After the remaining heat in the room slowly faded, Batman finally moved and opened the electric gate from outside.
Viktor's voice came from inside the room.
"What's your name?"
"The person who freed me said I should be called Clark. Clark Kent."
Flashpoint Superman gave his name without hesitation.
"Ah~ Clark."
Just as Viktor was murmuring the name with a meaningful tone, a cold gaze landed on his back.
He turned around, and Batman was standing silently outside the open shutter, staring at him.
"What? I'm just building a good relationship with the new guy."
Viktor turned back and extended a hand toward the Superman.
"I'm Viktor."
Superman hesitated for just a moment, then reached out and shook his hand.
After that, Flashpoint Superman finally shifted his gaze toward Batman standing outside the door.
Viktor could clearly see something that could only be called goodwill flickering in Flashpoint Superman's eyes.
Superman pointed at Batman with a slightly dazed expression.
"That outfit, I've seen it before. Right before the apocalyptic war, it was someone wearing that same armor who freed me, along with another person."
Batman's expression grew noticeably more serious.
"You had a Batman in your world too?"
The question was natural enough for him to ask. Viktor had already sneaked a peek at the letter from Thomas earlier.
It was an entire page overflowing with a father's longing for his son.
Bruce in the Flashpoint world had died when he was still very young. The way Thomas chose his words made it feel like he was talking to a child.
The poor old man... may not have been able to imagine what his son would look like grown up. He simply did not know how to talk to an adult version of his child.
Of course, it was also possible that the old bat simply couldn't bring himself to face the fact that his son, in another world, had also become Batman.
Therefore, the entire letter didn't mention anything about "Batman" at all.
But as a detective, Batman could naturally connect all the clues together and figure out the answer on his own.
That letter from the father in the other world was full of longing for his son.
There was also a Batman in that world.
That was obvious.
That presence that had always stood firm in the darkness as if nothing could ever break it crumbled for just a moment.
Viktor walked out of the room with Superman.
The latter looked back at Batman standing completely still, and seemed to notice something strange.
"What's wrong with him?"
"I don't know. Maybe he wants to be alone for a while."
He tugged at Superman's arm, trying to pull this curious fool away.
The obsession, rationalism, solitude...
These extreme traits were shaped by the unbearable grief of losing both of his parents...
No one understood better than Batman himself how painful it was to become Batman.
This kind of weight was suffocating.
"Wait."
Batman suddenly called out to Superman.
"The person who freed you..."
Batman gestured at his own armor, and in that low, composed voice, something unmistakably dry could be heard.
"Is he still alive?"
"I don't know."
Superman pulled free of Viktor's grasp. He seemed somewhat guilty, lowered his head, tried hard to remember, and then shook his head.
"After the apocalyptic battlefield, I never saw him again."
Viktor threw his hands up, decided he had no interest in dealing with these two gloomy guys with their tragic backstories.
He shoved his hands in his pockets and walked straight out of the corridor.
By the time he reached the main hall of the Batcave, there were a few more people there than before.
There was Cyborg.
This half-human, half-machine man didn't seem as emotionally empty as his appearance suggested.
The fact that so many Justice League members had recently quit seemed to have affected him quite a lot.
The one remaining half of his face showed a look of quiet sadness.
There was also Dick, wearing his Nightwing gear.
He was someone Viktor knew, and he even took the initiative to greet him, but then his eyes locked tightly onto Rachel, who had originally wanted to keep a low profile.
Rachel moved around uncomfortably in the shadows, and the moment she saw Viktor come out, she quickly took a few steps and hid behind him.
With his line of sight cut off, Nightwingstopped staring like a creep and instead gave a thumbs-up in Viktor and Rachel's direction.
Viktor had spent three days around Nightwing, and he had to admit they got along rather well.
He knew Nightwing was admiring what he and Rachel did last time in Batcave No. 76, when they used reverse surveillance methods to spy on Batman.
Then, Viktor flashed a confident grin and gave a thumbs-up right back.
But while the two of them were exchanging gestures across the room, they clearly forgot about someone standing right between them.
A young woman with long, flowing dark red wavy hair, sitting in a wheelchair, made a disgusted sound and rolled herself out from the space between Viktor and Nightwing.
Not long after, Batman and Flashpoint Superman emerged together from the darkness.
Flashpoint Superman quickly took two or three steps to Viktor's side, then visibly exhaled in relief.
Viktor glanced sideways at him and asked the obvious.
"Why are you so nervous?"
Superman glanced nervously in Batman's direction.
"Being next to him is just... too depressing."
"See? And here you acted like I was trying to hurt you when I pulled you away earlier."
Batman, who had looked close to breaking down just a while ago, no longer showed any sign of that low mood.
He gave Cyborg and Oracle a nod, then called a brief meeting.
He had just gained the trust of the other world's Superman and extracted some information about the other-world Lex Luthor.
For example, because that world had suffered so much from superhumans doing whatever they wanted, Luthor actually ended up looking like a good guy by comparison.
But in reality, Luthor had been quietly developing extraordinarily dangerous superweapons targeting most of the threatening superhumans in the world.
"Most notably, a dehydration virus designed for Atlanteans, and brain-eating nanites designed for Amazons."
Batman gestured toward the Flashpoint Superman.
"This Clark from another world saw it firsthand."
Superman was visibly nervous and clearly uncomfortable being the center of so much attention.
His voice even came out a little small and quiet.
"After Mr. Luthor announced the location of the shelter to all the survivors, the female warriors led by the Amazon Queen and some Atlantean forces also arrived."
"The Atlanteans attempted to seize control from Mr. Luthor directly. In response, Mr. Luthor released a dark green gas, which killed every remaining Atlantean on the spot."
"They all turned into dried corpses within a matter of seconds."
"The Amazon Queen was shaken by what she saw, and initially agreed to quietly find a place in the shelter. However, Mr. Luthor demanded that they go and station themselves in the other timelines."
"The Amazon Queen had no intention of being ordered around by Mr. Luthor. She drew her sword and tried to resist on the spot."
"After that, Mr. Luthor pressed a button, and every last one of the Amazons screamed and collapsed to the ground."
...
1200 POWER STONES = 1 BONUS CHAPTER
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