Holding Atomica in his hand, Emperor Viktor suddenly looked up at the sky with uncertainty.
"Wait a moment."
He casually tucked her at his waist, then jumped off the small wooden boat and shot upward at incredible speed, flying straight through the clouds and breaking past the atmosphere.
After glancing around and following a sensed presence across more than half the Earth, Emperor Viktor finally flew toward the moon.
There were some strange giant craters.
Superman stood in one of them with his suit slightly damaged, and he was even breathing heavily.
Of course, Superman quickly steadied his breathing and noticed Emperor Viktor approaching.
The two created a medium for sound using their force fields, and then Superman spoke.
"I thought you weren't planning to get involved in anything."
He frowned and looked at Superman's damaged suit with some confusion.
"I'm curious—what kind of enemy could beat you like this?"
After a pause, he added:
"Your fight caused too much disturbance. I just don't want to be dragged into every little thing, but if Earth is going to encounter something really dangerous again, I can't just sit by and ignore it."
Superman brushed off some dust from his chest and smiled like a bright, cheerful guy.
"It was a bit troublesome, but not really a big deal. It's just a Czarnian named Lobo, a cosmic bounty hunter. That guy likes coming to Earth to fight me for no reason."
Viktor felt a bit suspicious.
He actually knew about Lobo.
That man was quite strong.
He even fought Lobo in his own timeline.
Aside from the usual super strength, speed, and endurance, Lobo was also immortal.
Lobo had probably heard of "Emperor Viktor" in the universe and came specially to fight him.
After that, Lobo didn't show up for one or two hundred years.
When he came to Earth again later, Emperor Viktor even hosted him.
They could be considered old acquaintances.
After a few hundred years, Lobo had lost his ambition. He stopped being a bounty hunter and even became fat.
After that, until the timeline was erased, Emperor Viktor never saw him again.
It's precisely because he knew Lobo that Emperor Viktor somewhat didn't believe Superman's words.
What kind of person is Lobo during this period?
Lobo was stickier than chewed gum.
The first time Emperor Viktor fought him, he killed him seven or eight times in a row.
Even after repeatedly regenerating, Lobo still shamelessly insisted on taking some alcohol before leaving.
Why would Superman tell a lie for no reason?
He narrowed his eyes.
"Speaking of which, regarding that Pandora that Shazam and the others captured, hasn't the Justice League resolved this problem yet?"
"What, did you change your mind again?"
Superman still looked harmless and asked him back with some expectation.
Emperor Viktor sighed.
"Rachel's problem needs to be resolved. Zatanna has come two or three times already, but she still hasn't found a good solution. I want to consult a few more magicians, but now the few magicians the Justice League newly recruited are all focused on Pandora."
After saying that, Emperor Viktor seemed to think for a moment, then suddenly became polite again.
"If I go into the Watchtower again, will Batman have a problem with that? How about letting me see Pandora's situation?"
"That's certainly no problem. If you're willing to help, everyone will welcome you."
Superman stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder.
"Viktor, I really suggest you think about it more."
Seeing Superman's attitude, Emperor Viktor's doubts eased a little. He followed Superman and flew toward the Watchtower.
After a short while, Emperor Viktor passed through the Watchtower's security gate. He looked back and spoke with a hint of emotion:
"I didn't expect Batman to still keep my identification data."
"We all expect that one day you'll choose to walk the path alongside us."
Superman didn't turn back. He kept leading the way and spoke again:
"The Justice League's door is open for you, Viktor."
When they arrived at the circular corridor at the top of the Watchtower, Emperor Viktor saw Batman talking with a man in red and blue armor.
That color…
That should be the Atom, right?
The armor looked more like the version from the TV show, the one played by Brandon Routh.
The armored person turned around and greeted him with enthusiasm Emperor Viktor didn't expect.
Seeing Emperor Viktor standing there in a daze, the man simply took off his helmet, revealing an Asian face.
"It's me, Ryan Choi, haha."
Emperor Viktor felt a bit caught off guard. He didn't expect that his other self had met so many superheroes.
In his own timeline, Emperor Viktor didn't have that kind of free time.
He calmly nodded, but Ryan enthusiastically came closer and started showing off his armor.
"I analyzed Dr. Palmer's technology, but when designing the suit, I leaned toward a different style and added some flexible and more functions."
Damn, is the other me really this social?
Emperor Viktor felt a bit uncomfortable and stepped back slightly.
"I still have to rush back to make dinner. Were you just discussing Pandora?"
Ryan nodded and stepped aside.
Batman lowered his head and adjusted the digital display on his gauntlet, seemingly too lazy to comment on "Viktor" coming to the Watchtower again.
Superman puts his arm around Emperor Viktor's shoulder.
"E... Viktor said he wanted to come take a look. Batman, I think we can make use of group knowledge."
"I've never underestimated group knowledge. What you're doing is just asking for outside help."
Batman looked up, his gaze seeming to question Viktor.
"Pandora's situation is similar to the Flash's. This involves space-time and atomic-level issues. I don't think just anyone can figure it out."
He didn't respond and quietly walked forward.
He stared at the imprisoned cloaked woman. With just one glance, his gaze locks onto her left hand.
"Hmm?The traces of the hypertime stream."
The three of them raised their heads.
Batman was obviously somewhat confused.
"What is the hypertime stream?"
"Well… I remember the Viltrumites once encountered something similar. There's a race called the Flaxans who demonstrated superior spacetime technology level during an invasion..."
He casually made up a background story.
"In any case, the hypertime stream is continuously injecting information into this universe through some kind of medium, like certain things that should exist are leaving traces of themselves this way."
Batman finally caught the idea.
After days of research and Emperor Viktor's explanation, Batman could roughly piece everything together.
"The Speed Force. The information left behind by the Flash you killed was recorded by the Speed Force field. And when our Flash returned to this universe and connected to the Speed Force field, he's been forcibly accepting this information all along."
"It's like installing a live patch to our universe."
...
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