Chapter 2506: Chapter 1743 S: Apocalypse Major Event (Ten) _1
"Batman! Batman! Let me out, damn it, everyone's out there, and I'm the only one locked up in here!!!"
In the pitch-black secret room, Damian is frustratingly knocking on the bars. Suddenly, an image of Batman appears on the screen in the room. Damian snarls at it, as if he wants to bite off Batman's head through the screen.
"Darkseid is coming for me, stay put and keep quiet."
With a 'swish', the communication line is cut off again. Damian freezes for three seconds, then explodes like a rocket, pounding the bars in fury, but it's futile.
Elsewhere, Batman, after cutting off the call, turns back to his work. Superman, standing behind him, says looking at his back, "Is this your way of comforting? He's your son, not your enemy. Diana and I really wasted our breath."
Batman sits silently at his console, operating the equipment as he speaks, "It's not a prison, but a confined room with adequate sanitary facilities. I believe in his current state, he should be watching cartoons."
Superman heaves a sigh. He's probably the only one in the room who could hear the comforting intent behind those threatening words from earlier.
In fact, Batman was warning his son. This supervillain is personally after him, has no human moral codes and will do anything necessary to achieve his goals. He is likely to target Batman's family. Batman has done this to protect Damian.
Of course, Damian isn't Batman's only blood relative, but as per the current condition of Damian's parents, even if Darkseid's army attacks, they would have to take a serious beating before leaving.
Batman would like to lock away all the Robins as that would be safest, but according to his tracker, they are still within the limits of Gotham City. Going in there to grab them would result in more than just a few beatings.
At the edge of the Milky Way, Darkseid's loyal fleet from Apocalypse Star quietly hovers in the dark universe space. The fleet consists of twenty-six main ships and more than a hundred and sixty escort ships, and only glows faintly from the United Shield.
In the command room of the main ship, a man with small eyes, wearing a gold and red uniform and a monocle, is intently staring at the combat monitor. Behind him, another burly man in heavy black and red armor impatiently paces the room, his husky and murderous voice echoing,
"Weiman, how much longer do you need, you bastard?! I haven't seen this weak planet swallowed by His Majesty's great fleet yet. You're absolutely useless! Useless!"
"General Steppenwolf, please be patient." The man named Weiman smiles slightly, adjusting his glasses as he says, "The portal for the passage is opening gradually. We've sent forty-five units of soldiers into it, enough to keep the superheroes on Earth busy for a while."
"That's not enough...not enough!" Steppenwolf roars, "I want to see this planet engulfed in blood, just as I have done for His Majesty in the past. You're a damn despicable creature, you usurped my command and yet have not achieved anything for His Majesty!!!"
The smile on Weiman's face cools off. His chubby cheeks sag more heavily, revealing his dark, scheming expression.
"General Steppenwolf, have you ever wondered why His Majesty Darkseid sent me this time?"
"Of course, you have bewitched His Majesty! As a weak commander, you should stay in the back. It's my job to merit at the front line! I also want...I want to..."
"Are you implying that His Majesty is easily bewitched?"
"I...I certainly didn't say that." Steppenwolf stops pacing and walks up to Weiman, glaring at him menacingly, "Stop playing that game with me! I'm not one of your palace attendants that you can toy with. Listen, Weiman, I used to conquer a planet of this size in less than thirty seconds, but you've been dragging this on for nearly ten hours."
"If you can't produce satisfactory results before today and cause His Majesty Darkseid's displeasure, you know the consequence better than I."
"Of course, General." Weiman nods slightly. A flash of disdain flickers in his eyes as he confronts Steppenwolf's rage. He raises a hand in a relaxed manner, "His Majesty sent me because he believes I am more suitable for handling this. Otherwise, why wouldn't he let you, the mighty and wise general, continue to gain merits in his name?"
"Hmph, it must be you and that old witch badmouthing me behind my back...Enough with your games, if anything goes wrong, we will both lose our heads."
"General, please think about it, why did His Majesty send the troops this time?"
"Of course, to conquer Earth."
Now, Weiman turns his back, the disdain on his face barely hidden. However, he still tries to use euphemistic language to hint, "Then why didn't he directly send you?"
"What do you mean..."
"Ordinary humans are not to be feared at all. Even the weakest among the Revenge Goddess Team can easily sweep an entire planet. But this is a remarkable race, with a huge disparity between their upper and lower limits."
"Although His Majesty Darkseid hasn't explicitly said so, it seems that some individuals on this planet might be giving him some trouble."
"Nonsense!" General Steppenwolf responded with a raised voice, "There is no enemy in the universe for His Majesty!"
"Of course, I'm not saying His Majesty fears them. But if His Majesty were to personally appear, wouldn't that be giving too much face to these weak creatures? But what if the deployed troops suffer a setback? His Majesty's dignity would be at stake."
"So, you are thinking of…"
"Darkseid's reign across the cosmos for so many years is not only about fighting and killing. When did His Majesty ever let us praise him for his martial valor? Our superiority over these primitive creatures is more than just physical strength."
Steppenwolf grunted coldly. He could hear Viman subtly insulting him, but at the moment, he didn't want to argue, so he turned around and said, "I know you are a master of intrigue, otherwise, you would not have risen to such a high position under that cruel old hag."
"You flatter me, General." Viman let out a gentle sigh, a cold light reflecting off his monocle. He went on to say, "All the superheroes on Earth are surely waiting for us to launch a military attack. They must have gathered all their forces, ready to withstand our army's assault."
"They want an alien invasion spectacle? We'll give it to them. After all, our type demon troops aren't worth much. Just go plunder some population from a star zone, a few days of transformation would be enough, just let them kill them off."
"But this time, I advised His Majesty not to dispatch the Revenge Goddess Team because I know there's no need for us to engage these special humans directly. All we have to do is accomplish our goals."
Steppenwolf wheeled around, his brows furrowed as he scrutinized Viman's countenance, searching for a hint in his expression, but Viman's face remained impassive. He would not reveal the special mission His Majesty Darkseid had entrusted to him, so all he said was,
"To catch a thief, one must first capture the leader. From the Earth intelligence I have gathered, there is a wise leader amongst these special humans, who has mobilised so many superheroes and even contacted the Green Lantern Corps to investigate Apocalypse Star. "
"Unbeknownst to him, I've already made preparations within the Green Lantern Corps. The Apocalypse Star-related intelligence he has received has all been deliberately leaked by me with the purpose of making him suspect that we are planning to destroy Earth and exterminate the Human race."
"But in fact, the true objective of our plan is on him."
Steppenwolf still glared at Viman. He knew Viman was keeping something from him. If we put it this way, wouldn't exterminating the Human race also eliminate this leader? But now it sounds like Viman wanted to capture him alive, could it be His Majesty Darkseid's special task? What's so special about this leader?
But he didn't ask. After mulling over his thoughts, he finally spoke, "You want to capture him alive? What's your plan?"
"From the Human intelligence I have collected, the Human race is quite a peculiar species. They are exceedingly frail but possess intensively strong emotions, so much so that their feeble bodies are capable of withstanding the power of the Lantern ring. Hal Jordan is a household name in the Green Lantern Corps. He used to be a fragile human."
Viman adjusted his monocle, and turned his gaze to the screen, saying, "In my opinion, this is a manifestation of incomplete evolution. If they are too easily swayed by emotions, they can't comprehend what true strength is."
"The fact that a race with such a glaring common weakness has developed to this point is most likely due to luck. Since the central figure of the superheroes, Batman, is also a human, naturally, we can exploit his emotions. I understand he has children."
"So, this is why you sent Kant off?"
At this moment, floating above Earth space, a black-haired man dressed in a yellow and purple armor with a white cape fluttering behind him looked down at a small gadget in his hand, a tiny screen with an entire rotating planet, its surface alight with numerous dots.
He watched for a long while, then frowning said, "What on earth is this piece of junk that that damned snake Viman's given me? Wasn't it supposed to track Batman's relative's scent? Could there be more than one?"
"Hey, fleet service? Connect me to the main control room. Yes, I'm looking for Viman Wanda Bar... Viman, is this gadget you gave me broken? There are several blinking dots on it, which one is Batman's son as you said?"
Viman, who was on the other end of the communication line, frowned: "That's impossible. Batman should only have one descendant. His scent would be quite conspicuous. This is the latest invention developed by Lord Desaad's research team. It can't be faulty. Kant, have another careful look."
Upon hearing Desaad's name, Kant swallowed all his complaints. Lord Desaad was someone His Majesty Darkseid deemed trustworthy, and he dare not claim that the invention developed by this man was faulty even if he was given ten times his courage.
Kant toyed with the small screen for a while, but he still couldn't tell which blinking dot was the target he should seek. He scratched his head vigorously and said, "I am a fighter, not a scientist, what a hassle... Well, I'll go and check one by one. The number is not that large anyway."
Kant, hovering in Earth space, hesitated a bit before slowly heading towards the nearest glowing dot.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone