"What's going on?"

"Not very well, sir. His cell activity is too high, and his metabolic rate is abnormal, far exceeding the normal human level. We suspect he has been exposed to some kind of radiation..."

"Yes, it is in the universe." Batman said, "Superman described himself as experiencing split personality and cognitive impairment due to age. We once thought it was just because he was hallucinating."

"I'm afraid not." The biologist who was examining Superman said, "We detected abnormal DNA in his body. Superman should have a long lifespan, but due to radiation, some of his cells aged faster, while others were reborn. The two are in a stalemate, keeping Superman in a state where he is neither dead nor awake."

He pondered for a moment, and added: "In fact, according to what you said, it was a miracle that he could hold on until he returned to Earth. This kind of pain is not only physical, but also mental. He has to face his own powerlessness - this is a dilemma for many superheroes."

"It sounds like you know a lot about it." The Flash ran outside the laboratory, took a look, and ran back, leaving only a red glow in the retina of others. "The business card you put in your suit says Red Room Laboratory, headquartered in Detroit."

"Yes." The leader of the scientists put his hands in his white coat, and tried to straighten his chest and look at them straight in the eye. "You have already met Cobweb, he is my son. My name is Silas Stone, and it is a pleasure to meet you."

"Level 9 S.T.A.R. Experimental Facility. You work for the government, responsible for researching and analyzing extraterrestrial intelligent life and scientific technologies that are too dangerous. It seems that Superman has long been on your list."

Moses walked to the edge of the testing platform and stopped.

The system had guaranteed that Superman would be fine, but he was indeed injured and it was uncertain when he would wake up. So in order to save energy, the soul consciousness in this body and the subsystems went into deep sleep - it can be compared to a character going offline in a game. Before, Batman carried Superman back from the transmission channel, and the superheroes tried to stuff Darkseid's clone back home. Later, Cyborg tried his best to detonate the Mother Box to close the channel, and the entire alien invasion of the earth was considered a phased victory.

A day ago, the Avengers organized a post-war summary meeting with the rest of the team. As an official team backed by the government, they have experience in this area. At least when Batman and Green Lantern were arguing, the Avengers sat in a row, looking at these super-powered heroes who took the initiative to stand up when the earth was in danger with a strange and normal look. Even Captain America didn't correct the topic in the first time.

"See, I told you we weren't the only ones like this," Tony said, lifting one leg and waving his hands. "Those government officials who scolded us for not graduating from high school should really see this."

"The next day, the headline in the media was 'Where is society heading in the future when humanity is lost and morality is degraded?'"

"We are not teammates." On the other side of the Avengers, Green Lantern said seriously, "I am responsible for the security of the universe. This one-time cooperation on Earth is enough."

Batman didn't even look up, flipping through the plan on the table and asked Captain America, "Do we still have to name the team ourselves?"

"Give us a better name." Hawkeyes interrupted, "Since the Avengers became known, the number of super villains applying to join us has tripled. I had to explain to them again and again in prison that although we are the Avengers, we are also good people."

“…”

The Sea King said: "I need to manage the ocean. I don't have time to go to the land all the time."

"You can send a fish over to the next meeting."

Green Light: "Did you hear me?"

"Last time you said you wanted to join the Avengers." Moses turned to him and said.

"I didn't! I was just saying why didn't they invite me, it makes no sense!"

"You're still upset about it."

"Anyway, it's better than having a guy who can't do anything on the team." A huge green hand gestured behind Batman, "When Darkseid invades, you will be responsible for bringing Superman back. Stark's robots can do this."

Iron Man was suddenly called: "Thank you?"

He added: "But it's not certain. Superman might beat the clumsy hand into scrap metal in the first place, while Batman is 'Mr. Humanity's Last Line of Defense'."

This meme was created by the media when Superman was controlled by Loki and was killing people in Metropolis. The media used the famous scene of Superman breaking free from magic after the appearance of Batman to hype it up. Strictly speaking, there is no scientific or magical connection between the arrival of the Gotham vigilante and the restoration of consciousness of the son of Krypton, but this does not prevent marketing accounts from writing articles such as "Who is the last line of defense for mankind? ! xxx is only ranked third" to attract attention.

After the Darkseid War, Lois Lane took a close-up of Batman and Superman walking out of the teleportation tunnel. In the front half of the composition, the traveler's cape is triumphant in his sleep, and the girl's sleeping face is sweet and full of attachment. In the back, the heroes are resisting the attack of aliens in blood and fire. The sharp contrast gives the viewer a strong shock, highlighting the meaning of protection and hope, and is accompanied by the words of the famous French poet Arthur Rimbaud in "A Season in Hell":

"Who shall I be hired for? What beast shall I worship? What holy image shall I attack? What hearts shall I break? What lie shall I keep? — With what blood shall I shed?"

Some people speculated that this young female journalist who had won the Pulitzer Prize was making a veiled criticism of Lex Luther, but Louise did not admit it.

Others say that she is mocking those shameless people who only work hard and speculate behind the scenes.

But no matter what, netizens used this widely circulated photo to once again promote the "humanity's last line of defense" meme.

When Tony finished speaking, most people present grinned in understanding.

Wonder Woman raised an eyebrow and said with emotion, "Boys."

The Black Widow across from her shook her head.

"That's enough." Batman interrupted everyone's laughter, "Superman hasn't opened his eyes. It's too early to calculate his contribution now."

“…”

How to kill the game with just one sentence, Batman must have a deep understanding of this.

At least the smiles on the faces of everyone around him disappeared.

The Flash asked worriedly, "When will he regain consciousness? Any idea?"

"SHIELD and STAR Labs have brought together the nation's top medical experts and biologists to examine Superman, but there has been no progress so far."

"I have a suggestion." Iron Man said, "Since our goal is to awaken Superman's consciousness, didn't Loki use the Mother Box to invade his memory before?"

"Loki used magic to assist. And the Mother Box on Earth has been destroyed. Where can we find another one?"

"That's what I want to say." Although Tony Stark's tone was calm, everyone could feel the almost arrogant confidence in his words. It was not the blind naivety of an ignorant person, but the top genius in a certain field looking down on others. Even if he did not actively look down on others, he still had a feeling of "Excuse me, everyone here still needs to make progress." "Do you think I just sat there and listened while that alien was talking nonsense? I cracked and copied some of the mother box data."

Okay, that's very Stark and very Versailles.

The super-technological product created by the new Protoss sounded to him like someone was too lazy to listen to the math teacher in class so he secretly did some exercises and proved the Goldbach conjecture.

"It's not complete, after all, time is limited. But I think if we find a wizard, maybe it can help Superman?"

Moses:"……"

Wait! But Superman is in a power-saving hibernation state now! The reason he can't wake up is because his body is affected by the planet's radiation, and there is a bug in the mismatch between the software and hardware. As long as there is yellow sunlight, maybe he can heal himself after a while.

But if they really found a kind wizard and took the Iron Man version of the Mother Box copy to examine Superman's body, he would probably come to the conclusion that "there is no hope for him and he can go to the ground directly."

Isn't this embarrassing?

Genius is indeed a product of unplanned events.

Even if Batman went from Plan B to Plan Z, it would be hard to predict the development that Tony would give. Gotan Knight himself is equally gifted, and they all understand how much impact this accidental, divinely-blessed flash of inspiration can have on the battle situation.

Conventional combat arrangements never take this into account.

But they do determine the upper limit of success.

After all, the system is not a real computer, and it takes time to switch between different modes. In order to prevent the 'Superman's death' from spreading, Batman had to say: "I think we can..." Take a long-term view.

"——Can you be more cautious?" Dr. Banner looked at Batman and spoke gently, "Cosmic rays are very complicated. We have limited knowledge of alien technology. Superman is still a Kryptonian. Rash treatment may have the opposite effect."

Batman: "You're right."

"Um, do you really think I'm right?"

They looked at each other.

Green Lantern smiled, and patted Batman on the shoulder in front of everyone's horrified gazes: "Superman will be fine. Even if Luther goes to hell a hundred times, he will definitely be alive. Besides, man, it seems that you still have your sanity, which is good."

"Thank you for not taking me for a fool," Batman replied grimly.

**

Back in the day, the Green Lantern, who was honest but said he didn't, suggested that they just call themselves the 'Big Seven', but everyone opposed it. The application form was still blank, and everyone finally decided to wait until Superman woke up.

It was said that SHIELD had indeed contacted a trustworthy wizard, who was on his way. Moses also gave Zatanna Zatara's contact information back, as connections were like trump cards, and one could never have too many.

It seemed that without realizing it, Batman's group activities suddenly became more frequent. Today was the day to visit Superman. Lois had just come over, but she was too busy. She only talked for a few minutes before leaving in a hurry. Before leaving, Batman stuffed a folded letter into her hand: "This is Clark's stuff."

The reporter was slightly startled.

She carefully opened the seal and took a look, and found that it was actually a commentary on current affairs. Clark Kent analyzed the changes that Superman had brought to the situation between the earth and the universe from a neutral perspective. He was objective and sincere, but also had sharp views. His words were experienced and to the point. It was a masterpiece that Perry would hang in his office and praise loudly.

Louise felt both amused and sad: "...a press release? When did he write it?"

"I guess he was on his way back. You know he was the person involved and could fully imagine the social reaction and attention he would receive after his return." Batman replied, "He even asked me if the Daily Planet had fired him."

"Almost," Louise said, "but this article was enough for Perry to give him another month off. Clark actually cares so much about this job."

She imagined Superman carrying Alice on his back, hunched over like Clark usually did, with paper on his arm while flying and writing, and she couldn't help laughing.

As she was laughing, her nose got sore and she couldn't smile anymore. After a moment of silence, she said, "I want to help him contact Martha Kent. I took some time to go to the Kansas farm these days. Martha asked me why there was no news about the kid all of a sudden. I told her he was on a business trip. He went to Asia, then the Middle East, and then the Arctic... I showed her the photos I had taken before, but I didn't know if the old lady would believe it."

"She does. She doesn't know who Superman is either."

"Or-Who is Superman?"

The title placed at the end is more important.

But even if people know that Superman is Clark Kent, how do they know who Clark is?

Clark may be the child of Martha and Jonathan, Clark may be Lana Lang's friend, Clark may be Lois' friend or lover... Different people in different worlds know Clark. When people say Superman is Clark, they suddenly realize: "I know him! How can he be Superman?"

The fact is, a person truly lives in this world when we explore his or her relationships.

But the Clark Kent that this world's Lois Lane knows is different.

He is so convinced of his existence that he loves being a reporter more than being Superman, but he has a hard time connecting with anyone. There might be a big memorial for Superman's death, but what about Clark? How many people recognize him and will be sad for his departure?

Louise shuddered at the thought.

Clark has seen too many people love him, but he has never received it. The most terrible pain in the world is that the person you love does not love you.

Therefore, Lois Lane's assistant must be Clark Kent.

There has to be a place for Clark Kent in the Daily Planet.

These two points cannot be changed in any way.

"You've done enough," Batman said.

"No." Louise stuffed the envelope into her bag. "It's not enough. People are not doing enough."

Superman may have tried his best to do as good a job as he does in each parallel universe, but this world is not yet ready to return the kindness.

However, every love should not be let down.

Moses only found out later what Louise had done.

She had made a bet with Lex Luthor that if Superman could bring Alice back safely, Luthor would donate $200 million to the government to sponsor the logistics of the superheroes' operations.

The cause and consequences of this bet have not been fully understood, so I will not mention it for now. At present, after Louise left, the wizard who had been promised to have sex with her finally showed up late.

"Good afternoon." A golden-red fire circle appeared out of nowhere, revealing a silent library, and the person inside walked over slowly. She was wearing a simple turmeric robe, and her tone was elegant and casual. She looked around the laboratory with a smiling look, and finally took a closer look at Batman and Superman lying on the test table. "You can call me Ancient One. I come from Kamar-Taj in the Himalayas. I am a wizard."

"I heard that you took the initiative to contact S.H.I.E.L.D." Moses looked at her calmly, and felt that the mysterious temperament that was hard to imitate was indeed very wizard. At least when he dealt with Zatanna in an accidental action, she gave Batman the feeling that she was more like a magician who could take rabbit ears out of his hat. "Can I ask the reason?"

"Of course." Ancient One responded to his vigilance with a tolerant smile, "I anticipated that Superman might help one of my disciples in the future. In order to repay this kindness, I decided to provide him with as much help as possible. As for the specific things that happened, you will always understand in the future."

Okay.

One of Zatanna's companions once told Moses that you should never try to get an answer from a prophet other than the Riddler. I wonder if he was referring to this situation.

Then again, given Superman's personality, it's not surprising that he would help anyone, and this reason doesn't seem out of place at all.

Batman took two steps back to make way for the testing platform: "Please."

Ancient One walked up to Superman and made some incomprehensible gestures to the silent body. Gradually, her eyes became strange.

Moses' heart sank.

He hoped that this wizard lady had real skills, but he was also worried that she was so powerful that she could see that something was wrong with Superman without relying on the Mother Box - she would not be able to discover the connection between Batman and Superman, nor would she be able to see any signs of soul fusion, because after the system upgrade, the firewall had become conceptual, and even if someone sat on the Mobius chair and asked questions, they would not get the correct answers.

But it would be difficult if Superman couldn't wake up.

"He's fine." Unexpectedly, Gu Yi's answer was very relieved.

"Then why hasn't he woken up yet? Your explanation is different from my father's."

Ancient One thought for a moment and explained, "What I mean is that it is certain that Superman will wake up. But I also think that his current state is hard to call 'alive'. Suppose we fix two points, point A is Superman's current state, and point B is Superman waking up. At present, only these two are certain, but how to get from point A to point B and how long it will take is unknown. There are countless possibilities in between."

"That means Superman could maintain this state for decades or even a hundred years?!"

Gu Yi said: "I suggest that you use scientific means to help his cells and DNA return to normal in the short term. Only then will I have time to figure out whether it was himself or something else that caused him to fall into such a deep sleep."

This seems to provide superheroes with a viable solution that does not require them to continue waiting in vain.

The Flash looked around and pointed to himself: "I think my speed force can do it."