17 · Chapter 17
In the center of the Sahara Desert, the sun is scorching. The violent sunlight and scorching temperature almost devour all the moisture in the air.
A city appeared out of thin air in the desert, and with a rumbling sound, it fell to the center of the Sahara Desert.
Atlantis, a kingdom living under the sea, was exposed in the middle of the desert, exposed to the merciless scorching sun.
Fortunately, the dome that enveloped Atlantis served as its protective shield, locking the seawater firmly inside the dome. This prevented the Atlanteans and marine animals from being directly exposed to the desert, ensuring that they would not die from lack of water in a short period of time.
Messiah tore through space and appeared directly above the Sahara Desert.
He quietly looked down at Atlantis below. The kingdom wrapped in the sphere was like a crystal ball, beautiful and fragile.
A fragile toy that breaks at the slightest touch.
Superman floated beside the Messiah, his arms folded as he looked down at his masterpiece, a cold glint in his eyes.
"They forced me to do this." Superman said in a deep voice, "For the sake of peace, we have to make some sacrifices."
Messiah listened to Superman's defense indifferently without any reaction.
"This is a deterrent, a necessary action to deter those who dare to harm others and take lives."
Superman's tone was almost a whisper, as if he was trying to convince himself, or as if he was trying to convince the Messiah.
There was no trace of emotion in Messiah's eyes.
But you told me to cherish life and keep them alive, so everything can be compromised.
Now, we are neither valuing lives nor keeping them alive.
Messiah stared at Atlantis expressionlessly. Under the scorching sun, the water temperature in Atlantis rose rapidly, and some small fish had already turned over.
Pale dead fish floated on the surface of the water in Atlantis, and the panicked Atlanteans screamed non-stop.
The Messiah finally spoke, his voice as clear as spring water, but the words he spoke were completely different.
"Atlantis..." Messiah spoke slowly but clearly, "It's no different from Metropolis."
When Superman sees Atlantis in the present day, doesn't he think of Metropolis?
Messiah thought that Metropolis suffered a catastrophe on an ordinary day, and once he removed the protective shield, Atlantis would also suffer a catastrophe like Metropolis.
The destruction of Metropolis was man-made, and so was the destruction of Atlantis.
Superman looked at Messiah suddenly and said in disbelief: "Are you questioning me?"
"Are you questioning me, Messiah?"
Superman repeated it a second time, his eyes burning with violence.
The Messiah did not reply. He landed on the ground, not caring about the gravel that stained his white shoes.
He walked over to Atlantis and touched the fragile sphere with his fingers, applying pressure carefully.
A small fish happened to swim by, and was attracted by Messiah's fingers. Its snout hit the protective shield, knocking a small hole in the soft protective shield, and touched Messiah's fingertips through the air.
Messiah curled his fingertips and stared at the fish expressionlessly, his eyes cold.
A fragile life on the verge of destruction.
The scorching sun of the Sahara Desert burned Atlantis, the water temperature continued to rise, and the seabed creatures that could not adapt to the high temperature continued to die.
"Messiah!"
Superman fell from the sky shouting the Messiah's name, and tightly grasped the Messiah's shoulders with his hands. The strong force could break steel, but Superman did not restrain himself.
He stared at the Messiah's reflection in the water with cold eyes: "Do you regret it?"
Superman has faced a lot of resistance during this time, from Batman to his parents to the fans who once adored him.
He... doesn't care about these resistances, yes, he doesn't care.
But he couldn't accept that the Messiah had also betrayed him. He thought that as a fellow survivor of Metropolis, the Messiah could understand his thoughts.
Lex didn't witness the destruction of Metropolis with his own eyes, and he has been fully supporting him all along. How could Messiah betray him!
Superman's expression was gloomy: "Batman bewitched you, right?"
"It has nothing to do with Batman." Messiah whispered, "I'm just curious."
The Messiah's voice was dreamy, as if from another dimension: "Cherish life?"
"Atlantis...isn't it life?"
He turned around, his eyes fixed on Superman's face, but he couldn't see a trace of familiarity in Superman.
In fact, compared to the previous Son of Tomorrow, Messiah is more familiar with Superman who went crazy after losing Metropolis.
Messiah himself found it very strange that he thought more about the Son of Tomorrow, whom he had only met twice, than the Supreme Leader, with whom he had spent a longer time.
Superman's voice paused, and he repeated in an elusive tone: "Cherish life?"
"I see." Superman's expression relaxed, a smile returning to his tone. "Does this concern you, Messiah?"
He looked at the Messiah with a smile in his eyes, and his expression softened a lot.
Messiah looked at Superman with clear eyes and said nothing.
But Superman felt that he understood the Messiah's thoughts.
"Messiah...good boy." Superman slowed down his tone. "You have a soft heart and are willing to suffer for Atlantis. That's a good thing."
Superman's look and tone are very similar to the previous Son of Tomorrow.
"but……"
Superman changed his tone: "Sometimes, in order to achieve our goals, we have to pay a price and make sacrifices."
"I also want to cherish the lives of Atlantis, but I want everyone alive even more. You saw that after Atlantis started the war, they killed many people. They took the lives of the people we wanted to protect."
Superman raised his hand and gently stroked Messiah's face, his gentle eyes hiding a cold paranoia: "In order to protect humanity, I can only do this. This is a necessary act to cherish life."
"Besides, aren't they still alive?"
Messiah stared at Superman intently and almost whispered, "Necessary?"
"Yes, it's necessary."
Superman smiled. He wanted to say something more to Messiah, but was interrupted by the Justice League who finally rushed from the Atlantic Ocean to the Sahara Desert.
"Clark!"
Shazam called Superman's name in a complicated tone and hesitated, "I want to talk to you..."
"Billy, don't disturb Superman." The Flash stopped Shazam who was about to step forward and quickly said, "The regime still needs to continue negotiating with Aquaman. You should go back to school."
"But……"
"No buts."
The Flash pushed Shazam, firmly pushing him away from Superman: "You should leave now. If you don't leave now, your teacher will call your parents again."
He is intentionally separating Shazam and Superman.
Superman seemed unaware of the Flash's hidden meaning. He raised his hand to ruffle Messiah's hair and said softly, "Think carefully about what I said. Remember everything about Metropolis, and you will understand me, Messiah."
After confirming that the Messiah only had doubts and did not really want to rebel against him, Superman felt much more relaxed.
The Flash looked at this scene with complicated eyes, and when he met Messiah's clear gaze, he chose silence again.
Messiah nodded slowly, watched Superman leave, and turned back to continue observing Atlantis intently.
He observed the panicked Atlanteans and the dying sea creatures, and through them he saw the shadow of Metropolis.
The last time Messiah observed something so intently was when Superman asked him to observe Metropolis and understand the meaning of life.
What is the meaning of life?
Messiah looked at the pale fish corpse and seemed to understand something.
Perhaps, he knows the meaning of life.
After Superman left, the Flash hesitated for a while, and finally walked over and stopped in front of Atlantis with the Messiah.
The scorching desert sun caused beads of sweat to form on the Flash's forehead. He looked at Atlantis, which was placed in the middle of the Sahara Desert, with complicated eyes, wondering what he was thinking.
"Hi, Messiah." The Flash's voice was soft, as if he was afraid of disturbing anything. "Are you okay?"
Messiah looked at the Flash in confusion, "Huh?"
"...Nothing." The Flash finally said nothing, just said, "I'm sorry."
The Flash didn't know who this sentence was directed to, the Messiah or Atlantis.
Messiah looked at the Flash calmly, his golden eyes as clear as a mirror, allowing the Flash to see his own face in them.
A miserable, cowardly face.
The sound of a circling helicopter was heard, and Messiah subconsciously looked up and saw the logo of a newspaper affiliated with the regime.
He tilted his head slightly and listened to the voices of the whole world.
On the news channel, the female anchor was reporting the news about Atlantis:
[A city from the depths of the sea, a city that has never been illuminated by the sun, has been placed in the center of the hottest desert in the world.]①
The Messiah heard the people's curses and cries of fear.
"Damn it, if the regime hadn't forced Atlantis to surrender, how could Atlantis have invaded us!"
"Putting fish in the middle of the desert is so cruel..."
"This isn't protection, this is massacre! This is massacre!"
"Why are they the two again? Superman and this guy are always involved in this kind of thing...his name is Messiah, right?"
"Cruel, bloody, unprecedented."
Messiah let out a long sigh. He took one last look at Atlantis, then turned and left without hesitation.
Negotiations between Atlantis and the regime continued to advance. After Atlantis was placed in the middle of the Sahara Desert, Aquaman finally chose to surrender and was willing to lead Atlantis to obey the regime's "protection."
Aquaman's figure began to appear frequently in the Hall of Justice, and every time Messiah passed by him, he would receive a look of deep hatred.
From Aquaman, from the Atlanteans.
The Messiah does not care, nor does he care.
But it seemed that because the news directly captured Messiah's face when reporting on the situation in Atlantis, Messiah heard more and more voices cursing him.
The social media account "Messiah" was briefly popular. Some people recognized Messiah's identity, and comments cursing him and the regime appeared one after another under his social media account.
These comments did not disappear immediately, as if someone deliberately wanted Messiah to see them. Every time, these accounts would be banned only after Messiah saw them.
Messiah's emotions became increasingly indifferent, and his cold expression appeared more and more frequently.
Until one day, Superman assigned a mission to Messiah - to wipe out the rebels.
After the Atlantis incident, many people took the initiative to join Batman's camp, and the power of the resistance continued to grow.
"Clear the resistance."
Superman stared at Messiah with an unsure expression and said, "Messiah, you can do this for me and for the regime, right?"
【Author’s words】
①: A line from the original Injustice manga. I feel it's most appropriate to quote it directly here, so I'll mark it.
I feel so depressed because of the seasonal cold. I may not be able to reply to all the comments one by one [heartbroken][heartbroken] but I will read the comments of the little angels.
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