rpbooks Chapter 645 I Trusted the Joker's Malice as I Trusted Myself
Chapter 645 I Trusted the Joker's Malice as I Trusted Myself
Chapter 645 I trusted the Joker (his malice) as much as I trusted myself.
Barbatos began to conscript his legions.
Before actually intending to do this, Barbatos hadn't thought about whether he should invest such a huge amount of money. After all, the last time he tried to deal with Batman Dragon, he almost lost out. If he hadn't decisively betrayed his teammate at the crucial moment and drained his blood, he might have actually suffered losses in that gamble.
Ultimately, however, everything was merely icing on the cake for Barbatos. He needed time, he needed to lie low. For this, he could wait, he could betray his promises, and even suffer damage to his prestige, making him seem like a petty, clown. But so what?
Barbatos used to be a dog.
This is not an insult, but a fact that Barbatos never denies. Otherwise, with his current divine power, he would at least be able to keep his origins a secret.
Being of humble birth is not a disgrace; scheming and opportunism are Barbatos's protective coloration.
Barbatos had been waiting.
He wasn't waiting for a momentary victory or defeat, but for the grand trend, a grand trend that mortals couldn't imagine being driven by over time.
(Note: "Major Event" refers to the Dark Nights: Metal major event.)
From the Final Crisis period (note: choosing the main universe's Batman as his portal) to the New 52 period (note: gradually guiding the major event "Batman: Endgame" through the main universe's Court of Owls, allowing the Dionysus factor to enter Batman's body), this overwhelming trend has been surging and unstoppable.
For Barbatos, his deals with Batman Dragon or the Black Death were at best a game of chess with prizes to be won.
However, Barbatos was the one who had the ability to overturn the chessboard.
When the moment arrives, when the night of the Dark Multiverse envelops the main universe and the entire Positive Matter Multiverse, all the previous winners will kneel before Barbatos and relinquish everything they have won.
Barbatos waited patiently, and even though the Batman Dragon fooled him so much, even taking away a quarter of the Dark Multiverse Dragon's position, he never insisted on fighting it out.
He was lying low, seeking not temporary success or failure, but the lifelong ambition, aspirations, glory, and dreams—the burning ambition to dominate the entire multiverse, the greatest achievement he pursued.
He aims to become the sole sixth-dimensional deity walking among mortals! He seeks to unify dark matter energy, antimatter energy, and positive matter energy! He will dominate the entire multiverse and the trans-timeline, traversing the past, future, and present, accomplishing feats that neither the Anti-Monitor nor the World Forger could achieve!
Faced with such a grand goal, Barbatos was never truly on the same level as the Black Death Emperor or even Batman's Dragon.
He never goes all out; he always manages to stay in control. Even if Batman Dragon sends Parallax Morhal and Superman Supreme into the World Forge and onto his face, he has the ability to send them all back to their own timeline.
He always lingered in the crucible of the world, never truly leaving it.
Whether it was his plan to create the Bat-Dragon Anti-Monitor, or his agreement with the Black Death to allow the latter to invade the Bat-Dragon universe, for Barbatos, it was all a gamble. Winning would be great, as it would enhance his power, but even if he lost, it would only mean putting in some effort to get back what he had lost once the tide turned.
But now, for Barbatos, the situation is slightly different.
Brainiac stewed a pot of fragrant meat soup called "Multiverse Fusion," and whoever could drink it might just gain power infinitely close to that of a sixth-dimensional god...
Barbatos must nip this potential competitor in the bud.
So when he discovered what the Batman Who Laughs had done and the existence of Brainiac, Barbatos was forced to participate in the gamble, and then decide whether to forcefully overturn the table depending on the situation.
Once you sit down at the gambling table, you have to put up chips, and even Barbatos is no exception. Although Barbatos knows that if he loses this game, it will be difficult to immediately recover his losses from his companions, he has to get involved to control the situation.
Therefore, Barbatos's chips are now here.
"Killing Machine, The Bat Who Laughs, has done something foolish. From this moment forward, you will temporarily assume the leadership of the Dark Knights."
In the melting pot of the world.
Although the world-forgers who once ruled this place are no longer here, and the Barbatos who have gathered here have not forged a new universe for many years, the embers of the fire that have not yet burned out still illuminate the eyes of the killing machine.
"Bruce, that's good, Bruce... You're safe now, you're safer now, but not completely safe yet... We still need to find an even safer way... What can I do for you?"
"What can I do for you?"
"What can I do for you?"
In the world seen by the killing machine, a phantom of Alfred whispers incessantly in his ear, repeating and urging him on.
"Thank you," he said.
Barbatos nodded. For a long time, the followers he had recruited were the rewards he had won at the small gambling tables time and time again.
These small rewards can help him become stronger when the time is right, providing him with more power, and now is the time for these small rewards to come into play.
"You make the arrangements. You and the other members of the Knights will each command a portion of the Dark Multiverse Legion, with Cheetah and Wonder Woman assisting you."
In addition to the Dark Knights, Barbatos also commands a large army from the Dark Multiverse, composed of all the Dark Multiverse Gu Kings he has subdued.
Most of them destroyed their own universes, and a few did not, but what they all have in common is that they are now all loyal to Barbatos.
Most of them are relatively weak, at least weaker than the Justice League of the main universe. This is due to the inherent flaws in their universes; even if they were strong enough to destroy their own universes, they would still pale in comparison to the main universe.
However, there are also a few powerful characters among them, such as Wonder Woman, a combination of Wonder Woman from a dark multiverse and her nemesis Cheetah, and Diana, who is infected by the magical curse of the God of Hunting, and whose heart is filled with the evil thoughts imprinted by Cheetah Barbara after her death.
Her power is strong enough to rival Wonder Woman from the main universe for a short time, and there is more than one such character in the Dark Multiverse Legion.
Barbatos deployed the entire legion and then sent members of the Dark Knight Legion to command these soldiers.
He had staked almost every soldier he could muster in his future invasion of the main universe on this gamble, and if he failed…
There weren't any serious consequences. Barbatos invaded the main universe using his own power. Even without the help of his minions, it wouldn't change the fact that Barbatos was able to come to the main universe... Well, it will definitely make his great undertaking much more difficult.
"I entrust these soldiers to you and your other members. I ask you to spread my power and leave my mark in that world dominated by Reverse Lightning," Barbatos said.
Simply put, all the members of these Dark Multiverse Legions have submitted to him, accepted his enslavement and power, and thus become part of Barbatos's will. Sending these members in large numbers to the battlefield of the Reverse-Flash Universe to join forces with the Black Emperor's Black Lantern Legion can not only greatly suppress Batman Dragon's arrogance, but also insert his own Barbatos's power into this world.
After the death of all living beings in this world is attributed to the Black Death Emperor, the remaining energy and Reverse-Flash will be divided equally between him and Brainiac. The power of Barbatos, which has been incorporated into the world, can then be used as bombs he plants for Brainiac.
Although Barbatos was unaware that the World Forgers wanted to use Brainiac to absorb the quantum power belonging to Dr. Manhattan from the Flashpoint universe of Reverse-Flash, he undoubtedly made the best choice based on the information he currently possessed.
"The drowned souls will take your place in the Dark Knights and temporarily assume command of the entire battlefield. As for you, I have another task for you."
Barbatos cut to the chase, saying, "I need your help to travel upstream in the Hypertime Stream to assist the Emperor Jester and help him thwart the arrival of Parallax Morhal."
"My influence over the upstream of the timeline is limited, and I cannot project my power there. Nor can I have any impact on the situation there. But it's different if you are there. Through you as my node, I can help the Emperor Joker and lend him a hand."
……
……
……
"Batman, you've got to come up with something."
Not far away, the white-light Seneca was wreaking havoc among the black-light zombie horde.
The half of his body that originally belonged to the Black Lantern had turned completely white. Although he still wore a Black Lantern ring on his hand, which was tightly bound to his finger like a dog leash, he could no longer control Sinestro's actions.
Chen Tao arranged for Arlene Sue to appear next to Sinestro... This is simply the most vicious and hellish joke.
Arlin Su, whose husband had died, and Seneca, whose wife had died, joined forces, both of them equipped with spirit rings, and rampaged through the zombie horde, looking like a perfect couple.
Is this appropriate?
It's perfect.
Even so, the white light that pierced the sky could not affect any living creatures.
Things changed completely after Barbatos' Dark Multiverse Legion joined the battle.
Chen Tao and Reverse Lightning transformed into two beams of red and yellow light, while the three members of the Dark Knights surrounded them.
Not far away, members of the Lantern Squad were fighting against members of the Dark Multiverse Legion mixed among the Black Lantern Zombies.
Under Chen Tao's control, the Lantern Horror single-handedly took on Cheetah, Wonder Woman, and more than a dozen different versions of Superman and Wonder Woman, along with some second-tier heroes like Elongated Man.
The Lightning Lantern was suppressed by some kind of magical rune, and a large number of legion members rushed forward, almost like a human pyramid, with violent explosions ringing out incessantly.
Chen Tao's Wonder Woman leads the Justice Alliance in a battle against the Wonder Queen of the Reverse-Flash universe and King Arthur of Atlantis, but they are overwhelmed by the tides of Gu Kings from different dark multiverses.
Despite the difficulty of the battle, the situation remained under control, and no major casualties had occurred, thanks to Chen Tao's presence.
Even with the three Dark Knights joining forces, they couldn't stop Chen Tao's reinforcements. Their lack of top-tier combat power prevented them from achieving any significant results, but even so, Barbatos's objective had already been achieved.
"The Black Death Emperor is coming," Reverse-Flash said. "Once he holds you back, everything is over."
"There are these damn things..."
"Barbatos' Dark Multiverse Legion," Chen Tao reminded him.
"Yes, that's right. These damned legions are holding us back, while the Black Emperor's Black Lantern Legion is killing people all over the universe. The more people he kills, the stronger he becomes. Once he has wiped out everyone in the entire universe except for us, the Black Emperor will be able to display unparalleled power in this universe. That's what you just told me... I understand correctly, right?"
"Yes, that's what I mean," Chen Tao said. "But don't worry."
He paused, then said with certainty:
"The Emperor Clown will help us send Hal here."
Reverse Flash could no longer hold back.
"How many times have you said this already? Do you really believe he would do it?"
He pointed sharply at the Dark Multiverse Legion outside. He had just used a supersonic chop to slice open the neck of an evil version of Captain Cold. This damned Captain Cold not only had Mr. Freeze's equipment, but also had Bane's tubes inserted into his back and Wonder Woman's lasso hanging from his waist. It was a complete mess. Reverse-Flash was caught off guard and almost suffered a great loss.
Even after he narrowly escaped and killed his opponent with a hand chop, he still watched helplessly as the fallen, evil version of Captain Cold got up from the ground, and the wounds on his body quickly disappeared.
The members of the Dark Multiverse Legion have all submitted to Barbatos. As long as Barbatos is alive, they are immortal. Apart from the Tenth Metal, nothing can truly harm them. Even without Barbatos supplying them with energy, they would at most be beaten into a deep sleep. Now, with Barbatos' full power supply, they are almost more like Black Lantern Corpses than Black Lantern Corpses themselves.
Reverse Flash, panting heavily, killed his opponent once more, then violently hurled him away at near the speed of light.
Then he turned to Batman and said, "I believe in the Emperor Joker. I believe in him as much as I believe in myself."
He saw Batman shaking his head and simply saying, "We have to hold on... hold on, you know?"
Reverse Lightning turned around and saw even more Legion members howling and charging at him, all sorts of strange shapes and sizes.
Nora Allen, the mother of a certain evil version of The Flash, lunged at him wielding the skull of The Flash, Barry Allen.
A certain evil version of Aquaman appears to have merged with a chemical waste monster, its head transformed into a fish tank, spewing poisonous gas.
What kind of outrageous hellish scrolls are these?
"You demon of Christ who has seen Jesus."
"Reverse Lightning said."
(End of this chapter)