"Brainiac!"
A voice echoed in near-Earth orbit. A strong figure with gray skin was floating there, a determined look on his face with tightly furrowed brows.
"What’s the matter?" Brainiac’s voice ca from the satellite, "Hai’er, why are you back?"
"Why did I return? It’s obviously because it’s still dark. When will you co up with a way to relight the Sun?"
"...It might take so ti, this is not easy."
"But Kent Farm can’t wait too long, neither can Clark and Kara," Hai’er said. "Even if the Earth stops cooling, without sunlight for photosynthesis, crops will soon die, that’s our year’s labor."
"I am arranging for rapid harvesting to help farrs reduce losses. Pala is also working hard to slow down the decay of plants..."
"Of course, I know everyone is making efforts. But this is just a temporary solution, we need to solve the problem at the root. The most important thing now is to relight the Sun, have you made any progress?"
"That plan is also being implented," Brainiac replied. "The Super Body is researching how to restore life to the Sun."
"You an, we still need to rely on others?"
"Human technology currently has no way to re-ignite the Sun. Either we switch to another star, or we can only research in the direction of mysterious powers."
Hai’er crossed his arms and said, "Can the Sun be revived by this thod?"
"Still researching," Brainiac said. "The life force the Super Body possesses is very powerful, she will figure it out. If other Kryptonians are in bad condition, I can arrange for them to go to the nearest yellow Sun to absorb strength. Any other questions?"
"Alright then, do it as quickly as possible," Hai’er seed to be doing his best to suppress his anxiety. "Although this won’t harm , I hate this pitch-black environnt."
"Has anyone contacted you?" Brainiac asked.
"Contact ? Who?" Hai’er asked sowhat puzzled, "Did soone need for sothing?"
"No, of course, that’s best. If possible, could you travel through ti and see how the Sun was extinguished initially..."
"Okay. But I can’t easily intervene with the tiline, it’s too dangerous. If the Sun changes from being extinguished to exploding, no one can save Earth."
"Yes, I was about to say that. I hope you just go back to observe and don’t easily get involved. Modifying ti is too risky."
Hai’er nodded and said, "You’ve got your hands full too. I know there’s a ton of trouble on Earth."
Brainiac didn’t say much more. He couldn’t focus on this thread because just now, he saw Shiller went to see the Super Body, and the Super Body shielded him, so he didn’t know what the two discussed.
Brainiac felt a strong alarm in his heart. In fact, ever since that Shiller said he wouldn’t cause him trouble, the alarm in Brainiac’s mind was almost ringing off. He would rather Shiller stir up so issues and threaten him. Brainiac even prepared to compromise, but didn’t expect that Shiller completely defied expectations.
He had no intention of negotiating with Brainiac; he simply expressed understanding, made a promise, and then struck a blow right at Brainiac’s lifeline.
The Super Body was crucial to Brainiac, not because he particularly liked her, but because in the series of disasters Earth was facing, the role the Super Body played was too important. Her life force was the only way to counter the Power of Death. Without her, how could Brainiac fight the behind-the-scenes manipulator?
Brainiac was convinced the Super Body would help him, not because he thought the Super Body might have feelings for him, but because this was a Multiverse level disaster. Helping him was also helping herself. If they couldn’t stop the infiltration of the behind-the-scenes manipulator, once he fully infiltrated, the first to suffer would be the holder of the life force.
Thus, Brainiac always thought their interest alliance was unbreakable. But now he wasn’t so sure.
Would Shiller speak ill of him to the Super Body? Would the Super Body believe it? Would she really abandon helping this cosmos? Wasn’t she worried about Batman?
Brainiac pondered these questions deeply, then reached a conclusion: their interests were highly aligned, and the Super Body had no reason not to help him. She couldn’t possibly give up because of Shiller’s persuasion.
Thinking of this, Brainiac felt slightly relieved. But he still found the Super Body and asked, "What did Shiller say to you?"
"So old stories," Super Body said, "I was just about to tell you about it."
"What is it?"
"That little girl," Super Body continued, "I haven’t seen her yet, so I can’t judge whether she is a living corpse. If she is, what do you plan to do?"
"I’m not foolish enough to listen to her instigation. Even if she accuses Shiller of murder, I still maintain suspicion of her testimony. Because soone at Cliff Restaurant blocked my signal at the ti, which proves there was a third party present besides Shiller and the little girl. This third party is the most suspicious."
"You seem to be sober, but that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about." After a pause, Super Body said, "Have you found any information about this little girl?"
"I asked many people," Brainiac said, "They seem to be victims of the dark age. Very few of those children survived, and she is the only one resurrected so far."
"Have you ever thought of really bringing her back to life?"
"What?"
"Shiller ca to to talk about this. Many resurrected people died innocently. Children are undoubtedly the most innocent group. Unlike people of the new era, they suffered oppression and torture in the dark age, quietly dying in the night without even seeing a ray of light. Their lives should not be like this."
Brainiac seed shocked. Super Body could understand why he was silent, so she said, "I know you always considered as one of your kind. But actually, I can no longer be counted as electronic life. I can empathize with emotional life forms. I cannot remain indifferent after hearing such stories. You understand?"
"So... so you want to..."
"I want to try," Super Body said, "I can’t make people who died many years ago co back to life by myself. Although I possess the Life Force, it alone is not enough. But the Power of Death imposed on the living corpses by the behind-the-scenes manipulator can do it. This proves that what I need to do is not to oppose it but to integrate with it. If I can find that balance point, maybe there will be no more living corpses. They will beco ordinary resurrected people."
"That’s impossible," Brainiac said, "Only God can wield the great power of resurrection. Any other life trying this will pay a painful price, I don’t agree with it."
After taking a step forward, Super Body said, "I know. Whether it’s maintaining societal stability or confronting the behind-the-scenes manipulator, your goal is to save lives. But the human race only needs two kinds of people: Satan, who destroys the world, and the Savior, who saves everyone. If you choose to save so and abandon others, you will never be the Savior of the human race."
"I never wanted to abandon them," Brainiac said, "Otherwise, when you pointed out who the living corpses were, I would have killed them all already. But now I have rely locked them away."
"What really makes humans doubt you is not the accuracy of the Psychoanalysis thod, nor whether there is substantial evidence to prove they are different, but your indecisive choices." Super Body’s eyes looked at the empty room in front, but the data flowing in her eyes seed to reflect Brainiac’s figure.
"You could directly kill them, say they are living corpses, say they will harm others, and you’ve already dealt with them. They won’t have any objections because in reality, every change of dynasty in human civilization has been done by excluding dissenters in this way. You could also choose to free them, assure them there’s nothing to fear, as you still believe in them, eventually finding a way to save them. They’ll gladly accept, because the Savior who saves all humanity in the ideal should be rciful and powerful."
"But you choose to waver between reality and ideal, neither integrating into humanity as a ruler with power nor ascending to Heaven, never giving up any possibility, responsible for saving every human. Such indecision leads to panic. Do you understand?"
Brainiac finally understood why Shiller emphasized he was just an electronic life. It wasn’t mockery but simply informing Brainiac that now he is the only electronic life on Earth, and Super Body has long left him far behind.
For this reason, Shiller wouldn’t attempt to negotiate with him. Because Shiller understands that the one who can truly influence the battlefield is not Brainiac but Super Body, who has already evolved to another level and holds the Life Force. So he used this theory to persuade Super Body, and Super Body intends to use this theory to persuade Brainiac.
Brainiac was not persuaded because it wasn’t about saving soone or not. He just thought the risks of studying resurrection were too high, possibly involving both superheroes and ordinary people.
At the ti of fighting the Cosmic Alliance Army, when the situation was critical, he was already in a hurry, and he could only think of ways to increase the output of the chanical army, not resurrect humans. Or precisely because he understands humanity’s uniqueness, he knows this authority can only be touched by God, and others attempting it won’t have a good outco. This is God’s warning.
But he knows Super Body is right, he can’t stop her. Because the Life Force is in Super Body’s hands, whatever she wants to try, Brainiac can’t stop her.
And the problem is, Super Body has evolved advanced enough, no different from emotional life forms. She has empathy.
She thinks those children are too pitiful. From birth, they were oppressed, falling in the darkest ti before dawn, never even seeing the Sun in this city. So she decides to give it a try, not for profit, not considering value, not caring about risk, only for so emotion erupting in her heart. This is undoubtedly dangerous. If Brainiac, an electronic life, were to diagnose, then Super Body must be sick. And the na of this illness is "love."
Brainiac watched her flying towards the hospital, even too busy to care about the doubled error reports in the program. For the first ti, he had so difficulty accurately judging his state. All threads ran as usual, but sothing seed different.
At this mont, Lex, maintaining Brainiac’s system in Krypton’s machine room, suddenly widened his eyes and rushed to the screen. The numbers and letters sliding by at extrely high speed reflected in his eyes, minute enough to seem like an umbilical cord and vast like a galaxy.
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