wjnovel Chapter 1135 The Death of Dr. Manhattan
Chapter 1135 The Death of Dr. Manhattan
Chapter 1135 The Death of Dr. Manhattan
"Ah, uh—hehe."
The main universe bats did one last practice run to make sure they were on the right track. From the perspective of the Golden Vanguard and the Time Master, it was the present Foolish Owl who personally assigned them the tasks from the past. In other words, the future him tricked the past him, so they didn't feel any psychological burden when they were stealing things.
However, the Foolish Owl still existed for a period of time after the transformation. Therefore, the Batman in the main universe needs to play the Foolish Owl, who has multiple personalities in his mind at the same time. Otherwise, it will be easy to make it inconsistent with the time flow, allowing the Golden Vanguard and the Time Master to see the flaw, which would interfere with history.
Of course, there's another key point:
The foolish owl can laugh.
From Foolish Owl's perspective, it appears to be the Joker's personality acting crazy towards him, but in reality, to others, it's just Foolish Owl laughing and talking to himself.
This was a difficult performance, something Bruce Wayne, the main universe's Batman, had never done before—something so interesting and challenging. Even in this critical situation, it was a rare moment of relaxation for the main universe's Batman, whose nerves were on edge.
Soon enough, at a crucial juncture in the timeline, the main universe's Batman located the Time Master hiding in Pompeii.
"What are you looking at?"
Outside Pompeii, the main universe's Batman and his armor stand beside the Time Master.
The Time Master ignored the main universe Batman who appeared beside him, his gaze lingering on the dusty road outside Pompeii.
"A mistake."
"Ugh, how boring." The main universe Batman imagined how the Joker would speak, then said in a distinctly different voice, "What's wrong?"
"I once saved Pompeii out of pity. You know, that world that was ended in volcanic ash."
The Time Master said, "I was too young then, and only later did I realize what a foolish thing I had done, and how much I had torn the timeline apart. So I had to go back and stop myself from doing all this, thus restoring history to its original state."
"Fortunately, history can still be restored to its original state."
"Yes, Barry Allen wasn't so lucky."
They both knew about the flashpoint.
Barry had told them all.
"Look, that's me."
Bruce watched as a younger-looking Time Master piloted a strange-looking flying vehicle out of a portal amidst the dust beside the ancient road. Immediately following behind was another masked man. The masked man caught up with the younger version of the Time Master riding the flying vehicle and punched him, causing him to fall off the vehicle.
"I had a tooth knocked out and got it filled. Now my teeth still feel sensitive sometimes, but maybe it's just psychological."
"The Time Master commented. Then he added, "I know you're going to ask why I'm not going down to look, because we're currently in an invisible position, while in the woods below stand several versions of myself from different timelines."
You know, sometimes when I'm unsure what to do, I revisit the bad things I've done and how I painstakingly resolved them.
He waved his hand, stopping the main universe's Batman from saying what he was about to say.
"For a long time, I have been running away from my fate. But it seems that it is time to retreat no longer."
The main universe's Batman was baffled. He didn't understand why the Time Master looked so spirited.
Did anyone before him say anything to the Time Master?
"No, that's all. In any case, we should now be at the starting point of the history that is about to begin," said the Time Master. "Perhaps I still need an assistant."
He carefully observed the half of Bruce's face hidden under the owl mask.
"Who could it be? Captain Cold? Black Canary? Or some time traveler? It can't be Barry Allen the Flash, can it? Blue Beetle? Please, no, it can't be Vanguard the Gold."
The judge could have easily concealed Batman's true intentions, but he still gave a slight smirk.
"Oh, damn it, why him?"
More than the Time Master's gloomy face, the main universe's Batman is curious about where the Time Master got the information that he would have a mission from.
"A cycle, my friend, a cycle."
"The Time Master said."
He turned his head and looked down at his masked self, who was dragging his younger self into the treatment pod.
"Ouroboros, or the Möbius strip. We are neither at the beginning nor at the end. We are merely a part of the cycle."
Then he said to the main universe's Batman, "Tell me more. I'll use the memory erasure device to erase what I shouldn't know later."
The Bat Who Laughs can still remember what his clown once said to him.
"I guess I don't really want to kill you. Somewhere deep down, I know that one day you will realize that I am your only source of happiness, and one day you will give everything you have to return to my embrace."
97
The Joker did it. The Joker won.
After realizing the meaninglessness of life, the laughing bat went mad.
He found a new and meaningful direction for himself, and in doing so, he indulged in laughter to alleviate the pain of moving from one meaning to another.
But Batman Dragon returned to him the former meaning he once believed in, which caused the Batman Who Laughs great pain and was the greatest torture for him.
But he still managed to find another meaning in himself after killing the entire bat family.
These two meanings intertwined in his mind, pushing him to this point—
This pushed him close to Dr. Manhattan.
Past, future, present—all things have an end.
We've finally reached this point.
In the past, Doctor Manhattan looked at the Batman Dragon; now, Doctor Manhattan looks at the Batman Who Laughs.
In the future, Dr. Manhattan looks at Superman in the main universe.
"Yes, I finally understand."
Dr. Manhattan said.
He spoke to the Batman Who Laughs, and also to Superman in the main universe during the Doomsday Bell era, saying that although the Doomsday Bell never occurred in the current timeline of the DC multiverse.
He raised his hands as if supporting some heavy object suspended in mid-air. The world trembled, the world during the Doomsday Bell era trembled, Superman's cape fluttered, and the Batman Who Laughs's hairs fluttered as well.
Everything has an end.
The blue light finally began to illuminate.
It illuminated the Odyssey, Luthor, Lois, Batman from the main universe, the Marionettes, and Superman from the main universe during the Doomsday Bell era, and also illuminated the Batman Who Laughs and Chen Tao at this moment.
The entire DC multiverse crumbled under the power of Doctor Manhattan, plunging into darkness and regressing to a state before creation, and then—
It recovered instantly.
Everything was exactly the same as before.
Except for Dr. Manhattan.