American comics: Praising the sun, starting from Gotham!

Chapter 361 It's normal for someone who isn't the God of Stories to use tricks. Batman: Hmm.

The funeral finally came to a close.

As the last speck of time dust returned home, the prison laid by God-King Kang vanished. The entire time zone seemed to have become slightly cleaner than before because of this purification.

In this battle where both sides joined forces for environmental recycling, the one most wounded was Lucifer Morningstar, the King of Hell, who believed he could see through the entire dramatic script.

He looked at the silent old man on the throne, and then at the sun god whose face also seemed to scream "Who am I?" and "Where am I?"

He was having trouble keeping up with their train of thought.

However, he was Lucifer after all.

After a brief internal struggle, the bewilderment on his face faded, replaced by a calm filled with a thirst for knowledge.

Lucifer straightened his back again, adjusted his collar, and once again put on that elegant and proper smile.

His task was simply to attract attention, and judging from the results, he was undoubtedly successful. As for being ignored? Oh no, that wasn't being ignored; it was called a halftime break, to allow the other lead actor more room to perform.

Looking at the empty void, Xiu En spoke again.

He turned his gaze to the gray figure on the throne, who had remained motionless throughout.

"Hey, shall we still fight?"

This might be the strangest pre-battle confirmation in history. After dismantling the enemy's traps, they actually had to ask the BOSS if the next step should be a melee.

To fight, or not to fight.

Fight or peace.

This is all meaningless.

His voice carried a weariness that came from having seen through the endless cycle of reincarnation.

Because, in the timeline I've seen, all the endings were already predetermined.

Resistance will be suppressed by even greater violence.

Peace will be devoured by deeper ambitions.

Ultimately, everything will return to deathly silence. Return to this lifeless gray landscape that you and I see right now.

His voice conjured up countless bizarre and fleeting images in the minds of Shuen and Lucifer.

A future where Superman dies and the Justice League falls apart.

A future where the Avengers are enslaved by the Conquerors, and Earth is reduced to scorched earth.

Heroes gave everything, only to watch helplessly as the entire universe dies of heat.

Countless struggles and countless sacrifices ultimately led to the same defeat.

This is a wrong ending.

No matter how exciting the process, if the ending is destined to be a tragedy, then it all becomes meaningless.

After he finished speaking, his gaze, hidden deep within his hood, focused entirely on Xiu En.

That gaze held a mixture of curiosity, inquiry, and even anticipation.

【but----】

There are variables within you.

I saw things that belonged neither to the past nor to a future I could see.

[A faint hope that might lead to a completely new ending.]

"hope?"

Upon hearing this word, Lucifer couldn't help but scoff, interrupting the prophecy of God-King Kang.

"Oh, dear gravedigger, I must say, your lines are rather cliché."

"Every chosen one who believes he can save the world is given the beautiful name of hope when he appears."

"But what was the result?"

He spread his hands and pointed to the endless gray void around him.

"All their hopes ultimately became part of your magnificent cemetery."

"So, please forgive my boldness in asking, but what makes you think that this sun god beside me, whose mind seems to contain little more than flowers, plants, and aversion to trouble, can be the exception?"

Because he's not in the story.

I can see the beginnings and endings of every story across all timelines. I can see Superman's birth and death, Bruce Wayne's childhood and old age, and even you, Lucifer Morningstar, ultimately returning to nothingness in your rebellion.

You are all living your own stories, and no matter how dramatic the journey, you cannot escape the stage called fate.

But he's different.

I cannot see his past, nor can I predict his future. Every choice he makes, every action he takes, creates entirely new possibilities beyond my omniscience.

He was an uninvited guest who suddenly barged onto every stage, ready to tear up all the scripts.

Shum was completely confused; he felt like he'd heard Bruce say something similar.

"Get to the point. What exactly do you want? You're helping me just because you're tired of the old movies on your computer and want to watch something new?"

You can understand it this way.

After a moment of silence, Shenjun Kang agreed with Xiu En's wonderful metaphor.

As an eternal bystander, I am weary of the recurring tragedy.

I want to see a completely new ending.

"A new movie?"

"You mean, you'll stop fighting as long as I can deliver a new ending that satisfies you?"

Xiu En asked tentatively.

"I don't want to hear your nonsense about constants, variables, scripts, and actors."

"Just tell me directly, what do I need to do to get the different ending you mentioned?"

Xiu En was too lazy to think about those complicated things.

For him, things were simple.

This old relic looks very strong, but he doesn't seem to want to fight; he prefers to watch the show.

My task is to keep him occupied and prevent him from getting involved with Loki.

Therefore, the best way to stall for time is to go along with what he has to say and continue the conversation.

It's much easier to watch a new movie with an elderly person who has been autistic for who knows how many years than to fight with them for who knows how long.

What's more, this old-fashioned person seems to know quite a lot of inside information.

【I have no idea.】

The answer from God-King Kang surprised both Shuen and Lucifer.

If I know the right path, then it itself becomes a predetermined script.

The reason I see hope in you is precisely because your path is one I cannot even see.

"So after all this time, you still didn't know?"

Xiu En was greatly disappointed, feeling as if he had been tricked by a pretentious fellow.

"Then why are you spouting so much nonsense?"

Although I don't know how to do it.

But I know that what you are doing right now is wrong.

His hooded head turned toward the City of Time.

I can sense that two equally storied and deceptive souls have taken advantage of the chaos you've created to infiltrate the core of the City of Time and Space.

Lucifer's eyes narrowed; he knew that the god-king Kang was referring to Loki and Sylvie.

Their plan was very simple.

Find the origin of the concept of Kantians, that is, the first cause from which all Kantian variants were originally born, and then erase it along with all the causal lines associated with it.

[A one-time solution. Thorough, but also foolish.]

Lucifer: "Oh? What do you mean? I think it's a pretty good plan. It's a radical solution, addressing the problem at its root. At least it's much more proactive than sitting here watching a corpse rot."

This only addresses the symptoms, not the root cause.

Do you think the Kangzhi Council is the problem itself?

【No.】

The Kangzhi Council is merely one of the most obvious symptoms of the problem.

He raised his finger, pointing to the endless gray void, to the remnants of silent time.

For every conqueror Kang you kill, another destroyer Zhang and a ruler Li will rise up and form their council.

As long as the fundamental contradictions of this universe remain unresolved, no matter how many Councils of Kang you destroy, new councils will spring up anew from the remnants of these past eras.

All you've done is harvest a patch of leeks. And this barren soil, which breeds only tragedy, will never change.

Xiu En seemed to understand; it turned out that all their desperate efforts were just for chemotherapy to treat a cancer that was destined to recur.

"The fundamental contradiction?"

"What exactly are you trying to say? What is the real lesion?"

【————】

This time, Shenjun Kang fell into an even longer silence. The shadow beneath the hood grew even deeper.

After a long while, he finally spoke.

See?

He raised his hand and gently waved it towards the void in front of him.

A curtain of light unfolded before them.

Dynamic images began to appear on the light screen.

That scene was the view inside the City of Time and Space!

Loki was using his illusions to disguise himself as a Kang guard, cleverly evading a patrol of soldiers.

Sylvie, on the other hand, used her mastery of TVA runes to break through one complex energy barrier after another.

They are getting closer and closer to the First Cause Throne, which is guarded by countless laws of time and paradox engines in the deepest part of the City of Time and Space.

"Live broadcast?"

"Since you know everything, why don't you try to stop them?"

Why should I try to stop a drama that is destined to fail but is also bound to happen?

Besides, having them deal with those noisy and unruly juniors for me might not be such a bad thing.

"Using someone else to do the dirty work? Cleansing up the house?"

Lucifer chuckled softly from the side; he understood now.

"So you're not just a gravedigger, but also a patriarch who's keen on family infighting. Aren't you afraid their blade is far sharper than you imagine?"

Whether it's sharp or not is meaningless.

Because, in the very next instant, they will—

His prophecy came to an abrupt end.

Because the scene on the screen underwent a reversal that exceeded his omniscient script!

In the scene, Loki, who had already arrived at the First Throne of Cause, did not open the portal to the Dawnwood Realm as Bruce had planned, nor did he summon the already prepared army of heroes to launch a general offensive.

He and Sylvie exchanged a glance, and then the two of them simultaneously inserted their scepters into the energy slots on either side of the throne!

Two divine powers, belonging to stories and tricks, intertwine and summon something!

A blue portal, far more stable than any previous portal, opened behind the First Cause Throne!

Opposite the portal was a desolate, dark red land riddled with meteorite craters.

That's Mars.

A person radiating a soft blue light, with empty yet compassionate eyes, is sitting cross-legged above the Martian dust, building glass castles one after another with sand.

He is Dr. Manhattan.

The moment the blue light gate opened, he stopped what he was doing and looked up.

His gaze pierced through the portal, through the city of time and space, through endless time zones, and finally landed on the throne, on the gray figure who was also watching him.

[Uh, no way, another one?]

[This being? This blue quantum body?]

Where is he from?

Why isn't he in my library?!

I can't see his past! I can't see his future! He's like you, a variable that shouldn't exist!

But in your story, I can still see a bit about your experiences in Gotham. Him? I can't see anything at all?

The all-knowing, eternally observing, saw yet another actor in his theater whose name wasn't even on the script.

"Hahahaha!"

Lucifer looked at the scene on the light screen, then at the old antique on the throne who seemed a bit vulnerable, and finally couldn't help but burst into laughter!

"Oh my god! I absolutely love this little liar! I love him to death!"

He laughed so hard he almost fell over, pointing at Loki on the screen and shouting at Shuen, who was equally bewildered.

"Do you see that, Shum? This is real drama! This is the real story!"

"Loki, that liar, fooled everyone! He treated Bruce Wayne's plan as a warm-up act before his own performance! He used our feint as a distraction to draw attention! And he used you as a pawn to lure away the goalkeeper!"

He looked at the throne with schadenfreude.

"He even schemed against this self-righteous omniscient god! He deliberately made us cause such a commotion to test the gatekeeper's abilities, and then bring out the protagonist, whom even the gatekeeper couldn't predict!"

Lucifer waved his arms excitedly.

"I think I get it now. He's been the director of this whole thing all along! This green-haired god of stories with that face that I'm most good at deceiving people! Oh, this deception is really giving me a lot of pleasure."

After listening to Lucifer's explanation, Xiu En roughly understood.

So, all along, I've been a free henchman for that damned green-skinned actor?

A surge of anger, as if he'd been tricked, welled up inside him. He was about to lash out with something, but that anger was quickly replaced by a helpless feeling of being both amused and exasperated.

He knew from the beginning that Loki was an actor, a fraud, and the god of stories. He even took Loki to Manhattan himself, but he never thought much of it.

Okay, I'll admit he's good.

Shuen sighed and asked Lucifer, who had calmed down from his ecstasy and regained his elegant demeanor.

"So what do we do now? Are we now just spectators too?"

"Not just the audience, but my friends."

Lucifer shook his finger, a meaningful smile appearing on his face.

"The chessboard has been overturned. Now, we, like that divine lord, have all gone from being chess players to pawns awaiting the protagonist's judgment of our fate."

In the image, the blue deity has risen from the surface of Mars.

He stepped into the portal of light that connected the two universes.

"Alright."

Shuen sighed, patted Lucifer on the shoulder, and wore a wry smile on his face.

"Then let's just assume he had his reasons for doing that. Even if he lied to us, we can just go back and let Grandi throw him a few more times."

After he finished speaking, he turned his gaze back to Shenjun Kang.

Since the chessboard is already messed up, there's no need to dwell on the previous moves.

The most crucial thing now is to figure out what kind of changes this newly appeared blue piece will bring to the game.

"Hey, the one who's autistic."

Xiu En asked.

"Stop complaining about your lousy library."

"Now tell me, what does the appearance of that suddenly blue guy, Dr. Manhattan, mean for that doomed grand scheme you mentioned?"

[Is his name Manhattan? You agree? Well, based on my observation, he's a walking time paradox—]

His existence is both the effect and the cause. Every thought he has simultaneously creates, transforms, and destroys countless parallel possibilities.

He himself is a living book that can be endlessly sifted through, a book that will never have an ending!

All my plans became mere drafts to be freely sketched and rewritten before him.

Shen Jun Kang's gaze shifted from the light screen back to Xiu En, and excitement ignited deep within that beam of light!

I retract my previous statement; variables.

You are not the only hope.

[You and that sudden blue presence, both of you, are!]

Two unpredictable chaotic variables have simultaneously appeared on a chessboard destined for utter silence! Your collision, your intertwining! Hahahaha! This is exactly what I want to see! A completely new turn! A truly new story that even I cannot foresee!

After the initial shock, the eternal bystander was filled with joy!

"He's insane, he's gone mad."

Lucifer looked at the god-king Kang, who had suddenly started chuckling on the throne, and shook his head in disdain.

"It seems that years of solitude really can damage your brain."

In the command center far away in the Ximu Realm.

"The bidding has deviated from its intended course."

"A-level variable has appeared in the first phase of the mission's Sunday tax."

"Loki has been confirmed to be out of control."

Electronic alerts echoed in the command room. All the busy technicians stopped what they were doing and turned their spotlights toward the center of the command console.

Bruce stood before the hologram, expressionless, staring at the blue beam of light that opened up deep within the City of Time and Space, connecting to another universe.

He is very calm.

It was as if the sudden change before him, which was enough to overturn the entire battle situation, was already within his expectations.

"Bruce?"

Tony Stark's slightly anxious voice came through the communication channel.

"What's that guy up to? Wasn't he supposed to open the way to our territory? Who's that streaked man in blue? Should I activate the Anti-Loki Agreement Tax Seven immediately?"

"Need not."

"The negotiated tax is outdated."

He looked up and pressed a button on the main control panel, a button whose red warning light had been on since the beginning, a button whose purpose even the other Batmen didn't know.

"Activate the Watchers Protocol."

"What?" Tony was stunned.

"I don't trust anyone, Tony."

Bruce's voice was transmitted via an encrypted channel to all the Alliance heroes waiting on other battlefields.

"Especially one self-proclaimed god of stories, a fraud."

"Our feint attack plan was never just to give Loki the opportunity to infiltrate."

"It's also so that when the chessboard is overturned, we'll be the ones to seek our own fate, giving us the power to flip the table."

The moment his words fell, the entire sky of the Zhouxi Wood Realm lit up!

One, ten, hundreds, but this one is the most remarkable.

The flames of various colors of energy bursting forth were like giant eyes opening up simultaneously in all directions of the Ximu Realm!

The Avengers' Quinjet squadron roared out from one of the spurs!

The Justice League's space station watchtower, behind another door, reveals its massive silhouette!

The mage legions of Kamar-Taj, bathed in the glow of the Sling Ring, formed a neat digging formation!

The Rainbow Bridge of Asgard, accompanied by thunderous roar, pierced the sky!

The Green Lantern Corps, the Blue Lantern Corps, the Purple Lantern Corps—the newly formed spectral alliance, like a dazzling river, converges from all directions!

Even Xiu En's clones who were still handling the aftermath in the Clockmaker's World appeared in the Legendary World with the Kree warships and centaur cavalry that had been persuaded!

"The whole army, Mu Guang."

Bruce looked at the massive coalition he had personally orchestrated, which spanned countless universes and was arguably the largest in history, and issued his orders.

"Raise the banner, City of Time and Space."

"Whatever Loki does, whatever that suddenly blue god does!"

"The scale of this war must be, and can only be, written by ourselves!"

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