American comics: You're asked to fish, but you catch a Superman template?

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"very good"

Superman raised his head, pushed off with his feet, and charged forward again. It's no exaggeration to say that Superman was faster than a bullet; he successfully ended the fight before Batman's sluggish nervous system could send alarms to his central nervous system. Before Batman's eyes could even process an image, the shadow of a fist appeared before him.

"Krona!!"

With a long, sharp metallic clang, Batman's suddenly outstretched right hand gripped Superman's fist like an iron shirt. The momentum forced his heavily armored body back a few inches, sinking into the ground, but he ultimately charged towards Superman's divine power.

Superman paused, somewhat confused. He instinctively opened his mouth to ask, "How...?", but before he could finish, Batman's metal fist interrupted him. Iron Man flew back the way he came, crashing into four or five walls of Arkham Manor like building blocks.

Ordinary people can't even imagine how much money Batman spent on this armor. The armor's power system, comparable to Superman's, missile defense, and built-in computer that can barely keep up with Superman's one-hit kill speed are all the result of scrimping and saving to be able to fight Superman.

Yes, this special armor was designed to fight Superman, who was his best friend in life. They were still best friends when he designed this armor.

However, despite his thorough preparations, it was far from enough considering his opponent's strength. Batman lost his advantage of being caught off guard, and facing a serious Superman, he had no chance of winning. A few seconds later, Batman was knocked down again, this time more heavily than before. He vaguely heard a cracking sound, and rain was whipped up by the biting wind, splashing onto his face. It could be the sound of armor shattering, or the sound of bones breaking, or both.

As Batman struggled to his feet, rain mixed with blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, and a visor on his helmet emitted a pale blue glow. His vision was blurred as he looked up at Superman, who was descending before him as if passing through a layer of mist.

“Bruce, I see you have two broken ribs.” Superman coldly replied, “Let me do what you should have done a long time ago.”

Bruce could no longer see Superman's face clearly, only a blurry outline. He heard a familiar yet unfamiliar voice, a voice that seemed to transcend time and space, drawing him into a vortex of memories.

He felt as if he had returned to that summer when he was twelve years old, vacationing with Alfred at Kent Farm in Kansas.

By then, he and Clark had known each other for a long time and met whenever they had the chance. One summer day, Clark's adoptive father, Jonathan, suddenly discovered that his son had disappeared from his bedroom in the middle of the night. The Kents and Alfreds were terrified. They searched the farm, calling out Clark's name, but could only hear the rustling of the cold wind blowing through the cornfield.

Clark was a very special child. His adoptive parents were shrouded in many unexplained mysteries, so it wasn't surprising that he suddenly disappeared from home one day. The adults panicked, gathering in the house with the lights on, discussing what to do. Little Bruce, who was sleeping in the guest room, didn't wake up, but the adults' commotion did. He didn't say a word, but heard the conversation outside the hidden door in the living room and realized what had happened. He went back to his room, silently put on his coat, and silently pressed his face against the window.

The night wasn't cold, but a fierce wind blew. The terrible wind continued to howl through the wheat fields, the crops swaying grotesquely in the bright moonlight. The young lord pulled his cloak tighter, trying not to think about Gotham's horrific ghost stories, and, based on his impressions of the farm from the day, stumbled toward the massive cylindrical building.

It was an old man's hut named Koda. One day, Clark pointed to it and told Bruce that he loved it. Sometimes he liked to jump seven or eight feet high and enjoy the breeze brought by gravity, and sometimes when he was in a bad mood, he liked to hide in the hut and reflect. This used to be his little secret, unknown even to the Kent family, until he shared it with Bruce.

Bruce found Clark here. When Bruce walked in, Clark was wearing pajamas, sitting with his knees drawn up to the moonlight streaming in from the window, gazing up at the dark night sky.

Bruce found an empty seat next to him and pulled his expensive black coat tighter. Clark remained silent, as if bewitched, sitting awkwardly beside him without saying a word.

This delicate and protracted battle of patience ended with Clark conceding defeat, finally giving up and asking Bruce with a lewd look, "What are you doing here?"

“That’s my problem,” Bruce said.

Clark stared at the moonlight at his feet, pondered for a moment, then fell silent again. Bruce took a step back, leaning against the barn wall behind him, and said, "If you're troubled by being different, you can tell me, and I'll know."

"How could that be?" Clark turned his head in surprise. Bruce couldn't help but laugh at his friend's naivety; his instinctive reaction immediately confirmed that Bruce was telling the truth.

Bruce smiled smugly, shrugged, and said, "...You're not good at hiding secrets; you're too easily discovered. Tell me, why are you here looking at the moon in the middle of the night?"

Clark lowered his head, looking like a wounded rabbit. "I had a nightmare."

"Bruce said, "I have nightmares almost every day."

"When I woke up, I found two holes had been punched in the roof."

"...This situation is not common."

“I’m worried,” Clark said, bowing his head. “Mom said that if people knew my abilities, they would be afraid of me, and I think they should be afraid of me. I mean… I don’t even know who I am. Maybe one day I’ll wake up and the whole farm will have been burned down because of me.”

“But you didn’t,” Bruce said.

"Only so far"

Clark seemed determined, and Bruce, knowing his new friend as he did, knew that nothing he said could change his mind at this point. Bruce thought for a moment and said, "Okay, if that's what you think, I promise if you actually do it, I'll beat you up."

Clark gave him a lewd look, then chuckled and shook his head: "No, you can't do that."

"What, you want to make a big bet?"

Clark looked at his confident demeanor and asked skeptically, "If that's the case, can you really stop me?"

“Of course,” Bruce said confidently. He patted Clark on the shoulder. “Let’s go back, they’ll worry if we’re late.”

At this very moment, a torrential downpour is falling on Arkham Manor.

Batman lay on his back on the ground, his thick armor severely deformed. Superman stood with one foot on his chest, his icy gaze fixed on him, yet a red halo of heat vision flickered within it.

Bruce took a couple of deep breaths, inhaling the damp air mixed with the torrential rain, and resolutely clenched his fist.

When a blinding green light flashed from the belt of the bat armor, the red light in Superman's eyes vanished like a spark in the wind. He cried out "Ah!" and stepped aside, his water-soaked face ashen white.

Batman tensed, trying to stand up, while Superman stared in bewilderment at the blinding green light source at his waist, exclaiming, "You are...!"

"Kryptonite generator, Clark, use kryptonite as the power source." Batman said to Superman in a hoarse, deep voice, "I made a promise to you, and now it's time to keep it."

Chapter 1682 Asking for help

Wednesday, early morning.

The rising sun gradually engulfed the sleeping metropolis, and Xu Fu returned to his dormitory from Gotham before dawn fully bathed the city. Although the nights in Gotham were quite exciting, that didn't stop him from needing to get back to school before sunrise to attend his first class in the morning.

He silently walked back to his room, trying not to make a sound so as not to disturb his sleeping roommate. Mike was sleeping like a log, snoring loudly as if the roof were about to collapse, completely oblivious to the fact that someone had entered. Xu Fu was grateful, but also worried, because it meant that from now on he would have to get to the dorm to sleep before his roommate.

Xu Fu wasn't usually attentive in class, and after his battle with Superman last night, he was even less focused. Throughout the morning's classes, he sat at his desk with his chin propped up on his hand, seemingly listening to the professor but not thinking. His mind was completely occupied with Superman; he spent most of the class staring at the treetops outside the window, unconsciously fiddling with his biology pen.

With twenty minutes left in class, a sharp, piercing sound came from outside the window, penetrating the space and striking his heart at a snail's pace.

Xu Fu couldn't help but shudder; his biological clock involuntarily sank to the ground. The sound was simply torture; the cruel sound effects were reminiscent of the sound of a chainsaw at close range on a construction site, almost enough to explode one's head.

Xu Fu instinctively covered his ears, but this, of course, did little to eliminate his exceptional hearing. He looked around: the professor on the podium was still spitting, the students were still listening, and no one else noticed the unbearable sound waves except for him.

Xu Fu quickly realized that this was an ultrasonic wave that only he could hear, but where was it coming from? Had someone deliberately turned it on so that he could hear it? Or was it just an ultrasonic experiment being conducted in a laboratory?

Perhaps after today, he would ask Kara how to actively block out his super hearing, but right now he felt a little lost. Ignoring that he was still in class, he got up and walked out of the classroom in full view of everyone, found an empty seat, took off his jacket, put on the Superman costume, and screamed as he rushed toward the source of the sound.

Metropolitan City was a wasteland, filled with abandoned houses.

Amanda Waller stood with her hands behind her back, her eyes narrowed to slits as she gazed up at the metropolitan blue sky through the small round lenses of her glasses. Two agents in black followed closely behind, one on each side, while a horn-shaped device flashed a red light, indicating it was activated, and emitted a piercing high-pitched sound wave throughout the city.

People can't hear this frequency; recently, Superman has been stopping a riot on the other side of the world, and only one person in the town can hear it.

When a figure in a red and blue uniform appeared above the open space, Amanda Waller gave a weak smile. She waved to her subordinates behind her to turn off the microphone, then looked up at the sky and said, "Since you're all here, why don't you come down and talk?"

Her voice was soft, just like when she spoke in private, but she knew the Kryptonians dozens of meters above could hear her. Xu Fu hovered in the air, looking at Waller, his brows furrowing slightly.

When minor characters from comics appear in the real world, there are naturally some differences. Therefore, Xu Fu couldn't recognize some of the original comic book characters he encountered in this world at a glance. But Amanda Waller was an exception; Xu Fu recognized her immediately, simply because her figure was so striking. Judging from Xu Fu's height, she looked like a black ball of flesh, tightly wrapped in a blue suit, and her unusual, resolute gaze was practically her calling card.

Based on his understanding of the comics, Xu Fu recalled that Amanda Waller was the leader of an organization called "The Eye Society," similar to Nick Fury from Marvel's "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." She was a rather ruthless character, possessing most of the secret identities and flaws of Superman in the original comics, and she remained part of many unknown secrets.

The current situation seems to suggest that she deliberately used this sonic device to lure herself here, which is at least a good sign. Waller doesn't yet know the new Superman's true identity, otherwise she would be sitting cross-legged in Xu Fu's dormitory right now, waiting for him to return.

Xu Fu thought for a while, then landed and stood in front of Waller. He didn't know what the other was up to, but at least he couldn't let the other see the weakness in his aura.

Amanda Waller decided to strike first: "You want to see me?"

Waller was clearly surprised. "You know me?"

“I know who you are, so let’s skip the pleasantries.” Xu Fu hesitated for a moment: “What can I do for you?”

He might be more difficult to deal with than previously thought. Waller mentally updated the database of the new Superman, then said calmly, "You know me, so we can really skip the introductions and I'll get straight to the point. Remember the unusual storm in the Philippine Sea a week ago?"

"Remember." Xu Fu clasped his hands together, waiting for her to speak.

"I saw your performance on the news; it was truly brave and admirable," Waller said, without a trace of admiration on his face. "It was just a little careless."

"what?"

"I bet while you were busy helping out, you didn't use your super eyes to look at the ocean and investigate the cause of this abnormal weather."

Xu Fu didn't mind; she was telling the truth. At the time, Xu Fu hadn't even thought about observing the causes of the climate.

“My people are observing that we’ve discovered a massive energy source on the seabed off the Philippines,” she said. “This energy signal is extremely powerful and highly unstable, and could trigger further disasters. You’re busy dealing with the immediate disasters but haven’t noticed the source of the problems, which could lead to new catastrophes. Therefore, I sent two excellent agents to explore that area and find the source of the energy release… But shortly after they arrived, some kind of accident occurred on the seabed. Due to the communication blackout, we had no way of knowing what happened there, and I lost contact with those two great agents. Afterward, the storm at sea reached a level that made it unseaworthy, and my ship was forced to retreat.”

Xu Fu may have overheard, "You want me to help you rescue your people."

Waller nodded: “I wouldn’t have asked you for help if I had no other choice. But now the storm has reached a higher level than before, and even the underwater parts are affected by a special energy. No form of transportation can approach the area, and you are my only remaining option.”

Are you sure I'll help you?

“No, but I know a missing agent who knows you very well,” she said. “Helena Wayne, the Huntress, remember?”

Xu Fu couldn't help but frown.

Chapter 1683 Mountain Village

Somewhere among the mountains, there may be a village long forgotten.

Bruce Wayne, cloaked in black, traversed mountains and valleys to reach this testing ground. Information from Lex Rudd led him here; if Rudd's words were true, Superman's solar-powered orbit had come to an end. Batman and Lex Rudd were far from allies, but at least on this matter, he believed Rudd had no reason to lie.

Bruce was still reeling from the shock. Perhaps the unpleasant encounter with the fake Superman last night had left him uneasy about his long-dead friend. He didn't know what he would find in this remote mountain village: perhaps the chance of his best friend still being alive was one in a million, or perhaps all that awaited him in the vast mountains was a corpse that would never decompose.

So he stopped overthinking and decided to take it one step at a time.

He traversed mountains and valleys, visiting several villages, showing Clark's photograph to all the villagers to see if anyone had seen him. Finally, after a morning of fruitless effort, a little girl in one of the villages said uncertainly that she might have seen someone similar, but that it had been many years ago. She said that this person only lived in the village for a few months before leaving for some reason.

This wasn't a particularly valuable lead, but it was at least a start, which cheered Bruce up, as his efforts over the past half-day had yielded no results. He began asking the girl if she knew where the man might have gone. The girl bit her lip for a moment, then finally pointed somewhat uncertainly to a village on the opposite mountain.

Bruce traveled from one village to another, and in the next few villages, people said uncertainly that a similar person might have come, but he stopped briefly in each place. In one day, Bruce crossed two mountains, passed through several villages, and finally arrived at the last mountain village as the sun was setting.

The small village seemed to have been flooded last night, the uphill road slippery and muddy, but at least the air was fresh and the light was much better than in Gotham. He found the village's only pub, left a generous green note on the counter, and the bartender, while preparing cocktails, cheerfully answered the newcomer's questions.

Bruce chatted with him for a while, starting with trivial topics, then moving on to finding an old friend when he felt it was time. The bartender smugly remarked that this was the only pub in the village, and he was sure he'd seen at least one villager there.

A picture of Clark Kent flashed before Bruce's eyes. Of course, it was a picture of him when he was a reporter. Asking about the picture with the "S" and the red cape was pointless; if Superman were here, he would know.

To his disappointment, but not surprisingly, the bartender shook his head and said he had never seen anyone like that.

Bruce sighed silently, remaining quiet as he drank his sorrows away. Six years had passed, and he knew this journey was unlikely to yield any valuable discoveries; he hadn't even considered why he was here in the first place. But considering the emergence of a "new Superman" within a year, and his near-miss with Clark last night, perhaps it all made him miss his old friend even more.