Lucci saw everyone's shocked faces and explained calmly.
"As I said before, the Mother Box is a machine of change, of life and death, an equation of transformation. If it can destroy life, naturally... it can recreate it as well."
"But," Lucci shook his head lightly, "Life resurrected by such rough means will temporarily lose all memories, becoming a blank slate—like clay that can be molded at will."
Hearing this, Bruce Wayne's heart sank, already predicting what Lucci would say next.
Sure enough!
Lucci looked at Bruce's pale face and stated flatly:
"Steppenwolf's plan is this: Find the Kryptonian's corpse, use the Mother Box's power to resurrect him, and then exploit the period of amnesia to twist his mind—turning him into the strongest, most obedient killing puppet!"
Boom—
Lucci's words exploded in everyone's hearts like a bomb!
"What?! Resurrection and... control Superman?"
Barry screamed. He felt his worldview had been shattered and rebuilt countless times today. Coming back from the dead was actually possible!
Even Magneto frowned, his face grave. He had heard of the legendary "god of the world," Superman, whose power could flatten cities. If such a being was controlled, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Bruce Wayne's reaction was even more dramatic, his face darkening further. No one knew better than him how terrifying Superman's power was—he'd once fought Superman in heavy bat-armor, and the helplessness he'd felt was as vivid as an ant shaking a tree. Yet even then, Superman had held back and was still affected by kryptonite!
A full-powered, irrational Superman who knows only destruction would become a catastrophic scourge on the move! No nation or army on Earth could resist him.
"Damn!" Bruce cursed in a low voice.
Lucci glanced at everyone. There was no tension or worry on his face—only a hint of playful anticipation. Truth be told, he was a little curious to see just how strong a "blackened" Superman would be.
"No! We must stop this!" Bruce snapped back to his senses, making an immediate decision. "Barry! Take me to Superman's burial site! Now!"
He didn't care if he had to endure that sickening spinning sensation again—compared to the risk of Superman being controlled, such discomfort was meaningless.
"Huh? Oh! Okay!" Barry immediately prepared to act.
"Why the rush?" Lucci's calm voice rang out again.
"No need." He looked at Bruce and asked, "Where is Superman buried?"
Bruce's heart raced at the question. That's right! Lucci had traveled to both Themyscira and Atlantis in no time—he must have some rapid movement method!
Without hesitation, Bruce reported the specific coordinates:
"Smallville, Kansas—Kent Farm family cemetery!"
"Understood." Lucci nodded.
Then, under everyone's doubtful gaze, he simply raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
Snap!
A clear sound.
In the next instant, an unbelievable scene occurred!
A flash of light and shadow, and they were no longer in Xavier's office—now, they stood in the middle of a wide-open farm. Not far away was a small, quiet cemetery, the sunset casting long shadows over the tombstones.
This...
It was exactly the coordinates Bruce Wayne had given—the Kent Farm cemetery!
The distance from Westchester County, New York, to Smallville, Kansas, was over 2,000 kilometers...
And they had arrived instantly!
Diana, Arthur, and Hulk had also been teleported by Lucci.
"What... what does this mean?" Bruce could no longer keep his composure, looking around with shock and disbelief. This was completely beyond his knowledge of physics or technology! This wasn't flight or superspeed—it was pure conceptual spatial teleportation!
Lucci replied indifferently, "That's the power of the universe. Just a little trick."
Barry, standing nearby, was utterly stupefied. He glanced at his own hands, then at the reality around him, feeling his worldview shattered more violently than ever before.
"This... this is faster than my speed... and more convenient!" He muttered, eyes filled with envy and shock. In the face of Lucci's effortless spatial power, the speed he'd always prided himself on was like a child's toy.
"What's going on?"
Just then, a doubtful voice sounded—Hulk, looking around curiously at the unfamiliar environment. Moments ago, he'd been telling Arthur about beating up weak "gods" during the Chitauri invasion, and now, suddenly, they'd been relocated.
"Where are we?"
Diana and Arthur also looked around with suspicion, taking in the sunset-lit farm, the distant cemetery, and their fellow teleported companions.
Bruce Wayne took a deep breath, trying to calm himself from the shock, and explained as concisely as possible,
"This is Superman—Clark Kent's grave."
"Superman?"
"What are we doing here?" Arthur asked, confused.
Bruce explained to the three of them about Magneto's discovery of the Parademon activity and Lucci's deductions.
"...Therefore, we suspect Steppenwolf's goal is to resurrect Superman and turn him into the ultimate weapon against us."
Hearing this, Diana, Arthur, and Hulk all looked shocked.
"Together with the Mother Boxes... resurrect Superman?" Diana's beautiful eyes filled with disbelief.
"Is this really possible?"
As an Amazon princess, she knew of the Mother Box's power and mystery from ancient texts, but to truly bring the dead back and erase their memories for control... it still sounded fantastical.
"Whether it's true or not, let's go see for ourselves."
Bruce's eyes turned cold and sharp as he led the way to the cemetery.
The moment they saw the grave, everyone except Lucci and Jean's expressions changed.
A large, roughly dug-up hole had appeared in the cemetery! Freshly turned earth was scattered about, and the coffin that should have contained Superman's body had been forcibly pried open.
Inside... it was empty! Superman's body was gone!
"It's over..." Bruce Wayne muttered as he stared at the empty coffin.
The thing he'd feared most had finally happened! Steppenwolf had arrived first and stolen Superman's body! Uncontrollable Superman was about to descend upon the world.
Magneto and Hulk exchanged glances, seeing gravitas in each other's eyes. They were confident in their own strength, but the legend of Superman was simply too terrifying. Even facing such a foe, neither felt certain of victory.
Arthur couldn't help but curse, "Damn! That freaky alien, seriously...!"
As despair began to spread in everyone's hearts, a cold, severe voice sounded:
"What's there to worry about with Lucci here?"
Jean Grey.
She stood quietly beside Lucci, glancing at the gathered "strongest" present, a hint of confusion in her gaze. In her eyes, as long as Lucci was there, there was nothing to fear in this world.
Jean's words were like a wake-up call, instantly snapping everyone back to reality.
That's right! From start to finish, Lucci had remained calm and collected.
Wasn't there an unfathomable god standing right beside them? Superman was terrifying, yes, but Lucci could cross thousands of miles with a thought and destroy entire armies with a single sword! Who was truly stronger remained to be seen!
With this realization, hope rekindled in everyone's hearts.
Lucci calmly observed the empty coffin, then looked at Bruce Wayne and asked,
"Where's the Kryptonian spaceship?"
Bruce was stunned for a moment, then realized Lucci's meaning.
"You mean... where will the resurrection ritual take place?"
"Correct." Lucci nodded. "The Mother Box is powerful, but to resurrect Superman, it needs compatible energy and a specific environment. And a Kryptonian spaceship—retaining its own ecosystem and some Kryptonian technology and energy—is the perfect place for such a ritual."
Lucci's words were like a beacon, showing everyone the way in the darkness. Bruce's eyes lit up, and he immediately answered,
"I know! The Kryptonian ship was recovered by the military and is being stored at the military base on Stryker's Island!"
"Very good." Lucci nodded.
He wasted no more words and simply extended his hand again. The familiar, unbelievable spatial fluctuation enveloped everyone again.
"Let's go."
With those words, everyone instantly vanished from the Kent Farm without a trace.
The next moment, as they reappeared, the overwhelming stench of blood and burning hit them.
Everything before their eyes instantly sank their hearts.
This was the military base on Stryker's Island.
But now, it looked like hell on earth.
The base's defenses were shattered, burning tanks and soldiers' corpses scattered everywhere. Amongst the bodies and wreckage, thousands of Parademons clustered like a black tide, swarming every corner of the base. Some gnawed on bodies, others destroyed buildings, filling the air with infernal buzzing.
The instant Lucci's group appeared, all Parademon activity halted.
The next moment, they all turned, countless compound eyes shining, instantly locking onto the uninvited guests.
"Shreee!"
Sensing living prey, without hesitation or even a single word, thousands of nearby Parademons spread their ugly wings and shrieked, launching themselves desperately at the group!
Their aura, blending pure malice, slaughter, and chaos, was enough to cause a normal person to have a nervous breakdown on the spot.
Barry instinctively activated the Speed Force, Bruce Wayne tensed every muscle in preparation to fight, Arthur and Hulk readied themselves to smash the enemy.
But in the brief instant before anyone could act—
"What a disgusting swarm of bugs."
A voice full of arrogance and disdain came from Lucci's side—Jean Grey.
She stared at the ugly monsters, her beautiful eyes flashing with undisguised disgust. Raising her slender jade hand, a massive, invisible concept suddenly manifested around her!
Buzz—
There was no earth-shattering explosion, no blinding flash.
Between heaven and earth, only a barely audible, low humming remained.
An indescribable terrifying force, invisible to the naked eye, rippled out instantly like silent waves!
This was the supreme power born at the origin of the universe, the force of life and spirit—the Phoenix Force!
The instant this power touched them, the rampaging Parademons froze as if someone had pressed a pause button. Their bodies hung motionless in the air.
The next moment, a strange and shocking sight occurred!
Without warning, the Parademons' bodies began to swell from within, glowing with dazzling red light—like balloons filled to the limit.
Bang! Bang!—
In the next instant, explosions sounded one after another, like firecrackers at a grand festival, echoing across the base!
Thousands of Parademons simultaneously exploded in the air!
Before they could even scream, their hard shells, filthy blood, and twisted innards were instantly disintegrated, decaying and vanishing under that supreme power, turning to dust and ash in the wind—leaving not a trace behind.
In the span of a single breath, the once sky-darkening Parademon army was wiped out!
The world fell silent.
Only a faint breeze blew, stirring the ashes on the ground, as if telling how dreamlike and unreal everything just now had been.
Gulp.
Barry swallowed hard, staring blankly at the red-haired woman who had, with just a wave of her hand, obliterated thousands of monsters. His brain refused to process what he'd just seen.
This... This is just too outrageous, right?
Behind his mask, Bruce Wayne's pupils contracted violently. He'd always thought the beautiful girl following Lucci was just his partner or had some special ability. Never had he imagined her power to be so unbelievable—almost at a godlike level! In an instant, an entire demonic army had been erased! This kind of power was far beyond anything he could comprehend or deal with!
On the other side, Diana and Arthur were equally dumbfounded and shocked. As inheritors of divine blood and royal legacies, they could feel even more clearly the vastness and terror of the force Jean had just unleashed! This wasn't mere energy or physical destruction—it acted directly on the very origin of life! Before such power, they felt the divine energy in their bodies tremble, as if meeting their true ruler.
"Poseidon above..." Arthur muttered, "With Prince Lucci around... what kind of monster is he?"
…
Meanwhile, deep inside the military base, in the Kryptonian spaceship—
In a strange pool of liquid, like a cradle of life, Superman's sturdy corpse lay quietly submerged.
Steppenwolf stood by the pool, holding a Mother Box, chanting ancient, evil incantations. He followed the ritual prescribed by the Mother Box, focusing energy for the final stage of resurrection.
Just then, a surviving Parademon rushed in, using its unique mental fluctuations to send a message to Steppenwolf, causing his soul to tremble.
[Intruders... terrifying intruders... Advent... army... completely annihilated.]