Chapter 110 "Superman Training Plan"

"Let's choose the second one." Diana agreed immediately. The others almost felt the kind light of eldership in her eyes - like the grandmother in the hospital who felt sorry for the little boy who didn't want to have surgery. She turned to Batman and said, "We don't need to take risks from the beginning."

The alliance consultant did not comment and said objectively: "It depends on whether you like to eat the sweet first or the bitter first."

Green Lantern suddenly said to Superboy, who had been hiding in the corner without saying a word, "Connor, you can go out and keep Mrs. Kent company. She is also trapped inside the magic and has no idea what is going on here."

"You want to get rid of me?" Connor asked defensively, straightening his back. "Because the next scene is not so all-age?"

"you understand."

"Superman is my father!"

"Because he's your father! And this is the work of the Justice League, you shouldn't get involved."

"I--"

"That's enough." Superman said, "Connor, you are a good boy, go accompany Martha and let her not worry about me. Hal, thank you, I'm fine."

Connor didn't argue, and walked out of the basement with a stern face. Green Lantern took a step back as if he was embarrassed: "I think it's just a game, it's fake anyway, there's no need for everyone to be so serious."

Batman went up and pressed the 'Don't Kill' option: "It doesn't matter. Let's see how it develops next."

People breathed a visibly relieved sigh of relief.

Kryptonian AI's tone was quite regretful: "You find that you still can't do it. The bottom line you have maintained for many years cannot be easily broken. You think you have no right to judge others. It seems that the death of the Flash did not bring much to you, Kal-El. You watched Lex Luthor being taken away, but you know that he can always use money and eloquence to convince the greedy and shameless judicial system of the United States. Sooner or later, he will appear in front of people again without any cost. At that time, every sin he committed will be your responsibility. You feel the condemnation of yourself in your heart, Sanity -10."

"It's distorting the concept!" said the Lightning Man. "Luther went to court more than once, and he was able to escape in the end because he... bribed a lot of people, and those government officials were willing to cooperate with him for the wealth of the Lex Group and his research."

"Then they will be defrauded of everything they have left."

"So what does this have to do with Superman? Don't listen to it, big blue guy."

Superman then turned his head to look at them and said, "Sorry, there was a lot of noise when you were talking just now. I only heard the last sentence of Barry's words."

Batman carefully checked the game console: "The equipment is intact and there was no noise before. Is there anything else that makes you uncomfortable?"

"No." Superman shook his head, "It's just that your voices are occasionally intermittent, just like the signal is bad."

The Dark Knight's cheek twitched, and he pursed his lips before saying, "So this is the consequence of reduced sanity."

"...Actually, I was just thinking," Superman hesitated, "The option of exchanging 5 Sanity Points to return to the time before the Flash died has always been there. Should we give it a try? It can't be worse than it is now."

"That's worse than it is now." Batman looked anxious. When he paused, his back teeth were slightly grinding. "This is the purpose of the game. It tricks us into getting deeper and deeper into the false plot. The interference of the dialogue between the two sides is a precursor - do you care about the Kryptonian AI saying that you are not affected by the death of the Flash?"

Superman: "It seems that you remember it very clearly. This is the key. It's okay to continue, but the longer I stay in the game, the more it will remind me again and again in various ways. You know? My ears are full of the sound of news broadcasts, different reporters reporting in different languages ​​that the president was taken away by the police. If I walk on the street, everyone, every newspaper, and every screen is talking about the same thing. I go to work at the Daily Planet, and Perry might ask me to write a detailed analysis report-"

In an instant, the controlled emotions broke through the dam, bringing about a terrifying sense of immersion.

He closed his eyes and calmed down for a moment. When he spoke again, his tone was calm again: "I can't guarantee that I can concentrate, Bruce, and the same goes for you."

"Listen to Superman." Steel said, "He is the person involved."

A cute little smiley face appeared on the screen: "Deal done. Sanity -5."

Then there is a brief black screen.

A satellite call came in at this moment.

"I heard that you were collectively trapped in a cave in Kansas?" Iron Man's voice came from the Justice League's public communication equipment, "But don't worry, most cities have been taken over by the Avengers, and we have also captured Black Adam for you."

“…”

What is this?

Industry competition within SuperBritish?

Steel Bone took two steps outside and said, "Kansas has only plains, no mountains. But how did you do it? Did Black Adam's magic break?"

"Obviously, we're the more mature team," Tony said without shame. "Black Adam is still being interrogated, but he said he could only remove the magic that trapped you, and as for Superman's, 'higher level'. Yes, those were the only two words he said. Don't super villains have to talk about the basic law to fool people now?"

Steel glanced behind him. "I don't think he's lying, Iron Man. I'm better at data analysis."

"Seriously? I—Hey!" A muffled quarrel sounded from the other side, and then the caller became Captain America, "Hello, Cyborg."

"Hello, nice to meet you, Captain."

"As Iron Man said, we got a lot of information from Black Adam, including the cosmic loophole you are studying and his purpose of trapping Superman inside. He proposed a deal that confused us very much. The Avengers had no reason to agree to it, but since it involves Superman, I think we should consult your opinions first."

"What is it?" asked the steel skeleton.

"He said that if we let him go, he would find a way to erase Superman's memory in the Coordinate Universe and give you a 'normal' Alliance Chairman."

When the half-human, half-machine hero heard this, his artificial eye glowed scarlet.

The alliance consultant came over and held his shoulders: "We refuse."

"Black Adam said it doesn't matter if you don't agree for now, this is a backup option, you will find him eventually."

"--Reject him." Batman repeated again, "I will not agree. No one has the right to tamper with other people's memories at will."

After discussing the arrangement of the Avengers taking over management in the absence of the Justice League, the communication was terminated. The members of the Justice League looked at each other, and Aquaman said, "Does he mean that we can leave now?"

"Yes, but Superman is still trapped in it. I don't think the cosmic hole is his responsibility alone."

"Second. If anyone has urgent business, please leave."

No one moved.

Steel Bone asked, "What does Black Adam mean?"

"I learned from some channels before that the singularity universe represents disorder and chaos." Batman explained to everyone, "The longer you spend in it, the more susceptible you are to it. Unfortunately, the universe's will that spontaneously rebelled in these loopholes combined with the game's AI happens to be able to manipulate time. This may be Black Adam's original purpose. He wanted to degenerate a hero into a crazy criminal."

The girl walked over to the still dark screen and looked at her reflection in the dark. "This is impossible. Superman wouldn't do that, and neither would we."

"Yes, that's what we're here for."

**

"Clark? Clark!" Louise's voice rang in his ears. "Perry asked you to go to his office... Are you okay? I called you several times."

Superman opened his eyes and found himself lying on a notebook in a suit. The female reporter was leaning over his desk, her dark hair hanging on the table. There was a hint of worry between her eyebrows. Two heartbeats came from his body. Is Louise here married? And pregnant?

Their faces were very close, so close that it was a bit rude. Clark didn't think about it carefully, and subconsciously dodged backwards, turned his head to the side and pushed his glasses: "Louise, I'm sorry, you said the editor-in-chief called me? But I suddenly remembered that I left something at home, I have to leave for a while..."

He had to see Lex Luther! As soon as possible!

"Wait, are you still mad about our argument this morning?"

"What—no, no, Louise, it was my fault for asking you to dinner tonight. But I really have something urgent to do—"

He supported himself on the table and jumped over the busy crowd, ignoring their shouts of surprise and rushing out of the office, avoiding the camera's colleagues who ran at high speed. He tore off his tie, then his glasses, suit, and shirt buttons. A huge S-shaped logo appeared on his chest, and he flew into the sky.

He left Perry's curses and Louise's cries behind him. He concentrated on identifying Luther's location. He was not in the White House, but in the Lex Group building. Luther hadn't become president yet? Did that mean he still had a lot of time?

In less than half a minute, Superman landed outside the French window of Luther's office. The chairman of Lex Group seemed to have eyes on his back. He turned around and raised his eyebrows at the same moment Superman stopped moving: "What brings you here, my friend?"

Superman frowned.

Luther's attitude was not right, but he had not figured out what the problem was. He scanned the office with X-rays and found nothing that looked like a nuclear bomb control device. Luther would not keep such a dangerous item close to him, especially since he was not the president yet.

There are so many differences, not just that the Flash is still alive... The Flash?

"Barry?"

He murmured.

With super hearing, he recognized that the Flash here was not the previously deceased Wally West!

Lex didn't hear what he said, nor could he make out the lack of context in his mouth: "What did you say?"

No response.

Superman's super hearing gradually expanded outward from the Flash's Central City, and finally returned to Metropolis. He heard that Lois didn't stay in the office of the Daily Planet for some reason. He heard the female reporter's chest not only her heartbeat, but also the mechanical sound of "tick, tick, tick", like the countdown of some kind of clock. She could still hear the crazy laughter that always sounded in the nightmares of the Gotham people -

"Bang——"

The real scene unfolds before your eyes:

The little clown who kidnapped Louise.

The bomb on Louise was ticking.

The poisonous gas of fear sprayed from Xiao Chou's hands in front of him.

In his hallucination, he saw the Sun of Destruction. He had to kill it. For some reason, this strange monster gave him the fear of death.

"Clark!!" A distant voice came from somewhere, accompanied by the noise of electrical current, like the chirping of cicadas in midsummer, disappearing in the inconspicuous white noise.

He had to kill it. With all his might and without mercy, or he would die. But why? He had never seen the Destroyer, the artifact designed to kill Kryptonians.

The hallucinations brought about by the fear gas faded.

Louise lay in his arms.

He killed it...he killed her?

"Clark! Please! Look back at us!"

The voice rang again, persistent, reassuring and trustworthy, but Superman did not have the time to look away. His eyes were fixed on the picture in front of him, like a sculpture that had completely lost its soul.

Louise's heart stopped beating, and the nuclear bomb tied to her heartbeat exploded.

The destroyed metropolis.

He had to do something... he couldn't go on... why? Louise was dead? She had just gotten married, whose child was she pregnant with?

He didn't want to think seriously. He felt his mind was blank. Chou was laughing in front of him. Batman stood between them: "You can't kill him!!"

"I don't... I don't want to..." He didn't know what his expression was now. He only felt tears welling up in his eyes. He felt like he was begging an unknown existence, but the nightmare did not end. "Don't force me—"

"Clark!!!"

Superman turned around suddenly. His black curly hair was wet with sweat and hung messily on his forehead. His heavy breathing sounded like the roar of a beast that was trapped and refused to give up the struggle.

"You never saw Doomsday. Louise is alive and well. Metropolis is still here—we are still here."

Their voices still carried the crackling sound of electricity, sometimes louder and sometimes weaker in Clark's ears.

But this is the reality.

The Son of Krypton relaxed instantly. He knelt on the ruins with his shoulders slumped forward, looking emaciated but still incredibly handsome, like a god bowing his head, making his companions temporarily unable to bear to look directly at him.

"I know. Sorry, it's my fault. I was too anxious."

After a few seconds, the person in the game stood up, took a breath, looked around, and promised, "There won't be a next time."