When the great battle finally subsided, everyone gathered above the city.
"Is he dead?"
Green Lantern looked at David with lingering fear.
Amazo seemed alive, though temporarily contained.
"No, he's alive, but he might as well be dead," David shook his head.
"Is this thing safe? Is this another new ability of yours, David?"
Clark stepped forward to examine the amber cube closely, but couldn't discern anything. He turned to David, asking with novelty, as David had displayed a powerful ability they had never seen before.
"Won't he break free and escape again?"
Firestorm stammered. Batman and the others were very concerned about this. They had all witnessed and experienced Amazo's power and terror. Especially after replicating the abilities of half the world's metahumans, just standing there, Amazo seemed like a creature from a higher dimension, exuding an aura that made it hard to breathe.
"Never," David stated with certainty. "His thoughts are frozen along with his time."
If one were to talk about the strength of the crystal formed by the Hell Light he fired, it was hardly significant. In David's few encounters with Amazo, both to paralyze and attack him, he had used it several times, but it couldn't restrain Amazo's limbs. Amazo shattered it with little effort.
"But the most powerful aspect of the Hell Crystal isn't its strength, but its ability to stop thought."
"For it to break the seal, it first needs to even conceive of that thought. The importance of thought to life is self-evident, especially for a robot."
David sized up Amazo and commented, "As long as no one breaks this cube from the outside, it's already just a decorative piece." As for the strength of the Hell Cube, while it couldn't completely seal Amazo, it didn't mean it wasn't strong enough for others. Clark, with his current strength, couldn't even think of breaking it.
Upon hearing David's explanation, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but their hearts were still uneasy.
"Where did this robot come from?" Flash asked a question that had been on everyone's minds.
"Someone should be able to answer that," David reached out, and a similar cube flew from a building in a distant block.
"Lex Luthor?" Clark recognized the terrified figure in the amber.
"He's alive?" The reappearance of someone who should have been dead truly startled him!
The others also recognized Lex Luthor to varying degrees, mainly because he had broadcast his death at the hands of the Transcendent to the entire world.
"Wasn't he already..." Green Lantern stopped himself mid-sentence, as killing was a sensitive topic for superheroes.
"A departed soul attempting to crawl back from Hell through cloning," David said nonchalantly. "By chance, he managed to stir up some trouble." He guessed the events unfolded similarly to the original plot. Lex Luthor stumbled upon the recently created Amazo and felt he could use him for revenge and to achieve his ambitions.
David waved his hand, causing the crystal to dissipate, and Lex Luthor's body could finally move again.
"You, you defeated Amazo? How is that possible!" What was it like to have only consciousness but be unable to feel one's body? With painful gasps, Lex Luthor looked at the cold-faced David, then at Amazo sealed in the orange cube, finding it unbelievable.
"Nothing is impossible. It's just another scheme by someone wanting to destroy and rule the world. Haven't there been enough clowns like you thwarted by the Transcendent?" Firestorm snorted, looking at the figure beside him. It wasn't the first time he had saved Earth. It seemed that with this man around, no crisis was worth worrying about.
"Tell us the origin of this robot." Diana swung the Lasso of Truth, ensnaring Lex Luthor. The Lasso of Truth was the world's best interrogation tool. Under its divine power, Lex Luthor couldn't resist and quickly revealed everything he knew.
Upon learning that Amazo was merely the final work of a deceased scientist on Earth, everyone was both surprised and relieved.
"A scientist who could invent such a powerful robot? I haven't heard much about him. Am I just ignorant?" Flash asked, scratching his face in confusion.
"Regardless, it's fortunate that the Transcendent defeated this robot called Amazo, and that there's no other mastermind behind it."
Batman's voice was muffled.
He, David, and Clark had previously fought against Brainiac's invasion.
However, compared to Brainiac and Mechanical Superman, and Amazo which could freely replicate others' abilities, they seemed less terrifying, and it appeared there was no need to worry about another Amazo showing up one day.
"How was he dealt with?"
Green Lantern asked about Lex Luthor's disposition.
"No, don't kill me!" Everyone had learned what happened. David cast his gaze over, causing Lex Luthor to cry out hysterically, trembling all over.
Clark was a bit surprised. This behavior didn't seem like the Lex Luthor he knew.
"Different experiences shape different personalities. The previous Lex Luthor was much more cunning and tough than you are."
David indifferently raised his hand, and a purple-black light engulfed the terrified Lex Luthor.
He was annihilated, his bones and ashes vanishing from the world.
Actually, Lex Luthor could hardly be called the mastermind of this disaster. Amazo was something he couldn't continuously deceive and control. At most, he had triggered this event, but now he was dead too.
"There won't be another cloned Lex Luthor popping up, will there? Should we have Cyborg check Lex Luthor's activities before his death?"
Clark asked David worriedly in a low voice.
Unlike others, Lex Luthor had interacted with their real identities, and even with Martha and Jonathan. This point was always a bit unsettling.
"Don't worry about Lex Luthor crawling out from some dark corner again. I'll make sure he dies completely this time."
David waved his hand. There was still a summoned god waiting for him in the farm's woods. It would take no more than a few words to make sure any contingency Lex Luthor left behind would disappear.
...
Not long after the Amazo incident in Metropolis, as people were still reeling from the Justice League's revelation that the deceased Lex Luthor was behind it, and discussions about cloning technology once again surged online.
Something even more sensational, in a sense, happened.
"Oh my god, the President has been assassinated..."
After lunch, Martha sat on the sofa, covering her mouth in shock as she watched the breaking news on television.
"What?"
Jonathan, who had just finished cleaning the cow feed, rushed into the house upon hearing the sound and stared at the news, looking dazed.
On the television, the anchor reported the events. After the President had attended a joint press conference to explain issues regarding the Super Task Force and Captain Atom, he was about to leave.
"Among the invited reporters, a mysterious man in gray suddenly pulled out a shotgun and first shot the President in the chest as he was leaving the stage, creating a large hole, and then fired another shot to his head, assassinating him. We still don't know why the President's security detail was so negligent, allowing someone impersonating a reporter to carry a shotgun into the venue. It is reported that the President's corpse was a gruesome sight, reminiscent of the previous assassinated president."
Clark was startled at first, then instinctively turned his gaze to David.
"Why are you looking at me? You don't think the killer on TV is me, do you?" David said with a light chuckle, shrugging as he sat on another sofa.
"The assassin who killed the President has been arrested. After investigation, this killer turned out to be a mentally ill patient with over a decade of psychiatric history, who had escaped from a mental hospital in New York a few days ago. When asked why he assassinated the President, it's said that he heard on TV in the mental hospital that the President liked to spread mayonnaise on his bread, which was his most hated flavor."
Assassinating the President for that reason? This explanation left the family in front of the TV stunned and speechless.
"Sounds pretty insane, doesn't it?"
David stood up.
"Father, the President is dead now. Don't you have any thoughts?"
"What thoughts?" Jonathan blinked, confused.
"I've never had much of a good impression of politicians. As a farmer, especially as a representative elected by many farmers in town, you don't know how many corrupt and greedy officials I've dealt with."
He patted the dust off his straw hat.
Jonathan felt no sadness, only a bit of shock, just like Martha.
Especially since this President had a huge scandal before, blindly targeting superheroes, almost causing a devastating explosion that would have killed hundreds of millions of people in this country.
"Remember, the election is coming soon. Do you have any intention of running for president, Father?"
"Huh? Me?"
Jonathan pointed to himself, and Martha was also stunned.
They thought their son was asking how he felt about the President's death, but instead, he was asking if he wanted to run for president.
"Don't joke, your old dad is just a farmer from Kansas. I have no background, no financial support, and I can't even get a position as a state legislator."
Clark was even more astonished.
He knew David wasn't just asking casually; he genuinely had the idea of making this happen.
"Father, my presidential father?"
Clark found it absurd. Could he, an alien adopted by Kansas farmers, be about to have a presidential father?
"Doesn't Father want to help more people?"
"Of course, I do, but..." Seeing his son's serious demeanor, as if he genuinely supported his candidacy, Jonathan was shocked and hesitant.
David waved his hand. "As long as you want to, none of those will be problems."
"I believe even God would want to see the ruler of this country be a truly kind and enthusiastic person, even if he was just a farmer from rural Kansas before."
...
The Milky Way, in the darkness of space, aboard a spaceship with a grotesque design, its size rivaling mountain ranges.
"My son is dead."
The Dark Lord, his skin rough and dark like stone, sat high on his iron throne, hands propping his chin, like a king deep in thought. His voice was deep and authoritative.
"Although I never liked Kalibak, he was my son nonetheless."
Inside the spaceship, the only two remaining high-ranking officials from Apokolips stood below: Desaad, Apokolips' chief scientist, and Granny Goodness, the Dark Lord's personal guard captain.
"Great Dark Lord, the Furies I trained are your most loyal hounds; they will tear apart any of your enemies for you."
A sharp, venomous voice rang out. Granny Goodness had white hair, a plump figure, and a face full of wrinkles that conveyed sheer ferocity, completely contradicting her nickname. She looked like a sinister, wicked old woman, holding a metal staff.
Granny Goodness was originally a native of Apokolips, responsible for training Darkseid's hounds. Her superior once ordered her to kill a hound she had trained herself, but she killed her superior instead and caught Darkseid's attention.
Her reasoning was that the hounds she trained were the best, and her superior was damaging property belonging to His Majesty Darkseid. Darkseid ordered her hounds to attack her, and they obeyed.
Darkseid then ordered her to train soldiers and personal guards for him, forming the Furies.
"If Kalibak had heard Your Majesty's words while he was alive, he would have been overjoyed."
Desaad bowed his head, feigning sentimentality.
Kalibak had always wanted to prove himself to his father.
However, he knew that the Dark Lord's main objective in heading to Earth was not the final image of Kalibak, Kanto, and others being killed that was sent by the Mother Box.
"Congratulations, great His Majesty Darkseid, for obtaining the coordinates of that world once again after so many years. Your long-held wish will soon be fulfilled."
"The Anti-Life Equation!"
Upon mentioning this, red light flared in Darkseid's eyes on the throne. The astonishing Omega Effect surged with the ebb and flow of his master's emotions, almost bursting forth to destroy everything.
Darkseid, the Dark Lord of Apokolips, a warlike, ferocious, and the strongest New God, with darkness and conquest flowing in his blood, had once killed his brother Draxx and obtained the immensely powerful Omega Effect.
Ever since then, he had been searching for the Anti-Life Equation.
"Just as there is light in the universe, there is darkness. The Life Equation is scattered throughout the universe, fused into all things. The Anti-Life Equation is the ultimate power comparable to the sum of all things in the universe.
With it, I can conquer the universe, and all life will live according to my will."
Darkseid sat up straight and clenched his fist, as if to firmly grasp the Anti-Life Equation he had been searching for so long.
It was the most powerful weapon in the universe, capable of distorting and corrupting all thought and will, making all life submit.
If every action, even every thought, of life could be manipulated, could it still be considered living?
This was the origin of the name "Anti-Life"!
"The Omega Effect and the Anti-Life Equation have some great connection. Many years ago, I glimpsed the symbol representing the Omega Effect at the center of the Anti-Life Equation.
The Anti-Life Equation awaits me, who possesses the Omega Effect, on that planet called Earth!"
Darkseid mentioned Earth with a ferocious tone, and the two below shivered in fear. Darkseid's plans had never failed, except for Earth.
At that time, the Dark Lord was merely the second prince of Apokolips and had not yet obtained the Omega Effect. When he was young, he led a large army to invade Earth, but he was defeated by a coalition of Old Gods and other forces, even losing the Mother Box, Apokolips' treasure. That was Darkseid's humiliation.
"This time, what you desire will surely be achieved. No one can stop you now."
Desaad swallowed, speaking with a hint of flattery.
"Full speed ahead."
Darkseid, with his burly and mighty tall physique, stood up and commanded, casting an inescapable darkness, exuding a terrifying aura that made the stars tremble!
"I will make the killer of Kalibak suffer a painful death. Then, I will cleanse that world, burn the land with fire, and let the Anti-Life Equation fully manifest!"
His deep, indifferent voice seemed to announce an impending, unstoppable fate!
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