The World Is Fair

A cold steel cage built from steel.

The noodle-thin alien opened his mouth.

"I've lived here ever since I was born." He spread his arms, cradling the red light pouring down from above.

It was as if he were bathing in the red light, as if he were holding the only thing that had accompanied him as he grew up.

"There has always been nothing but cold iron around me, along with countless instruments."

"They wanted to keep me like livestock, use me as a lab rat. I had no power, but... my brain still learned their language easily."

Heavy dark circles hung beneath his lifeless little eyes. Noodle Superman raised his head and saw Li Zu smiling.

"This isn't fair, is it?" he asked in return.

A person had been imprisoned from birth, unable to leave this room filled with red light, like a lab rat.

No human rights, no freedom, not even sunlight.

"Looks like I was wrong. How disappointing."

Li Zu pressed his right hand against the containment glass, looking somewhat regretful.

"What?" Noodle Superman was confused by Li Zu's words. "What were you wrong about?"

"You're not a god. You're human."

"Me? If I'm really human, then why did they imprison me here?" Noodle Superman pointed at the barred containment wall.

He was merely a trapped beast, a weak trapped beast.

Bzzzt—!

The red light behind him suddenly lit up.

At the same time, an alarm blared, followed by an agitated man's voice.

"C2 Squad has lost contact! I repeat, all members of C2 Squad have lost contact! A spy has infiltrated the restricted zone. Internal lockdown is now in effect. Eliminate all suspicious individuals!"

"Looks like I should go." Li Zu pointed at the flashing alarm light behind him. "We'll meet again if there's a chance."

Noodle Superman remained curled up in the corner, watching Li Zu's back grow farther and farther away.

At the obtuse bend in the corridor, Li Zu suddenly stopped.

His voice carried over, low and solemn.

"This world is fair, even if that's hard to accept."

Hearing his words, Superman raised his head and waited quietly for him to continue.

"Whether they're good people or bad people... rain falls on their heads all the same."

His figure departed, leaving only Noodle Superman sitting in the red light, deep in thought.

Batman held up binoculars as he hid behind a reef.

The waves soaked his cape, and dripping water left a trail across the ground behind his heels.

"This is the place?"

Barry asked.

Squad after squad of fully armed soldiers patrolled the area, their expressions stern and their guns loaded.

At the slightest disturbance, they would undoubtedly sweep the area with a barrage of bullets.

"No, someone infiltrated this place before us." Cyborg stood nearby with his eyes closed. The military base's computer systems were as exposed before him as if they did not exist.

"A squad of soldiers vanished under strange circumstances. It seems there was a spy."

"Then let's charge in and save him!" Barry took a running stance. The Speed Force coiled around his arms and calves, lightning bursting through the air around him.

A delayed boom tore through the air as the squad of soldiers on alert ahead was knocked to the ground by a red figure.

Batman, Cyborg, and Flash encountered no resistance as they broke in. Perhaps the spy had also diverted their attention, sparing them from much of the opposition.

Boom!

Cyborg smashed through the reinforced iron door with the cannon formed from his hand, then tore through three more walls in succession before finally reaching a red room.

Inside, a slender, frail man was curled up in the corner.

"Carl El, we're here to save you!"

Though his friend from Flashpoint World was thin and haggard, Flash recognized him instantly.

"Cyborg, break the wall!"

"Of course, as you wish! Stand back!" Cyborg's left hand began to transform as energy compressed and gathered at a single point.

After the explosion, the wall was torn apart.

Flash helped Noodle Superman out.

"We can talk later. Let's get you out first." Flash looked at the thin, powerless Noodle Superman and found that he had kept his head lowered, silent all along.

Maybe he had been locked up for too long.

Flash comforted himself. No matter how strange Superman might seem, he was still Superman.

"We need to retreat!" Cyborg shouted. "Military reinforcements are here. Looks like they place great importance on this place! I heard they deployed two destroyers and air support!"

"Move!"

The four fought as they retreated, with Cyborg's firepower temporarily holding the upper hand.

At last, they left the military base.

Sunlight fell upon Noodle Superman for the first time, and he closed his eyes.

"So this is sunlight. This is the ocean. This is... Aah!!" Noodle Superman shoved Flash away and clutched his head in agony.

Without the suppression of red starlight, Super Hearing instantly received an enormous flood of information.

The sound of waves, the wind, grains of sand shifting across the beach,

Seagulls flapping their wings, fish moving their gills beneath the sea, seagrass swaying with the current,

From far away to nearby, every sound surged into Noodle Superman's mind at once.

"Aah!!"

He clutched his head and curled into a boiled red shrimp.

By then, the destroyers had already stopped on the sea, while several fighter jets skimmed low overhead!

The pressure wave from the planes whipped Batman's cape about with a loud flutter.

First came a downpour of bullets,

Then came the missile strike,

In the blink of an eye, the sky turned dark!

"Aah!!"

Noodle Superman knelt on the ground and opened his eyes.

The sun bestowed even more of its gifts upon him, scorching energy pouring from his pupils.

Two red beams,

Swept across the sky and struck the rain of missiles and bullets.

Explosions filled the sky, burning the clouds crimson.

The combined assault of the destroyers and fighter jets was destroyed in an instant!

The sea wind carried scorching heat that stung their faces.

"Carl, they're just soldiers. Don't hurt them!" Flash shouted in warning.

Noodle Superman's weak yet excited voice carried over. "The world is fair. Everything humanity does has no meaning to this world. The universe does not care about life, death, or order. The universe has been chaotic and disorderly from the very beginning. Only by abandoning the meaningless rules made by humanity can one achieve true freedom!"

"Aah!!"

More yellow stellar energy poured into him, weakening Noodle Superman's control over his body even further.

Noodle Superman clutched his head in agony. He tried to cover his eyes with his hands, but red beams spilled through the gaps between his fingers.

In an instant, the beams split into more than a dozen rays, turning the fighter jets in the sky into fireworks, blasting apart the destroyers, and even leveling the military base!

On the sea,

Flash grabbed Cyborg with his left hand and Batman with his right, nimbly leaping and dodging one Heat Vision beam after another.

When the indiscriminate attack finally stopped, the three had only just sighed in relief when Noodle Superman was already floating in the air.

He spread his arms, trying to embrace the yellow star.

"You shouldn't be disappointed. I am a god!" Noodle Superman's voice was crazed.

"Carl, we..." Flash had just wanted to speak with Noodle Superman when he saw him tear through the sound barrier and shoot toward the edge of the atmosphere.

"Looks like the helper you found doesn't want to help us." Cyborg shrugged helplessly.

The military base had been ground flat, and only the three of them had narrowly escaped disaster.

"Batman, what's wrong?" Cyborg noticed that Thomas Wayne was not in the right state.

It was not because Thomas was being carried in his arms like a princess.

It was for another reason. Cyborg tried to persuade him, "Even if that noodle-thin guy has left, we can still head to the battlefield and rely on ourselves! You know everyone needs your mind more."

The three returned to the island.

"No, what he said just now reminded me of someone."

Batman said after his feet touched the ground.

"Someone who worships chaos."

"Maybe being imprisoned for so many years left some shadows in his heart," Flash added. He shook his head, trying to shake the green-haired figure from his mind.

How could a Superman who had been locked up here for so many years possibly know the Joker?

Batman bent down and picked up a toy plastic figure the size of a pinky from the seawater.

"Toyman was here."

Thanks to "Above Heaven and Below Earth, I Alone Am Supreme" for the 100 Qidian Coins reward.

(End of Chapter)