Superman

Just a few days ago, at Harvey Dent's funeral, he had seen with his own eyes the plastic toy, no bigger than a little finger, being placed inside the coffin.

Then the grave was filled in, and the Stars and Stripes covered it.

It had been a strange funeral, solemn yet absurd. But no one had been able to laugh.

At that moment, the palm pressed against Penguin's bald forehead was hot, and through it, he could feel the other man's heartbeat racing far beyond normal.

"I think there must be some misunderstanding between us~" Penguin said with an awkward grin.

He had no desire to become a plastic toy, standing in a glass display case every day for people to play with. Worse still, some child might toss him outside to entertain a dog.

As for whether it truly was a misunderstanding, or whether he regretted not finishing Li Zu off with a single bullet...

Li Zu clearly did not care.

"You villainous scum have broken your word too many times. I wouldn't dare trust you," Li Zu said righteously.

"What do you mean, villainous scum like me? Are you joking? I'm the hero who maintains this city's order and prevents it from being harmed by people like you!" Penguin muttered under his breath.

"What did you say?" Li Zu asked, bending down and draping an arm around Penguin's shoulders.

"I can guarantee it! And I definitely won't call anyone! If you don't believe me, you can turn me into a toy whenever you want!" Penguin immediately raised both hands obediently. He looked like an overweight penguin at an aquarium, swaying comically from side to side.

"What do you need?"

"Do you have free pastries here?"

Li Zu rubbed his stomach, frowning. "I had cereal this morning, and it didn't agree with me. I still prefer a saltier breakfast."

Penguin cursed inwardly, but kept a cheerful smile on his face. "Of course, of course. I'll have someone prepare lunch right away."

After making sure Li Zu's hand remained on his shoulder, Penguin chose to cooperate amicably.

A steak set meal, along with two bottles of champagne.

After Li Zu had eaten and drunk his fill, he made another request, one that surprised Penguin even more.

Because it had absolutely nothing to do with him. It was as though Li Zu had truly forgotten that bullet.

Wayne Manor.

It was a rare sunny day.

A man wearing Batman's cape crouched before a gravestone.

He was deep in thought, lost in memories.

The grave had been covered with fresh soil, and the budding grass around it had been cleared away.

The gravestone bore the name "Martha Wayne."

The flowers before the grave had yet to wither.

A red figure appeared behind him like lightning.

When the lightning stopped, a man in a red bodysuit appeared.

The yellow lightning emblem on his chest seemed to tell everyone that he was as fast as lightning.

To this world, he was a new superhero. If Li Zu saw him, he would definitely call out his name at once.

Flash!

"Thomas, it's time to act!" Flash removed his cowl, revealing blond hair and a handsome face.

It seemed their method of gaining the Speed Force by being struck by lightning had succeeded.

"Barry, we have to succeed!" Batman stood up. His voice was like a hammer driving nails, every word forceful and resolute.

After the death of the wife he had fought with for half his life, Batman had only one thought left: change history and bring his son back to life.

"My speed may be fast, but it isn't enough to travel through time. We have to find Reverse-Flash," Barry said gravely. "He's siphoning away part of the power."

"You know where he is?" Batman asked.

"No."

"We can go to the battlefield first and stop Diana and Arthur's war," Barry added. Former comrades had now turned against each other, even triggering World War III.

He wanted to stop it all.

"Mm-hm." Batman's answer remained brief.

Considering Wonder Woman and Aquaman's combat abilities, Barry said, "Before that, we should find some help."

"Did someone say they needed help?"

A voice came from the sky.

With a thunderous crash, a humanoid hunk of metal descended from above, shaking the ground with a deafening roar.

"Cyborg, I didn't invite you!"

Cyborg left two deep footprints beside the cemetery. From Batman's tone, he was clearly unwelcome.

"I was planning to persuade you to join us at the battlefield." Cyborg shrugged as if he were innocent. "Looks like I don't need to... Oh, right, your phone's ringing. It's Penguin!"

As he spoke, Cyborg lightly flicked out an earpiece.

Batman caught it.

"Thomas?" a voice came from the other end.

"Mm-hm."

"Remember what Jim said about the Sewer Monster?" Penguin said. "Without you, we can't solve it."

"Wait until I get back," Batman replied.

Once the operation was over, all the history of this world over the past several decades would cease to exist. Naturally, the Sewer Monster would cease to exist as well.

"Get back? Where are you going?"

"Cobblepot, you don't need to know any more than that!"

He removed the earpiece and casually tossed it to Cyborg.

"Cyborg... Cyborg," Flash said, delighted to see him. "Could you check whether there are a pair of Kents in Smallville, Kansas, and whether they adopted a child decades ago?"

Cyborg put the earpiece into the storage compartment in his arm, cutting off the signal as well.

"And who is this?"

"Barry, I'm really fast!" Barry jogged two steps as he introduced himself to his "old friend."

"Barry, did they adopt your brother?" Cyborg asked with a grin. This world's Cyborg seemed to enjoy joking around.

"An alien. Maybe he hasn't become that righteous Superman yet, but I believe he must exist in this world, waiting for us to find him," Flash said earnestly.

"How come I've never heard of a 'Superman' like that?" Cyborg paused for a moment. He connected to the satellite above his head and began searching through data from around the world.

A few minutes later, he stopped.

"The Kents in Kansas don't have any children."

"What!" Flash understood. This was another unforeseen change caused by his altering time.

"Guess what I found? Thirty years ago, the military recovered a spacecraft in Kansas and immediately built an arms factory afterward. It isn't open to the public, and even I can't find any information on it."

Gotham nightclub.

Penguin ended the call. The voice on speaker had echoed throughout the room just now, and both of them had heard it clearly. He did not need to waste effort explaining.

"He obviously doesn't want to go into the sewers and find that disgusting monster~"

He could not figure out Toyman's intentions in sending Batman into the sewers outside the city to deal with that murderous monster.

Still, Toyman's plan falling through improved his mood considerably.

Before the call ended, Flash's question had also reached both of their ears.

Several key words: Kansas, the Kents.

"Superman."

Li Zu's lips involuntarily curled upward, accompanied by a quickening heartbeat.

"Of course. How could this world possibly not have Superman? Maybe Superman is a supervillain too?" he guessed maliciously.

A bloodthirsty god among men.

"He can definitely help me explore this world faster!"

"What?" Penguin did not quite understand what Li Zu meant.

"You must have a way to obtain classified information, right? Help me find someone. A spacecraft should have landed in Kansas."

His right hand pressed against Penguin's head. This request was not open to refusal!

Penguin obediently dialed someone's number.

They had a powerful intelligence gatherer. Although that woman had limited mobility and was nowhere near Cyborg's ability to connect to satellites and monitor the world, hacking into classified systems to find some information was no difficult task for her.

"Oracle, I want to find a spacecraft."

Thanks to "Mizhi Qingnian" for the 1,000 Qidian Coins tip.

(End of chapter)