Martin Variety in American Comics.

Chapter 484: Getting to the bottom of things (Please subscribe and read on, monthly ticket recommendation!)

Martin raised the tip of the knife and pointed it at the ground. The energy core started to work, and the crescent-shaped knife gradually lit up, as if it was covered by silver moonlight. While it was full of beauty, the sharp blade also emitted a terrifying cold light.

He grasped the center of the hilt with both hands and began to rotate it, turning the crescent-shaped blade like a wheel, rubbing against the air and burning with silver flames.

Click!

Martin thrust the blade of his crescent-shaped knife into the ground, flames burst out, shattering the ground, and I began to absorb all the energy around me.

These energies contracted towards Martin, and when viewed from the sky they looked like shrinking rings, which were very obvious.

As the surrounding energy was absorbed by Martin, the environment also changed. It seemed as if there was an invisible barrier surrounding it. The planes that came to the battlefield to collect information and the scattered inner membranes were all wrapped in it, with no chance to leave.

"Thunder Half Moon Slash!"

Martin's voice spread in all directions, like thunder passing through the clouds, deafening.

Those information-collecting planes in the sky have no idea what this "Transformer" underground is going to do, so they fly around like headless flies.

The scattered demon-like entities gathered together again, and the Omega symbol of Apocalypse lit up on their bodies. When the power of reform and destruction was transmitted to the demon-like entities through faith, it turned into energy that filled the muzzle of the gun, and bombarded Martin who was accumulating power.

At this moment, Martin pulled the crescent-shaped knife out of the ground, with the blade pointing to the sky. All the absorbed energy gathered towards the blade, and a spot of light appeared at the tip of the blade.

The light spot was so inconspicuous at first that no one noticed the change except Martin.

But soon this spot of light rose into the sky and hid in the clouds, like a looming crescent moon, casting cold moonlight on the earth and covering everything with a silver gauze.

The moonlight soothed the impatience in the hearts of those on the plane. They regained their sanity and no longer flew around like flies. Instead, they found the Flash and flew towards him.

The beam of light ejected from the muzzle of the magic-like cannon melted into the silver moonlight and disappeared, as if it had never existed.

The demon-like being widened its eyes. There was no record of a similar situation in its database, so it didn't know how to deal with it.

Although he hesitated for only a few seconds before reacting, because Martin drained away all the energy around him, the temperature in the places illuminated by the moonlight dropped to zero degrees, greatly affecting the actions of the demon-like creature.

"go to hell!"

Martin stood in place, holding the knife in both hands and slashing forward. The crescent moon in the sky descended with the movement of the crescent knife, turning into a real crescent-shaped scimitar that slashed towards the ground.

"The moon is as cold as frost. You will die in this extreme cold!"

Martin's figure merged into the crescent moon that fell from the sky, and his voice was like frost covering everything, full of contempt for the enemy.

The Omega symbol on the demon-like body kept flashing, and his body, which was pieced together by magic and divine power, kept expanding.

"For Darkseid, for the Dark Lord!"

This monster, which had no brain in the physical sense, shouted out the first words since the war began, like a martyr bound for heaven, rushing towards the crescent moon that fell from the sky.

The planes that were forced by Martin to stay here to watch the final scene had just landed next to the Flash when they saw the monster called "Apocalypse Demon" by the Positive Alliance rushing towards the bright and flawless crescent moon and then exploding.

The bright crescent moon was blown back a little by the power of the demon-like self-explosion, and cracks appeared on its surface.

The dark red energy produced by the explosion tore apart every cell in the demon's body, and then began to shrink inward, absorbing everything around it like a black hole.

"Little tricks!"

Martin was not frightened by what he saw. It was just a fake created by magic. There was nothing to be afraid of.

He steadied his body, grasped the tail of the crescent-shaped blade's handle with both hands, and fell like a meteor, with the crescent moon made of pure energy pressing on the dark red black hole.

Click!

The black hole was torn apart by the crescent moon, and the bright moonlight illuminated everything.

Martin landed steadily on the ground, shaking his crescent-shaped sword, and the fairy-tale-like dream scene gradually disappeared.

The moonlight was still bright, but soon disappeared into the night.

The crescent moon composed of pure energy shattered and turned into warm snowflakes, covering the entire battlefield.

These snowflakes continue to release energy outward, and the area will return to normal soon.

In order to protect the planes surrounding him, Paris materialized the Speed Force into chains of lightning, often bringing those planes into a state of resonance to avoid the influence of energy.

After Martin dealt with the demon, he released the lightning chain and waited for Martin to walk to the front of the plane and stand next to Martin.

"Everyone, what you just saw was a man-made demon. Washington has repeatedly slandered the Justice League in public, saying that they fabricated lies about alien invasion for their own benefit. Now the evidence is here. I hope you can take this information back and think about it carefully."

Martin said this to the current news media. Those planes sent by government agencies or consortiums would not take it seriously even if they saw the true form of the demon.

So, he asked the Flash to force some people to stay under the pretext of introducing information about Apokolips, and then let go of those local or fearless self-media.

After these people ran away, Martin released the others.

These people were all grassroots clerks, much more mature than the so-called officials Barry received today. Although they were very dissatisfied with Martin and the Flash's actions, they did not show it in their actions. Instead, they cooperated with the orders given by the two of them.

"Will this really work? It's not that I look down on the news industry, but if Washington is determined, those small media and self-media just now will not have much say."

Barry looked at the abandoned industrial area that had been razed to the ground, and desperately wanted to do something to make up for today's mistake.

"Those people are just a trigger. We should let the American networks discuss it first. We will release the real news so as not to cause resistance."

These are just small tricks in the war of public opinion. Naturally, there are people specifically responsible for them. Martin and Barry don't need to be distracted.

Martin said to Barry: "Although the battle here is over, our mission is not yet complete. Gideon has found the passage Luther used to transport troops, and also found that guy's collaborator. Now let's go and catch him!"

"Let's go check on those people at the other end of the tunnel!"

Barry asked in doubt: "There is another target on the sea. Let's work together to chase the target on the ground. What about the enemy on the sea?"

"Barbara and her people are already prepared, so let her handle this matter!"

Martin asks Gideon to inform Barbara.

The cargo ship on the sea is an ocean-going freighter and is not under the management of the United States. If you want to investigate the ins and outs of this ship, you need the international background of the Wayne Group. "Okay, but I always feel that you have other reasons for this arrangement."

Barry accepted the arrangement, but felt that Martin had other considerations.

"Of course, those people are capable of anything. They are not like the federal officials you faced today. Those who cooperate with Luther will not abide by ethics and rules. Any hesitation may lead to irreversible consequences."

Although Martin did not say it explicitly, he pointed out the common problems of Barry among superheroes: he lacks the courage to make decisions at critical moments.

"You are being biased. When have we superheroes ever made mistakes? When have we ever failed to turn the tide?"

Barry defended himself and admitted that he was not as good as Martin, but he found Martin's criticism hard to accept.

"But you always wait until things are beyond repair before you take great risks to solve the problem. This is an unacceptable style of behavior for the Justice League."

Martin smiled and said to Barry, "When you are alone, you can risk being covered in scars or even dying to do one or two things that seem stupid. But for an organization, any mistake will have a price to pay. It's just losing money and resources, which doesn't matter to the alliance, but if people die, it's really irreversible."

Barry was thoughtful. He had been managing Star Labs for some time and gradually understood the difference between individual and organizational actions.

"This is much harder than dealing with criminals!"

“Just learn slowly!”

Martin didn't teach Barry too much. He turned into a sports car and called for Barry to get in quickly. Then they rushed to the tunnel where Luthor was transporting the monster.

The tunnel was not far from the battlefield, just around the road from the central city to the Star Laboratory, no more than one kilometer away.

"This distance is too close. How did Luther manage to hide from Gideon's surveillance?"

Barry jumped out of the car and looked at the surrounding environment. He stretched his neck slightly and saw the lights of Star Labs and the central city area.

Martin did not change into human form. He continued to maintain the form of a vehicle and slowly moved to the vicinity of the tunnel entrance. He turned on the headlights and illuminated the dark tunnel. Something inside reflected the light of his headlights.

"This tunnel was dug temporarily. Look at the slime on the wall."

Barry heard Martin's call, took the sampling equipment from the drone controlled by Gideon, entered the high-speed state, and sampled everything around the tunnel entrance in different categories.

"These things are very corrosive. Whether it's stone, soil, steel, or cement, they can all be corroded in a short period of time. Luther has these things, no wonder he can build such a large-scale tunnel in a short period of time."

The word "big" that Barry mentioned was not an exaggeration. This makeshift tunnel was big enough for Martin to pass freely in the form of a sports car.

"Be careful not to get hurt by the body fluids secreted by the monsters created by Luther."

Martin deformed the car body, focusing on protecting the wheels. When he walked into the tunnel, the slime did not cause any harm to him.

Barry resonated and followed Martin into the tunnel, using his extreme speed to collect useful information in the tunnel.

Gideon called in more drones, which flew into the tunnel, illuminating the dark entrance and clearing a path for Martin and Barry.

They were not walking fast, and the drone sent by Gideon was not attacked. It flew to the top of the tunnel and acted as a lighting fixture.

Barry collected a lot of things in the tunnel, and after temporary processing, Gideon transported them back by drone for further analysis.

"look at this!"

Barry suddenly appeared in front of Martin, holding something similar to a snake skin in his hand, and placed it in front of Martin like a treasure.

“That’s human skin.”

Martin took a look and recognized what Barry was holding. "Luthor used living superhumans or clones in petri dishes to create these monsters. When these things enter the natural environment from the laboratory, they will gradually adapt and shed a layer of skin before becoming the monsters we see."

Barry's smile froze on his face. Without saying a word, he handed the human skin in his hand to Gideon.

Then, he vomited.

Barry vomited it out directly. After a while, he recovered and said to Martin: "Couldn't you have warned me about this disgusting thing?"

"This kind of disgusting thing is commonplace for people like Luther. You will see more in the future. I am doing this for your own good, so that you can get familiar with it in advance."

Martin did not comfort Barry, but let him slowly get used to the feeling.

Barry stuck out his tongue and jumped up and down like a spring several times before he slowly reacted.

Although his face was pale, there was not much reaction in his body.

Once he got used to it, Martin moved on.

This time, they sped up. There was not much special in this makeshift tunnel. Apart from the things secreted by the monsters, there were not even any industrial artifacts.

Barry followed Martin and walked quickly through the tunnel without any forks, feeling that his endurance had been improved.

"Gentlemen, those transporting the monsters are about to leave. They are all human beings, fully armed, and there are two very special people. One is a man wearing a full set of sportswear and a hockey mask on his face; the other is a woman with one eye, half of her face is covered with black paint, and there is a collar around her neck."

Gideon reported the previous situation back and did not do anything unnecessary to avoid alerting the enemy.

"Is there any information about those two people in the database?"

In the DC world, anyone who can dress in strange clothes is not a good person; they are either a hero or a villain.

"I'm sorry, but I didn't find anyone who matches the data."

"It doesn't matter. After we catch them, we can slowly interrogate them and find out who they are."

Martin made the decision to arrest and rushed out.

Barry entered super speed mode, turned into a bolt of lightning, and surrounded Martin, helping him block out the sound of the engine roar.

The two rushed out of the tunnel within a second, but the convoy that was packing up did not notice the group of people that were brought into the speed tunnel by the Flash.

"It doesn't matter."

Martin stopped Barry, who was about to rush out, and said to him, "Go around first and eliminate the risks. Then see what these people will say."

(End of this chapter)