Chapter 3451

Hal took a deep breath, as though it took a great deal of effort to suppress his anger. He raked a hand through his hair and said, "I now need to reorganize the extraterrestrial defense arrangements, and I need an assistant. Arthur, you stay behind. I need to talk to you about the Atlantean students at the Mercury base."

Diana stood up first, followed by Clark, and finally Bruce stood up and pushed his chair in.

The Superman and Batman from the other universe, who had been sitting at the table, were momentarily at a loss, but seeing everyone else stand up and head for the door, they had no choice but to follow.

Even Lex left his office. Before closing the door, he said to Hal inside, "LexCorp is launching three satellites on Monday morning. They are not unidentified flying objects; make sure your subordinates don't shoot them down."

"Got it, I'll tell them," Hal waved him off.

After leaving the office, Lex took a phone call, walking toward the right while talking, looking as though he were off to handle business.

The local Justice League's big three and the visiting Superman and Batman stood in the hallway.

"So where are we going now?" Batman asked. "Do you have any other offices here?"

"What do you intend to do in an office?" Diana countered with a soul-searching question.

"I thought we could discuss something; we always can," Batman said. "Is today's work finished already?"

"You're right about that," Bruce nodded. "It's getting late, we should go watch TV."

"Watch TV?" Superman couldn't help but ask, "You intend to go watch TV?"

But what he actually wanted to ask was: with another pair of dangerous Superman and Batman running wild in the city, and Metropolis likely about to face an alien invasion, your next step is to go watch TV?

Diana looked at Clark, Clark looked at Bruce, and Bruce looked at Diana.

Ten minutes later, the three of them were slumped on the sofa. Diana opened a family-sized bag of potato chips, Clark stirred the ice in his large cup of cola, and Bruce pressed the TV remote.

Batman and Superman sat behind them.

"Did you recall some youthful memories?" Batman turned to ask Superman.

"I absolutely did not recall the time we first went to the movies and you only bought one large bucket of popcorn," Superman replied without looking away.

"That was because there was only one bucket left," Batman raised his voice slightly, though he seemed not to want others to hear, and continued, "I won it from you in rock-paper-scissors, so that bucket belonged to me, but you ended up eating it anyway. Isn't that a beautiful memory?"

"I didn't say it wasn't. Why are you getting so worked up?"

Batman pursed his lips, turned his head back, and fixed his gaze on the television.

Upon seeing the familiar face appear on the screen, Batman couldn't help but curse: "Oh, damn it. Why does this universe have that bastard Steven too?!"

Appearing on the TV screen was a refined-looking middle-aged man wearing slightly exaggerated colorful eyeglass frames, holding forth on an antique vase.

"This guy's hosting ability is a disaster, and he has zero artistic taste. He often praises worthless antiques to the heavens while ignoring true works of art," Batman critiqued.

"Is it just because his comment on a certain oil painting was 'it looks like the tie Bruce Wayne would choose' that you've held such a grudge against him?" Superman exposed him.

"Call me Batman," Batman said sullenly.

Just as he was swirling countless impolite thoughts about the host on the screen, even more impolite words drifted over from the sofa in front.

"Why is this piece of damn dog shit still hosting this show?!" Bruce's tone carried three parts anger and three parts genuine confusion. "He wears eyeglass frames with the worst color coordination of the century, yet he has the nerve to mock my tie?!"

"How long has it been, and you still remember that?" Clark said helplessly.

"His shamelessness left an impression on me," Bruce emphasized, picking up the remote again, switching channels abruptly, and saying, "I'm not contributing to his ratings."

He flipped through several channels, couldn't find anything good, and then suddenly had an idea, entering a channel number.

A news channel appeared on the screen, but there was no host. The camera was pointed straight at a street where a red Chevrolet was speeding, followed by a long line of police cars.

Clark and Diana let out a simultaneous sigh. Diana tossed a potato chip into her mouth and said, "You love watching this."

Clark leaned in a bit closer to check the specific situation written below, and very predictably, it read: "Image source: Cat Getan Traffic News Channel."

Bruce also leaned toward the TV, observed carefully, and said, "None of the tough guys from the Cat Getan Police Department are out. This kid's level today isn't very good."

"Same old story," Diana said, pulling a small ice bucket from under the table. "He definitely won't get away."

Clark put his cola aside and placed his own ice bucket on the table.

Bruce looked left and right, saying, "You're all going all-in? The stakes are pretty high. If you lose, you'll only have room-temperature cola to drink tonight."

Seeing they didn't reply, Bruce also placed his ice bucket on the table and said, "Then I bet he won't get away. This guy clearly lacks the fire."

Then the three of them stared intently at the screen. The red Chevrolet was clearly modified, with very fast straight-line acceleration, and it soon left the police cars behind.

Clark was about to clench his fist, but at the curve ahead, the driver didn't know what he was thinking; instead of slowing down, he tried to drift through the turn. The result was that he outplayed himself.

The car skidded off the road, crashed into the green belt on the side, and thick smoke poured from the rear. The police who followed surrounded him, each holding a semi-automatic rifle. The driver in the cockpit could only run out and lie down obediently.

Bruce and Diana on the other side of the screen immediately turned and high-fived in celebration. Clark sighed and poured all the ice from his bucket into theirs.

He shook the few remaining ice cubes in his cola cup and made a disgusted face; not even a dog would drink room-temperature cola.

Clark's ears twitched, and he glanced at Bruce and Diana, who were discussing the show just now. While they weren't paying attention, he quietly breathed a puff of air into his cola cup.

But he forgot there was another Superman in this room. The Superman sitting behind him immediately nudged Batman with his elbow and said, "He cheated; he used his freeze breath."

Batman looked at the cola cup in his hand, which had no ice, then at the smiling Superman, and pursed his lips.

Turning his gaze back to the TV screen, he suddenly realized a problem. He turned his head to look at the bright, sunny blue sky of Metropolis outside the projection room window, then looked at the watch on his arm.

1:23 PM.

The live broadcast on the screen showed Cat Getan in bright sunshine, not a cloud in the sky.

Am I crazy, or is this world crazy?

Soon, the Cat Getan Traffic News Channel began broadcasting another car chase.

The protagonist this time was much more formidable than the last. Driving a muscle car, he sped down the highway, not recklessly drifting like the previous one, but honestly following racing lines, only accelerating on the straights, and soon left the police far behind, with only helicopters able to track his position.

Compared to Batman, who was always distracted by other thoughts, Superman was more focused on this show. Although this wasn't his first time watching a car chase program, this one was indeed a clash of experts, exceptionally exciting.

Following behind this muscle car were three Dodge Chargers—the standard vehicle of the Cat Getan Police Department. Two cars behind, one in front, speeding down the road with sirens blaring, they actually slowly caught up to the car in front.

Seeing the lead police car about to nudge the tail of the fleeing vehicle, Superman clenched his fists nervously.

But the fleeing vehicle was also very cunning, having discovered the police car's intent. First, it swerved left to avoid the PIT maneuver, then accelerated in a straight line to shake off the police cars behind.

The three people on the sofa let out a simultaneous sigh. That opportunity just now was excellent, and there were no cars in the opposite lane; if the collision had been successful, they should have caught him. This driver was just too cunning.

Afterward, the police cars attempted several more forced stops, but they were either dodged or had little effect. Moreover, after getting close, they discovered that this car had also been modified and likely carried a fuel tank far beyond the norm. Keeping it up like this wasn't a solution.

The helicopter camera captured the officer in the lead police car picking up the radio and saying something. Not long after, a thin golden line appeared in the middle of the road.

At first, Batman thought the live feed was glitching, until the helicopter camera gave a close-up. Batman realized it wasn't; that thin golden line was a ray of golden light.

"The Flash?" Batman called out the name he had deduced, feeling somewhat speechless. Wasn't it said that the Flash was still in college? How did he have time to come over and chase cars?

Despite his doubts about the Flash's appearance, Batman didn't think this would be an effective blockade. Because running faster than the car wasn't enough; what was needed was the ability to stop it without hurting the driver or pedestrians. Was the Flash just going to lay down a spike strip?

But the development of events far exceeded Batman's expectations. Because starting a few seconds ago, the end of that thin golden line began to turn black, as if some terrible curse had entangled it, gradually devouring the golden light.

Accompanied by the police cars slowly decelerating, the fleeing vehicle entangled by the line stopped abruptly, as if that small patch of space had been pressed on pause. Then the car body fell apart, leaving only the driver standing in the autumn wind, shivering.

The police quickly rushed up and pinned him down. The golden line disappeared, never having shown its face from start to finish. But the camera cutting back to the studio confirmed Batman's guess; the host thanked the Flash for his contribution to Cat Getan's public safety.

Well, that's great. Batman thought, the Flash is fighting crime in Cat Getan, while Batman is sitting in front of the TV watching.

When Batman turned his head, his gaze swept past the window. LexCorp's drones were gathering in a swarm, flying toward some unknown direction.

Aliens are about to invade Metropolis, and the person saving the world outside is Lex Luthor.

What? You ask about Superman?

Batman looked down to see the cola cup in his hand frozen solid. And Superman was looking out the window, whistling guiltily.

(End of chapter)

(End of chapter)