Chapter 3592: Edge of Tomorrow (1)

Metropolis. In the bar invested by the Luther Group. Glasses were raised high and clinked together. Foam splashed across one smiling face after another.

"Cheers!"

Followed by a series of cheers.

Clark took a few sips of cold bubbly wine, let out a satisfied sigh, and fell back into the soft sofa, rubbing his head against the fabric surface of the sofa.

"Finally over." Diana fell beside him.

Bruce passed the gummy candy jar, Diana took a few and distributed them to Clark beside her. The three of them tossed the gummies into their mouths together.

In the dance floor on the other side, Hal was nodding his head and swaying to the rhythm of jazz music. Oliver came over from the bar, placing an ice bucket and a bottle of wine on the table.

"Weren't you going to chat with Ron? Why did you come over so quickly?" Diana asked, looking at him.

"Don't mention it, he complained about that lousy movie to me for 20 minutes. I really don't want to hear him repeat the plot again."

Bruce immediately laughed. Diana rolled her eyes at him, vigorously pulled out the wooden stopper on the wine bottle, picked up the glass, and poured wine into it, then said, "Ron practically saved our lives; otherwise, he'd have played that movie for us."

"Good thing you didn't watch it; the plot is really terrible," Ron's voice appeared behind them.

"Oh, come on," Clark quickly raised his voice and said, "you watched it yourself; no need to share it with us!"

Lex walked over, sat in the last empty seat on the sofa, and said, "Though the movie is from the neighboring world, I heard the director is from our side. Seriously, two worlds humiliated."

"I'd better not catch that damned director," Ron said through clenched teeth.

"Is it really that bad?" Bruce said, "I thought it was okay, aside from the plot being a bit dragging, it was barely tolerable."

"You know, when you say this, I kind of understand the professor," Diana couldn't help but tease, "your taste is abysmal. If that movie can be considered okay, are there any bad films in the world?"

"Look on the bright side, if you watch this lousy movie, all movies in the world would seem good to you," Bruce shrugged.

"True. After reading your paper, who in the world wouldn't understand psychology?" Clark also commented.

Mocking Bruce's paper had become a daily topic of the Justice League; everyone could at least tell two or three jokes about the paper.

"Have Pamela and the others already left?" Oliver asked, "They left so quickly, didn't even attend the celebration party."

"They seemed to have been called away," Lex said, "seems like it was Amanda Waller again. Who knows what she's up to."

"She's definitely gotten a big head recently," Diana said, "These supernatural incidents are under the jurisdiction of the Federation Shield. Washington is desperately trying to get the Justice League's movements from Amanda."

"Though she's a bit meddlesome and sometimes overconfident, her intentions aren't bad," Oliver said justly, "Anyway, there must be an organization that handles supernatural events, letting Amanda lead is already the best outcome."

"That's why I'm often despairing over the Federation's political talent reserve," Lex said after taking a sip of wine.

Hal came over holding a plate of snacks, placed the plate on the table, then said, "Barry ran too fast, I haven't settled my accounts with him."

"Come on, how old is he? Why are you fussing over a 20-year-old kid?" Oliver tossed a chip into his mouth, "Besides, in the end, nothing happened, right?"

"That's how it sounds, but..."

"Enough, drink, drink." Bruce started pouring drinks for the people beside him.

The party went on for most of the night, everyone drank heavily. Early the next morning, Oliver rubbed his aching head, and said in a low voice, "…Did I forget something?"

After speaking, he picked up his phone, rubbed his forehead, squinted his eyes, and scrolled down the screen.

Only then did he see a message sent by Batman shortly after the meeting ended yesterday:

"Our main task has been announced, we must thwart Brainiac's attempt to invade Earth. Come to the conference room so we can discuss?"

In the conference room at Luthor Manor, two groups of Batmen and Supermen were staring blankly at each other all night.

Oliver leaned against the door frame, walked in shakily, sat in a chair, then lay down on the table, took a deep breath, and said, "Good morning, everyone."

"I'm afraid we are not well," Batman said, "What were you all doing last night? Debris from Mercury? Exploring Krypton? Or interrogating that Super Kryptonian?"

Before Oliver could reply, Hal also wobbled in, plopped into a chair, and said, "God, we didn't finish until three yesterday, and you caught me at six in the morning. Doesn't the Justice League care about labor laws?!"

Clark and Diana yawned as they flew in. Clark waved his hand and said, "Bruce is researching his broken phone again, not coming today, and Lex probably won't come either."

"What's up with Lex?" Oliver forced himself to ask.

"Bruce is researching that broken phone on his turf, of course, Lex has to watch, otherwise he's saying goodbye to the most expensive equipment in his lab again."

"Has Ron left too? Ron also gone?"

"He wants to help his daughter with her craft homework, due tomorrow. He's never done it before, so he has to learn from scratch tonight. Just left the meeting yesterday and flew back immediately."

"He's really something," Hal remarked, "Having kids sure changes things."

Oliver's phone suddenly chimed. After seeing the message, he raised an eyebrow and said, "Alright, looks like I can't hang out with you guys either."

"What's up?"

"Black Canary is back from Mexico and wants to have dinner with me."

Everyone collectively went "Oh—" and then broke into quiet snickers.

"Cough, cough." Oliver lightly coughed twice and then said, "We're just friends, don't overthink it."

"Lois used to say that often too," Diana glanced at Clark and said, "But now some people have started picking Valentine's Day gifts."

Oliver pursed his lips, showing a disinterested expression, tapping away at his phone as if editing a message.

"You still haven't told us why you called us here." Hal tapped the table to remind him.

Oliver motioned forward with his lips. The others turned to look at Superman and the Batmen sitting behind the table.

"We've just received our main task," Superman spoke first, "We're dealing with Brainiac. Any ideas?"

"That's not our business," Hal stretched lazily, leaning back in his chair, "I've got to shop for equipment in Battleworld and remodel Mars City. I'll be busy for the next month."

"Don't look at me," Clark shook his head, "I've been exhausted lately, I'm going on vacation."

"Same here," Diana crossed her arms, stretching them above her head, "I'm going home to the Amazon for a family visit, leave's already approved. If you hadn't summoned me, I'd probably be there by now."

After speaking, they all stood up, ready to leave.

"Wait." Batman stopped them and said, "Brainiac is quite an evil AI, he's caused numerous disasters in our cosmos, destroyed many civilizations, and is a major enemy of the Justice League."

"And now he's on Krypton, which you guys moved to the Solar System, aren't you worried he'll take this chance to invade Earth?"

"Hmm," Oliver nodded, emitting a monosyllabic sound, then flopped onto the table saying, "But I have a headache, I'm going home for a nap. Goodnight."

After saying that, he left, leaving Batman in the wind, bewildered.

The others also scattered. Before leaving, Clark said, "The Justice League dealt with Hai'er and got a new Mercury for Earth. We've done great work. Now we're clocking out; let someone else worry about the rest."

The meeting room returned to silence.

The two Batmen seemed shocked by a world view. Looking at their expressions, you could roughly guess where the shock came from—turns out the Justice League can clock out?

"Ordinary times, sure, but with such a huge supervillain overhead, you guys just clock out?!"

Yet no matter how incredulous they felt, this universe's Justice League was dead set on clocking out. Not only did everyone go home cleanly, but by lunchtime, none could be contacted.

So the question arises: What about Brainiac?

Batman and Superman didn't know either.

Having received the main task notification, they felt somewhat surprised. Didn't expect those appetizers earlier, ultimately still facing Brainiac.

Injustice Superman and Injustice Batman were even speechless. They came to Battleworld because they couldn't beat Brainiac, only to be told they still had to face Brainiac here. Wasn't that a wasted trip?

After receiving the main task, they planned to see what this universe's Justice League could come up with.

While this universe's Justice League seemed unreliable, these guys rambled around and indeed solved Hai'er and Mercury issues. In dealing with Brainiac, perhaps they might come up with good ideas to borrow.

Injustice Batman calculated every possibility but not this—the Justice League in this universe directly clocked out.

They could clock out, but he couldn't. Without completing the main task, there was no reward, so Brainiac couldn't be resolved upon return.

"What do we do now?" Superman asked, "Seems they truly don't plan to help… Wait, Brainiac invaded their Earth, we're the ones helping."

"I think they won't really ignore it," Batman speculated, "Or they feel confident Brainiac won't get in. After all, they have the Magical Defense Network, that thing is truly amazing."

"What's crucial is they ignore Krypton too," Superman said, "Plus a series of cleanup tasks, nobody's doing them. It's nearly like my college project group."

"You've been here so long and still haven't realized they're unreliable?" Injustice Superman said sarcastically, "They're unreliable at any time, on anything."

"But they still succeeded," Injustice Batman said.

"That's because even the enemy can't foresee their actions," Injustice Superman continued, "Do you guess Brainiac is prepared with a bunch of arguments, ready to negotiate with them now?"

Though he didn't want to agree with Injustice Superman, thinking of Brainiac waiting in vain just like himself made Injustice Batman almost chuckle.