American comic book: My Father is Superman, am I just an NPC?

Chapter 190 Lord Ian's Human Form
Ian's sophistry regarding his own human nature crumbled.

He didn't give Black Adam a chance to think about the strange things, and suddenly tilted his head back and slammed his forehead hard into Black Adam's forehead.

"Let me see what evil spirit has bewitched you!"

Ian's voice carried the excitement of a researcher, as if he were not facing an enraged ancient god-king, but a precision instrument that needed to be disassembled and repaired.

The words have not yet fallen.

The collision of the two heads has already occurred.

The force of that impact.

There's a kind of beauty in Ian that shows he doesn't care at all about the integrity of his forehead.

It made Black Adam feel dizzy.

"Boom!!!"

A deep, resounding clang, like the tolling of an ancient temple bell, echoed in the minds of the two men.

The Black Adam who was ambushed felt a sudden darkness before his eyes. Countless golden stars and black crows swirled and flew around in his vision, and his brain was almost shaken to its core! His proud magic resistance and physical defense seemed to become a rather unremarkable joke in the face of this completely unconventional mental (physical) attack.

Meanwhile, Ian, taking advantage of the moment when Black Adam's consciousness was shaken and his mental barrier was breached, successfully forced his own incomparably "righteous" consciousness into Black Adam's world of thought.

His words weren't the goal; they were merely a means to create this opportunity for himself. Countless fragments of memory, raging emotions, and ancient incantations surged through him like an out-of-control torrent. Ian's consciousness raced through them, filtering out information irrelevant to the outer universe, focusing directly on the source of that abnormal dark power.

at the same time.

In the realm of reality.

"boom!"

Two muffled thuds sounded almost simultaneously.

The two figures lay flat on the ground in the specially made cage. Black Adam's limbs were twitching unnaturally, but Ian's eyes rolled back just like Black Adam's.

Black Adam began to uncontrollably foam from the corners of his mouth. However, Ian was clearly better prepared. The foam he spat out wasn't ordinary clear liquid, but... a rainbow of colors. Like an overturned palette, it even carried a faint, cloyingly sweet scent of rainbow candy.

It doesn't mean anything else.

The main reason was that Ian had put an effervescent tablet in his mouth beforehand.

At least the foam that comes out looks better.

That counts as a win.

Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet refracted a dreamlike luster under the cold light of the cage, like colorful ribbons sprayed during a festival celebration.

His current appearance, illuminated by the eerie blue force field, presents a bizarre and dreamlike visual effect. Of course, few people are capable of appreciating and judging it.

"..."

Mera, the Queen of the Sea, blinked her large eyes and subconsciously tugged at Clark's cloak.

"Clark... your son... his mouth is even more impressive than the most bubble-blowing arrowfish in the Atlantic... is this really... okay?"

Queen Mera's tone was full of uncertainty.

"Ah."

Clark Kent.

This god among men, who had faced countless cosmic crises, now watched his son roll his eyes and blow colorful bubbles, his face showing only a deep, habitual numbness.

He nodded heavily, and was about to speak when Batman, with his cold, emotionless voice altered by a voice changer, preemptively took over the role of voice double.

"Get used to it."

Concise yet profound, it contains countless painful memories.

Wonder Woman Diana rubbed her still-aching temples, looked at the two guys in the cage who seemed to be having a collective epileptic seizure, and asked helplessly, "So we're just going to... wait here? Wait for Ian to 'mess around' in that ancient emperor's brain and come up with some kind of result?"

She always felt that entrusting such an important task to Ian was not a wise choice.

“We can find something else to do. At the very least, we can ‘interrogate’ this ‘guest’ from a parallel universe that Clark and his team brought back.”

Batman turned around in his wheelchair, his gaze sweeping across the crowd beneath his mask before finally settling on the Injustice Superman standing on the broken wall not far away, still exuding an aura of philosophical despair.

As he spoke, the wheelchair glided silently to Injustice. Injustice still had his head down, staring blankly at the ground, as if he were indifferent to everything around him.

Batman didn't beat around the bush, nor did he use any lie detector. He simply stared at the other person with his eyes that could see through all lies, and then dropped a bombshell.

"You wouldn't want someone to help you 'have a baby,' would you?" Sure enough, as the wise Batman, Bruce Wayne spotted Injustice Superman's belly in one glance.

He saw through the reason why Injustice Superman was depressed. These words, like a silent thunderclap, instantly struck everyone present except for Clark and Batman.

Aquaman spat out the mouthful of water he had just drunk; Mera covered her mouth, her eyes wide with shock; Wonder Woman's expression went from shock to bewilderment to a strange realization.

I still feel a little scared.

Wonderful.

"Shut up!"

The Unjust Superman, who had been standing like a stone statue, suddenly raised his head! His cheeks, ears, and neck rapidly flushed with blood, eventually turning into an extremely rare liver color, just like Batman's a few minutes earlier! It was a color that mixed extreme shame, humiliation, and unspeakable collapse.

"You—!" Injustice Superman spat out through gritted teeth, his eyes fiercely warning Batman, "The child you've let slip... he doesn't belong to any of our universes! He's a heretic who shouldn't have been born! You have no idea what you're raising! He's a devil crawled out of hell!"

obviously.

Injustice Superman got pregnant by Ian.

He suffered severe psychological trauma.

“Listen, this is none of your business.” Clark frowned, stepped forward, and stood in front of Batman, giving Injustice a sharp rebuke.

"Ah."

Upon hearing this, the liver-colored hue on Unjust Superman's face gradually faded, replaced by a deep, almost tragic, mockery. He tugged at the corners of his mouth, revealing a smile more painful than a grimace: "Fine. Anyway... in the end, it's not me who will face that 'disaster.' It's not my place to worry about it."

As he spoke, Injustice Superman gave Clark Kent of this universe a deep look.

"disaster?"

Batman immediately grasped the key words, lowered his voice, and began to react.

"What ultimate disaster? What exactly is the Supreme Alliance sending you and that Golden Superman here for?" His intuition told him that the reappearance of Injustice Superman was not just a simple dimensional invasion.

“Of course we have been assigned tasks.” Unjust Superman seemed to have given up all hope. He sneered, “There are two tasks. The one on the surface is very simple. It’s just to let the two of you ‘Supermen’ compete to see who is better and more in line with their set of the strongest and most perfect standards.”

He paused, his eyes flickering, "But I feel... the Supreme Alliance is more like using this as an excuse to... search for something in your universe."

When he said this, Unjust Superman's tone was somewhat uncertain; it was all just his intuition, without any actual evidence.

"What are you looking for?" Clark pressed on.

Upon hearing this, Unjust Superman rolled his eyes.

“If I had known, would I have been brainwashed and manipulated into a biological weapon that only knows how to execute orders?” His tone was heavy with bitterness. “I am a loser, Clark. In our organization, a loser is just a stray dog ​​on the roadside, no longer worthy of knowing the core plans.”

His words made everyone frown. This cruel hierarchy was unsettling. Not a single member of the Justice League was willing to accept that the so-called Supreme League was the advancement of the Justice League.

"I will investigate this matter in detail. Now, tell us, what exactly is this 'ultimate disaster' you just mentioned?"

Batman brought the topic back to the main point.

His tone was like that of someone interrogating a criminal, but Injustice Superman didn't seem to care. The defeated hero shook his head, his eyes seeming to recall some vague and terrifying fragment.

Keep flashing.

“Only at the end of time can one truly ‘see’ it… but all those who try to return and tell it will forget… that is the rule, the protection, and perhaps also a curse.” He withdrew his gaze, his voice low, “I can only guess… it must be related to the invasion of outer space.”

"The scale... is probably beyond our imagination." This was one of the initial ideas that Injustice Superman insisted on: the invasion of the outer universe would eventually cause the entire multiverse to collapse.

In this regard.

Wonder Woman also seemed to be deep in thought.

"You're not sure either? It's just a guess?"

She asked with some suspicion, as she, as an Amazonian savage embraced by modern society, did not yet have an accurate judgment on whether any invasion from outer space would be harmful.

"Yes, it's just a guess. You should ask the Laughing Man; he might know more about it..." Unjust Superman paused and then added.

"Of course... or you could ask his collaborator. I vaguely remember what happened when I was mind-controlled, and I know that there was a collaborator behind the maniacal laughter."

He uttered the name of the Batman Who Laughs twice, but the eerie void chains did not appear, nor did any force attempt to pull Injustice Superman back to the headquarters of the Supreme Alliance.

This made Injustice Superman... very uneasy.

Of course, it wasn't because of the unease of being unable to escape, but because he couldn't help but wonder what information was hidden behind the fact that his maniacal laughter no longer seemed as concerned about being exposed as usual.

Just when Injustice was truly on the verge of collapse.

"A collaborator? Who?"

Aquaman Arthur couldn't resist joining in the inquiry.

He is, after all, a member of the Justice League, and he has to make appearances a few times. Just like most of the time, even if he's just a minor character in the battles, it doesn't stop him from taking "group photos" after the battles.

"If I remember correctly."

Injustice Superman raised his head and looked at the gloomy sky, as if he were on guard against something.

"That was a woman named Paradox. I don't know exactly what was so special about her, but even that madman who laughed wildly seemed to be somewhat wary of her."

His words were very informative.

While the others were still processing the information, Clark Kent's mind was in turmoil.

paradox!

Clark Kent remembered the name very clearly, and upon hearing it, his eyes flickered almost imperceptibly.

His super brain instantly retrieved a memory—not long ago, in the eerie ruins of a military base, the woman who mysteriously appeared and resolved numerous supernatural riots, then tricked him during his search, and then quietly disappeared, left behind the name "Paradox"!
Realize this.

Even though Clark Kent's super brain didn't want to move, it still started thinking uncontrollably. He didn't make a sound, and his face remained calm.

No one else noticed.

However, the only person present who also possessed world-class observation and reasoning abilities, Batman, had already keenly caught Clark's fleeting, subtle reaction with his eyes hidden behind his white goggles.

"A paradox..." Batman remained unmoved, but silently added the name that Clark had already mentioned once to his list of dangerous individuals.

and.

The connection between this name and the Kent family remains uncertain, requiring further information to determine when this uncertainty will be resolved.

“You have to tell us everything you know about the Supreme Alliance, about that ‘paradox,’ about your speculation about the ‘final catastrophe.’ All the details.”

Batman's wheelchair slid forward half an inch, almost touching Injustice Superman's knee. His voice, processed with a voice changer, carried an undeniable sense of oppression.

Injustice Superman slowly raised his head.

Instead of answering directly, he raised a hand and gently tapped his seemingly flat abdomen, which appeared to bear an immense burden.

"Want information? Sure."

Injustice Superman mimicked Batman's tone, but with an added touch of reckless mockery: "But on the condition that you first take care of the trouble caused by that underworld kid inside."

He emphasized the words "child from the underworld" and glanced meaningfully at Ian, who was still blowing colorful bubbles in the cage in the distance.

This is clearly negotiating terms.

Batman's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly beneath his mask. In his view, while Ian's actions were eccentric and unconventional, most of the "trouble" he caused was still within manageable limits. Given the Batcave's technology and the Kryptonians' physical constitution, resolving these issues shouldn't be too difficult. Compared to the potential value of the intelligence Injustice Superman might offer, this exchange was acceptable.

“Okay. We’ll take care of your…abdominal ‘condition’.” Batman, unaware of the seriousness of the problem, thought it was just a minor issue and readily agreed.

He even used relatively neutral terms.

Injustice Superman seemed somewhat surprised by the other party's straightforwardness, a hint of doubt flashing in his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by a numb feeling that "it can't get any worse anyway."

He nodded, just about to say something else—

"Uh... guys?" Aquaman Arthur's voice broke in, tinged with embarrassment and urgency. He waved what looked like an old-fashioned pager in his hand.

"I might... need to leave for a bit."

The pager screen in Aquaman Arthur's hand was flashing red wavy signals.

Clark turned around and asked with concern, "Is there some emergency in Atlantis? Do you need help?"

He instinctively assumed that some underwater kingdom had launched another rebellion, or that some ancient sea monster had awakened. However, the Sea King's face revealed a bitter smile that was more like a grimace.

“Clark, my friend, you can lift continental plates, you can move planets, you can shoot lasers from your eyes… but you can’t stop humans from dumping garbage into my house non-stop.” He shook his head, his smile filled with helplessness. “Yes, you can do many things, but you can’t stop humans from polluting the oceans.”

Clark fell silent instantly.

Of course he understands.

As a superhero, he can solve countless earth-shattering crises, but he does feel a deep sense of powerlessness when it comes to this slow and continuous "poisoning" of the living environment by human civilization itself.

His superhuman senses had already told him what the ocean was going through, but it was a huge and complex systemic problem that could not be solved by punch after punch.

The destruction of Krypton also stemmed from the inherent flaws that arose from the development of this civilization.

"Is it... the cause of the nuclear-contaminated water?"

Clark's voice lowered, carrying a heavy, confirming tone.

Aquaman nodded heavily, his expression turning strange. "My brother Orm just contacted me via encrypted channel... He said his leg might have undergone some... unexpected 'mutation' because of that damn radioactive water. He begged me to hurry back and take him ashore to see a doctor or biologist."

“Oh, speaking of which, by the way, what do you think… for his condition, should I take him to a veterinarian, or should I just take him to an aquarium to see a specialist?” Aquaman Arthur scratched his head, looking at the land representatives present, his tone full of genuine confusion.

"..."

"..."

"..."

Aquaman always surprises people with his unexpected remarks.

After an eerie silence, Diana couldn't help but turn her head away, her shoulders trembling slightly; Clark coughed awkwardly; even Batman's jawline seemed to soften for a moment.

“He can come to me first.” Batman’s voice remained calm, devoid of emotion. “The Batcave has state-of-the-art medical scanning equipment that can analyze his… mutation.”

"No! Thank you! Really, it's not necessary!" Aquaman shook his head like a rattle-drum, refusing almost reflexively. He would rather accept his brother growing more than twenty fluorescent tails than send him into Batman's "medical lab," which looked like a place where people were dissected and studied.

Wouldn't that really turn into a battle for the crown prince position?
“To be honest, I’d rather believe Ian’s brilliant plan.” As he spoke, he seemed to remember something and quickly pulled something out of the leather pouch at his waist—a bulging little bag woven from some kind of colorful fish scales and glowing seaweed, with the words “Brilliant Plan” embroidered on it in crooked terrestrial script.

It seems that Aquaman had just discussed the issue of ocean pollution with Ian.

Looking at the ominous-smelling brocade pouch, and then at Ian, who was happily blowing bubbles in the cage, everyone suddenly began to doubt whether the Sea King was really a fish.

"Then good luck to Atlantis," Batman said, seemingly not intending to press the matter, offering only a dry blessing. After all, using Ian's "brilliant plan" to combat human-caused pollution was, in a sense, fighting fire with fire. He bet that if things went well, Atlantis would no longer be a sovereign civilization.

It's more or less mixed with a term that's been popular in Gotham lately—the Ian virus.

In this regard.

Unaware of what was happening, Aquaman nodded and turned to summon water from the sewers. At that moment, Mera hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward to stand before Batman.

Her beautiful face, which seemed to dislike independent toilets even less than that of Indians, was etched with worry.

“Bruce, I know you don’t easily get involved in politics… but could you please use your influence on land… at least to make an appeal? It’s not just a pollution issue anymore…”

Queen Mera's voice was low, tinged with a barely perceptible fear.

“I can feel that the ocean’s suffering is intensifying, and something ancient and terrible that sleeps in the deepest trenches seems to be being awakened by this pollution.”

She looked at Batman, her tone earnest.

The atmosphere instantly became even more tense.

Just then, a slightly hoarse and mocking voice suddenly rang out.

"Perhaps... I shouldn't have expressed my opinion."

The usually silent Injustice Superman suddenly raised his hand, like a student asking a question in class. Clearly, while he said that, his behavior meant he couldn't resist the urge to teach.

Everyone looked at him.

He met everyone's gazes, his tone calm yet carrying a chilling coldness.

"Here's the simplest and most direct advice you can give: mobilize your resources to find and cut off all major submarine fiber optic cables, and sever all maritime energy channels and shipping routes."

“Once people on land lose the global network, instant communication, stable energy supply and transoceanic trade... 90 percent of human ‘industrial civilization’ will be paralyzed instantly. They will no longer have any ‘extra’ time or resources to argue, to bicker, or to dump pollutants into the sea that they themselves dare not handle.”

Injustice paused, noticing the sudden change in everyone's expressions, and continued, "Survival will become humanity's only goal, and in order to survive, life itself will find... a new way out."

His move was undeniably ruthless.

As soon as he finished speaking, the entire ruins fell into a deathly silence. Everyone looked at this superman from a parallel universe with extremely complex expressions.

Everyone realized the difference between Injustice Superman and Clark Kent.

This is the mindset of an iron-fisted ruler—efficient, direct, and reckless, willing to destroy the entire system that caused the problem in order to "solve" it.

Batman's gaze behind his white-rimmed glasses was sharp as a knife, as if trying to dissect him completely. Clark's brows furrowed tightly, his eyes filled with disapproval. Wonder Woman and Mera, on the other hand, sensed a wariness of absolute power and ruthlessness stemming from ancient memories.

Unjust Superman met their gazes and simply shrugged indifferently, as if it were nothing more than a casual suggestion about what to eat for dinner.

"It's just a suggestion."

He added softly, then lowered his head again, resuming his silent, "it's none of my business" posture, as if the person who had just proposed the shocking plan was someone else.

at the same time.

Ian and Black Adam are still blowing bubbles.

The main reason was that Ian's consciousness invasion brought a considerable burden to both himself and Black Adam. It wasn't just about gaining experience points; neither Ian nor Black Adam expected what would happen.

At the beginning.

Things are progressing normally.

Ian's consciousness, like a slippery fish, darted freely through Black Adam's vast and turbulent sea of ​​memories. He traversed the ancient Kandak Temple, witnessing the bestowal of Shazam's power. He felt the pain of patricide and a thousand years of imprisonment, and also experienced the impact of modern society on Black Adam and his own thirst for revenge.

Finally, Ian was drawn by a deeper, thicker dark force, descending deeper and deeper until he reached the very bottom of his consciousness. There, no longer were specific fragments of memory, but a chaotic mental realm corrupted by an external will. Suddenly, an irresistible suction force pulled him in.

Ian felt his consciousness being suddenly pulled in! When he came to his senses again, he found himself not floating in a mental space, but actually standing on a street.

The streets are lined with typical Japanese buildings, wooden signs with incomprehensible kana characters, and pedestrians in various costumes throng around, their chatter filling the air.

The air was filled with the mixed smell of takoyaki and gasoline.

"what happened?"

Ian instinctively pinched his cheek.

"Echoes of the past? Illusions formed from fragments of memory? Or the allure of a lingering shadow created by some extraterrestrial force?" He hadn't expected that such a seemingly normal and vibrant scene, full of life, would be hidden deep within the consciousness of Black Adam, this ancient, rough man. This was completely different from the evil lair and dark temple he had envisioned.

Just as Ian was cautiously looking around, trying to find a flaw in the illusion, a little boy who looked about seven or eight years old, carrying a huge strange egg, ran up to him.

The other person looked up at him with big, expectant eyes and uttered a stunning sentence in Japanese.

"Big brother, are you still a virgin?"

That's why people find Japanese annoying.

"?????"

Ian never imagined he would be silenced by a child younger than himself. Even with his extraordinary experiences, he was stunned for a moment by this soul-searching question.

"Shut up, if you can't speak properly, then don't speak at all. Whose child is so rude? Believe me or not, I'll give you eight hundred sets of test papers." This threat had little effect on the Japanese child.

The child seemed taken aback by the scolding, shrinking back slightly, but his grip on the egg tightened. He hesitated for a moment, then pulled a few coins from his pocket and said cautiously, "I...I'll pay! My egg needs the urine of nine hundred and ninety-nine virgin boys to hatch! Please, big brother!"

His words didn't sound like something a normal person would say.

"Do I look like someone who needs a few coins like yours? And, little brat, let me tell you, although I have an amazingly large bladder, I'm way past the age of playing with poop and pee! Don't come to me with these low-level collection tasks!" Ian rolled his eyes; after all, he was almost fifteen years old.

This is the age when people pay attention to their personal image.

of course.

Ian's kind upbringing instilled in him a kind nature as well.

“Let me give you a tip. Go to an orphanage and dig up their sewers. You might just find a big prize. High-quality baby urine with three parts sugar is hard to find on the market without a super bladder.” Ian gave a very constructive suggestion. The child didn’t understand, but nodded thoughtfully.

Ian's matter-of-fact and righteous demeanor convinced the boy, who felt a sense of awe and wonder, as if the strange older brother in front of him made a lot of sense.

The kid left.

Wave your sleeves.

They set off for the orphanage.

"What kind of universe is this? The kind with Pallet Town?" Ian watched the child run off into the distance, unable to discern the bizarre worldview behind the child's attempt to hatch the monster egg. He continued to wander aimlessly through the streets, observing this seemingly normal world that was permeated with a sense of incongruity.

Pedestrians, vehicles, shops... everything was so lifelike, but he always felt that something was wrong, as if a thin veil was covering everything.

Unbeknownst to him, Ian had arrived at a huge square in the center of the city. The square was bustling with people. He subconsciously looked up at the tallest statue in the center of the square—and in that instant, his expression froze, his mouth agape in astonishment, and even the urge to complain vanished.

The statue stood tall and imposing, its material not ordinary stone or metal, but a special substance that seemed to condense endless darkness and emitted an ominous glow.

The statue is shaped like a huge, ferocious, and strangely beautiful giant!
It has sharp, claw-like fingers, a chest adorned with twisted, fragmented pieces of a colored timer, and its entire body is covered in sharp protrusions resembling a biological exoskeleton. Its facial expression is distorted and ferocious, with a gaping mouth that seems to mock and despise the entire universe. Despite being a statue, it exudes a chilling, lifelike sense of oppression.

"No way, no way, no way."

Ian's heart was pounding.

This look, this aura, this overwhelming sense of a villainous boss… he was all too familiar with it! Perhaps it was because of Ian’s gaze that the statue emitted an eerie fluctuation.

"Ok?"

Ian felt that the statue's cold, lifeless eyes seemed to come "alive." Two invisible wills, condensed with the ultimate darkness, were projected onto his retina as if they were real, intertwining and outlining a blurry yet incredibly clear, huge, dark giant phantom exuding an aura of destruction before his eyes!
next moment.

A deep, majestic voice, filled with absolute power and dark will, seemed to transcend endless time and space, resounding directly in the deepest part of his mind.

"Only darkness can rule the universe, and I am the embodiment of darkness! The creator of the new Land of Light! Ultra King Belial!" The figure became clearer and clearer.

Ian's consciousness blinked, and instead of being afraid, he felt a surge of immense, indescribable excitement. He had long known that Ultraman definitely existed in this world.

as predicted.

At this unexpected moment.

He finally saw a live Ultraman.

Although Ultraman Belial is a relatively low-profile character, he is still a popular NPC, so he definitely has a chance to become the human form of Ultraman Ian.

"Who's talking about the New Land of Light?"

(End of this chapter)