American Comics: Today's Big News

Chapter 63 Immortal Legend

"There's a newspaper archive in the basement, let's go take a look there?" Connors, who already knew all this, said to the others.

Batman glanced at Connors, feeling extremely awkward about this pre-arranged situation.

But he was now a detective, not just a superhero, so he took the lead and headed toward the basement entrance Connors had pointed out.

The stairs leading down were narrow and long, and the lights on the stairs seemed to be broken.

It took the group almost a minute to reach the bottom. Surprisingly, there was no underground archive room; instead, a wall blocked the way.

"Once you get past this wall, you'll find the answer." Connors was determined to be the riddle-maker.

"Superman" Clark saw what was behind the wall with his super vision, but he didn't say a word. He just punched the wall and knocked it down.

Behind the wall was a small underground space with an opening in front, and darkness behind the opening.

It wasn't until they reached that place that Batman, Wayne, and Green Lantern, realized they were in a subway station.

However, the subway station has long been abandoned, and there are rubble and steel bars everywhere. The subway itself is twisted and deformed, covered with layers of rust.

"Earthquake?" Hal asked instinctively. He had been suffering from a terrible headache from using "electromagnetic scanning" earlier, and now he was subconsciously reluctant to use this ability.

"It's not an earthquake, it's war." Batman quickly gathered and analyzed the information around him.

After arriving in the seaside town, he lost contact with his butler, Alfred, but this level of analysis didn't require Alfred's help at all.

"Superman" Clark picked up a damp and tattered newspaper from the ground:

"You're right. Look at the date here."

The date displayed is the time when, in Hal's memory, the Justice Society stopped updating.

"You mean—this is the end of the Justice Society?" Hal wasn't stupid; he quickly understood the meaning behind the timeline.

"You might not have seen it, but Green Guardian just flew through the air and grabbed Ray Thompson, the mascot of the Music Thieves Justice Society, and excitedly danced around."

"The Flash" Barry joked:

"Are there only two policemen in your seaside town?"

Amidst laughter and chatter, they returned to the manor after completely thwarting the Injustice Society's bank robbery plan.

On the table that originally belonged to the Justice Society, Connors, Superman, Batman, and Green Lantern were sitting.

"You missed the Justice Society's performance just now," Barry said to Connors and the others, giving a high five to the mascot Thompson.

Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern, did not show mercy just because the Justice Society was his childhood idol.

Perhaps because the Justice Society was his childhood idol, he spoke without any restraint at this moment:

"They are not the Justice Society."

Barry was bewildered.

Why?

The mascot, Thompson, had an expression of utter disbelief on his face.

Why do you say that?

The leader of the "Justice Association," "Swift," stepped forward with a serious expression:

"This is a serious accusation, young man. Please explain yourself."

"No, you're the ones who need to explain." Hal wrapped the newspaper in his Green Lantern Ring and made it float to Speed.

"The Justice Society died in the war—?" "Swift" read the words from the newspaper hesitantly.

"This is definitely fake, a prank, a disgusting joke." Just like Hal in the past, the mascot Thompson idolizes the Justice Society and is the first to stand up and refute it.

"Unfortunately, this is no joke. Real speed, Tom, the Black Siren, Catman, Green Guardian—"

"They are all dead; I have seen their graves."

Hal the Green Lantern had no smile on his face, while Barry the Flash quietly moved closer to Connors.

The two sisterly figures, "Catwoman" Selena Gomez and "Black Siren," both took a step back, seemingly having no intention of getting involved in the matter at all.

"He's not serious, is he?" the "Catman" muttered to himself.

"Swift" rubbed his temples. Anyone who is alive and well would feel a headache if told they were already dead.

"I don't know, it sounds incredible, but—"

The phone rang at an inopportune moment, and "Swiftly" rushed over to answer it:

"Hello?"

On the other end of the phone, the police officer was huddled under his desk, his head in his hands, while a huge mechanical monster swept past the window with earth-shaking force.

"Justice Society, we need your assistance! A monster is destroying the main street, you must hurry!"

"Swift" reassured her in a reassuring tone:

"We'll be there soon, officer, please don't worry."

After hanging up the phone, all the members of the Justice Association walked out of the manor in silence—except for the "Black Siren".

A green barrier blocked their path, and Hal Jordan's Green Lantern ring shone brightly.

"Our situation here hasn't been resolved yet."

"Swift" said helplessly:

"But the seaside town needs us."

Batman, who had remained silent until this point, seemed to make a final deduction after the phone rang:

"Don't you understand yet? The library is full of blank books, the ice cream truck never stops, and the huge seaside city has fewer than two hundred people and only two policemen."

Connors added:

"Whenever someone gets too close to the truth, there's a danger that requires the entire Justice Society to be mobilized. —Kid, you didn't try to stop me at all, that's good."

The boy didn't say a word, but clenched his fists.

"Speed" retorted:

"What's the truth?"

"Superman" Clark stood up, worried that what he was about to say might be unacceptable to the Justice Society, leading them to take drastic action:

"The truth is, you are in an illusion, or rather, a dream. The living memories of the destruction of Seaside City forty years ago, and the sacrifices made by the Justice Association for this city."

Hal, the Green Lantern, summarized:

"That's why the Justice Society stopped publishing comics in our world."

This is a comic book that only Hal, the Green Lantern, read during his childhood, and which he stopped reading long ago.

"Whenever someone gets close to the truth, an obstacle suddenly appears—if what you're saying is true, then who created this illusion?"

"Swift" stood still, deep in thought, and said.

"I suggest you ask Ray Thompson," said the blonde beauty "Black Siren."

"Why?" The other members of the Justice Association were puzzled.

The mascot, Ray Thompson, even retreated repeatedly:

"Why me?"

But he had nowhere to retreat, and Green Lantern Hal grabbed his shoulder:

"Because you are the source of everything."

The Green Lantern Ring's power, "Electromagnetic Scan," was used without reservation, making the patterns on Hal's uniform gleam and the Green Lantern Ring itself shine like daylight.

Ray Thompson fell to the ground, and his head quickly swelled up, shattered, and then reformed, becoming the monstrous tumor-laden figure from Connors' "Athena's Vision."

"You ruined everything, you destroyed it!"

The mascot, Little Brother, has turned into a monster, with bulging eyes and throbbing blood vessels on its tumor.

He launched an unseen attack at Hal, the Green Lantern, sending Hal flying backward.

At that moment, the roof of the Justice Society's manor was blown off, and the metal monster the police officer had mentioned on the phone appeared there.

Without a second thought, the members of the Justice Society immediately set off to meet the enemy. After gritting her teeth, "Black Siren" followed her comrades into battle.

"The Flash" Barry immediately wanted to go and help, but was stopped by Batman:

"Don't go, that's just an illusion, Thompson is the root of the problem."

Superman, Green Lantern, Batman, and The Flash faced Thompson, while Connors pulled up a chair and sat down beside him.

"I won't interfere."

"Seaside City has already ended once, and I gave it another chance. This is the world I control, and whether you interfere or not, the ending will not change," Thompson, now a monster, said in a terrifying, piercing voice.

"...But in the end, you're the one who died." Connors said, somewhat speechless.

"Really?" Thompson extended his hand, which had only four fingers, two of which were fused together, and waved it toward Batman.

The old man was sent flying backwards and buried by the falling rubble.

Superman, Green Lantern, and The Flash also immediately took action, but they were unable to resist the seemingly combined mental and physical attacks of the monster Thompson, and fell one after another.

Connors remained seated, unmoved, showing no intention of even trying to save them.

Someone else saved them.

Outside the manor, "Speed" saw Batman and the others being defeated and immediately wanted to come and help.

But Green Guard stopped him, looking at the beautiful seaside city and saying:

"Wait, if what they're saying is true, beating Thompson could destroy this reality, and everything in it."

"Black Siren" added, "Including us."

As superheroes, they know the beauty of life, which is why they protect this city.

But now, the price of protection may be one's own life.

The Justice Society members fell silent until Hal, the Green Lantern, was caught in the air by the vengeful monster Thompson and let out a scream.

As the leader of the Justice Society, "Swift" no longer hesitated in the slightest:

"If we've died once to save this city, then we can die again."

Having said that, he charged out first, followed closely by Tom Turbo, Catman, Black Siren, and Green Guard. Inside the manor, the monster Thompson clenched his fists tightly, causing "Green Lantern" Hal to scream in agony. Thompson gritted his teeth:

"Without you, Seaside City would always be beautiful. You'll regret ruining it all!"

But then, the monster Thompson was punched away by "Speed".

The Justice Society members were all present. Tom Turbo stood before the monster Thompson, the squinty-eyed man raising his fists, crackling with electricity.

"In Seaside Town, crime has consequences."