Starting from scratch, Batman crushed my dream of getting rich

Chapter 446 In the Name of Justice

"No"

Seeing the projection within the timeline, seeing that devastated world where no one survived, seeing Nemesis Lois silently weeping over Superman's corpse amidst mountains of corpses and seas of blood, Clark almost couldn't control his urge to rush into this dark multiverse.

He didn't understand how Louis had become like this, nor did he understand why the world had been destroyed so completely, but the scene before him made him feel particularly heartbroken and confused; his love for Louis and for the world was too profound for him to accept that they had both met such a tragic end.

"Louis, what happened? Why did you become like this?"

“Don’t be impulsive, we’re going against the flow of time.” Ma Zhaodi pulled Clark back: “This point in time is clearly a bad ending that has been settled, we need to find an opportunity to change it at an earlier point in time.”

After listening to Ma Zhaodi's words of comfort, Clark finally managed to control his emotions.

“You’re right, Old Ma—let’s go, let’s continue.”

The two continued forward and saw another scene.

"Louis, what's going on?"

Superman, also dressed in a black suit, stood in front of Lois. He looked at Lois's black Kryptonian suit and the tattered Superman cape fluttering behind her—but these things only puzzled him.

But the glaring sight behind Louis was enough to break his heart—it was a metropolis that was almost completely razed to the ground.

The once bustling metropolis, with its towering skyscrapers and constant traffic, is now engulfed in smoke and fire, littered with ruins. Amidst the smoke and flames, the blood of countless corpses flows across the ground, mingling and pooling. Metropolis, the home Clark had lived in for over a decade, is now stained a murky crimson, devoid of life and hope.

The sorrowful cries of wives who had lost their husbands, fathers who had lost their children, and retired veterans who had lost their dearest friends echoed throughout the metropolis. Superman's super hearing sent all these sounds into his mind, and this usually strong, brave, and almost omnipotent hero now wore an expression of sadness and weakness on his face.

What he couldn't understand even more was the way the people around him looked at Louis—a look filled with fear, hatred, and pain.

“Clark, I…” Louis looked somewhat relieved, but also uneasy and regretful: “I thought you were completely dead.”

“I did die, but the Life Matrix resurrected me, though it took longer than expected—Louis, why did you become like this? Why did Metropolis become like this?”

"It was all the work of the cyborg Superman. He claimed to everyone that he was the reborn Superman, but I knew he wasn't real. I fought him."

Louis's expression was a bitter smile, yet also like he was crying: "I didn't know you would come back. I thought you were dead. I was too angry when I was fighting him to spare any effort to protect Metropolis."

Upon hearing this, Clark glanced at the mechanical superhero on the ground, who had been reduced to a pile of broken mechanical parts by Louis.

He was about to comfort his lover when a voice interrupted Louis's explanation.

"She's lying! She's lying!"

A boy of about thirteen or fourteen knelt beside a body broken in two, hysterically yelling at Louis, "You just used your laser eye to cut my dad in two! I saw it with my own eyes! You were just fighting, not protecting him!"

Louis's face immediately turned ugly.

“I…I remember her, I remember her!” another man interjected, trembling. “She killed Luthor with her own hands, and that Batman in Gotham City, and the Joker, and the congressman, and the general, and the other Justice League members!” “She wasn’t Superman at all, she was a killer!”

Hearing this, Clark looked at Louis in disbelief: "Louis, is this true? You brought Bruce—"

"Bruce will never end the evil in Gotham City."

Louis's voice became agitated at this point.

“He just endlessly plays games with those criminals, he doesn’t dare to kill them, and I’m fed up with his lecturing.”

"I turned the Joker into molten glass in just three seconds, something Batman couldn't do in over a decade—and if the Justice League had been this determined earlier, scum like Luthor, Reshogu, the League of Assassins, Ares, and Black Adam would have been dealt with long ago!"

"I did these things. I ended these incorrigible supervillains who didn't deserve to be saved."

"I ended the warmongers, I ended the warlords who caused famine, I ended the arms smuggling across America, and the corrupt officials, I ended it all! They should thank me! Humanity should thank me!"

Louis grew increasingly angry as he spoke: "You could hear all of this, see all of this, do all of this. You could have completely purified this world, but you didn't. You didn't save them. Why?!"

Faced with Louise's question, Clark remained silent for a moment. He hadn't expected that one day he would need to discuss such an issue with her, especially at this time and under these circumstances.

In fact, he was very sad, so sad that he almost didn't want to talk to Louis, because Louis had killed his former home, girlfriend, good friends and comrades, and enemies—strictly speaking, he and Louis were now mortal enemies.

"Louis, what have you become?"

But he still patiently offered one last piece of advice.

“We are not qualified to save all mankind; mankind does not need a savior. Nor can we purify the world; the world does not need us to purify it, Louis.”

Seeing Louis's puzzled look, he sighed.

"Superman may kill supervillains, but he can't kill evil; Superman may kill warmongers, but he can't kill war; Superman may kill warlords, but he can't kill strife; Superman may kill arms smugglers, but he can't kill violence; Superman may kill corrupt officials, but he can't kill greed."

“Our methods are very efficient, and our abilities are very powerful, but they cannot save everyone. Only humanity itself can save everyone. We have no right to make choices for them; we are not gods.”

"In the more than 30 years I've lived on Earth, I've only learned one thing—I've learned to control my power."

“You’re wrong. Humanity doesn’t want to save itself at all,” Louis said coldly. “They crave an omnipotent god to solve all their problems; otherwise, they’ll just be going around in circles for decades.”

"Louis, stop, come with me, okay?"

"You want to imprison me like a criminal?"

“I had to do this; you’ve killed too many people.”

(End of this chapter)