Hearing this, Darkseid turned his head and looked up at the sky.
Not just him, but Batman, Cyborg, The Flash, Mera, and other heroes, as well as all the Resistance soldiers in the square, held their breath and looked in the same direction.
The director in charge of the wedding live stream also remotely adjusted the angles of the camera lenses that hadn't been damaged in the battle.
Above Metropolis Square, a circular Boom Tube over a hundred meters in diameter roared open.
As the former owner of the mother box, he had an absolute perception of its energy fluctuations.
When Darkseid saw the scene on the other end of the tube clearly, red light flashed intensely in his eyes.
On the other side of the tube was the iconic dark red sky, giant fire pits erupting with lava, and towering, sharp black buildings.
That was Apokolips, his home base.
And above that scorched Earth, a man wearing a red and blue skin-tight uniform with the stars and stripes draped over his back was floating quietly in mid-air.
With his back to the apocalyptic scenery of Apokolips, he held a massive monster in one hand.
The monster's head was gripped by Homelander, its limbs hanging limply in the air, and its hairy face was filled with terror.
It was Kalibak, the young Master of Apokolips.
At this moment, Kalibak didn't have even a shred of a commander's majesty left.
His face was covered in blood, and his limbs hung limply as if they had been snapped.
Darkseid recognized his son at a glance.
In that instant, he connected all the clues together.
He finally understood why he had sensed abnormal fluctuations on Apokolips while on the flagship earlier.
He had thought it was just some reckless rebels causing trouble, and that Kalibak, who stayed behind, would be enough to suppress everything.
But he never expected that the guy who killed the Kryptonian on Earth, the Homelander he called a coward, hadn't hidden at all but instead used the mother box's coordinates to storm into his home base!
At this very moment.
Darkseid was on the Earth battlefield, clutching Harley Quinn in his hand.
Homelander was under the sky of Apokolips, holding Kalibak in his hand.
The two faced each other across the massive Boom Tube, spanning a distance of countless light-years.
Confronting each other from afar.
"One for one, Darkseid."
Homelander used magic amplification to send his voice through the Boom Tube.
"You put my person down. I'll return your son to you. A fair trade, right?"
He shook the half-dead Kalibak in his hand forward.
Darkseid's gaze locked onto Homelander on the other side of the tube, his facial muscles twitching slightly with anger.
But he quickly suppressed his emotions.
As the ruler of Apokolips, he never accepted any form of threat.
Meanwhile, the Justice League heroes and the people of Earth watched the scene in a daze.
Was this what Homelander meant by "going to overturn Darkseid's nest"?
He really did it, and even captured Darkseid's son as a hostage.
Everyone looked at Darkseid nervously, hoping Harley would be saved because of this.
"A trade?" Darkseid spoke, "You know nothing of the laws of Apokolips, Earthling."
"In my World, losers have no value."
Instead of putting Harley down, Darkseid held her even higher.
"A piece of trash is not worthy of being a bargaining chip. He does not have that qualification."
"If you want to use him to trade for this woman's life, then you've miscalculated."
He tried to seize the initiative in the negotiation this way, knowing that this Earthling placed extreme importance on the woman in his hand.
As long as he held onto this weakness, he could make more demands.
"Oh."
Homelander nodded.
"No value, huh? Not worthy of being a chip, huh?"
On the other side of the tube, Kalibak heard Darkseid's voice. He struggled to open his swollen eyes, his lips quivering as if he wanted to say something.
But in the next second.
*Snap—Squish!!*
Homelander's hand, which was gripping Kalibak's neck, suddenly exerted force.
Kalibak's massive head, like a ripe watermelon, exploded in Homelander's hand.
Brain matter, blood, and bone fragments mixed together, dripping onto the scorched Earth of Apokolips.
Fortunately, Homelander had activated his head's biological field in advance, preventing the filth from splashing onto his face.
The tall, headless corpse lost its last support and fell straight down into the fire pits of Apokolips.
"You—!!"
Darkseid's eyes widened, the crimson light in the depths of his eyes like a volcano about to erupt.
He had miscalculated.
He thought he had seen through this Earthling's weakness.
But he hadn't expected this man to be so decisive and brutal, killing his eldest son without hesitation right in front of him.
Even if Kalibak was a waste, he was still of Darkseid's bloodline and a commander of Apokolips!
Everyone else was also stunned by Homelander's sudden decisiveness and ruthlessness.
That was Darkseid's own son! A commander of Apokolips!
He just crushed his head like he was squashing a bug?!
Not even leaving any room for negotiation?!
"You will pay a thousand times over for everything you've done!"
Darkseid roared in anger. He looked at Harley in his hand, killing intent surging in his eyes.
At this moment, in front of this man, he would crush every inch of this woman's bones, making him feel true agony.
"Wait a moment."
Homelander patted the blood from his hands, his tone still relaxed.
"Don't be so quick to get angry, Darkseid. I just said I'm a man who values fair trade."
"Since your son isn't qualified, I have something even more worth trading here."
Darkseid looked at him coldly, his hand movements temporarily pausing.
Homelander smiled slightly. He said nothing more but raised his right hand and snapped his fingers sharply in the air.
*Snap.*
In the next second.
On Apokolips at the other end of the tube, a massive change occurred.
Ego's abyssal maw suddenly slammed shut!
Biting down hard on the absolute core of Apokolips—the Dark Fortress!
*Rumble—!!!*
The Dark Fortress, built of black steel and omega ore and claimed to be indestructible, erupted in violent tremors under Ego's full-force bite.
The ear-piercing sound of metal snapping echoed through the skies, and several shocking, massive cracks split open on the fortress walls!
"Ugh—!"
On Earth, Darkseid's body suddenly swayed.
Darkseid's expression truly changed at this moment.
The previous anger, contempt, and arrogance vanished completely in an instant.
"What have you done?!"
Darkseid questioned sharply, his voice carrying a trace of agitation he hadn't even noticed himself.
"Want to know what I've done?"
A provocative smile rose to the corners of Homelander's mouth.
"Then put that woman down. Cross through this door and come before me."
He extended a finger, pointing at Darkseid.
"Right here, in your home base. Let's have a duel between men.