wjnovel Chapter 318 "I Want to Retire!"
Chapter 318 "I Want to Retire!"
Chapter 318 "I Want to Retire!"
In the Final Crisis comic book storyline, Batman shot Darkseid, severely injuring him, which directly led to Darkseid being killed by the Flash through the Omega Effect and the Black Runner.
—Although the bullets Batman fired were made by Darkseid himself specifically to kill the New Gods, and the prerequisite for the New Gods to die was also met by Darkseid himself.
However, in Chen Tao's previous life, the famous scene of Batman shooting Darkseid was deliberately taken out of context by countless people, becoming "strong evidence" of the infamous rumor that "Batman never uses a gun, but he can kill Darkseid if he picks up a gun." The truth, however, is that it was the Black Runner who actually delivered the final blow.
However, in the Dark Nights: Death Metal comic, the Dark Father who came to the main universe did not unleash that earth-shattering shot. Instead, he modified the gun into a weapon that fired Omega Judgment by calibrating life energy.
According to the Dark Father in the comics, that gun is even more powerful than Darkseid's Omega Judgment. After he calibrated Batman's life energy, the ray it fired would not only send people back to the past, but would also completely erase them from history, making everyone forget the existence of their target, thus carrying out the ultimate annihilation!
Then, after saying that, the Dark Father shot Batman!
Then the main universe Batman, who took a direct hit, was unharmed, dusted himself off, and got up from the ground.
Uh……
The reason was that Batman at that time had already put on the Black Lantern ring and become a corpse, and that gun was only effective against living beings.
But at this moment, Chen Tao could clearly feel that the Dark Father he was synchronizing with was different from the Dark Father in the "Dark Night: Death Metal" comic who had already given his world's superhuman power; the one he was synchronizing with seemed more complete, younger, and at the peak of his power.
It's like someone chose the most opportune moment in the timeline, and copied the Dark Father, his equipment, and a whole bunch of Robin-like creatures that the being regarded as "equipment," like insects in amber. Then, they were gently and thoughtfully made into a "Dark Father Limited Edition Collector's Skin," which Chen Tao is now wearing.
Therefore, if he were to pull the trigger at this moment, what would likely spew out of the muzzle would be the very bullet that Darkseid, the Dark Father of the Universe, created by his own hands to kill the new god.
Chen Tao couldn't be sure if the bullet could really kill the new god. After all, everything in the Dark Multiverse was a projection and degradation of the real universe. Although many things had similar names to those in the real universe, they were mostly monkey versions and gun versions, and their effectiveness was directly reduced by one level.
Even so, Chen Tao conservatively estimated that this bullet would significantly weaken Darkseid.
If we can actually hit the opponent.
Chen Tao maintained a cold and aloof expression on the surface.
That's right, he now wields the Dark Father version of the Gun of the New Gods, and also possesses the radioactive particle bullet that is poisonous to the New Gods.
Both originate from the Dark Universe, crude replicas of the true spear that slayed the New Gods in the Final Crisis universe, but with largely the same effect…
However, there is now a frustrating problem:
Before firing, he had to spend time manually calibrating Darkseid's life energy, which could take anywhere from several hours to several days...
This isn't a problem with the bullets, it's a problem with the gun. This replica gun from the Dark Universe clearly has more limitations than the original.
Obviously, Chen Tao didn't have time to calibrate, but it wasn't a big problem. As long as he fired at Darkseid's head at close range, which he couldn't dodge, the result of calibrating the life energy would be the same.
If Chen Tao really wants to kill someone, this restriction cannot stop him.
But the other problem is much more complicated:
Darkseid's death would create a void in the universe. Even though Chen Tao remained in sync with the Dark Father, accepting Darkseid's anti-life equation and the Omega effect, he didn't care about being corrupted.
Even the Mite of Meditation and this Justice League can't hold on.
Darkseid is like an iron wall that makes up the whole house of the universe. If Chen Tao wants to tear down this wall, he has to build it up himself to support the house of the universe.
The problem is that Chen Tao's own material did not reach the hardness of Darkseid's "steel wall". He only synchronized with the Dark Father through the Alfred Protocol and temporarily reached the hardness of the "steel wall". In reality, he was at most a thin wooden board wall.
Therefore, Chen Tao drew his gun only to force Darkseid to make peace.
There are almost no oaths in this world that cannot be circumvented. For a tyrannical ruler like Darkseid, no amount of oaths forced upon him can compare to the true power that can make him fearful.
Originally, if he hadn't synchronized with the Dark Father, Chen Tao's original plan was to force Darkseid to possess him himself, so that he would become the Lantern Beast's jinchūriki, and then use the Lantern Beast to help him share the pressure of synchronizing with the other Batmen under the Alfred Protocol, and then have a proper fight with Darkseid.
He wasn't worried about not being able to remove the Red Lantern Ring once he put it on. Ordinary creatures would die if they took off the Red Lantern Ring because it would replace their heart and drain all the blood from their bodies. But Chen Tao had already loaded the Batmobile and become the sole representative of the Metal Spirit.
It keeps turning into the Batmobile's body and gushing blood? LOL, there's no blood at all.
Of course, this was just another plan by Chen Tao besides the "Wandering Earth Project," which he had already abandoned after synchronizing with the Dark Father.
So, the fundamental condition for making peace with Darkseid is not that the other party makes any oath, but rather, whether "you," as Batman, have the power to rival Darkseid and make the Dark Lord wary.
In the New 52 Justice League: Origins comic, the Justice League never forced Darkseid to make any oath. However, after defeating Darkseid head-on, Darkseid had never set foot on the planet until he was summoned to Earth by his daughter in The Darkseid War.
therefore……
"This gun can hurt me."
Darkseid sensed the power contained within the gun and bluntly pointed out its weakness.
"But it can't kill me, and it might not even hit me. Do you think you can threaten me with just this thing?"
Despite his tough talk, Darkseid didn't move an inch.
He stared intently at the gun, a chill running down his spine.
Even during his fierce battle with Superman, he didn't suffer any real serious injuries, but the gun gave him a feeling of... extreme danger, even more dangerous than Superman himself.
This is certainly not because the gun is more powerful than the attack of the Supreme Superman, but because the bullet contains radioactive particles that are toxic to the New Gods, making it a weapon specifically designed to increase damage against the Darkseid race.
Although Darkseid did not know which parallel universe version of himself had created the bullet, it did not prevent him from understanding and sensing the danger involved.
"I demand that you never set foot on Earth again," Darkseid heard Batman say.
"I bring you a peace treaty, Darkseid. I'll only count to three. If you don't agree..."
Darkseid met those scarlet eyes.
"That was a fight to the death with no holding back."
"one."
"Your gun is empty."
Darkseid said, "You're bluffing."
His tone was very certain: "The sense of crisis I felt came from that gun, but actually, there were no bullets in that gun. You don't know where you got it from."
Chen Tao remained silent, his two scarlet eyes burning with Omega rays as they stared at each other.
"two."
Chen Tao was ready to charge at Darkseid at any time. Mite and the entire Justice League had held out long enough. He had to end the battle with Darkseid before they were completely unable to continue. Whether it was making peace or murdering him, things had to come to a conclusion and couldn't be delayed.
"three……"
"Stop." Darkseid interrupted Chen Tao before he could finish speaking, and said in a deep voice:
"I have one condition."
"explain."
"Show me your anti-life equation."
Chen Tao became somewhat wary upon hearing Darkseid's words.
His first thought was that Darkseid was himself:
If he were to say such a thing, then it's likely all a trap, and he would...
"There's no trap, Batman. I can tell what you're thinking just by looking at you."
Darkseid's expression remained unchanged, and his tone seemed devoid of any emotion.
"No, no traps. I just wanted to see your Anti-Life Equation. I am Darkseid, a new god, not the despicable Batman."
Chen Tao wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he felt that Darkseid was being sarcastic and unfriendly towards him. However, looking at Darkseid's calm and collected face, Chen Tao wasn't sure if he was just overthinking things.
So he did as instructed.
An anti-life equation, which he attached to the Alfred Ray, spun repeatedly in the sky dozens of times, giving Darkseid a good look before he aimed it at the building next to him and fired.
Darkseid's face lit up with joy as the building collapsed.
He looked at Batman, who was looking puzzled.
The foolish mortal had no idea what he had just seen, nor did he understand what he was controlling.
That is the anti-life equation, the key to his domination over all living beings.
Just now, when Batman showed him the Anti-Life Equation, Darkseid received a prophecy, a prophecy about the Anti-Life Equation, which was clearer and more explicit than his previous prophecy that he only vaguely knew that "the Anti-Life Equation is on Earth".
He... witnessed that war.
That war between the Dark God and the Anti-God.
I am Darkseid, and I am about to make peace with Batman. This is not because I have given up my ideal of ruling all living beings, but because I have received a prophecy.
I witnessed the birth of a new god.
I saw the loss of hope. I saw a king drown. He saw the demise of science and magic. I saw the master who could always escape nowhere to run.
At the heart of it all, I saw an Amazonian woman. Even though I didn't know what she had done, I instinctively knew she was the culprit behind it all, but my gaze never lingered on her.
There is only one thing that can concern me: a god...
The anti-surveillance agent, and what belonged to me, and could only belong to me, within him—
Anti-Life Equation!
The location of the war, as revealed in the prophecy, was Earth.
And the way I joined the war...
The prophecy told me the direction things would take, and even if we didn't conquer the Earth, it revealed to me how to obtain the anti-life equation.
(Note: The prophecy Darkseid saw was part of the DC event "Darkseid Wars," in which the Anti-Monitors, carrying the complete Anti-Life Equation, invaded Earth-3, and Darkseid was summoned to Earth by her daughter Grell to fight the Anti-Monitors.)
"I will no longer attack Earth proactively; there is no longer any need for it."
Chen Tao heard Darkseid say that.
These words set off alarm bells in his head, and he almost rushed forward and pointed the gun at Darkseid's head. Darkseid was forced to lower his hands from behind his back, then waved them repeatedly in front of him, before hurriedly finishing his sentence:
"What I mean is, I agree, I will no longer launch attacks on Earth."
"You also need to break free of your control over Supergirl and Cyborg."
"Absolutely no problem."
Chen Tao looked at Darkseid with a puzzled expression. He didn't quite understand what the other party was up to.
He manipulated the three Mother Boxes he had swallowed, opening a portal connecting to Earth.
He held his gun and cautiously stepped back onto Earth through the portal—to prevent Darkseid from launching a sneak attack, he did not appear directly in Metropolis, but instead chose to land on the moon, so that when he retaliated, he would not have to worry about damaging the surrounding environment.
However, Darkseid did nothing, and all of Chen Tao's preparations were ineffective.
This made him even more confused.
Darkseid followed Chen Tao to the moon.
Chen Tao raised his gun again.
"Relax."
Darkseid said.
He turned his head to look at the beautiful Earth.
Then he reopened the gate to Apokolips.
"here you go."
He said.
It wasn't until several hours later that Chen Tao finally confirmed that Darkseid had actually left.
He immediately deactivated the Dark Father's transformation and excitedly called Alfred.
"Great! I want to retire!"
"Alfred, get in touch with Supergirl for me. Never mind, I'll go find her myself!"
(End of this chapter)