The moment Saitama stepped forward, he dropped a bombshell.
"If you really want to know your future," he said, "then just ask me. I know."
Everyone who heard that sentence had the same reaction in their hearts.
What?
You know?
They were stunned.
At this point, the Waverider's honorary captain, Rip Hunter, was already mentally collapsing.
In his mind, he grumbled that even as a Time Lord from the future, he only barely understood the future timelines of these heroes.
Saitama, on the other hand, had never been to the Time Court or secretly checked the records of the Eye of the O-Core.
So how on earth could he possibly know their future?
Just like Rip Hunter, there were plenty of others who didn't believe it.
Sara Lance, for example.
She asked, "What happens to me in the future?"
Saitama replied, "If you hadn't set foot on this ship, then after your sister Laurel dies, you'd fall into a hell of self-torment. In the end, you'd be on the other side of Lian Yu, in a temple, training people who come there seeking help—together with Talia."
Sara Lance's face instantly twisted in shock.
"W-wait, you're saying my sister Laurel dies?"
"Yeah."
Saitama nodded.
"But even though you lose one sister named Laurel, you'll meet another sister."
What?!
At this point, Sara Lance was in full-on question-mark mode.
What do you mean, lose one sister and then there's another sister?
Saitama continued,
"After your sister Laurel dies, your father is crushed by grief. Green Arrow, Oliver, is eaten up with guilt too."
"But then, a Laurel from Earth-2—also your sister—appears in front of them. She takes your sister's place, helps your father walk out of his sorrow, and fights side by side with Oliver for the sake of his teammates."
"…"
After hearing this back-and-forth, everyone was basically out of words.
Especially Captain Cold and Heat Wave Mick.
The ones who were interested instead were the science types—Professor Stein and Ray Palmer.
Ray, the Atom, asked, "My God, are you saying that outside our universe, there are other parallel universes?"
Saitama said, "I don't know about other universes, but I can say for sure there are other Earths."
Ray Palmer and Professor Stein both sucked in a cold breath at Saitama's certainty.
Ray thought about it and decided this wasn't the time to chase the topic of parallel Earths.
Honestly, he wanted to know his own future more.
He had barely opened his mouth when Saitama cut in,
"I know what you want to ask. You want to know your future, right?"
"In the distant future, you yourself don't become famous. Instead, your descendants use your Atom technology to take control of America's entire energy sector, turning your family into a giant 'Tesla'-level conglomerate."
Ray Palmer froze in shock.
"My descendants… don't use my tech to serve humanity, but to make money?"
Professor Stein glanced at the stunned Ray, wiped away some cold sweat, and said,
"It's fine. Being the grandfather of rich second- and third-generation heirs doesn't sound so bad."
Saitama turned to look at him.
"I know what you want to ask too, Professor Stein."
"You'll die on this journey. But at the same time, because you took part in it, for certain reasons, you'll gain a daughter. You'll get to experience family."
Jefferson: "…"
Professor Stein: "…"
Off to the side, Hawkman and Hawkgirl saw everyone sinking into shock and hurried to smooth things over.
"Come on, don't take it so seriously," Hawkman said. "Maybe Saitama's just messing with us."
Everyone wanted to use that as an excuse—
Take a breath, laugh it off, and pretend it was all a joke.
But the next second, they heard Saitama say that everything he'd just told them was true.
If they didn't believe him, they could go ask Rip Hunter.
Only then did they remember there was also a Time Lord from the future right here on the ship.
Sara Lance said, "Rip Hunter, is what Saitama said true or not?"
Captain Cold pulled out his cold gun.
"You'd better be honest with us."
Heat Wave Mick growled,
"If you don't tell the truth, I don't mind firing this thing off right here on the ship."
Rip Hunter could only shake his head helplessly.
"Saitama, is it really a good idea to tell them all of this?"
The moment he said that, everyone finally understood—
Everything Saitama had said was true.
And just like that, a heavy gloom settled over them.
If everything really happened the way Saitama described,
Then what meaning did this time-travel journey of theirs have?
They hadn't left their names in the long river of history at all.
Which meant they had never truly stopped Savage's world-ending plan in 2166.
The heroes looked at one another, suddenly losing the desire to keep traveling.
So they decided to huddle up and discuss what to do next.
Before long, a few of them gathered along the side wall of the Waverider, whispering.
Captain Cold said, "What do you all think?"
Heat Wave Mick answered, "I don't really have any thoughts. I'll just follow your lead."
As he spoke, Mick tipped back his head and gulped down a bottle of "'82 Lafite" synthesized by the Waverider.
Sara Lance said, "I think I need to ask Saitama exactly how my sister dies. I'm going to change her fate."
Professor Stein reminded her,
"But don't forget what Rip Hunter told us when we first came aboard. In the future, Savage becomes a tyrant who rules over humanity, and even though Rip lives in a time far beyond Savage, he still couldn't change any of that. Doesn't that mean everything is already fixed?"
Sara Lance snapped back,
"I don't care! I don't have much left in this life that I really care about. I'm definitely going to save Laurel!"
Seeing how determined she was to go against fate itself, Ray Palmer suddenly didn't know what to say.
He turned to Professor Stein.
"Professor, do you think that Earth-2 Saitama mentioned is really a thing?"
Professor Stein replied,
"How should I put this… If we accept the existence of quantum variables in quantum mechanics, then what he said should be true. But with our current level of technology, we can't verify it."
Jefferson added,
"If it weren't for the superhuman strength Saitama just showed, I'd really think he was joking. But now… I feel like everything he says is real."
The group fell silent for a moment.
"So if our fate really is like he described… what are we supposed to do?"
Now the heroes were finally beginning to realize that this grand journey across time might not actually be some magnificent epic.
It might very well be the end of the line for them.
If they were going to make a choice, they needed to think long and hard about it.
On the other side—
Barry Allen, wearing his Flash suit, was listening to Rip Hunter's grumbling as the latter sat there looking thoroughly dejected.
"Saitama, how could you tell them all that?" Rip complained. "What if they decide to get off the ship?"
(End of Chapter)
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