Chapter 307: The Dark Knight Challenges a God

The battle between Jovian and General Zod had resembled a clash between two gods. They had repeatedly torn through streets, reducing entire city blocks to ruins.

Yet Zod's accomplices, those damned Kryptonians, had not received the punishment they deserved.

Instead, Jovian had cleaned up their reputations and transformed them into heroes.

"Everyone!"

"I am deeply sorry about what happened with Zod."

"Truly, I never imagined this incident would become so devastating."

"Although I once again protected this planet from alien invaders, and once again triumphed over evil, I know I am not the real hero."

"The true heroes are the three hundred and eighty-two American citizens who lost their lives in this pointless battle, a battle that should never have happened in the first place. They are the real heroes!"

Standing beneath the spotlights at a podium, Jovian held a microphone and delivered his speech with heartfelt emotion.

It had to be said that he had inherited every ounce of Nolan Grayson's talent. His speech moved countless people.

"That is why I have established a foundation to compensate the families of the heroes who sacrificed their lives during the battle."

"Their families deserve financial support. They deserve to be treated as the families of heroes!"

Jovian provided each bereaved family with a brand-new home in Metropolis.

In reality, these homes had been developed by the Kent Group and had remained unsold for years. Now the houses, along with the entire residential development, had received a new name, Heroes' Home.

Jovian intended to continue promoting the development and increasing the value of its properties.

He was confident that, with his publicity, the remaining homes would soon sell for excellent prices.

After all, everyone in the world wanted to live alongside heroes, didn't they?

Deep beneath Gotham City, hidden within a dark cavern, droplets of water fell steadily onto the damp stone floor.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

A man clad in black armor and dressed like a creature of the night moved through the cavern.

Before long, he entered a room engulfed in complete darkness.

"Activate."

At the man's hoarse command, lights instantly illuminated the chamber.

The formerly dark room was revealed to contain an enormous array of monitors. The system was connected to surveillance cameras throughout the city, allowing the man to observe Gotham without ever leaving the room.

Beside the monitors stood a chair and several racks holding different armored suits. Near the racks was something resembling an elevator that descended even farther underground.

Beneath it was a massive garage containing several classic combat vehicles, aircraft, tanks, and even enormous mechanized suits.

"Sigh..."

The man in black walked to the suit racks and removed the heavy armor covering his body.

He then approached the monitors, confirmed that nothing serious was happening in his city, and sat down, intending to rest for a moment.

Ding.

Just as he was about to relax, a newly received file caught his attention.

"To My Dear Dark Knight..."

The title made the man narrow his eyes.

A terrible feeling rose within him as he opened the file.

Countless shocking documents and images appeared across the monitors.

The files contained evidence that the Kent Group had colluded with American government officials for years. There were also numerous photographs of superheroes employed by the Kent Group eliminating political rivals for certain officials, then disguising the murders as natural deaths or sudden accidents.

The photographs were extremely clear.

The man was also certain they had not been digitally manipulated.

"Fuck!"

The man cursed angrily.

He could hardly imagine how many political affairs the Kent Group had manipulated during the decades it had stood unchallenged. Even the current president of the United States appeared to have countless connections with the conglomerate.

In truth, once a corporation reached the Kent Group's scale and possessed an army of superhumans to protect it, bringing it down became nearly impossible.

Anyone who opposed the Kent Group was walking toward certain death.

Not a single newspaper would dare publish these documents. In the modern era, many media executives deliberately pretended not to understand what was happening around them.

After all, only those who remained willfully ignorant could avoid having a superhero suddenly appear at their door.

Others might have been too frightened to act, but the man staring at the documents was different.

"Fuck you, Jovian..."

The man tossed a newspaper onto the desk. Its headline read, "Jovian: You Are the Real Superheroes!"

Still cursing, he began developing a plan.

"Bruce, it's time for tea."

As the man continued muttering angrily, a sound came from the elevator behind him.

An elderly gentleman wearing a tailcoat stepped into the chamber, carrying an elegant tea service.

"Alfred..."

"Send these documents to the newspapers owned by Wayne Enterprises. Have them published."

The light fell across the man's face.

He was Bruce Wayne, the renowned Dark Knight known as Batman.

"Forgive me for saying so, but publishing this information would likely create enormous trouble for Wayne Enterprises."

"In your position, I would not release it without first conducting a thorough investigation."

While pouring Bruce a cup of black tea, Alfred Pennyworth glanced at the documents displayed on the computer.

It was only a brief look, but the contents were enough to make even Alfred's heart pound.

The documents implicated far too many people and organizations. They involved legal operations, criminal activities, secret arrangements, and everything in between.

Once released, the entire world would likely erupt in outrage before descending into panic.

"Alfred, Kent Tower is already this corrupt. Are we supposed to keep everyone in the dark?"

Bruce sounded unusually agitated.

"No, Bruce. I'm saying that we must first determine which side the God Among Men hovering above everyone's heads is truly on. We must discover whether he knows what has been happening inside his own tower."

"If that invincible god supports Kent Tower's activities, how are we supposed to respond?"

Alfred considered the situation carefully before voicing his concerns.

"You mean Jovian..."

Bruce gradually calmed down.

The sudden arrival of the documents had overwhelmed his judgment. Now that he was thinking clearly again, he realized Alfred was right.

He first needed to determine the God Among Men's position.

Should it turn out that Jovian had knowingly permitted these actions, Bruce might have to find a way to eliminate him before doing anything else.

"I understand."

Bruce nodded to Alfred and immediately got to work.

He would use his own information networks to investigate the matter.

"He took the bait! He took the bait!"

The moment Lex Luthor received confirmation that Batman had opened his files, he became too excited to sleep.

Now he only needed to wait for the great Dark Knight and the legendary God Among Men to engage in an earth-shattering confrontation.

"Hey, Thragg, who do you think will win?"

"Will it be Jovian, the undefeated warrior who resembles both a god of war and the king of all gods?"

"Or will it be the aging Dark Knight who has silently protected his city for years, even though his body is already covered in scars?"

Luthor could hardly contain his anticipation.

He was desperate to witness a battle between the Dark Knight and a god.

Could the strongest mortal slay a mighty god?

That question had probably tormented humanity since ancient times.

Countless works of literature told stories of mortals successfully defeating gods.

Now Luthor would soon be able to witness the answer with his own eyes.

"That depends on whether the knight you chose is strong enough."

"But there's something you need to understand. Jovian is a natural-born champion of our species."

"You could search our entire race and still fail to find another individual as powerful as Jovian."

"As for you humans..."

"Hahahaha!"

"A five-year-old child from our species could defeat the strongest human on Earth."

"It's merely a natural advantage of our species. Don't take it personally."

Thragg laughed loudly, his voice filled with disdain for humanity.

"Hmm..."

"But I do know one thing."

"Even among you Kryptonians, no one possesses an intellect comparable to mine."

"It truly is unfortunate. Had Kryptonians possessed sufficient intelligence to accompany your tremendous strength, you would have been genuinely terrifying."

"What a shame..."

Luthor raised an eyebrow.

He strongly disliked Thragg's arrogance, although Luthor himself was every bit as arrogant.

"In any case, the knight was your choice. Finding a way to make him useful is your responsibility."

After saying that, Thragg ignored Luthor and flew directly out of the LexCorp tower.

It seemed he had also grown dissatisfied with Luthor.

"Heh..."

"What a petty man."

Luthor had nothing else to say about Thragg's departure.

He knew Thragg would eventually return.

Luthor was the only person in the world who had any real chance of defeating Jovian.

The Dark Knight was merely the champion Luthor had selected.

The greatest man alive was not Batman.

It was the magnificent Lex Luthor.

That night, Bruce Wayne moved through the city dressed entirely in black, his armored form seemingly merging with the darkness.

More precisely, it was Batman who stalked through the night.

This time, however, he had left Gotham City and traveled to another city. There was something he needed to investigate.

Metropolis.

The Heavenly Gods Club.

No one knew the identity of the club's true owner, but rumors claimed that an endless procession of distinguished guests visited it every night.

Its clientele included billionaires, famous celebrities, award-winning actors, and government officials.

Some even claimed to have seen the president there.

"Mmm..."

The mayor of Metropolis was an overweight man with a broad bald spot across the top of his head.

Ever since his election, he had visited the club almost every day to indulge himself.

At this point, he no longer cared what anyone thought.

Even a stray dog understood who truly governed this damned city.

The mayor was merely a convenient figurehead.

Whenever something went wrong, he took the blame. Whenever everything was peaceful, he spent his days enjoying himself.

As the man stood at a urinal relieving himself, he suddenly noticed a dark shadow behind him.

He had consumed so much alcohol that his vision was blurry.

Leaning closer to the mirror, he finally managed to see what was standing behind him.

It was a man dressed in black armor.

"Ah!"

The moment he recognized the intruder, the mayor instinctively screamed.

Then everything went black.

He knew nothing more.

Several minutes later, the mayor of Metropolis opened his eyes and discovered that he was lying on the roof of a skyscraper.

"Ugh..."

"What happened?!"

The cold wind howling across the rooftop immediately brought him back to his senses.

He looked around, utterly confused.

"Are you awake?"

As the mayor wondered why he had been brought there, a dark figure stepped in front of him.

"You're..."

"That masked vigilante from Gotham City?!"

The mayor stared at the man dressed entirely in black. After a moment of confusion, realization dawned on him.

"Listen carefully. I ask the questions, and you answer them."

The dark figure began his interrogation.

"Who owns that club?"

"Who do you work for?"

"What exactly have you been doing as mayor?"

"How many criminal deals have you participated in?"

"How much do you know about the activities inside Kent Tower?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. I have no idea what any of that means."

The mayor shook his head, pretending not to understand the questions.

Batman fell silent.

He didn't waste any more words.

Grabbing the mayor by the back of his collar, he dragged him to the edge of the rooftop.

"Answer me now."

"I... I don't know!"

The mayor gritted his teeth and continued denying everything.

"Goodbye."

Batman calmly bid him farewell before kicking the balding man off the building.

"Ahhh!"

"You're insane!"

"I'll answer! I'll answer!"

Only after he began plummeting toward the street did the mayor realize that the black-clad vigilante was completely serious.

He immediately started screaming.

"Five, four, three, two, one..."

Batman behaved as though he hadn't heard him.

He calmly counted down.

The moment he reached the final number, the mayor screamed again as a rope suddenly tightened around his body and hauled him back toward the rooftop.

Thud!

Batman caught the balding mayor and pulled him to safety.

"Answer me. Now."

"I'll talk! I'll talk!"

"The club's secret owner is the person who truly controls this city."

"I work for that person. Every mayor of Metropolis has worked for the city's true ruler."

"As for illegal transactions, there are too many to count. Most involve money and political power."

"But I never participated in any of them because my position isn't important enough. I'm only a scapegoat."

"And as for Kent Tower, listen, you should understand what the Kent family represents in this city."

"They're the equivalent of the Wayne family or the Arkham family in Gotham."

"Do you understand now?"

The balding, middle-aged mayor stared fearfully at the Dark Knight as he explained everything.

"I understand."

Batman nodded.

He tied the mayor securely to the rooftop and then leaped from the building.

"Hey! You can't leave me up here!"

"All right, fine! Goodbye, you asshole!"

The mayor cursed at the Dark Knight as he disappeared into the night.

"It seems I need to start preparing."

By the time the Dark Knight returned to Gotham City, he had already formed a plan.

Along the way, he also stopped seven or eight armed robbers.

Now he was going to challenge Jovian to a fight.

//Check out my P@tre0n for 10 extra free chapters //[email protected]/Razeil0810