newbobooks Chapter 166 The Arrival of Brainiac
Chapter 166 The Arrival of Brainiac
Chapter 166 The Arrival of Brainiac
Nightwing thought he was seeing things.
He blinked, and Batman's face remained solemn and dignified, just as it had always been.
"I must have been seeing things..."
This was the first thought that popped into Nightwing's head as he got up from the ground, clutching his buzzing head. Then, he immediately and instinctively thought:
"Good heavens, if I were so shocked that I jumped up and died headfirst, that would probably be a contender for the funniest way to die this year."
Nightwing stood up from the ground.
He heard the death knell let out a mocking laugh. Normally, such taunting wouldn't have affected him at all, but now, surrounded by other villains, how would they portray him in front of everyone?
"Oh, you're Nightwing, the one who almost jumped up and killed himself when he saw the clown."
Gan!
Nightwing forcibly controlled his thoughts, preventing them from wandering into those socially destructive scenes.
I saw Batman dragging the Joker along.
"Hahaha, hahahahahaha!"
Nightwing was glad that the laughter came from the Joker, even though he was wearing a straitjacket and being dragged along the ground like a dog by a collar, he still let out a hysterical laugh.
"Oh, little bat, what brings you to pull me out of that love nest you built for me?"
"Ah, let me guess, right now I... no, we're facing a situation like this—ahhh, ahhh, hahahahaha!"
"You want to ask me for help?"
This is perfectly normal; it's exactly like the Joker's style. Among a bunch of terrifying villains who claim "Batman is my good friend," even a psychopathic killer like the Joker seems approachable, at least he's still as insane and evil as ever.
Nightwing thought silently. After a brief moment of excitement, he had roughly guessed the current situation.
Having "cooperated" with Batman for so many years, Dick believed he understood Batman better than anyone else. Let's just say, the moment Batman bends over, he knows what Batman is about to do...
Well, in short, Batman has never been a pedant. Over the years, when faced with greater crises, Batman has cooperated with villains before.
Death knell, Mr. Freeze, Batman with a human face...
This time, the crisis was just a tiny bit bigger, so Batman recruited a tiny bit more villains to cooperate with.
Is this a big deal? Obviously.
Absolutely not!
"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"
Nightwing heard another burst of hysterical laughter, and he continued to think:
But what help can the Joker actually offer us? Since Jason's death, Batman hasn't always been...
Nightwing's thoughts suddenly froze.
and many more.
He looked up and saw Batman crouching in front of the Joker, his mouth behind the mask grinning and letting out a laugh even more authentic than the Joker's.
The Joker stopped laughing and stared coldly at Batman.
Nightwing was stunned; he stared blankly at Batman.
Chen Tao's smile faded. He stood up and said, "Are you not crazy anymore?"
"you……"
Before the Joker could finish speaking, Batman punched him hard in the face, breaking his nasal bridge and bending his pointed nose to the side like a snapped straw.
"I have no intention of cooperating with you, Joker." The Joker heard Batman's cold voice; he couldn't understand how someone with a body temperature of 37 degrees Celsius could utter such chilling words: "I only intend to use you, scum."
Without turning his head, he said, "Bane, give me a hand and help me hold this guy's arm, okay? I'm feeling a bit disgusted."
The clown's eyes widened as he saw Bane emerge from the crowd and obediently pull on his reins.
The other party still appeared as a burly man with a hood, a cold and aloof demeanor. If one ignored the fact that he was obeying Batman's orders at the time, he would certainly look very intimidating.
Nightwing watched numbly as Bane, dressed like Robin, led the still-cursing Joker away, then casually slapped him twice with great force—his family's Robin-style violent enforcement.
"You actually hit me! Only Batman would hit me! Only Batman could hit me!" the Joker screamed.
"Oh, you're dead, you're absolutely dead!"
Bane led him around the Bat Computer and into a small room next door, with the zombie Black following closely behind.
Nightwing knew that little room; it was dilapidated and old, covered in cobwebs, hot in summer and cold in winter, containing only a worn-out little bed and a small table.
That was his room, or rather, his former room, where he had lived for a time—even if this Batcave wasn't the one beneath Wayne Manor, it was still one of the largest outposts in Gotham City. During his childhood, after his night patrols, he often slept directly in this outpost.
But now, it seems that Batman has turned this place into some kind of cage, and Nightwing is sure that his little bed is no longer in there.
Before the strange emotions could ferment in Robin as he prepared to reminisce, a sudden noise drew his attention again.
Nightwing saw the ventriloquist dressed as a maid follow him eagerly. The other's appearance was simply too surreal. Nightwing was about to say something when he felt a pair of hands on his shoulders. He turned around and saw Alfred wearing a candle hood.
He leaned down and whispered in Nightwing's ear:
"Young Master Nightwing, please come this way. Let me briefly explain the situation..."
Nightwing was somewhat surprised: "Ah... one penny? You..." He wanted to say something more, but Alfred pulled him away.
The villains stopped paying attention to him and started converging on Batman.
The Batman who felt both familiar and strange to Nightwing began his speech.
"You scum, I bring you a pardon signed by the President of the United States. If you're willing to do anything for the sake of the Earth..."
Nightwing, who had been pulled into a corner, heard Batman say on stage:
"We must protect our planet. In the face of the greater good of our planet, all other problems cease to be problems..."
Alfred whispered to him, "Bruce... something has changed about Bruce. I don't know how to tell you, Mr. Dick. But in short, he is Bruce, our Bruce."
"What are you saying?" Nightwing answered him in a low voice, which sounded slightly shrill because it was so low: "Are you crazy, Alfred?"
Alfred was silent for a moment, then said with a touch of certainty, "You don't understand. Mr. Bruce is retiring. This is his final journey."
“I don’t see any sign of him retiring,” Dick said. “And I don’t think Bruce can retire. Damn it, you’ve got me hooked. I don’t think he’s Bruce.”
His voice turned slightly serious: "This Batman isn't the Bruce I know. Tell me, what exactly happened?"
He questioned:
"Is the bat being mind-controlled? Has someone taken over his body? Is there anything I need to do?"
As he spoke, he secretly tapped his body repeatedly with his fingers, typing out the internal code of the bat family:
"If you're being coerced, blink twice in a row."
"No, I wasn't coerced by anyone, Mr. Dick. And it wasn't that Bruce was possessed; it was that Bruce reclaimed his body. The tireless Batman is gone. Let Bruce rest. Once Brainiac is dealt with, he can rest!"
"So, please help Bruce, Mr. Dick, help him defeat this final enemy, please."
Nightwing frowned. "Alfred, to be honest, I don't understand the situation."
His gaze fell on Batman Bruce Wayne, who seemed to be giving a pre-battle speech to the villains.
Deathstroke asked him for more money, and he politely inquired how much more he needed.
Deathstroke held up five fingers. Nightwing knew the other party was asking for 500 million, and that was just the starting price; the other party would soon gradually increase the price during the mission.
He knows Deathstroke, and he knows the going rate for him. Don't think that just because Deathstroke only charges 200 million to kill someone, he's a bargain.
Then he heard Batman say, "What? 50 million?"
"Agreed!"
Staring at the stunned Death Knell, Nightwing was speechless.
He listened to Batman's explanation for a while, then said, "That alien collector named Brainiac? Don't worry, I'll definitely help—"
Batman is still giving a speech:
"...We will wage the final battle in the Slaughter Swamp, forcibly pull Brainiac out of his biological shell, tear off his turtle shell, and force him to face the horrors and realities of the earth!"
"Superman, I, Wonder Woman, will fight alongside you. Once the war begins, there will be no distinction between north and south..."
"...Brainiac is a villain with telepathic abilities. To prevent him from controlling one of us, we specifically created a drug to counter his telepathic abilities..."
A ventriloquist dressed as a maid walked among the villains carrying rows of pink pills. He walked up to Nightwing and gestured for him to take one from the tray as well.
Nightwing didn't want to take it, but the other party insisted, so he was forced to also put one in his hand.
He turned to Alfred and whispered, "Alfred, don't you think it's a bad idea to keep thinking about Bruce retiring...?"
Batman was rambling on on stage:
"...Villains, if you realize you're about to be mind-controlled, I suggest you immediately take this pill. It will help you maintain your mental clarity and prevent you from being disturbed by telepathic abilities..."
"Our deceased friend Blake will help us maintain our psychic abilities over Braniak..."
"This is a defensive serum jointly developed by the government and Batman. Take it with confidence; there will be no side effects..."
"Just in case! We know far more about Brainiac than you do..."
"These pills are very precious; you should take them first..."
boom!!!!
Chen Tao was speaking when, unexpectedly, a deafening roar suddenly rang in everyone's ears.
This was clearly not the sound of a crowd shouting.
Chen Tao, who had just been energetically rallying the troops, suddenly felt a chill in his heart. He quickly activated the communicator on his arm armor and, as expected, received a message.
……
……
……
In the vast and boundless starry sky, Brainiac was carefully examining the city in his hands. This was something he had done countless times: upon arriving on a new planet, he would first seize the most prosperous city on the planet, and then, if necessary, give the planet an extinction package to ensure that the city in his hands would become a unique treasure in the entire universe.
Of course, it will also collect many animals from this planet and let them roam freely in the city. Then it will eliminate some useless parts of the civilization, such as repetitive laborers and low-end workers, killing them all and leaving only some important figures in the civilization, such as scientists or leaders. After processing, it will hang these cities on its spaceship according to their positions in the starry sky.
His throne is located in the very center.
This was the experience he had accumulated over the years: by killing all the useless characters, he could prolong the existence of the entire race on his spaceship, preventing these races from inevitably falling into depravity due to their inferior genes and becoming a useless race, thus forcing him to cleanse them.
He has been doing this for so many years.
But this time, instead of doing what he often did, he placed the entire city securely in the center of his spaceship.
He connected to the entire planet's communication channels. The communication devices made by humans were like paper in front of him, completely powerless to resist as he hacked them.
He appeared in the frame.
"People of Earth, I am Brainiac."
One by one, metal tentacles snaked around him, connecting his biological shell to his body.
He said:
"Having experienced General Zod's previous invasion, I hope you have had the experience of being invaded and know exactly what I want to do. I hope you have seen the news of Metropolis being taken over by me in your outdated news media, and have also discovered that Metropolis has become a blank slate."
Please don't be alarmed. You are fortunate. This planet is special, and I will not bring you destruction as I have in the past. I have a more important goal than you.
Brainiac crossed his arms: "Batman."
"I'd spare this planet for him, if you just hand it over to me."
"Nothing will happen anymore. I will leave this place, and you can continue with your lives. If you think the price of letting this planet go isn't enough, then I'll add another one. If you're willing to hand over Batman to me, I can even give Metropolis back to you, but if you refuse..."
Brainiac adjusted its posture, but in an instant it transformed into a more intimidating one, a result of its artificial intelligence simulation, capable of maximizing the mobilization of fear among Earthlings.
He knew that in an instant he had transformed from a friendly negotiator into a terrifying threat.
This shift in identity makes it easier to evoke the fear of Earthlings, Brainiac carefully assessed.
Before attacking Earth, he planned to isolate Batman. He had studied why General Zod's threat had failed, and his technology far surpassed General Zod's. This time, Batman would not be able to hack into his channel.
But the next second, he heard someone speaking behind him.
"You don't need to ask for it, I came myself."
Hey everyone, I'm back from another online transaction! (Satisfied, rubbing his butt)
Gian Wants a Leisurely Life
The story of a chubby little tiger who just wanted to live a carefree life but ended up becoming king by accident.
(End of this chapter)