underground base.
It quickly faded away.
Along with the entire broken universe he carried.
...
Ian's traversal this time was far longer than any other. He didn't immediately arrive in the Marvel Universe, but seemed to first pass through a void zone. There was no solid ground, no clear direction, only endless light, sound, and imagery flowing around him.
All the images were suspended in every direction, above and below, intertwining and overlapping, like the torn pages of some gigantic storybook, all "screening" stories familiar to Ian.
In the first panel, Homelander stood atop a tower, looking down on all living things, his golden suit fluttering in the wind, proclaiming to everyone that he was the Sun of America and could not be looked at directly.
In the second panel, Omni-Man, in his hero uniform, his muscles bulging, his eyes resolute, coldly looked down at the humans beneath his feet, his deep voice echoing in the void.
"You don't understand what true power is."
Following that, more images flashed past like a revolving lantern—Megatron raising his Fusion Cannon, roaring "Conquer or Perish," and even Voldemort's pale face reflecting a chilling light.
"I can't wait to smash this damn frame!" And there was Ian's rival, Deadpool, frantically smashing the nonexistent "glass" window in the "comic panel" images.
Ian watched all this. He had never experienced such a lengthy traversal process. Usually, it was "over in a flash," but this time, it felt like he was stuck in some borderland, making him disoriented.
These sounds intertwined.
Like a symphony across dimensions.
Constantly roaring in Ian's ears. He wanted to reach out and touch, but found his body was still falling, as if pulled by some force through this void.
And just at this moment.
[Extra-Dimensional Data added. Analyzing.]
[You have come into contact with an unknown Supernatural Substance. A new Profession Template has been unlocked. You may obtain a Corrected Supernatural Profession by fulfilling the prerequisites: [Anomalous Sovereign]]
[Anomalous Sovereign: All who are mutated are your subjects; all who possess potential are blessed by you. In the Rhapsody of Evolution, you shall become the Endless King spanning multiple realities.
You are the Emperor of Genes, the End of Life's Evolution!]
The sudden System prompt.
It also caught Ian off guard once again.
"What's going on?"
Ian completely failed to understand why he had randomly gained a new profession in the void zone or what new Extra-Dimensional Data meant. He checked his extra-dimensional information, which hadn't changed yet.
"What gives?"
Before Ian could fully comprehend the meaning of the words, the scene before his eyes suddenly distorted, all the images shattering like glass—the next second, his feet landed heavily on solid ground.
Gentle sunlight shone down.
Ian looked around.
He found himself standing on a bustling street. Tall buildings lined the road, traffic flowed, and pedestrians hurried by. No one seemed to notice his sudden appearance.
"I successfully glitched into Marvel again. That scared me; I thought Marvel didn't love me anymore." Ian saw the Stark Tower. Just as he was about to go find the new Teacher Tony to ask about the situation this time—
A fierce explosion interrupted his thoughts. It seemed every time Ian appeared in the Marvel Universe, a disaster was waiting to greet him.
Boom!
Down the street, a car was flipped over, and flames soared into the sky. People screamed and scattered. In the center of the chaos, a huge green figure was climbing the exterior wall of a building at an alarming speed.
"It's the Lizard!"
Ian recognized the figure causing the destruction. The Lizard's sharp claws dug into the concrete, his thick tail whipping, and he let out a hoarse roar, lunging toward a certain direction.
"Come on, we can talk about this. Can't we just sit down and have a cup of tea first?" The other party was a red-and-blue figure, skillfully dodging the Lizard's pounce as webs shot out.
"Did Gwen get a new suit? The classic model?"
Ian had this guess but quickly dismissed it, because he saw that the Spider-Man's front was completely unremarkable, a stark contrast to Gwen's 'great capacity' physique.
"A second Spider-Man!"
Ian was incredibly shocked.
He still remembered he had dealt with a Peter Parker before, and even gained his Spider-Mimicry ability from that incident. He never thought a second Spider-Man would pop up in New York.
"Hey, Big Lizard! Your new look is great, but property damage will cost you a fine!" Spider-Man's teasing voice reached them as he executed a classic landing pose to dodge the Lizard's attack.
"Want a taste of my butt? Sorry, I'm out of stock today." This Spider-Man was clearly very chatty, fighting the Lizard and simultaneously launching a psychological assault.
"Peter Parker... a second Peter Parker, Motor-mouthed Peter Parker..." Ian's eyes narrowed slightly. His handsome face was filled with an expression of disbelief.
His super-brain easily figured out what was happening.
"Help! It's a monster!"
"Run! Run!"
The panicked crowd scattered, some fell, and others cried out. The entire block was in chaos. They ran past Ian, and one person suddenly paused, then turned and rushed back.
"It's Superman! Superman is here! We're saved!" A survivor of the Spider-Monster incident recognized Ian. This cry instantly made the fleeing crowd erupt.
"Superman? The world's first superhero?!" Spider-Man's Spider-Sense didn't go off, but his ears perked up, keenly catching the keyword.
He backflipped to dodge the Lizard's pounce and looked toward the direction the crowd was surging. There, a boy in his teens suddenly put his hands on his hips and floated into the air.
The sunlight shone on him.
As if coating him with a divine halo.
"Yes, that's right, that's right, I am Superman." Ian instantly perked up. He couldn't be happier. Sure enough, the legacy of his Superman family bloodline was recognizable even by people in the Marvel Universe.
This wasn't Ian hijacking his father's name; the public spontaneously called him Superman. It was the will of the people, so Ian could only "reluctantly" step forward.
"You guys know just how to play me, but I like this kind of hero kidnapping. I'm here, and everyone's safety is secured!" Ian proclaimed loudly, the corners of his mouth upturned in a wild smile.
All eyes focused on Ian. The Lizard monster clearly sensed the situation was bad. He let out a low growl, feeling somewhat fearful, and turned to run.
"You're not getting away! I, Superman! Will never allow any evil creature to be above the law!" Ian vanished in a flash, and the next second, he descended from the sky.
"Rumble!"
With a direct stomp, he crushed the Lizard deep into the fractured asphalt.
The ground instantly caved in, forming a large pit.
Dust billowed up.
"Good afternoon, everyone." Ian saw someone taking a picture with their phone and immediately flashed a standard heroic smile, even striking a pose for the camera.
The Lizard struggled madly under his foot, but Ian's foot was like a mountain, unmoving.
"Let go of me—!!!"
The Lizard roared in helpless fury.
He opened his monstrous jaws, ready to bite, but Ian shoved his forearm into the Lizard's mouth, shattering over a dozen of his mutated teeth. In his pain, the Lizard only saw Ian pull out a tube of super glue and seal his mouth shut.
The Lizard, of course, tried to resist.
But it was no use.
The difference in strength between the two was too vast.
Once the super glue took effect.
"Mmph... Mmmph!!!"
The Lizard's roar instantly turned into muffled groans.
"Is that... the skill of the world's first superhero?" Spider-Man, who had been dodging the flying debris earlier, finally returned to the scene.
But the fight was already over.
An instant kill.
He stared, dumbfounded, and muttered to himself.
"Hey, Spider-Kid, wanna chat?" Ian noticed him and waved with a grin. Peter hesitated but eventually swung down on a web to land in front of Ian.
"Uh, Mr. Superman, thanks for the help, but this guy is actually my... well, my mutated mentor." Peter scratched his head, sounding a little awkward.
"I know, I know."
Ian waved his hand, his expression one of complete understanding.
"No one understands mutation better than me. I am the King of Mutation."
He was fully confident in saying this. Although he didn't know why he had gained a new profession, he now had another talking point to support him in the field of mutation.
Of course.
He hadn't unlocked this new profession yet.
"Oh, wait, it's Anomalous Sovereign." Ian glanced at his locked profession details and corrected himself. Unlocking this profession required collecting the blood of 12 mutated individuals.
"Looks like my luck is running high." Ian looked at the Lizard under his foot and the Spider-Man in front of him. He certainly wouldn't pass up these two easy opportunities.
"I want you to help me mutate!" With that, he bent down, pulled an oversized syringe from his pocket, and jabbed it into the Lizard's arm.
"Hiss—!!!"
The Lizard thrashed wildly, but Ian slammed a hand down on his head.
"Stop moving around. It's just a blood draw," Ian mumbled while drawing blood. "I don't like mimicking a lizard, so I won't kill you. You're actually getting off easy."
"Make sure you remember my kindness."
Ian gave a friendly reminder.
"Mmmph mmmph!!!"
The Lizard continued to struggle.
Seeing that the other party still wasn't cooperating, Ian sighed and punched the Lizard right on the forehead.
Dong!
The world went quiet.
Spider-Man: "..."
He silently took a half-step back.
Ian finished drawing the blood, looked at the green liquid in the test tube with satisfaction, and then turned his gaze onto Spider-Man. Spider-Man seemed to understand what that look meant.
"Can we move somewhere else?" Spider-Man looked around and lowered his voice. He definitely didn't want to be pinned down and have his blood drawn in public.
"No problem." Ian nodded. He picked up the trussed-up Lizard, grabbed Spider-Man, and rocketed into the sky, landing directly in a deserted alley.
The speed was too fast.
It was slightly too stimulating for Spider-Man.
"Come on, come on. Give me some of your blood. I'll pay." Ian pulled out a wad of cash, looking eager, which made the slightly shaken Spider-Man feel a bit helpless.
"Uh, Mr. Superman, you're the Evil God that Teacher Gwen mentioned, right?" Spider-Man hesitated for a moment, then finally asked tentatively.
Ian was stunned, then puffed out his chest proudly: "That's right, that's me! You should call me Evil God My Lord! I knew you must have apprenticed under Gwen."
"Don't call me Superman anymore, call me Evil God My Lord. I like that title too." The Evil God, who spoke very few truths today, chose to brag about his super-brain.
Spider-Man fell silent.
He didn't know how to respond.
"Please give me a little blood."
Ian asked again with anticipation.
"So, are you here to save Teacher Gwen? Teacher Gwen's situation is a bit grim right now..." Seeing Ian's eagerness, Spider-Man decisively chose to comply.
He exposed his arm and allowed Ian to draw a small vial of his blood.
Of course.
Spider-Man also accepted the money from Ian.
After all, selling blood was quite common.
He took it with a clear conscience.
"What happened to Gwen?"
Ian only asked after pocketing the second sample of mutant blood. In his memory, Gwen was always either already injured or on the way to being injured, so he didn't seem too surprised.
However.
This time might be an exception.
"She's dying."
Spider-Man dropped a bombshell.
The single sentence made Ian freeze on the spot.
***
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