American comics: Praising the sun, starting from Gotham!

The energy shield gently keeps out the blizzards and low temperatures from the outside world.

This is a creation of the world's wisdom, an industrial miracle, and the physical limit that human reason can reach through technology.

No aircraft, missile, or even nuclear weapon can shake it in the slightest.

Xiu En glanced at the green-robed man beside him, who seemed to be admiring himself.

"Open the door."

Rorschach watched the magnificent energy shield warily, his mind racing as he considered how the two gods could open the door.

Brute force? Or is there some key he can't understand?

"Oh, dear guest!"

Loki turned around, as if complaining that the director's demands were too unreasonable.

"Breaking down the door is so inelegant, it's like something out of a New York gang. We should at least maintain basic manners, shouldn't we?"

Xiu En looked at him expressionlessly.

"Okay, okay, but I have to say hello first, otherwise it would be impolite."

Loki shrugged helplessly, seemingly giving in.

He stepped forward and stood in front of the energy shield.

He raised his right hand and snapped his fingers lightly.

The next second, inside the base, in the control room that belonged to Adrian Witt.

All the holographic screens displaying various data went black in an instant.

Immediately afterwards, all screens, regardless of size or what they were originally displaying, were simultaneously forced to switch to a close-up of Loki's face with his smug, punchable smile.

At the same time, the ringing doorbell echoed throughout every corner of Big Ben via the base's full-band public address system.

Even the smart teacup in Adrian's hand, which was displaying the temperature and ingredients of black tea, had its screen changed to Loki's face.

"Hello, is anyone home? We are from the community outreach team."

Loki on the screen even winked playfully.

Adrian broke out in a cold sweat.

His firewall, his system with quantum encryption, multiple physical barriers, and independent AI defense, was utterly powerless against it.

Did the other party simply snap their fingers?

After a brief moment of shock, Adrian's fingers moved so fast on the console that they almost left afterimages.

"Activate the maze protocol."

"Release all phase-jamming drones."

"Energy shield overloaded by 300%, switch to internal defense mode, activate Schrödinger field."

"Bubastis, enter Ecosystem 2 and open the emergency escape route."

He issued a series of instructions in an orderly manner, each of which was a top-level contingency plan designed to deal with a cataclysmic disaster.

He didn't know what was coming, but he would use human wisdom to fight until the very last second.

The lynx stood up warily, growling softly, but obediently ran towards the hidden door on the other side.

However, all resistance was in vain.

Outside the base, Loki looked at the energy streams flashing on the energy shield, signifying that the internal defense system was fully activated, and nodded in satisfaction.

"Oh, it seems the owner is home, and quite welcoming at that."

He commented with a smile, then raised his hand again.

"Then there's no need to wait for him to open the door."

It was still a snap of the fingers.

This time, the whole world seemed to have been put on pause.

The raging blizzard froze in the air, each snowflake still on its trajectory as it fell.

Inside the base, the red alarm lights froze in mid-air, and the piercing alarm sounded abruptly stopped.

The lynx, running towards the shelter, remained motionless with its front paws raised.

At the control panel, Adrian's fingers, which had been rapidly typing on the keyboard, froze in mid-air, and his expression was frozen in that moment.

Time, space, matter—everything was suspended. Except for the three of them.

"Okay, it's much quieter now."

Loki said casually, walking directly into the now-meaningless energy shield.

"Let's go, the owner here is eagerly waiting."

Xiu En led Luo Xia inside.

And so, against the backdrop of the entire world standing still, they entered the core control room of this theoretically most secure fortress in the world.

The control room was warm and cozy.

A handsome blond man remained in the position of typing on a keyboard.

His finger was less than a centimeter away from a red emergency button.

At his feet, a beautiful lynx also remained in a running motion.

They were like props placed in place during intermission in a finely crafted stage play.

"Is this Adrian Witt?"

Xiu En curiously moved closer, examining the frozen image of the world's smartest person.

Aside from being a bit handsome, he looked quite ordinary; he didn't seem like someone who could breathe fire or dismantle a spaceship with his bare hands.

He's just an ordinary, wealthy person who looks good and seems to know a lot about tea.

"The electrical activity signals in this individual's cerebral cortex are very complex."

Sunflower gave its evaluation.

"In other words, he is extremely difficult to fool."

"Oh, what a pity."

Shuen's interest waned by half.

They can't eat it, and they're hard to fool; they're really boring.

Xiu En squatted down in front of Adrian and, with little interest, mimicked his keyboard typing posture, making a couple of gestures in the air.

Xiu En quickly lost interest in this boring position.

He stood up, his gaze sweeping across the vast control room before finally settling on the small table next to the control console.

There, a cup of black tea, still steaming, sat.

Xiu En walked over leisurely and picked up the cup of black tea.

Time has resumed its flow for black tea.

He first smelled it.

"It smells pretty good."

He made a comment, then brought the bottle to his lips, gently blew on it to cool it, and took a very refined sip.

The tea is warm and smooth when it enters the mouth.

"The taste is just average."

Xiu En looked disappointed.

"It's not sweet enough, and the astringency isn't handled well either. It's far worse than what Afu makes."

"Hmph, it's obviously just a flashy but impractical industrial fragrance."

On his shoulder, Sunflower's evaluation rang out at just the right moment.

"Truly good tea needs to be nurtured slowly by sunlight and organic soil. Something that is forced to grow under constant temperature lamps has no soul at all."

That makes sense.

Xiu En nodded in deep agreement, then casually poured the cup of black tea into the pool next to him.

After finishing with the drinks, Hugh's gaze fell on the beautiful lynx at Adrian's feet, which was also frozen in a running posture.

Its bluish-purple fur and smooth muscle lines exuded a sense of power.

"This cat has a rather unique appearance."

Shuen became interested and walked over to the lynx named Boubastis.

He crouched down, reached out, and gave his back a thorough rub from head to toe.

Yes, it feels smooth, the fur is thick, there are no knots or loose fur.

It feels cold to the touch, like a specimen, which is a bit of a shame.

"Don't touch me!"

The sunflower's voice carried a warning.

"This thing has more genetic editing marks on it than Gordon has forehead wrinkles! God knows which third-rate lab came up with this Frankenstein monster just to match colors."

"No, it looks perfectly healthy."

Xiu En patted it twice more, and it felt very bouncy.

Rorschach, standing in the corner, was deep in thought.

What exactly is their purpose?

Has time stopped just so you could come in for a cup of tea and then criticize a criminal's cat?

"Alright, foreplay over."

Just as Shuen was considering whether to pick up the lynx and weigh it, Loki's voice rang out again.

He seemed very satisfied.

"It's about time for our main actors to make their appearance."

Xiu En stood up, clapped his hands, and indicated his agreement.

He's had enough fun; it's time for him to get down to business.

Loki smiled and raised his hand again.

The world, which had been paused, began to flow again.

"urgent……"

The command came out of Adrian's mouth, but his brain, which was comparable to that of a supercomputer, realized in an instant that the command had lost its meaning.

His fingers, which had been hovering in mid-air, finally fell limply to the ground.

Time has been restored.

A piercing alarm, flashing red lights, and a frantically running system.

Everything disappeared like the receding tide.

It was as if nothing had happened.

Aside from the three extra people in front of him and the empty teacup.

Adrian turned his head stiffly, his gaze fixed on Shuen.

He saw Xiu En pull his hand away from his pet.

"There's no need to waste your energy."

Loki interrupted the storm of calculations running through Adrian's mind.

"Your labyrinth protocol is just a villa that requires a few more steps to walk to in my eyes. Your phase drone doesn't even exist on a conceptual level. As for that Schrödinger field? It's an interesting idea, but unfortunately, in front of me, your cat is both dead and alive, and you are left with only one option: to sit here and listen to us talk."

Adrian took a deep breath, forcing his heart, which was racing with fear and anger, to calm down.

He slowly lowered his hand, turned around, and straightened his back.

Despite the turmoil raging within him, his face regained its calm and composed expression.

Anger and fear are meaningless in the face of absolute power.

The only thing we can do is analyze the communication and find the other party's weaknesses.

"I don't know who you are, or how you got in."

His voice showed no sign of panic.

"But clearly, conventional hospitality is not suitable for you. So, please allow me to ask, what brings you three deities to my humble abode?"

In response to his question, Shuen walked to Adrian's control panel, plopped down on it, and swung his legs around casually.

He picked up the philosophical text on the table that seemed to be Adrian's next reading, flipped through a couple of pages, and was overwhelmed by the complicated formulas and symbols. He then casually tossed it aside.

"Hello, you can call me Xiu En."

Shuen looked into Adrian's eyes and spoke directly.

"We came here to pick up something."

"I didn't even know what that thing looked like, so I just had our detective lead the way."

Xiu En gestured with his chin toward Luo Xia, who was standing in the corner.

Rorschach's mask turned toward Adrian, the two black dots resembling empty gun barrels, aimed at his former comrade.

"That thing is called the Stone of Obsession."

Xiu En said.

"I heard from that green peacock that you know where it is."

If you could only read one multiverse novel in your lifetime, it would probably be "American Comics: Praise the Sun Starting from Gotham!"