Chapter 153: Save Flash First
Colorado.
Middleton.
The Martian Manhunter used his shapeshifting abilities to take on a human appearance, adopting the human identity of John Jones, and walked down the third street of Middleton.
All around him, there was chaotic turmoil. Looting was rampant, the national flag was trampled upon, and crazed individuals shook burning flags on car roofs. Black smoke billowed, chaos and wickedness prevailed, with every moment witnessing both turmoil and the emergence of evil in people's hearts.
"Give me your money!"
The Martian Manhunter turned his head to see a burly man inside a convenience store by the street. The man was brandishing a revolver and pointing it at the cashier.
The cashier rolled his eyes, seemingly unfazed by such occurrences. "Come and take it yourself."
The burly man glanced at the cashier, blinded by his greed for money. He reached over the counter and opened the cash drawer, only to find a pitiful few coins inside.
"You better go elsewhere; everything here has been cleaned out," the cashier calmly remarked.
The convenience store was in utter disarray, its goods completely looted.
"F***."
The burly man cursed angrily, grabbing the remaining few condoms from the counter and walking away.
The Martian Manhunter observed the cashier's calm demeanor, devoid of hope, and sensed the burly man's restlessness and agitation as he passed by.
Individual acts of superheroism were futile in the face of this panic-induced chaos. While the Martian Manhunter, with his formidable superpowers, could save some humans, other physically vulnerable superheroes were at risk of being attacked and subdued by the frenzied mob, even subjected to gunfire.
Fighting crime was now pointless; maintaining order was what they needed to focus on.
Since the high-ranking elites of this nation, who stood like a pyramid, had been eradicated, the entire country's healthcare, retirement benefits, government subsidies, social security, and monetary bonds had all been obliterated by this unrestrained panic.
Robbing money was the most foolish of actions because in several cities, people had already resorted to bartering goods.
Cities across the country initiated self-rescue actions, with the most representative being Metropolis. The LexCorp, in collaboration with numerous multinational corporations in Metropolis, established a consortium model to manage the city and initially maintain order.
In other cities, like Gotham, Wayne Enterprises, in partnership with large local businesses, began efforts to maintain order.
Green Arrow was forced to set aside his bow and led the Quinn Industries to form an alliance to preserve order in Star City.
Simultaneously, numerous conglomerates, corporations, and consortia worked diligently to sustain the creditworthiness of their currencies while engaging in selling.
The entire Unnamed Zone began to seek a way forward through city self-governance.
"You must save the Flash first!"
A voice sounded from the Martian Manhunter's pocket-sized iPhone 6.
"How can I trust someone who doesn't even want to save his own son?" The Martian Manhunter stepped over a blood-red gutter in front of the convenience store, paying no attention to the burly man. He wouldn't intervene unless it was a matter of life and death. This kind of thing had become routine, and even he couldn't save everyone.
Instead, what mattered most now was not conducting minor anti-crime operations but addressing the root causes of the chaos.
As for the voice emanating from his iPhone 6, it had been present in his phone since he decided to rescue Superman and the Flash. It came from a man who claimed to be Superman's father, a man named 'Jor.' However, Jor proposed prioritizing the Flash's rescue over saving his own son.
"It's not that I don't want to save him, but you can only save one person. In a situation where you can only save one person, I can only suggest you save the Flash," Jor's voice came through the iPhone 6, filled with bitterness and helplessness.
"Why?" the Martian Manhunter questioned.
"Your intangible state is undoubtedly a transcendence of the physical plane, and it can be said to be the most potent form of concealment in the universe. In this state of being intangible, you are impervious to any physical effects. This ability cannot be explained from a physical perspective, and from any physical aspect, you cannot be seen.
However, I believe that you can only face H'el once. After that, he will find your weakness and subsequently kill you.
So, do not attempt to face him a second time." Jor's voice was calm and resolute.
"Why save the Flash?" The Martian Manhunter wasn't entirely convinced by Jor's words.
The intangible state was indeed an incredibly powerful form of concealment, one that had never been penetrated. No one could see or detect him in his intangible state, not even Superman, who had used all of his vision and abilities. The Martian Manhunter remained cautious, doubting that anyone could find him in his intangible state, especially given how easily H'el had defeated Superman.
Additionally, he harbored strong suspicions about why Jor, Superman's father, insisted on saving the Flash. Why prioritize rescuing the Flash over such a powerful force as Superman?
"Why?" he asked again.
"He needs my son; he needs to extract the Kryptonian gene bank—Life Codex—from my son. Therefore, Kal-El is not in mortal danger, and he will not allow himself to lose Kal. Saving Kal would be seen as a provocation.
As for the Flash, he's within his permission. Perhaps even he hasn't realized that I've seen through his plans and am using them.
I've already created the means to kill him, and it needs to be activated through the Flash's speed force."
Jor-El explained calmly.
When he had previously confronted H'el, he had proposed exchanging a backup Life Codex for the Flash. On the surface, it appeared he did it to disgust H'el or perhaps out of his last shreds of goodwill, offering the Life Codex for the relatively insignificant Flash. However, the reality was that Jor-El needed the Flash. He needed the Flash's speed force to activate the atomic cells inside the Amazo's body that contained the Life Codex. It wasn't an absolute necessity for the speed force; various levels of bosonic force fields or even lower-level electromagnetic fields composed of 225 species of static-spin quantum particles could activate the atomic cells inside the Amazo's body. But there was no doubt that the speed force was Jor-El's optimal choice, allowing him to maximize the Amazo's power.
"Come to this address; everything I have is here. We share a common goal; trust me."
Jor's voice from the iPhone 6 said, and the phone automatically opened the map navigation, directing him to LexCorp Tower in Metropolis.
He needed to lay everything on the line to gain the Martian Manhunter's trust.
The Martian Manhunter looked at the navigation on the iPhone 6, pointing toward LexCorp Tower in Metropolis, and couldn't help but change his expression. LexCorp had made the most significant, indelible contribution during this national catastrophe. It was Lex Luthor who, amid the tremors of many conglomerates, corporations, and consortiums, was the first to come forward and unite the financial consortiums to maintain order in the city. He had even selflessly released the blueprint for converting nuclear radiation into clean energy, prompting major conglomerates to manufacture machines to clean up nuclear radiation, giving humanity a patch of habitable land.
Directly and indirectly, Lex Luthor had saved tens of millions, even hundreds of millions of people in the Unnamed Zone, providing the people with a glimmer of hope for survival and order.
Lex Luthor had become the Unnamed Zone's sole hope.
The Martian Manhunter's face showed a moment of contemplation. He transformed from his human guise back into his green-skinned form, broke the sound barrier in an instant, and took off toward LexCorp Tower in Metropolis.
°°°
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