American comics farmer: start by adopting the villain savior.

Chapter 159 Dio: Hah, so what if your attack radius is twenty meters?
Before Merlin's completely frozen stone statue, the god weighed the thick, warm book in his hand.

The book has a very peculiar feel; the cover is like the supple leather of some kind of submerged creature, yet it also feels as tough as wood.

The edges of the pages shimmered with a faint golden and silver light, and countless tiny runes appeared and disappeared within them.

Um.
Even the gods couldn't suppress their curiosity and casually opened the cover.

He wanted to see what treasures were hidden in the book that the old stone had praised so highly.

"Wow——!"

It was at the very moment the book's pages were turned.

A miniature universe!

An unimaginably vast torrent of knowledge, mixed with pure magical energy, burst forth as a cosmic galaxy!

Countless shimmering runes, ancient scripts, geometric shapes, astrological charts, and even indescribable fragments of imagery.
It transformed into a roaring pillar of light, engulfing the small figure in the capital!
If it were an ordinary mage, even Merlin himself!

I'm afraid that under the sudden onslaught of this flood of knowledge, people might also experience cognitive overload.

In mild cases, they may experience mental confusion; in severe cases, they may be assimilated into the books, becoming yet another piece of 'knowledge' to be collected.

But for the gods...

superficial.

He merely narrowed his eyes slightly, and the surrounding light particles began to accelerate and swirl, forming an invisible absolute domain.

To him, it was just like a slightly noisy but unusual rain.

Not only did I not feel any discomfort, but I actually felt...

"interesting."

He muttered something under his breath, his tone filled with the excitement of discovering a new toy.

The Book of Eternity also seemed to have noticed the unusual nature of this new 'holder'.

The surging torrent of knowledge not only did not weaken, but instead intensified!
The pages flipped wildly on their own, unleashing more light and shadow, more whispers, and more incredibly complex magical models, attempting to completely overwhelm the arrogant little figure.

For a moment, the entire circular exhibition hall was filled with bizarre and wonderful lights, and the energy fluctuations made the air resonate with a buzzing sound.

However.
A few seconds later, the raging torrent itself gave up.

Not because it was exhausted, but because it seemed to finally realize that this level of impact was not only meaningless to the person before it, but also felt like...
Giving away experience points?
The turning of the pages became hesitant, and the light flowing from the pages softened, even taking on a tentative gentleness.

but.
Even God has lost patience.

He pursed his lips and casually shook the pages of the book, as if he were drawing a lottery ticket.

"Wow——!"

He randomly picked out a magical model with a complex structure that explained the principle of elemental energy manipulation.

"boring."

He glanced at it once and commented with disappointment.

Then it shook again.

"Om-!"

This time, it is a magnificent and illusory record of the entire history of a lost empire.

(Gods, charge with me!)
The leader of them shouted this.

However.
As the only boy who could witness all of this in the future, he was too lazy to finish watching it.

"It's boring."

These treasures, coveted by countless beings, seemed to him to be nothing more than flashy and impractical noise.

He even casually pulled out a page of shadowy text from the gap in the flowing light, which exuded a rich aura and recorded the contract.

It seems that as long as it is controlled, a shadow legion can be summoned.

Can.
"What are these things?"

Shen Du's face darkened; this aura inexplicably made him feel uneasy.

Patience has been completely exhausted.

Then, mimicking Merlin's gesture when drawing the treasure, she grasped the heavy spine of the book with her little hands and gave it a gentle shake!
Om-!
The entire Book of Eternity emitted an unprecedentedly intense light, and the physical pages instantly melted and collapsed.

All the mysteries and energy were forcibly compressed and transformed by the gods into a fist-sized ball of pure light, which seemed to contain countless stars and mysteries.

then
He simply held the ball of light and tilted his head to examine it.

It was as if they were evaluating the taste of this 'candy bean'.

"Wow--!"

Open your mouth and swallow it in one gulp!
The ball of light silently entered his mouth and settled into the deepest part of his consciousness.

All leaked energy fluctuations and knowledge aura were completely concealed and hidden away.

Even the most perceptive elder brother would find it extremely difficult to detect.

Hmm, one more collectible.
-
The core control hub of the maze.

"How can this child eat random things?"

Locke's face darkened instinctively as he witnessed his youngest son's wasteful and domineering actions.

but
"Well, that makes sense... a brutal yet effective way to handle it."

"This is actually Merlin's treasure vault. Who would have thought?"

He stroked his chin, a thoughtful glint in his eyes. "That old man's most treasured possession is still a bit too 'plain' for my greedy youngest son."

"And cat's eye?"

Locke frowned slightly, his powerful senses silently sweeping over several key nodes of the maze.
The control core that Merlin specifically mentioned.
But he didn't seem to notice anything like it.

Is it that Merlin's stone statue body has faulty memories, or has that thing been hidden in a special way?
Never mind, it's not important for now.
Locke instinctively turned his gaze to another light screen in the exhibition hall, intending to check on Salafil's situation...

"Dad, what are you doing?"

A soft, sweet voice suddenly rang out from beside his legs.

"Oh, what am I looking at you for?"

Locke responded instinctively with gentleness.

"?"

He only realized what he meant after he finished speaking: "Sarafil?"

"Why are you here."

Locke was both surprised and amused.

He looked down and saw that Salafir had somehow gotten here and was now clinging to the back of his chair, looking at him and the light screen in front of him with an innocent expression.

"Where are the brothers?" he chuckled.

"You little rascal!"

The old father shook his head helplessly, then summoned a light screen. "This is your brother Dio."

"?"

Locke paused, raising his eyebrows.

The Tyrannosaurus Rex was left standing there, stunned.

They seemed completely bewildered by some unknown operation.

Dio, who should have been battling the Thunder Tyrannosaurus Rex, was nowhere to be seen.

"."

I'm such a big kid!
Three minutes ago.

"Muda!"

Summon a substitute.

A fist imbued with immense power slammed into the target point!

"Boom!"

The world's fierce attack caused the Thunder Tyrannosaurus to stagger!
A teeth-grinding cracking sound came from the thoracic vertebrae, and spiderweb-like cracks spread instantly!

Although it was quickly repaired in the blink of an eye, the magical creature was clearly enraged!
It turned its head and locked onto Dio.

The giant maw opened, and a bolt of lightning, condensed to its maximum, began to brew, radiating a destructive aura!

but.
"Smash Varudo!"

Time, stop.

All things return to absolute stillness and grayness.

then
Time resumes its flow.

Color and noise returned with a roar, like a flood bursting its banks!
"boom!!!"

An explosion so violent it defies description instantly engulfed the center of the entire exhibition hall!
The blinding white light suddenly expanded.

What followed was a terrifying roar powerful enough to shatter eardrums! It was the most savage and direct collision and outpouring of ultimate power!

The violent shockwave was a perfect sphere, spreading outwards wildly from the point of impact!
Wherever they went.
The solid marble floor was torn up and shattered layer by layer!
Huge Parasaurolophus and Stegosaurus.
These old bones, like building blocks swept by an invisible giant hand, collapsed and fell apart with a crash! Their bone fragments were swept up by the shockwave, becoming part of this destructive storm!

At the core, the white light and dust dissipated slightly.

In that instant, the Thunder Tyrannosaurus was blasted into a pile of bones crackling with lightning by a thousand blows of wood.

Those leaping bolts of lightning were clearly still trying to converge, and it was obvious that they would reassemble again soon.

"trouble."

Dior spat, a hint of impatience flashing in his eyes.

This will only go on indefinitely; a pure contest of strength is not the right approach.

His eyes darted quickly across the entire exhibition hall, searching for potential opportunities.

A father wouldn't set unsolvable problems; this problem...
There must be a special solution!
So his gaze finally fell on those things around the exhibition hall that had also been brought to life and were constantly flashing.
Strange runes that power fossils.

"I see…"

Dior's lips curled back into that familiar, slightly wicked, and knowingly arrogant smile.

It seems we need to find a more efficient way to play that suits his taste.

A battle of wits!

"Om-!"

Just as the pile of lightning-infused bone fragments began to vibrate violently and coalesce once more!

He activated time stop without hesitation!

The world falls silent.

He manipulated the [World], and with a speed beyond the reach of the naked eye, he precisely delivered a 'Wooden Strike' to every flashing rune on the wall, a strike intended to interrupt the flow of energy!
Time resumes its flow.

however……

Dior's smile vanished, replaced by a look of surprise.

Instead of extinguishing, all the runes on the wall instantly crackled with lightning and became extremely unstable!
The violent energy, like hundreds of rivers flowing into the sea, frantically converged towards the dome!

then
It's like a teleportation array that activates instantly!

A flash of bright light, and the world spun around him. Dio steadied himself, suppressing the nausea rising in his throat from the spatial shift, and cautiously surveyed his surroundings.
But they found themselves abandoned in the dinosaur exhibit and in a completely unfamiliar place.

This place resembles the dome of a long-abandoned botanical garden.

Sparse starlight streamed through the broken glass ceiling.

The air was filled with a strong, exotic floral fragrance.

The enormous, long-dead vines were wrapped around the broken pillars.

The most striking feature is a damaged stone pedestal in the center of the dome.

On the base is a gem about the size of a fist, with what appears to be a flowing liquid halo inside.

It appears both sacred and eerie amidst this desolation.

"This is……"

Dior's attention was naturally drawn to it.

This should be the answer?
Or at least, a key to the answer?
After all, the energy emitted by this gem was completely different from that of any other creation in the labyrinth.

He instinctively walked forward, trying to see more clearly.

However.
Just as he approached the base about ten steps away, a sudden change occurred!
The cat's-eye-like gemstone suddenly lit up!
Om-!
Centered on it!
The withered and broken vines on the ground seemed to be instantly infused with a violent life force.

It writhes, proliferates, and spreads wildly!
They were no longer withered vines, but transformed into magical vines that shimmered with an emerald luster, yet were incredibly resilient! They turned into countless tentacles, rushing towards Dio from all directions at an astonishing speed!
Dio reacted extremely quickly, retreating rapidly.

But there were simply too many of these vines, they were moving too fast, and they seemed to possess a rudimentary intelligence as they entangled and strangled us!

"Hey!"

Unfortunately, they were all severed within a single time stop.

"Hmph, so what if your attack radius is twenty meters?"

Dio subconsciously sneered at the fallen vines, his posture arrogant.

As he spoke, he continued walking towards the cat's eye stone.
Then, a woman's voice, clearly strained yet forcibly maintaining a lazy and teasing tone, suddenly came from above and to his side:

"Then, sir, would you mind helping me out?"

"."

Dior frowned and looked in the direction of the sound.

It could be seen in mid-air not far to his side.

There was also a figure tightly bound by countless magical vines.

It was hanging upside down in mid-air in an extremely unseemly manner, and was even swaying gently with the movement of the vines.

The figure was dressed in a black night outfit that perfectly hugged her curves, making her look incredibly graceful. However, the vines made her appear even more disheveled.

"Please help me?"

She was turning her head with difficulty, revealing the lower half of her fair and beautiful face.

However, what Dior was most concerned about was...
There seemed to be some emerald eyes filled with awkwardness?

Upon seeing this potential savior, I felt not relief, but rather a complex mix of emotions: misfortune, helplessness, and the question of why I had to run into 'you' here.
He also noticed that one of his hands was very close to the cat's eye stone, and there was even a small tool gleaming coldly at the tip of his finger.

It's clear that while trying to obtain the gem, some powerful defense mechanism was inadvertently triggered.

"Can you help me out? How about it?"

The woman tried to maintain a teasing, languid tone, "Are you planning to watch my free acrobatic performance here?"

"Is that not allowed? Why should I help you?"

Dior stepped forward, his tone calm and unchanging, revealing no emotion whatsoever.

but.
The slight upturn of his lips betrayed a rare hint of his good mood.

"?!"

I work for you at the club every day!
The woman gritted her teeth and tried to struggle in protest, but the vines seemed to sense her and immediately tightened their grip, causing her to let out a soft groan.

Helpless, she could only take a deep breath and say in a soft, sweet voice, "Please."

Dior didn't say anything more.

He cautiously observed the cat's eye stone and the surrounding ground, and after confirming that there were no other traps, he...

That's how the world's most precise severing of the main vines binding Selena was achieved.

"Pfft!"

With a muffled thud, the woman fell rather awkwardly onto the soft, humus-covered ground.

"Uh!"

She cried out in pain, but still quickly tore off the vigorous vines covering her body with both hands and feet.

Its movements were as nimble as a cat with its fur standing on end.

She then quickly stood up and tidied her messy hair and clothes.

"cough……"

She cleared her throat, her cat-like eyes glaring at Dio, who stood beside her with his arms crossed, watching the spectacle with amusement. She forced herself to remain calm and said, "You didn't see anything just now, understand?"

As she spoke, she seemed to be trying to hide her embarrassment.
Or perhaps his thieving desire hadn't been extinguished, and he turned around and reached out again, trying to grab the gem that was so close at hand...

"Om-!"

Time stops.

The world fell into absolute stagnation.

Dior walked forward expressionlessly.

Then, the instant time resumed its flow, he unceremoniously ripped off the cat-ear headgear.

Her beautiful face, which was now filled with surprise and disbelief, was revealed beneath.

His brown curly hair was damp with sweat and stuck to his forehead, and his blue eyes were wide open in surprise, making him look just like a startled cat.

"Perhaps we should explain it first."

Dio weighed the hood in his hand, his voice icy: "Selena Kyle. Why are you here? Or rather... in my private playground?"

"."

The headgear was removed, as if some kind of protection had been suddenly stripped away.

The forced playfulness and languor in Selena's eyes vanished instantly.

"How did you recognize me?!"

"No...you...never mind."

Looking at Dior's face so close to hers, her pretty face flushed even more uncontrollably. Her eyes darted around, but in the end, she helplessly pouted, her tone carrying a hint of guilt and complaint at being caught red-handed:
"Alright, alright, Your Majesty..."

"I just... heard that the museum was booked out and cleared out by a mysterious big shot today."

Her gaze casually drifted to an overturned ancient pottery urn not far away, engraved with an abstract cat pattern.

"So I just wanted to come in and see if there was anything... um, any 'forgotten beautiful things' that needed taking care of."

"Who knew I'd accidentally bump into that ugly jar."

"I was teleported directly here."

Dior frowned slightly, his gaze sweeping back and forth between Selena's 'innocent' face and the cat's-eye stone beside her, which was still emitting an alluring glimmer.

It seems that the museum's sudden revitalization is mostly related to that cat's eye stone and that catwoman.

He snorted coldly and spoke slowly and deliberately:
“Miss Selena, if I remember correctly…”

"You should be at the club this afternoon, responsible for taking inventory of the newly arrived batch of drinks, right?"

"..."

Selena's feigned pitifulness and complaint froze instantly.

Her pupils flickered rapidly, revealing a hint of genuine guilt.

Subconsciously, I licked my suddenly dry lips, my gaze drifting to the broken glass dome beside me, as if I could find a suitable excuse in those few fake stars.

"Uh... well..."

She stammered, her fingers twirling a corner of her tight-fitting clothes:
"I mean... work always needs a balance between work and rest, right? And look, the 'work environment' here clearly needs professionals like me..."

Her voice trailed off, clearly realizing how ridiculous and weak her excuse was.

Upon hearing this, Dior's lips curled into a cold, knowing smile.

Without asking any further questions, he walked towards the stone base.

"Hey! Watch out for those vines!"

Selena subconsciously reminded him, seemingly forgetting who had just been tied up like asparagus ready for sale.

Dior, however, ignored him.

He reached out, but did not grab the gem directly.

It's just spiritual energy poured into it.

Let the cat's eye stone sparkle a little.

It seems to be comparing this power to that of a man who took over half a museum.

then
"Om-!"

As if in response, it emitted light that coalesced into some blurry images in the air.
A black figure.
Weaving through the invisible laser protection nets inside the Gotham Museum.

The target is this cat's eye stone!
In the picture, her eyes are focused and burning with excitement, full of determination, and every movement is filled with longing.

Finally, before it could even be touched, it was sent here by the cat's eye stone.

It was not at all as it had just described.

"..."

The air was deathly silent.

Selena opened her mouth, but all the prepared lines of excuses, coquetry, and jokes got stuck in her throat.

After all, he was looking at his reflection in the air, projected by the gemstones.
She abruptly raised her hand to her forehead, her cheeks instantly turning bright red, and let out a sound of utter embarrassment and indignation:

"Oh... damn it..."

Dior withdrew his hand, making the image in the air disappear, then turned around and looked at her with a leisurely air.

"so."

"'I accidentally knocked over a jar'? 'I just came in to look at the museum'?"

He spoke slowly, each word striking Selena's heart like a hammer blow:

"Well, you don't want me to package up these 'wonderful' replays and send them to the GCPD, do you, Selena Kyle?"

"What do you want to do?"

Selena swallowed.

"hehe."

Dior smiled kindly, looking down at Catwoman who wished she could disappear into the ground:
"I never knew you were so skilled, Miss Selena."

"It would be such a waste for someone in our club to just be a minor manager. Isn't that right?"
-
[PS: The monitor hasn't arrived yet, haha, another day of my amazing schedule.]

(End of this chapter)