Chapter 1719: S: The Apokolips Event (Twenty-Two)

Batman was startled by this sudden turn of events, and as his mind raced to figure out what was going on, he saw that within the line of sight of the massive warship, the window farthest from the cannons lit up with a small bat symbol with a "whoosh".

Within about half a second, Batman knew what was happening; other details aside, he guessed that Darkseid's fleet was enjoying hot pot and singing songs when, midway, they were hijacked by Gotham villains who had flown into the sky.

Batman's reaction couldn't be slow—he stepped forward, sank his qi into his dantian, and shouted loudly: "Weiman! Stop!"

"Weiman, you really..." Desert Wolf stared, eyes nearly popping out; he wasn't exactly a clever villain, and even if he were, it would be impossible for him to think in such a short time that weak Earthlings could directly hijack the fleet; he thought this was a trap set by Weiman.

Desert Wolf knew that Weiman had always wanted to advance further—he didn't just want to be a lackey under the kind old grandmother, but his superior never vacated a position, so no matter how ambitious he was, he couldn't climb up.

Desert Wolf was never favored by Darkseid and had been sidelined internally, essentially isolated and helpless; taking him out would cost nothing and could clear a path for himself, and Weiman's scheming could be heard by Desert Wolf across several star systems.

Moreover, Batman, Desert Wolf could of course see that Weiman and Batman were of the same type, and Batman was valued by Darkseid far more than Weiman; Darkseid had issued the first order to capture Batman alive, and if Batman truly surrendered and reached Apokolips alive, Darkseid would likely rather break the existing pattern than let Batman parachute in, which would mean even less chance for Weiman to rise.

So Desert Wolf believed that all this was the scheme of that despicable Weiman; earlier, when he had come to Earth in his small spaceship, he had found it strange that Weiman hadn't immediately pursued him—there were plenty of ships in the fleet for rapid maneuvering, so if he wanted to chase, he could have caught up.

Now it seemed everything was his plot: letting himself come to Earth to find Batman, mantis stalks cicada, oriole waits behind; during the fierce battle between himself and Batman's group, he would use the ship's cannons to kill both himself and Batman, then claim they died together, and that wicked old grandmother behind him would surely side with him.

Desert Wolf clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and stared at the ship's porthole hidden in the clouds, then roared: "Weiman! You damned despicable villain, you killed me, and Darkseid Your Majesty will not let you go!!!"

But suddenly he saw a black shadow step forward, blocking half his body behind it; looking closely, it was Batman.

"Weiman, I advise you to think carefully—once you open fire on Earth, you must bear responsibility for your actions."

Facing energy that could destroy him ten million times over, Batman's tone showed not a trace of tremor, still calm and powerful; Desert Wolf stared wide-eyed at him, not understanding where this tiny human got his confidence.

At this moment, a green figure flew in from the horizon—Green Lantern Hal hovered above the heads of the several people, staring fixedly at the warship and said:

"Whoever you are, fall back! If you dare to fire ship-to-surface weapons at the ground, the Green Lantern Corps will have just cause to intervene and defend Earth!"

"Hah, Lantern Corps?" a voice came from within the warship.

The side of the warship suddenly projected a huge image; Weiman stood in the main control room with a cold stare at the people on the ground, and sharp-eyed Batman noticed a barely visible speck of mud on his epaulet, immediately recognizing the identity of Mudface.

But Desert Wolf, facing a life-or-death crisis, lacked such keen observation; Mudface's transformation of Weiman was convincing enough, even his expression matched what he usually saw, so he immediately shouted: "Weiman, you cowardly worm, only daring to show off from behind the warship—the guards on the ship are my men! If you dare to move..."

"Boom! Bang bang!"

Several heavy objects hitting the floor sounded from inside the cabin; Weiman slightly turned his head, disdainfully glanced back at the guards just thrown behind him and tied up, then turned away and fell silent for a moment before, with a cold expression, looking at Desert Wolf and saying: "Desert Wolf, you probably don't know, but back on Apokolips..."

The Mudface playing Weiman instantly felt his calf kicked; Helen beside him squeezed her eyebrows and made a face, mouthing to him: "Don't reminisce, too trendy—just give a sinister laugh and talk conspiracy!"

Weiman cleared his throat, first squeezing out a string of sinister laughs from his throat, then raising his pitch and saying: "Desert Wolf, you idiot, you've been tricked! Once I kill you and Batman together, no one will be able to block my rise under Darkseid Your Majesty's command! Hahahahaha!"

After shouting, the Mudface playing Weiman reluctantly finished the last line with a strained laugh, barely shivered, and the Poison Ivy woman and her group behind him, feeding him lines, all rubbed their arms.

At this moment, Batman stepped forward again and said.

"I know the armies of Apokolips aren't afraid of the Lantern Corps, but if they layer their defenses while your fleet can't break through, when Darkseid asks about guilt, you as commander will bear the brunt."

"Uh..." Weiman seemed choked, he angrily slammed the table and shouted: "You think the mere Green Lantern Corps can defend Earth? You can't stop me for long! Darkseid Your Majesty's invincible fleet can destroy everything!"

Desert Wolf stared fixedly at the projection screen showing Weiman, failing to notice that Superman and Wonder Woman, who had been fighting him back and forth, had vanished; Batman and Weiman continued arguing until he saw two figures appear beneath the cannons.

Superman punched the adjustment components beneath the cannon with a fist—"Boom!"—the support bent; Wonder Woman pressed her hand on the component, divine power spreading at extreme speed across the cannon's surface, then seeping into its interior; the energy gathering at the muzzle was absorbed by Wonder Woman, and the light gradually weakened.

"What? They plan to dismantle the cannon directly?!" Weiman on the screen made a panicked expression, shouting at the side: "Quick, quick, increase output, fire! Fire!!!"

As the command words fell, the cannon, with energy down to less than one percent, fired—a dazzling beam of light shot toward Batman's direction.

In the flash of green light, Green Lantern Hal crossed his arms, and a green lantern shield blocked the cannon's impact; the cannon was not a ground weapon, sacrificing range for penetration, so the green lantern shield almost instantly dimmed.

Green Lantern Hal braced himself against the cannon's impact, turned to Batman and shouted: "His target is you two! Run!!!"

"Leave this." Batman swept his cape, said to Desert Wolf.

"You..." Desert Wolf was about to say something when he saw the energy light in the small gunport beneath the main cannon flash—three lasers swept along the ground, carving deep trenches.

"Sizzle—", a laser beam shot toward Desert Wolf; he violently turned, swung his electric axe to block in front of him, then turned to Batman and said: "You go! I'd rather die than let that despicable Weiman's conspiracy succeed!!!"

"Hmph..."

Batman let out a light hum, leapt smoothly onto the wrecked car's roof, then used the utility pole above where he had tripped to push off, dodging the laser skimming along the ground, then jumped again, dodging another laser.

Desert Wolf, while blocking the laser barrage with his weapon, shouted: "This isn't the main ship—the escort ship's hull isn't strong; as long as I can jump aboard, I can destroy their power systems!!!"

"Boom boom boom!" Again, several grenades arced beautifully toward the ground; after the explosion smoke cleared, Batman flicked his cape, extended a hand, and lightly pressed the button on his gauntlet.

"Whoosh"—the Batmobile shot like a black lightning bolt from the horizon; as Desert Wolf, just risen from the explosion shockwave, turned his head, he saw the swift fighter jet flash overhead.

Batman extended a hand; the grappling hook on his arm shot out, tightly wrapping around the support beneath the fighter's entrance; he was pulled up by the fighter, then the hook retracted, Batman nimbly crouched, and ducked into the fighter from below.

Desert Wolf on the ground bent his knees, leg muscles bulged, roared loudly, and hurled his great axe; after the axe caught the fighter's support, divine chains shot out, grabbing the chain's end, Desert Wolf leapt up, then swung high, adjusted his posture midair, and landed steadily on the fighter's surface.

Batman's voice came from within the fighter: "This ship's grenades have tracking; I must dodge the fire, so you must hold on—thirty-two seconds later we'll break through the missile defense net, you only have one chance to jump, and the fighter will be destroyed."

"What about you?" Desert Wolf gripped the fighter's surface tightly, stared unblinking at the huge escort ship in the sky.

"I'll parachute down, my teammates will meet me below—ready? Accelerate!"

Amidst the vast firepower net of countless missiles trailing flames, the Batmobile weaved left and right; Desert Wolf lowered his body, palms sweating, knowing that this human-made small plane, if hit by a single missile, would have zero chance of survival.

But the Batmobile, like a bird in a storm, traced smooth, graceful arcs in the air; all tracking missiles could only brush past it without scoring a hit.

Another missile grazed Desert Wolf's scalp, dragging his hair behind it in a wild dance; he lowered his body further, but his legs began to power, his gaze swept over the cockpit, and he said quietly: "Darkseid Your Majesty favoring you isn't without reason, huh—too bad we won't have a day working together."

The next second, Desert Wolf leapt high, muscles bulged, divine power surged, his axe glowing with light chopped downward with force; the escort ship's stern, under the strike's massive light arc, shattered instantly.

"Boom——!!!!!!"

Countless fragments exploded like fireworks; Desert Wolf, having expended all his divine power, saw in the gaps between incoming missiles that the missiles tracking the parachuting Batman were all blocked by his three companions.

A bleak smile was his last expression before the explosion; falling from the midst of countless missile blasts, Desert Wolf crashed heavily to the ground, armor shattered, blood surging from his mouth.

As he slowly closed his eyes, he saw a black cloak, matte black boots, stepping slowly from the horizon's edge; Batman half-knelt and helped him up.

"I retract my earlier judgment—Apokolips has true warriors."

Batman's low voice echoed in the smoke-filled ruins; Desert Wolf's chest cavity, accompanied by blood spurting, held a deeper smile.

In the main control room of the fleet's flagship, Helen slammed the table hard, triumphantly shouting: "Look! What's called trendy!"