northernbook Chapter 585 Exhaustive Search and the Horrifying Lantern Ghost Resurrection Plan
Chapter 585 Exhaustive Search and the Horrifying Lantern Ghost Resurrection Plan
Chapter 585 Exhaustive Search and the Horrifying Lantern Ghost Resurrection Plan
You see... leaving your own universe at this time might not be a good choice.
The Dark Multiverse.
In a corner where even the light dares not shine, when you sit on the dark throne in this corner, you often wonder if you still know very little about this world, and if it is about to fall into an even deeper shadow.
Without the protection of the white light, no one dares to face the Lord of No Life. When he descends to the mortal realm, he can beckon at any time to bring back those audacious fools who have escaped death to the embrace of that lady.
This time, however, none of them will be able to escape.
The Black Death Emperor, the Emperor Joker, the Bat of Laughter who vanished without a trace after realizing he hadn't acted as instructed...
And Barbatos, lurking not far away.
But the hellhounds that guard this world will never surrender.
Despite the many uncertainties that had become a heavy burden on him, he felt a deep unease.
But do you know?
Coincidentally, he could still laugh.
Chen Tao sat in the main seat of the Justice League Hall, lost in thought, a state he often found himself pondering.
Although contemplation is not often the same as wisdom, people have always confused the two... therefore.
Chen Tao tentatively pinned his hopes on this as a shortcut to wisdom.
On the Justice League table in front of Chen Tao, the petite spirit was jumping around, babbling away.
Unlike the bright, enormous being in the main universe, which possesses infinite life force, the spirit before them is not only small in size and weak in strength, but also has an intelligence comparable to that of a child of a few years old.
Chen Tao, who had never taken care of a child before, was almost driven crazy by this noisy little thing at first.
But when he finally thought of using the green light to make some toys, he finally had some peace and quiet for a while.
"Wow, quack quack!"
Chen Tao's thoughts were interrupted. He turned his head and saw that the petite spirit had already grown tired of playing with those toys.
So Chen Tao used the Green Light Ring to help him create some new ones.
In short, Chen Tao sat back down at the table and rubbed his temples.
He knew he couldn't just impulsively leave his world.
However, compared to the Black Death Emperor and the Emperor Joker, what worried him even more was the Batman Who Laughs.
Yes, that's right.
On the surface, it seems that the other two enemies are the most dangerous problems at hand. But Chen Tao knows that if he thinks so too, the Batman Who Laughs' classic "everything is within the Batman Who Laughs's plan" superhuman buff will soon be on his side.
To deal with an enemy like the Batman Who Laughs, you must abandon all common sense; the phrase "according to common sense" must be eradicated from your mind the moment it appears.
Unfortunately, even Chen Tao had difficulty guessing what the Laughing Bat was preparing.
When Chen Tao didn't choose to save the Joker's life, but instead took out the crystal coffin and turned it into the Black Death, the Batman Who Laughs should have realized that Batman hadn't believed a single word he said.
Chen Tao sat in his seat, a twisted smile creeping onto his lips.
This twisted smile was exactly like that of the Batman Who Laughs, and this identification made his thought process increasingly resemble that of the Batman Who Laughs.
He'd been putting on an act for ages, but Batman hadn't followed the path I'd suggested. If he were the Batman Who Laughs, I would have found another way to force Batman into a final battle with the Emperor Joker or the Black Death...
Whether they die or are weakened, it will be something the Bat Who Laughs will be happy to see; his goal is war, nothing more.
But I lack the power. Although I am the Bat who laughs, I cannot use the power of the Dark Knights to help me complete my plan, because this plan is not in Barbatos's interest.
The Bat Who Laughs knew that Barbatos seemed to have some ideas about the Emperor Joker; that immense power to alter reality had caught Barbatos's attention.
Therefore, the Batman Who Laughs must use some underhanded tactics, without deceiving Barbatos, to create powerful forces that are unknown to and unaffected by Barbatos, as fulcrums in his plan, thereby leveraging his entire scheme.
Speculation without evidence has reached its limit. After all, Chen Tao currently has no way or ability to verify what the Bat of Laughter has done.
He did try to track the Bat Who Laughs, but the stone dummy and the Bat Who Laughs himself made no contact.
The reasoning seems to have reached a deadlock... but it hasn't.
Chen Tao stroked his chin, gradually sorting out his thoughts.
If you don't know what laughing hysterically will do, then just use the stupid method.
Chen Tao suddenly grinned, revealing a smile that was exactly the same as his maniacal laughter.
Although he didn't know who the Laughing Society was looking for, if all those who were recruited by the Laughing Society were people Chen Tao knew, then what difference did it make who the Laughing Society recruited?
The method of exhaustive search, where brute force overcomes overwhelming wisdom, is a classic example of how a fool can defeat a master.
Chen Tao's mind was filled with information and intelligence from his previous life's comics. As long as he could complete a plan to counter every named and powerful figure in the Dark Multiverse in a short time, he could provide countermeasures no matter who the Laughing Man recruited.
In the Dark Multiverse, there are only a handful of people who can provide combat assistance to The Laughing.
And the truly difficult candidates have been further narrowed down.
If Kuangxiao is really stupid enough to bring out someone like the Cruel Knight to deal with Chen Tao, then Chen Tao will really laugh his head off.
(Note: The Cruel Knight, a Batman who kills with guns, is the DC version of the Punisher, but even worse. He has appeared in the main comic book issue. He has a very high level of prestige, being cool, handsome, and aloof, but in reality, he is quite weak compared to the Dark Knights, and his marksmanship is also utterly inferior to the main universe's Batman.)
As Chen Tao pondered this, he wrote down his first plan on a piece of paper:
"Batman Secret Files Established: Project Lantern Ghost Resurrection, Codename: Detective..."
He dared not use a computer, and some things, which should not be revealed at this stage, were still written down on paper. After writing them down, Chen Tao would record them all in his mind and then destroy the paper.
He knew how to maintain secrecy.
Oh, right, besides that, Chen Tao also needs to use the method the Laughing Bat taught him to search for the universe he wants.
……
……
……
"What?" Zatana said, "You want me to cast some kind of spell and save a vast, monolithic universe from the clutches of the Black Death Emperor?"
Chen Tao nodded: "Yes, I think so."
Zatana rolled her eyes. "Are you kidding me? Do you think I'm capable of doing something like that?"
Chen Tao blinked his big, bat-like eyes at her.
"Okay, okay," Zatana said, somewhat resigned. "Stop blinking, act a little normal."
She said, "What you've shown me is a universe completely controlled by the Black Death Emperor, at least 99% of it."
Chen Tao's plan to search for the nemesis of the Black Death Emperor in other universes encountered problems in its very first step.
When he first conceived this idea, the first thing that came to mind was a special dark multiverse, a darkest night when Sinestro became the last survivor.
In that universe, whether it was the spirit possessing Sinestro, the other superhero White Dove who wielded the power of life, or the new universe created by Wolf, all of these aided him in his fight against the Black Death Emperor.
Therefore, no matter how far that universe has developed, it is still Chen Tao's first choice.
But now he faces a very awkward problem:
I can't get in.
"The power of the Black Death Emperor has completely taken control of that universe, and in the end, this power will annihilate the last living thing in that universe. After he dies, the entire universe will also die completely, and then he will be dragged into the Black Death Emperor's domain."
Zatana explained, "This means that the universe will become an integral part of the Black Death Emperor's death domain."
Aside from the return of the cosmic essence's energy to the world's furnace, everything else will become part of the Black Death Emperor's domain...
"At this point, although this universe has not yet reached the level of becoming the Black Death Emperor's domain, it already possesses many characteristics of the Black Death Emperor's domain. Furthermore, the Black Death Emperor can project more power from outside the material universe within that single universe."
Chen Tao nodded, indicating that he was listening. Then he asked his question.
"How do I get in? Can I force my way through the Black Death Emperor's incomplete death domain—"
"You can give it a try."
"Don't joke around, Zuckerberg, I need serious advice."
"I'm being serious. You can definitely do that. You can even drill a hole through steel. But that will definitely attract the attention of the Black Death Emperor and may even lead to a direct attack."
Zatana warned, "This will have completely unknown consequences, and I can't even give you any guesses about it."
"What exactly will happen?" Chen Tao said, "Take a guess."
Zatana paused for a moment, then replied, "If you want me to guess, I think it's very likely that you'll be tainted by the aura of the Black Death Emperor's domain. As for what will happen?"
Perhaps it allows him to draw you into his realm at any time through this space, or to find you at any time. Or perhaps it's a state of being enslaved by love that leads to death, something similar, which is definitely not a good thing.
"So you can't use magic to help me avoid the Black Death Emperor..."
"Of course I can," Zatana said.
She spoke, and just as Chen Tao was about to blurt out "Yay!", she let out a long sigh.
"As long as I have at least five mages no weaker than myself working with me, or more than eight, preferably sixteen mages weaker than the three of us, I am confident that I can complete a high-level deception spell to help you pass through the membrane at the edge of that universe. This way, you can sneak into that world without alerting anyone and obtain the Spirit of Existence that you have been longing for."
Zatana said, "But the truth is I'm almost the most powerful mage in the magical world, and the strongest. In the entire magical world, the only mage who could rival me was Faust, but we've already captured him. The other magical creature who could contend with me was Andrew, the vampire king, who isn't a mage at all."
Zatanna is referring to Andrew the Vampire, a DC superhero and a member of the Justice League Dark in the main universe. His greatest achievement in the DC universe is single-handedly suppressing all vampires worldwide, preventing them from attacking humans and unifying the vampire realm. Compared to the fragmented vampire families in Marvel, the DC universe is more centralized.
But none of this changed Chen Tao's situation. He couldn't get a magic berserker to participate in this kind of magical ritual. He was somewhat unwilling to give up: "Could it be that everyone else...?"
"Are you referring to Sage Ochi as one of the others? He passed away a long time ago."
"What about the magic sentinels?"
(Note: The Magic Sentinels mentioned by Chen Tao are a magical superhero organization in the main universe, one of the largest magical hero organizations after the Justice League Dark.)
"Magic Less Ice? What Magic Less Ice?"
Chen Tao realized that the Magic Sentinels, a superhero organization, never existed in his universe.
He breathed a sigh of relief:
"I see."
He turned to Zatana again and said, "Let me confirm, as long as there are enough mages working with you, you can open that silently?"
Yes, that's right.
Chen Tao stroked his chin: "Okay, I know a universe that's rich in this rare mineral of magicians."
As he thought this, he added, "But before that, I need to confirm who I'm taking."
……
……
……
Gotham City.
The clay face itself... or rather, the largest lump among all the face creations, curled up its body in a warehouse.
Over the years, despite having clones constantly working for Batman, he has not neglected his own development.
On Twitter and Google, Mudface uses his clones to create different virtual female anchors simultaneously, earning money from viewers every day.
Mudface even had two clones film those kinds of videos and then posted them on the website, making a fortune.
However, the objective fact is that Batman has forgotten about him for a long time, and Clayface has long since lost the opportunity to leave due to boredom with the performance.
But just then, Mudface raised his head.
He looked up in surprise, somewhat belatedly, and saw Batman standing in the warehouse doorway: "What's going on? Why did you leave your real body here? Damn it, you've grown this big now?"
The ever-expanding mud face surprised even Chen Tao.
Regardless, Chen Tao still stated his request: "I need you to send a number of bodies with independent intelligence..."
Those who were previously pulled onto Chen Tao's side have completely lost the ability to be manipulated by Mudface; they are now just some of Mudface's body tissues. Now, Chen Tao needs an assistant with his own acting abilities to help him.
Mudface is just his first teammate so far, and the other two...
They will also play their due role in his overall plan.
(End of this chapter)