dhibooks Chapter 130 Superman and Eccentrics
Chapter 130 Superman and Eccentrics
Chapter 130 Superman and Eccentrics
Chen Tao sat in the seat of the extended Lincoln, dressed in a suit and tie, gazing absently out the window.
A gentle breeze was blowing, the sky was cloudless, and only countless white doves soared in the sky.
The in-car news channel was playing Louise Lane's calm and gentle female voice.
"Metropolitan historians divide the city's history into two periods: the period before Superman's arrival... and the period after his arrival."
"Metropolitan News Online" is a newly launched radio channel in Metropolitan, controlled by Bruce Wayne, with Louis Lane as the founder and main partner. It focuses on news and information on in-car channels and has a very promising future.
"It's hard to recall what life was like before that. The 'Superman Era' seems to have changed every aspect of urban life overnight."
"Police patrols, school classes, fashion politics... it seems even the weather has changed."
Chen Tao looked out the window. Countless protesters held up signs and confronted fully armed riot police. The time was peaceful and "not" good—but that's how the world is, so the world can probably be considered beautiful.
"In the months that followed, the metropolis had already weathered many storms, you know, like every city in human history."
Louis's voice narrated gently:
"The rate of violent crime is slowly rising, and corruption cases have shaken public confidence in leaders."
The extended Lincoln was parked behind the congested traffic, with an impatient driver and a constant honking of horns in front. However, thanks to the excellent sound insulation of the luxury car, it didn't seem noisy.
"The wind, back then, was still driven by air pressure and temperature, just like elsewhere."
Chen Tao heard Louis seem to chuckle softly on the news channel.
"Paying attention to this detail may seem odd, but inexplicably, one day, the wind direction was no longer driven by the forces of nature..."
The violent clashes caused by the protests ahead continued to escalate, with someone throwing a homemade Molotov cocktail at the police.
The police shouted loudly, and Chen Tao clearly saw the demonstrator who had just escalated into a mob pull out a gun.
"...but rather driven by crisis."
"A gust of wind blew across East Street, and a pedestrian was pulled back from the speeding road."
A gust of red and blue wind blew by, and the mob's guns fell to the ground, then were melted into molten iron by thermal vision.
Louis's voice was still ringing out:
"A strong gust of wind swept through the underground tunnels of the Morrison Express, and a child who had fallen onto the tracks was returned to his parents' arms."
People in the marching demonstration started screaming loudly:
"Look! That's Superman!"
Hey! Superman!
"Superman, look here!" People held up cameras and cell phones, and the flashes kept going off.
Inside the car's infotainment system, the pre-recorded audio from Louis was still playing, sounding slightly upbeat:
"As the clear skies of the hurricane swept in, a threat to survival was swept back into space."
"Before we fully understood how things went, all the rules were changed."
"The age of miracles has begun without warning!"
Chen Tao rolled down the car window and spotted Louise Lane in the crowd. Jimmy Olson carried the camera for her: "Hurry, Jimmy, we have a chance to interview the organizers of this anti-government demonstration!"
Chen Tao saw her struggling through the crowd and heard her voice coming from the car stereo:
"By chatting with any local in the metropolis, you can hear stories of this era..."
People cheered, everyone was chanting Superman. The sound was deafening. Clark Kent grabbed a few mobs and hung them on a nearby tree.
"But as with all the legendary tales of heroes' journeys, the city's enemies remain lurking, more difficult to confront and even harder to detect than ever before."
Deep within the universe, Brainiac sits high on his throne at the pinnacle of Metropolis, while Lex Luthor operates something at his workbench, and the Parasite roars loudly in the energy-suppressing prison.
"But as soon as we look up and see that red and blue figure, we'll know:"
"We can still have hope."
Louis Lane finally squeezed his way to a blonde woman: "Hello—I'm Louis Lane, a reporter for the Daily Planet. You're the organizer of this protest, right? How many people are here?"
"Approximately 30,000 to 40,000 people."
The camera focused on the blonde woman's face, and she pulled the camera away from Jimmy Olson's lens to ensure she was completely within the same frame as Superman, who was calming the public. And Louis's question rang out again:
"I heard your march is to protest lax law enforcement by the government, to the point that Superman is needed to replace the police?"
Louis asked, "Are you here to protest Superman?"
"No, no, no!"
The blonde woman quickly shook her head: "What we're protesting is why the police can't just delegate all the work they can't do to Superman?"
"Forehead……"
Louise paused, but her journalistic instincts kicked in, and she deliberately contradicted him, saying, "But many people say that Superman has rendered the police and fire departments meaningless; he's an illegitimate ruler!"
"That's right, Superman is a ruler!"
When she heard the other party admit it directly, Louise immediately thought she was about to get a big news story.
But the next second, she heard a confused voice say, "So, why hasn't Superman come and rule us yet?"
Ah this...
Then Louise saw the other woman take off her shirt and suddenly transform from a female protester into a female bodhisattva. She stumbled towards Superman, eliciting screams from the men: "Superman! Come and rule us!"
The young female reporter slapped her forehead. She yelled at Jimmy:
"What are you still standing there for? Cut this part right now!!!"
Chen Tao chuckled softly and rolled up the car window.
A few hours later, his car stopped in front of a building.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome Mr. Bruce Wayne to our masquerade charity auction!"
Pushing open the door, the hall was filled with clinking glasses and lively conversation. Most of the people were dressed in various costumes; some were dressed as Superman, some as Batman, but most were Wonder Woman, or other female villains—
The woman dressed as a bunny girl insisted that she was just playing the supervillain "White Rabbit," but Chen Tao thought she was just trying to sell her body.
"What kind of villain is this?" Chen Tao heard another woman ask.
"Hey, haven't you heard of that female villain in Las Vegas called 'Living Electric Wire'?" The female guest dressed as Living Electric Wire made a gesture of generating electricity: "Whoosh!"
Chen Tao put on his Batman costume.
To the strains of melodious music, he walked onto the stage: "Ahem, I'd like to say a few words."
Then he lowered his voice and said:
"I am Batman!"
"I am Batman!"
"Bruce Wayne is Batman!"
"Thank you, I'm done."
A thunderous applause erupted. Although I didn't know what the point of clapping was, I just followed along.
Then Chen Tao continued singing:
"I am blue?" (I am depressed)
"I am blue—"
Alfred stood below, a broad smile on his face. The days were peaceful and beautiful; he had dreamt of this scene countless times.
His Bruce Wayne dons the Batman costume, but only to sing a song at a masquerade ball, not to save the city.
Chen Tao stepped down from the podium, where Clark Kent, dressed in a Superman costume, was waiting for him.
"It's not easy to find you, you're such a busy person."
Chen Tao joked, "How many lives have you saved this time?"
"Don't even mention it," Superman said dejectedly. "Do you know about the suicide slums?"
Chen Tao nodded.
The suicide slum is one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the southern part of the metropolitan area, and some of the funds raised at today's charity gala will go there in addition to aiding Gotham.
"An angel has appeared in the suicide slum—never mind, I'll take you to see what's going on."
……
……
……
International help.
The most deeply entrenched gang in the metropolis, involved in drug trafficking, gambling, and numerous other illegal activities.
But today, an uninvited guest barged into their trading room.
"God, in the name of the Virgin Mary, in the name of God, what you are doing is utter blasphemy!"
The gangster gunman stared blankly at the old woman who appeared before him. She was a Black woman, dressed in simple floral clothing, with gray hair and a devout expression.
Facing the raised muzzle of his gun, the woman was not afraid at all; instead, she deliberately ran into the gun barrel.
"The great God will forgive your sins and send angels to defeat you!"
The gangster gunman was bewildered by this erratic behavior. He turned to look at his companion:
"Is this old woman mentally ill?"
"I'm not mentally ill; I'm perfectly sane. I'm here to spread the gospel of God and to save you lost sheep."
"I've heard of her," another gangster whispered to the gunman. "God, Bob, you should be watching the news instead of wasting your time on women or getting drunk every day. This woman is Severna Williams, nicknamed Angel. She's become famous in our neighborhood these days."
As the other person approached step by step with his hands clasped together and a devout expression, the gunman felt a little apprehensive.
"What's wrong with this person? Tell me in detail."
"Almighty and almighty Heavenly Father, my Almighty Lord—"
"hiss……"
The gunman looked troubled.
Facing the gun barrel, the other party cried out with pity while chanting the Gospel of God. The gangster gunman had never seen such a scene before.
"You know, our neighborhood is always...not very safe, and she always deliberately goes to dangerous places."
"Remember that robbery at the community bank last time? A bunch of out-of-towners, they don't follow our rules at all, but they have super firepower. I heard they came from Gotham. Their gangs have been silent for almost three months. I don't know why they're not allowed to commit crimes, so they crossed the line."
"I know about that, so what?"
"Then this woman rushed up and berated the robbers."
"ha?"
"Yes, everyone thought this old woman was crazy, but in the end..."
"Damn it!"
The gangster's face darkened instantly. He raised his gun and pointed it at the old woman. He knew what the aftermath of that incident was: all those thugs who had overstepped their bounds had been beaten to a pulp by Superman. He had to quickly take down this old woman who could summon Superman—
Clang!
The bullet struck the red and blue "S" emblem, and the gunman cursed, "Damn it!"
Then the gun in his hand was melted into molten iron by thermal vision.
The old woman named Severna, hiding behind Superman, jumped and danced, shouting, "Oh, praise be to Almighty God! Praise be to Almighty Jesus! You sent an angel to my side and saved me once again!"
Chen Tao, standing to the side, said, "Okay, I think I've figured out what happened."
Superman floated to the side of the devout old woman, Severna, and sighed, "Severna, I can't come to your rescue every time. You can't go on like this."
He scratched his head: "While I wouldn't mind coming to stop a crime, you should understand how dangerous it is to barge into a drug deal and stop them."
"No, it's not that you rushed here, but that Almighty God sent you to my side."
But clearly, Superman's words had no effect on the other party: "God heard the lamb's prayer and therefore sent you, angel, to me to help me from evil!"
She turned to Chen Tao, who was standing next to Clark: "Holy God! Another new angel has appeared before me!"
The old woman rushed up to Batman, her eyes sparkling with adoration: "Angel who fights evil, your lamb sends you its sincerest greetings!"
"..."
The two were speechless for a moment.
With a bang, Chen Tao was shot in the head. He and Clark turned to look at the international gang's gunmen.
Immediately afterwards, screams of agony from gangster gunmen echoed from inside the warehouse where the transaction took place.
"Aww!"
"what!"
"My leg is broken! My leg is broken!"
Amidst the flying bullets of the battlefield, the old woman, Sephna, began to sing to herself:
"Holy is the Lord! Holy is the angel!"
She sang with the melodious voice of a church choir all by herself. Superman quickly shielded her from all the bullets aimed at her, and then knocked down the gangsters with a few punches.
A few minutes later, the police who rushed over caught the international gang members, who were beaten black and blue, red-handed. The old woman, Sevna, was still there, defiantly proclaiming the glory of God and her own set of supreme good theories to the police.
Chen Tao found it difficult to evaluate the other party.
"In life, you're bound to encounter one or two oddballs," he comforted Clark.
"This is the third time this week that she has stormed into a gang's deal."
Clark quipped, "One day I'll be too late to save her."
Chen Tao patted him on the shoulder: "Let's not talk about this anymore, Clark. Are you ready to start being Batman tonight?"
"Of course." Clark nodded, then hesitated before asking, "Are you really going to retire?"
"Of course," Chen Tao said without hesitation. "Put on the Batman suit first. I've been wanting you to deal with Gotham's gang problems for a long time!"
……
……
……
With a bang.
Ms. Shiva and Bain stood side by side.
"What happened?"
Jason asked in a low voice, "Professor Shiva?"
He stared at Bane: "This guy's gotten stronger?"
"It's not that I've become stronger, but that your teacher has become weaker." Then he heard the voice of the colossal giant: "You are still the world's greatest martial artist, but you are no longer indisputable."
This was undoubtedly a huge insult, but Ms. Shiva did not respond.
A bead of cold sweat trickled down Jason's forehead. Shiva wasn't in good shape, and an enemy like Bane...
"To be honest, the problems between us aren't serious, especially since we have Batman as a common enemy."
Bain said, "But I'll still choose to beat you down before I talk."
He said, "After we settle our scores, we might be able to team up against Batman."
"This time, I'm going to break Batman's back!"
(End of this chapter)