novelnext Chapter 156 Black Adam vs. Superpower
Chapter 156 Black Adam vs. Superpower
Chapter 156 Black Adam vs. Superpower
Lady Shangdu stayed inside to deal with the remaining food.
Connors entered the hall of the Mysterious House, pretending not to know that the two "Poison Ivy" had switched identities, and placed his hand on Ivy from Earth 0.
The perception brought about by "human limits" made Connors clearly notice that Ivy's body stiffened briefly.
Ivy, disguised as having short hair, looked on with amusement.
Connors, feigning ignorance, said to the "Super Queen":
"Queen, once Madam Shangdu is ready in a few minutes, she can cast a 'ritual spell' on you to block out the heartbeat in your womb, preventing 'Super Overlord' from sensing anything about the child."
"Then you can return to the Justice League's watchtower and await the defeat of the Crime Syndicate."
The "Super Queen" looks exactly like Louise Lane, the reporter from this planet, but due to differences in personality and temperament, she and the reporter can be easily distinguished even when they stand together.
She was unaware of Connors's elaborate scheme, and upon hearing of the failure of the "Criminal Syndicate," she said with a strange expression:
"Judging from the current trend, the crime syndicate is not going to fail."
"The grid tells us that you're the one who got the superheroes into this mess, but now you're saying we'll fail. Are you still trying to maintain your 'hero' persona?"
After Lady Shangdu finished cleaning up the mess, she came out of the room and cast a spell on the "Super Queen":
"Okay, it's been blocked, but it will only last for two days."
At this moment, in the hall, Connors, still displaying a respectful and caring demeanor towards the elderly, addressed Lady Shangdu:
"Thank you for your hard work, Madam."
Lady Shangdu covered her mouth with her hand, concealing the upturned corners of her lips, and said:
"I'm going to my room to rest for a while. You guys continue."
She pretended to yawn and went back into the room.
"Two days is enough, Madam, please rest," Connors said, then answered the "Super Queen's" question, "There's no need for me to intervene; someone else will."
"Grid, have you found the locations of the other Kryptonite?" Superpower asked Grid from somewhere in the sky.
The "grid" inside the watchtower replied:
"One is stationary somewhere, but it is very small; the other is the only one—in the body of the metal man."
"Superb's" eyebrows furrowed:
"The only one? Tell Deathstorm to hurry up with his little experiment."
"Report on the whereabouts of the others."
"Grid" stares at the screen with its green, empty eye sockets, reporting the movements of the other members of the "Criminal Syndicate":
"The Death Storm and the Divine Ring are heading towards Central City to suppress the 'Rogue Gang' rebellion."
"Johnny Express is running on random routes and fighting superhumans who may challenge us, leaving a trail of blood in his wake."
"The ruthless figure is working to 'disrupt' a peace negotiation involving major crime bosses, aimed at addressing the current power outage."
"Super Queen - She went out and fought with "Poison Ivy" to a draw, and is now guarding the masked prisoner. Since Connors has been added to the "Grid's" whitelist, "Night Owl" and "Super Queen," two members of the "Criminal Syndicate" who just met Connors, have not told "Super Overlord" what they did.
However, since most of Superman's abilities are the same as Superman's, he couldn't hide the slightest pause in the Grid's movement.
"Grid, you paused when you were talking about 'Super Queen' and 'Night Owl.' Are you hiding something from me?"
"Grid" answered truthfully:
"Although I am just a computer virus, I am trying to evolve to gain the ability to think and feel. Superb, I yearn to feel something."
His concealment of the "whitelist" Connors and related matters was indeed an exploration of "thinking" and "feeling".
"I allowed you to join the syndicate because you're useful, not because I wanted to know what you were thinking."
"Superpower" ignored "Grid" and brought up the topic for the second time. After he finished speaking, he fell from the sky and hung in front of a building.
The top floor of the building features a large sign that reads "Planet Daily".
The Daily Planet building has not collapsed—most buildings in the Metropolitan area have undergone additional reinforcement.
Inside the building, media professionals working there were hurriedly evacuating to the exits.
"Hurry up and get downstairs out of the city! It would be terrible if that guy who crashed into the Lexcorp building came back!"
Jim Olson, a friend of "Superman" and a reporter for the "Daily Planet," tried his best to calm his panicked colleagues:
"He wouldn't dare! Superman would stop him."
"Superman is dead, and the Justice League is finished. Jim, we should focus on protecting our own lives."
Everyone else left in a hurry, leaving behind a few words, but the editor-in-chief, with his long beard and fashionable haircut, wanted to pull Jim along with him:
"Jim, we need to find Louise and go together!"
"Editor-in-chief, you don't believe this nonsense either, do you?" Jim said, pointing to the screens that were everywhere on their floor.
All the screens displayed the same phrase, "The world belongs to us," while other screens played a loop of footage of Superpower giving a speech to villains in front of the watchtower.
"Of course I believe you, kid." The editor grabbed Jim. "There are no invincible generals in the world. Even Superman has his moments of defeat."
"I've always wondered why no alien lunatic has been able to take him down after all this time?"
Jim pushed his boss away:
"I won't allow you to say that!"
Most of the people inside the building had already left, and it was much quieter than before, with the clicking of typewriters sounding particularly clear.
"Louise?" The editor-in-chief didn't argue with Jim any longer; he went to Louise Lane, who was sitting at her typewriter.
"Quickly! Louise, we have to get out of here!"
Unfortunately, Louise is just like Jim—she doesn't listen to advice.
"No, editor-in-chief. I won't leave until this manuscript is finished."
She was writing a piece about "crime syndicates" and happened to be writing about the part about "only Superman returning to drive away the darkness".
Jim followed the editor-in-chief to Louise's side, and said somewhat dejectedly:
"You don't believe that 'Superman is dead' nonsense either, do you, Miss Lois?"
Louise's typing speed slowed slightly, but her expression remained unwavering:
"Never, Jim."
"Superpower" hovered in front of the "Daily Planet" building. He ignored the people who were leaving in a hurry and instead used his super hearing to identify whether there were any people he knew.
"I want to see just how much this world has diminished in relation to the people I know—"
He has located reporter Jim, who is still inside the building:
"Let's start with you."
The Superpower ignored the glass, electrical circuits, and reinforced concrete, creating a huge hole from the roof all the way down to Jim's doorstep.
"Hello, Jim."
Hearing a voice exactly like "Superman's" and someone coming specifically to find him, Jim's face lit up with joy.
"Superman?"
Louise stopped typing and looked up at Jim.
"Superb" emerged from the dust that had pierced through the floorboards, its "U" logo on its chest standing out prominently.
"He's not Superman," Louise said.
"Superpower" didn't go on a killing spree; he walked up to Jim:
"Tell me, what are you here, Jim? What do you do?"
Jim paused for a moment, then instinctively picked up the camera hanging around his neck:
"I am a journalist, but more often I am a photographer."
He pointed the camera at SuperBeat, reflexively focused, and took a close-up headshot of SuperBeat.
"Superpower" grabbed Jim's arm and, using his height advantage, lifted him off the ground:
"What kind of photos do you usually take? Nude photos of her?"
The only people present were Superpower, Jim, and Lois. The "she" that Superpower was referring to was undoubtedly Lois, who is the wife of "Superman" Clark.
"Superpower" gripped Jim's arm tightly, causing him to scream in pain, and said:
"You secretly took nude photos of Louise, and then slept with her because of them? You cuckolded this so-called 'Superman'?"
In a building not far from the Daily Planet, Black Adam's feet left the ground, and he was about to fly to Superpower's side to fight him.
But the vines broke through the floorboards and bound Black Adam's feet. Connors spoke to him telepathically:
"Don't rush, not now."
Black Adam easily broke free of the vines and turned his gaze to the "Daily Planet".
Jim struggled, but as an ordinary human, he couldn't break free from the Superpower's grip. He was explaining his camerawork duties:
"That's not true! I was taking news photos for the Daily Planet!"
"Let him go!" Louise shouted as she stood up, her voice exactly the same as "Super Queen's".
"Superpower" glanced at Louise and continued speaking to Jim:
"You said you used these hands to take photos for Planet Daily, right?"
With a snap, Jim's camera shattered into pieces, and the SuperBeat threw Jim to the ground.
"Where did that meticulous Jim go? Where did that good-natured guy go, the one who secretly took countless private photos of prominent figures to blackmail them, and who threatened to skin them alive if they didn't cooperate?"
Connors, far away in Detroit, let out a sound and spoke to Black Adam through telepathy:
"When 'Superpower' attacks Louise—the woman next to her—you can go over there. Remember to lose to him."
Black Adam sighed in utter dejection:
"Why didn't I just wipe out the entire crime syndicate? Why go through all this trouble, making me lose to Superman and then have to work with an ordinary person?"
"Besides having a head that's brighter than anyone else's, I don't see what Lex Luthor is capable of doing against the Crime Syndicate."
"Don't talk nonsense and get in the way of my plans, or I'll create a clone that shouts 'Shazam' 24/7," Connors said.
Black Adam:
"..."
Inside the Daily Planet building, Superpower crushed Jim's hand, and after hearing a series of beeps, threw Jim out.
Jim crashed into three or four desks before painfully stopping, curling up on the floor.
"That voice? Oh, you're asking Superman for help, right?"
"Superpower" walked back to Jim and raised a foot to step on his head:
"Unfortunately, no one will come."
As soon as "Superb" finished speaking, a typewriter smashed into the back of his head. Louise Lane shouted angrily:
"Don't touch him!"
Louise's actions successfully diverted the Speedmaster's attention.
"Louise Lane, you share the same name and appearance as 'Super Queen'—but clearly you do not possess the same strength as her."
"Superpower" stared at Louise, his eyes flashing red:
"For years, I've wanted to do something to that Amazon, but for some reason, she won't let me touch her even once."
"However, as for you, Louise—I can vent all my anger towards her on you."
Louise took a step back: "Superman! Superman!"
She screamed as she had when she was in danger before, hoping that another red and blue figure would descend from the sky.
"Superman isn't coming. Nobody's coming." Superman pressed closer to Lois.
"I can't stand it anymore, outsider. I'm going to fucking go for it," Black Adam said sternly.
The "Superpower's" demeanor reminded Black Adam of the puppet government in Kandak that oppressed its people.
Before Connors could answer, Black Adam flew wildly toward the Superpower amidst the lightning and thunder, crashing into it solidly. The two of them flew out of the Daily Planet building together.
The two, one in a blue suit and red cape, and the other in a black suit and gold-trimmed cape, crashed through four or five buildings before Black Adam grabbed Superpower by the collar and slammed him hard to the ground.