After killing Steppenwolf, Alex completely tossed the whole matter to the back of his mind.
Even though Steppenwolf had utterly crushed the Justice League and left them in despair, to Alex, he was nothing more than a trivial nuisance.
After casually killing him, Alex didn't give it another thought.
The only meaning that incident had for Alex was that he harvested another wave of Origin Points—nothing more.
Thus, Alex once again returned to his leisurely life in the DC world.
Until one month later.
> "It has been a month and a half since Superman disappeared. Over the course of this month and a half, Superman has not appeared even once anywhere in the world."
"Rumors that Superman is dead are spreading like wildfire. Crime rates in Metropolis have skyrocketed, and the entire United States has been affected."
"Where did Superman go? The whole world is asking—but who can give us an answer?"
After touring Central City, Star City, and Gotham, Alex returned to Metropolis, where his attention was once again caught by such news.
This made Alex's heart stir slightly.
A month and a half—and Superman still hadn't returned?
What exactly happened in that battle between Mechanical Superman and Superman?
Originally, Alex hadn't planned to interfere much in Superman's affairs.
But now, Superman's disappearance had lasted far too long.
Forget it.
Let's see where Superman actually is.
After a moment of consideration, Alex made his decision.
Given his current relationship with Superman, it was impossible for him to completely ignore this.
Whoosh!
Stepping onto his transparent surfboard, Alex shot straight into the sky and vanished.
He appeared in a desolate, uninhabited forest.
There, Alex immediately took out the Infinity Gauntlet.
The six Infinity Stones embedded in it instantly shone with dazzling light.
In a single instant.
The entire DC universe—countless stars and galaxies—flashed through Alex's mind.
Superman's presence was instantly locked onto.
At this moment, Superman was floating silently in space like a meteor, his eyes tightly shut.
His aura was extremely faint.
Almost like a corpse.
So why had things turned out like this?
"Superman's injuries are serious."
Alex frowned slightly.
He had originally thought Mechanical Superman was no match for Superman—but who could have guessed that he would end up injuring Superman to this extent?
With Superman's terrifying recovery ability, he hadn't even managed to heal on his own.
Then again, battles couldn't be judged purely by raw strength.
Superman was too kind, his weaknesses too obvious. Being brought down by someone weaker than himself wasn't that strange.
"Let's bring Superman back first."
Putting away the Infinity Gauntlet, Alex stepped onto his surfboard once more and shot into the sky.
In the blink of an eye, he disappeared.
He kept flying, flying—
Until he finally arrived in front of Superman.
Observing Superman's condition up close, Alex realized that things were even worse than he had expected.
At this moment, Superman was like he had entered hibernation—most of his bodily functions had nearly stopped.
If an ordinary person were in this state, they would have long been dead.
But Superman, a walking cheat code, was naturally still alive.
Alex glanced around. This was an area completely devoid of sunlight.
"Not sure if basking in sunlight will help Superman recover."
With that thought, Alex picked Superman up and whooshed away.
He flew to a place where sunlight could shine.
Immediately, Alex sensed a trace of vitality emerge within Superman's body, whose functions had nearly halted.
"What a freakish body."
Even Alex couldn't help but sigh.
"Forget it. Let's take a trip to the sun."
Seeing that ordinary sunlight was restoring Superman far too slowly, Alex didn't have the patience to wait around.
Thus, he made that decision.
Whoosh!
His figure blurred and vanished.
---
Apokolips
Within a grand hall that was both majestic and oppressively cold.
A man clad in armor, with blazing golden light shining from his eyes, sat atop a throne like an iron tower.
Though his posture looked casual, even lazy, his very presence radiated a lethal pressure like that of a primordial beast.
Anyone standing near him felt as though breathing itself was difficult.
Darkseid.
That's right.
This iron-tower-like man was the ruler of Apokolips itself, a super-overlord whose name inspired fear across the entire universe.
Darkseid.
"Darkseid, my lord."
Standing beside him was a robed figure who exuded a similarly oppressive presence.
He reported important matters to Darkseid in a deep voice.
This man was no minor figure either—he was Darkseid's right-hand man and top general.
DeSaad.
Countless worlds had fallen under Darkseid's banner with DeSaad's help.
Across the universe, his name carried weight.
When Steppenwolf discovered the Mother Boxes on Earth, the first person he contacted was DeSaad.
He hoped DeSaad would intercede on his behalf before Darkseid, allowing him to return to Darkseid's command.
DeSaad naturally reported the matter to Darkseid.
Darkseid then laid down his condition for Steppenwolf:
As long as Steppenwolf gathered all three Mother Boxes, he would be accepted back.
And Steppenwolf did not disappoint—he quickly found two of them.
Not only that.
He also uncovered another piece of critical information:
The Anti-Life Equation was on Earth.
The very planet where Darkseid had once suffered a humiliating defeat—was Earth!
How could this be tolerated?
Darkseid couldn't sit still anymore.
He immediately decided that once Steppenwolf gathered all three Mother Boxes, he would summon him using the Unity.
He would make that planet—the one that had once brought him shame—burn once more under his wrath.
Of course, that was secondary.
The most important thing was this:
Darkseid was determined to obtain the Anti-Life Equation.
But who could have imagined—
Just as Darkseid was filled with ambition and had already assembled his armies, Steppenwolf suddenly went silent!
"It has been confirmed."
"Steppenwolf has failed."
"He was killed by Earth's inhabitants, and the Mother Boxes have once again fallen under human control."
"I said it long ago—he was unreliable."
DeSaad's voice continued as he reported the intelligence he had uncovered to Darkseid.
"Yes, DeSaad, you did say that."
"And the results have proven you right."
Darkseid slowly nodded, his voice deep and distant, as though it came from the depths of the cosmos itself.
"Then, my lord—what do you plan to do?"
DeSaad asked in a low voice.
"I will obtain the Anti-Life Equation by any means necessary."
"Gather the fleet."
"We will use the traditional method."
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