Flashpoint Superman recalled the scene from back then, and his face showed obvious fear.
"I heard him say that from the moment those Amazons set foot in the shelter, those invisible 'bugs' had already crawled into their brains."
"And even without receiving any commands, those bugs would follow some kind of fixed program—maintaining the rate at which they ate away at the brainstem in exact proportion to the Amazons' regenerative speed."
Batman's voice became incredibly heavy and serious.
"A Lex Luthor whose entire purpose is to eliminate every superhuman on Earth, in some ways, he may be far more dangerous than the one from our world. We have absolutely no way of predicting what other lethal weapons he might still be hiding."
Reverse-Flash and Viktor's expressions both darkened at the same time.
If Cyborg hadn't broken through the cross-dimensional communication technology earlier, and the two of them had charged straight into the next world where Luthor had laid his traps, they probably would have already been killed by that Lex Luthor.
Viktor wasn't particularly afraid of some dehydration virus.
From what he remembered, over the past dozen or so years, quite a few civilizations conquered by the Viltrumites had tried to use viruses to fight back against the invasion.
But the vast majority of viruses in the universe would simply be "purified" by a Viltrumite's body.
Of course, that was probably also one of the reasons why, a thousand years from now, the entire Viltrumite race would be wiped nearly to extinction all at once by the Scourge Virus.
The virus was not only extremely targeted at their specific genes, but also faced many reckless warriors who simply did not believe it was a real threat.
After all, there was no record in Viltrumite history of being defeated by something as trivial as a virus.
Viktor could already picture exactly how the other warriors on Viltrum reacted when the first infected appeared.
'You're coughing?'
'Ha! Weakling! Come here, get up in my face and cough on me!"
However, the brain-eating nanites sounded genuinely terrifying.
Having him hold his breath while continuing to fight wasn't a problem, but what if just holding his breath wasn't enough to keep those things out?
If both of those weapons were already this cruel, Luthor surely had more plans up his sleeve?
Suddenly, Shazam's voice of wisdom sounded.
"So why not just press the locator the moment you step in? That way, no matter what they've set up, it all goes to waste, right?"
Viktor's eyes lit up.
The unhappy expression on Cyborg's face hadn't faded yet, but his robotic voice carried no emotion.
"But what if Luthor anticipated that exact thought?"
"What if the very first time timeline you step into happens to be their actual base, and the moment you stop to look around for just one single second gives them enough time to hit you with something?"
Viktor's eyes dimmed.
Batman's gaze suddenly shifted to Viktor's waist.
"Yellow Lantern energy, like Green Lantern energy, can be shaped by the user's willpower into whatever form is needed. You might be able to use the yellow ring to create a tight shield around yourself."
Viktor touched the ring case at his waist and shook his head a little awkwardly.
"I've never learned how to do that. And for me, it's much harder than it would be for an ordinary person to wield a Lantern ring."
"That energy either keeps trying to flow into my body and gets absorbed by me… or I reject all of it with my willpower, and then everything fires out at once. That's actually how I sent out the Yellow Lantern signal before."
Viktor even opened the ring box on the spot and put on the yellow ring to demonstrate for everyone.
He had plenty more back with Rachel anyway.
Cyborg scanned Viktor's condition and confirmed what he'd said.
"As long as he accepts the fear energy, none of it can leak out at all. Except for the suit that's programmed into the ring, every last bit of the remaining energy gets swallowed up by his cells."
Viktor looked down at the yellow ring, brow tightly furrowed, and tried to release part of the energy inside it to create an object, just as Batman had described.
After a considerable amount of effort, the surface of the ring only squeezed out a small half-sphere of yellow light, and then it was quickly absorbed by Viktor's body again.
"Emotional Electromagnetic Spectrum is basically a nutritional supplement for my body, but that also means it's very hard for me to use them in-between states, where I accept the energy and use it at the same time."
They looked discouraged, except Batman, who quietly spoke up.
"Then we go to Plan B. We use every defensive measure we can set up and give you enough layers of protection to keep you safe."
The sadness on Cyborg's face was replaced by a strange surge of enthusiasm from who-knows-where.
"We'll have a direct technology battle against Lex Luthor from the other world."
Viktor let out a somewhat bewildered laugh, and then Nightwing pushed him in a different direction through the Batcave.
"Come on. Let's get you fully geared up."
Shazam also shamelessly followed along happily. He'd been curious about the equipment storage areas in the Batcave for a while now.
Half an hour later, a completely transformed Viktor stood before everyone.
Viktor's originally Viltrumite dark grey combat suit had been provided with all kinds of angular metallic components.
The upper part of the suit now had a vest-like armor made from a special metal built into it. His shoulders had gained close-fitting shoulder armor similar to Nightwing's, and around his waist was a classic Bat-family tactical belt.
He also got injected with nano-capsules compressed using the Atom's shrinking technology into his bloodstream.
Those capsules were enough nutrients to fuel him at full intensity for four straight months without eating a single thing, even without using his superpowers.
If he got injured, these nanocapsules made by Cyborg would transform into nanoscale medical robots, simultaneously releasing nutrients while helping boost his healing ability.
Viktor had already tested it just now.
The speed of recovery was terrifying, with roughly thirty times his normal rate.
Even if all the bones in his body were shattered and his organs were crushed into pulp, according to Cyborg's calculations, Viktor would only need about seven seconds to fully recover.
Of course, it would also consume every last bit of nutrients and energy stored in all the nanomachines in his body at once.
It's basically a one-time-use resurrection. Rachel had also stuffed an additional yellow ring into his hands.
If nothing unexpected happened, the current version of him could absolutely crush the version of himself half an hour ago without breaking a sweat.
Nightwing had said earlier that this whole set of gear costs at least more than four billion US dollars.
"Actually, this kind of thing is considered cowardice in Viltrum. Except for combat prosthetics that injured warriors can apply for after losing limbs in battle, most of us prefer a much more raw and primitive fighting style."
Viktor reached up a little dazedly and touched the pair of shoulder guards on his shoulders.
These things were so tough that hundreds of millions of tons of force couldn't deform them even slightly.
The material's defensive capability was shocking.
Nightwing patted him on the shoulder.
"You've been here for a few months now. You're an Earthling now. It's time to forget about Viltrum for a while."
Reverse-Flash, who was still only wearing his single heat-resistant friction suit, spread his arms wide toward everyone with an expectant look.
Batman directly activated the device, and the portal appeared once again.
"Everything is ready. It's time to go."
...
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