manynovel Chapter 516 Wisdom is like water droplets condensing into mist.
Chapter 516 Wisdom is like water droplets condensing into mist.
Chapter 516 Wisdom is like water droplets condensing into mist.
"No, Batman not only hid one in your spine, but also one in your heart!"
(Note: For the foreshadowing above, please refer to Chapter 364, where Chen Tao proactively informs Nightwing.)
Luther yanked Nightwing off the ground: "Didn't he tell you that the one in the spine was just a decoy to distract Night Owl, and the one in the heart was the real one...?"
But Luther's question only earned him a wry smile from Nightwing: "I already told you, Lex..."
"Call me Mr. Luther!" Luther suddenly grabbed a non-existent strand of hair from his head. "Your father and I are strategic partners!"
"Hehe." Nightwing agreed, but this issue of form of address was of no help to their current situation.
Nightwing gave a wry smile and said, "Batman did prepare two Joker virus kits for me, but the Joker serum that used Brainiac's shrinking ray and was stored on my heart valve didn't escape Night Owl's detection."
"Night Owl is much more powerful than we imagined. He not only examined my entire body and found all the Joker virus hidden in me, but he also used his telepathic abilities to break through the mental defenses that Batman left on me. Batman originally expected that he would develop feelings for me, his counterpart, because of that Claw Dick Grayson, but in fact, those feelings were not enough to influence his actions, let alone shake his rationality."
"So..." he said.
"So...?" Luther asked, "Have we completely failed?"
"My presence here won't last long. Night Owl will soon find out that we didn't choose to look for the Wolf, but came directly to you. The troops he was originally moving towards the Wolf will also start to be drawn here."
"I dare say that Night Owl would never let Lady Styx or any cosmic overlord-level ally come looking for me. Instead, he would send at least two people—this is an improvement on Lady Styx's previous leniency towards us. What they did could not escape Night Owl's eyes."
"Just facing Lady Styx alone is already difficult enough for me. Once Night Owl gathers more than two combatants, the situation on our side will be completely one-sided."
Sweat beaded on Luther's bald head, dripping down like rain: "Damn it, my preparations weren't like this at all..."
"What preparations have you made?" Nightwing asked. Luther had originally planned to let the silly boy play by himself while he seized every opportunity to ignite the flame of wisdom, but suddenly he changed his mind.
A certain intuition ignited Luther's thoughts; his soul was shrouded in mist, shrouded in a fog, unable to see the future. He vaguely sensed something, but couldn't quite grasp the key point.
He whirled around and grabbed Nightwing's shoulder: "Repeat exactly what Batman told you!"
"Oh, okay, that day..."
Nightwing was about to speak when Luther interrupted him: "Wait, no need. I want to read your memories directly."
Without a word, Luther pushed Nightwing to the ground, then removed his armor and sat cross-legged in front of him. The armor behind him moved on its own, and then a large number of nanomechanical chains extended from his abdomen and draped over Luther's bald head. Then another chain connected to Nightwing's head without warning.
In an instant, a large number of memories were synchronized into Luther's mind. Although it was a targeted reading and Nightwing had no power to resist, the mental shock still caused Luther, a mortal, to bleed from his nose.
But his eyes were bloodshot, and he clenched his bloodied teeth.
I need to figure this out, I need to figure this out, what exactly is Batman...?
"...The Night Owl who strangled Nightwing would have made the biggest mistake of his life, because..."
"...Nightwing summons the Berserker Wolf...the Berserker Wolf is beaten to a pulp...Night Owl is unable to kill the Berserker Wolf, which can regenerate from its wounds, but he is very likely to... render it incapable of saving Nightwing..."
Luther held his head in his hands.
No. What is it? What is it? How can we cut through the fog and see the truth?
tell me!
Both Wolf and Nightwing have been on Batman's operating table. One donated his own cells, and the other received transplanted and modified cells... At least that's what Batman publicly claims, but it's possible he's lying.
"...Dick, have you ever thought about dying? Pshaw, I mean, have you ever thought about becoming a superhuman with healing abilities...?"
A bolt of lightning suddenly struck Luthor's head; the clue was so obvious that Batman had deliberately misspoke in his previous statement, he...
Luther suddenly let out a nervous chuckle, and then his shoulders began to tremble.
He finally guessed it; he suddenly realized it!
So-called wisdom is both a sharp blade that cuts through the fog and a drop of water that condenses into the fog.
He was too clever and too confident in his plans, to the point that he couldn't see things clearly.
This is a mistake that only smart people make. The more intelligent you are, the more you feel that you are in control of the situation, the more often you will fall into a vicious cycle that restricts yourself.
And the owl will inevitably make this mistake, so prevention is useless; it's not a problem that can be solved by prevention alone.
This is a curse upon all those who possess wisdom, a mockery of their wisdom. How can a wise man be deceived? What kind of person can deceive a wise man?
There is no one but the wise man himself.
"Are you alright? We need to find a way to escape. Night Owl will be here soon, and there's no time to waste."
Nightwing watched as Lex Luthor laughed and cried, feeling anxious. It wasn't that he looked down on Luthor's skills, but even the best technology couldn't withstand such a sophisticated alarm system for too long.
Every second they stay here increases the risk of being spotted and caught by owls. So why not run?
"I've prepared a 8-megaton nuclear bomb for Night Owl's Gotham City," Nightwing heard Luther say. "It's about eight times more powerful than the Tsar Bomba."
(Note: The Tsar Bomba was a nuclear bomb detonated by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It had a yield of 5000 tons, which was about 700 times more powerful than the "Little Boy" bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan.)
"You've prepared a backup plan. Will this help us escape?" Nightwing was both surprised and delighted.
"Of course I didn't expect to subdue Night Owl with just such a small bomb. Neither Lady Styx nor his group of cosmic overlords would be unable to find a way to stop this explosion. But the problem is that the nuclear bomb, besides destroying Night Owl's Gotham City, was also a trigger."
Nightwing didn't even understand what Luther was trying to do for a moment, but then he realized what was going on and was shocked.
"What? You want to destroy the entire Gotham City? There are at least millions, tens of millions of people there! No, we can't do that. Listen to me, Luther, they're all living, breathing people..."
Nightwing was startled. He hadn't expected Luther to be so explosive. If things went according to his plan, not only Gotham, but also several surrounding cities would be doomed.
"Enough! Do you think our original plan to abandon this universe was so benevolent?" Nightwing wanted to say something more, but Luther pushed him down.
"Through this activation procedure, I linked this nuclear explosion to the acceleration of this universe. I have secretly handled every propulsion tower built by Night Owl. If too many propulsion towers are damaged, the acceleration of this universe will decrease, and if the Anti-Monitor catches up, we will die."
Luther said, "So what I'm telling you is, we still have a chance to fight Night Owl, and that's the end of this topic. I'm not really going to do that, I'm just using it to threaten Night Owl."
He forcefully extinguished the original Robin's questions about the nuclear explosion harming residents, and by diverting attention, he made Dick refocus his attention from going astray.
"Besides the nuclear bomb that was secretly placed in Gotham City beforehand, I also have dozens of low-yield miniature nuclear bombs in my possession, which can be used as weapons in a direct confrontation."
Luther had already located Wolf's position using satellite imagery, and he immediately gave Nightwing the order: "Follow me. I know where Wolf is. We need to find him."
He chatted with Nightwing for a while longer, then let him go ahead and quickly escaped the cage that Night Owl had prepared for him.
And while Nightwing wasn't paying attention...
Luther manipulated the armor, causing it to sprout numerous metal tentacles, secretly erasing a small portion of his memory of having just grasped the Batman plan, leaving only his preparations for what he intended to do.
Great, once he erases those memories, even if he's captured, the other party can use telepathy to read his memories...
They wouldn't even realize Batman's plan.
……
……
……
"Night Owl's plan has gone awry."
In another corner of Gotham City, inside an owlhole base where the wolf is imprisoned.
The Despair Demon's enormous pink body leaned against the wall of the owl's cave, his single eye closed, sitting cross-legged, seemingly dozing.
At that moment, Lady Styx was sitting in a chair next to her.
"Night Owl is mistaken. Luther's primary target is not the Wolf of the Wilds, but Nightwing." Lady Styx, sitting in her chair, was so bored that she controlled the humanoid figures made of dark matter that obeyed her commands to find him a rock, which she then crushed to dust in an instant.
"It seems that our leader is not as shrewd as we thought," said Lady Styx.
"I have already informed Night Owl of the situation. He will make a decision after he understands it." The three-eyed pink-skinned alien did not intend to respond to Ms. Styx's malicious remark, because he knew very well that behind those two sarcastic remarks lay countless tests.
He had heard about the other party's attempts to form alliances with other cosmic overlords, but at least for now, the Despair Demon did not intend to get involved.
Soon after, they received a communication from Night Owl.
"Things haven't developed as we predicted yet. Luther went to rescue Nightwing first, probably because he thinks the other side is easier."
Through the screen, Night Owl said, "But despite this little incident, they still can't give up on the Wolves."
"The opponent's strength far exceeds Nightwing's, enough to change the course of the battle. Even if Luther rescues Nightwing, he will definitely bring him to find the Wolf.
As Night Owl spoke, he subtly exchanged a glance with the wolf in the cage through the screen.
"That's why I've deployed you here to block him, and to prevent Luther from having any plans. Gentlemen, I've prepared a new ally for you."
The Despair Demon and Lady Styx exchanged a glance.
who is it?
"The second-generation Amozzo droid, controlled by Dr. Ivo," Night Owl said. "Although its power is not as great as the third-generation Amozzo droid responsible for guarding the Propulsion Tower, it's still stronger than the ordinary company members around you. The three of you working together should be able to capture Luther alive, right?"
Night Owl said, "I have nothing more to say... Let's get this done, allies. I believe we should all stick together, at least until we escape the clutches of the Anti-Monitors, don't you think, Lady Styx?"
Lady Styx looked rather displeased; the fact that the other party had directly called him out meant that her affair had been discovered.
"In short, your setup is far beyond what Luther can handle. No matter how strong he is, he can't possibly rescue the Wolf from your clutches."
At this moment, Wolf was lying in his cell, seemingly oblivious to everything. The eye contact he had just exchanged with Night Owl was completely like an illusion.
With the communication ending, Lady Styx and Despair Demon continued to guard this innermost location, while the other members of the Super Villain Secret Society waited for them outside.
"Is Luther really coming?" Lady Styx said. "This is utter suicide. In our previous encounter, although I failed to capture him, I have gained a general understanding of Luther and his creation's combat capabilities."
The Demon of Despair didn't respond. Lady Styx wanted to say something more, but then...
"Attention! Attention! Someone has invaded Owl Cave! Attention! Someone has entered Owl Cave!"
A piercing alarm sounded from behind the screen, and this time, even the Despair Demon, who seemed more composed than Styx, began to feel a little curious.
Luther clearly has the potential to evade surveillance; he clearly has the ability to do so, and he even did it when facing Nightwing before. But now, he's brazenly waving his arms around to the point of triggering a warning.
What's going on?
"Luthor has really come. What makes him think he can defeat us? Is it his damaged mech, or his mortal body injured by Lady Styx? Is it his artifact, or Dick Grayson, who is utterly powerless against us?"
The Demon of Despair pondered silently:
"From any perspective, Luther is destined to lose this time, so why is he even here?"
(End of this chapter)