Chapter 3609: Injustice League (Part 9)

In the end, Wonder Woman was locked in a room in the lower level of the base that had been reshaped by Hal using Green Lantern energy.

And after this ended, the group was exceptionally silent.

Batman returned to his room, but this time he didn't intend to avoid it. He knew that if he didn't stand up now, if Superman did something stupid again, their universe would definitely be torn apart by the other side.

The Flash appeared in the room. Batman looked at him. The Flash said: "I saw the engine used for collecting cities on Brainiac's spaceship warming up again. The next attack won't be long."

"What about the Flash from the other universe?"

"I don't know, I didn't see him," The Flash shook his head and said, "Even if he really did something, I'm powerless; his Speed Force is too weird. I don't even dare to touch it."

"Did he have any abnormalities before?" Batman asked.

"You mean the time he caught me?" The Flash thought for a moment, then frowned and said, "I vaguely saw another figure in his Speed Force. But due to the interference of that black energy, I couldn't see who it was."

"Are you saying he brought an extra person into our universe?"

"I can't be sure," The Flash said, "However, no matter who he brought, it doesn't seem to have any meaning, right? They could have come over swaggeringly; there was no need to launch a sneak attack."

Batman stood in place, deep in thought. What the Flash said made sense. The gap between their two universes was too large now. The opposite side was fully armed and in their prime state. Anything could be put on the surface; there was no need to prepare an extra ambush just to keep an ace up their sleeve.

Letting this person come over with their frontal team would have the same outcome anyway. The local Justice League couldn't beat them regardless.

But Batman still felt a faint sense of unease.

He went over everything these people had done since they arrived in his mind, and then felt some regret—he had indeed focused too much on Superman, to the point where he missed too many of their actions. It was a bit too late to check the surveillance now.

"Try not to show yourself as much as possible," Batman instructed, "If something really happens, we can only count on you."

The Flash nodded. He disappeared into the Speed Force again.

Batman pushed the door open and walked out. When he entered the conference room, he found the atmosphere was still silent.

Bruce arrived even later than him, but he was holding a small crystal in his hand and said: "I have already cracked the wave frequency of the energy used by the collection engine. We only need to use another type of energy to interfere in a special way while they are in the process of converting cities into collectibles. This bottle is just a mere formality to us. We can sneak into the spaceship this way, and then go steal the spaceship's blueprints."

"Since we can all sneak into the spaceship, why don't we just deal with Brainiac directly?" The Green Lantern asked.

"Did you not attend the previous meeting, or is your brain not working at all?" Bruce was clearly losing patience, and he said, "Didn't we already say it? We have no way to handle such a large spaceship. Without blueprints, if we rashly take action inside the spaceship and break the ship's engine or gravity system, what will happen to Earth?"

After finishing, he threw the thing onto the table again, crossed his arms, and said: "We came to help you out of the kindness of our hearts, and not only did you kill our people, but you're also here asking questions and delaying time. Is this even your universe or not?!"

At this time, Catwoman walked over, gave Batman a wink, and then said to Bruce: "Regarding Diana, I feel very sorry. I don't want to find excuses for the murderer either, but we have just experienced several catastrophes, everyone is a bit tired, and their attention might not be that focused. Don't mind these things."

Bruce took several deep breaths, as if he had summoned all his willpower to barely suppress his negative emotions. He said: "I've left the thing here, and I've arranged the plan; you all figure it out."

After finishing, he left.

Hal, who was on the side, picked up the crystal and said: "Green Lantern energy should be able to serve as interference energy. However, my suggestion is—I will participate in the final total attack. You all can handle sneaking into the spaceship and stealing the blueprints yourselves."

"Cyborg and I have to go too," Batman spoke up, "Brainiac is not a human; he won't put paper blueprints in some room waiting for people to steal them. All information related to the spaceship is in his system. We need a hacker."

"Then Cyborg comes with me, you stay behind," Superman looked at him and said.

"I know you don't trust me, and I don't trust you either," Batman said, "As long as you mess around on the spaceship and the whole ship falls down, Earth is doomed. We must go up together; there is no second choice."

Superman thought to himself: Now the Green Lantern of their universe is also on Batman's side. If Green Lantern, Batman, and Cyborg go up together, then he would be one against three.

"I think it's better if you go," Superman looked at Hal and said, "You are stronger than the Green Lantern of our universe."

He was thinking: Although the outsiders are also dangerous, at least they don't stand on Batman's side. If Batman and the others wanted to take action against him, he should be able to stop them.

But Batman didn't agree. He thought bringing an outsider onto the spaceship was very dangerous. The two sides were at a stalemate, and the meeting broke up in discord.

Everyone else had left the conference room, only Superman and Batman remained. Superman stared coldly at Batman and said: "What exactly do you want?"

"I know what you want to do," Batman said, "You want to use something at Brainiac's place to deal with the outsiders and force them to hand over the power of time reversal to you. But that's impossible."

"How do you know?"

"That won't be some divine artifact, some formula, or even some specific power. It's more likely to be a method, a method executed by a person."

"Can't we execute it?"

"You should know, if it were possible, someone would have executed it long ago," Batman said, "You don't think you've ruled Earth very well, do you?"

Superman's expression sank further. But Batman acted as if he didn't see it, and continued: "We cannot execute this method, not because we lack some thing or some power, but more likely because we lack some person."

"The Flash?"

"Not him. If the Flash alone could do it, he would have reversed time long ago. I think it might be H'El."

Superman frowned. The time point when they went to that universe to execute the mission was very early—Zod had just arrived, and they arrived, so they also witnessed the entire process of H'El's subsequent invasion and Brainiac's invasion.

"You should be clear, if it were that guy, it's impossible for us to force him with any means," Batman said, "Or rather, we can't catch him at all."

Superman, however, heard a hint of something else, and he said: "Now you're not against reversing time anymore?"

"I'm just telling you that those methods of yours won't work," Batman said very calmly, "You have no way to solve all problems with violence. You should use your brain."

"They won't give up," Batman said, "Whether you believe it or not, I have an intuition—they must be plotting something. This might not be a good thing for us."

"So you want to deal with them too?"

Superman's reaction was fast. He immediately realized that Batman coming out of his room and being willing to talk to him was clearly because these outsiders made him feel danger.

And because of the stupid thing Wonder Woman did, the two sides were now completely irreconcilable. Even if Batman didn't agree with reversing time, if he didn't stand with Superman to deal with these people, then after defeating Brainiac, they would have their hands full.

Superman smiled somewhat mockingly. He walked to Batman's side, looked at him, and said: "In the end, don't you still have to count on me?"

"Now is not the time to talk about this, Clark," Batman shook his head expressionlessly and said, "Whatever you want to do, you have to wait until we've solved all the trouble."

"What do you want to do?"

"I will pretend to negotiate with them to stabilize them."

"And then?"

"We have no way to force them to stay calm and guarantee the safety of our universe through military coercion. We must make them sit down and talk. But ensuring the other side sits at the negotiating table requires chips."

So that's it. Superman thought to himself: No wonder Batman wanted to talk about reversing time.

The current situation is this: their side can't beat the other side at all, and they have already offended them. If they want them to leave after the war instead of starting another war, they have to find a way to talk to them.

But negotiation requires chips. Because they can't beat them head-on, they don't have any chips, and the other side won't talk to them.

Batman wants chips, but he can't get them himself. So he found Superman, using taking a step back on reversing time as his chip to negotiate with Superman, letting Superman find the chips that would make the other side sit down and talk.

Batman knows: Superman dares to boldly want to detain the other side, he must have his own reliance. If he takes that thing out, it might make the other side calm down and sit down to talk with them.

And to make him take the thing out, he must be made to understand that using it to threaten the other side with violence is useless. Only by following Batman's plan, negotiating and trading with the other side, is it possible to achieve time reversal.

That's why Batman had to talk about H'El—although he didn't know what the chip in Superman's hand was, it likely wouldn't be useful against this super Kryptonian.

If the key point of reversing time lies with H'El, then Superman's wishful thinking is bound to fail. It's better to join Batman's plan, take this thing as a chip to deter the other side, and there's a certain chance to get the other side to help.

Superman understood all of this. But he wasn't willing to bow his head so easily. He said on the surface: "Fine, what you said makes some sense. But you must guarantee that you will make every effort to fight for the opportunity of time reversal for us..."

However, after Batman left, Superman's expression turned cold. He knew Batman wouldn't fight for it—he would never agree to reverse time. He would deceive him again.

Superman arrived at the lower level of the base, which was where Wonder Woman was locked up.

There were too few people who stood completely on his side now. Most of the Justice League had turned over a new leaf, and the few who could fight all listened to Batman.

This made Batman's guarantee to him completely powerless—because Batman could completely rely on his military advantage, not fulfill his promise, and lock him back in prison. Superman wouldn't allow such a thing to happen.

No matter how stupid Wonder Woman was, at least she could fight, and she stood firmly on his side. To ensure Batman would fulfill his promise, Superman needed Wonder Woman.

He walked to the door of the room and knocked. The door was opened, but Superman couldn't get in, and Wonder Woman couldn't come out. They could only talk through a layer of Green Lantern energy.

"I believe you are innocent," Superman said, enduring his nausea, "The Green Lantern who locked you here will go on the spaceship with us. I will find an opportunity to get him injured, and while the Green Lantern energy is weak, you escape from here. When I come back, I will go see you."

Wonder Woman was moved to tears. She nodded vigorously and said: "Don't worry, Clark. I will always help you."

And Hal, who was playing with the crystal in his own room, suddenly revealed a mysterious smile.

?? Cunning and deceitful

? (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 3610 =====