Another Universe

"Metropolis!?"

Zhang Ye's eyes widened, and a sharp ache quickly followed. Zhang Ye rubbed their eyes, seemingly unable to believe what they were seeing, and then continued to gaze at the large screen.

The text on the screen hadn't changed at all; it was still the same greeting.

But that greeting, filled with good wishes, now made Zhang Ye feel as if they had fallen into an ice cave. Zhang Ye even felt their hands and feet go numb.

In Zhang Ye's memory, there was no city called 'Metropolis' anywhere in the world, because that city was entirely fictional. It was completely different from New York, where Iron Man was, Queens, where Spider-Man was, or Brooklyn, where Captain America was born.

Metropolis was a completely fabricated city.

And the only universe Zhang Ye could recall that had Metropolis was the DC Multiverse.

Metropolis, known as 'the city bathed in light,' where all darkness ceases to exist, for one reason: in the DC Universe, the appearance of Metropolis is often accompanied by another character, a being with power comparable to a god, Superman.

Unlike other superheroes, Superman's life on Earth is like a human living on a planet made of paper; his every move could destroy this fragile world, so he must control his power to allow this planet to safely nurture him.

That's why very few things can threaten Superman, so while other superheroes make the news for saving the world, Superman might only make the headlines for rescuing a cat from a tree.

Overall, the DC Universe is not that different from the Marvel Universe; both are bathed in the glory of heroes.

But for Zhang Ye at this moment, it wasn't so wonderful. Perhaps in movies and comics, Zhang Ye could happily watch the various events that took place in this universe, but now that Zhang Ye was actually in this world, they felt a chill from head to toe.

No one likes the constant reboots, and no one likes the terrifying 'power creep' of this world.

"How... how is this possible? Why did I come to the DC Universe?" Zhang Ye murmured. The anxiety they had just put down welled up again. They quickly pulled the Time Twister from their pocket.

"Miss Minutes, take us out of here!"

Their fingers tapped rapidly on the screen, Zhang Ye's mental state was on the verge of collapse, but this time, Miss Minutes, as they remembered her, didn't appear. Instead, a red battery icon appeared on the screen, seemingly indicating that the device was out of power. The battery icon flashed twice and then disappeared.

"Out of power? How could it be..." No matter how Zhang Ye tapped, the Time Twister's screen remained black, reflecting Zhang Ye's anxious face.

"Zhang, what's wrong? Are we in trouble?" Noticing that Zhang Ye was acting strangely, Pietro turned to look at them.

Hearing this, Zhang Ye stopped what they were doing. They looked at Pietro's worried face, paused for two seconds, and quickly stuffed the Time Twister back into their pocket.

Then, in the next moment, Zhang Ye smiled.

"It's okay, Pietro. I have everything under control."

Metropolis is located in Delaware on the east coast of American, and its design is based on New York City and Manhattan. It's a coastal island city, not far from another fictional city, Gotham City.

From the tallest building in Metropolis, one can even see the Gotham harbor across the sea, but compared to Metropolis, a city full of light at all times, Gotham City is probably its opposite.

Pushing Pietro into a relatively run-down hotel, Zhang Ye readily took out money from their pocket, paid for three days' room and board, and found the corresponding room with the directions of the boss.

The room wasn't big, with only two small beds inside. Besides that, there was nothing else, not even a TV. But judging from the decoration style of this hotel, Zhang Ye wasn't too surprised by the poor facilities inside.

Zhang Ye helped Pietro onto the bed, pulled up the quilt to cover him, and then, without sitting down, said, "You should get some sleep here. It'll help your leg heal faster. I'm going out to gather some information and bring you back some food when I return."

"Really? Will you be in danger?" Pietro sat up in bed.

"Don't worry, it's safe here." Zhang Ye smiled, then turned and walked towards the door.

"Zhang."

Just as Zhang Ye reached the door and opened it, Pietro suddenly called out to them.

Hearing the sound, Zhang Ye turned back and looked at Pietro with some confusion, and Pietro returned a smile.

"Thank you. You kept your promise."

Hearing this, Zhang Ye didn't answer, just nodded calmly, then walked out and closed the door.

Walking out of the hotel, Zhang Ye pondered some things about the DC Universe, but the battles that could destroy the world at any moment still made them tremble. Heaven knows how Batman managed to mingle with those monsters.

They didn't have much money in their pocket. Although the two universes were from different eras, the money was the same. Plus, the timeline Zhang Ye was in was earlier than this world, so the money they brought could still be spent.

At this moment, Zhang Ye really regretted not having taken some valuables from President X's castle. Now they only had $700 on them, and the most valuable things, apart from the Time Twister without power, was just a gun.

This was also Zhang Ye's biggest worry. They were an undocumented immigrant. Although they could stay in small hotels that didn't check IDs, if they were stopped and checked by the police, their undocumented status would be exposed directly.

Besides this, there was a more important point, which was that Zhang Ye urgently wanted to know what universe this world was. If it was just the main universe or a general universe, it would be fine, but if it was a universe they didn't understand at all, then they and Pietro's situation would become extremely dangerous.

And to investigate some information about this universe, newspapers and the internet were often the most important links, just like Zhang Ye had done before, it was just a matter of being a scavenger for a while longer.

Thinking like this, Zhang Ye walked onto the street and headed towards a newsstand.

Suddenly!

A wave of electronic interference swept over, and Zhang Ye felt a brief ringing in their ears. Then, in the next moment, all the screens around them went dark.

Not only the large screens on the tall buildings, but even the cell phone screens in the hands of passersby next to Zhang Ye turned black. The TVs in the shop windows were the same, and quickly, without anyone knowing what was happening, they lit up quickly, turning into static.

Seeing this sudden change, almost everyone stopped. They looked at the static screens in confusion, not knowing what was happening.

Zhang Ye also frowned, staring at the screen on the building and taking two steps forward, as if to see more clearly.

Then, not long after, a crackling electromagnetic sound came from the static screen. Then, a man's face slowly emerged from the screen, but the screen was still full of static, making the man's face appear and disappear.

".I come from a distant planet."

The voice was rough and grating, but it was understandable.

".I have traveled across the stars. to this planet."

".For a long time your planet has sheltered one of my citizens."

Seeing this scene, Zhang Ye's pupils shrank sharply.

General Zod!