Chapter 69 Luther

Metropolis, the building of the Lex Group headquarters.

Before the apocalyptic invasion, Lex Tower stood out among the many high-rise buildings in the metropolis, and the post-apocalyptic reconstruction has only made it a little taller than it used to be. The cold night wind whistled at the height of two hundred stories, and the bright red "LEX" letters shone alone in the night sky.

It was late at night, and the lights on more and more floors went out and fell into darkness. Most of the employees had left work, and only the chairman's office on the top floor remained lit. Lex Luthor sat on the office chair by the window, facing the glass curtain wall, looking down at the colorful and bustling city below, looking like he was admiring a fine art.

The lights in the office suddenly went out without warning, and the darkness engulfed everything abruptly. Luther, who was sitting by the window, raised his eyebrows, but he remained motionless in his chair as if it were not surprising at all. A tall silhouette loomed behind him, and the moonlight and lanterns outside the window cast bat-shaped shadows on the carpet.

"You know, I used to have a headache over your elusive visit in the past, and I hadn't learned how to deal with the weird guest who flew through the window in the middle of the night." Luther didn't turn his head back, talking to himself, "But times have changed, and I have learned to get used to it."

As he spoke, he turned his chair and faced the shadows in the office. Batman was wrapped in a black cape and dragged to the carpet, deliberately avoiding the moonlight on the ground.

"I remember my windows are locked. I hope you didn't break my lock. I spent a lot of money on it." Luthor stood up, opened a cabinet door, and took out a bottle of champagne and two The empty wine glass was placed on the desk, "Would you like a drink?"

"I have some questions to ask," Batman said lightly.

Luthor shrugged and filled one of the glasses with champagne: "Of course you have, or you wouldn't be here. Considering the overwhelming news about the so-called 'Superman' in the recent TV news, I can't say I'm very surprised. I think it's only a matter of time before you come to me."

"You sound like you know that's not Superman," Batman asked in a low voice. "What do you know? What have you got to do with this?"

"Not much more than you do. But it's not hard to guess, is it? We all know what Big Blue is, and his ethics and standards won't allow him to do even one thing he's been enjoying lately. His counterparts in parallel planes also often have their bottom lines, and this guy doesn't. You know him, and I know him, so we should all know that it's not him."

Batman watched as Luthor gulped champagne, his throat moving with the sound of "Gollum" swallowing. His white eyepiece narrowed slightly: "You mean you have nothing to do with this at all."

"Because I have nothing to do." Luthor put down his glass, "please, you and Superman have been fighting against me for so many years, don't you still understand my philosophy? I have always been the most staunch opponent of superhuman beings. The first day the guy in the red cape flew through the skies of Metropolis, I stood firmly against him. Do you think I'll create another now that Superman is gone?"

"It's no secret that you covet his powers, that you want a superman at his mercy," Batman said coldly. "On that basis—yes, you're a bit suspect."

Luther drank the remaining half glass of champagne in one breath, then refilled it. After a long while, he suddenly asked: "Do you know the principle of the infrared telescope I once proposed? Controlled by a program I wrote myself, a Technology used primarily to unearth buried history."

Batman didn't speak, using his only facial movement to signal Luthor to continue.

"I've designed a prototype machine that can observe the trajectory of solar activity over months or even years ago, and this machine can help me understand the big moments in Superman's past - those when he released a lot of energy. Point in time. When I used it to observe Superman, what I saw was completely unexpected..."

He paused, his face showing an uncharacteristic seriousness.

"...I traced the traces of Superman along the way, expecting to see what most people know about Superman - a symbol, and I think I will see a great man who is unwavering, convinced that he can lead all mankind to the light. But the superman I saw, whoever he was, was always stumbling through trial and error.

He overthrew a dictator, and his successor was no worse than his predecessor, and the next time he didn't do it, it got worse. So the next time, he rushed up again. "

Batman frowned: "What do you want to say?"

"Superman doesn't symbolize anything, I'd say." Luthor lay back in his chair and took another sip of champagne. "He's just a mortal stumbling along the path of life. He was never anything. A lighthouse, at best, is just a candle, trying its best to light up the space in front of it. And we all know that in the end...the candle will burn out."

The wine glass was emptied again, and he put the empty wine glass back on the table but did not continue pouring wine. Batman also stared silently at the moonlight sprinkled on the carpet for a long time.

"When I realized this, it was too late." Luthor's voice was much lighter, as if afraid of waking up a long-sleeping soul, "Yes, I have spent almost my life fighting against Superman, I don't Identify with his values, the way he wasted his life and squandered his talents, I resisted him. But now, I finally understand what Superman means - it doesn't mean anything at all. We are all the same, wanting to change Better yet, just figure it out on your own, as Superman does."

"You want me to believe that you don't hate Superman as much as you used to."

"I am." Luther said lightly, "I still don't agree with him, but that doesn't prevent me from realizing his place in this world and the meaning of his existence. So will I try to create again? A superman comes out? Yes, maybe I will. But that idiot out there who does what he wants out of sheer brute force? No, I would never create a failure like that, that would be a blasphemy to me and the real Superman. "

Batman stood across from his desk and stared into his eyes for a moment.

"Then I'll trust you this time, Luther," he said, retreating into the darkness. "Better not let me find out you're lying."

"Oh, since you're all here, I might as well give you a small gift before you go."

Batman stopped preparing to leave and listened.

Luthor said slowly: "The telescope I mentioned, can observe all the major moments in Superman's life, and that of course also includes the moment of the Doomsday War six years ago."

Batman was sure that his heart beat faster when he thought about a possibility, but his face remained calm: "So you saw what happened to him after the Doomsday?"

"No. I saw him unleash everything he had in that battle of the century, like a dying candle," Luthor said, "but I did see where that dazzling trail ended, in the south. The last of Mars was left in a village in a mountain range."

"What does that mean?"

Luther spread his hands: "I don't know either. Maybe it means nothing, just where his last energy scatters; or it means everything. I haven't been able to find the time to see it myself, but you'll be impressed. Interested, right?"

"The Age of Rebirth"

There was no sound in the darkness. Luthor smiled slightly, knowing that the Dark Knight was gone. He silently filled another glass of champagne, and the office lights came back on just as the new glass was drunk.