General Zod reached up and wiped his chin. A smear of crimson stained his fingers.
He was bleeding. He had been wounded by a mere human.
The absolute annihilation of Krypton's future, coupled with the crushing reality of losing a physical brawl to a mortal, completely shattered General Zod's sanity. He roared furiously:
"Do you have any idea who I am?! I was bred for the sole purpose of protecting Krypton! I possess the absolute pinnacle of our combat genetics! How could an unevolved primitive from this backwater mudball possibly be a match for me?!"
Batman didn't bother responding. He simply charged at General Zod once again.
With his peerless, lifelong martial arts experience, Bruce Wayne had rapidly and flawlessly adapted to his newly acquired god-like strength. He had already begun innovating, seamlessly weaving the absolute spatial convergence (Blue) and divergence (Red) into his hand-to-hand combat style.
Augmented by the gravitational push and pull of the cursed techniques, Batman completely dominated the fight, despite his physical stats currently only matching Zod's. When the absolute zenith of Kryptonian combat genetics clashed with the absolute zenith of Earth's martial arts... Earth won.
Worthy of being DC's favorite son. Even without the luxury of "prep time," merely by observing Zod's movements during his earlier fight with Superman, Batman had already formulated multiple pinpoint counter-strategies.
With every single exchange of blows, Batman flawlessly utilized localized spatial repulsion and attraction to constantly throw Zod off balance. Flashes of black-red and azure blue continuously sparked in the air, creating a breathtaking, brutally efficient display of martial mastery.
Even without the Six Eyes, Batman still managed an astonishing degree of precise cursed energy manipulation. Perhaps this was simply the terrifying competence of the Batman.
Hovering high in the sky above the battlefield, Superman and Su Mu watched the spectacle. Seeing General Zod completely suppressed and beaten down by Batman, Clark was profoundly shocked.
He distinctly remembered how hopelessly outmatched he had been during his own brawl with Zod just moments ago. He had practically no means of fighting back.
As the minutes ticked by, the injuries accumulating on General Zod's body grew increasingly severe. Even though the yellow sun radiation was continuously feeding him energy, his passive healing factor couldn't possibly keep up with the catastrophic damage Batman was inflicting.
Following a devastating, spatial-enhanced blow to the head, Zod's defenses finally broke completely. He was launched violently backward, crashing into the asphalt and lying completely motionless in a crater dozens of meters wide.
Batman immediately lunged forward, preparing to deliver the final, killing blow. He absolutely despised Zod now. He wanted to execute him, forcing the alien warlord to pay the ultimate price for the thousands of innocent lives extinguished during the Black Zero event.
But just as Batman's crackling fist was about to completely shatter Zod's skull, a figure abruptly materialized right in front of him, effortlessly catching the devastating punch with a single hand.
Su Mu had instantaneously teleported directly in front of General Zod, casually blocking Batman's killing blow. Faced with Batman's highly confused and tense glare, Su Mu simply explained:
"I need them alive. They're going to provide me with energy."
Rationality quickly regained the high ground. Considering that his current god-like power was entirely a "gift" from this Multiversal Wanderer, Batman powered down his strike and took a step back. He asked in his deep voice:
"What exactly do you intend to do with him?"
Su Mu pointed a thumb over his shoulder toward the dozen or so Kryptonian warriors floating helplessly in the sky. "That's his destined home. At least until I manage to find a vastly more convenient energy source."
Slowly, General Zod began to regain consciousness. Taking a relentless, supersonic barrage of spatial-enhanced punches to the skull was something even a Kryptonian General couldn't effortlessly shrug off. He had genuinely been knocked out cold for a few moments.
As his vision cleared, he saw the two Batmen conversing in front of him. Glancing past them, he noticed his elite Kryptonian soldiers suspended in mid-air, completely paralyzed. From listening to their conversation, Zod quickly grasped Su Mu's horrifying plan. He roared in absolute fury:
"You dare humiliate the proud warriors of Krypton?! You had better execute us right now! Because the moment we break free, we will brutally slaughter every single human on this miserable planet!"
Faced with Zod's vicious threat, Su Mu flashed a chilling, radiant smile.
"You won't get the chance."
Using gravity, Su Mu casually hoisted Zod into the air, treating him exactly like the other Kryptonians. With precise, ruthless application of force, Su Mu completely shattered all four of Zod's limbs. He then slapped a Symbiote onto the General's body. The black sludge rapidly enveloped Zod, actively devouring his solar-generated energy, completely paralyzing his movements, and firmly gagging his mouth to shut him up.
After a brief, efficient operation, the mighty General Zod was reduced to nothing more than a captive battery in Su Mu's floating farm.
Watching this unfold, Batman nodded, his expression revealing profound satisfaction.
"This punishment is highly acceptable. I like it."
Standing nearby, Clark opened his mouth, clearly wanting to protest the cruel treatment, but ultimately swallowed his words with a heavy sigh. He stayed silent.
Manipulating space once more, Su Mu instantaneously teleported himself, Clark, and Batman directly from the wasteland back to the center of Metropolis, materializing inside the primary Kryptonian mothership. Catwoman had been waiting for them inside the vessel this entire time.
Looking around the sleek, highly advanced interior of the extraterrestrial ship, Su Mu was extremely satisfied. However, because he had absolutely no idea how to actually pilot Kryptonian technology, he pulled Faora out of his pocket dimension to politely ask for the operation manuals.
Initially, Faora was fiercely resistant. Even when Su Mu manipulated the Symbiote bonded to her to exact "severe disciplinary measures," the flushing, panting Sub-Commander simply gritted her teeth and stubbornly refused to cooperate.
In fact, Su Mu wasn't entirely sure if he was just imagining it, but he could have sworn he saw a distinct flicker of anticipation in Faora's eyes during the "punishment."
After a few more rounds of "torture," the woman remained completely uncooperative, and actually seemed to be genuinely enjoying the process. Su Mu was utterly exasperated. How am I supposed to tolerate this?
Suddenly, an idea struck him. He opened his System Panel:
\[Infinite Void Lv.3 (978/1000): Drags targets into the inner conceptual space of the Limitless, forcing their brains to process an infinite stream of raw data just to stay alive. Paralyzes all biological functions. Only those in direct physical contact with the user are immune!\]
Because Su Mu vastly preferred the visceral, brutal thrill of hand-to-hand combat, and because he already possessed the absolute mind control of the Mind Stone, he rarely ever used his Domain Expansion. As a result, Infinite Void was currently one of his lowest-leveled skills from the Gojo Satoru template.
However, through sporadic usage over time, it had slowly climbed to Level 3.
Compared to Level 2, the Level 3 Infinite Void simply expanded its absolute effective range, increasing the domain's radius from 200 meters to a massive 5,000 meters.
Seeing that the skill was right on the verge of leveling up, Su Mu's intuition told him that the Level 4 upgrade might provide exactly the solution he needed for his current predicament.
Without hesitation, and fueled by his massive internal energy reserves, Su Mu continuously, rapidly cast a highly localized Infinite Void that only covered himself. The experience bar skyrocketed, and shortly after, the heavenly chime rang out:
\[System Notification: Infinite Void EXP +1\]
\[System Notification: Congratulations, Skill 'Infinite Void' has leveled up!\]
\[Infinite Void Lv.4 (1/5000): Drags targets into the inner conceptual space of the Limitless, forcing their brains to process an infinite stream of raw data. Paralyzes all biological functions. The user now possesses absolute, microscopic control over the Domain's target selection. Furthermore, the user can now flawlessly extract memories from the minds of targets within the Domain, as well as seamlessly implant new memories into their consciousness!\]
The Level 4 Infinite Void had officially transcended the canonical limits of Gojo Satoru's Domain, reaching an entirely new, terrifying conceptual dimension.
First, the absolute effective radius had expanded from 5,000 meters to a staggering 20,000 meters—a full 20 kilometers! And this was the radius, not the diameter! This meant that if Su Mu stood in the center of a small nation, he could instantaneously paralyze and brain-fry the entire country in a single second!
Second, the absolute targeting control of the Domain was vastly improved. Originally, Infinite Void indiscriminately attacked every single biological entity within its radius; the only way to avoid having your brain fried was to be in direct physical contact with Su Mu. Now, Su Mu could selectively filter targets, ensuring innocent bystanders or allies remained completely unaffected even if they were standing right next to him.
Finally, the Domain had gained an incredibly overpowered, conceptual new application: Su Mu could now use the infinite flow of information within the Domain to flawlessly sift through and extract specific memories from his targets' minds, or even permanently implant completely fabricated memories into their consciousness!
This new trait perfectly patched the minor blind spot Su Mu had in the field of telepathy, and it flawlessly solved his current problem.
Su Mu immediately activated Infinite Void exclusively on Faora, effortlessly extracting the operational schematics and access codes for the Kryptonian mothership from her mind.
During the extraction, Su Mu also discovered a deeply disturbing truth. Despite Faora's cold, disciplined, and stoic military exterior, deep down, she was an absolute, raging masochist. She had been genuinely, desperately craving the Symbiote's "disciplinary repairs." Su Mu was left utterly speechless.
However, Su Mu was a practical man. He wasn't going to throw away a perfectly good tool over a little kink. So, while he was in her mind, he simply implanted a permanent, absolute, fanatical loyalty to him, and then released her from the Domain.
The moment Faora's boots touched the deck, her face flushed a deep peach color as she immediately dropped to one knee, looking at Su Mu with absolute reverence.
"Commander, I shall initiate the startup sequence for the Sanctuary II immediately."
Standing nearby, Catwoman, Clark, and Batman watched this entire exchange with profound confusion. From their perspective, the Symbiote on Faora had wriggled violently for a bit, Faora had made a very strange, almost euphoric expression, but she hadn't actually surrendered.
Then, Su Mu had simply closed his eyes, concentrated for a moment, and made a bizarre hand sign with his fingers. Instantly, the fierce Kryptonian warrior completely capitulated, submitting to Su Mu as obediently as a well-trained dog.
Finally, Batman couldn't contain his curiosity any longer.
"Wanderer... what exactly did you just do? Why is this Kryptonian suddenly following your absolute command?"
Su Mu shot Batman a deeply contemptuous, pitying look, responding as if it were the most obvious thing in the universe:
"Look, any Batman worth his salt knows the absolute basics. Aside from possessing the physical stats to effortlessly beat the crap out of Superman, possessing the lower-back stamina to perform continuously for months on end, and having a devilishly handsome face... a true Batman obviously possesses absolute telepathic mind control. Isn't that right, Mr. Wayne?"
Batman: "..."
Since when do I have telepathic mind control?!
...Fine. You're the one who travels the Multiverse. You're the overpowered one. Whatever you say goes. Batman sank into a deep, profound state of existential doubt. Am I... am I truly just an inferior, defective Bat?
Even Clark looked at Batman with genuine, deep sympathy. But then a terrifying thought crossed his own mind.
If Batman is a defective Bat... what about me?
Oh god... am I a defective Superman?!
Ignoring the existential crises of the World's Finest, Su Mu reached into his pocket dimension, retrieved the World Engine he had seized from the Indian Ocean, and seamlessly integrated its systems with the Sanctuary II mothership.
Just as Su Mu prepared to take his brand-new, fully upgraded spaceship for a joyride in outer space, the Six Eyes detected a fleet of heavily armed military helicopters rapidly surrounding the vessel, completely blocking his flight path.
As Su Mu processed the localized energy signatures, the warm smile on his face rapidly vanished, replaced by an absolute, freezing coldness.
A booming voice echoed from a military loudspeaker outside the ship:
"Attention individuals inside the alien vessel! Surrender the Kryptonian ship and stand down immediately! This vessel is classified as military spoils of war! It is now the absolute property of the United States Government!"
Batman and Superman's expressions instantly changed drastically. Even though they hadn't known the "Wanderer" for very long, they had already grasped exactly what kind of entity he was.
Usually, the Wanderer Batman was a relatively polite, even charitable person. (The US Government of the Marvel Universe would be crying tears of blood right now). But he was absolutely not a bleeding-heart saint. He operated on a strict, personal code: Do not provoke me, and I will not provoke you. But the moment someone crossed his absolute bottom line... he would instantly transform into an apocalyptic terror vastly more terrifying than any Kryptonian!
And given his incomprehensible strength, he was a monster whose wrath Earth simply could not survive!
And right now, the actions of the US Government had clearly, violently crossed the Wanderer's absolute bottom line!
(Author's Note: Catwoman - Part 5)
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