Clark didn't hesitate at all and said, "I refuse."
Then he kicked the Mother Box, sending the metal cube flying downward toward the ground.
Below, Cyborg flew past and caught the Mother Box.
All the thrusters on his body activated, turning Victor into a silver meteor as he sped away.
Alex didn't rush to chase. He had already marked Victor's mind. Whenever he needed to, he could catch up using "mind teleportation."
But if he didn't get rid of Superman, even if he caught up and got the Mother Box, Alex still wouldn't be able to do anything.
He looked at Superman and said, "I know you want to use the Mother Box to revive Lois."
"How about this. Lend me the Mother Box for one day."
"Tomorrow night, I'll personally hand it back to you."
"If you don't trust me, you can watch from the side. As long as you don't interfere, what do you think?"
Clark's gaze deepened as he said, "After what happened last time, I've been angry."
"There was a voice in my head telling me to destroy things, to kill Bruce Wayne."
"It told me that only by doing that could I find peace."
Alex crossed his arms, "Looks like you didn't act on it."
Clark said calmly, "Because I know that's wrong."
"Killing Bruce Wayne, even destroying this world, wouldn't calm my anger."
"On the contrary, once I finished all that, I'd lose my goal and become even more furious."
"And then what would I destroy?"
"Other planets?"
Alex spread his hands, "Then maybe you should go to church and let God calm your anger."
"Oh, I forgot."
"You are God."
Clark looked at the dangerous, irreverent man in front of him, "I've never thought of myself as God, nor do I believe I'm omnipotent or omniscient."
Alex nodded without sincerity, "How humble of you."
Clark ignored the sarcasm and continued, "I've been thinking seriously."
"I've been thinking ever since that incident."
"I've read a lot of books, hoping to find inspiration from those who came before."
"And only tonight have I finally figured it out."
"Reviving Lois might give me some comfort, but it wouldn't change this world."
"So what I need to do is change the world."
Alex paused, then a thought surfaced.
He wanted to give Clark a push.
If he could influence, even steer, the fate of the most important man in this DC universe, then the reward he'd get should be considerable.
After a moment, Alex said, "You can't change anything."
"Humans are a primitive and violent species."
"If you flip through any history book, you'll see that."
"If you want to make sure tragedies like Lois's never happen again, then you'd have to remove the violent factor from humanity. But is that even possible?"
"Even with the Mother Box, I don't think it can be done."
"Sure, humanity is trying. That's why there are laws, and police."
"But look around. Even with all that, has the world become better?"
"War still happens on Earth, and it has never stopped."
Clark's eyes flickered as he said in a low voice, "One has to try."
"When I was a kid, I never imagined I could control this power."
"If my father hadn't encouraged me to try, I wouldn't have been able to do it."
"So when I put this suit back on, I realized it's time for me to try."
"To try to create a world without violence."
"If they refuse to give up violence, then I'll make them give it up my way."
"I'll rewrite the rules of the world. I will stand above all laws and become the one, supreme rule."
"And the change starts tonight, starting with you."
"Stranger, or John, or whatever your name is."
"If you don't give up the Mother Box and leave here, I won't hold back."
At this moment, Superman radiated an overwhelming pressure, a sharp and unyielding presence that left Alex with no doubt he meant every word.
"Is that so?"
"Still, I think I deserve some special treatment."
Alex could feel the pressure Superman was releasing, but it wasn't enough to scare him off.
Clark raised his brows slightly, "Oh? Why would I give you special treatment?"
"You will."
Alex's lips curled into a smile, "That coupon is called 'Martha'."
Boom!
Alex's figure turned into a blur of energy and vanished into the air.
Clark's entire body trembled, then his eyes lit up with red light.
He roared, "You dare!"
Superman shot forward instantly, turning into a meteor streaking toward Kansas.
Though he was fast, he hadn't reached the speed of light, so it still took some time before Clark arrived at the home that carried his childhood memories.
Of course, the house had already been destroyed by the earlier lightning.
Clark landed on the ground and saw his mother, Martha, rummaging through the ruins.
Hearing him, Martha turned back in surprise, "Son, why are you back?"
"Has the disaster stopped?"
Clark froze for a moment, then realized he had been tricked.
But seeing his mother safe, he still let out a breath.
Then he shook his head, "Not yet, Mom. It's not safe here."
"Let me take you somewhere safe."
At the same time, Clark thought, 'If he didn't come for mom, then where did he go?'
———
He quickly found the answer.
In the night sky, Victor flew low across the land.
At that moment, his vision blurred, and he suddenly stopped.
A hand pressed onto his shoulder, preventing him from moving forward.
He looked up and saw Alex smiling at him.
"Why the rush?"
"Look, you're still holding my stuff."
Then Alex fired heat vision, knocking Victor out of the sky. Without wasting time, he prepared to stimulate the Mother Box.
He had just used a trick to deceive Clark, sending Superman back to Kansas.
But he knew it wouldn't delay him for long.
If bringing the Mother Box from the DC universe back to the Boys universe would make it lose its effect like the Tesseract, then Alex wouldn't need to go through all this trouble. He could just leave immediately after getting it.
But now, he had to race against time to see what kind of change the Mother Box could bring him.
Just like last time in the Marvel universe when he absorbed the Mind Stone's energy, he first expanded his biofield, forming a sealed spherical space.
Then he removed the "Justice Cape" and fired golden beams from his eyes onto the surface of the metal cube.
Alex controlled the solar radiation output, rapidly increasing the temperature of the heat vision.
In the blink of an eye, it exceeded 10,000 degrees.
At that point, the oxygen inside the sphere ignited. When Victor flew back, he saw flames raging inside the spherical space.
He immediately raised his arm-cannon and fired continuously at the sphere formed by the biofield.
But all the attacks were deflected.
At the same time, under Alex's stimulation, the Mother Box inside the sphere began to open up just like before in the lab. Energy surged out from within.
Alex knew this was the critical moment. He pushed the solar radiation output even higher, forcing the Mother Box as much as possible, letting the energy flood the entire sphere and wash over his body.
Bolt-like streams of energy kept striking his body. Alex could feel something in his body changing.
Even after being strengthened once by the Mind Stone, he now felt a strong sense of danger under the Mother Box's energy.
At once, Alex fully activated his own power, resisting the Mother Box's force, preventing it from flooding into his body all at once.
Instead, he slowly guided it inside, devouring it bit by bit.
The digested Mother Box energy filled his cells one by one. During this process, Alex's gene sequence began to vibrate.
Gaps opened up, allowing new sequences to insert themselves.
Outside the biofield, Victor kept attacking desperately, but compared to Alex, his strength was far too weak.
He couldn't break the biofield at all.
At that moment, he detected a high-speed object.
Then, at the corner of his eye, a red cape fluttered.
Superman, Clark, had returned.
"He's already activated the Mother Box's power?", Clark looked at Victor.
The young man nodded, "He sealed himself inside. I can't break his energy barrier at all."
Clark didn't hesitate, "I'll do it."
His eyes lit up, and he fired crimson beams.
They struck Alex's spherical field.
Clark quickly increased the output of his heat vision. Red light spread around his eyes.
The beams turned into a blazing torrent, crashing against Alex's biofield. At last, the threads of light forming the field appeared and began to split apart.
Clark shouted, increasing the output further and guiding the red beam upward.
Tearing a gap in Alex's spherical space.
At once, the Mother Box energy inside burst out, forming a curtain of light.
Clark quickly moved aside to avoid it. When the light curtain faded, he saw something falling rapidly.
The Mother Box!
Clark immediately chased after it. Breaking the sound barrier midair, Superman caught up in an instant and reached out to grab it.
But he suddenly felt the surface was extremely hot.
He quickly withdrew his hand.
The Mother Box slammed into the ground, creating a crater like a meteor impact.
Its intense heat melted the surface, causing it to sink downward.
Only when it nearly disappeared into the ground did the melting stop.
Clark looked up. The spherical field had vanished, and Alex was nowhere to be seen.
Superman frowned deeply, landed, and pulled the Mother Box out of the ground.
It had cooled down, returning to a neutral temperature. Holding it, Clark immediately flew toward Midway City.
———
[Midway City]
The witch fell to the ground. Just as she tried to get up, the Godkiller sword pierced her chest, through her heart.
She screamed, then her body gradually stopped moving.
Diana let out a breath, pulled out the sword, and then saw the massive fantastical machine in the sky beginning to collapse.
"Looks like you've handled the problem," A voice sounded from the sky.
Diana looked up and saw Clark floating in the night sky, holding the Mother Box.
Watching the "world-destroying machine" disintegrate, Clark nodded slightly at Wonder Woman below, then sped away.
"Wait," Diana called out, but Clark was already gone.
Then countless "parts" from the collapsing machine rained down, causing secondary damage to the already devastated city.
By the time everything settled, nearly half the city had turned into ruins.
Standing on a rooftop, watching it all, Diana felt no joy at having stopped the disaster.
Her mind was filled with the expressionless Superman who had just left with the Mother Box.
At that moment, she heard the roar of an aircraft engine. Turning back, she saw a Batjet landing.
The cockpit opened, and Batman stepped out, "Good thing I had a spare, or I wouldn't have made it in time."
Diana spread her hands, "What happened? Why did Superman get the Mother Box?"
"This seems a bit different from our original plan."
Bruce Wayne nodded, "A bit different, yes."
He briefly explained how "John" tried to seize the Mother Box, Superman arrived, and multiple parties fought over it.
How Superman was tricked away by "John," who used the chance to activate the Mother Box, and how Clark returned, broke through the barrier, took the Mother Box back, but "John" disappeared.
"Right now Victor has taken his father to the hospital. Dr. Silas should be fine, at most mild burns."
Bruce said in a heavy tone, "What concerns me more is Superman."
"He seems to have developed some ideas," Batman then played a recording.
["I think it's time for me to try."]
["To try to create a world without violence."]
["If they refuse to give up violence, then I'll make them give it up my way."]
["I'll rewrite the rules of the world. I will stand above all laws and become the one, supreme rule."]
["And the change starts tonight, starting with you."]
After listening to the recording, Diana's expression turned serious.
"If I didn't recognize it as Superman's voice,"
"I would have thought it was the declaration of some dictator."
"What is Clark trying to do?"
Bruce looked at the ruined city and said in a low voice, "I don't know."
"But I do know that maybe we can't keep fighting alone anymore."
"Whether it's Superman or that mysterious 'John.'"
"To be honest, I've never felt this powerless."
"I already miss the days when the biggest problem was a clockwork penguin."
"Miss Prince, I think it's time to assemble a team."
"A team that can handle major crises. What do you think?"
Diana slung the Godkiller sword onto her back, "I think we'd better do it quickly!"
.
.
.
Three days passed.
Because Midway City had suddenly come under attack, a large number of citizens were forced to evacuate.
As a result, many people suffered heavy losses.
Lynn was one of them.
He was an auto mechanic, working day-to-day jobs.
His bank account had never held more than three digits. After the disaster, his expenses increased, but he had no income.
At that moment, Lynn stood in front of an ATM. Seeing the screen show that only 10 dollars remained, he held his head in his hands.
The person behind him urged, "Hurry up, others are waiting."
Lynn turned back to complain a few words. When he turned around again, he froze.
He rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing wrong.
The 10 dollars just now had become 10,000.
Three extra zeros.
"This isn't real."
"This isn't real!"
With trembling hands, he entered 1000 and pressed withdraw.
The ATM made the pleasant sound of counting money, and then 1000 dollars came out of the slot.
Lynn laughed loudly, taking the cash and card, kissing the money again and again.
All of this was watched by a pair of eyes across the street, Alex.
He smiled, withdrawing the stream of information he had extended from his fingertips and connected to the electronic network.
This was his new ability.
That night, when Clark tore open his biofield, Alex had gained this power at the critical moment.
From the Mother Box's energy, he obtained the power of the "information domain."
Now Alex could turn himself into an information lifeform, enter any information network, and exist within it.
He could even let his consciousness parasitize any mechanical construct, becoming a different form of immortality.
And these were just the most basic abilities.
On top of that, he also gained "knowledge projection," "information control," and "quantum sub-brains."
"Knowledge projection" allowed Alex to project the knowledge or information he possessed directly into a target's brain.
Letting them instantly master it, skipping the learning process.
Back in the Marvel universe, if he had this ability, he could have instantly given Shuri and the others Kryptonian knowledge and technology, instead of spending days teaching them.
"Information control" allowed him to release streams of data, interface with any network or electronic terminal, and freely read or modify information.
Just like earlier, when he changed Lynn's bank balance from 10 to 10,000.
Finally, "quantum sub-brains." Alex could now generate multiple "quantum sub-brains" within his mind. They could store information in place of his main brain, perform high-speed calculations, help analyze an opponent's attack patterns, formulate targeted strategies, and even predict attacks.
Because they were "quantum sub-brains," they weren't biological and didn't take up space in his actual brain.
Overall, the "information domain" ability didn't directly increase Alex's combat power.
But it made him more well-rounded and improved his survivability.
Watching Lynn leave happily, Alex glanced around the street and smiled, "That's enough for now."
He lightly touched the "Traveler's Ring" on his hand. A flash of blue light appeared, and Alex vanished from the street, leaving the DC universe.
[🎉 Shoutout to Eric and Cash for joining p@treon. Thank you for keeping me motivated.🤗]
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