Chapter 115 "Superman Training Plan"

Outside the game, seeing that the plot would not end for a while, Shazan flew out to move a table and a few chairs. They brought the game console from the basement to a relatively dry warehouse and propped up the wooden table on the dirt floor scattered with straw stalks and corn cobs.

"Superman's farm is really nice." The underage hero who has always lived in the city said excitedly, "When I went out just now, I saw two pelicans lying next to the swamp in the north. After seeing me, they wanted to bite off my boots. There is a practical activity report at school next week. Can I write it here?"

The others sat in a circle at the edge of the long table, all looking up at him in unison, their expressions as serious as if they were having a roundtable meeting.

Shazan forgot to close the door, and a free-range goose rushed in recklessly, looked around arrogantly, and said to Shazan, the only one floating in the sky: "Ga!"

People's eyes fell on the goose.

A green hand appeared out of nowhere, grabbed the goose by the neck, threw it out of the warehouse door, and slammed the door shut.

Goose: "Quack, quack!"

Diana threw out the Lasso of Truth, and the handle on the window was pulled down, and the world became quiet.

"Oh." Shazan finally came to his senses, realizing that the short break before he left was over. "What happened? Didn't Superman and Injustice Batman have a good talk just now?"

The Sea King said, "The intermission is over, child. The next turn of events concerns you."

Shazan was puzzled and asked, "What?"

A mouse crawled over in the corner of the warehouse, gnawing at a corn cob. Batman threw a bat dart, and the wild animal that accidentally broke into the temporary meeting room of the Alliance let out a miserable cry and was knocked to the ground by the electric current, as undignified as the fallen subordinate of the Whisperer.

Shazan began to feel that something was wrong. The surroundings were as quiet as a murder scene in the wild, and a "chain saw murder" or "final death" could happen at any time.

Cyborg lowered his head and said, "We are discussing the next option given by the game. You know that Superman has already chosen not to kill twice, Luther and Clowney. The third person is you."

Shazan: "...Seriously?" He was incredulous. "What do I look like with a bald guy and a lunatic?"

After the transformation, the tall and majestic young man raised his hand and touched his hair in disbelief.

Good, his hairline is still healthy.

"It's not a big deal." He put his hands on his hips and walked to the screen and said, "Let me see what the game AI says."

Kryptonian AI: "Of course you can choose not to kill this time, Superman! After all, you let Xiao Chou and Luther go, so how could you kill your own friends? There is no reason, no need, you are a completely decent person, just go down this path to the end, I have nothing to say."

"No more?"

“No more.”

"This is strange." Shazan asked, "Why is its tone different from before? We choose not to kill this time? Superman, what do you think?"

In the game, Superman sat on the edge of a pitch-black cliff. The moonlight was like milk, giving his uniform a silver glow. The sea breeze blew the ends of his black hair. He stared at the sparkling sea surface in a trance. He turned his head when he heard Shazan's words: "I still think there is nothing to discuss."

Even careful discussion is a shame.

Batman outside the game: "I have a guess, but we won't know until we try it."

He chose not to kill.

The screen suddenly went black.

The AI ​​first typed out a cold smiley face, and then the narrative content slowly emerged: "Of course you shouldn't attack Shazan, this is 'correct'. As a player, you also think that you shouldn't force Superman, even if this is the only way to save him..."

"Fuck, is it talking to us? Is this the first time it's acknowledged us?"

The alliance consultant looked gloomy: "Let's keep watching."

"...Friendship is such a complicated thing, isn't it? Anyway, you made a boring decision and wanted to end the war without bloodshed. It wasn't a big problem, you convinced Shazan to help Batman secretly, but you found it difficult to sway others. They stood on the side of the ruling army from beginning to end and agreed with your ideas from the bottom of their hearts. They firmly believed that your actions were correct and were not afraid of the coming war. What's worse is that you are not "crazy" enough to be regarded as a villain, criminal and murderer by everyone. You found that not all ordinary people mind being "dictated", so after you took the initiative to take responsibility for the failure, there will still be people who will take over your banner and stir up disputes in your name."

"The irony is that you feel that these people may not necessarily want to uphold justice by helping you. They only seek power and chaos, and want to take a piece of the world map when the big tree of the Alliance is dead but not stiff. They don't need Superman or the Supreme Councillor. They only use innocent people who can't see the situation clearly, promise them ideals and salvation, and build their own glory and wealth on the corpses of countless people."

"The resistance is powerless. This is not a battle of superheroes, but a vortex within ordinary people. Your failure has just opened a new era filled with blood."

"Ares predicted the possibility of his own comeback through your transformation. He informed Wonder Woman of your contact with the rebels. Diana was extremely disappointed and raised her sword to fight the world until the last moment. The Amazons never surrendered. The battle between Paradise Island and Atlantis lasted throughout the entire era. You watched all this but could not change anything. From the moment you retreated behind the scenes, the former chess player lost the possibility of playing chess again. You can only stand at the forefront of the wave and look down, watching the relationships between people change at an unimaginable speed, the territories intertwined and the boundaries between comrades and opponents blurred."

"You don't know what the point of staying here is. You are sinking in a furnace filled with desires, without hope or truth."

"Congratulations on reaching the finale - 'Twilight of the Age of Gods'. You underestimated the madness of the believers."

“…”

The screen lights up again.

Superman's uniform was still stained with blood, but there were no obvious wounds on his body. He had his black hair tied up in clumps, and the uniform was torn in the middle at the elbow, with uneven cuts. He was suddenly transported to the original login interface and froze in place. After reacting, he relaxed and said, "It's over?"

"yes."

"I need to take a break." The Alliance President wiped his face tiredly. "The AI ​​doesn't let me interfere with the game process. I tried to resist it, but the effect was not ideal."

He lay flat on the green grassland, closed his eyes, and was surrounded by white dandelions.

What exactly did Superman see that led him to decide to confront the game's administrators?

Batman asked, "How do you feel?"

This has become a routine inquiry, making them seem like a group of unskilled psychiatrists, sitting outside the ward and offering a few words of concern to the patients that they are unable to provide.

Clark pushed away the flower that had been tickling the side of his face: "I'm tired and have a headache."

Diana asked, "Can we get into the game, too?"

Superman closed his eyes and smiled: "I think watching is also a battle, Diana, and it is more difficult than participating in it."

The point is, you can't do anything in this process.

Wonder Woman opened her fingers and closed them again. "You're right, Clark. I'm sorry."

Batman: "I think we have found a way to end this coordinate world, and the key lies in Shazan. The options given by AI are very direct and malicious, but they also show its weaknesses. The means it uses to coerce people have not changed from beginning to end, and the last one is its limit - it believes that Shazan's death will make you lose your sanity."

"You sound pretty sure I wouldn't."

"I didn't 'believe' it, you have been 'proving' it all along."

Batman stresses both verbs.

Shazan bared his teeth and said in a light tone, "Brother, you don't think I will stop you from fighting in the game, do you? When I played superhero fan games, I used Superman to beat Batman more than a hundred times, and vice versa, too. Who would take it seriously?"

The Lightning Man: "...You are the first on the achievement list?!"

Hal calmed down beside him and said, "The road is narrow, friend."

"I'm just giving you an example! I play other characters too!"

"No matter what, we've got your back, Blue."

Green Lantern suddenly asked: "What is hope?"

Diana: "Even if I've seen one, two, or three Supermen accidentally go the wrong way, I still believe the next one will be better. And you made me believe this, Clark."

Superman seemed to hold his breath. His chest did not rise or fall. He lay on his back in the virtual, golden sunlight of the game, like a finely carved statue.

After a while he said, "Thank you, I tried my best. I imagined that scene 10,000 times. It's easy, but I still can't do it."

Power is like a nuclear bomb to him.

He stood by this world-destroying weapon, fearing that it would explode accidentally, let alone touch the fuse with his own hands?

Batman: "You have to do it, you are saving yourself, you are helping us, the world needs Superman."

“……”A hint of anger appeared on Superman’s face.

"The Alliance needs you, Clark."

"Please," Shazan also said, "Can I speak for myself? I really don't mind."

"Enough? Can I be alone for a while? I just came back from that universe that you can't see, and now we have to discuss the next leg of the journey?"

The Son of Krypton turned his back to them, trying to cover his ears to block out the sound. His cape lifted up a corner of his forehead and sideburns in a considerate manner, as if to gently rebuke and advise the others.

In fact, he was angry with himself.

"—this is ridiculous."

He murmured.

He has a group of best friends.

His friends advised him to raise the knife and aim it at the neck of his other self in the virtual world.

To sacrifice oneself for a hope.

But why?

When did fate only show people two paths, using the ending to define the entire process of hard work?

He asked himself in his heart: "What else can I do?"

Superman is not God.

"——Be yourself." The system said, "Face it. Don't worry, the game AI is not that powerful."

As it spoke, it silently activated its own countermeasure program.

This is a Trojan virus that hurts the enemy and itself, and is one of the last resorts in a critical moment. The system had never thought of using it: its logic told it that Superman was the best choice at this time. The members of the Justice League would not mind, as long as Superman overcame his bottom line and moral standards, a perfect ending could be easily achieved.

But its emotional module - the cosmic will knows why it is loaded with this thing - tells it: You have to help him, there are some things that are absolutely unacceptable for humans.

Can code codify and prove the existence of love?

The system didn't know, but it did feel a certain power between Superman and his friends.

The Kryptonian AI calls that force 'an encumbrance'.

The system thinks the opposite.

This is the meaning of the universe's restart. It and the superheroes were born to protect.

"I will temporarily confuse the game AI's judgment of your attack level."

The system's sound was mixed with several creaking noises, like the mournful sounds of an old machine.

"Fly, Superman."

——Because the loophole that needs to be filled is in the sky.

You can definitely do it.