Chapter 442: Six legs in, four legs out

Chapter 442: Chapter 442: Six legs in, four legs out

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Just as Marvel has numerous parallel Universes, the DC Universe is no slouch either.

And in the vast majority of parallel Universes, Batman is Bruce Wayne, while his parents Thomas and Martha are usually mere background props, living only in flashbacks and dragged out to be beaten repeatedly.

But the Batman right before him turned out not to be Bruce, but his own father, Thomas Wayne.

Now, this was getting interesting.

Darian hadn’t read all those comics for nothing, and a classic major event in DC comics quickly flashed through his mind.

Flashpoint Paradox.

And the protagonist of this major event was none other than Barry, the Flash, hailed as the reboot button of the DC Universe.

To save his deceased mother, Barry used the Speed Force to travel back in time and rewrite the fact of his mother’s Death.

As a result, this action triggered a massive butterfly effect, causing the entire timeline to change and thus forming an entirely new timeline, which was the Flashpoint World.

In this Flashpoint World, many superheroes and supervillains underwent subversive changes, especially Batman.

As everyone knows, Gotham has such an alley where six legs go in and two legs come out.

And this was a famous landmark of the DC Universe, Crime Alley.

On the normal timeline, when the Wayne family emerged from the theater and turned into Crime Alley, they encountered robbers, and young Bruce watched with his own eyes as his parents fell under the muzzle of a gun, leaving Batman behind in the World from then on.

But in the Flashpoint World, what walked out that night wasn’t two legs, but four legs; little Bruce became the one who died in the alley, while Mr. and Mrs. Wayne survived instead.

Thomas witnessed his son Bruce’s Death with his own eyes, his heart filled with endless remorse and pain, and ultimately became a Batman who meted out violence with violence, pouring all his rage onto criminals.

Compared to Bruce, Thomas the Batman was far more violent and cruel.

He had no so-called no-kill code, his strikes were extremely ruthless, and he was proficient in American Iaijutsu—never using his fists when a gun could solve the problem, with a style of action quite similar to the Punisher.

Where there is Batman, the Joker is naturally indispensable.

And the Joker in the Flashpoint World was none other than Bruce’s biological mother, Martha.

After little Bruce died, Martha could not accept the pain of losing a child, her psyche completely collapsed, and she cut the corners of her mouth with a knife, turning into a lunatic Joker who loved and killed Batman—Thomas—at the same time.

They always say Batman and Joker are true love; well, now the two of them really became a married couple.

When Darian saw this Thomas version of Batman, he immediately realized he was in the Flashpoint World.

He raised both hands, wearing what he thought was a friendly smile: "My name is Darian, and as you can see, just like you, I’m a companion of justice."

Thomas did not respond.

He could indeed see that this sneaky fellow was definitely not a good person, and blowing his brains out with a single shot wouldn’t be an injustice.

Thomas demanded in a hoarse voice: "Who sent you here?"

Darian honestly said: "Nobody sent me here. I came over just to see what Batman looks like, but I didn’t expect you to be much older than I imagined."

"If this is your last words, then you can go die."

Without hesitation, Thomas’s finger decisively pulled the trigger.

Bang!

The gunfire exploded in the enclosed cave, and the bullet struck Darian directly on the forehead.

Then, that bullet head hit like it struck a steel plate, shriveled and deformed as it fell to the ground, without even scraping the skin on Darian’s forehead.

Thomas’s pupils constricted sharply.

Reacting swiftly, he then fired several more shots at Darian’s vital points.

As a result, all the bullets hitting Darian’s body still had no effect whatsoever.

A superhuman!

Thomas was not unfamiliar with such invulnerable opponents, and he decisively pressed the switch on his belt.

The lighting system of the entire Batcave instantly went out, and the surroundings plunged into a dead, silent darkness.

Darian couldn’t help but complain: "Are you Batmen all so unable to bear the light of day?"

As soon as his voice fell, he suddenly turned around, his right hand reaching into the darkness like lightning to precisely grab Thomas by the neck, lifting his entire body off the ground.

"It’s just a pity that darkness is my home turf."

With his feet suspended in the air and his breath stifled, Thomas’s instinctive struggle still failed to break free from Darian’s arm.

But there was not a trace of panic in his eyes as he swiftly felt out a micro-bomb, slapping it directly onto Darian’s body while a red light flashed urgently.

Rumble—!

The massive explosion was deafening, and the flames instantly swallowed the figures of both men.

As the smoke slowly dissipated, Darian was still standing in place, completely unharmed all over his body; the hand choking Thomas hadn’t let go either, and Thomas in his hand was likewise safe and sound.

It turned out that both of their bodies were covered by a layer of translucent armor covered in runes, completely isolating the Impact of the explosion.

Darian raised an eyebrow: "Did you have to risk your life like this?"

If he hadn’t cast a protective spell in time just now, at this distance, not to mention whether he would get hurt, Thomas himself would definitely have been blown into serious injuries.

To prevent Thomas from making any more radical moves, Darian had no choice but to let go of his hand.

After landing, Thomas staggered back two steps, bent over and coughed hard, but his gaze remained locked tightly on Darian, the vigilance and hostility in his eyes not diminishing by a fraction.

"Just what kind of person are you!?"

Darian waved his hand, his tone relaxed: "Relax, I’m not your enemy. On the contrary, I’m even a friend of your son Bruce."

Thomas’s expression sank instantly, with a bit more anger in his tone: "Are you playing with me? Bruce died long ago; I saw it with my own eyes."

Darian chuckled: "I’m not talking about the Bruce of this World, but the Bruce of another World."

Thomas’s brows furrowed tightly: "What do you mean?"

Darian explained: "I come from a parallel Universe. In my World, Bruce is Batman, and you and Martha died together in that alley, becoming a psychological trauma that Bruce could never cure for the rest of his life. Every night, he would hug his most beloved plush toy and cry in bed like a two-hundred-pound child—he was simply too pitiful."

"What nonsense are you talking about? Do you think I’d believe a kid-fooling story like this?"

Thomas only felt it was utterly absurd.

Especially that last part; he didn’t even know where to start complaining.

Darian chuckled: "If you don’t believe me, I still have evidence here."

He pulled out a high-tech tablet, swiped his fingers across the screen a few times, opened an album named "Batman Try Not to Laugh Challenge", and handed it out in front of Thomas.

Thomas frowned and looked at the screen; the very first photo made his eyelid twitch.

In the picture, a man wearing a Batman helmet was stripped all over until only a pair of underwear remained.

Not gonna lie, this physique was actually pretty good.

Thomas’s brows furrowed even tighter, but his finger still swiped downward.

Then, he saw a video of Bruce being pinned to the ground and frantically rubbed by Clark, ultimately able only to cry out for his mom for mercy.

Hearing the name Martha, Thomas’s finger paused for a moment, remaining silent as he silently continued flipping downward.

Behind that were all sorts of photos of him being fancy-whipped and hung up to beat, as well as some screenshot-captured goofy meme stickers.

It was clear that the photographer’s malice toward Bruce was practically overflowing from the screen.

In a few of those photos, Bruce wasn’t wearing a mask, and his entire face could be seen clearly.

Although he looked a bit up in years, Thomas still recognized at a glance that this was his own son Bruce.

"Bruce..."

Thomas whispered a single line.

He stared at the screen in silence for a few seconds, then looked up at Darian: "Since you came from a parallel Universe, what do you want to do in this World?"

Very obviously, he had already believed Darian’s rhetoric.

For an elderly father who had lost a child, nothing could compare to the better news that his own child was still alive.

Because of this, he would rather believe the words of a stranger like Darian than be willing to deny such a hope full of beauty, even if this hope might possibly be fake.

Darian spread his hands: "I’m not clear yet; I might know after some time passes. But before that, I need to borrow a place to stay with you for a while."

Although the dungeon quest hadn’t been issued yet, he felt the quest content would most likely not circumvent Barry, the protagonist of this event.

He had read the comics and knew Barry would come looking for them sooner or later.

Rather than running around everywhere, it was better to just wait in the Batcave for the rabbit to crash into the tree.

Thomas frowned: "Outsiders aren’t welcome here..."

Darian waved his hand: "Rest assured, I won’t stay for free either. I’ll copy a portion of these photos and videos for you, consider it rent."

Thomas changed the subject: "However, since you’re a friend of Bruce’s, you’re not an outsider either. You can stay as long as you want."

The two of them instantly struck a deal.

Darian sighed inwardly, pitying the hearts of parents all over the World.

Don’t look at Thomas as someone with a dark heart and cold hands, killing criminals without batting an eye, daring to face strong opponents like him head-on without being willing to compromise.

But once it involved Bruce, this tough guy was willing to give up all principles.

Just like that, Darian settled down in the Batcave.

With nothing better to do, he strolled around the cave, the more he looked, the more disgusted he became.

"And you even have the nerve to call this a Batcave?"

Darian clicked his tongue and shook his head: "Pardon my frankness, compared to Bruce’s Batcave, this place isn’t even as good as his toilet."

The corners of Thomas’s mouth twitched: "Although my Batcave hasn’t been tidied up much, it’s not as bad as you make it sound, right?"

"Far from just bad, it’s outrageously bad."

Darian said unceremoniously: "The most advanced equipment in the entire Batcave turns out to be a big-headed computer. If I use cheats when playing games, the technological content is probably a cut higher than your place here."

Not only the Batcave, but the technological content on Thomas himself was also close to zero, relying entirely on hand-to-hand combat and American Iaijutsu for battles, completely failing to reflect the superpower of money that Batman ought to have.

Unlike Bruce, whose equipment was all sorts of varieties, having even hundreds of styles of batarangs, enemies could never guess what bizarre gadgets he would fish out from his utility belt.

Darian continued his critique: "All that aside, you, a dignified Batman, actually don’t even have a single real suit."

Upon hearing this, Thomas was unhappy: "Isn’t the set on my body a suit?"

"Just this?"

Darian smiled disdainfully: "Looks like I have to let you witness what a real suit truly is."

As he spoke, he directly fished out the complete set of Batman suits previously obtained as a reward from his game inventory.

Thomas was startled for a moment by this ability to conjure objects out of thin air, but was quickly captivated by the Batman suit before his eyes.

The suit was pitch black throughout, made of metallic material, with a bat logo printed on the chest, overflowing with a sense of technology.

"This is the Batman suit Bruce usually wears, featuring a built-in utility belt, bat helmet, bat cloak, and other full sets of equipment. It can amplify basic attributes, has built-in AI assistance, and comes with its own phlegm-coughing voice changer."

Darian rattled them off like family treasures, introducing: "In addition to this, this suit also has quite a few powerful functions, such as discharging electric currents, electronic interference, urine filtration..."

Thomas was not amazed by the power of the Batman suit, but instead felt heartbroken for Bruce.

Just how many powerful enemies had he encountered to need to strengthen his own suit to this extent?

Looking back at Thomas, the suit on his body had at most just a bulletproof function.

After all, most of his enemies were ordinary people; for problems that could be solved with a single lead bullet, why bother making things so fancy and flashy.

Thomas asked: "Why do you have this suit of armor?"

Darian chuckled: "Because I am Bruce’s most trusted close friend, he gave me this suit of armor as a witness to our friendship."

Thomas didn’t speak; the sense of indebtedness toward Bruce in his heart deepened by another layer.

If he and Martha were still alive, they would definitely remind their son to keep his eyes open when making friends, and not let himself be led astray by certain shady characters.

"Let me issue a reminder, Bruce wasn’t led astray by me, nor could I lead him astray—it’s just that his nature is like this."

Darian spoke up suddenly, giving Thomas a start.

This fellow could actually read his thoughts?

Darian shook his head in denial: "Don’t talk nonsense, I didn’t read your thoughts. Careful or I’ll sue you for defamation."

Thomas: "..."

Darian pulled the topic back: "However, this suit is only the basic model; Bruce also has an anti-Superman armor whose performance and functions are a huge cut above the basic model, capable of easily suppressing most superpowered individuals."

"Who is Superman?"

Thomas frowned; this sounded like an enemy of Bruce’s, and a major enemy at that.

Darian explained: "His name is Clark, an alien possessing a body of steel, heat vision, X-ray vision, flight, freezing breath, and other abilities, making him one of the most powerful existences on Earth."

"So he’s an evil alien."

Thomas came to a sudden realization—no wonder Bruce was so guarded against this.

Darian shook his head: "Ah no, Clark isn’t evil. On the contrary, he is a very kind superhero whose temper is somewhat outrageously good, and he’s a match-made-in-heaven best buddy with Bruce. But Bruce guards against him everywhere, and just contingency plans for dealing with Clark alone number in the hundreds."

Thomas: "..."

Being cautious is a good thing; after all, with such a powerful existence, if they lost control, no one would be able to stop them.

As expected of a biological father, Thomas even started frantically spinning excuses for his own son.

Darian once again read Thomas’s thoughts and directly pierced it: "You’re overthinking it. Aside from a superhero named Green Arrow, Bruce has a series of targeted plans for all superheroes, including his comrades-in-arms—he’s practically more dedicated than a supervillain."

Thomas: "..."

Thinking from a positive perspective, at least his own son’s surroundings were all good people, and yet he somehow hadn’t been beaten to Death like this.