In Metropolis, the Kryptonian ship continuously fired powerful energy beams, piercing the Earth's core to interact with the World Engine on the other side of the planet, exponentially increasing Earth's mass and density.
Due to the increased density, the local gravitational field skyrocketed. The area closest to the Kryptonian ship experienced the most extreme gravity spikes, instantly flattening any vehicles caught within the gravitational waves.
US fighter jets continuously fired missiles at the Kryptonian ship, but due to the crushing gravity, the projectiles couldn't even get close. Just as the military was at their wits' end, they suddenly noticed the Kryptonian ship had stopped operating. The terraforming energy beam vanished, and the surrounding gravity rapidly returned to normal.
Seeing this, Colonel Hardy was overjoyed. He immediately piloted the C-17 transport plane directly toward the Kryptonian vessel, intending to completely destroy it.
BOOM!
A violent explosion suddenly erupted behind the C-17. General Zod, piloting another Kryptonian scout ship, had just shot down the fighter escorts trailing the C-17. He now locked his sights directly onto the transport plane carrying the retrofitted Kryptonian pod.
Just in the nick of time, Superman arrived, violently striking Zod's scout ship and causing its laser fire to deflect. Inside the Genesis Chamber, despite General Zod's desperate, furious warnings, the Kryptonian turncoat, Superman, resolutely destroyed the ship carrying Krypton's final birthing matrix.
In the distance, several Kryptonian soldiers had breached Lois Lane's transport plane. However, through the desperate efforts of the humans on board, they managed to activate the pod that had brought Clark to Earth. They planned to pilot the C-17 right into the massive Kryptonian mothership, causing the two Phantom Drives to collide, creating a localized black hole that would swallow all the Kryptonians.
Just as Colonel Hardy prepared to sacrifice himself and his crew to drag the Kryptonians to hell, a figure suddenly materialized right in front of the C-17's windshield.
The figure spoke slowly, his voice cutting through the chaos:
"That won't do. This ship is my property!"
Su Mu had arrived in Metropolis much earlier. He had already infiltrated the Kryptonian mothership and effortlessly knocked out all the Kryptonians inside. Just as he was admiring his work, he saw a military transport plane hurtling directly toward his newly claimed vessel.
Absolutely not! This is my hard-earned loot!
Using gravity to warp space, Su Mu instantly teleported right in front of the C-17, lightly tapping his index finger against its nose.
Vector Manipulation instantaneously reflected the C-17's immense kinetic energy, sending the massive plane rocketing backward at its original speed in the exact direction it came from!
Having successfully protected his new spaceship, Su Mu flickered inside the C-17 in a flash of lightning. With a single punch coated in black-red lightning, he struck the head of the Kryptonian soldier who had taken Faora's place to stop the humans. The Kryptonian was instantly knocked out cold.
Tossing the unconscious Kryptonian into his pocket dimension, Su Mu forcefully yanked Colonel Hardy toward him with a gravitational pull and demanded:
"Do you have any idea that you nearly destroyed my spaceship?"
Colonel Hardy, completely utterly bewildered, stammered, "I-isn't that the Kryptonians' spaceship?"
"It's mine now. It's my spoils of war!"
"Then... I'm sorry?"
Casually tossing Colonel Hardy aside, Su Mu glanced at Clark, who had just arrived and was staring at him with extreme caution. Su Mu flashed a brilliant smile:
"I'm not your enemy. General Zod is. And he's not dead yet."
Clark remained on high alert. "Who exactly are you? Batman is currently in Metropolis helping civilians. You are not Batman!"
When this mysterious man had first helped him, the naive Clark had actually believed his nonsense about being Batman. But on his way back from the Indian Ocean to Metropolis, Clark had clearly spotted the real Batman driving the Batmobile, desperately saving people from the rubble.
Compared to this moody, unpredictable mystery man, Clark trusted the hero actively saving ordinary people to be the real deal.
Hearing that Bruce Wayne hadn't just come to Metropolis for a vacation but was fully geared up and actively working, Su Mu immediately realized this was a butterfly effect caused by his impersonation. The real Batman had likely come to investigate the imposter running around in his cowl.
Su Mu pinched the stubble on his fabricated bat-chin, let out a weary cough, and purposefully lowered his voice, speaking to Superman in a deep, gravelly tone:
"Cough... You caught me. I am indeed Batman, but I am not the Batman of this universe. Due to certain circumstances, I have been wandering across the Multiverse. You may call me a World Traveler, a Cosmic Wanderer, or simply an exile with no home to return to..."
As he spoke, Su Mu perfectly controlled every single muscle in his body, using masterful acting skills to project an aura of absolute, profound sorrow. In that moment, he embodied pure tragedy—a man with a deeply relatable, heartbreaking backstory.
Faced with this weary, tragic figure, the pure-hearted Clark immediately felt a surge of guilt. Unsure of what to do, he simply apologized, "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."
"Parallel universes truly exist?!" Professor Emil Hamilton stumbled out from the back of the plane, his face flushed with extreme excitement as he questioned Su Mu. In their pursuit of truth, scientists were always overly enthusiastic. It was a good thing the DC universe wasn't a Lovecraftian nightmare like the Lord of the Mysteries world; otherwise, this level of intense curiosity would have instantly driven Professor Hamilton mad.
"Of course. The Multiverse is very real," Su Mu replied. "I have traveled to countless universes and faced unfathomable dangers.
"The environment of your universe is quite friendly; it is still 'alive.' Many universes have completely lost their vitality. For example, I've seen a Zombie Universe where every living being was infected, existing only to devour flesh. I've also seen a Dark Universe where all the superheroes were slaughtered, plunging the world into absolute, eternal chaos.
"In one specific universe, I encountered a variant of myself—a Batman who had been broken by the Joker. He descended into absolute madness, teaming up with other dark variants to systematically destroy universe after universe. And beyond them, the Multiverse holds entities far more terrifying.
"Furthermore, I once traveled to a unique nexus universe that bridged two entirely different Multiverses. Through it, I crossed into a Multiverse known as 'Marvel,' where I witnessed entities that defy comprehension."
Su Mu's words utterly shocked everyone present, leaving them struggling to process the massive influx of cosmic lore.
Weren't we just trying to stop a Kryptonian invasion? Why did the stakes suddenly escalate to the survival of the Multiverse?!
Unsurprisingly, Lois Lane was the first to snap out of it. Worthy of the fierce woman who could pin Superman down, she immediately pushed the cosmic distractions out of her mind.
No matter how dangerous the Multiverse was, it was far away. Right now, they had to deal with the immediate threat.
Unlike the kind-hearted, easily trusting Clark, Lois was not so easily fooled. She challenged him:
"If you're really a version of Batman, then why did you stop us from destroying the Kryptonian warship? The Batman I know would never do that."
Su Mu shrugged helplessly.
"I require a massive amount of energy to traverse parallel universes and perform dimensional leaps. I want to find my way back to the universe that birthed me. Therefore, I need the energy source of the Kryptonian warship to fuel my next dimensional jump."
Su Mu's explanation was virtually flawless, leaving the group unable to find any glaring logical holes.
Colonel Hardy chimed in with his own question: "What about those Kryptonians? Why didn't you just kill them?"
Su Mu slowly turned his gaze toward Clark. For some inexplicable reason, being stared at by Su Mu sent a violent, freezing shiver down Clark's spine. He felt an aura of profound malice wrapping around him. Su Mu smiled brightly and answered:
"Because, under the radiation of a yellow sun, Kryptonians generate an absolutely massive amount of energy within their bodies. They are 100% natural, pollution-free super batteries!"
Under Clark's completely stiff expression, and the horrified, frozen stares of the others, Su Mu gave a big thumbs-up, flashing his perfectly white teeth:
"Kryptonian-Brand Batteries—everyone who uses them leaves a five-star review!"
Everyone: "..."
"No. We cannot hand the Kryptonian warship or the Kryptonians over to you," Colonel Hardy stated firmly. The hero who, in the original cinematic timeline, sacrificed himself to take the Kryptonians down with him had seriously considered the situation and found it unacceptable.
"Everything you've said is entirely one-sided. We have no guarantee any of it is true. For all we know, you might team up with the Kryptonians later to conquer Earth. That is absolutely a possibility."
Hearing Colonel Hardy's words, Su Mu laughed.
Due to the chaos he had caused in the Marvel Universe, Su Mu had learned his lesson and planned to keep a lower profile here. To ensure a steady stream of entertainment later on, he had fully intended to play the "good guy" for a while.
But that absolutely didn't mean he was a bleeding-heart saint who would just stand there and be bullied or denied, like Clark.
Using gravity to violently yank Colonel Hardy forward, Su Mu grabbed him by the throat and flashed a deeply friendly, terrifying smile.
"Did you suddenly get arrogant because Superman is standing right there? Or did you genuinely mistake me for a naive, bleeding-heart boyscout like him?
"Do you actually think Superman can stop me?
"Let me make this absolutely clear: When I say something is mine, it is mine. This is not a negotiation!"
It was only at this moment that Colonel Hardy realized his fatal miscalculation. This Batman was not the Batman of their world. He had no "no-kill" rule.
He was a mysterious, overwhelmingly powerful entity capable of traversing the Multiverse. A hardened traveler who had survived countless apocalyptic horrors, and an existence who was likely vastly stronger than even Superman himself!
Standing off to the side, Superman felt utterly speechless. Why did I suddenly catch a stray bullet in this conversation? However, everything this Batman said was true. Clark was a bit of a naive boyscout, and he was highly likely completely outmatched by this Batman, a fact blatantly proven during their brief clash earlier.
Just then, a figure violently smashed through the side of the plane, slamming into Superman and launching him out into the sky. It was General Zod.
Even though the Kryptonian mothership had survived under Su Mu's protection, the scout ship containing the Genesis Chamber had been destroyed by Clark. Without it, even if Earth was terraformed into a Kryptonian environment, the Kryptonian race could never be reborn.
Krypton was officially, permanently dead!
General Zod violently tackled Clark, smashing him through several skyscrapers. Amidst deafening sonic booms and thunderous impacts, Zod rained furious punches down on Clark's face, roaring in absolute grief and rage:
"You chose humanity! You abandoned us! You destroyed my very soul! You stripped away the only reason I exist! These humans you saved... I will slaughter them all, one by one, right in front of you!"
Watching Clark rapidly lose ground, taking heavy, brutal punches to the face, Lois turned to Su Mu in a panic.
"Batman! Please, you have to go help Clark! He's no match for General Zod!"
But her desperate plea was destined to go unanswered. She looked at Su Mu and saw a warm smile on his face, but his eyes were filled with absolute, freezing indifference.
An uncaring, detached voice echoed through the plane:
"I have seen far too many worlds destroyed, and I have witnessed the deaths of countless Supermen, many of whom were vastly stronger than your Clark.
"Throughout my travels, I used to try and save them, but I only ever met with loss. So, I eventually established an absolute rule for myself: never interfere with the natural progression of the world I'm visiting.
"After all... this is your Earth, isn't it?"
Staring at the smiling Batman, Lois Lane felt her blood run ice cold.
(Author's Note: Catwoman - Part 4)
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