American comics: Starting in Arkham, a system-based Batman

Chapter 123 Superman protected me

A child's slender neck could be strangled with just one hand, covered by a metallic mechanical hand.

Under his super vision, the girl's painful expression of not being able to breathe due to the compression of her trachea was clearly reflected in his eyes. Superman could see the physiological tears secreted from the corners of her eyes and her furrowed brows.

She instinctively opened her mouth, and in her blurred vision, she could only vaguely see red and blue patches.

She knew it was Superman.

"Help me—"

She was already there before Superman and Metal Man moved on. Some adults left after hearing the commotion nearby, while others stayed and hid, trying to capture Superman's battle on camera.

In the 21st century, where online social activities are prevalent, trendy topics are easily embraced by the public.

Superman is a popular term in Metropolis. Although he is approachable and often appears in places where help is needed, Metropolis is a metropolis with tens of millions of people.

Even though he appears frequently, many people have only seen him online or in news reports.

As long as you can take a picture of Superman or record a video with his image in it, even if the subject of the shot melts like cream, you can easily get tens of thousands of likes.

A significant number of people stayed because of this.

Superman's X-ray vision is an active skill, which he rarely uses in real life to maintain politeness, and he only thinks of using it when needed in battle.

Before the battle with the metal man began, he had used this technique once to prevent nearby civilians from being accidentally injured. After the battle, he continued to suffer setbacks and failed to notice the change in location or the people who had taken cover.

Compared to those people, the girl was somewhat unlucky.

Rather than being popular or sought after on social media, she stayed simply because she loves Superman and wants to take more photos of him.

The metropolis is a vibrant and positive city.

The overly comfortable life failed to make the young child aware of the hidden dangers. She photographed Superman and wanted to get even closer to take more pictures.

Then he met the metal man's gaze.

Even as she was being held and choked, she was still trying to look at Superman, and Clark agreed to the Metal Man's request without hesitation.

"Okay." In his eyes, the girl's life was far more important than catching the metal man causing trouble. "Let her go, I won't catch you."

"Anyone can say anything that's just talk." The Metal Man himself is a morally bankrupt guy, and he never hesitates to assume the worst about others.

He used the girl to threaten Superman, but that doesn't mean he genuinely thinks Superman is a good guy.

The blinding red gaze made the metal man shudder, and the hand gripping the girl's neck tightened involuntarily. "Get away from me, back off, back off some more."

Superman did as he was told; he raised his hands and retreated dozens of meters away.

"That idiot."

Injustice was very displeased. So far, none of Clark's behavior had satisfied him. "The kryptonite on Metal Man's chest has cracked. If he uses his heat vision again, he will lose."

"That girl's neck might not be able to hold out for those few seconds."

Jung Eun watched them intently. After Superman moved away, the metal man slowly released his hand, leaving a striking red finger mark on his neck.

"Tsk, trash."

Injustice Superman knew that what Jung Eun said was very likely to happen. The Superman here was still a newcomer, and his control and use of power were far inferior to his. But even so, there were many ways to deal with the Metal Man.

"There are countless ways to catch him without hurting the child," Injustice said, stating his assessment. "Use X-ray vision to find the metal man's joints, then use heat vision to burn off his arm. Those few seconds are enough for heat vision to destroy the kryptonite."

"If you're not familiar with thermal vision, you have plenty of options; just pick up some pebbles from the ground and throw them at the target—it'll have the same effect."

On highways, a can thrown out of a car window is enough to damage the windshield of the car behind.

This is the power generated by speed applied to an object. With Superman's strength, he can manipulate various powers at will to achieve his desired goals. Even if the Metal Man has Kryptonite on him, he can still defeat him from a distance.

"But he doesn't have that skill or experience."

People in the midst of a tense situation and those observing from the sidelines with a comprehensive view see things differently. Similarly, the decisions made by an Injustice Superman with decades of combat experience and a Superman using his powers for the first time to fight against humans with similar special abilities are also different.

"Is this okay?"

Superman stared at the metal man from afar. The man released his grip on the girl's neck, but moved her under his arm with his other hand, carrying her like a basket.

Superman stared intently at the metallic man. "You should let her go."

"I will." The metal man grinned, tightening his grip on the girl's hand even more.

He leaped backward with all his might, landing directly on the overpass that weaves through the city, his legs leaving heavy marks on the bridge. He released the girl's hand and said, "As you wish, Superman."

How long does it take to fall from an overpass tens of meters high to the ground?

The girl didn't know, but in that instant, she saw the endless stream of cars below. She dared not think about what would happen next, and could only close her eyes tightly.

When I came to my senses, I was enveloped in a warm embrace that smelled of sunshine.

Are you alright?

The familiar face was so close, she instinctively hugged him back and burst into tears, crying, "Superman!"

"It's okay, you're safe now."

Clark patted her shoulder reassuringly, his gaze sweeping across the bustling city. Just moments before, when he went to rescue the man, the metal figure had vanished without a trace.

He could no longer find any trace of the metal man.

"Although he has only been in the industry for a short time, it seems that all his weaknesses have been discovered."

Looking at Superman surrounded by the crowd, Jung Eun felt that the storm behind her had only just begun.

Using kryptonite as an energy source could be considered a coincidence, given that it is a high-energy substance; it's quite possible that some villain picked it up and used it.

That's normal. But the fact that the Metal Man was able to escape Superman's superhuman vision and X-ray vision is no coincidence.

Through the monocle, Superman was gently placing the girl he was holding on the ground. The crowd made room, and someone squeezed out and hugged her tightly.

The woman kissed her daughter's forehead with tears streaming down her face. "My little Liana, God protect you, thank goodness you're alright."

"But Mom, it was Superman who saved me." The girl broke free from her mother's embrace and grabbed Superman's hand. "Superman protected me."

These words caused a moment of silence among those around him, but soon someone stood up and shouted, "Superman is God's messenger; he was sent by God to save us!"

Enthusiastic young people, eloquent middle-aged people, kind-faced old people—people of different identities, ages, and genders gathered around him, all regarding him as a kind of hope.

"Yeah, otherwise how could Superman be so amazing!"

"God's messenger—"

Surrounded by the crowd, he felt extremely awkward. Suddenly, a figure streaked across the sky. The red shadow seemed to leave a fleeting trail.

Uh, it feels like I've finished another issue of the comic.

After watching the whole thing, Jung Eun couldn't help but feel emotional, as the scene of Superman being so beloved was in stark contrast to the large, dark bat.

While the latter also has many extreme fans and is beloved by Gotham citizens, it rarely engages in face-to-face interactions with ordinary people. However, one can find many such interactions by looking back at older comics.

Injustice was still dissatisfied, saying, "He handled things terribly. Is this how he does things?"

"It's alright, isn't this a happy ending for everyone?" Zheng En was looking at today's incident from the perspective of a time traveler. In terms of plot development, this could be considered a small story. Early action comics and detective comics were basically connected by such small stories.

They are not closely connected, and each story is a fairly complete one on its own.

"If we don't catch the metal man, who knows what he might do next?"

Even if he only has a vague impression of the past, the mentality of being in a high position for a long time has already left a deep mark on the Unjust Superman.

He coldly weighed the pros and cons according to his own thinking: "If we capture the Metal Man, even losing an extra life is nothing. If we don't kill the Metal Man, more innocent people will die at his hands in the future."

Zheng En disagreed.

"Sacrificing those we can save now for a future whose very existence is uncertain is absurd in itself."

Injustice Superman sneered, "Just because I didn't see it doesn't mean it didn't exist?"

"If you don't want to think about it, I can help you." He hissed like a snake flicking its tongue, emitting a dangerous signal. Jung Eun noticed the signal and accepted his provocation, "Okay."

"The metal man is a cyborg. If he didn't modify himself, it means that there is someone behind him and a team of researchers."

Injustice has long forgotten the minor characters who once appeared in his life. After endless suffering, his interpretation of enemies is replaced by his former best friend. The deepest love and the deepest hatred are twisted in the mountains of corpses and seas of blood between the two.

His assessment of the Metal Man is based solely on his current limited understanding.

"Who is the person behind him? What is his purpose in creating the Metal Men? How many Metal Men did he create, and how many of them survived?"

Injustice Superman's thoughts followed the Metal Man's, delving deeper: "The Metal Man we saw today was clearly not in his complete form. Was he out conducting experiments? With the data from this battle transmitted back, what will he become next?"

"Or perhaps he's just the number one among the metal men, with an endless army waiting to be manufactured and improved. Will this idiot be able to handle those enemies then?"

"Of course, that guess is unlikely." Unjust Superman scoffed. "When the person behind the scenes has an army of metal men, his focus can't be limited to fighting this idiot."

"With an army comes violence, conflict, bloodshed, the overthrow of regimes, and the establishment of new ones. People fight and struggle for power and resources, and that is war."

"The giant millstone will grind every person's flesh and blood into it."

Knowing that the Metal Man was just a one-off minor villain, Jung Eun said, "I don't think this kind of technology can be mass-produced."

"Are you sure this technology will never be widely adopted?" Injustice Superman retorted. "All I see is a criminal who has gained special abilities through modification."

"He can vandalize the streets today and nearly kill a girl, but what about tomorrow? The day after? The day after that?"

"What if he killed someone after that, and not just one person?"

The Unjust Superman uses various hypothetical scenarios to bewilder Jung Eun: "Aren't those who were killed also partly responsible for letting that guy go today?"

"Arrest him, interrogate him, dig out information about the person behind it, and then kill him as well. That's the way to minimize the damage."

Moral blackmail, slippery slope fallacy, and catastrophic thinking left Zheng En momentarily at a loss for words, unsure where to begin her rebuttal.

But he thought Injustice Superman should also visit Arkham, of course, assuming the Joker isn't there.

Unjust Superman took Jung Eun's silence as agreement after she had nothing to say.

"But all of that is based on the premise that that guy is not strong enough." Injustice Superman believed he was much stronger than him. "If it were me, that girl wouldn't have died, and Metal Man would have been captured."

That's the truth.

Although in theory Superman has more than one way to deal with the Metal Man, even throwing stones could damage his limbs, in reality, various uncontrollable factors can arise.

Any Superman with extensive combat experience could adapt flexibly, but for Clark now, it's simply not working.

"Without Luther to oppose him, his combat experience is just too slow to level up."

Jung Eun sighed. Luther, a Superman nemesis handpicked by the DC writers, is Superman's absolute opposite.

When Superman is a good guy, he is the biggest villain, just like in the main universe and most parallel universes, Amojo, Doomsday, who have done countless bad things, although he occasionally does good things.

When Superman is the villain, he becomes the last hope when things turn out badly. Just like in the Injustice universe, the super serum he developed became an important tool for Batman and his crew to fight against Superman. He hid around Superman to pass on information and finally put on the Kryptonite power armor to prepare to solve Superman's tyranny on his own.

Unjust Superman was unaware of Jung Eun's inner thoughts, and was simply puzzled.

"Why do you say that?" In his hazy memory, they were longtime friends, but then—what happened? Injustice Superman tried to recall, but could only remember that they seemed to have turned against each other.