Chapter 542: The Blue Beetle's Weakness
Batman's Timely Intervention
Barry rushed to Wonder Woman, who was in a terrible state. Her skin was charred black, her golden armor carbonized, and her bones were broken—she had no intact spot on her body.
"She's finished. She needs emergency treatment."
J'onn and Linda's faces were extremely grave. They wanted to help but couldn't move. The three behemoths wearing the Blue Beetle Scarab Armor were constantly watching them, giving them no space to maneuver.
"Damn it."
Linda clenched her fist, glancing up periodically. Dark clouds were gathering in the clear blue sky, but it wasn't enough. According to Luke's estimation, the Tribulation Cloud (Jieyun) needed to cover at least fifty square miles to possess battle-deciding power.
"Luke, you'd better hurry up!"
Having dealt with Wonder Woman, the clones and behemoths turned their attention, targeting Martian Manhunter. Red light flashed in their eyes, and a devastating aura rushed toward him.
J'onn's body tensed. For the first time, he felt the true fear of death.
Twenty-two Superman clones and thirteen behemoths—their combined heat vision could pierce the Earth, let alone a person. Diana only survived at the cost of her artifacts and was barely hanging on.
J'onn had no magical artifact to protect him. If hit, the only outcome was death.
Two behemoths in Scarab Armor positioned themselves on the left and right, preventing his escape. The situation was dire. Just then, a whooshing sound came from the distance. Three transport planes flew in and dropped dozens of oddly shaped metal canisters.
Boom!
The canisters exploded in the air, spraying a large cloud of black smoke. A gust of wind blew, scattering the smoke. The clones and behemoths didn't know what was happening. As soon as they touched the smoke, they dropped from the sky like startled geese.
Batman flew his fighter jet into the canyon. The forward section of the jet revealed a cannon, unleashing a rain of 20mm armor-piercing rounds laced with Kryptonite elements.
Flashes of fire streaked across the sky. The clones and behemoths couldn't react in time, their bodies pierced by the rounds, gushing blood.
Batman hit the missile button. Three green-glowing Ouroboros Missiles flew out from beneath the wings. Just before impact, they suddenly exploded into countless smaller bombs.
A continuous rumbling sound covered several hundred meters of space.
The three missiles were incredibly powerful, instantly taking down over half the enemies. Bruce was about to continue his assault when a screeching alarm sounded in his ear. Without a second thought, he immediately activated the ejector seat, narrowly avoiding a red energy beam. The fighter jet wasn't so lucky and was cut in half by the beam.
The Scarab-Armor Behemoth turned its head, sweeping the high-temperature beam to the right. Bruce quickly deployed his parachute, landing on the ground. The beam pursued him relentlessly. Wherever it struck, rocks shattered and the earth turned red, taking on the color of molten lava.
Linda snorted and landed a punch of light on the behemoth's head.
"I'm your opponent!"
The girl roared, the phantom of a fierce tiger appearing around her body and pouncing straight at the monster. The behemoth's arm transformed into a metal blade, and it swung at her. Linda didn't dodge. Her right fist glowed with dazzling white light.
Bang!
Fist met blade. The light from her punch surged out, shattering the blade and striking the behemoth's shoulder, making it stagger.
"Die!"
The fierce tiger roared at the sky, clamping its jaws around the behemoth. Linda changed her fist to an open palm. The light suffused from her palm. The seemingly gentle attack contained unimaginable power that erupted the moment it hit the behemoth's chest.
Boom!
A milky-white shockwave exploded in the air. A white column of light pierced the behemoth's body and struck a distant hillside.
Large cracks appeared on the eerie blue armor, and a high-pitched, insect-like shriek of agony echoed in the sky.
"Don't think I don't know the Blue Beetle's weakness!"
The girl attacked again, shattering the armor. She kicked the monster away. Without the Blue Beetle Scarab, the behemoth lost its self-awareness and lay on the ground like a corpse, motionless.
Luthor's mouth twitched at the sight. The Blue Beetle Scarab Armor was not easily acquired. He only had four suits—one for himself, three for the behemoths. He had thought the Parasite-Supermen with the Scarab Armor would be invincible, yet one was being beaten to death.
Linda Danvers!
Luthor gnashed his teeth, recognizing his opponent for the first time. He had misjudged her; the Kryptonian girl was far more than just a lover.
Not just him—everyone else looked shocked and incredulous.
Linda shouted,
"The armor on the behemoths is the Blue Beetle Scarab, a parasitic colonization suit! Besides providing defense, it can transform into various weapons. Its weakness is the spine—that's where the core is!"
As she spoke, she charged toward another Scarab-Armor Behemoth. Before she could get close, red light appeared in her peripheral vision. She quickly dodged as over a dozen light beams swept up and down, constantly shrinking her evasion space.
In the canyon, as the smoke dissipated, the clones and behemoths affected by the Kryptonite powder regained their strength. They hovered in mid-air, firing heat vision. While attacking Linda, they also surrounded the Martian Manhunter. Two of them turned their bodies and rushed toward the nearby Bruce.
The situation instantly reversed.
The enemy had a complete numerical advantage, and the heroes had lost Diana, a key combatant. Of the remaining four, only J'onn and Linda could put up a fight. Bruce and Barry couldn't help much.
Seeing the trouble, Barry quickly scooped up Diana and delivered her to the yacht, then flew rapidly to Bruce, carrying him as he sprinted around.
"Batman, do you have any other weapons?"
"Yes."
Bruce said gravely, "There's a pulse bomb laced with Kryptonite elements in the jet."
A pulse bomb!
Barry's face instantly changed. "No, we can't detonate it! Superman is still down there. If we detonate it, he'll die too!"
Bruce remained silent. Moments later, he pointed toward the hill in front of them.
"Run there!"
Barry spun around without hesitation. Two clones pursued them closely. When they reached the hill, a booming sound echoed. A shockwave laced with Kryptonite dust surged up from below, knocking them both into the air.
Bruce pulled out a handgun and fired rapidly, each shot hitting a vital area.
These bullets were laced with Kryptonite. The clones couldn't withstand them.
Barry's eyes lit up.
"Are there any other traps?"
Bruce shook his head. "Only one chance." Then, he suddenly remembered something. "Luke Shaw? Where is he? Why isn't he here?"
Barry pointed at the dark clouds.
"The Boss is up there, preparing the ultimate magic."
Magic?
Bruce was stunned. "Luke Shaw knows magic?"
"I don't know either. The Boss told us to hold them off for seven minutes. He'll handle the rest."
Bruce was skeptical. He had thoroughly investigated Luke and knew he possessed powerful powered armor technology. Magic, however, was nonsense. That kind of power couldn't be mastered by a twenty-year-old.
As he was thinking, thunder boomed in his ears.
Lightning snakes slithered through the clouds. The oppressive black clouds drooped down. The sunlight vanished, and the land was plunged into darkness, illuminated only by the intermittent flashes of lightning in the oppressive world.
A strong wind howled, creating a mournful sound.
The wind rose, the clouds descended, and the thunder roared. A suffocating sense of pressure radiated from above, as if the gods were looking down upon ants.
Everyone stopped and instinctively looked up. A face, formed by mist, appeared in the lightning-flickering clouds. The face covered half the sky and was so vast, like that of a giant.
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