19 · Chapter 19
"Superman killed them all because they rebelled against the regime and rallied under the name 'Joker'."
"They didn't know who the Joker was. They just wanted to find a representative figure who could resist the regime. After they knew that the Joker was the culprit who destroyed Metropolis, they immediately chose to give up."
Batman calmly recounts the story: "And then Superman comes in and kills them with his heat vision, kills everybody."
"Perhaps they made a mistake in choosing the wrong spokesperson, 'The Joker,' but they never caused harm to others, and they never even started a rebellion against the regime."
"They were just a group of civilians who didn't want to submit to the regime, but Superman killed them and hid it from you, from the world."
Batman looked at Shazam and Messiah and said in a hoarse voice, "At this point, do you still think Superman is right?"
"If Superman is right, then why would he hide it from you?"
Nothing hidden.
Messiah thought, he knew this.
He knew everything from the beginning to the end. Among the three people present, no one knew what happened better than him.
That was a month ago. Messiah and Superman entered into an invisible cold war because of the Atlantis incident.
Until one night, Messiah heard Superman calling him while he was bored browsing the Gotham forum.
Gotham, a famous place of outlaws, was known as the city of crime before the regime ruled the world.
After the regime took control of the world, Gotham almost became a stronghold of the resistance. Even though the regime sent batch after batch of super-powered soldiers to Gotham, everyone from the official police in Gotham to ordinary passers-by in Gotham were rebelling against the regime.
Therefore, after the regimes around the world controlled speech on the Internet, only the Gotham Forum continued to operate as usual under the protection of unknown people.
Messiah curiously clicked on a post titled [*** regime, *** superman, why ban large gatherings, I ***], and was shocked by the *** all over the screen.
...This is the lively Gotham people.
Messiah's gaze stopped at a reply layer within the post.
[I heard that someone organized a rally in the name of the clown, and anyone who wants to resist the regime can join.]
Before he could even think, he heard Superman's voice calling out to him.
"Messiah, I need you. Come to me."
Messiah was slightly startled. He heard the wailing and screaming beside Superman. Those screams almost pierced Messiah's eardrums.
The last time he heard such screams was after Superman and he moved Atlantis to the middle of the desert.
……what happened?
Is Superman killing people again?
For some reason, when Messiah thought about Superman killing again, he didn't feel any surprise at all, as if Superman killing people was a very common thing.
It is clear that Superman was telling him not long ago to "cherish life and let people live."
Messiah modified the spatial coordinates, crossed the space and came to Superman, and then was stunned.
He stared blankly at the scene before him. The orange-red firelight reflected in Messiah's eyes, dyeing his golden pupils scarlet.
In the small conference hall, flames devoured everything mercilessly. Several charred corpses lay at his feet, and blood was splattered everywhere.
Several corpses showed signs of being swept by the thermal vision, and some even had their skeletons burned directly into skeletons by the thermal vision.
“Help…help.”
Messiah heard a faint cry for help from a blond young man leaning against a shelter, almost fainted by the thick smoke. His voice was very soft, but very clear to the ears of Messiah who possessed super powers.
The same is true for Superman.
Messiah subconsciously wanted to land. He still remembered what Superman once said, "Cherish life and protect humanity."
Even though he had realized something was wrong a long time ago, even though he knew who did it when he saw the traces of thermal vision.
After Messiah arrived, Superman, who had been silent all the time, stopped Messiah.
"No, Messiah." Superman said coldly, "He is a sinner and does not deserve to be saved by you."
Messiah took a deep breath, looked away from the yellow-haired young man whose breath was gradually weakening, and whispered, "I won't."
He can't save, he can only destroy. Even if Superman doesn't say it, he can't save that person.
Superman misunderstood Messiah's words and couldn't help but reveal a satisfied look. The estrangement caused by the cold war with Messiah some time ago seemed to have disappeared.
"That's great, Messiah." Superman put his arm around Messiah's shoulders and said happily, "I knew you would understand."
"Now, I have something for you."
Superman held Messiah's face, his blue eyes full of smiles, and his tone was persuasive: "Can you clean up these sinners for me? Just like cleaning up those criminals in Arkham."
He had seen the scene after Messiah cleared Arkham. There was no trace of action and no remains left at the scene, as if the criminals in Arkham had disappeared out of thin air.
If Superman hadn't been keeping an eye on Messiah the entire time, he would have almost thought that Messiah had secretly transferred the criminals without his knowledge.
And now, this is exactly what he needs, he needs the Messiah to cover up the scene for him.
Messiah looked into Superman's dark eyes, the dark vortex in those blue eyes almost swallowed Messiah and "Superman".
"Why," Messiah heard himself ask, "What sinners are they?"
Superman's smile faded, and his expression darkened again: "They support the Joker! How dare they support the Joker!"
"You know what crimes the Joker has committed, you know, Messiah." Superman's eyes were filled with deep hatred, "The Joker destroyed Metropolis, and they dared to support the Joker!"
"Apart from that?"
Messiah stared at the abruptly stopped Superman without blinking: "No?"
If you support the Joker, and even support him verbally, does that mean you are a sinner who needs to be killed?
He doesn't think he's a sinner.
Messiah didn't notice that there was a hint of disappointment in his eyes when he looked at Superman, but that disappointment was caught by Superman himself.
"It's not my fault, they forced me to do it!" Superman subconsciously defended himself, "You know, the Joker destroyed Metropolis."
But even Superman himself couldn't convince himself with this reason.
But, but if you put yourself in their shoes.
Superman continued to defend himself: "Seeing their so-called so-called so-called, I was very angry, I..."
He was halfway through his words when he suddenly got stuck.
Superman rarely saw obvious emotional fluctuations in the Messiah, and this was the first time. Even during the destruction of Metropolis, the Messiah's emotional fluctuations were not as obvious as this time.
Messiah's disappointed look was like a bucket of cold water poured over Superman's head, instantly waking him up.
Superman's tone changed and became low: "I... I was very sad. They made me very sad, so I lost my mind."
He concealed his inner uneasiness, showed a vulnerable look to Messiah, and said pitifully: "You will help me, right, Messiah?"
The Messiah looked at Superman, not as Superman, but as the Supreme Leader.
"……I can."
Messiah nodded slowly, the emotional fluctuations in his eyes returning to indifference: "I will help you."
The Supreme Leader breathed a sigh of relief, but the uneasiness in his heart reminded him all the time that something was wrong. The Messiah gave him a very strange feeling.
But no matter how he looked at it, the Messiah was still the Messiah, and he was even more obedient to his words than before.
Messiah lowered his eyes to look at the sea of fire below, and stretched out his hand towards the sea of fire with an expressionless face. The firelight reflected in his eyes was like magma at the time of world destruction.
He snapped his fingers lightly.
A warm and holy golden light shone, but it contained a bone-chilling chill.
In just a moment, the flames went out, all the corpses turned to ashes, and then disappeared with the cold wind blowing in from the hole in the venue.
The Supreme Leader smiled with satisfaction and praised Messiah in a gentle voice: "Well done, Messiah."
"I knew you were the only one who could relate to me—after all, we're both survivors of Metropolis."
The Messiah did not speak, but thought coldly, you are a liar, a liar who broke his promise, a liar who has been deceiving me.
He broke his promise to cherish life, broke his promise to protect the people, and deceived me into thinking that life is precious.
The preciousness of life is false, Messiah thought, but what he realized was true.
——Life is fragile and can be destroyed at any time.
Messiah's memory was pulled away from his recollections. He listened to Batman's narration calmly without any surprise on his face, as if he had just heard a story that had nothing to do with him.
"Impossible!" Shazam cried out, "Superman can't do this, he would never kill civilians!"
"He's Superman..."
Batman's gaze lingered on Messiah's face for a long time before he said in a low voice, "...You know."
He didn't expect the Messiah to know, and he didn't expect the Messiah to follow Superman even after knowing this.
Batman realizes that he was wrong about the Messiah.
"Yeah." Messiah nodded, "I know."
Messiah's expression was calm. Neither Shazam's incredulous expression nor Batman's deep breath affected him.
Shazam asked in disbelief, "Why?"
After receiving the Messiah's answer, Shazam finally could no longer deceive himself that this was Batman's lie.
Why would Superman massacre civilians, and why would Messiah conceal it? Aren't they fighting for world peace and to protect the people?
Messiah tilted his head, his eyes as clear as ever: "No reason."
"It's just murder." Messiah said lightly, "No different from before."
Messiah didn't think there was anything wrong with the Supreme Leader killing people. They were just fragile lives that could be destroyed at any time. If he wanted to kill them, he could just kill them. Why bother finding any excuses?
——The lives of civilians, like the lives of the rebels, and like the lives of Atlantis, are equally insignificant and fragile.
The Supreme Leader just did what he always does, why did Shazam react so strongly this time?
"No, it's different!"
Shazam shouted subconsciously, looking at Messiah as if he was looking at a stranger. He wanted to say something, but after meeting Messiah's clear gaze, all his feelings turned into deep sorrow.
"I'm sorry, Messiah." Shazam clenched his fists and said it over and over again, "I'm sorry."
Shazam could only apologize again and again. Apart from that, he didn't know what else he could do.
If he had not retreated, Messiah would not have become what he is now. He clearly saw Superman's control over Messiah and also saw Messiah's confusion, but he chose to believe in Superman.
Messiah tilted his head, "Why are you sorry?"
He didn't understand why Shazam had to apologize. Shazam had said "I'm sorry" to him too many times today, but he didn't think Shazam had done anything wrong to him.
Shazam just said again: "I'm sorry."
In the end, Shazam didn't know whether he was saying sorry to the Messiah or to those who had been hurt by the regime.
Why did things turn out like this?
Shazam doesn't understand. Their starting point was obviously good, and Superman just wanted to bring peace to the world, but why did they fall step by step and become what they are now?
Messiah looked at Shazam in confusion, thinking that Shazam was weird and Batman was weird too.
It's just murder, why do you care so much?
Batman looked deeply at the Messiah and said firmly, "You don't think Superman is wrong."
"Maybe." Messiah shook his head. "It doesn't make sense."
Not to mention that life is just an unimportant thing, for the current Messiah, he doesn't care whether the Supreme Leader is right or wrong.
Just a game character and a game world.
The Messiah is still playing the game and following the Supreme Leader, just for the question he is curious about.
——Superman becomes the supreme leader. Is it because Superman is human or because Superman is not human?
This question is the meaning of his playing the game, and the other Messiahs don't care.
Batman's breath hitched as he realized something from the Messiah's reaction.
"You helped Superman cover up his tracks." Batman gazed deeply at the Messiah. "You helped him clean up those bones."
"Yes."
The Messiah's answer was straightforward, not feeling that there was anything to hide: "Superman called me, and I did it."
"Why are you doing this, Messiah."
Shazam thought almost self-deprecatingly that he seemed to have used up all the disbelief and surprise in his life today, and that nothing would surprise him anymore in the future.
But the next second, Shazam's idea was overturned.
Batman's communicator rang, and that was the most urgent communication signal.
The moment he heard the ringtone, Batman's face changed instantly. He answered the communicator directly regardless of the presence of Shazam and Messiah.
"Bruce, something bad has happened!"
The Oracle's anxious voice rang out: "Superman is going to massacre the city!"
"He's going to massacre Gotham!!"
【Author’s words】
Let's start wrapping up! The first week is coming to an end. It is expected to be released on April 28th and 29th. There will be a 10,000-word update at that time [red heart][red heart]
The specific date depends on whether my cold gets better tomorrow. The low-grade fever debuff has been resolved.
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