American comics: Starting with Luke the Maker

In a large hall, a wizened old man sat alone in a chair, as if he had been there for a long time, or as if he were waiting for someone.

"Is that... Clark?" Bruce, stepping through the portal and into the hall, squinted at the old man's somewhat familiar face, unsure. He looked at the Bruce in the patient's gown beside him, hoping to get an accurate response from him.

The Bruce in the patient's gown shook his head, indicating that he had no relevant memories.

"You've arrived," a hoarse male voice sounded from ahead, as if he hadn't spoken in a long time, making his voice sound dry and sluggish.

"Clark? Is that you?" Seeing that Luke was just looking around with great interest, not intending to answer, Bruce thought for a moment and took the initiative to speak to the old man.

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"Indeed. I am this universe's Superman, but not the Clark you remember," the elderly Superman admitted his identity.

"This is the heart of the World Forge, the origin of all multiverses," the elderly Superman said as he stood up from his chair, introducing this mysterious place to everyone.

"All the universes you know were created from here. The master of this place is the World Forger, and his responsibility since birth has been to create one multiverse after another.

But due to some reasons, the universes he creates are not always perfect and stable. So he prunes those unstable universes like a gardener trimming branches."

"And that pair of scissors is the Barbatos you know, the Dark Multiverse God."

"I suspect something went wrong, didn't it?" Bruce noticed that Luke didn't stop him from talking to the elderly Superman, as if he hadn't heard them, and was still just looking around, as if something was attracting him.

"That's right, one day Barbatos grew tired of this duty, and he secretly left some universes that needed to be destroyed, and these universes formed the Dark Multiverse that the Batman Who Laughs experienced.

But without destroying those unstable dark universes, there would be no returning energy to the World Forge, which would eventually be exposed. So Barbatos killed his master, the World Forger, Alpheus."

"Then what about you?" Bruce asked, looking at the elderly Superman.

"The Justice League in my universe clashed with Barbatos. We couldn't kill him, but Diana used a power to suppress him under the World Forge. The Justice League also suffered heavy casualties in this war. In the end, I was chosen to be Barbatos's keeper, guarding this place," the elderly Superman answered Bruce's questions without holding back.

"But Barbatos was able to reach an agreement with the Batman Who Laughs," Bruce pointed to the Bruce in the patient's gown beside him, "Your guarding doesn't seem to have worked as it should."

"You can't understand how powerful Barbatos is! He has infinite energy. We can only bind his body, but we can't guarantee that his spirit won't find loopholes in the seal. But under the suppression of the World Forge, even if there are loopholes, his spirit can't extend outward for a long time without limit.

Apart from you, it's not like no one else has found this place. But the war is over."

"So, you want us to leave?" Luke suddenly asked.

"Of course, this is not a place you should come to!" the elderly Superman said.

"But what you're doing doesn't seem like you want us to leave. The space is shifting. That door, after passing through, is not where we came from," Luke pointed to the spatial door behind him that hadn't closed yet.

Stephen and Bruce immediately became cautious. A green light formed a Batsuit on Bruce's body, his Lantern Ring suit, which could use psionic power to simulate the power of the emotional spectrum.

"Also, the dark energy on your soul is denser than that of Dormammu. The disguise is meaningless, Barbatos."

Luke's words silenced the elderly Superman and Bruce.

The elderly Superman began to emanate a dense darkness, like mercury pouring onto the ground, quickly devouring the light in the surrounding space.

The light was decreasing, and darkness was covering the surroundings.

A huge black shadow, like night, blotted out the sky, wide bat-like wings stretching out to both sides, his body wrapped in a gray cloak, his features indistinct, only a pair of narrow eyes shining in the darkness. He had a human-like form, but his arms, exposed outside the cloak, were skin and bones, only a layer of skin covering the skeleton, looking like chicken claws.

"How strange, I haven't found your destiny in the multiverses I've seen. Are you an outsider?" A rumbling voice sounded in the darkness. Barbatos, revealing his true form, looked down at the ant-like Luke and the others.

"Can you take me to see the World Forge?" Facing the malicious Barbatos, Luke's voice was clear and distinct.

"Of course not!" Barbatos, wrapped in purple-black lightning, gathered powerful energy in his palm, refusing.

"I think it wouldn't hurt to let him see it." Suddenly, to the astonishment of Barbatos and Bruce, another voice seamlessly connected. And the source was the Barbatos who had just refused.

Bruce and the others watched the behemoth quickly asking and answering himself, arguing with himself, their eyes shifting back and forth between it and Luke. They were sure that Barbatos's current state was inseparable from Luke, but they couldn't be sure how Luke had done it.

"The power of opposition. It can also be understood as the power of positive and negative. Whether it's matter, spirit, or energy, Luke can control and master all the interactions between them. And the strong replication and transformation of psionic power provides Luke with the most stable foundation of power. As long as he wants, he can make you argue with yourself for the rest of your life. Whether you're a god or a human." Seeing Bruce's gaze, Stephen took a deep breath and explained simply.

"It's you, you despicable mortal! What have you done! I will destroy you!" Barbatos broke free from the argument with his other consciousness, wanting to release the accumulated power in his hand to destroy Luke below.

"Don't be so irritable! Our nature is to destroy, but that doesn't mean we have to destroy everything we see! I don't think that's good! After all, he let me out for some air, and for that alone, I think he's absolutely qualified to take a look at the World Forge." However, the terrifying energy that was about to be released was abruptly stopped, and another voice rang out again. It was now gradually beginning to compete with Barbatos's main consciousness for control of the body and energy, and it seemed to be having some success. (End of chapter)