signingbooks Chapter 730 All of this is in my maniacal killing machine
Chapter 730 All of this is in my maniacal killing machine
Chapter 730 All of this was part of my (crossed out) killing machine's plan.
The Batman Who Laughs took Cyborg for a reason. In the Batman Who Laughs's plan, Cyborg's importance even surpassed that of the Flash, the humanoid "time-traveling machine".
Cyborg is able to connect to the energy of the multiverse through the Mother Box. With the support of this energy, The Laughing was able to help his ally break free from the timeline's constraints. And with this ally's existence, The Laughing's plans could continue to unfold.
Therefore, how could such an important thing not be protected in advance by the madman?
Although the attacker who struck Cyborg wasn't Batman Dragon, the "attack" was ultimately part of the Batman Who Laughs's plan.
But before he could even speak, the killing machine in front of him interrupted him.
"I know you must have made contingency plans in case someone tries to take Cyborg away."
The Killing Machine said, "Let me guess, you're guessing Batman Dragon? So you must have targeted his abilities too, right? Metal Spirit? You're not good at dealing with magic, but magic is still limited by science... Let me guess... a computer virus?"
The Bat Who Laughs heard the other person pause, then say, "But all of this was part of my killing machine's plan."
Maniacal laughter: ...
The other person completely stole his words, and what's most interesting is...
He was right.
"But ordinary computer viruses can't harm Batman Dragon."
"You think I'd try to take down Batman Dragon with a regular computer virus?"
The Laughing Bat and the Killing Machine spoke almost simultaneously, saying roughly the same thing.
The Bat of Laughter realized that the other party was trying to put pressure on him. Interesting, really interesting.
Normally, this kind of behavior is something that hysterical laughter would do. Hysterical laughter never thought that looking at what he did from another perspective would be so hilarious.
He chuckled nervously.
"After the New 52 Flashpoint," the killing machine held up three fingers, "aside from the New 52 main universe timeline, during the New 52 era, the entire multiverse had three main timeline branches, all of which were eventually erased, but each one met the required hardness standard."
The killing machine said, "First, the Flashpoint timeline."
He stomped his foot: "This is the timeline we are in now, surrounded by the ruins of cities left over from the world war."
"The second timeline is the [Ruin of the Corruption]. The corrupting Anton-Akan corrupted the entire timeline, turning the Justice League into rotting corpses. This timeline was ultimately wiped out by Swamp Thing and Animal Man working together."
"And the third timeline is called... [Apocalyptic Future]."
He said, "Batman's AI, Brother Eye, destroyed the entire world, creating countless mechanical bugs. He even sewed the Joker and Batman together to create monsters like the Mechanical Ugly Bat Bug. And this twisted and extreme timeline is exactly what you, Batman Who Laughs, love most, isn't it?"
"If I hadn't changed the main universe's timeline to Flashpoint first... what you'd want to do is bring that apocalyptic future back to the New 52, wouldn't you?"
(Note: The post-apocalyptic future was almost the main timeline of the universe until Batman Terry sacrificed himself, and the third Robin Tim saved the world.)
"Yes," said the Batman Who Laughs. "Moreover, the Hypertime Flow did something else to erase the 'Doomsday Future' event: it made the refugees on Earth 2 disappear out of thin air. Based on historical speculation, this debt incurred in advance should be filled by Brainiac, who is part of the multi-dimensional integration."
The Bat Who Laughs said, "If Brainiac hadn't intervened in the Doomsday Future timeline during the Multiverse Convergence event, the Doomsday Future would have been the normal future of the main universe!"
He said, "You did very well, extremely well... I'll give you a compliment, but in truth, you're also unfortunate, because the trap I originally set for Batman... will probably be yours to suffer!"
The killing machine quickly realized what the Bat of Laughter was saying.
He always knew that the Batman Who Laughs was not so easy to deal with. Being able to predict the Batman Who Laughs's behavior and change the timeline of the main universe before him was already the limit. Trying to predict the Batman Who Laughs's means of retaliation was a bit like a fairy tale.
So the first thing he did when he got the Steel Bones was to split the Steel Bones.
Yes, Split Steel Bones. He wants to separate Steel Bones' mechanical parts from its physical body.
Despite losing all his organs except his brain, heart, and lungs—and later even voluntarily removing his lungs—being a brain in a vat wouldn't hinder Cyborg's life, provided there were sufficiently advanced life support devices. During the Eternal Age of Evil, Cyborg, stripped of his mechanical body, suffered such a debilitating fate.
But for Cyborg, the superhero, those machines are just his exterior; what matters is himself.
Not everyone who is parasitized by the Mother Box will become Cyborg. As long as you have Cyborg's physical body and consciousness, the Killing Machine's Dark Multiverse Mother Box is also part of the Mother Box and can synthesize a complete Cyborg.
Cyborg's mechanical parts belong to the Batman Who Laughs, and those mechanical parts can still help the Batman Who Laughs achieve his goals... Killing Machines wants to see Cyborg as one of the hopes for saving the entire multiverse, while the Batman Who Laughs only wants to use Cyborg as a tool. As long as it does not affect the performance and use of the tool, it is not an unacceptable ending for the Batman Who Laughs.
Moreover, there's another important reason: once the machinery is separated, he can act without any restraint...
Some methods were employed.
In the New 52 era, when the Golden Vanguard was fighting against Brother Eye Ormack, a top-tier artificial intelligence, it activated an ultimate defense program from the 25th century:
Bullet Head Agreement.
This thing is the ultimate weapon that Golden Vanguard is preparing to face artificial intelligence. It is specially designed to resist computer viruses. It will erase all unknown programs, just like a high-tech white blood cell.
The Golden Vanguard calls it the Anti-European MIC Activator, but as far as the killing machine is concerned, it's more accurate to call it a... white blood cell.
Chemotherapy.
(Note: This event occurred at the end of the New 52 International Justice League, where the International Justice League was defeated by Brother Eye O'Mak alone.)
"you……"
When the killing machine pulled half of a steel-boned mechanical body out of the Metal Spirit's alternate dimension, the Batman Who Laughs realized what the other was doing and that the other was using some kind of suicidal, desperate measure to end his plans.
At this moment, countless metals wriggled on the killing machine's chest, uncontrollably creating a red eye mark on its chest. At the same time, countless tiny green lines also appeared on the killing machine's face, constantly corroding every inch of its skin.
"The Bullet Protocol will delete my data along with your virus. I will leave this body before the Bullet Protocol contaminates my system."
The killing machine said, "You may have forgotten... After being completely transformed by the Alfred Protocol, I became an artificial AI. I am an AI that looks like Batman, living as Bruce Wayne. And AI can be replicated. (Laughs) You don't understand, the reason I maintained my human form in the past was simply because..."
Pinocchio believed he was a real boy. (x2)
The half-body steel skeleton in his hand raised its head at that moment, opened its mouth, and, controlled by the killing machine, its voice resonated in sync with its own:
"Give me the Watcher, laugh maniac. Your Ommic virus, though it has invaded the Metal Spirit's space, can only remain on Steelbone's mechanical body."
"You're confident you can reclaim Cyborg because you can control his mechanical body, right? But you've forgotten that part of him is human—you can't control Cyborg's physical body, you can't take over the human Cyborg, and the part you can take over will soon be wiped out along with me by the Bullet Head Protocol."
"That's what the killing machine is saying."
He had long suspected that this mechanical body would be seen as a breakthrough point by the Batman Who Laughs. Machines are too easy to manipulate, and he could not be immune to the Batman Who Laughs' control unless he murdered him.
He held up Cyborg's mechanical body high, revealing another part he hadn't told the Laughing Maniac. For example, Cyborg's mechanical body was actually conscious. During the New 52 Eternal Era, after the Crime Syndicate's invasion, the Night Owl in the main universe transformed Cyborg's mechanical part into the villain [The Grid], which is also an intelligent AI.
Even if The Laughing gains Cyborg's mechanical body, he will also acquire a mechanical dog that could bite him at any moment. Furthermore, the Killing Machine has a bullet protocol built into the Grid's program, which can try to make The Laughing's efforts futile at crucial moments...
But this is just an experiment; his current goal is very clear:
"Give me a watchman, now, immediately."
Everything was part of his killing machine's plan.
He saw the Batman Who Laughs's eyes flicker.
He knew that the Batman Who Laughs was also thinking of leaving some traps for him, just like he had just thought of using the Bullet Protocol and the Grid to leave a trap for the Batman Who Laughs.
But so what? As long as the Batman Who Laughs really gives him the Monitor, just like he really gives Cyborg's mechanical body to the Batman Who Laughs, what he will gain will depend on his own methods, right?
"Okay, a fair trade." The maniac seemed to have a plan in mind again. He showed no anger, but instead pretended to be thinking seriously.
"For me, the surveillance system isn't very useful anymore—so, cash on delivery?"
"Cash on delivery." The killing machine repeated the other party's words and nodded.
Killing Machine kept his eyes fixed on the laughing Batman and the Flash beside him. He was prepared to fight back against the five-dimensional beings' magic; the laughing Batman wouldn't get the better of him.
Even the fastest could not break through the barrier of the Alfred Protocol's Afro Electronic Ghost.
But even at this point, neither of them considered making a proper deal with the other.
The killing machine stared intently at the unconscious Watcher, whom the Batman Who Laughs was holding in his hand.
He wanted to seize the other party's monitor, resorting to outright robbery.
He wasn't alone; besides Cyborg, he also captured Martian Manhunter and Ventriloquist from the Justice League. Both were now in his hands and could be used as combatants. He could then gang up on the Batman Who Laughs.
The Laughing Bat looked at the steel-boned mechanical part in the other's hand.
He was also weighing his options, wondering whether to try a counterattack. He had already guessed that the other side must have prepared magic to counter the five-dimensional Thunder Sprite, but what if this magic wasn't completely ineffective against the Thunder Sprite? What if he tried to make the Thunder Sprite self-destruct part of its body or unleash some mental attack, or even mobilize the Flash…
Is there any chance of breaking through the opponent's defense?
They were both thinking about the same thing, but in the end...
When the Monitor and the mechanical parts of the Steelbone were actually in their hands, neither the Batman Who Laughs nor the Killing Machine ultimately chose to take action.
"Pleasant to cooperate, killing machine." He laughed maniacally, but his face remained completely expressionless.
"It was a pleasure working with you, Bat of Laughter."
Half of the killing machine's body was eroded by the green bar in a very short time, and the Brother Eye on his chest had already gone out.
Kuangxiao watched helplessly as the other party stuffed the monitor into the Metal Spirit Space, and then his body was obliterated into a pile of junk metal by the Bullet Protocol.
"Heh." He let out a wild, cold laugh.
……
……
……
Lex Luthor bound the main universe's Batman into a mummy, and the parents gathered around him.
He was worried that Batman might cause some trouble again, but nothing happened.
He intended to take Batman out of the Firestorm Matrix space in front of him. He had already defeated his opponent, and in the time that followed, he needed to see if the other Justice League members had defeated their respective opponents.
But in that instant, he was momentarily dazed, suddenly feeling as if the scene before him had happened somewhere before.
Lex Luthor is completely ignorant about time; he is indeed a genius, but he cannot understand areas he has not explored.
Therefore, he couldn't sense that the path forward in the timeline had been severed, and the intuitive warning from the multiverse's hypertime flow wasn't enough for Lex Luthor to conjure up such an absurd idea. The cement of the timeline was reinforcing itself, constantly solidifying, and Luthor, like a fly solidified in resin, was oblivious to his impending destruction on the gradually solidifying timeline.
But just then, he heard a voice.
"Lex Luthor, I am Barbatos—I need you to hand over Batman to me."
With a snap, the cement road, which was almost half-solidified, was stirred up again by factors that were not Batman's doing.
(End of this chapter)