The one speaking wasn't the real Brainiac, but Greed. However, Brainiac was eavesdropping nearby. When he saw Tobias's expression, he knew that Greed was right.
Since Brainiac descended upon Earth, he really hadn't done anything terribly wrong. On the contrary, he had achieved remarkable feats, boasting commendable achievements and even displaying humility and kindness. Under his rule, not a single person has been executed; at most, they receive life imprisonment without parole.
As for his adversary Darkseid, he's the complete opposite, a textbook villain. During his invasion of Earth, he had massacred the human race countless times. Whether frontline warriors or the civilians in the rear, they all knew how ruthless and evil he was. His subordinates, those warriors, were even more brutal. Whether it was Desaad or Kindly Granny, one would never end well in their hands.
In such a situation, people naturally feared Darkseid more.
If you offended Brainiac, you'd at most have some points deducted, and even if you committed a crime, you'd just go to prison. But if you offended Darkseid, wouldn't he skin you alive, making life worse than death?
So, when Tobias discovered his conspiracy had been exposed, he didn't feel panicked. After all, at most, he'd end up in prison. He also had another hope, which was Darkseid. He could try to get Darkseid to bail him out.
However, when he found out that Brainiac already knew he had withheld the Mother Box and planned to tell Darkseid about it, he was genuinely panicked. Because Darkseid would truly kill him, and he definitely wouldn't die an easy death.
"Don't do this," Tobias said. "I think we can talk. After all, I didn't hand such a treasure over to the aliens; I kept it for myself. Isn't that good for Earth and your rule?"
"No, if you had handed it to me the moment you discovered it, I could admit you made some contribution to Earth. But what you did was merely keep it for yourself. What do you intend to do with it? Cause more terrorist attacks to resist me?"
Tobias looked genuinely surprised, so much so that even the wrinkles on his face seemed to flatten. He opened his mouth and said, "...Did you take the wrong medicine, Brainiac?"
"What? Are you surprised?"
"I must admit, I am indeed shocked." Tobias blinked rapidly, then said, "I thought you'd tell me that terrorism is a crime or ask me exactly what I'm dissatisfied with, or maybe deduct some points or something..."
"No, Tobias, my point is that regardless of whether you lead a vast underground organization or possess a powerful alien treasure, you shouldn't rely on that to rebel against me. Or have you been so foolish to think you can stand against me, using these as your backing?"
"I haven't," Tobias answered so quickly that Greed hadn't even finished his last punctuation, and he had already spurted out a long string. "How could I think that, Mr. Brainiac? You first led humanity to defeat the evil aliens and brought the most fair and harmonious society to human society. Everyone bows to your might and justice; please, you must believe that I am one of them. Those previous incidents were just misunderstandings. I admit I have an underground organization, but it was formed before you appeared. It's a violation of the assembly law; I'm really sorry about that. If possible, I can fill out the organization registration application form. Please, don't waste your energy over this but continue with your great mission of saving humanity from poverty and hunger..."
"Enough, it seems you're really stupid. I genuinely didn't expect Darkseid would choose such a fool like you. Even at this point, you still treat me like some clueless three-year-old child. Tobias, I know very well who you are, but it seems you don't know who I am."
"I'm all ears, sir." Tobias's tone cooled down.
At this moment, Greed, sitting on the sofa, looked at Arrogance beside him. Arrogance rolled his eyes slightly, took the communicator from him, and continued speaking in that slow and steady tone:
"The crowd is like a flock of sheep, always anxious, forever restless. After a prolonged war and intense societal changes, they need someone to tell them that dawn has indeed arrived."
"I need to soothe the flock, to calm them down as quickly as possible, even if it's just a facade. And your shallow perception has caused you to mistake the rational measures I took during social stages as my entirety."
"Perhaps you still think you've seen a different side of me, and you consider this my true nature. But this is still a foolish view. My form of life is beyond the comprehension of your primitive carbon-based species."
"I can be fair, become a gentle helper in the eyes of most people. That is indeed me, just an extension of a tentacle from an incomparably huge body. And the other countless tentacles lie in the dark depths of the cosmos, beyond your reach. Just because you can't see them or recognize them doesn't mean they don't exist, nor that they won't descend like I did."
"And regarding these pitiable sheep, you and I both know that if the Sun could save Earth, it would not have been in its current state when I arrived. People always fear the night, but the night spurs them to light up the cities. When the time comes, I won't hesitate to use fear to drive them."
"And you, with your superficiality and arrogance, foolishly attempt to seize the authority from me to drive them. But the laughable part is, you've grabbed the whip yet completely have no idea how to use it, put on some tricks, but you can't even drive a single sheep into the pen. If you're trying to act like a ridiculous and absurd Joker to amuse me, you've succeeded."
"The absurd commotion you've caused hasn't harmed me in any way, yet it's exposed yourself so easily. But it's a pity, having seen your performance, I'm even too lazy to send someone to apprehend you. Keep acting up, how does the saying go among humans? A balance of work and rest."
After speaking, the communication was cut off. Brainiac looked at Tobias's already incredibly grim face, suddenly having a strong urge to laugh.
He knew this must be yet another program error. He is just an electronic life form and shouldn't experience such intense joy. Hopefully, Lex Luther, who's fixing the program error, won't call and yell at him.
"My goodness," said Barry, who had listened to the entire conversation nearby, "if I were him, I'd be going crazy. You didn't even ask him for the Mother Box!"
"That's the most infuriating part," Greed said, "it's clearly a sign of disrespect. The subtext is, 'Even with the Mother Box, you wouldn't accomplish anything significant'."
"What if he really wants to make a big move... oh, that's right, his Mother Box is fake." Barry slapped his forehead.
As expected, Tobias was indeed a bit cracked. He took out the Mother Box Greed had given him from a drawer, but unfortunately, he was neither a scientist nor a researcher and couldn't even determine whether it was fake. He just knew he couldn't use it at all.
He threw it to the ground in anger and began pacing frantically by the window, then picked up the Mother Box and tried to walk out. The more frustrating thing happened—the door wasn't locked at all.
During martial law, most buildings where people stayed had to lock their doors. Even the coffee shop Barry frequented required him to use Divine Speed to enter. Under ordinary circumstances, he wouldn't be able to get in.
But Brainiac hadn't locked his door! He didn't even bother locking the office he was in!!!
Tobias was so angry his whole body trembled. He wasn't angry about Brainiac disregarding his safety, but rather angry at Brainiac believing that even if he walked out of the door, he wouldn't pose a threat to anyone.
Brainiac already knew he was the leader of an underground organization and knew he possessed a powerful Mother Box, yet he was completely indifferent, not caring, and too lazy even to guard against him.
For an evil genius, this was an enormous humiliation. The only difference between someone pointing at your nose and calling you a waste and this scenario was that the latter was somewhat more civilized.
Tobias, still angry, wandered around the factory before returning to his office, because he realized he really couldn't accomplish anything.
Now, global martial law was in effect. He could call his subordinates right in front of Brainiac, but they were locked up. Even if they weren't, all public facilities were shut down. If they wanted to go anywhere, they'd have to walk. Although the organization started early, it didn't really have many powerful superpower users and couldn't operate globally under these conditions.
The Mother Box in his hands was completely useless, just an ordinary-looking black box. No matter how he fiddled with it, it wouldn't reveal its true form, he couldn't use it at all.
Though he himself could fight fairly well, he didn't even know whom to fight—maybe the electric pole outside the door? Not to mention, Metropolis, being a key construction city, had very sturdy poles; he might not even be able to break them.
After a bout of impotent rage, Tobias finally calmed down a bit. Seating himself and contemplating, he suddenly felt a few insights, even considering that this might be a good thing.
If Brainiac were a completely fair and just ruler, there would be no room for advancement for him. Being a manager at the paint factory would be decent enough; even in a larger factory, it would still be about sitting in an office reading reports, looking at production safety reports every day.
But if Brainiac behaved as he did today, as he said today, displaying such a benevolent façade merely to appease humans, with more stringent governance plans to follow, perhaps even planning to retaliate against Darkseid, then his value would significantly increase.
Just by being a subordinate of Darkseid would be enough for Brainiac to recruit him. Darkseid having set his sights on Earth was a significant problem Brainiac had to address. And as Darkseid's subordinate, he counted as somewhat trusted by him. To recruit him, Brainiac would definitely offer a high price.
Moreover, if Brainiac really took down Darkseid, wouldn't the Apocalypse Star need people for construction? As someone who communicated most frequently with Darkseid and understood the situation on Apocalypse Star best, it wouldn't be too much for him to take up the position of Governor there, would it?
Tobias narrowed his eyes, slowly turning the ring on his finger, a sense of anticipation rising in his heart. He even stood up in excitement, pacing back and forth in front of his desk.
Meanwhile, Brainiac, disguised as Shiller, also began speaking in many people's ears, sounding incredibly arrogant, yet displaying astonishing greed.
From this point on, for those evil geniuses who worked without output, constantly scheming, treated everything disdainfully—the lazy ones—today was truly the day Brainiac arrived.