Trajectory of Dawn in the World of American Comics

Batman, who received Mason's call, was standing in front of the porthole of a lounge at the watchtower base, looking out from orbit around the earth with some kind of tired master.

He sees the remnants of a shattered world.

A few hours ago, the Justice League used three imitation mother box bombs to shatter the earth's core and continental shelf of the incoming world, and before it crossed the boundaries of the planes to affect its own world, a group of powerful magicians Disassemble it as a whole under work operation.

The whole process is smooth and flowing.

Under the cover of the enchantment covering the world presided over by Dr. Fate himself, it didn't even cause any waves.

Except for the mobilized actors and K team, as well as some talented people, this night is no different from last night for the vast majority of people in the Gotham world.

Countless people fell asleep peacefully, unaware that their existence had just brushed shoulders with death.

But for Bruce Wayne, who personally hosted and participated in this operation, this process did not make him feel easy.

Especially at a moment when the world is shattering before his eyes, all Batman feels is a heavier worry and an unspeakable pessimism.

At this time, a group of heroes who can survive in the space environment headed by Superman are cleaning up the debris of the world outside the orbit, and most of the collapsed debris have been pulled back to their original planes in the rewinding of the dimensional subsidence.

But there are still traces that must be cleaned up.

Frankly speaking, this scene really looks like the murderers are rushing to clean up the scene after a murder.

At this time, facing Mason's meaningful question, the master was silent for a moment, first activated the data encryption that he always carried with him to prevent the call from being eavesdropped, and then whispered:

"Have you seen it with your own eyes?"

"No, I got bad news from my companion just after returning from another world."

Mason didn't hide anything. This moment is not a good time to pretend to be a riddle. In the howling wind of Miller Harbor, he said directly:

"My companion is in your hands, is the kite man still alive?"

"In the brig Diana watched him herself."

The master also answered frankly:

"I didn't suffer much, although when Superman captured him, he resisted violently and once wanted to take poison to kill himself. I have to say that Charles Brown is very loyal to you, Mason. He was not so stubborn when he was under Zhou Ke'er's command.

What are you going to do next? "

The master paused and asked:

"Escape? Or."

"I've already called you on this, Bruce."

Mason let out a long breath and said:

"And you owe me a favor."

"Human favor can't be used in this kind of thing."

The master rebuffed straight away:

"I can guarantee that you and your companions will not be harmed, provided that you cooperate and come to the watchtower to 'live' for a period of time. Selena told me that you have some kind of taboo and cannot tell too much truth.

But I think we can always find a tactful way to get something that both parties desperately need. "

"You know that's impossible!"

Mason was also unambiguous, and rejected it directly:

"That means we'll be exposed to 'them', that means we'll become traitors and be hunted down for a long time by an organization that spans countless worlds.

It's not that I don't trust your abilities.

I would rather work with you than them, but not now.

Let me get it straight, Bruce.

I'm making this call to have a showdown with you, not the Justice League or anyone else.

I'm sure you can keep the secret and fully understand why it needs to be done, but I don't trust the people around you, even if they are a brilliant group of defenders and fighters. "

The young man coughed a few times and said:

"Selena should have told you that the stars will still have a lot of eyeliners in this world. From the darkest point of view, I have to pessimistically regard all members of the Justice League except you as potential threats.

Bruce, I want Charles back safe!

In exchange, I'll give you a 'personal' gift, something that will satisfy you and your friends and keep your mouth shut. "

"It is indeed necessary to think carefully, maybe we can meet."

After thinking for a long time, the master said:

"Having seen first-hand the troubles we face, I believe I can convince some credible people."

"No, I only trust you now, especially now that you have already destroyed a world with your own hands."

Mason shook his head and said:

"I don't know if this decision was made by you, but this act itself...it means that I must be vigilant against you."

"There are no living people in that world. We used various methods to detect seven times before we acted! We can make sure of this. It is full of wandering zombies without any trace of life."

Batman said emphatically:

"No one was harmed by this action, and you know, we had to."

"Your tone sounds like a child who has done something wrong is powerlessly justifying, Bruce, you know it's wrong yourself."

Mason snorted and said:

"Perhaps you can convince yourself that there is no need to save a world full of monsters, and you must do the right thing for your own world and people.

I can't fault anything, and I'm not a fanatical Madonna.

But I just have one question for you.

This time you can destroy it, but next time, what will you do? "

The captain of Team K said to the other end of the phone:

"Let's assume that if the next time you encounter a great epidemic in the world, more than 99% of life has been extinct and transformed into bloodthirsty monsters, and only 1% of the survivors still exist in the world in the refuge.

When the time left for you is no longer enough to find and rescue them, will you make the same choice?

You can use the same reason to convince yourself.

Your own world is obviously more important.

So next time, if that world has 30% life left, next time, 50% life left. I could go on and on, but I think you get my point.

Once path dependence is developed, it can lead to dire consequences.

The first step in things like destroying the world is always the hardest to cross, but once you have the first time, the second decision is not so difficult.

It will become reasonable the third time, and even start to look forward to the fourth time.

Especially driven by the noble reason that you still have an entire world to protect, I'm sure some of you will end up singing the praises of this destruction.

Phew, you might think I'm just nitpicking about a necessary rescue and a great victory, but I'm telling you, it's not!

Bruce!

I just came back from a world that was destroyed.

Like you, I witnessed the demise of two worlds, but unlike you who destroyed the zombie planet neatly, I saved the last 1% of the survivors in that world."

Mason closed his eyes and said:

"There are less than 1 million people left there, and it is also a doomsday wasteland where zombies are rampant, which perfectly fits the most extreme situation I just described.

If it had collided with our world this time, would your decisions have been different? 7 billion people and 1 million people, which is more important when you put them at the two ends of the balance?

If we can vote for the majority with peace of mind, then one day in the future, when a world has more lives than us and we face the difficult choice of having to die.

Can we calmly face the ending of self-sacrifice? "

Mason paused, looked up at the starry sky again, and said:

"The choice the stars will make is to ignore it, to throw it away as 'worthless'. The Justice League just got off to a bad start, which means you could be another one someday" All the stars will be'.

And Bruce, have you ever thought deeply about why the stars would carry out large-scale "pollution" in the parallel world system? "

This question silenced the master.

He looked at the dark stars beyond the porthole, and could vaguely see the remains of some zombified strange creatures that were thrown into the debris of the stars after the world exploded, wandering aimlessly as space junk.

After thinking for nearly a minute, Batman answered hoarsely:

"They're trying to make us feel more at ease when we make such cruel decisions, to take the pressure off of making decisions so that we realize that selfishness and salvation can go hand in hand.

When all the survivors have bloody hands, no one can confidently hold up the moral archway.

If this is a competition, then they are setting the rules of the game, snuffing out the spark of communication and sending everyone into a dark forest of naked life and death.

They are creating a group of stars who speak with violence.

If they can provoke more divisions between the good and the evil while looking for collaborators, it will give them an advantage when entering the 'finals'.

This is a vicious ethical trap, and we have just stepped into it. "

"It's still you who can see clearly. I didn't realize it until I was reminded by others."

Mason laughed and said:

"What they're doing is turning an already bad situation into the worst kind of zero-sum game, but I think there's something else going on besides surviving the shock and punching the dog's brains out of each other. kind of solution.

I haven't found a way yet.

I don't even have a train of thought.

But I think we should give it a try, after all we still have some time.

I hope I can get your help in this process. The K team has come to this point, and we will continue to lurk in that organization to find more truth and information.

I will chair the process.

As for you.

I hope you can cooperate with us to cover up your identity.

I think there are opportunities in any crisis. For example, if this conflict works well, it can wash away our suspicion of betrayal.

After K-Squad's irreconcilable conflict with one of the world's most powerful Guardians, our ascension in the Stellaris will only go smoother.

After all, they have never given up on infiltrating this super A Grade dangerous country.

They need us.

So we, who exhibit just the right value, are also safe.

Give me the weak point of the watchtower defense system, Bruce, and you can forget about the rest. "

"A fake show for real?"

The master asked a question.

Mason shook his head and said:

"No matter how fake it is, it will be discovered, so this time it has to be real! You don't have to work hard to make plans for us, you just need to let it go when there is a conflict, don't put the 'anti K-Squad Tactics' really worked out."

"Um."

The master nodded.

He looked at the dark sea of ​​stars in front of him, and after a few seconds of silence, he said:

"Mason, can I trust you?"

"I have no idea."

Mason said:

"But you can trust Selena, I will send you a gift to Wayne Manor, a 'conqueror' from the violent organization of the higher-level organization of the Stars Club.

There must be many, many secrets in his mind.

I originally wanted to do it myself, but I still leave it to you right now. How much you can dig out depends on your means.

In addition, I also have a "communication representative" from a B-level world that also resists the tyranny of the Star Society. He represents a powerful civilization that has repelled the infiltration of the Star Society.

They are looking for a collaborator, and it is best for you to make contact with him.

You can also choose people you trust to slowly join our 'secret agreement'. In this regard, I absolutely trust your prudence, but don't let them know too much.

After all, Clark Kent had a wife and kids, Diana Prince had her clan mother, and even you, Bruce, had your lovers, your family and your kids.

We all have weaknesses.

But now that I've said this, I'm going to ask. "

The young man frowned and said:

"In such a lively event, didn't the dark monarch jump out to show his presence? You have dealt with him before, right?"

"Apocalypse and even the entire fourth-dimensional channel was completely closed a few years ago. Not only Darkseid, but other universe-level villains have disappeared."

The master said in a low voice:

"They obviously don't intend to get involved in this matter, but it's a good thing. We really don't have so much energy to deal with them in the current situation."

"Where's the Mobius chair?"

Mason narrowed his eyes and asked:

"Is that thing in your hands? Before you decided to destroy a world to save your own, no one proposed to sit on it and ask the truth of the universe?"

"Mason."

The master turned back with intense fatigue.

He glanced at the futuristic technology chair behind him covered by a piece of magic silk, and said softly:

"How do you think this cruel decision was made and agreed to by everyone? I asked it myself, and this is the advice it gave me, and it said it was the only way."

"Well, that must be the wrong way for you to ask."

Mason said:

"I don't believe that mutual destruction is the ultimate answer to everything. Maybe it's because you didn't ask the right question. You should try me next time."

"Do you believe in miracles? Even after seeing all this?"

The old man asked quietly.

Mason didn't answer right away. After several seconds of silence, he said:

"Yes, Bruce, I believe in miracles."

He hung up the phone.

The moment he put the flip phone in his pocket, Mason said the second half of the sentence he didn't say:

"After all, I am a miracle myself"

He said this to himself and looked up at the sea of ​​stars.

Those stars are shining.

It is like a beautiful diamond embellished on a dark curtain full of cruelty.

"No matter who sent me here, I believe their purpose is definitely not just for me to watch and record the collapse and destruction of an entire parallel world system.

This is a super difficult 'assessment'. "

Mason took a deep breath. Under the night sky of the empty Miller Harbor, he put his hands in the pockets of the gray windbreaker, looked up at the sky and whispered:

"The answer is hidden under this starry sky, and my mission here is to find it. But this question is really too difficult."

He lowered his head, took out a pack of Sika cigarettes for Zha Kang from his luggage, and popped one out of his mouth. This action made the black sorting hat on his head dissatisfied.

Mr. Hat scolded:

"Hey, Mason, minors are not allowed to smoke!"

"Today is my 18th birthday. It was just after twelve o'clock two minutes ago. I am an adult."

Mason rubbed out a ball of fire without raising his head.

In the first puff of smoke he puffed like a skilled old smoker and said:

"This is definitely the worst birthday of my short life, and given the circumstances, I think you should be more lenient with me, Mr. Hat.

For the sake of my own capture of a conqueror you loathe so much.

You probably should."

"beep"

Before he finished speaking, the phone in his pocket vibrated twice.

Mason picked up the phone in surprise and opened the cover, and several consecutive messages popped out.

There's one from Catwoman, one from Nightwing, one from Barbara and her dad Gordon, and one from Dr. Leslie and Harley Quinn.

The top text message is from the master far away in space, and their contents are surprisingly consistent.

"Happy birthday, Mason."

"Well"

Mason curled his lips, threw the phone that was still ringing back into his pocket, raised his head again and looked at the unchanged night sky, took a deep breath of smoke, threw the cigarette he had only smoked on the ground and stamped it out.

He complained:

"Look at what these bastards are doing so provocatively? I almost burst into tears. Ah, I must be too hungry. Look, the saliva is pouring out of my eyes."