bookbashuk Chapter 4626 Prelude (Part 1)
Chapter 4626 Prelude (Part 1)
Chapter 4626 Prelude (Part 1)
"Bruce...Bruce..."
A distant, deep female voice echoed in the dark space, like a vinyl record at the end, causing the entire space to tremble, making people realize that sound and gaze have power, and are fierce, incomparable, and overwhelming.
"Bruce Wayne..."
She kept calling out, "These things can't stop you... wake up... wake up..."
When Bruce snapped out of his daze, he thought the voice he heard was a hallucination. He mumbled something and was about to fall back asleep when the voice suddenly rose in pitch.
"Bruce Wayne!"
This startled Bruce. He looked around, saw nothing, and tentatively asked, "Who are you?"
“Bruce…look at me…Bruce…”
Bruce opened his mouth to retort, but the powerful voice he heard told him that angering the other person was unwise. So he cleared his throat and asked, "Where are you?"
"Look over here...look over here..."
“Oh, I see. You don’t know where I am right now, and you need my gaze to locate me in order for me to reveal my position. Isn’t that a bit old-fashioned? Did you give the Outer Gods the copyright?” Bruce simply closed his eyes.
"I said! Look at me!!"
The woman's voice roared in a low voice. A tremendous force swept across the entire Origin Wall. Bruce had no choice but to open his eyes again and look straight ahead: "It's not that I don't want to see you, I really can't see you."
"Don't use your eyes... use your heart to gaze... gaze into the darkness within your heart..."
Bruce's eyes lit up: "What darkness should be within me?"
"They left you here... in an endless, lonely universe... to keep you company with darkness..."
“Ah,” Bruce exclaimed, “You’re right, they’ve really gone too far. I only did a little bit of work, and this is how they treat me!”
“Look into the darkness within you…”
“Ugh, my teammates betrayed me too!” Bruce said through gritted teeth. “I had already escaped, but they betrayed my location, which led to Batman catching me and leaving me hanging here. I’m so upset…”
"Gazing...gazing..."
Bruce took a deep breath. He thought for a moment, then said, "Here's the thing, I have a revenge plan that's guaranteed to keep the multiverse in turmoil forever. Come out here first, and we'll talk."
“Look at me… look at me…”
But the scene outside the Origin Wall was a blood-red expanse. Bruce didn't know which way to look; he could only focus on looking ahead. Suddenly, the crimson blood faded, replaced by boundless darkness and a pair of indescribable golden eyes that seemed to encompass the entire universe.
Then, an enormous figure emerged from the darkness. She had a female body, but was extremely thin, with long, jet-black hair that blended into the cosmic background, and a golden ring ornament around her neck that emitted a faint glow. She looked both sacred and sinister.
"Who are you?" Bruce asked.
"I am the creator goddess Papetua." Her voice still resounded with a thunderous roar, as if it filled the universe and echoed endlessly in the vast space.
"The Goddess of Creation?" Bruce looked thoughtful. "Did you create this universe?"
“I created all universes,” she said, “but unfortunately, I was betrayed by my creations. They banished me from the real universe, just like you…”
“Then we’re really in the same boat,” Bruce said with a sigh. “They also banished me from the multiverse, leaving me here to chat with you all alone. Sigh.”
Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he snapped his fingers and said, "There's no point in us just chatting here. Let's think about how to get revenge on them. Luckily, there's a hole in the Origin Wall behind me. Maybe you can go through it..."
“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Papetua said, “but I’ve been away from the multiverse for too long, and I need someone to pave the way for me…”
"What a coincidence! I'm currently forming a Dark Knights order. You've probably heard of Batman, haven't you?"
Who is that?
“Oh, so it seems you are a very ancient and powerful being,” Bruce nodded and said. “Batman is a rising superhero in the universe, currently very popular, and you could say he controls the multiverse…”
"And what about the monitors and the counter-monitors?"
“They’re not doing so well,” Bruce said, shaking his head. “They haven’t shown up in a long time, nor have they interfered with the workings of the multiverse. Are you close to them?”
"They are my children..."
“That must have been a long time ago,” Bruce said thoughtfully. “A lot of time has passed now, and the universe has changed a lot. I’m afraid you really need someone to help you scout the way.”
"Is Batman, whom you're talking about, really that amazing?"
“Well, I used to be Batman too,” Bruce sighed. “That’s a long story.”
"We have plenty of time."
“Ah, of course, you’ve already been here for so long, a little longer won’t hurt, but my time is limited. I’ll just give you a brief overview,” Bruce said. “The source of darkness in the universe is called Barbatos, and he is known as the Dark Dragon…”
"Wait, who?"
"Barbatos is a mysterious being with large wings, and it seems to have been staying near some kind of forging furnace before..."
“The World Founders’ little pet,” Papetua scoffed, “just a garbage-eating dog.”
Bruce's eyes lit up immediately. He asked, "What's your relationship with the World Founder? Is he your son too?"
“I suppose so,” said Papetua. “I am the mother of all things, and they are my closest children.”
“You’re really amazing,” Bruce exclaimed. “It’s a pity you haven’t been back for so long. Not only you, but even your son has been forgotten. The most powerful villain in the multiverse right now is Barbatos. See that hole behind me? That’s what Barbatos had his men make.”
Papetua snorted and said nothing. Bruce continued, "In short, Barbatos wanted to invade the Light Multiverse, Batman wouldn't let him, and the two of them fought."
"Is Batman Barbatos's enemy?"
“That’s right. But Barbatos can’t beat Batman. His methods don’t work at all, so I plan to organize the Dark Knights and use Batman to deal with Batman.”
"Who did you contact?"
“Well, I didn’t even have time to go find anyone before I was hung on the wall,” Bruce sighed. “You know how difficult this is, with Lucifer and Batman involved…”
"You're still an angel?"
“Yes, I went through a lot of trouble to get this position,” Bruce said. “Originally, this position should have belonged to Gabriel, and now I am Gabriel, but I only took his place because I am not a native angel and do not have that much power. So I was just left here.”
"I can give you even greater power."
Bruce's eyes lit up again. He leaned forward and asked, "Tell me more."
“I want the universe to know who their true mother is,” Papetua said slowly. “Those who do not know my name are not worthy of existence. Now, let me see if you are qualified.”
The next second, Bruce fell to the cold ground. When he woke up again, he found himself on the cold floor, in front of a long, dark tunnel.
Bruce got up from the ground and started walking towards the end of the tunnel, but the tunnel seemed to have no end. Bruce sighed, stopped walking, and sat down on the spot.
This creator goddess is quite something; she managed to drag him into this illusion. But we must thank her; even without my own backup plan, his consciousness has already broken free of the Origin Wall. Now all we need to do is wait.
Perpetua seemed completely unhurried, and Bruce even less so. But Perpetua couldn't understand why Bruce wasn't in a hurry. Soon, the end of the tunnel began to be swallowed by darkness.
Bruce glanced back, finally stood up, and slowly began to walk forward, but only slightly faster than the darkness. It wasn't that he didn't want to run faster, but who knew if the darkness behind him would catch up even faster if he did? Now was not the time to reveal his hand.
Even though he didn't accelerate, the darkness still began to speed up. But even as the darkness accelerated, Bruce didn't. He just turned around and stared blankly at the darkness until it stopped right in front of him.
“Why aren’t you afraid?” Papetua asked.
“I know you don’t want to kill me,” Bruce said, shaking his head. “You can’t even kill me.”
"I can kill any creation in the universe."
“Except for the archangels,” Bruce said. “While I was in Heaven, I didn’t do much work, but I figured out the system’s backend. All the angels are on the whitelist, and no method can erase our existence, otherwise it might cause the entire system to crash.”
"But you are not an archangel."
“I know I only have a personhood, not much power. But if I am erased, it will surely attract the attention of Heaven. If they find out that you want to kill angels, you can forget about ever getting close to the real universe again. Lucifer will not let you go.”
"It seems you are very confident in your own existence."
"Of course. Otherwise, why would I go through all that trouble to become an angel? Not everyone can do that!"
“Of course,” Papetua’s tone softened, “you should get what you want yourself, instead of waiting for someone to bestow it upon you. I quite agree with that.”
"So I've passed your test?"
"Don't rush. Tell me about your Dark Knights plan; perhaps I can help you..."
Bruce had just opened his mouth to speak when he faintly heard a voice: "Bruce? Bruce? Are you there?"
“Withdraw your power and send me back to my own mental realm.” Bruce’s voice suddenly turned icy. “Otherwise, we have nothing to talk about.”
Papetua seemed to want to know what had caused his sudden change of expression. Suddenly, she chuckled softly, "Go."
Papetua and her power vanished instantly. Bruce returned to his mental space; his spiritual body remained free, not stuck back to the wall. And the figure anxiously calling his name was Martha.
“Mom!” Bruce called out. Martha rushed towards him immediately, and Bruce threw himself into her arms, resting his chin on her shoulder. “Mom, you’re here.”
“Yes, Bruce. My goodness, your dad and I rushed over as soon as we heard you were stuck here. Are you alright?”
Bruce shook his head, then Martha slapped his arm: "You little rascal, always doing dangerous things. And when those Batmen were chasing you, didn't you run away?"
"Mom, are you here to take me home?" Bruce asked, hugging her.
“Of course,” Martha softened her tone, “even if you made a huge mistake, they couldn’t just leave you here alone! If the Flash hadn’t secretly tipped us off, we wouldn’t have known!”
Bruce chuckled and said, "How could Batman not know that the Flash alerted you? He wasn't really planning on doing anything to me. Okay, Mom, let's go home."
(End of this chapter)