aircannonsinc Chapter 684 The Evil Supreme Batman and Barbatos in a sorry state
Chapter 684 The Evil Supreme Batman and Barbatos in a sorry state
Chapter 684 The Evil Supreme Batman and Barbatos Collude
Clearly, Barbatos cannot enter the main universe, which is why he has to go to great lengths to carry out what he calls the "Descent of the Curtain," transforming the main universe's Batman into a portal.
The stage chosen by the Emperor Joker happens to be within the main universe, thus, although unintentional, the barrier between the material universe and the dark multiverse still prevents Barbatos from truly leaving with Chen Tao and directly storming Earth-1 to rescue William Hand.
Chen Tao also felt that if the Joker was certain that he would arrive late, then the "bomb" he prepared to kill Robin must have been powerful enough; otherwise, his game would just be a joke.
Therefore, if Chen Tao wants to protect Lord Barbatos, he must first solve the problem of the other party entering Earth 1.
Lord Barbatos's opinion on this is:
"Give me the Batman Booth Wayne from the main universe first."
Chen Tao remained silent.
Look, a new trust paradox has emerged.
How can he ensure that Barbatos will still keep his promise and help him rescue William Hand after he gets the Batman of the main universe?
Barbatos was also aware of this problem.
They looked at each other and fell silent for a moment.
"It might be difficult to directly lure the main universe's Batman here," Chen Tao said, carefully choosing his words. "But perhaps I can find a way to get Zul'Ah Batman."
This is a lie. Zul'Ah Batman is just one personality of Bruce Wayne, the Batman of the main universe; he and the main universe Batman are one and the same. If Chen Tao can directly find Zul'Ah, then he can also find the main universe Batman, and vice versa.
Barbatos knew that Batman Dragon didn't trust him, but he didn't say it out loud. They were still cooperating for the time being, so they should both save face for each other and not make things too ugly.
On the matter of his relationship with Batman Dragon, Barbatos suddenly became perceptive again. He nodded, indicating to Batman Dragon that he was listening, and then gestured for Batman Dragon to continue his lie.
Chen Tao skipped over that topic and then said, "Although I can't just bring Batman Bruce Wayne directly to you, I can use the power of the fifth dimension through the Bat Mite to create a new physical body for his other personality, Zul'A Batman, using a rib from Bruce Wayne's original body."
He said, "I summon this body to you, and you can implant your metal into it. When everything is done, we will send Zul'an, Batman, back to the main universe, and then use fifth-dimensional magic to remove the magical effects of the new body I created for him—"
"So, Zul'Ah Batman and his physical body will return to the main universe's Batman Bruce Wayne, becoming one of his ribs, thus bringing those metals to the main universe's Batman?"
"Yes, then your plan has succeeded."
"Are you sure that one rib can hold enough metal? Hmm, it seems like it can."
Barbatos pondered for a while, and he even began to answer his own questions.
Then he began to speak, albeit somewhat slowly:
"Batman Dragon, my newest ally. Let's have an open and honest talk. Although you have offended me in many ways, the price you have offered is indeed irresistible, so let's put our past grievances aside for now."
But besides that, you should know that my request for the main universe's Batman isn't because I'm greedy, but because I need him to complete my plan, and also to complete yours.
Barbatos explained, "Foolish mortal, you only see what I take from you, but you don't see what I give you."
"The positive matter universe so rejects my arrival. As a god of the dark matter universe, entering the positive matter universe is like a meteorite falling into the desert."
For so many years, I've meticulously planned and schemed to gain access, but to no avail. Using Bruce Wayne of the main universe as a gateway is the optimal solution I've arrived at after numerous experiments over the years. Besides this, there truly is no other way for me to interfere with the main universe.
Chen Tao felt a slight unease upon hearing Barbatos's words.
"So, according to you, you absolutely must have this Batman from the main universe, and if you can't get him, you can't interfere with the main universe at all?"
This is the worst-case scenario. If Chen Tao really does what Barbatos wants, it's no longer just a matter of "risking one's life to uphold Barbatos's integrity."
When Barbatos is able to use the main universe's Batman as a gateway, it means that Dark Night Metal will fully erupt, and Barbatos's dormancy will come to an end. Even if Chen Tao rescues William Hand, he doesn't think the Emperor Joker and Brainiac will stop causing trouble.
Chen Tao hadn't forgotten that Brainiac, who had escaped the timeline, was the mastermind behind the Multiverse Fusion event, which would erupt together with the prematurely arriving Dark Night Metal—
Oh, right, there's an even more serious issue: the multi-faceted melting event, which Superman, before the New 52 restart, also participated in, namely P-Super.
He is the Superman before the New 52 Flashpoint event reboot. Simply put, ten years before Dr. Manhattan stole DC, the timeline made an emergency escape, causing the Superman of the main universe to leave the main universe by mistake, just like the owner of a house leaving his own house.
In P52, just as Superman left his home, Dr. Manhattan, like a husky, came and demolished Superman's "home," the main universe, and even stole a portion of the material, "Ten Years of the DC Universe."
The house was automatically rebuilt. When P52 Superman returned home after participating in the Multiverse Convergence event, he found that everything in his house had changed drastically. Everyone he knew had been saved to the upstream of the multiverse, while the house downstream of the multiverse automatically generated a brand new "house" multiverse. Incidentally, a new "owner" was also generated in the house, namely the New 52 Justice League.
By a twist of fate, P52 Superman and his wife and children escaped the reboot of New 52. They were completely bewildered when they saw the young N52 Superman regenerated by the time flow. They thought they had run into some parallel universe, never expecting that their own house had actually been renovated.
So they remained as the sixth member until the DC universe was reborn. The young New 52 Superman died because he was too weak and too young, and the older P52 Superman emerged from the shadows to take over the identity of the main universe's Superman.
If Chen Tao interferes with the multiverse fusion, and if it happens to cause P to become too powerful to return to the main universe in time, it will have a series of impacts on the history of the DC universe's rebirth. Then, the fragile hypertime flow will not match its own logical bugs and will explode again.
The problem is that Chen Tao has already intervened. Brainiac has been fighting with him for so long, and he hasn't intervened yet?
Even if Chen Tao had never met him, many of the more than 3000 heroes that he had coerced into sending to him by using the entire Earth 15 to fight the Anti-Monitor Dragon were already the main force involved in the multi-dimensional integration in the original history.
Chen Tao interfered with their history, and these hidden dangers will eventually erupt in the process of pluralistic integration. Therefore, he is almost certain that without his intervention, the direction of pluralistic integration would inevitably deviate.
Another, more serious problem is that at the end of the multiverse, P52 Superman, Parallax Morhal, the Flash and Supergirl from the Crisis on Infinite Earths era went back in time to prevent the Anti-Monitor from rewriting the outcome of Crisis on Infinite Earths.
This is an event clearly written in the multiverse timeline history where the Anti-Monitor attempted to resurrect from history, leading to the resurrection of The Flash and Supergirl, who were supposed to die in Crisis on Infinite Earths. Although the Anti-Monitor ultimately failed, this event was preserved in the multiverse timeline, becoming part of the restored history.
Therefore, no one can be missing from the personnel team fighting against the anti-surveillance agents.
If Chen Tao's influence on history leads to new changes in this event, wouldn't that make things even worse for the time-travel storyline?
All of this turmoil stemmed from the devastating blow Chen Tao received from the time-traveling flow in an attempt to save his universe. The house, which had had 10 years' worth of load-bearing pillars stolen by Dr. Manhattan, was already a miracle to still stand. Chen Tao then kicked the load-bearing wall, so now he has to clean up his mess.
Chen Tao had already decided that he would ensure the correct historical progression of P52 Superman should the Multiverse Fusion erupt, and that he would also be responsible for resolving the issue of the Anti-Monitor. However, what if Barbatos also prematurely activated Dark Night Metal at that moment…
Chen Tao felt utterly hopeless just thinking about it.
Fortunately, Barbatos reassured him, "No, no, no, I don't plan to invade the main universe so soon. Your help was very timely, but my other preliminary preparations are not yet in place."
Barbatos said, "The amount of water a barrel can hold depends on its shortest stave, and so does my plan. I won't act rashly, even with the portal already in place, until I'm absolutely certain of a successful invasion of the main universe. And don't forget, you promised to help me when I invade the main universe."
"I'll help you invade the main universe, but that doesn't mean I'll help you forever," Chen Tao said.
"I know," Barbatos said. "So we will become enemies, but you will never do anything underhanded while helping me, nor will you leave any loopholes in my plans. Because you are committed to helping me wholeheartedly, not using the opportunity to gather intelligence."
"Yes," Chen Tao said.
Barbatos nodded: "Then I've clearly distinguished between friend and foe. We are still allies. Future battles will not affect our relationship. It's a deal, and we each get what we need."
You provided me with a method to directly implant metal into Batman in the main universe, and you promised to help me for a period of time while I invaded the main universe. I'm returning the favor.
He continued, "As for Batman in the main universe, your plan is perfectly feasible. As long as you put the metal back into the main universe after I implant it, I can open a tiny crack, even through one of Batman's ribs, and thus..."
"Drag Earth 1 into the Dark Multiverse."
Chen Tao was taken aback: "Isn't it about splitting off a portion of the power to enter the positive matter multiverse?"
"No, of course not." Barbatos shook his head and refused: "Even if I choose to do so, the power to enter the main universe is far too little to fulfill my promise to you."
He said, "This is our first collaboration, and I hope we can both maintain the most basic level of integrity."
Chen Tao once wondered if Barbatos had some kind of conspiracy, but no matter how he thought about it, he didn't think there was any room for conspiracy.
Even if Barbatos throws Zul'Ah Batman back into the main universe, so what? Only he has the ability to make Zul'Ah become the main universe Batman's rib again. Just for that, Barbatos has already lost the initiative.
Finally, Chen Tao nodded: "Okay. I agree."
He summoned the bat mites in front of Barbatos.
"Dear hero of justice, Batman, your good friend is at your service." Bat Mite had just finished reciting his entrance animation when he turned his head and saw Barbatos snorting beside him, and immediately gasped:
"Fuck, Barbatos."
"Fuck, bat mite," Barbatos mimicked his tone.
"Say something, Batman! This is Barbatos!" Bat Mite shouted at Chen Tao, pointing at Barbatos.
"Say something, Batman, these are bat mites!" Barbatos added sarcastically.
Helpless, Chen Tao sent Barbatos aside to play, and then explained their current plan to the bat mite, who only had 1% divine power.
The fifth-dimensional being immediately rejected upon hearing Batman's plan: "What? No, Batman Supreme, I can't do that."
He stared at Batman, speechless. "The last time I saw you, you were a righteous hero protecting the world!"
He pointed sharply to the side with his baby-like hand at Barbatos, who was staring with wide, innocent eyes: "What kind of bewitching potion did this evil dragon give you that made you willing to do anything to help him invade the main universe? Tell me!"
"I can't explain it to you clearly, it's a bat mite," Chen Tao said.
Batman calmed down a little, but not completely. He earnestly said to Batman, "We can't work with villains, you understand? This isn't superhero...
"You know I've made my decision."
"It's no use making a decision!" Bat Mite cursed. "The great and brave Bat Mite will never accept the fall of Batman Supreme. He will help Batman Supreme..."
But he didn't have a chance to finish speaking. Chen Tao grabbed his body, and a large amount of fifth-dimensional divine power controlled it, forcibly taking over his body and appearance, leaving only the bat mite shouting and cursing loudly.
"You two wicked scoundrels in cahoots!"
(End of this chapter)