"Is he dead?"
Clark looked somewhat dazed. Why was this completely different from what they had agreed upon?
Darian said with a straight face, "Of course not. I am a superhero, just like Batman in my world. We strictly adhere to the no-kill rule. How could I just kill someone casually? He is simply too tired and fell asleep."
Barry listened from the side, the corners of his eyes twitching incessantly.
Could Batman in your world possibly be a serial killer?
"Is that so?"
Clark had been locked up for too long and lacked much common sense. Seeing how serious Darian sounded, he actually believed it.
That is definitely not how it is!
Barry complained wildly in his heart, but right now there was no time to argue about this.
The other guards had already reacted and raised their guns to fire.
He instantly transformed into a blur and rushed out, knocking everyone down in a jiffy to prevent these people from being lulled to sleep by Darian's gun just like that unlucky fellow earlier.
Just as he finished dealing with this batch of people, Barry's body suddenly went limp. Clutching his head, he collapsed to the ground, letting out a burst of painful wails.
Darian noticed the abnormality and walked over quickly. "What's wrong, Barry?"
Barry gritted his teeth, his voice intermittent. "My memories… those memories from the original timeline are being overwritten by the memories of this timeline."
Hearing this, Darian understood immediately and frowned, saying, "This timeline is gradually assimilating you. Once your memories completely vanish, you will completely become a native of this timeline. By then, the timeline you originally belonged to will likely cease to exist as well."
Although Barry was DC's dedicated reboot button, he, like everyone else, could not escape the fate of being rebooted.
Otherwise, after every reboot, everyone else would switch to new characters and level up from scratch, while Barry alone started at max level. How could anyone else play then?
Barry's face turned pale. "We don't have much time left. We must speed up our actions."
Darian nodded. Guided by Ultron, they brought Clark and crawled out of the underground facility through a sewer.
Outside was the coastline of the new Metropolis, and the sky had turned completely dark.
But just as they walked out a few steps, blinding searchlight beams suddenly lit up all around them.
On the sea surface, several dark-gray military yachts lined up in a row. Every ship was packed with fully armed soldiers, all uniformly wearing battle suits with a distinct high-tech feel, clearly not ordinary troops.
Parked behind the yachts was a large warship, with over a dozen military helicopters hovering overhead. Searchlight beams struck from all directions like a giant net, firmly enclosing the three people who had just crawled out of the underground facility right in the center.
The soldiers raised the firearms in their hands, with over a hundred gun barrels aiming at the three of them simultaneously.
"You have illegally intruded into a federal confidential facility and stolen important government property, constituting a felony that endangers national security! Immediately give up resistance and surrender, otherwise we will take mandatory measures!"
The leading officer shouted through a megaphone, his tone stiff and carrying an unquestionable attitude.
Darian glanced around at this array. Far from being nervous, he instead sneered.
"Since when did Clark become your government property? Furthermore, the technology of the equipment on your bodies should have been stolen from Clark's Krypton spaceship. Don't you guys have any self-awareness about who is stealing whose things?"
"I repeat, immediately give up resistance, otherwise we will take mandatory measures!"
There was not a ripple on the officer's face, as if he hadn't heard Darian's words at all.
Clark and the Krypton spaceship belonged to unowned items; having fallen onto America's turf, they were America's things.
Besides, no one came to claim them at the time, and figuring that nobody wanted them, they picked them up—completely reasonable and fair.
Barry stepped forward, trying to.
"We are saving the world—" But this action was immediately treated as a threat.
The sniper hidden in the dark did not hesitate in the slightest and directly pulled the trigger.
Bang!
A sniper bullet pierced through the night, heading straight toward Barry.
Barry hadn't expected these guys to start shooting at the drop of a hat, and plus, this bullet happened to be in his blind spot, so he didn't have time to activate the Speed Force.
This was a common flaw of speedsters.
They could only defend against anticipated dangers, not unheralded shots from the dark.
Precisely because of this, speedsters frequently died amidst inexplicable sneak attacks, and then were forcibly written off.
Seeing that Barry was about to become the second speedster after Quicksilver to be taken down by a bullet, a translucent armor covered in runes suddenly manifested on his body, blocking that sniper bullet.
Darian shook his head. "Gabriel once wanted the mortal world to become hell so that people would learn humility, but He was clearly wrong. Facts have proven that even when the world is on the verge of collapse, humans remain just as arrogant and conceited."
The amount of information in these words was a bit large.
Hearing this made the officer's heart skip a beat. Suppressing that inexplicable unease, he shouted sternly, "Fire! Open fire immediately!"
Da-da-da-da-da—!
Deafening gunfire suddenly rang out.
All the soldiers fired simultaneously, and the machine cannons on the helicopters also spat out tongues of fire, pouring bullets toward the three like a torrential rain.
Mixed in was the shrieking of bazookas launched, and several rocket-propelled grenades dragging tail flames flew in from different directions, launching a frantic bombardment at the three's location and kicking up large swaths of dust.
But the next moment, a strong wind swept out from the center, instantly blowing away the surrounding smoke and dust.
Everyone looked over and instantly froze in place.
Darian stood there safe and sound.
At this moment, a pure white wing unfolded behind him, and a pale golden halo floated above his head.
Hymns resonated in the ears, and dazzling white light lit up around his body as his entire person slowly rose into mid-air, illuminating the entire coastline brightly.
Amidst the holy halo, a heavenly ladder made of light spread upward behind him, and the Gates of Heaven at the top loomed faintly.
With this styling and these special effects, his identity was already self-evident.
An Angel.
The entire coastline suddenly quieted down.
The soldiers instantly lost their wits, all their movements stopped, and they dared not continue firing.
On American soil, an Angel was the spokesperson of Heaven, backed by the One on the cross. Even atheists had to show three points of awe.
If they offended an Angel, the gates of Heaven would be permanently closed to them.
Although their hands were already stained with blood and going to heaven had a lower probability than winning the lottery, what if?
Barry was equally dumbfounded.
He hadn't expected Darian to actually have this layer of identity.
But why would an Angel kill people? Could it be that Darian really just made them fall asleep?
Recovering from his shock, the officer sneered, "It must be the ability of a superhuman playing ghosts and gods here. It's just an illusion; it can't scare me."
Compared to ethereal beings like Angels, he would rather believe that Darian was a person with superpowers.
Humans were like this—instinctively escaping dangerous things and more willing to believe what they could accept.
"Use the anti-superhuman cannon and take him down for me!"
The officer did not hesitate and immediately issued a new order.
The soldiers hesitated for a moment. Out of absolute obedience to the order, they still operated the anti-superhuman cannon mounted on the warship and aimed the muzzle at Darian.
That thing looked like a small naval gun, with a muzzle thick enough to stuff a person's head into. When charging, it emitted a humming drone, radiating powerful energy fluctuations.
This cannon was a secret weapon specially developed by the government based on Krypton technology to deal with superpowered individuals. Its power was extremely formidable; a single shot could blast even an armored vehicle into smithereens.
Boom!!
The anti-superhuman cannon finished charging, and a blue-white light cluster suddenly burst open at the muzzle. A thick energy beam tore through the air, heading straight for Darian.
"Since you guys cannot learn humility, I will personally teach you how to be humble."
Darian's gaze was cold as the Spear of Longinus materialized out of thin air in his hand.
A massive amount of fear energy poured crazily into the spear body, and golden light rippled across the surface of the spear, growing increasingly intense.
Seeing that the energy beam was already approaching, he raised the Spear of Longinus and slashed downward abruptly toward the front.
In an instant, a dazzling golden blade of light erupted from the tip of the spear, swallowing that blue-white energy beam in a fraction of a second and cleaving straight toward the warship along the sea surface.
The officer turned pale with fright, but before he could do anything, his field of vision was instantly filled with golden light.
Then, there was no then.
The warship was neatly sliced down the middle by that golden blade of light, and the two halves of the hull tilted and capsized to opposite sides.
The remaining momentum of the golden blade of light did not diminish as it continued rushing toward the rear sea surface, actually tearing out a long, narrow ravine. The seawater retreated to both sides, resembling Moses parting the Red Sea.
After quite a while, the sea surface closed back up again, gradually returning to calm.
"Glug!" * N
The surviving soldiers looked at this scene, unable to help swallowing their saliva, and tossed away the firearms in their hands one after another.
There was no stubborn resistance.
They could still tell the difference between fighting for their lives and throwing their lives away.
Darian did not continue attacking.
Standing high above, he looked down at these soldiers who had lost their fighting spirit. "The bell of doom has tolled. If humans do not figure out a way to save themselves, civilization will ultimately perish."
Leaving behind these words, he grabbed Clark and Barry. With a sweep of the wings behind him, the three of them vanished directly into the night sky.
After a long while, someone finally snapped back to their senses and frantically began reporting to their superiors.
The news was passed up layer by layer, and soon reached the hands of the United States Government high-ups.
The White Presidential Suite.
A certain President who liked watching the sea sat before his desk, holding an urgent document, his expression gradually turning dumbfounded.
What on earth?
An Angel descended to the mortal world and even left behind a prophecy of world destruction?
Are you sure this isn't a plot from some sci-fi novel?
But the transmitted video footage confirmed that this was not some outrageous sci-fi plot, but something that had just happened in reality, and they had even lost a warship because of it.
President had the urge to strangle that officer to death.
Although he knew his own people had their death-seeking attributes maxed out, they shouldn't seek death like this.
That was an existence with a circle floating above its head, yet they actually dared to open fire on it.
Being so badass, why didn't you go and strike the One on the cross?
But the officer had already paid a heavy price for his actions, leaving behind only a mess of a situation.
On the surface, there were two major enemies, Wonder Woman and Aquaman, and now they had also offended Darian the Angel.
President felt that his political career was pitch black.
Looking across history, no President was more badass than him.
Just as President was at his wits' end, Darian had already brought Clark and Barry back to Gotham.
Thomas was already waiting at the stronghold, accompanied by a man whose body was almost entirely mechanical.
This person was none other than Cyborg, whose real name was Victor Stone.
He was the spokesperson for flesh is weak, mechanical ascension.
The vast majority of his body had been replaced by machinery, with only a small amount of flesh and blood tissue remaining. His system could access the global military network, and any firewall in front of him was basically like paper, making him a veritable humanoid Skynet.
However, compared to all this, what Darian was more curious about was whether that particular part of his was made of machinery or flesh.
Seeing Darian and the others return, Thomas swept his gaze around, finally resting it on Clark.
"Is this that Superman?"
He had watched Darian's videos, seen the original Clark, and knew just how powerful Superman was.
But the one before him—calling it a skinny dog would even be a compliment.
Darian chuckled. "That's right. Don't underestimate Clark. Putting it this way, once he recharges in the morning, mere Wonder Woman and Aquaman—even if you add them up and include you as well—won't be enough for him to beat single-handedly."
Why include me?
Thomas was somewhat speechless. He pointed at Victor beside him and said, "This is Cyborg. He has already joined the Avengers."
Victor immediately stepped forward and spoke somewhat cautiously, "Hello everyone, my name is Victor Stone. You can just call me Victor."
It was no wonder Victor was so nervous; his system was connected to the military network, synchronizing various top-secret files in real-time, and he already knew what Darian had done in the new Metropolis.
Facing such a powerful existence, Victor dared not put on any airs either.
Darian said cheerfully, "Don't be nervous. Since you've joined the Avengers, you're one of us."
Seeing that Darian was quite easy to talk to, Victor relaxed slightly and couldn't help asking, "Um, excuse me, are you really an Angel?"
Thomas:...
He looked strangely at Victor.
Such a fine person, how did his eyes go blind?
If this guy were an Angel, then hell wouldn't have any wicked ghosts left.
Bam!
Darian kicked Thomas flying with one kick, then turned his head back, looking at Victor with a friendly smile on his face.
"You have a great eye. That's right, as you can see, I am an Angel."
"F....."
Victor held back his retort and asked cautiously, "Um, is that prophecy of yours true? Will this world really be destroyed?"
Thomas hadn't told Victor about the matter of the other timeline.
He only cared about his son; as for whether this timeline would be erased, he didn't care at all.
But others wouldn't think this way.
No matter how terrible this world was, not many people were willing to sacrifice their own world for the sake of another world.
If they told the truth, things might turn out such that others would instead turn around and stop them.
Darian nodded, his expression serious. "Of course, I am not joking. Without intervention, this world will head toward destruction in a very short time."
Victor took a deep breath. "Then what should we do?"
Darian said calmly, "Rest assured, I am here precisely for this. A certain existence does not wish for this world to be destroyed just like that, so it sent me over to handle this matter."
He was talking about the game system, but Victor obviously misunderstood it as another meaning.
A certain existence.
Able to command an Angel to take orders, wouldn't that be...
Victor instantly grew excited.
This was the devil sent by heaven... ah no, the Angel protector! This wave was stable!
Victor suddenly paused, his expression turning somewhat awkward.
"Um, the President just sent me a message saying that he feels deeply apologetic about what happened earlier on the new Metropolis coastline. If there is anything we need help with, just speak up. The government will fully cooperate with our actions to save the world together."
This was the President taking the initiative to show goodwill to Darian.
No other reason, he just wanted to advance too badly; the President also wanted to go to heaven.
Darian wore a look of disgust. "There's really no need. If they meddle, the probability of the world being destroyed will increase by at least 30%."
Victor:....
Too real!
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