Chapter 467: Secrets of the Past (Part 2)

"Doomsday? That's such a weird name."

"It means exactly what it says: the day he appears is the day of destruction for the entire Earth—and the entire universe."

Bruce and Lex felt their hearts skip a beat; especially Bruce, who walked over and stared straight into Schiller's eyes: "You can't stop him either?"

"I'm not sure," Schiller gave an ambiguous answer, but Bruce clearly wasn't satisfied—he didn't press further, because he never placed his hopes in others.

"What's his weakness?"

"I don't know. Maybe he has none," Schiller delivered another despairing answer—when Clark's steady, resolute voice cut in:

"Impossible. Everything in this world has a weakness. Maybe I can handle him…"

"Maybe you can kill him once—but when he returns, that first weakness won't exist anymore."

"He evolves?" Bruce instinctively seized on the key word in Schiller's words.

"Yes. But…" Schiller deliberately dragged out the syllable; all eyes turned to him. He said: "But it seems someone has already found a solution."

As he spoke, he stepped closer, gazing at the egg.

The egg's shell was opaque, so its interior was invisible—but the entire egg trembled faintly, as if beating with a heartbeat, though an extremely slow one.

"Would kryptonite affect it?" Schiller murmured to himself, then looked up at the strange devices emitting kryptonite light. "What kind of array is this?"

"It looks like someone used a method to seal this egg?" Lex stepped forward too, his mind racing. Bruce followed, his expression grave yet tinged with curiosity.

"The situation isn't as dire as I described—because this monster hasn't hatched yet, and someone has already found a way to suppress the egg."

"But it will hatch eventually, right?"

Schiller regarded Bruce with a measuring gaze—he remembered a law of the DC universe.

In all DC universes, there is light and darkness. In dark universes, everything inevitably slips downward—every evil must happen.

If this were a dark universe, this egg would hatch soon. But the Laughing Egg inside Bruce hadn't hatched—it had been crushed by Schiller's Justice Mob Tactics, then possessed by Parallax.

That suggests this universe is unlikely to be dark—but even in a light universe, powerful villains can still emerge.

Doomsday is Superman's archenemy—in the famous comic "The Death of Superman," he was the one who killed Superman.

"The Death of Superman" had a complex historical background: DC was struggling financially and needed a stunt to attract more readers, so they decided to kill their most famous superhero—Superman.

To maximize the stunt, the comic was titled "The Death of Superman." To ensure Superman's death, Doomsday was made absurdly strong—he single-handedly defeated the entire Justice League except Superman, and even yanked the Flash out of the Speed Force mid-run.

After fleeing to Apokolips, he survived a direct hit from Darkseid's Omega Beam, later developed Doomsday Spores, and eventually infected Superman to create Doomsday Superman.

In short, an absurdly overpowered villain—like all rushed-out antagonists, his powers were illogical and his backstory nonexistent.

Schiller thought: this universe's origin story for Doomsday must be complicated—not some accident by a Kryptonian scientist.

In the comics, Doomsday appeared already fully formed. Even in his full form, he wasn't invincible—Schiller had ways to defeat or seal him—but since Doomsday kept resurrecting in the comics, never truly dying, Schiller had no confidence he could kill him permanently.

But the Doomsday here was an egg—and that gave Schiller new ideas.

At that moment, Bruce noticed something else. He walked to the wall of the underground chamber, touched the slightly damp rock, and said: "Based on the rock's condition, this was excavated decades ago—at least twenty or thirty years ago…"

He muttered to himself: "What happened back then?"

"So what happened after?" In the manor corridor, Kiera asked Alfred.

"When I learned the Owl Court might be trying to create a terrifying monster to rule Gotham, I had to consider the threat it posed."

"If an uncontrollable super-monster were created, it wouldn't just threaten the U. S. —it would threaten every human on Earth. Those lunatics didn't care—but I did."

"So I approached Falcone and explained my purpose. At first he didn't believe me—but he had no other choice…"

"Why?"

"Because in Gotham, anyone who can do equations is a rare species—and I graduated from Cambridge's Mathematics Department…"

Kiera fell silent. She recalled what she'd seen and heard in Gotham—Alfred's words weren't exaggerated.

"Also, Falcone and Daniel had sensed something was wrong, but their intelligence sources were scarce—they weren't trained agents and couldn't gather much information. At that time, they didn't even know the name 'Owl Court.'"

"But I was a trained agent—I could investigate this for them. So we reached an agreement and collaborated. We caused some chaos—but we got the egg."

"Oh, I remember—the files say Gotham had many violent incidents during that period. The FBI sent agents to investigate, but lost many personnel. Some even witnessed mysterious phenomena, so the case grew more and more bizarre…"

"Yes, they were hard to deal with. We paid a heavy price. That's why Falcone refused to seal the egg in Gotham—it's his territory."

fantuan.

"So you chose Metropolis?"

"The egg stayed in our hands for a long time—we couldn't find a proper way to handle it."

"The spotlight had faded. I could've returned to Moscow—but then Moscow sent word: Kim Philby had escaped. He was already back in Moscow."

"I understood MI6's methods, but this exceeded my expectations. Clearly, if Philby himself had escaped, the list was no longer vital to Moscow—they didn't need to ship it across the ocean."

"But for other nations, the list remained crucial. If the Soviets had it, they had to have it too—or fall behind forever. So Philby's escape didn't reduce the list's importance—it made every country go mad trying to find it, desperate to match Soviet intelligence."

"The Soviets didn't need it—but everyone else did. So the best solution was to hide it somewhere. I hid it in Gotham. After the heat died down, I returned to Moscow to find a way to deal with the egg—but…"

"In the end, I returned to Britain."

"About ten years later, my father demanded I inherit the hereditary stewardship and join the Wayne family as their butler. At that time, I informed Moscow. They thought it was a perfect opportunity—the Wayne family was the wealthiest on the East Coast, perhaps in all of America…"

"So initially, you were on a covert mission within the Wayne family?"

"Yes. But then something happened—Bruce's parents died." Alfred's expression grew somber. "Only the young master remained. I had to raise him."

"At that point, I'd already decided to quit being a spy."

Kiera nodded, understanding. "Many think spies must remain loyal to their mission—but we're human. We have feelings. We're not machines."

Alfred shook his head. "My feelings for the young master weren't the only reason I quit being a spy…"

"Then what was?"

Alfred fell silent. His expression hesitated—as if unsure whether to speak. But finally, he said: "You're young. You haven't lived through enough to feel how she's changed…"

"Who?"

"The Soviet Union."

Kiera wanted to press further—but Alfred chose silence. After a pause, he spoke again—his voice no longer strong, but thick with age.

"Perhaps I'm a shameful deserter. Or perhaps I simply refuse to face certain cruel truths."

"Maybe I know that when I see great ideals and glorious years rotting away, I can't stay rational…"

"But in the end, I chose to sever all ties with the past."

"When I returned to Gotham and became the Wayne family's butler, Falcone told me they'd properly handled the egg. I don't know the details—but in the end, the egg was placed beneath the Metropolis manor."

"Falcone told me they first tried hiding the egg somewhere outside Gotham. But later, they discovered a type of falling alien mineral that could effectively suppress the egg's life activity—so they turned it into a massive seal."

Kiera frowned. "Is the seal secure?"

"It can only delay the monster's hatching. We still have no idea how to destroy it."

Alfred set down his shotgun, using the barrel to brace himself against the ground. He looked out the window. "That's one reason I brought Bruce here."

"On the guest list you gave me, I saw that professor's name. I know he's no ordinary man—he can ensure everyone's safety. Bruce is the boy I raised. I know his astonishing intellect…"

"If there's only one way to unravel the mystery of this monster and destroy it, I believe their combined efforts will be the best answer."

Meanwhile, deep in the underground chamber, Schiller heard a voice in his mind:

"Food! Lots of food! Eat!"

"Food? Where's the food?" Schiller asked, puzzled.

"The green stone! Smells delicious! Let me take a bite!"

"Green stone…" Schiller turned, staring at the nearest kryptonite device. "You eat kryptonite??"

"Mm! Smells amazing!"

"Then why didn't you say anything outside?"

"That stuff's gross. Only this stuff tastes good!"

"But this kryptonite is meant to seal the egg…"

"I'm hungry! Starved for ages! I want to eat! I want to eat! I want to eat! I want to eat! I want to eat!"

Bruce, studying the rock layers nearby, noticed Schiller's gaze toward the egg had suddenly changed.

Bruce, who was studying the rock layers nearby, noticed that Schiller's gaze toward the egg had suddenly become strange.