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

Chapter 241 Why doesn't Superman need to pay?

It is clear.

The changes in the Weeping Angel are inextricably linked to the Speed ​​Force.

The Speed ​​Force energy emanating naturally from Barry Allen, the Flash, like golden flames, strongly provoked a violent reaction from the imprisoned Weeping Angel.

Its stone-like body trembled violently.

The mental roar emanating from within was filled with unprecedented desire and greed!

"For this kind of creature, the speedster is..." Before Constantine could explain the sudden situation, Batman's well-honed observation and reasoning skills had already reached a conclusion in an instant.

"Is it equivalent to the power of the Nine Dragons that Ian loves most?" His gaze, hidden beneath the mask, was sharp as an eagle's, and his deep voice carried a cold analysis.

“It seems to be more than just a monster that acts on instinct; it’s a species with intelligence.” Batman stared intently at the struggling statue.

“If these creatures live by devouring ‘time energy,’ then the Speed ​​Force—the primordial power that has been proven to be able to directly manipulate and travel through timelines—is probably more than just food to them…” He paused, uttering the speculation that sent chills down Superman and The Flash’s spines.

"It might be the ultimate supplement that allows them to leap to a higher level of life. So, even at the risk of being devoured by the magic circle, it will try to obtain it at all costs."

This is a very accurate and clear judgment.

"Fuck! I don't fucking want to know the ecology and evolution of this stuff!" Constantine cursed angrily, his hands gripping the hand seals tightly, veins bulging on his forehead. "I just want that big blue guy to get that damn speedster away from here! The farther away the better! I can't hold on much longer!"

He looked anxiously at Clark.

Faced with this sudden turn of events, Barry Allen, the Flash, was visibly flustered. He instinctively waved his hands, looking innocent and bewildered.

"I...I didn't do anything! I just arrived! What...what's going on?" Realizing that he might be unfairly blamed for the Speed ​​Force again.

The Flash must be having a really tough time.

“I’ll take Barry to Fort Loneliness.” Just as Clark was about to act and lead Barry away from the area, Batman spoke again.

His tone remained frighteningly calm.

"Based on the above facts... therefore, the methods used to deal with speedsters will likely have a similar effect on creatures that also rely on time, or are unusually sensitive to time energy." As he spoke, to everyone's astonishment, Batman quickly pulled an inconspicuous item from his all-purpose belt.

A small generator emitting a faint blue light.

Without hesitation, he pressed the start button!

Om-!
An invisible, peculiar force field instantly spread out from the generator! This force field was not directed at physical entities, but rather acted upon a rule that was closer to the essence of the universe.

moment!

The weeping angel, who was about to go berserk and even break free of the magic circle's restraints due to sensing the speed force, was as if the pause button had been pressed!
All the struggles and disturbances came to an abrupt halt!

Its lunging posture and ferocious expression were frozen in time, as if it had been transformed back into a real, lifeless stone sculpture, with only its mouth full of sharp teeth remaining.

There seemed to be a lingering trace of solidified, extreme resentment.

"Wow... my reputation is saved." Barry Allen breathed a sigh of relief as he looked at the monster who had been instantly "calmed down," but his expression immediately became somewhat subtle and awkward. He looked at Batman and couldn't help but retort, "So... you carry around something to deal with speedsters? Huh?"

Although I've gotten used to it, I still feel a bit helpless when I encounter it. It feels like visiting a friend's house and finding that they have a stun gun hidden under their pillow to protect you.

Batman showed no embarrassment whatsoever. He didn't even glance at Barry; his cold eyes remained fixed on the doubly imprisoned weeping angel, as if examining an extremely interesting experimental specimen. He spoke in a low voice, his tone carrying a hint of… regret and a thirst for knowledge?
“To be honest…” Batman’s voice was so soft it was almost a soliloquy, yet it reached the ears of everyone present clearly, “If the situation allowed, I would really like to see what would happen if it actually came into contact with the Speed ​​Force and completed its so-called ‘evolution’.”

This statement came out.

In fact, Superman and The Flash may have long been accustomed to Batman's mindset of constantly walking on the edge of danger and "playing with fire" in order to obtain intelligence and solutions.

They merely frowned slightly and said nothing more.

However, Constantine, who always acts alone and is a lone wolf who would sacrifice his teammates when they come along, clearly felt extremely uncomfortable and uneasy.

To know.

Previously, this kind of unease was something he brought to his teammates.

did not expect.

One day, I experienced it myself.

"You're a fucking lunatic! A complete and utter lunatic!" Constantine yelled, pointing at Batman's nose, trembling with rage. "These creatures, one or two might not amount to much, but they're part of a huge population! Do you think evolution is the sole domain of individuals?"

"Their evolutionary information can be shared! If you let it have a taste of success today, it might give birth to a terrifying race that can devour the timeline itself tomorrow!"

His voice was sharp with excitement: "You have no idea how many civilizations this thing has destroyed in the long history of the universe! How many planets and universes have been corrupted by it, turning into eternal ruins! You are gambling with the entire Earth and the entire timeline!"

“The phrase ‘playing with fire and getting burned’ was invented just for you!” Constantine said bluntly.

"Oh?"

Batman was visibly displeased by Constantine's vehement accusations. He slowly turned his head, his eyes, which were like abysses even in daylight, coldly fixed on Constantine through his mask.

“You think…” Batman’s voice was deep and imposing, carrying an undeniable threat, “that only Superman would beat you up and you’d be begging for mercy, Constantine.”

With just one simple sentence, Constantine, who had been so aggressive just moments before, instantly cowered! It was as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over him from head to toe; all his cursing stopped abruptly, and he wisely shut his mouth, only staring at Batman with eyes that seemed to say "you win," not daring to utter another word.

But he clearly couldn't swallow this insult.

Batman is seen resuming his research on the Weeping Angels using the equipment.

He stealthily retreated a few steps, perhaps hundreds of steps, creating what he thought was a safe distance, but ultimately couldn't help but lower his voice and retort in a cursing tone.

“Very well…let me see how you save yourself before you die.” Constantine wouldn’t back down, he thought, since Bruce Wayne was begging him for help.

The atmosphere at the scene was a bit awkward.

"What do you mean? Can someone explain to me in detail what's going on?" Barry Allen, the Flash, who had been kept in the dark and whose face was full of clear bewilderment, finally couldn't help but raise his hand again to ask. He felt like a primary school student who had accidentally wandered into an advanced mathematics class.

Right.

Since they only arrived after receiving a last-minute request for help, they naturally didn't know the situation on the ground.

He was asking a question, but before Constantine could explain, Batman calmly uttered a sentence that left Constantine speechless with astonishment.

"Anything that reflects an angel will become an angel."

Who would have thought that Batman had already obtained this information?

Constantine's eyes widened suddenly, as if he had seen something unbelievable: "No, no, you... how could you know this rule?!"

This is one of the most crucial and secretive characteristics of the Weeping Angel! Even many seasoned mystical scholars may not know it! Shouldn't a little Batman be playing with technology?

So you know so much about the mystical side?

Clearly, Constantine still didn't quite understand the King of Gotham.

Batman did not answer his question directly, but said in a calm tone that contained endless information: "Since... something happened."

“I know angels—angels in any form—better than you do.” With that, to the bewilderment of Constantine and the Flash, Batman pulled a tiny, seemingly ordinary mirror from his belt. He didn't use the mirror to reflect the weeping angel, but rather looked at himself in it. And indeed he did.

The mirror clearly reflected Batman's mask, but strangely, in the reflection of his eyes, which were not directly looking at the Weeping Angel, there remained a blurry image of the Weeping Angel's ferocious attack! It was as if the monster's form had been imprinted in his visual memory in some way!

And it was reflected in the mirror!
"Just as I suspected, I've been cursed." Faced with this bizarre scene, Batman remained calm, as if he had expected it all along.

"So what does this mean?!"

The Flash was nearly driven mad by the riddle-like dialogue and yelled in frustration again. Hearing this, Constantine took a deep breath, preparing to once again educate the poor speedster about the terrifying characteristic that "any medium projected by the image of the Weeping Angel, including retinal images, photographs, and videos, will gradually transform into a new Weeping Angel."

Batman interrupted him.

His tone carried an undeniable sense of control: "We'll know the specific characteristics once I figure out its information pollution and transformation mechanism. There's no time to explain in detail now."

He turned to look at Superman.

The instructions are clear and unambiguous.

"Remember, after I 'fall asleep,' protect this body and take it to the isolation room at the bottom of Batcave Nine." Among those present, Batman still trusted Superman the most.

Superman looked at Bruce, his eyes filled with worry and disapproval, but he knew that Bruce's decision must have a deeper meaning.

"clear."

He nodded.

As soon as Superman finished speaking, the next moment, to the astonishment of Constantine and the Flash, Batman activated a hidden emergency switch in his armor!
A few extremely faint, teeth-grinding "plop" sounds were heard, and the miniature high-frequency blades hidden in the joints and spine of the armor instantly popped out, severing his tendons in his hands and feet, as well as several key spinal nerve pathways, with millimeter-level precision!

"Uh..." Batman let out a suppressed groan, his massive body collapsing to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut, completely losing all mobility and entering a deep coma—in layman's terms, he performed an immediate, efficient, and extremely cruel full-body paralysis surgery on himself on the spot!
Batman took a nap anywhere, and ended up turning himself into a vegetable!

This scene happened too fast, too suddenly, and too tragically! The Dark Knight, who was just moments ago imposing and in control of the situation, was now lying in a pool of blood, looking utterly miserable.

"Fuck Fuck!"

Batman cannot die!

Constantine was utterly shocked at that moment.

Completely devoid of the energy he had shown earlier when drawing circles and cursing Batman, he couldn't comprehend Bruce Wayne's sudden, suicidal act of madness! Knowing all too well what Batman meant to the universe, he instinctively rushed forward to try and save him, even if it meant using the darkest life-extending magic!
"He has to live! Batman has to live!"

Constantine frantically pulled out his trump card, but he was stopped by a powerful arm the moment he took a step forward—it was Superman.

"Keep an eye on this guy and that statue, wait for me," Superman said to The Flash, then picked up the completely unconscious Batman.

He took one last look at the imprisoned Weeping Angel and the scene before transforming into a streak of blue light, soaring into the sky and flying towards Gotham at top speed.

Simultaneously.

He also notified the other members of the Justice League.

"Does anyone still remember that I considered this thing a great tonic?"

The Flash shouted at the sky. Only the Flash and Constantine remained, staring at each other in the night wind, at the small pool of blood that hadn't completely dried, and the eerie statue sealed by both a force field and a magic circle. The scene was momentarily silent and awkward.

“So…” The Flash, Barry Allen, swallowed hard, trying to break the suffocating silence. He pointed to his eyes, “That… ‘The Item of the Angels’… I saw that thing too. Does that mean… I’m going to die or be absorbed into my body by it?”

His Speed ​​Force brain was analyzing the situation, his voice trembling slightly.

"This is it."

Upon hearing this, Constantine turned his head, looked the Flash up and down, and put on that classic expression that mixed the air of a shrewd businessman and a conman.

"It depends on whether you have money or not."

He asked directly.

The Flash, who was frantically touching his eyes and worried about turning to stone, was taken aback by the abrupt question and instinctively gave an honest answer.

"If...if there's even a little bit..."

That's why he's such an honest person.

In some parallel universes, the Flash might marry a Black woman because he's too honest.

"That makes things much easier!"

Upon hearing this, Constantine's face immediately broke into a bright smile, as if he had seen a walking checkbook.

"You have money?" He rubbed his hands together, his tone becoming much more enthusiastic. "Then I guarantee you won't die! Professional exorcism, honest and fair prices, satisfaction guaranteed!"

Seeing Constantine's expression, the Flash instantly understood, but didn't want to understand. He put on a mournful face and tried to bargain: "But...that's my savings for a wife that I've been saving for ages...by the way!"

He grasped at this straw as if it were a lifeline.

"Clark! Clark saw it too, right? Shouldn't he also come to you to resolve this issue? We should at least get a discount for the two of us!"

The Flash tried to find some psychological balance in their shared misery. However, Constantine just scoffed and looked at the Flash as if he were an idiot.

"How can a false god affect a true god? You have no idea what Clark truly is. His essential status is too high. This level of curse and information pollution probably wouldn't even leave a trace on his retina." His tone carried a hint of barely perceptible awe, and he was practically praising Superman to the skies.

If he hadn't had this mentality, he wouldn't have been so scared when he found out Ian was Superman's son that he fled Metropolis overnight, without even thinking of taking revenge on Superman for stealing his "passport".

"??????"

Upon receiving this answer and realizing that his good friend Superman didn't have to pay, and that only he was at a disadvantage, the Flash felt even worse, and his whole face fell.

"Don't worry, it's not expensive."

Constantine grinned and pulled a portable card reader from the pocket of his trench coat, which seemed to be able to pull out anything, preparing to ask the Flash whether he wanted to "pay by card or cash."

And right now.

Buzz! ! ! !

The entire space began to change drastically without warning!
The houses around them twisted, stretched, and deformed like melting candles, and the ground beneath their feet undulated and changed like waves.

The streetlights next to us were stretched and shortened like rubber bands, as if they were about to change into other shapes.

"Someone has disrupted the time!"

The Flash, whose perception of time is most acute, felt it most strongly and exclaimed in alarm: "This scale of spacetime disturbance is no natural phenomenon!"

"It's those kids! What did they do in the past?!" Constantine's face turned deathly pale instantly, and he didn't even bother to pick up the card reader he had dropped!

he realized.

The thing everyone is most worried about.

It has probably already happened.

(End of this chapter)