The crowd was in a frenzy. Everyone started to cheer. Some were waving banners, some holding posters, and others had signs that said things like "Justice League will win!" and "I love Captain America." Screams rose and fell.
Selina shook her head, covered her ears, and shouted at Bruce, "Did you see where the snack stall is? I want to eat grilled corn!!!"
"I didn't see it!!!" Bruce shouted back at her, "But I saw someone eating, so there must be somewhere selling it!! I'll go look!!"
"Forget it, don't go." Selina grabbed him and climbed out of the row of seats, saying, "With so many people, you'll be trampled to death; I'll go instead!!"
After saying that, she agilely climbed down a few rows of seats and disappeared into the crowd. Steve looked at the sign in the distance that said, "I love Captain America," and said, "I bet that's Coulson."
"Yeah, you've only got one loyal fan like that." Stark snorted. He continually searched through the seats, looking for anything with Iron Man elements. After searching for a long time, he finally found a poster. He pulled Steve to look over there: "Look at that, that's my poster!"
Steve saw it too, but couldn't see clearly because it was opposite them. He said, "If only there was a camera, I'd like to take a picture of it."
"Battleworld's screenshot mode can be used." Stark said, "Let me see if I can zoom in..."
Peter and Pikachu were lucky; their seats were next to the snack stall. At this time, each had a corn cob and a cup of iced cola, sitting there while indulging.
"There are so many people," Peter exclaimed, "I wonder if Doctor can win."
"I don't think so." Pikachu shook its head, "His skills are strong, but there's always someone stronger. Don't forget, we only encountered one Batman this time; there are many more in the multiverse."
"I can't even imagine how powerful some Batmans would be when teaming up with Superman." Peter shook his head, "Luckily, the pair we encountered were sanctioned by the administrator."
Meanwhile, Lord Superman was apparently annoyed, he said, "At that time, we shouldn't have listened to that fog; we should have carried out the experiment thoroughly. If we had done that, we certainly would have won!"
"Not necessarily." Lord Batman said, "Absorbing the black hole just increases your power acquisition efficiency, but that's just a part of enhancement. How to efficiently output power is still something I'm researching."
"Have you wanted to do this for a long time?"
"Kind of. Unlike Batman, there are too many strong Supermen in the multiverse, and most of them don't share your ideology. To stand firm among them, you must have strong enough power to carry out your ideology. What you currently have is far from enough."
Lord Superman uncharacteristically didn't speak because he thought of Injustice Superman's experience. Injustice Superman was more extreme than him; he dared to mind-control Batman but unsurprisingly faced the other Supermen's gang beating, and life was quite miserable.
But precisely because of Injustice Superman as a shield, everyone's anger was directed at him, and nobody temporarily went into detail about this different styled Lord Superman. But such matters cannot be kept secret; sooner or later, a Superman will discover that Justice Lords are different from the Justice League.
Lord Superman understood very well that most Supermen would never agree with his ideology, even though he had wiped out all global criminals. Just because he achieved this, he understood: solving the crime problem and eliminating criminals are two different things.
Eliminating all the world's criminals doesn't solve the crime problem. It must be admitted that there are indeed some people inherently evil, no matter how the external environment is, they stick to their evil ways. But how many such people are there?
Moreover, even those inherently evil may choose to disguise or restrain due to excessive pressure and not commit heinous crimes. Thus, the root of crime is actually the social environment.
What Lord Superman did was eliminate all who had become criminals. But if the social environment problem isn't resolved, there will constantly be new criminals. Killing one generation after another, how many humans will remain?
Lord Superman is not evil; he has his own ideology. He doesn't want to wipe out the human race; on the contrary, he wants humanity to become better through extreme methods. But it's clear, continuing to kill like this will never make humanity better.
Solving systemic crime requires order. However, power alone is not omnipotent; using forceful methods to trap people in poverty will certainly trigger extreme rebound. Thus, besides order, development is needed, poverty must be addressed, and human physiological and psychological needs must be met.
And how to achieve this is not something that can be explained briefly. And whenever he thinks about these things, Lord Superman, as a Superman, feels a splitting headache.
By now, he had long found out, eliminating this generation of all criminals wasn't the end, but precisely just the beginning. And physically eliminating criminals is actually the simplest task; each step afterward is more difficult than the last. In the end, Superman even wanted to find a Superman to save himself.
Thankfully, Superman indeed has a dedicated Superman, and that is Batman. Lord Batman's point is that even his best strength now is far from enough. Lord Superman doesn't dare imagine how strong one's abilities need to be to reach the end of this path.
Thinking of how Lord Batman is already researching Cosmic Construction Science and wants to be a creator, Lord Superman now occasionally ponders if he was indeed impulsive back then, whether peaceful methods might be better. Not to say that Luther's actions deserved death, but if left alive, the smartest person on Earth could probably help out a bit.
The more he thought like this, the more Lord Superman felt he was old. Killing whilst young is temporarily satisfying, but lacking people for scientific research feels like a crematorium. Maybe go to another universe to kidnap someone someday?
At this point, the Transcendent had already picked up the microphone and started speaking eloquently:
"I've seen everyone's enthusiasm! Welcome to the live competition! Before we begin, I must first introduce the rules of the 'Hero Strike' duel mode. We have divided New Earth into several regions, with a set number of duelists in each. They will compete to determine a winner in their respective region, and the regional champions will qualify for the final duel."
"All regional competitions have been completed, and we are about to commence the final duel. Next, let's reveal the identities of the regional champions and look forward to their exciting performances in the final duel!"
Everyone saw a curtain fall from above the Dueling Field, visible from every angle. The screen gradually brightened, displaying two silhouettes. Amidst the crowd's cheers, the first regional champion emerged.
"Let's welcome—Jarvis and Scarlet Witch Wanda!!!
"Ultimate strength, precise calculation, no one can escape the red cage constructed by this perfect duo. They scored a four-kill streak in the Rainforest region, making them the strongest contenders for the championship. Let's—welcome them!!!"
"Oh—!!!"
The audience erupted into cheers, everyone raising their banners. Wanda slowly descended—of course, only she could, as Jarvis was in her mind now.
She waved to the surroundings, then smiled, landing at the edge of the Dueling Field's waiting area. She straightened her red hair and said to Jarvis, "I didn't expect us to be the first to appear."
"Be careful; there are definitely many experts."
"Next, we need to give a grand welcome to—Magneto and Professor X!!!!!!"
Spit! Seeing the young figures on the screen, Stark spat out a mouthful of cola.
"No, why are there so many from our universe... ah, wait, this seems to be from another universe, these two are truly young."
Steve also looked at the screen, observed carefully, nodded, and said, "Indeed, not from our universe. But the two of them are certainly strong, otherwise, they couldn't have won the championship."
"This veteran duo achieved a speed run achievement in the Forest region, defeating all opponents in less than 200 rounds to win the regional championship. I imagine everyone feels a lot of pressure hearing that record!"
Wanda's expression indeed became more serious. Their performance was already quite good, but they went over 300 rounds. If this young mutant duo finished the competition so quickly, they must have some aces up their sleeves. It's a pity they're not her biological father; otherwise, they might have gone easy on each other.
The young Magneto and Professor X also appeared in the waiting area. Magneto was there in the flesh, while Professor X was a psychic projection. They whispered to each other, possibly reviewing the previous matches. Magneto glanced at Wanda, who nodded at him, but he turned his head away.
"Still so unlikable," Wanda snorted softly.
"Next, from the 'Deep Sea'—leading the Dead Water Army, Batwoman and Superman!!!!"
Wait a minute. Lord Batman stood up and said, "Where did this Superman come from?"
Lord Superman was a bit puzzled. However, he saw that the Superman on the screen seemed to be male. He said, "Isn't Batwoman's universe gender-swapped? The Superman from her universe should be female, right?"
Lord Superman touched his forehead and said, "Main Universe Superman."
"Him? When did he get to know Batwoman?"
"Hmph." Lord Batman snorted lightly, saying nothing more. Lord Superman instinctively felt there was something going on here, but since Lord Batman didn't say anything, he didn't press further.
When Main Universe Superman appeared in the arena, everyone was surprised. Usually, if Batman were to team up with Superman, he'd pick the one from his own universe. Superman would do the same; they wouldn't seek partners from outside. So why this pairing appeared was intriguing.
"I told you," Batwoman said in his mind, "our partnership will drop their jaws."
"I thought you didn't care about this kind of thing," Main Universe Superman said.
"I wasn't concerned. More than that, I'm worried about how we can defeat those mutants. Just thinking about their strength is intimidating."
"Don't be too tense; there will always be a way," Main Universe Superman said.
Main Universe Superman's appearance made the atmosphere on the field even more heated. Everyone was fervently discussing what was going on. This was arguably the biggest gossip since Battleworld was established; everyone had their own take.
But without a doubt, the Batman and Superman pairing brought pressure to all participants. Everyone understood how powerful a Batman with a Superman's abilities could be. However, those who could compete alongside them were no pushovers. This was sure to be a spectacular battle.