After saying this, Heisenberg silently looked around, taking in the varied expressions on everyone's faces.
Clark fell silent, lost in thought, because Heisenberg's attitude wasn't the result he'd wanted.
But if he were to voice a rebuttal…
He couldn't.
Wonder Woman, on the other hand, found this attitude quite admirable, because she had experienced real war.
War never went smoothly. After all the preparations were made, the outcome of battle was simply a collision of fate and a contest of strength.
Just as Heisenberg had said, if they truly made every preparation and Earth and humanity were still destroyed…
Then it wouldn't be the fault of those who had already given their all!
Like Diana, Mera had no objections. Right now she had only one goal: to stop the Atlanteans under Orm's control from going to war with humanity.
Of course, before that goal, she still had to become Aquaman, hold off Darkseid, and keep the Atlantean race from being wiped out.
So she had too much on her plate, and for now just wanted to follow Heisenberg down this road to the very end.
She'd already gotten on Heisenberg's ride long ago!
As for Barry…
Barry had no objections whatsoever. Spurred on by Batman, he only wanted to protect himself while doing his best to protect everyone around him.
Even as he sat in silence, his mouth was stuffed full of food, chewing away in huge bites.
Starting today, he was going to work hard on replenishing his energy, and then prepare himself to travel through time at any moment!
If a great catastrophe befell his present, then he would still go back to the past. Even if the people of the past didn't believe him, he had to do it.
At the very least, the hints he gave might raise their chances of victory!
Then there was Victor…
Cyborg quietly watched Heisenberg and gave a silent nod.
The more Cyborg's thinking came to resemble a computer's processing mode, the more he became the one most supportive of Heisenberg.
He was the only one present who could potentially remain unaffected by reason and impulse!
Of course, sometimes he was controlled by his own body.
Beside Cyborg, Arthur—that fake Aquaman—was still eating and drinking heartily, so none of it mattered to him at all.
As long as his father was alive and well in Amnesty Bay, he didn't care about anything else.
As for enemies, he'd just fight them and be done with it.
Only Batman furrowed his brow deeply.
After a moment of contemplation, Batman turned to Heisenberg and asked:
"I suppose the reason Barry is the only one who came back from the future is that the future you thinks just like the you of now…
So your priority in the future is still just killing Darkseid for revenge.
As for saving the Earth—perhaps we're the only ones who ever consider that…"
"Probably."
Hearing Bruce's cold-faced jab, Heisenberg nodded and tossed the three Mother Boxes aside.
The little ball split open another crack and swallowed the Mother Boxes into the soil in an instant.
At the same time, Heisenberg clapped his hands and laughed.
"Alright, the Mother Boxes are all in our hands now. At the very least, we've seized what future Barry called the initiative.
As for whether Earth is destroyed, whether humanity goes extinct—
Didn't Barry make it clear enough? I'm on Earth, so Earth stands!
And I'm standing right here on Earth now, aren't I? So there's no need for any of you to let the future rattle you."
Heisenberg slowly stood, raising his hands above his head and clapping them together loudly.
"I see everyone's stopped singing and dancing. What's this about?
Today is a banquet I'm throwing for my new divine kingdom. Do you really think I'd enjoy such a gloomy scene?
I've fought wars my whole life. In a few days, all of you and I have another hard battle ahead.
While the war hasn't started yet, can't we enjoy ourselves a little?
Come on—let the music play on, and let the dancing continue!"
Heisenberg chuckled, raising his glass high.
"Here's to Earth!"
"TO EARTH!!!"
Everyone who could lift a glass raised it high.
Once that drink went down, the rhythm of the whole gathering turned lively again.
Heisenberg returned to his seat and chatted and joked with everyone as usual.
And so the banquet resumed, continuing until it slowly came to an end…
…
That night…
…
After the banquet, Bruce quietly left the divine kingdom and returned to the Batcave, where he relentlessly searched for any news of the Martian Manhunter.
At the same time, he used the work of searching for information to keep sharpening his focus, allowing him to think more about the possibilities connected to the future.
Regarding everything future Barry had described, Bruce felt wariness—but also something more.
Because of one thing future Barry had said: Clark had been controlled.
Those words struck deep into Bruce's heart.
There had been a time when Bruce dreamed of bizarre scenes more than once.
In his dreams, Earth was reduced to scorched earth, and spaceships danced through the atmosphere.
He, together with his greatest enemy—the Joker—formed what could only be called a dream team?!
And their enemy in those dreams… was Clark!
Ever since Heisenberg had appeared on Earth, he hadn't had those dreams for a long time.
He'd almost completely forgotten those absurd dreams of the past!
But today—with this collision between the present and the future—
Bruce suddenly felt that the future Barry had spoken of had already happened in his dreams long ago!
Thinking of that image from his dreams, Bruce couldn't help clenching his jaw.
He would never allow Earth to become the scorched wasteland from his dreams.
He would never allow humanity to perish at the hands of heroes!
Darkseid, combined with the Anti-Life Equation, could seemingly gain the power to control others!
The people who knew about the Anti-Life Equation—aside from Heisenberg—were only the Martian Manhunter whom future Barry had mentioned!
So if he wanted to formulate a battle plan based on the clues future Barry had given…
He had to find the Martian Manhunter, and at the same time, he had to gain a deeper understanding of the core and meaning of the Anti-Life Equation.
He didn't plan to ask Heisenberg about any of this.
Because…
Right now, he trusted no one!
Some preparations, he had to make himself. And he had to make sure no one discovered those preparations!
He was Batman—an ordinary man who was anything but ordinary.
He firmly believed that in today's Justice League, only he could truly speak from the perspective of ordinary people!
So he had to shoulder even more!
…
Meanwhile, inside the divine kingdom.
After the robots finished cleaning up the littered beach, Heisenberg clapped his hands—like switching off a voice-activated light—and shut off the sun in the divine kingdom.
Mogo was instantly shrouded in darkness, and the highly disciplined Kryptonians each retreated to their round sleep pods.
After more than ten thousand years of prohibiting sexual intercourse, Kryptonians had long grown accustomed to sleeping alone and deeply.
Even Astra and Non, a couple in name only, had sleep pods separated by what might as well have been a million miles!
Mogo was huge and full of beautiful scenery. Non loved the ocean, so his sleep pod was placed on the seabed, allowing him to see the adorable-looking sea fish of Mogo the moment he opened his eyes.
Astra, on the other hand, loved high altitudes, so her sleep pod was placed beside the tallest cliff on Mogo's body.
Kryptonians could fly, and fly extremely fast, so distance could never stop them from gradually letting loose…
By the beach, on a lounge chair, Heisenberg lay there with a bottle of bourbon.
Beside him, Fiona stood quietly in attendance.
After resting for a while, Heisenberg suddenly sensed something off.
He turned his head and asked softly:
"Fiona, your heart rate…?"
"My lord!"
Fiona hurriedly bowed and quietly explained:
"I don't know why, but I feel a little uneasy. Is this… nervousness?
Am I nervous because I'm about to find more of my people?"
"No…"
Heisenberg watched speechlessly as a blush gradually spread across Fiona's cheeks.
That coy posture of yours, hands wringing together, and those little glances that keep drifting toward my lower half…
"Fiona, have you recently been exposed to some…"
"No, I absolutely did not go with Mera to learn about human reproduction methods from movies!!!"
"Uh… alright, alright…"
Listening to Fiona's dead-serious explanation, Heisenberg shook his head helplessly and said softly:
"There's no need to stand guard over me. My life doesn't require anyone to attend to me. Go and rest.
Brainiac's news could come back at any moment, and when it does, the war won't give you much time for… daydreaming!"
"Yes, my lord!"
Fiona nodded, then left with an expression of obvious discomfort.
Honestly, in Fiona's entire life, it was only recently that she'd learned the method by which their kind was supposed to complete the primal process of reproduction.
Before returning to the divine kingdom, when she and Mera were together, she hadn't thought those videos were a problem at all.
The people mating in those films gave her the same feeling as watching a nature documentary.
Somewhat interesting, but not arousing.
But she didn't know what had changed. After returning to the divine kingdom—especially after standing behind Heisenberg once more…
That feeling immediately became completely different from when she was with Mera!
As she walked away, she bit her lip in frustration.
Fiona, oh Fiona. What the Lord needs is a warrior, not some beast in heat!
Even though New Krypton had already abolished the Genesis Program under the Lord's orders…
Even so, there was no need for her to be in such a rush…
"Cough, cough."
She couldn't help clearing her throat, then quietly made her way to the edge of the beach and lay down in a sleep pod less than eight hundred meters from Heisenberg's resting spot.
She slept especially well that night…
Or so it seemed.
Once all life on Mogo had fallen asleep, Heisenberg took a sip of bourbon and patted the little ball in his hand.
"So, after hearing about the future from that time traveler… how do you feel?"
"I feel great, Dad."
The little ball grinned especially happily.
"Because he said I'm the only one capable of fighting alongside Dad to the very end!"
"Haha, alright, alright. I'm truly honored."
Heisenberg laughed as he rubbed the little ball's body, then pulled it into his arms and asked softly:
"It's just that, you've been in my divine kingdom for less than three days, and already you have to face an enemy standing at the peak of the multiverse with me…"
As he spoke, Heisenberg pressed the little ball against his cheek.
"This is hard on you."
"Aww, Dad, no need to be so polite. I chose all of this myself.
Besides, I haven't had a fight in too many years. It's hard for ordinary people to really give me a proper battle.
I'm a Green Lantern, after all—what good am I if I can't fight?
So just think of it as Dad taking me out for some practice!"
The little ball explained gently, then quietly slipped free of Heisenberg's grasp and bounced onto his chest, nuzzling against him ceaselessly.
Heisenberg let the little ball play with him as he smiled up at the unchanging dark sky of the divine kingdom.
After a moment, he smiled meaningfully.
"Mogo, isn't this pitch-black sky a little too monotonous?
After we deal with Darkseid, let's go wander around other places and bring back some stars to decorate our divine kingdom. How does that sound?"
His words fell, but the little ball didn't answer, instead continuing to nuzzle against Heisenberg's face.
And at that moment, neither of them knew that far away, at the center of the galaxy…
Bizarro and Abin had already found the information they'd been looking for.
/-\
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