chsdbacks Chapter 222, page 119: The Persuaded Superman
Chapter 222, page 119: The Persuaded Superman
Chapter 222, page 119: The Persuaded Superman
Following the contrails of jet fighters in the sky, Clark easily found the culprit behind the nuclear explosion.
But his super hearing told him that neither side in the standoff seemed to be a good person.
One appears to be the mastermind behind some organization, while the other is even more influential, seemingly the instigator of tonight's Gotham City riots.
To Clark's surprise, both sides discovered his presence but made no attempt to escape.
Dr. Daniel Reed relied on a false identity. For years, he had been active in Gotham City under the guise of a plastic surgeon. Everything he did afterward, including the live broadcast that caused the unrest in Gotham City, could be attributed to Qin Wei.
Dr. Reed, who had never been directly involved in court affairs, was confident that he had no evidence, let alone be sent to prison.
This is precisely why he dared to arrogantly admit his crimes in front of Superman.
Without evidence, even Kryptonians can't do anything to him.
He even boldly speculated that if Wei were to attack him, the Kryptonians would intervene.
So ever since he discovered Superman, he has been trying to provoke Will, but the latter simply doesn't fall for it.
However, Dr. Reed was not angry. The evidence of the planned riot was still hidden in the Batcave. These things alone were enough to put dear Bruce Wayne in prison for decades, not to mention that public opinion had now portrayed him as an accomplice of the Joker and one of the perpetrators of the Snowy Night Bus Bombing.
Qin Wei was well aware of the consequences of dragging Superman into the war, but the war had already spiraled out of control, and everyone around him was in danger. If a powerful mediator could end the conflict, he wouldn't mind being thrown into prison.
But his disarmament didn't mean he was surrendering; rather, it was to tell Superman that his next actions wouldn't be fatal.
The moment Qin Wei lowered his gun, he immediately looked up and punched Dr. Reed in the cheek.
Poor Daniel was knocked down before the smile on his face could fade, and in his dizziness, he was pinned down by Qin Wei.
He never expected that this guy would dare to make a move while Superman was still floating in the sky.
Qin Wei gave Daniel, the ultimate villain, plenty of face, and slammed his hands into Daniel's face repeatedly. Daniel's body had indeed not undergone any combat training, and his bent-arm parrying posture was very amateurish. In no time, his defense was broken and his face was covered in blood.
Look at our Dr. Reed! Just a moment ago he was so arrogant in front of Superman and Batman, but now he's lying on the ground with his goldfish eyes bulging and coughing up blood, his cheeks swollen and his nose crooked to one side.
And everything was just as Qin Wei had expected. As long as no one died, the superman in the sky seemed unwilling to get involved.
So he punched Reed in the face twice more.
Dr. Reed left no evidence. If Qin Wei doesn't beat him up harder, he won't have another chance once the other party is acquitted.
As Reed's cries for help gradually faded, Superman finally made his move, sweeping over Qin Wei like a hurricane and grabbing his wrist.
"You should stop."
This was the first meeting between the two sides.
The young Batman and the aged Superman, with different identities, different stances, and a huge age difference, sparked a threatening tension the moment their eyes met, and Superman frowned deeply.
In his eyes, he saw a young superhero who had gone astray.
But what Qin Wei saw reflected in his eyes was a stubborn old man about to start lecturing.
But his father's fist hurt a lot, so Wei didn't plan to fight back for the time being.
"Okay, whatever you say."
With a chilling smile on his face, Qin Wei slowly got up from the ground, spitting in Dr. Reed's face as he did so.
The flames of the riot burned until dawn. In the dim light of day, Gotham citizens, covered in dust and exhausted, dragged their bodies out of the shops and left the streets like a receding tide.
-
Only then did the New Jersey Armed Forces and the Metropolitan Fire Department, which had come to provide support, dare to enter the city. Armored vehicles led the fire trucks through the smoke-filled streets, clearing away rubble and corpses to penetrate deep into the city.
With the arrival of the army and the establishment of wartime signal base stations, communication in the entire city was temporarily restored, and Oswald was finally able to contact Qin Wei's mobile phone, except that this time the person who answered the phone was Thomas Jr.
"Where are the others?"
"He was taken away by Superman along with Daniel Reed."
"Where did you take it?"
New Jersey State Police.
Thomas's voice betrayed his undisguised weariness.
At the last minute, Wei took the blame for almost all the crimes, including the raid on Blackgate prison, the kidnapping of the GCPD trio, the attack on CBS and YouTube networks, and the planning of riots.
Of course, if you also consider the numerous crimes the police framed for him, a sentence of several hundred years would be no problem at all.
Perhaps the only good news is that Bane won't be causing trouble for the time being now that Superman has returned to action.
But this is not what Isaiah Thomas wanted at all.
After all that effort, he thought he had finally avenged his parents, but in the end, he had nothing left, and he couldn't even protect his younger brother.
After hanging up the phone, Night Owl sat alone on the ruins of Wayne Castle, while a few scattered members of the Bat Family, who had fled, walked in from the entrance of the manor.
And there's also a fresh face among them.
Jonathan, with his blue eyes, floated in the air. Unlike Clark, who only wanted to maintain order and resolve conflicts, this young man, hated and insulted by the citizens of Gotham, realized the abnormality of this turmoil.
He wanted to know what had happened in this sinful city, so he followed the group to Wayne Manor.
"Kryptonian, what are you doing here?"
Thomas Jr. lifted his heavy eyelids.
He had heard about the story of this Metropolitan boy, but the fact that his only relative had been taken away by the boy's father made it impossible for him to show Jonathan any kindness.
"I want the truth, about what really happened here."
"Does the truth matter that much?" Night Owl struggled to lift his arm, which was secured by a splint, and shakily pulled off his mask. "Your damned father didn't care about the truth, so he simply handed my brother over to the police."
"Please don't scold my father, at least not in front of me!"
Jonathan Jr. lodged a strong protest.
He understood that his father did this out of habit, but also because of the limitations of the times.
During the 1980s and 90s, when Superman was active, the American economy was booming and public trust in the government was at an all-time high. Young Superman, who had been raised with pure American education, was no exception.
We have unconditional faith in the United States, its government, its judicial system and the law, and that this beacon will lead the world toward a brighter future.
The Zod incident cast a shadow over Superman's mind. Although the United States claimed that General Zod was a Kryptonian who was trying to invade Earth, Clark, the person involved, knew that things were not as the military claimed.
Since then, Clark has been caught in a cycle of confusion about his identity as the son of Krypton and the son of humanity, a confusion that continues to this day.
Subsequently, the US government's reputation among ordinary people was severely damaged by its involvement in the Middle East wars and the subsequent "Prismgate" scandal. Jonathan, who was immersed in this environment, naturally became one of the skeptics.
"Doubt" is precisely what prompted him to come here today.
"Alright! Remember to go back and try to persuade your father after you find out." Thomas Jr. put away his hostility.
That's the whole story.
After Qin Wei finished telling his long story, he picked up the water glass on the table and took a sip.
This is a private conversation before the interrogation, between Batman and Superman.
Clark was not as blindly devoted to the US government and judiciary as Jonathan believed; he was also very interested in the causes and consequences of last night's unrest.
But that didn't stop him from sending Wei to prison.
"How can you prove what you're saying?" Clark stood on the other side of the interrogation table. The conversation lasted for an hour, and he never sat down, keeping his eyes fixed on Qin Wei with a complex expression the entire time.
"It's very simple. There's video evidence of the bus bombing on the snowy night. If you give me the chance, I can clearly show you how the corrupt police bombed the bus. I also participated in the rescue at the underground amusement park. I wasn't wearing a mask at the time, so finding eyewitnesses to testify for me isn't difficult."
"Then why did you take the initiative to shoulder all the blame?"
"Because I may not have the chance to speak, this matter involves a lot of people, and someone will definitely try every means to shut me up."
"Of course, the most important point—"
Qin Wei tilted his head, raised his eyelids, and stared at Superman with a half-smile.
"I'm not sure if you'll have the courage to stand on the side of truth after you know the whole story."
"Truth, is this how you see yourself?" Superman's brows had never relaxed, and upon hearing this, they furrowed even more, causing the skin on his face to tighten.
"This riot has resulted in countless deaths and injuries; you have crossed the line set by the law."
Qin Wei suddenly burst into laughter: "Hahahaha! Can I take that as your answer?"
"I don't understand you."
"Where is American law when entrepreneurs who go bankrupt due to cutthroat business competition jump off buildings?"
"Where is the law when the poor are crammed into drafty huts in winter and freeze to death?"
"Where is the law when a Dalit in the East End sells his organs to a rich man for transplantation in order to support his family?"
"Where is the law when a factory worker's right hand is severed due to exhaustion from working sixteen consecutive hours?"
Qin Wei placed his hands on the table, the handcuffs gleaming blindingly under the light.
"I was the initiator of this war, but they are the ones who are in control. It is because the law and society have not given these insignificant but numerous people the basic respect that I came into this world."
"I only shouted once, but they impatiently covered my mouth. Was it because I said something wrong, or something right?"
Superman fell into a long silence; according to his adoptive father's beliefs, he shouldn't get involved in these matters.
However, due to the Metropolitan nuclear bombing incident, he ultimately chose to hand Wei over to the police.
Now he regrets his decision.
But before the regret could fully dissipate, Qin Wei dropped a bombshell that completely ended the debate.
"Superman, you're not a Kryptonian at all, you're just an American."
Clark understood what the other person meant, and he couldn't refute it at all.
It was this conversation that sparked an idea in him.
"I will go back to Gotham in person to find out the whole thing, and if it's really as you say, I will urge the state police to drop some of the charges against you."
Qin Wei smiled and nodded. Withdrawing the charges was insignificant to him, but it would be great if Superman were willing to delve into the whole story. More importantly, there was probably someone in Gotham City who wanted to kill him at every turn. If he could get Superman to eliminate that person, that would be fantastic.
"So how do you plan to understand this? By wearing this outfit and parading around town, telling everyone that Superman is back?"
"What do you think I should do?" Clark countered.
Compared to their first encounter, his tone was much gentler now.
"I think you could dress up as me and go to Gotham at night. I'm sure you'll find something interesting," Will said after a moment's hesitation. On one hand, this plan would indeed ensure Superman fully understood Gotham; on the other hand, he had even begun praying for Bane.
Superman, unaware of this intricate plan, nodded thoughtfully.
"That is indeed a feasible method. I've heard that you fight criminals in the dark. Perhaps only by following your method can we get in touch with the real Gotham City." As he spoke, Clark suddenly sat down and then stared intently at Qin Wei's face.
This sudden action made Bat nervous, almost thinking that the other party was about to transform into Homelander and turn on him in a second.
"You're not planning to shoot me with your heat vision, are you?"
"Don't speak, I need to remember your face, and then—"
As Superman finished speaking, his face suddenly contorted, and then his entire face began to writhe and gradually approach Qin Wei.
Biological fields can distort reflected light, which is why no one could recognize Clark after he took off his glasses, including Will. Until now, he had never seen Superman's true face. What appeared before him was always a square, handsome middle-aged man with deep blue eyes.
And now he is witnessing Superman transform into his own appearance.
"This red and blue uniform really doesn't suit me —"
Qin Wei scratched his head and expressed his opinion.
However, upon closer inspection, he quickly discovered flaws on the face.
"What's with this butt-shaped chin? Don't project your aesthetic standards onto my face."
"I don't understand what you're saying. Isn't a cleft palate also a physical characteristic of yours?"
"Is that so?"
Wei touched his own jaw and realized that the immortal Uriah had kicked and shattered his jawbone, and now his swollen chin had bulged out like a buttock.
Seriously? You even want to restore this?
"I'll keep some of my attention on you. If there's any danger, call my name." Before leaving, Superman gave him another piece of advice, which finally put the anxious Will at ease.