Chapter 3464

"This Mr. Kent has not only had his brainwaves disrupted, but his memories have also been tampered with. It was likely a cover-up tactic employed by the mastermind to conceal their tracks," Charles said.

"However, the other party didn't have enough understanding of his brain; the modification and piecing together of his memories were very crude. You could think of it as a poorly executed cut-out job, leaving behind many jagged edges. And within these scattered fragments, I found some suspicious points."

No sooner had he finished speaking than everyone found themselves sitting in a somewhat dim room. Lex was the first to recognize it: this was the safe house beneath the Luthor Group.

He was sitting in a chair, and countless pieces of information flooded into his mind: the breathing and heartbeats nearby, the whispers in the distance, the sound of footsteps even further away, the waves as far as the horizon, the voices on the other side of the Earth, the roar of energy surging in the center of the sun...

This was clearly not something human senses could achieve. With Charles's help, everyone experienced the senses of a Kryptonian. And this was clearly a bit too "overclocked"; Lex felt as though his head were splitting with pain.

But just at that moment, he saw a figure walk up in front of him, looking directly into his eyes.

The figure's outline was completely blurred, like a stranger one had brushed past many years ago, making it impossible to recall any details at all.

But considering they had only just made contact and were so close, and that Superman possessed a super-brain with extraordinary memory, this was clearly irrational. Someone must have deleted the memory of this encounter, and it was very likely this "human" before him.

No, that wasn't right. His extraordinary senses gave Lex another answer—the sound of his heartbeat was wrong, the speed of his blood flow was wrong, the alignment of his muscles, the arrangement of his internal organs, and the way his vocal cords vibrated were all wrong.

He was not human.

The moment he arrived at this answer, Lex suddenly sobered up. He felt he had broken out in a cold sweat, and when he looked to the side, except for the other two Kryptonians present, everyone else was much like him.

Oliver was the first to come to his senses. He said, "It seems this guy only deleted the memories from Superman's visual system, but he seems to have forgotten to delete the memories from his other senses."

Clark smiled and said, "It seems he really doesn't know us very well; our sensory systems are much more complex than humans'. Deleting only the visual feed is useless."

"Then what if he deleted the memories from all your sensory systems?"

"We don't just have one system in our brains," Clark said. "At least, I don't. Besides the real system currently running that controls my body and behavior, there is also a virtual system. In the virtual system, there are probably 11 main systems and 5 backup systems. They are nested within each other and mutually verify one another, which makes it so we are almost never disturbed by hallucinations."

"Indeed, it is a very ingenious structure," Charles marveled.

Lex couldn't help but glance at Charles. If Clark had just seen the same thing they had, it meant Charles had manufactured a hallucination in the Kryptonian's mind, which also meant that these systems in the super-brain were effectively useless against him.

But then again, there was also a Superman lying nearby who had just been treated by him.

Although he had been prepared, Lex still couldn't help but think: what kind of lives do the people in the neighboring universe lead every day?

Injustice Batman had similar thoughts, except he was thinking: what kind of lives do the people in this universe lead every day?

It was a good thing there was no Batman in this universe, otherwise, how many contingency plans would he have to prepare to deal with a psychic like this?

This was also the first time Batman knew what it meant to "feel tired just thinking for him." This phrase used to only appear in the mouths of others in the Justice League, and that "him" was Batman.

"The Eleventh Bureau has some leads; they are preparing to make an arrest," Oliver said, shaking his head. "After all, it's an independent system, so it's not easy for us to intervene too much. But I don't think the probability of success is high; if the other party has psychic abilities, it's too easy for them to escape."

"Are we really not going to help?" Diana frowned slightly. "If Professor Xavier is there, it could greatly increase the probability of a successful arrest."

"No," Oliver pondered for a long time before saying, "Although that is true, there's no guarantee that only one person has been replaced. If there are other hidden pawns buried deeper, and they discover Professor Xavier's existence, it would be equivalent to us losing a trump card."

"Although the Eleventh Bureau is important, we must still prioritize the interests of the Justice League," Oliver said. "The fact that the other party doesn't understand us is our greatest advantage; we cannot easily expose information."

Hal flew in through the window into the hall of the Luthor estate, nodded first toward Lex, and then said to Oliver, "It's a mess over there; they've already opened fire, but it doesn't look like they've caught anything."

"As expected," Oliver nodded and said, "Don't go over there for now; leave it to them to solve it themselves. If it really doesn't work out, they'll contact their director."

"I really didn't expect the problem to originate from the Eleventh Bureau," Diana sighed softly, walking over to the sofa to sit down. "And the outsider we originally thought would be a big problem has become the victim."

"The other party was well-prepared; it's within reason that something like this would happen," Oliver continued. Then he looked at Injustice Batman.

"I have to apologize to you, Mr. Batman. That Mr. Superman, who was left in the safe house, encountered danger is a problem with our work. However, since the situation has already become like this, why don't we have a good talk about what to do next."

"This is not something I can decide," Injustice Batman said. "I believe you have already seen that my relationship with the Superman of my universe is not good. And you don't need a Batman that much either."

"But an extra bit of strength is always good," Oliver said. "As for the problem between you and the Superman of your universe, we will find a way to solve it."

Oliver looked at Charles. Charles said, "They just lack an opportunity to communicate, but now is clearly not a good time to sit down and talk about life."

"Besides..." Charles adjusted his glasses, looked at Injustice Batman, and said, "Have you noticed that the Wonder Woman of your universe has a problem?"

Injustice Batman frowned slightly. From this reaction, Oliver could tell that he had probably sensed it long ago, just without evidence.

"She has been trying to drive a wedge between you, and making Superman become increasingly extreme. Many times, if it weren't for her fueling the flames from behind, you would have had the opportunity to communicate."

Injustice Batman didn't speak, because he saw that Injustice Superman on the sofa had already sat up. Those eyes, blue to the point of being white, were even colder; just looking at them felt like being affected by freeze breath.

Charles glanced back, but didn't take it to heart at all. He put on an expression that said "I've said all I have to say," and then walked away.

The atmosphere between Injustice Superman and Injustice Batman was a bit awkward. Injustice Batman clearly wanted to find some serious business to do, but in just these few seconds, the members of this universe's Justice League had already scattered completely.

It was really hard to imagine that the average emotional intelligence of the Justice League in this universe was so high, and their ability to read the room so strong.

Most importantly, their sympathy and concern for Batman were so weak. They really didn't seem to worry at all that this evil Superman, who looked very angry, might punch him to death.

"Bruce, I think we need to talk," Injustice Superman said.

Most of the Justice League members went to the reception hall next to the main entrance hall. This was a sunken living room; the floor in the center was recessed, with a circle of sofas arranged around it, and a large table in the middle. There was a fireplace in the center of the table, very suitable for gatherings.

Barry placed all the snacks they had bought on the table in the middle, and everyone grabbed a little, chatting while they ate.

"How is the overall screening work in Metropolis going?" Oliver asked, looking at Lex.

"No suspicious individuals found," Lex said. "I suspect their spaceship might not have landed directly in Metropolis."

"I guess it was the extraterrestrial defense forces that made them change their minds about a frontal assault," Hal said. "They know that if they show up directly over Metropolis and start slaughtering Earthlings indiscriminately, I could directly mobilize the main force of the Green Lantern Corps, and then they would be the ones caught in the trap."

"Very likely," Lex agreed with this view, and he continued, "They chose to stir up trouble in the dark, intending to divide and conquer the Justice League. Once we are exhausted by infighting, they can take advantage of the situation."

"The key is what their goal is," Clark said. "I don't think they intend to fight a war and then rule Earth. Even if they intended to do so at the beginning, after seeing our response capability, I'm afraid they would abandon that idea."

"If they don't intend to rule Earth, they must be targeting the Justice League," Diana said. "First defeat us, at least the United States would be in their pocket, and then rule Earth step by step; that should be a feasible plan."

"Cowards," Bruce commented.

He glanced at his watch, then at the TV screen next to him, and said, "It's time for me to watch TV; who among you is staying to keep me company?"

In the end, it was still Clark and Diana, because neither the ground screening nor the extraterrestrial defense was their field of work. They still needed to rest and prepare for the potential frontal conflict.

Bruce tuned the TV channels, and suddenly, as if remembering something, he asked, "What day of the week is it today?"

"Friday, why?"

Bruce slapped his thigh and said, "There's a blockbuster program today."

"What blockbuster program?" Clark also became interested and said, "Are you talking about 'Gigi Pipi's Comedy Show'? That show has been getting worse lately; I heard it's about to be canceled..."

"That show was canceled long ago; they broadcast 'Stunt Motorcycle Show' for a while in between, but the ratings weren't good either," Diana said, then looked at Bruce and asked, "Are you interested in stunt motorcycles too?"

Bruce waved his hand and took out his phone to show them a poster. On the poster was written "Ace Talk Show," and in the center of the poster was a big Joker smile.

"Mr. Joker's TV debut!" Bruce said.

"Joker? Oh, I remember, that talk show host, right? I heard him live at a music festival." Clark sat down next to Bruce. Diana also squeezed over, and the three of them stared intently at the screen.

Bruce finally tuned to the channel, and as soon as he switched to it, the iconic crazy laughter rang out.

Injustice Batman, who was walking toward the reception hall, froze. Injustice Superman was walking right behind him, and he was certain that he was now truly within the range of freeze breath.

"Thump!"

Bruce and the other two, who rushed over upon hearing the sound, happened to see Injustice Batman, frozen into an ice sculpture, fall over.

(End of chapter)