The moment Heisenberg stopped probing and got serious about taking down Doomsday, Doomsday's fate was sealed.
The twin chained blades Heisenberg wielded—what he called the Blades of Chaos—whirled like a windmill, slashing into every part of Doomsday. As Diana gazed at him with reverence, that sun-like Heisenberg she spoke of carved Doomsday into no fewer than a hundred thousand pieces!
In that fleeting instant, Heisenberg could see Doomsday's fingers sliced into segments. He could see what little existed of Doomsday's cerebral cortex. He could see Doomsday's three hearts, so unlike a Kryptonian's, and every single blood vessel as well! In less than three seconds, this Doomsday—whose life still couldn't immunize itself against divine metal—completely lost the ability to move.
Shattered. Truly shattered.
So close to Doomsday paste that only a hair's breadth remained.
Yet even reduced to hundreds of thousands of chunks, Doomsday was still trying to recover. Those mangled bits of flesh still possessed a will to draw together. Especially Doomsday's heart, crushed beyond thoroughness—every fragment of myocardium had sprouted tiny linking tendrils of granulation, trying to connect itself to the other pieces.
Seeing that, Heisenberg frowned. Doomsday's vitality far exceeded what he recalled. The thing truly did grow stronger every time it died!
So Heisenberg exhaled a blast of freezing air, flash-freezing all the blood and flesh that had splattered across a radius of over fifteen meters. If Doomsday were still alive, simple freezing wouldn't have solved it. But now it was shattered to this extent; its little flesh tendrils didn't have the strength to burst through a breath of Heisenberg's ice!
In an instant, the cruel frost of deep winter turned the blood that hadn't yet fully scattered into an enormous ice sculpture of gore.
The grisly sight made Batman, watching from afar, draw a deep breath. It left Superman gaping, speechless. Only Diana was unfazed—blood and victory had always been the pursuit of the Amazons, and she wasn't about to think killing an enemy was cruelty.
Amid their varied expressions, Heisenberg lashed out with his chains and dragged the frozen blood-sculpture of Doomsday back into his hand. He stuffed the ice block straight into his pocket, and Doomsday vanished from the face of the Earth.
It was only then that Bruce noticed: Hadn't his spear disappeared the same way?
But considering Heisenberg had just saved the world, and recalling his own purpose in making that spear, and the wound on Superman's face… and then thinking about Superman's relationship with Heisenberg…
Bruce remained silent and stopped dwelling on it. He still had more in reserve anyway. He'd just treat that spear as if it had never existed.
Up in the air, after dealing with Doomsday, Heisenberg mentally issued his system an old task: thoroughly eliminate every last trace of Doomsday.
Heisenberg really didn't like all kinds of artificial humans or clone-type things. If he could help it, he'd never allow any of that messy stuff to appear before him.
…
Meanwhile, inside the Kryptonian ship in the heart of Metropolis, two teams of special forces were conducting an investigation. They quickly found the dead Lex Luthor in the ship's Genesis Chamber. A corpse naturally didn't demand their attention, so they dispatched one man to carry Luthor's body away. The rest, following orders, set about collecting all extraneous material inside the vessel.
The pool in the Genesis Chamber, filled with blood and embryonic fluid, became their best target. They were just about to dredge and sample the pool when, in the next second, that crimson pool suddenly turned crystal clear!
The change stunned the officer in charge. He stared blankly at the now-pure pool for a full dozen seconds. Finally, he had to admit that the promotion he'd been fantasizing about moments ago was probably out of the question.
…
Never mind humanity's disappointment at losing the Doomsday and Kryptonian genetic samples.
After stuffing the half-dead—no, mostly dead—Doomsday into his pocket, Heisenberg took an extra moment to glance at the Kryptonite spear now also tucked away. With that spear in hand, unless Clark could spontaneously evolve into Silver Age Superman, he'd never flip the tables for the rest of his life!
At that thought, Heisenberg smiled with satisfaction, turning his grin toward Clark in the distance.
Beside Diana, when Clark saw Heisenberg's smile—like an elder showing off his strength to a junior—a warmth surged in his heart. He hurriedly returned the smile, gave Heisenberg a thumbs-up, and quietly praised, "Well done, Great-Grandfather!"
Hearing that, Heisenberg beamed even brighter. You really do get bolder the second time around, don't you? In the blink of an eye you can just blurt it out loud, haha!
Still laughing, Heisenberg landed across from the three. With a light pat to his chest, the armor on his body transformed in an instant into a crisp black suit. He'd even thrown on a stylish overcoat! One of the perks of divine artifacts—just like how Thor and Loki could swap outfits at will in the movies. Saved a lot of fuss.
As he took in Heisenberg's clothing, perfectly at home in human society, Batman's mental model of Heisenberg kept revising itself. Who knew what was going on in that head of his? Who could ever decipher Batman's mind? The Joker?
Heisenberg ignored the frowning Bruce and clapped Clark on the shoulder. "Don't be so surprised. There's still plenty you haven't seen. Let's walk and talk."
Saying that, Heisenberg glanced around and casually asked, "Introduce me to a place to eat? I don't have any money on me, so I hope you don't mind treating me to the cuisine of Metropolis, Clark?"
"Huh?" Clark froze, then let out an embarrassed laugh. Instinctively, he shook his head first, then immediately nodded. "I don't have any money on me either. But wait a moment, I'll go home and grab some. My wages went up lately, I've got a bit of savings, I'll be right—"
"Hold on!"
Before Clark could finish, Batman flatly extended a hand, cutting off his intention to leave. He turned to Heisenberg, speaking seriously. "This isn't Metropolis. This is Gotham Harbor—my city! So allow me to play host."
"Whatever you say, whatever you say. Thanks in advance for the hospitality, little bat!"
Heisenberg chuckled and simply fell in behind Bruce. So the group collectively came to a stop beside Bruce's Batplane.
Bruce paused near his damaged Bat-fighter and pressed some mysterious keys on his gauntlet. Moments later, a virtual screen appeared before him, and Bruce spoke to the old man on it. "Alfred, deploy a Bat-transport. I need to recover all equipment on site. Also, prepare dinner tonight. We have guests!"
"Of course, Master Bruce." Hearing Batman's words, Alfred smiled warmly and gave a gentle clap of his hands. "We finally have guests at home again. That's the best news I've heard in nearly ten years. Of course, those uninvited guests you've run into before don't count."
With that, the call ended. Batman lowered his arm and turned back toward Heisenberg and the other two. "Please wait just a moment."
"Mm." The three nodded, then stood waiting silently beside the plane.
The nearby chemical plant was still ablaze, the towering flames casting light over their figures. In the desolate battlefield ruins, four people stood facing each other, motionless… The scene was as eerie as could be.
Finally, the exhilarated Clark couldn't hold back any longer. He'd been through a maelstrom of emotions tonight. First he got beaten by Bruce with Kryptonite, then pummeled by Doomsday, then nuked to dehydration, and finally… he'd gained a Great-Grandfather…
So he looked at Bruce with a hint of curiosity and asked quietly, "Is Batman usually this kind of elusive, coming and going like a ghost, like tonight?"
After speaking, he glanced at Batman's plane, then at Bruce waiting for it. His tone made Bruce inhale deeply through his nose. "Today was special. If it were just me, I'd use…"
"Flying? Since you are a bat," Diana teased with a laugh. The wrinkles on Batman's brow deepened just a little.
He pointed toward a distant motorcycle and tapped his wrist lightly. The motorcycle immediately drove itself over to him, barely making a sound in the process. As he heaved the bike onto the damaged Bat-fighter, he explained, "I usually use a grapple and the motorcycle. The cape's glide function is a good method, too."
"So you really are just an ordinary man—just a very rich one," Diana said, hitting the nail on the head.
Her words made Bruce pause briefly. A moment later, he turned back and nodded at Diana. "An ordinary man doesn't necessarily have to give up on his own heroic endeavors. Justice isn't measured by the size of one's power. You have your abilities, but I have my methods as well."
"That's right," Clark agreed with a nod.
Watching the three of them interact, Heisenberg inserted himself with keen interest, appearing beside Bruce in an instant.
Clap, clap, clap. He patted Bruce's shoulder—ignoring the slightly startled expression on the billionaire's face—and pointed toward the direction of the Batcave. "I hear an engine. Is that your plane over there?"
"What?" Batman looked blankly at the sky. What plane? But then something occurred to him. He hurriedly opened the positioning function on his gauntlet. After a moment, he spotted the location of the plane Alfred had dispatched. Its engines had only just fired up inside the Batcave!
Bruce gazed deeply at Heisenberg. In a mere instant, his long-hidden Batcave had been discovered? But he let the matter drop just as quickly. Since the people present already knew his identity, they'd discover the Batcave sooner or later anyway. Early or late, there was no difference.
Still, even with no difference, Bruce silently resolved: he'd have to renovate his Batcave completely with lead. Thoroughly.
Meanwhile, after teasing Bruce into silence, Heisenberg shifted his attention to Clark. "Right, kid, I still don't know your name. What is it?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Clark was about to answer, but he heard Diana respond on his behalf. "His name is Kal-El. Everyone on Earth knows that."
"I…" Clark frowned. He still preferred his Earth name. But considering Wonder Woman hadn't said anything wrong, and that this Great-Grandfather was a Kryptonian elder, so be it.
"That's right, Great-Grandfather. My name is Kal-El. But I don't usually go by that name. You can call me Clark."
Clark had barely finished speaking—Heisenberg hadn't even made a sound—when Diana eagerly stretched out her right hand. Ever since a new ancient god had appeared on Earth, she could no longer contain her excitement. She tapped lightly on her breastplate, the slight jiggle of two curves accompanying her words as she quietly introduced herself to Heisenberg. "I am Diana Prince, daughter of the Amazons. May I have the honor of knowing your name, Your Radiance, Sun God?"
/-\
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