Chapter 472 | Kansas, A Brand-New Starting Point
Half a month had passed since the nuclear war that almost dragged the human world to the abyss.
The nuclear warheads that went missing became the top ten unsolved mysteries in the world, and no one knew where they went.
When the East and West camps declared a truce, a guy who claimed to be the Emerald Knight appeared in the Kremlin and the White House one after another and had a conversation with the Presidents of the two countries for several hours.
According to the information provided by the intelligence department, this person's whole body was covered with emerald energy armour, and conventional weapons had no effect on him, revealing an extremely strong combat force.
The secret service team responsible for security work, in front of the Emerald Knight, instantly fell in front of him, unable to fight back.
"Mr President, I'm here to bargain."
Ozymandias, who wore Sinestro's Power Ring, started with a script he got from Luke.
Although he didn't know why the other party emphasised this sentence...
'Is there a profound meaning in it?'
As Luke said, the triangle was the most stable structure.
When a third camp emerged in the world, neither American nor Russian…
At this time, some contradictions would shift, some conflicts would shrink, and a delicate balance would emerge.
"Why did the Minutemen disband?"
When talking to the President, Adrian remembered Luke's question.
The Minutemen was a costumed hero organisation, which was once sought after by the public and the best helpers of the police and the government.
Later, with the increasing number of vigilantes, the police station slipped into a weak position, and the New York City Council even rejected the police's request for a salary increase, thinking it was unnecessary.
The media also felt that since there were costumed heroes, there was no need for police to maintain law and order.
They would only come after the problem was solved and process the scene, which wasn't as efficient as the stylish vigilantes who fought the criminals.
As a result, the backlog of discontent turned into anger toward unequal treatment.
Many policemen joined forces and held a strike, which led to a social shutdown and even greater riots.
People took to the streets, holding signs with slogans like 'Who will restrain the costumed heroes' and 'Get out vigilantes!'
Later, Nixon's successful re-election prompted Congress to pass the 'Keene Act'.
Costumed heroes either worked for the government or chose to retire. There were only two choices.
The Minutemen were then disbanded, and the Crimebusters who took over failed to perform their role.
The reason for this situation was that all the costumed heroes in this world were normal human beings except for Dr Manhattan.
They could only be supervised and couldn't resist.
Even Rorschach, who had never compromised, could only go underground.
Luke raised this question to remind Ozymandias...
This was different from the past, and he was already an 'Emerald Knight'.
He could ignore the government and act as a vigilante.
Without enough strength, he would be constrained.
The world government on the studio next door, even if it formed A.R.G.U.S, couldn't give orders to the Justice League.
Although the Marvel universe introduced the Superhuman Registration Act, and Civil War broke out in The Avengers, the government's control had never really been realised.
In the final analysis, there were still many superheroes, and they had the power to resist.
"I'm the Emerald Knight."
Ozymandias, who left the White House, flew into the sky and saw Luke standing in the clouds.
The dark cloak fluttered like a flag.
The latter, with a smile, whispered: "Times should change, Veidt. Even if Dr Manhattan doesn't come back, you can be the 'god' of this world."
He succeeded in bewitching Ozymandias and persuading the other party to sign the devil's contract.
In exchange for a Power Ring, he was given ownership of his soul.
Like playing a card game, Luke loved to collect all kinds of high-quality villains.
Compared to superheroes, they were more capable of doing things.
Ozymandias was just the first S card he got, and there are better ones to come.
"When will you leave?"
Adrian's eyes looked complicated as he spoke in a deep voice.
He was a conceited man who liked to dominate everything.
But in front of Luke, Ozymandias, who often compared himself with Alexander the Great, had lost his confidence.
"So anxious for me to leave? Yes, there should only be one god, so only they would be worshipped by the people."
Luke's mouth curled up in a joking manner.
He didn't think it was a losing deal to give Adrian Veidt the Power Ring.
As the person who knew Dr Manhattan best, Ozymandias could always play his part.
"Sooner or later, you will get tired of it. At that time, I won't mind opening the door to the wider universe."
Luke predicted.
Ozymandias had given him the modified Nite Owl airship and the coordinate data for tracking Dr Manhattan.
Among them, including the one that created the red lynx through genetic modification technology...
It had a residue of Dr Manhattan's essence and other uses.
"Goodbye, Veidt."
Luke waved. He didn't intend to stay in the Watchmen universe for long.
This was a devastated and nearly broken world.
Leave it to Ozymandias to set things right.
"By the way, remember to leave Marionette and Mime behind. Just as they are useful to you, they are useful to me."
Luke said so before he left.
Adrian, who was covered with emerald green energy armour, had a flashing gaze.
He looked down at the Earth and then at the shining ring in his right hand.
Ozymandias, Adrian Veidt had died of cancer.
There's only Emerald Knight now!
...
...
A few days later, without telling anyone, Luke took the Nite Owl spacecraft alone and went through quantum tunnelling.
The entire cockpit emitted a buzzing sound as if it would disintegrate at any moment.
He had modified the route on the automatic navigation.
It was no longer Dr Manhattan's timeline but the earlier time and space before the Flashpoint.
The dazzling light engulfed everything, and Luke couldn't help narrowing his eyes. The Nite Owl airship he was riding seemed to be caught in a whirlpool and kept turning and rolling.
If it were an ordinary person, the violent tumble would have caused them to see their lunches again.
Bang!
The rather old-looking Nite Owl airship seemed to have hit a hard wall.
It pushed forward and pushed through the thick 'obstacle'.
There was friction and sparks on the outer shell, like a meteorite rapidly falling.
"Meow!"
The red lynx, lying on Luke's leg, like a cat with all its fur standing, shook its tail anxiously.
"It's okay; we're almost there."
Luke stroked the soft fur with the palm of his hand, like a cat, allowing the red lynx to calm down.
Like a crashed plane, the Nite Owl airship raised a conspicuous flash of fire and quickly passed through the atmosphere.
Boom!
Luke kept decelerating, but the inertia of the fall still caused the Nite Owl airship to slam to the ground and make a loud noise.
'When Adrian rebuilt the airship, didn't he consider adding an emergency landing function? '
Luke coughed and held the red lynx.
Forcibly opening the distorted hatch, he came out, safe and sound.
The crackling sparks flashed, and smoke billowed.
Luke looked at the not-so-successful Nite Owl airship, which had made a big crater.
The surrounding soil was charred as if it had been burned by fire.
'Someone's coming. '
Luke's ears moved. He heard footsteps in the distance.
He scanned around and saw large fields of corn and wheat nearby.
'It looks like a farm!'
'It wasn't a pleasant trip. '
Luke opened the Underworld and stowed the Nite Owl, which was on the verge of being scrapped, into it, then shot up into the sky and disappeared.
He overlooked the Earth, amplifying his senses.
A few seconds later, he finally identified the location.
'This is --'
'Kansas!'