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

Chapter 222 The Tragedy of the Bat! Ian Caught Plagiarizing!

People present.

Without exception, they all possess super brains.

Even so, they find it difficult to understand why a catastrophe they had feared for years, a catastrophic event that threatened to destroy the Earth, had developed into what it was.

That was Darkseid's official invasion!
God knows how many years of nightmares those superheroes had after witnessing that figure because of Steppenwolf.

nowadays.

A nightmare descends.

The imagined horrific scene not only failed to materialize, and they weren't beaten to a pulp; the entire situation also lost all sense of seriousness.

"Is this okay?"

The Justice League members looked at each other, their expressions completely out of control.

On this moment, billions of people across the globe, as long as they are still using electronic devices and those devices are not completely broken down, are forced to watch this "big movie" starring "former" superhero Ian Kent, whose opponents are Darkseid and Trigon...an abstract heroism speech livestream?

To be honest, when they think about the current situation, all the Justice League members, including Superman, have the feeling that they might be hallucinating from electroconvulsive therapy in Arkham.

I don't even dare to think about it!
Even eating mushrooms wouldn't have conjured up this plot! The only thing Superman is thankful for is that Ian didn't use his real surname, otherwise the Kent family's reputation might have been ruined and they would never have to worry about being harmed again.

"..."

Hearing Batman's frustrated, bubbly confirmation of a "global live broadcast," Superman Clark Kent stared at the still-voicing "God of Light, Enj Tucken," on the shattered screen, and fell into a long silence. That silence was a mixture of worry, embarrassment, and a deep sense of helplessness, a question of "who this child takes after."

After a long while, he slowly turned his head to look at Batman beside him, whose face was as black as the bottom of a pot. His tone carried a hint of barely perceptible luck and a pleading expectation.

"Bruce...didn't you...think of stopping him?" Superman asked in a low voice, which was also a way of hinting to Batman to take action quickly. In his mind, with Batman's desire for control and mastery of various technologies, he should at least be able to try to interfere with this forced live broadcast, right? This was the external brain that he had always believed was omnipotent!

Superman trusts Batman's brain far more than his own super brain, but it would have been better if he hadn't said it. As soon as he said it, it was as if he had ignited a long-suppressed powder keg.

"Stop? How do you stop him?! Tell me how you're supposed to stop him?! Clark!" Batman suddenly turned his head, his sharp, eagle-like eyes, still hidden beneath his armor and hood, fixed on Superman. His usually deep and calm voice now carried a rare, almost defiant tone.

He even stepped forward and asked in an agitated tone.

As if to unleash all the pent-up frustration of the past few days: "Who do you think I am?! Do you think I can just rub my hands together and conjure up whatever high-tech gadgets I want?!"

“He has alien technology! Alien technology that's impossible to analyze!” Bruce's voice was filled with an almost desperate accusation. He seemed to have been triggered by some painful memory, and his tone became even more sorrowful. “You think I didn't try?! I tried to decipher his damned network protocols and signal coverage technology! And then… and then…”

He paused, as if the result was too embarrassing to talk about, but finally gritted his teeth and said it.

"Then my Batcave was completely destroyed! To this day! To this day! My Batcave is still playing that... [I want fruit milk, I want fruit milk, Ian fruit milk, bubble~ bubble~ bubble] horrible advertisement on a loop 24 hours a day!! I can't turn it off! I can't cut it off!"

One can imagine the cruel torment that Batman's mind must have endured, with a brightly colored, catchy fruit milk advertisement constantly flashing on the huge main computer screen in the dark, solemn Batcave.

Superman was taken aback by Bruce's sudden outburst.

He instinctively shrank his neck.

"Um, haven't you tried reinstalling the system?"

What an invincible Superman! He immediately mastered the ultimate secrets of computer repair, and his skills were so impressive that Batman's already ashen face began to turn a deep liver color.

See this scene.

Superman was extremely embarrassed and quickly waved his hand to distance himself: "Um... Bruce, I swear, I never gave Ian any technology from the Kryptonian side."

He doesn't want to take the blame.

Of course, this explanation is clearly somewhat redundant.

Batman scoffed, his laughter filled with disdain.

"Of course I know that! If your Kryptonians had this kind of technology, they wouldn't have ended up exploding and being destroyed." He still spoke without any politeness.

It might also be related to his current speechless mood. He took a deep breath, seemingly trying to calm himself down, and then spoke in a more serious tone.

“I’ll say it again, Clark. I’m not the kind of person who can conjure up anything just by rubbing your hands.” He pointed to the giant figure on the screen still being besieged by Darkseid and Trigon, his tone complex: “And your youngest son… he truly knows God.”

Clearly, in Batman's view, attributing this completely incomprehensible, unanalyzable, and absurdly effective technology to an omniscient and omnipotent "God" is the most "reasonable" conjecture. This is the most "logical" misunderstanding that can be made within the existing framework of knowledge.

Superman: "..."

Upon hearing this, Clark fell into a complete, withdrawn silence.

The silence wasn't entirely because of Ian, but rather because Batman's words, "know God," involuntarily reminded him of his eldest son Jonathan, whose situation was even more complicated, sharing a physical form with God... He was even a little confused now, unsure when to call Jonathan his son.

He was terrified of accidentally violating some sacred taboo or addressing the wrong person. To be honest, Clark felt that his fatherhood was fraught with unspeakable danger.

It's much more dangerous than being a superhero.

With Superman's silence, the atmosphere became deathly still and awkward once more. The heroes stood amidst the ruins of Metropolis, with the eerie dark dimension broadcasting overhead and the post-apocalyptic wasteland beneath their feet. This core force, who should have been saving the world, now seemed somewhat... aimless.

Finally, the relatively thick-skinned Aquaman Arthur Curry couldn't hold back any longer. He carried his iconic trident, coughed gruffly twice, and broke the suffocating silence: "So... is anyone going to stand up and say that we're just supposed to stand here as cheerleaders?"

He looked up, glanced around, and said with a hint of frustration. Darkseid hadn't brought a large army of Parademons this time, nor did he have any powerful followers like Steppenwolves.

Even without Ian, Aquaman knew he might not be of much use—he always had a clear understanding of his role in these kinds of cosmic crises—the Parademon Terminator. His area-of-effect (AOE) clearing ability was extremely effective against the endless stream of minions.

Of course, that's all.

"Don't be so discouraged. At least this time it won't be a heart-stopping experience, right?" Victor Stone, the Cyborg, seemed to be trying to ease the tension. Whether he was serious or just joking, it was hard to tell. His semi-mechanical face was expressionless, but his electronic eyes flashed before he spoke.

"Perhaps...we could order a pizza?"

As he said this, a floating window of a food delivery app actually popped up on his visual interface, with various pizza restaurant promotions scrolling across it.

"That's outrageous! It seems like the Pentagon ordered a lot of pizzas." Cyborg exclaimed slightly, then, seeing that no one was responding to him, he took the initiative to liven up the atmosphere.

"Oh, by the way, Bruce, do you know that Ian's app called 'Heaven Delivery,' which supposedly lets you accumulate Heaven Points, has taken a significant share of the market from the food delivery app you previously invested in and controlled?"

He seemed to be browsing software information. "To be honest, I don't know if Heaven Points can really be redeemed for a chance to go to Heaven, but his 'group meal' business is indeed quite good."

"Let me see, just now tonight, they actually launched a Soviet-style meal set meal? So much meat and canned vegetables for only $3.99!"

"This price is really reasonable!"

Steelbone couldn't help but sigh.

Even he, a cyborg, felt that the price was so low it was almost like charity.

"Heh, just eat, eat more."

Batman (Bruce) remained completely unresponsive to the casual conversation about the business competition between food delivery apps, not even lifting an eyelid. It's just a food delivery app.

He doesn't care at all.

At this very moment, Bia Anfu County is intently pulling out a portable energy detector and scanning and analyzing the direction from which the dark dimension was initially projected.

They are trying to find ways to enter or intervene.

Seeing that no one was paying attention to his rants about cheerleaders and Parademons, Aquaman turned his attention to a nearby stinking ditch that had been contaminated by demons due to the aftermath of the battle and was emitting a strange smell.

His eyes lit up, and he made a more "down-to-earth" suggestion: "Anyone want to have a fishing competition? I think there might be some mutated species in this water!"

Upon hearing this, Steelbone turned his electronic eye to the suspiciously colored ditch and, in his completely emotionless electronic voice, very "seriously" made a joke.

"Are you going to go in and let us fish for you?" This is a reference to the meme that Aquaman is a fish. Ever since Ian McDormand used this meme in Justice League, many people have liked to use it.

"Isn't that impossible?"

Arthur is also someone who can take a joke.

He was a little eager to try.

"A book I recently read said that stinky ditches are the easiest places to trigger mutations and gain power." Just from saying the beginning, Superman already realized whose book Aquaman was reading.

"Snap!" Superman Clark was completely unable to blend into the increasingly off-track atmosphere. He clutched his forehead, feeling his temples throbbing.

A group of the most powerful heroes on Earth, standing on the front line of saving the world, end up discussing sharing meals and fishing in a stinky ditch because they can't get involved?
The scene was so beautiful that he found it hard to adjust.

"Huhuhu~"

Just then, a dashing figure descended from the sky.

Wonder Woman Diana Prince carried an unconscious young girl dressed in a strange purple outfit and landed steadily in front of everyone.

That person was Raven, who had collapsed from exhaustion after failing to stop Trigon, but none of the Justice League members recognized him, since they were all big shots and rarely paid attention to minor characters with little screen time.

This is not arrogance.

Rather, there was simply no opportunity for contact.

"Have you guys... become this idle?!" Wonder Woman looked at her "comrades" in front of her, some silent, some looking at instruments, some discussing takeout and fishing, especially the way those big men were pointing and gesturing around a stinky ditch. A speechless expression appeared on her beautiful and resolute face, almost unable to hold back her emotions.

"What else can we do? Diana, we can't even find where the battlefield has gone! Look—" Aquaman Arthur helplessly shrugged.

Then, he pointed to the screen not far away that was still stubbornly sparking but was still playing the "live battle situation". On the screen, in the dark dimension, Darkseid and Trinity seemed to have finally found a rhythm, and their attacks became more fierce and coordinated.

The power of the new dark gods and chaotic magic poured down on Ian's "Galactus" form like a storm. Ian's massive body was indeed shaken from side to side by the blows.

It even let out screams...?
"what--!"

"Ugh—!"

"Ouch! You have no sportsmanship!"

However, the screams sounded... full of energy, with highs and lows, and full of dramatic tension, just like those of third-rate actors who had just been trained in a roadside acting school.

That was really too much force.

Just like many fitness enthusiasts who, in order to lower cortisol levels, choose to watch those poorly-acted screaming actors on late-night movie channels.

The Justice League members all felt it was difficult to comment on this.

"..."

Wonder Woman watched the exaggerated "getting beaten up" performance on the screen.

Looking at her uniquely styled teammates, she could only take a deep breath, feeling that the Amazonian princess's composure was being put to an unprecedented test.

"Guys, to be honest..."

Just as Wonder Woman Diana was watching Ian's exaggerated "screams" on the screen and her unreliable teammates, and was about to give a good critique of this bizarre world-saving style,

Batman, who had been engrossed in rapidly operating his portable device and seemed out of place, suddenly turned his head away and spoke in a cold, hard voice to Aquaman, who was watching the live stream with great interest on the large display screen hanging on the facade of the dilapidated high-rise building: "Arthur, step back a bit."

Although Aquaman Arthur was taken aback by this absurd order, his long-standing trust in Batman's tactical judgment led him to subconsciously obey.

Almost the instant his heels touched the ground—

"BOOM!!!" The already sparking display screen suddenly erupted with a burst of intense flames, accompanied by a not-too-loud but clearly audible explosion. The entire screen went black instantly, and fragments and charred parts rained down, rendering it completely unusable. The explosion appeared to have been quite powerful.

Half of the building was destroyed.

"what's the situation!"

Aquaman was startled by the sudden explosion and turned sharply to look at Batman, who was still fiddling with the equipment, his face filled with surprise and bewilderment.

"What happened?! Bruce? How did that thing explode by itself?!" Although he wasn't afraid of being blown up, he didn't want to be covered in dust and dirt.

"Nothing." Batman didn't even lift his eyelids, as if he had just flipped a trivial switch and had no intention of explaining.

It was Superman Clark, standing nearby, who, with a hint of helplessness on his face, provided the answer for his silent partner: "That's... a display module manufactured by Wayne Enterprises."

"Bruce learned a trick from some of the U.S. military's 'special procurement' projects... In addition to the built-in high-definition cameras, he also installed trace amounts of high explosives in some components that he considered 'critical'." Superman had also been closely monitoring many of Batman's actions.

"In his words, it's called... being prepared for any eventuality." Superman doesn't really approve of this approach, but Batman simply won't listen to his advice.

"No?!" Aquaman Arthur's voice rose eight octaves as he pointed to the smoldering, but clearly just an ordinary commercial building, with even the remaining signs indicating it belonged to a garbage recycling company. "That's just a garbage recycling company building, isn't it?! Who are you trying to keep an eye on?!"

It is clear.

Encased in the steel frame, this was the first time they had ever heard of such a thing happening in civilian technology; even the steel frame's scanning system had never detected this before.

"Who are we guarding against?"

Batman finally stopped what he was doing, slowly raised his head, and his gaze calmly swept over Aquaman from beneath his armor, then over every hero present. Finally, in his characteristically deep and unwavering voice, he gave a concise answer that left everyone completely unsurprised.

"Of course, it's to protect against everyone. We can never guess where another mutant villain will pop up, can we?" Batman's response was perfectly reasonable.

This answer was so classic that even Aquaman was speechless. He opened his mouth but ultimately said nothing—yes, that's so Batman.

This is the case of someone with the worst case of paranoia on Earth.

A ride to the dust.

They are far ahead of other patients.

At this moment, Wonder Woman Diana seemed to have a sensitive nerve touched by the word "camera," and remembered an old incident from long ago.

Her beautiful eyes narrowed slightly, a look that was a mixture of mockery and a hint of schadenfreude, as she deliberately looked at Batman and spoke in a casual tone.

"Speaking of cameras... Bruce, I have to admit, in some parts of Ian's 'The Tragic Love Story of Batman,' although the plot is absurd, the analysis of some of your behavior... is really thorough." As the saying goes, no one knows how long a woman's grudge will last.

Bruce did indeed treat her notebook that way.

It's hard to forget.

Upon hearing Wonder Woman's words, which clearly indicated she was preparing for revenge, Batman's fingers, which were operating the equipment, suddenly froze in mid-air.

He seemed to sense something extremely ominous and tried to speak up to stop it, but it was too late, accompanied by Aquaman's sarcastic question, "Why?"

Wonder Woman also gave the answer directly.

"In that novel, it says... our great Dark Knight, in order to keep a constant eye on his 'love-hate' 'lover,' the Joker, even installed a miniature camera and tracker in the Joker's butt. The reason was—to ensure that he would always be within my sight and never be separated."

As soon as these words came out, the air froze instantly.

"Huhuhu~"

Batman, Bruce Wayne, looked like a volcano about to erupt! Even through his armor, everyone could almost hear his sudden, heavy breathing, like a bellows! His face wasn't covered in black lines, but instead bulging veins and a soy sauce color even more intense than pig liver.

"Pfft—cough cough cough!" Aquaman Arthur and Cyborg Victor were so shocked by this bombshell that they nearly fell over! Aquaman almost threw his trident away, and Cyborg's mechanical joints creaked under the strain. The two desperately suppressed the urge to burst out laughing, their faces turning red and their shoulders shaking violently.

Superman Clark, being very perceptive, immediately looked up and pretended to be intently observing the distant sky, as if his super hearing hadn't been able to hear anything just now.

"While I find the content absurd, the information it conveys is actually very realistic," Wonder Woman said earnestly, continuing her reading comprehension. Just as the awkwardness, annoyance, and forced laughter were about to reach their peak, Superman, who had been pretending to observe from afar, suddenly frowned.

His superhuman vision pierced through vast distances, allowing him to see the images on television sets in ordinary citizens' homes.

"Ian's condition... seems a bit off." It wasn't entirely a change of topic; Clark's tone carried a hint of worry, successfully drawing everyone's attention back.

"He hasn't fought yet? Is he going to lose?" Wonder Woman Diana immediately dropped her playful expression, gripping the Vulcan Sword and the Lasso of Truth, which had been modified beyond recognition. The heroine's expression turned solemn, preparing to face an enemy who might emerge or break through from the Dark Dimension at any moment.

Before Superman could analyze the situation in detail, Batman, who had just recovered from the "butt camera" incident, immediately offered his explanation.

"He was badly beaten, a bloody mess, and looked critically injured," Batman stated, presenting what he had observed, but then his tone shifted to one of certainty.

"However, I'm pretty sure he was faking it."

As he spoke, he raised the tablet in his hand and turned the screen towards the crowd. It displayed a stream of information that he had just intercepted through some means.

“Three minutes ago,” Batman pointed to an encrypted message, “he sent a text message to his secretary, his deskmate named Madison.”

"Right now, all his platforms and related streamers are frantically promoting this betting scheme. Clearly, he not only wants to gain public gratitude, but also wants to make a fortune." Batman couldn't spy on Ian's phone, but he could intercept information from Madison's phone.

“This… is indeed Ian’s style.” Upon hearing this, Superman Clark was stunned for a moment, then let out a long sigh of relief, his face showing a helpless expression of “I knew it.”

"He is quite committed to...win-win situations."

Clark hesitated, his words sounding like he was constipated.

Aquaman asked curiously, "A win-win situation?"

Clark sighed, but couldn't escape having to explain: "Well, he won twice."

Everyone: "..."

Aquaman Arthur stroked his beard, then looked down at his bank account balance on his phone screen, hesitating whether to take a small gamble.

We should support our comrade's child.

How can this be called profiting from it?

Despite being the king of the ocean, his son's formula is still incredibly expensive. As he spoke, he reached for his phone, ready to lower his superhero moral standards a bit.

However, Batman let out a sneer at that moment.

"You want to throw your money away?"

Batman has eyes that see through everything.

"Why? Would Ian deliberately lose to the enemy just to make money? I don't think he's that kind of person!" Aquaman asked, somewhat confused.

After all, he was the one who saved his life.

He still held a sliver of naive trust in Ian's character.

Even Superman felt a little embarrassed by this trust, but he couldn't show any lack of confidence, so he could only maintain his upright posture.

Hands on hips, gazing into the distance.

It's a classic.

Batman glanced at Superman's forced composure, then turned to Aquaman and, with his insightful understanding of the dark side of capitalism, ruthlessly exposed the truth.

"You'll lose no matter who you bet on. There are only three options on the odds: Ian wins, Darkseid wins, or Trinity wins. But in the end, Ian definitely won't let anyone win."

Batman's voice was resolute:

"He takes down everyone, the house always wins! That's his 'winning strategy'!" He didn't even wait for the Sea King and the others to carefully consider the information revealed behind those words.

Batman muttered to himself, "Ian... is indeed a competent capitalist, knowing how to maximize profits. In that respect... he's completely different from me..."

As he spoke, he very naturally pulled out his specially made, highly secure satellite phone and skillfully dialed a number.

"Afu."

Batman spoke into the phone, his tone as calm as if he were ordering a dinner menu, “Use my accounts in Switzerland and the Cayman Islands to book the three most luxurious casinos in Las Vegas. I’m going to be the bookmaker in all the ‘special gaming rooms’ tonight. Tell those rich guys that Bruce Wayne is going to gamble with them.”

"I'm going to have some fun with those... shrewd millionaires and speculators." After hanging up the phone, Batman looked up and found everyone staring at him with extremely strange looks, as if they were looking at a schizophrenic.

Wonder Woman Diana crossed her arms, raised an eyebrow at him, and said in a playful tone, "Bruce...didn't you just say you weren't that kind of person?"

Batman remained remarkably calm despite the questioning looks from the crowd.

“I’m not,” he explained calmly, then paused, his gaze sweeping into the distance as if he could already see the financial tycoons waving checks in the VIP boxes.

"I don't care about the meager sums of money that netizens have in their pockets; I'd rather be eyeing the money in the pockets of other capitalists." This statement is logically consistent and has a clear objective.

That makes so much sense.

Everyone was speechless.

Superman silently turned his head to the side, unwilling to admit that he knew two capitalists—one who ran a scam in another dimension and the other who reaped riches in the real world.

When did the Earth become like this?

Am I out of touch with the times?

Clark felt a pang of melancholy. His gaze shifted to another city, to an ordinary family's home, to a television set that he could watch without having to pay for it.

in the screen.

Of course, it's only Ian's live stream.

He wasn't the only superhuman watching the live stream; there were even mysterious figures from outer space, probably near the edge of the solar system, in the Kuiper Belt.

In the endless void, a dark streak of light hurtled towards them at a speed beyond the comprehension of conventional physics. The light receded, revealing the silhouette of a giant—his body was predominantly black, silver, and dark red, with a unique energy core on his chest and mysterious dark patterns covering his body.

It was none other than Ultraman Dark Tiga, who transformed using an extraterrestrial artifact after receiving help from the Supreme Alliance's Laughing Bat.

He traversed vast interstellar distances and finally returned to the solar system of this universe. However, the Golden Superman had only just entered the gravitational pull of the solar system.

He hadn't even had time to properly perceive the specific details of that blue planet.

I was completely stunned.

He heard it, he saw it; the same voice echoed in countless instruments on Earth.

"Family! The enemy is too powerful, I'm dying! Look! I'm turning black! I'm about to die! I'll become an eternal statue!"

"Quickly! Pray to me! Bless me! Lend me your light!"

That was Ian's desperate howl.

It was just an exaggerated shout and roar, but for some reason, the Golden Superman, who threw himself into the darkness, used his righteous heart to control the power of darkness, and transformed into a new form, was unaware of the reason.

He felt as if the DNA of the body he was currently inhabiting had moved a few times.

(End of this chapter)