Under the Red Dragon

"You must arrange the ritual magic I taught you as soon as possible to awaken my true form, only then can you stop that red dragon's idea of destroying Earth,"

"Once my true form awakens, I can stop that meteor above the sky,"

"But if that red dragon awakens before me, the problem will be beyond imagination."

The Dark Knight, who is hiding behind the scenes in Gotham City, is now a man about to enter old age. His once resolute and noble face has inevitably been marked by the passage of time.

The elderly Dark Knight, like Superman, rarely appears these days.

Since the collapse of the Justice League's beliefs more than a decade ago, Superman has gone into seclusion.

Some heroes in the Justice League whose beliefs also collapsed chose a similar path, but others persisted in defending the peace and order of one side.

The Flash still operates in his base, but he uses the Speed Force to erase his tracks, becoming an invisible guardian.

Hawkman nests in the northeastern Pacific, focusing on animal and environmental protection.

Since the butler Alfred disappeared from the Dark Knight's side, and his mortal life ended, the Dark Knight created an artificial intelligence AI—the Alfred Butler Protocol—using past butler consciousness simulation and behavior imitation.

The Bat-robots that maintain the balance of Gotham City are controlled by the Alfred Butler Protocol, guarding Gotham in place of the former guardian knight.

But the Dark Knight, who has gone into seclusion, is not only monitoring the movements of the entire Gotham, but also monitoring some important areas of the entire world.

Green Lantern, who built the Emerald Fortress in the sky above the earth, was the first to discover the threat from the depths of distant space, so he passed the message to the brain of the former Justice League—Batman Bruce Wayne.

But when the planetary probe sent by Batman confirmed the news, the Alfred Butler Protocol was easily invaded into the core by a powerful consciousness.

The most powerful artificial intelligence is like a toy in front of this conscious body. The returned Alfred Butler has become a parasite of another independent consciousness.

That independent consciousness parasite claims to be the Archangel Nigglo Machiavelli, the Supreme Angel who holds the power, who was defeated by the evil dragon and its minions in the battle with the evil dragon and fell together with the evil dragon in the depths of the universe.

At this moment, the mechanical head floating in front of Bruce Wayne, at this moment, makes a mechanical voice, and two mechanical prosthetic eyes flicker with uncertain light.

"The world you live in seems absurd, but in reality, it is because the truth rules of your world are too scattered and exposed to the outside. Moreover, the essence of your world is created by the power of idealism, so in the deepest rules, there is also the influence of this mental power rule."

The mechanical angel's voice was calm, "Therefore, many, many extreme people have been born in your world, so many that it is difficult to measure, who have embarked on the opposite path because of a single thought,"

"Your so-called no-kill principle seems to be the rule standard for maintaining your own sanity and order, but it is actually a subconscious manifestation of your resistance to this rule."

"But that evil dragon is the supreme being in the spiritual realm. Even if my rank is much higher than him, it is difficult to wipe out his spiritual will,"

"When my true form descended, I was pulled by the evil dragon's 'Fleeting Dream' spell and fell into this world that is most suitable for him to exert his power,"

"In this world, the power of this evil dragon can surpass the limitations of ordinary rules, even my true form will fall because of this."

Bruce Wayne just listened quietly to the so-called 'angel' who wanted to actively seek joint help. Even that powerful consciousness could not capture what was in the depths of the expressionless Dark Knight's heart, the real psychology instantly hidden under layers of emotions and thoughts.

Without other abilities, just relying on Bruce Wayne's own training and talent, he can hide his thoughts in front of this remnant consciousness.

"But you are really dead, how can you be resurrected? Is the chasm between life and death a joke in front of creatures like you?"

Bruce Wayne's deep voice sounded. In fact, his curiosity about these creatures was far less than his original intention of exploring information, even though such incredible abilities are like myths to ordinary people.

"This is the rule of the universe, the law of life, or to describe it in words that are easier for you to understand, it is the Life Equation,"

The mechanical angel's rigid voice sounded, "The Life Equation created the material universe, scattered throughout the positive matter universe, and melted into all things,"

"And the rules of this world are not strict and are too free, so they are captured and analyzed by that evil dragon who is good at the spiritual realm, relying on the Life Equation hidden between all things to maintain the fallen life."

"The evil dragon itself has unparalleled talent. Together with the joint efforts of several other monsters, the speed of analyzing the Life Equation is even faster than mine,"

"Once they are the first to recover from death, not only will my true form be eternally trapped in the realm of death, but even the earth will be destroyed by them."

Bruce Wayne pursed his lips slightly, then asked: "Why do they want to destroy the earth? It can't be because of some ridiculous evil reasons, such as evil villains should always have evil appearances..."

The Dark Knight spread his hands. The mechanical angel's consciousness saw from this simple action that the not-so-ordinary man in front of him did not trust his words.

"It's complicated to explain. To describe it in the simplest terms, the rules of this world are like this. It's relatively easy to enter for some powerful people, but it's difficult to leave this universe."

The mechanical angel said: "Unless the person who wants to leave the universe can fight against the overall rules of the entire universe, or can fight against the will of the Supreme Being who once created the world."

"But the world is not completely determined by power or life level. They, such beings, can also find the simplest way with their own wisdom."

"They found the center of the universe's destiny weaving—Earth. As long as the Earth is destroyed, the center of destiny weaving will automatically reshape the universe world,"

"At that time, they can drill out of this universe from the gap covered outward from the origin center of the universe in one billionth of a millisecond of the universe's reshaping, so as to return to their hometown."

"Universe reshaping?"

Bruce Wayne was slightly dazed. He knew the meaning of this term, "You can actually survive in the universe reshaping? Incredible."

The Mechanical Angel paused slightly, then said, "The application of rules depends only on wisdom. Pure strength alone cannot survive the reshaping of the entire universe."

"Once the entire universe is passively reshaped, not only will you disappear, but everything you cherish and love will also vanish."

"Even if a new you is born after the universe is reshaped, even if the same myriad things are born, that will not be the real you, not the you of this very moment. Those myriad things will no longer be everything you cherish and love in your memories."

Bruce Wayne's slightly pale brows furrowed slightly. Even with a will as strong as the Dark Knight, he couldn't help but feel a sense of melancholy after hearing such news.

Not fear or panic, but a sentimental melancholy.

"I am not me, and everything in those memories is not the past. Perhaps everything is meaningless," Bruce Wayne said in a low voice.

The Mechanical Angel's voice became almost imperceptibly higher, like a persuasive influence. An atmosphere of rhetoric was enveloping the man whose resolute will had momentarily wavered.

It said, "Of course, even if they don't destroy the Earth, they can find this central point as the intersection of a network weaving all destinies, those children of destiny born into the world, like you!"

"As long as they kill you, they can do the same, if they can discover your existence like I did."

"Although you are children of destiny, connected to the fate of the entire universe, you are just ordinary people in their eyes."

"Even the Son of Tomorrow who once appeared in your world, the alien warrior known as the 'God of Mankind,' is just a mortal in their eyes."

Bruce Wayne smiled wryly, as if infected by emotion, "So, I play such an important role. But how could that guy's power be that of a mortal in their eyes? You don't understand that guy's power."

The Mechanical Angel's cold voice rang out, "Power is just a toy in their eyes, unless that Son of Tomorrow can understand the true source of his power, master the rules within, and possess a truly strong will to control the rules born from his power."

"Otherwise, even if his power can shake the stars, it is just useless work. The vast universe is constantly reminding all living beings that greatness is never achieved overnight, and simply possessing power has never been associated with greatness."

"Those who possess power in your world simply possess power, but they do not know why they possess power, nor do they know what power truly is."

"The power that rules give you can also be taken back by the rules."

"In any case, if you cannot stop the resurrection of the Evil Dragon, you will eventually die, and the Bruce Wayne who is reborn in the world will no longer be you."

Bruce Wayne was silent for a moment, then suddenly looked at the monitoring screen in the main control room of the underground Batcave, "He's here."

So, the exoskeleton on his body extended a mechanical claw, grabbed the floating mechanical head in front of him, and put it into a cabinet that isolated all energy and information, before settling back down.

Superman, wearing his battle suit, descended from the sky onto the long-abandoned grounds of Wayne Manor, opened the old grandfather clock hidden in the manor wall, and followed the secret passage behind the clock mechanism all the way into the Batcave.

The cave was filled with a desolate and deep chill, like the deathly air of hell.

Wading through the water to the main control console in the Batcave, he saw his old friend waiting for him.

Bruce Wayne, with slightly graying hair and wearing an exoskeleton, was staring at his uninvited old friend with his steady gaze.

"Long time no see, Clark!" Bruce Wayne actually took the initiative to greet him.

But when Superman heard the name Clark, he showed an unpleasant expression.

Superman said in a deep voice, "I don't like that name."

"But I like to call you that, Clark," the old bat shrugged, indifferently.

Superman frowned helplessly and asked, "It's only been over a decade, how has your manor become like this?"

"After my identity was exposed, Bane and Two-Face destroyed my manor to retaliate against me," Bruce Wayne said lightly.

"Alfred is gone, and I'm too lazy to take care of this boring place. It's fine as it is."

A simple sentence, but it contained a long story.

Superman was silent, then said, "Bruce, I'm here this time hoping you can rejoin the Justice League."

"The metahumans of the new era have risen in the more than ten years since we abandoned the world, but they neither respect life nor help the weak. They abuse their abilities and ignore their lofty responsibilities,"

"We should restrain them, teach them true truth and justice, and if necessary, we should use force."

"Rejoin us, and together we will set things right and rebuild order!"

"Only in this way will the world have new hope, and we can continue to unite to fight against the impending crisis."

So Superman said.

Almost everything that happened in the world could not escape the active observation of this God of Mankind. The official support of the European Joint Think Tank Organization allowed Superman to grasp most of the necessary information in a short period of time.

Bruce Wayne casually rejected the invitation of his former friend, "I do not agree with your extreme methods of brutally transforming the entire world, Clark. You know my position,"

"I prefer to correct their mistakes through human means. Love and sin are the realm of God, right and wrong are human standards. If you want to preach and spread the love and sin of the Justice League in the name of God, that is your way, not my standard."

Superman turned to look into the depths of the Batcave. His vision could see the people hidden in the many buildings.

Three of them were once old friends of Superman. Clearly, this bat already had his own team.

So Superman nodded. He didn't expose it, but asked, "Do you have any more understanding and information about that celestial body in the starry sky and those legendary creatures?"

The old bat shook his head and asked, "Can't you see the existence in the depths of the starry sky either?"

Superman laughed self-deprecatingly, "I'm not a real god. My eyes can't see those things either, but since you don't want to tell me, I'll go and see for myself."

Bang!

As soon as the words fell, Superman bent his knees and rose up, breaking through the walls of the Batcave hidden deep underground with a sonic boom, and soaring into the sky.

"Damn it, Clark!"