High above Metropolis, Bruce was piloting the Batwing, engaged in a fierce dogfight with several Kryptonian ships.
Except for Faora, the other Kryptonians had not yet mastered the ability to fly and could only rely on these small ships for interception.
Energy cannons wove a dense net of fire, chasing the Batwing's wake and firing wildly.
Bruce slammed the joystick down, and the Batwing dived rapidly at a near-vertical angle, with two energy beams grazing the cockpit canopy.
He pulled the trigger, using the inertia of the dive—wait, no, the massive cannon under the Batwing quickly charged up. A white energy beam pierced the nearest Kryptonian ship, which exploded in mid-air, its wreckage trailing black smoke as it plummeted.
Before he could celebrate, two energy cannons hit the Batwing's right wing simultaneously.
The fuselage shuddered violently, the fighter began to tilt to the right, and the stall warning buzzer was piercingly loud.
Bruce gripped the joystick tightly with both hands, only just managing to level the nose.
But the Batwing was severely damaged; the hydraulic system was leaking, engine power plummeted, and it could no longer withstand high-intensity maneuvers.
Seeing the remaining Kryptonian ships closing in for a pincer movement, Bruce gritted his teeth, preparing for a desperate fight to the death.
Just then, an incredibly arrogant voice suddenly came from below.
"Who else!?"
The tone carried a natural, punch-me-in-the-face quality.
Upon hearing this voice, the Kryptonian ships that had formed a perimeter suddenly froze.
The next second, they abruptly changed direction, maxed out their engine power, and sped toward the source of the voice without hesitation.
In the blink of an eye, the airspace that had been filled with gunfire became clean, with not a single Kryptonian ship left behind.
Leaving only Bruce sitting in the crumbling Batwing, looking completely bewildered.
What was going on?
Bruce quickly snapped back to reality, not wasting this god-given opportunity, and immediately steered the Batwing toward the world engine.
But as soon as he got close, the Batwing suddenly went out of control; all the readings on the dashboard jumped wildly, and the needles swung back and forth.
Fortunately, Bruce reacted extremely quickly, pulling away and circling the edge of the gravity field, avoiding the fate of crashing.
Bruce frowned and observed for a moment, then contacted Clark through the chat group in his mind.
Superman's Brain: "Clark, a strong gravity field has been generated around the world engine. The fighter cannot get close. We must destroy one of the world engines to cut off the energy circuit, and then the gravity field will disappear."
Superman's Body: "I've run into trouble here. The world engine here is the main device, equipped with a nano-scale automatic counterattack system, and there are two Kryptonian soldiers guarding it. I can't get close."
Superman's Brain: "Time is running out. You must destroy it as soon as possible, otherwise the entire Metropolis will cease to exist."
Superman's Body: "I know, but..."
Superman's Brain: "Oh, right, I think I just saw Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane appear in the center of Metropolis."
Superman's Body: "What!? I'll destroy the world engine now. You get ready on your end!"
Bruce: "AU—ON."
Darian had mentioned this method to him before: as long as it involved Lois, Clark would instantly power up. He had thought the statement was a bit exaggerated at the time, but he hadn't expected the effect to be so immediate.
This was good news for Bruce.
Clark was a top-tier romantic, which meant his bond with Earth was deeper and he wouldn't easily choose his fellow countrymen.
In less than a few minutes, Bruce noticed that the gravity field around the world engine had suddenly disappeared.
Apparently, Clark had succeeded on his end.
But Clark had also lost contact, and it was unclear what his specific situation was.
Bruce had no time to focus on other things. He immediately activated the Batwing's autopilot mode, then walked quickly to the rear cabin to start the Phantom Drive system of Clark's Kryptonian ship.
The Phantom Drive was Kryptonian space jump technology, sharing the same origin as the world engine's energy core, the Phantom Projector. As long as the two collided at high speed, they could generate a micro black hole.
Just as he set the collision course and prepared to eject, something unexpected happened.
The outer wall of the world engine was suddenly smashed open, and a figure jumped out from inside, slamming heavily onto the roof of the Batwing's cockpit, the force so great that the entire fighter sank a notch.
"Don't even think about it, Earthling!"
The person was wearing a silver-gray Kryptonian research suit and was clearly a Kryptonian scientist.
As a scientist, he naturally knew the consequences of the Phantom Drive colliding with the world engine; it would destroy the last hope for the reconstruction of Kryptonian civilization.
Seeing that all the combat personnel had been drawn away, he resolutely stepped forward to intercept the Earthling's evil plan.
"For Kryptonian!"
The Kryptonian scientist shouted loudly, then punched the Batwing.
The titanium alloy canopy of the cockpit instantly caved in, and the metal groaned under the overwhelming pressure.
He had also been exposed to the yellow Sun, and his physical strength far exceeded that of a human. The Batwing could not withstand his offensive at all, and he tore it to pieces in just a few moves.
Bruce's heart sank; he immediately returned to the cockpit, attempting to stabilize the Batwing again.
But the Batwing's damage was too severe, and coupled with the Kryptonian scientist's continuous destruction, the Batwing could no longer maintain its balance. It spun wildly in the air and finally crashed crookedly toward the ground.
Boom!!
Accompanied by a loud bang, the Batwing landed heavily on the ground, with debris scattered everywhere.
Bruce climbed out of the twisted cockpit with difficulty.
Fortunately, the Anti-Superman armor he was wearing was specially designed for super strength, with its defensive and shock-absorption capabilities pushed to the limit, so he hadn't suffered much injury.
He stood up, looked at the shattered Batwing, and his face darkened.
"Now we're in trouble."
"You are indeed in trouble, Earthling."
The Kryptonian scientist also walked out of the cabin, unharmed, and looked at Bruce with cold eyes.
Bruce didn't waste words and flung two batarangs.
One went straight for his face, while the other veered off course, sticking into the ground by the Kryptonian scientist's feet, looking like a shaky throw.
The Kryptonian scientist curled his lips in disdain and raised his hand to catch the batarang aimed at his face steadily.
Zzzzt—!
The batarang exploded in his palm, unleashing a powerful electric current, and blue arcs of electricity spread along his arm to his entire body.
The Kryptonian scientist shivered, but that was all.
However, this batarang was just a feint. The batarang at his feet suddenly exploded, spraying a thick cloud of gas that completely engulfed the Kryptonian scientist, who was distracted by the electric current.
That was Scarecrow's Fear Gas.
For so many years, Bruce had thoroughly researched the core abilities of Gotham's supervillains, such as Scarecrow's Fear Gas formula, Mr. Freeze's cryogenic weapon core, Firefly's combustion device, Bane's super steroid, and so on.
He had studied them all and improved upon them.
Those supervillains had no idea that Bruce was already better at using the skills they were so proud of than they were.
And the effect of this Fear Gas was several times higher than the original; it was a special means specifically designed to deal with Kryptonians.
The Kryptonian scientist subconsciously inhaled the Fear Gas, and despite his tough physique, his consciousness drifted for a moment.
Taking this opportunity, Bruce raised his right arm, and a grappling hook rope shot out from his tactical gauntlet, precisely wrapping around the Kryptonian scientist's neck. He then turned abruptly, his feet firmly planted in the ground, and used the rotational momentum to whip his entire arm around in the air.
Pulled by the rope, the Kryptonian scientist's body left the ground, arced through the air, and slammed heavily onto the ground.
Boom!
The concrete ground cracked, gravel flew, and a shallow pit was smashed out.
Bruce didn't give him a chance to catch his breath.
The rope retracted rapidly, pulling the Kryptonian scientist's neck and dragging him in front of him.
Bruce drove his knee up to pin the opponent's chest, the armor's power system output at maximum, and smashed a heavy fist into the Kryptonian scientist's chin.
For an ordinary person, this punch would have been enough to shatter the jawbone.
The Kryptonian scientist's head only tilted slightly, leaving a shallow red mark.
Bruce didn't stop, raining punch after punch on the Kryptonian scientist's head, focusing his continuous attacks on fragile areas like the eyes, temples, and jaw.
The armor joints emitted a high-pitched whine of overload, with every punch carrying enough force to smash through steel plates.
The Kryptonian scientist felt a slight pain and opened his eyes wide.
The effect of the Fear Gas began to fade.
Kryptonians' metabolic rate far exceeds that of humans; no matter how strong the toxin is, it cannot last long in their bodies, and the time bought by the Fear Gas had come to an end.
The Kryptonian scientist grabbed Bruce's right arm.
Bruce didn't hesitate to activate the discharge device, and the terrifying current was poured directly into the opponent's body, with blue electric arcs crackling.
But it had no effect.
This time, the Kryptonian scientist didn't even shiver.
His body had adapted to this method of attack; the adaptability granted to Kryptonians by the yellow Sun was much faster than Bruce had expected.
The Kryptonian scientist tightened his five fingers.
Bruce's right arm armor emitted a teeth-gritting sound, and five indented finger marks were pinched into the metal shell by hand.
The titanium alloy lining was like a mere decoration in the face of the Kryptonian's grip. Bruce felt his ulna bearing tremendous pressure, and the bone made a faint cracking sound.
The Kryptonian scientist had already flipped up and tossed Bruce away with a backhand.
Bruce crashed into the exterior wall of the building across the street like a cannonball, with red bricks and concrete fragments raining down, embedding him into the wall.
"Cough, cough!"
Despite the protection of the Anti-Superman armor, Bruce had still suffered significant injuries, and he tasted the rusty flavor of blood in his mouth.
Seeing the Kryptonian scientist rushing over again, he ignored the pain and immediately assumed a stance to counterattack.
However, although the Kryptonian scientist was a civil servant, it didn't mean he was powerless.
In fact, scientists were the strongest hidden unit of the Kryptonian.
Back then, General Zod led his soldiers to launch a rebellion on Kryptonian, sweeping through everything until they ran into the Kryptonian Chief Scientist, who was Clark's biological father, Jor-El.
In less than ten seconds, he alone almost wiped out the entire rebel army.
And General Zod, the Chief Warrior of the Kryptonian, was beaten up by Clark's father with his bare hands in a one-on-one fight, without even the ability to resist.
Clark's biological father: "I am just a scientist; I don't have their kind of strength."
This sentence meant that he did not have such weak strength as they did.
As the strongest unit of the Kryptonian, this Kryptonian scientist's strength was naturally not bad. He started with a set of Kryptonian military martial arts, with a speed much faster than a bullet, which had already exceeded the analysis threshold of the Anti-Superman armor.
There was no help for it; when Bruce designed this equipment, his imaginary enemy was Spider-Man.
Moreover, this armor was a semi-finished product that hadn't been tested; who could have imagined it would suddenly be used to fight Kryptonians.
At first, Bruce could still manage to parry the Kryptonian scientist's offensive with his max-level evasion skills.
But facing a Kryptonian who was holding nothing back, he soon fell into a disadvantage and was directly blasted away by the Kryptonian scientist's heat rays.
"It's over, Earthling."
Before Bruce could get up, the Kryptonian scientist had already rushed to his front, lifting his right foot in preparation to step down.
The force of this kick would be enough to crush Bruce's chest.
Just then, a white lightning bolt tore through the air and slammed into the Kryptonian scientist.
Boom!!
The Kryptonian scientist suffered a heavy blow and flew sideways.
Bruce looked up.
Where the Kryptonian scientist had been standing, there was now a masked man wearing a red helmet, elbow pads, and knee pads. His look seemed very simple, and his hands were held in a forward-pushing posture.
The masked man looked at Bruce and said nervously, "Um, I saw he was going to hurt you, so I just gave him a light push."
Bruce: "AU—O."
That's called a light push?
Bruce asked in a low voice, "Who are you?"
The masked man hurriedly said, "I am Barry Allen... oh wait, I am The Flash, that's my code name."
He suddenly realized he had accidentally said his real name and quickly corrected himself.
Bruce: "..."
Was it his imagination, or did it seem like these people with special abilities weren't very bright?
Darian was like this, Clark was like this, and this Barry in front of him was even more so.
Bruce guessed that Barry was likely a super-powered individual who had come to provide help based on that global broadcast from Darian.
In normal times, he would have definitely had a long talk with Barry, squeezed out all the intelligence, and then custom-made a few prevention plans for him as a welcome gift.
But now the situation was urgent, so he didn't have any extra pleasantries. He immediately ran to the crashed Batwing, opened the rear hatch to check the Kryptonian ship inside, and after finding no damage, he felt a little relieved.
Unlike the ships of those Kryptonian soldiers, Clark's Kryptonian ship was more special; only his ship was equipped with the Phantom Drive system.
If it had been damaged, their plan would have effectively failed.
But new problems followed.
Bruce looked serious and contacted Darian in the chat group.
"There's a problem. My fighter has crashed, and there's no way to transport the Kryptonian ship to collide with the world engine."
"Leave it to me."
Soon, Darian replied in the chat group.
Not long after, a figure was seen approaching rapidly from the air, landing directly beside Bruce.
Bruce saw that it was Darian wearing the ultron armor and asked, "What are you planning to do?"
Darian opened his mask, revealing his white teeth: "Have you watched the Avengers? Do you know how Iron Man saved the Earth in the end?"
Bruce raised an eyebrow: "Wait, you aren't planning on..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Darian suddenly bent down, grabbed the bottom of the Kryptonian ship with both hands, exerted a sudden force, and lifted the entire Kryptonian ship onto his head.
Immediately afterward, blue energy jetted from under his feet, and he soared into the sky with the ship, charging straight toward the world engine above.
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