American Comics: Today's Big News

Chapter 96 was all caused by Lao Kang.

With the last White Martian fighter jet being bound by Wonder Woman Diana's Lasso of Truth and slammed into the ground, the group was temporarily declared safe.

Upon landing, "The Flash" Barry patted "Green Lantern" Hal on the shoulder:

"Brother Hal, I didn't expect we'd be fighting side-by-side again so soon."

Hal, the Green Lantern, looked around:

"Where's Connors?"

Wonder Woman Diana also looked around:

"Connors told me there's a group of heroes protecting the world who need help, but where is he?"

"Superman" Clark looked puzzled.

"Connors? He's clearly a white Martian."

Lord Wayne, unaware of what was happening, looked around at the group of men in their respective battle suits and asked Clark:

"What happened to Connors?"

"Superman" Clark recounted the scene where Connors had just transformed into a Martian.

Batman seemed lost in thought, recalling the battle with Connors atop the radio telescope support at the top of the research building.

When he first started, Connors used an ability that allowed his body to shrink rapidly, turning him into a dwarf.

"You're saying that you all received signals from Connors, directly or indirectly, and that's how you all came together with us?"

"Aquaman" Arthur shook his head:

"I haven't received any signal."

Everyone looked at him in confusion. Arthur clearly couldn't fly, but he appeared from the sky just now. How did he do that?

Arthur, seeing the puzzled looks on everyone's faces, explained, "Actually, just a second ago I was in the palace of Atlantis directing the reconstruction of our homeland, and the next second I was suddenly taken away by Connors, swam out of the sea, and thrown into the sky."

"He was even faster than me in the sea."

Batman: "...—"

He didn't quite understand Connors's thinking, but there was still one problem to solve:

"Clark, who is this?"

Lord Wayne was referring to John Jones, the green-skinned "Mars Manhunter," who was standing to the side.

"I came to Earth to warn you, but I was captured by the white Martians lurking on Earth and imprisoned underground until Clark rescued me."

"Mars Hunter," John Jones said.

"But what are these monsters doing on Earth? And the timing of your appearance is too coincidental," Barry said, puzzled.

"It's not a coincidence, but someone accelerated the process of this event—" John Jones said.

Among those present, Batman and "Superman" Clark immediately thought of Connors.

John Jones, "Mars Manhunter," glanced at Batman and Superman, then recalled Connors's act of voluntarily transforming into the White Martian. He already had a guess in his mind, but still began to explain the current situation:

"More than a thousand years ago, Mars was in a time of peace and prosperity. Then a group of monsters descended from the sky. No one knew where they came from, only that they intended to take Mars for themselves."

"Taking any life is abhorrent to us Martians, but when faced with monsters, we quickly learned how to wage war. The war was fierce and swift, and it quickly erased all traces of the existence of Martian civilization."

"They feed on the mind; we grow weaker while they grow stronger, and they have even learned our ability to shapeshift."

"When only one small wave of Martians remained, we infiltrated the monster's underground lair and released a powerful neurotoxin."

"The raid was a success, but only one Martian remained. I sealed off their base, putting them in a state of suspended animation, and then I came to Earth to blend in with humanity."

"But someone on Earth awakened them through an information device; the invaders sent an advance team disguised as humans."

They trapped me underground, and then began their invasion of Earth.

"etc."

Clark interrupted John Jones's description of "Mars Manhunter":

"Based on your description, and the reason why the seven of us came together—is it that the person behind both the destruction and the protection of the Earth is actually the same person?"

Batman nodded:

"That's true. We can't understand what Connors is doing. By the way, John Jones, you just mentioned that these monsters' lair is underground?"

John Jones, "Mars Manhunter," confirmed Batman's words:

"That's right, they are afraid of sunlight, so even on Mars, they build their nests underground."

"The Flash" Barry breathed a sigh of relief:

"That makes things easier. It's the middle of the night now; once daylight arrives, the sunlight will kill all these monsters, right?"

"No, the scene on Mars a thousand years ago will repeat itself," John said.

Connors had already left the group of seven and went to a meteorite.

I picked up a twig and poked it:

"Hurry up and change! Why aren't you changing yet?"

A policeman came over and stopped Connors:

"Sir, please stay away from the meteorite and do not touch it. These things from outer space have great scientific research value."

'

Connors: "Seriously, officer?"

As soon as the words were spoken, the huge meteorite in front of them finally reacted. Its metallic outer shell shattered and fell off rapidly, and black tentacles with red spots twisted and rose up.

"What is that—" the policeman said in disbelief, looking up at the changes happening to the meteorite.

The policeman next to him stood frozen in place, not even flinching as fragments of the meteorite rained down. Connors grabbed his clothes and threw him far away, while he himself remained standing there.

Four tentacles emerged from the meteorite, intertwined with smoke and dust, their shape similar to the previous monster, except that six chimney-like pipes rose from their backs.

Below, a giant drill began to work, seemingly about to shatter the earth.

In the middle of this enormous machine formed from tentacles, two huge red spots rise and fall, like human lungs, sucking in the smoke and dust rising below and then expelling it through the chimney above.

Before dawn, the sky overhead was shrouded in thick smoke and dust, and the surroundings became dark.

Theoretically, this thing was formed from a meteorite, and meteorites are actually carriers capable of transporting weapons from the White Martians.

Connors stroked his chin, "magnified" the "human limit," and punched the alien factory in front of him that was producing smoke, punching a hole in its shell before crawling inside.

"What is that?"

"Wonder Woman," Diana said, looking at the dust rising in the distance.

"Mars Manhunter" John Jones looked worried:

"They want to block out the sun so they can live on the surface instead of nesting underground like they did on Mars, and avoid being wiped out—they're learning a lesson."

Diana crossed her arms over her chest:

"We must destroy those factories, or the whole world will be destroyed because it will never see the sunlight."

"There are factories like this all over the world, so we have to split up," Superman said.

Diana nodded:

"That's right."

She mounted her skeletal warhorse and rode away first.

The remaining people exchanged glances. They had only seen this "Wonder Woman" on television and were not familiar with her, so none of them chased after her.

The Flash patted Hal on the shoulder:

"How about we team up?"

Clark looked at "Aquaman" Arthur:

"You can't fly, but I can take you with me."

Batman stepped aside, his new fighter jet already hovering overhead.

I'm also used to doing things alone.

But "Mars Manhunter" John Jones shook his head; he didn't want to watch the world be destroyed, so he went after it.

"I'll be with you."