stonecrandall Chapter 444 Batman: That's right, I am the King of the Land
Chapter 444 Batman: That's right, I am the King of the Land
Chapter 444 Batman: That's right, I am the King of the Land
"Hey... I said. Barry?"
"What's wrong?"
Outside the window, spring is in full bloom, and the sun is shining brightly. Although it rained heavily last night, the rising sun, with its myriad rays of light, was enough to sweep away the gloom of the rain.
Justice League headquarters.
Barry is running on the cosmic treadmill, turning himself into a blur.
He seemed absent-minded, lost in thought, and didn't even react when Chen Tao came in and called his name twice.
"What are you thinking about?"
Chen Tao asked him.
"It's nothing."
Barry shook his head.
Then he said, "Thinking about counter-surveillance."
At this moment, he is running at supersonic speed on a cosmic treadmill, which collects his speed force and recharges it into him.
In a sense, this cosmic treadmill is Reverse-Flash Swann's "legacy," with all its technology derived from the device Reverse-Flash installed under his wheelchair.
"Cheer up." He heard Batman laugh, then say to him, "Look at you. You look miserable. I told you about the Anti-Monitors so you'd take responsibility, not just look at me like that."
Barry's expression relaxed somewhat.
"So... are you fast enough to travel through time?"
Barry's face immediately fell.
"I'm not sure, but I can't tell. Bruce."
His Speed Force began to swirl around him, and more Speed Force erupted from his body on a visible scale, making him even faster, but to no avail. So he finally stopped and got off the treadmill.
"I know that, theoretically speaking, the Speed Force can travel through time, of course it can, otherwise... damn it, but as things stand, I don't know why, no matter how hard I try to accelerate, I can't travel through time."
He clutched his forehead in frustration: "I'm not fast enough, sorry, bat."
"...This isn't your fault." Chen Tao patted his shoulder. "It's okay, this is just an experiment. If it works out, great. If not, believe me, it's not a big deal. I have many ways to deal with counter-surveillance agents."
"We still have time to deal with counter-surveillance."
"real?"
"Um."
Barry nodded, then asked, "Will Hal come back to fight?"
"Yes," Chen Tao said. "Two thousand Green Lantern Corps members have gone missing, and Hal is swamped with work. The Yellow Lantern Corps is also quite unruly, and Arlins is handling that matter. If I have time, I will definitely start investigating this disappearance case and provide Hal with assistance."
He said, "But I can't."
He paused. "I have a bad feeling about this, Barry. I just feel..."
Then he suddenly stopped halfway through his sentence.
We have visitors.
"What kind of visitor?"
"...Why don't I invite him in to talk to us in person?"
With a loud bang, the window suddenly opened by itself.
Barry saw an owl perch on the curtain and coo twice.
"This is……"
The Flash was about to say something when, in the next second, a voice came from the owl:
"This is a recording...from Night Owl."
"Please allow me to begin in this way:"
Good morning, Batman.
"Good morning, Night Owl," Barry heard Batman say.
He couldn't help but say, "Bruce, you know this is just a recording."
Then he saw Batman turn his smiling face: "I know. But since someone has greeted you, isn't it only natural to return the greeting?"
He had a smiling face, but his eyes were icy cold.
thump.
thump.
thump.
That ominous premonition struck his heart like a heavy hammer, making him feel as if his very soul was trembling.
"Listen, Batman, I'm not here to argue with you."
The owl's voice seemed to grow louder and farther away, as if it came from the horizon or whispered in one's ear.
The owl's voice came through the owl: "I'm here to inform you, Batman."
"What I need to tell you is that I'm afraid I can no longer delay the arrival of the anti-surveillance agents."
"The anti-surveillance agents will be in your world in 15 days," Night Owl said. "Or to put it another way..."
"There are 15 days left until the end of the world."
You know, Batman, our interests align on some levels, so this blessing comes from the heart:”
"come on."
"Night Owl, message complete."
……
……
……
"Welcome everyone, welcome to the live broadcast."
"Atlantis has long been a mysterious place, and the land world has always been terrified of it, which I fully understand."
"Because Atlantis also feared the land world, our way of dealing with the world and our lifestyle were very different."
"I think it's time to cast aside these fears and embrace each other with a new spirit of transparency and openness."
"With the permission of the United States of America, the formal approval of the United Nations, and the cooperation of the citizens of Cien Port, Mainland China..."
"...Atlantis established its first embassy on land."
"Batman, should we really do this?"
At this moment... right now.
Aquaman Arthur sat in the audience seats inside the Snowwave Base, holding a phone that was playing a live stream of the Snowwave Base event.
This shot looks like a view from a helicopter outside the base, giving a complete view of the Snowwave base at a glance.
Arthur said with some concern, "You've practically set up a target for Orm to shoot at."
"If I didn't do that, Om wouldn't have taken the bait."
Chen Tao said, "And don't worry, I've already made preparations."
He gestured with his lip towards the audience: "You wouldn't have guessed, would you?"
"Indeed," Arthur said. "In this respect, I really admire Mudface. If you hadn't told me beforehand, I would never have been able to tell that everyone down here—the reporters, the audience, or even the security guards maintaining order—was actually Mudface in disguise."
"You know, sometimes I don't care about the process; I prefer to get straight to the result."
Chen Tao said, "I need to preserve the reputation of the Atlanteans, and I also need to capture Lord Orm like fishing, so that you can eventually control the entire Atlantis."
"This is almost an impossible solution; we can only do it step by step. But if we're willing to be flexible..."
"I've stolen Orm's magical trident," Arthur said. "Without that trident, he couldn't have unleashed a massive tsunami capable of submerging cities, nor could he have carried out those Atlantean attacks on the surface that he and I had devised—sorry."
Arthur said, "I was an extreme guy when I was young. I made a lot of mistakes back then... not just killing Black Manta's father, but also those plans that treated the land as the enemy."
"It's all in the past." Chen Tao shook his head. "But Orm's mindset is deeply ingrained. He firmly believes that the land people are evil, so even without the trident, he would still come to find you to investigate. He thinks the land people attacked Atlantis, but that's a complete misunderstanding."
"So," Arthur said, "what's the plan?"
"It's very simple," Chen Tao shrugged.
"We persuaded him."
Then he saw Aquaman Arthur staring at him.
"Are you serious?"
Why not?
Chen Tao countered, "Is Lord Om an unreasonable guy?"
"He's reasonable, but his reasoning is different from the reasoning used on land. He..."
"Then he's reasonable," Chen Tao said. "We can definitely talk. He's your brother, not our enemy."
"I know this sounds strange, but I'll say it anyway. We need to talk."
"In short," Chen Tao said, "when Lord Om really comes to you, I'll persuade him with words, promising not to use my fists. And the live broadcast will soon be replaced by Mudface's pre-prepared recording. As long as we lose the ability to launch a tsunami to attack the land, we can completely resolve Lord Om's matter internally, and even keep the public unaware of what happened."
Chen Tao tapped his head: "This is truly an evil act of fooling the public, but in urgent situations, one must act expediently, you know that."
He and Neptune Arthur sat for a while longer, and soon, as expected, they received a report that Lord Clayface Orm had appeared.
Chen Tao shrugged: "They're here. You'll be the first one up later, try to persuade your brother."
……
……
……
Atlantis.
A few hours ago.
"Your Majesty, the fleet is ready and awaits your command."
A large number of Atlantean warriors stood below Orm. They were heavily armed, armed to the teeth.
"Very well, it's time to let the land world know what the consequences of invading us are," Orm said.
His words provoked the roars of countless Atlantean warriors below:
"How dare these ungrateful land dwellers threaten someone like you, King Orm I—the Lord of the Seven Seas!"
"This has nothing to do with threatening me, General Rodon." Orm slowly put on the crown helmet that covered half of his face, and then said:
"I wear this crown for my people; without them, I am nothing."
"A missile and countless troops from the terrestrial world attacked Atlantis a few days ago, inflicting heavy casualties on us. Our only response was overwhelming force. As long as Atlantis exists, the terrestrial world will hate us. And today… they will learn our lesson!"
In retaliation for the attack on his underwater kingdom, Lord Orm resolved to lead a retaliatory campaign against the land world, but little did he know...
"Where is your king?!"
At this moment, right now.
Lord Orm burst out of the water, his movements as agile as a fish leaping out of the water.
He looked at the land people standing on the land, completely dry, staring blankly at him.
"I'm speaking to you in the correct language, aren't I?" He grabbed the human holding the camera. "Where is your land king?"
He added, "I'm talking about the great King Arthur, your ruler, humankind."
"I...I...I don't know who you're talking about, President?"
Om found himself unable to get any information out of them.
So he grabbed the other person's neck with one hand: "Heh, these land creatures are so fragile, they breathe through these little holes."
He reached out and covered the mouth and nose of the poor human in his hand:
"Without these little holes to help them breathe, they would all die."
Fifteen seconds have passed.
The land dweller in front of me didn't seem to have any difficulty breathing.
30 seconds.
40 seconds.
Sixty seconds later, Om realized something was wrong.
How come this land dweller in front of him isn't suffocating? He looked again at the Snow Wave Base that had been built in the distance and confirmed that he had indeed captured a living human next to the Snow Wave Base.
Om didn't quite understand.
Then he pressed the other person down for another 30 seconds.
"Let him go, Om."
The person wasn't knocked unconscious, but Om knew he had seen the person he wanted to see.
He turned his head and saw his brother standing right in front of him.
"Your people seem confused, brother," Orm said.
"They are not my people, it's not what you think, Orm. I am not their king," Arthur said. "You must..."
"If you don't rule them... then what have you been doing on land?"
"Om asked."
"Where is Atlantis's army?"
"They await my command underwater," Lord Orm said. "Your men broke the agreement, Arthur."
"Listen, Orm, without an agreement, the surface world knows nothing about these things, and they don't even believe that Atlantis truly exists."
"That's unbelievable," Om said.
"This was all a terrible mistake."
"A mistake?" Orm said. "That's called negligence. It's human nature. I didn't want to come here, Arthur. The filthy air and the weight I felt were unpleasant. But human incompetence forced me to act, for broken families, terrified citizens, and angry soldiers."
"You have to send the Atlanteans home, then come with me." Aquaman Arthur raised his Trident.
"No, I will take revenge on the land dwellers. I will soon sink a city to the bottom of the sea, like the metropolis we stand on right now. It will become a cautionary tale, or perhaps not."
"Who knows? Maybe one day these foolish surface creatures won't even believe that Metropolis ever really existed."
"Om..."
Arthur wanted to say something more, but a portal opened beside him, and Chen Tao stepped out first.
"No, you have to surrender, Om." Arthur became anxious upon seeing Chen Tao's appearance.
Sometimes he really wished he could crack open his brother's skull and wash out what was inside.
"We're tired of fearing the ground, we've had enough of living in fear," Lord Orm said. "It's time..."
Arthur continued, "Listen to me, Orm, there is no king in the surface world..."
"Arthur, do you need help?"
"Bat, let me handle this. I can still try to persuade him."
Aquaman waved his hand at Chen Tao, then tried to say something to Orm, but Orm interrupted him before he could speak:
"I don't quite understand, brother. I originally believed that this counterattack against the surface kingdoms would be a satisfactory answer to their firing on Atlantis, but I only found out after I came here that you are not their king."
Lord Orm said, "Why would you stoop so low as to become one of them? You are far more noble than they are. My mother will be very disappointed in you, and so will I."
"You've abandoned our world, turning instead to another world that has done nothing but slaughter and poison us for centuries. Has breathing the air above ground for so long made you lose your mind?"
Chen Tao, who was standing to the side, couldn't listen to it anymore.
The two people were talking at cross purposes, completely on different wavelengths.
This is due to the different environments in which they grew up. Arthur has always wanted Orm to understand his way of thinking, but such behavior is like forcing a 90-year-old grandfather to learn how to use a Fiji cup, which is both impractical and ridiculous.
Therefore, Chen Tao decided to speak directly using Om's logic.
"Hey, hey, hey, look over here, I have something to announce—"
"So your name is Om, right? Come on, look at me."
"I am the King of the Land!"
(End of this chapter)