Three-stream detection simulator

Later, Starro understood two things in a long time.

The first thing is that no matter what Hercule Hugo looks like, his core is indeed a real human being.

The second thing is that when a real human shakes hands with you, communicates with you, and does not deny or reject your idea of ​​making friends, it does not mean that such friendliness will last forever.

In Starro's eyes, Batman is an absolutely correct, powerful, and admirable hero, a perfect and shining symbol in the golden age. It yearns for a back that has long gone, thinking that is the goal that everyone should pursue.

Hercule is different. He helped it separate the concepts of human and hero.

From the day it was locked in the laboratory, the detective was neither a hero nor a criminal, just an extremely annoying human being.

**

"Hercules is not a rule-abiding person." Batman said, "His way of dealing with criminals..."

He paused and changed his words, thinking of Harvey Dent, "His attitude towards non-human creatures is particularly obvious."

Superman coughed awkwardly and said, "I think it's okay."

Batman glanced at him.

Superman looked forward and brainstormed.

Batman checked the map and confirmed that they were about to reach the paradise on earth. The monitor showed that the Owl Court convoy in the tunnel was climbing the slope and would appear on the surface in ten minutes.

He had to say something in these ten minutes, so he decided to speak: "Do you think I regard the detective as a human supremacist because I have a personal conflict with him?"

"I never delve into personal matters." Superman replied, "But I still regard him as your friend."

Batman pondered for at least a minute and said, "I am a human. No matter how my relationship with Hercule is, you should not use me as a reference when judging his attitude towards non-humans."

"..."

"..."

Superman: "You are a..."

"Human." Batman repeated, "Ordinary human, maybe more ordinary than Hercule Hugo. What's wrong?"

The Batplane began to slowly descend, Clark looked at the rainbow from afar and murmured: "...Nothing."

Very good, the ordinary human detective he thought of turned into a strange creature with a cross on his head, and the teammates he thought of as vampires (there are really vampires in this world) turned into genuine ordinary people.

What kind of weird py are you playing? !

He avoided Batman's probing eyes and looked at the surface of the earth. The paradise on earth was like an oasis in the yellow desert, and also like an isolated island in the vast ocean. From this height, the convoy of the Court of Owls looked smaller than an ant, and could only be seen with the super vision brought by high technology.

"We should land. Wait a minute," Superman said to his companion, concentrating his attention, "They are slowing down, let me see the situation - descend! Batman! The first car is on fire!"

The Batplane dived down from a height of 10,000 meters. The strong sense of weightlessness could make the internal organs of ordinary people push up to the throat, and the brain seemed to be gushing out from the top of the head. The owner of the plane looked normal, which made Superman look at him again.

Well, ordinary people.

When they descended to a certain height, Clark jumped out of the cockpit first. The fire in the convoy of the Court of Owls had become very serious, but for some reason no one escaped. Several claws were pinned down by the overturned vehicles.

Clark took off the mask on the face of a claw.

The other party was still breathing, his forehead was covered with a layer of sweat, his eyes were out of focus, and he stared blankly at a point in the void.

He tried the remaining few people again, and the symptoms were exactly the same. The fat of a court assassin was almost dried by the flames. It must be an unbearable pain for ordinary people. The smell in the air was extremely pungent and disgusting, but he didn't cry, howl or struggle, and his face was unusually calm.

"Superman!" Batman, who had just landed, shouted to him, "Look ahead!"

Clark raised his head.

This was a wide and straight four-lane road into the city, which was now divided into two by the fire. The charred plant debris around Clark was flying everywhere, and the fire and smoke were filled with a scene of purgatory on earth. However, not far ahead, the grass was lush and the clouds had disappeared. The clear water in the middle of the road reflected the sun and the rainbow bridge. Clark's familiar figure was stumbling step by step towards the town.

The detective changed... changed his legs again, is that what he said? His suit pants at the calf were torn from the middle, and the broken ends were jagged. Below was a metal prosthesis "borrowed" from a claw. This limb that was temporarily twisted at the original joint was not suitable, so he walked slowly and staggered, but no matter what, the destination was clear.

"Hercules!"

Clark put his hand to his mouth and shouted, "What are you doing over there?"

The detective heard his voice, but did not turn back or stop. Every step he took was extremely firm, and combined with the magnificent scenery in his vision, it made people feel like crying.

However, Batman probably lacked such delicate and soft emotions, and even if he had them, he would not show them. He walked to Superman and said with certainty: "He is not right, this accident is not right. We have to follow him."

Superman took the first step.

At this moment, he felt the wind blowing from the city. The strong wind restricted his steps with great force, making him try his best to only take one small step. At the same time, a strange voice hummed a song in a language he couldn't understand. The song penetrated his ears and brain, threading his whole body on invisible thin threads.

Batman's magical talent is a little higher than Superman's, so he can clearly hear a soft female voice singing a ballad casually:

"Try rads, takeh (country roads, take me home)"

"T the pce, I belng...(Back to where I belong)"

The misty song was like a black swallow flying across the sky, leaving a short but profound memory in his heart.

**

It had been an hour since he left the fire scene with its strange air vortex. Even if Hercule walked slowly, there was still no one in sight. The members of the Court of Owls are either dead or unconscious and unable to explain to Superman and Batman what happened here. They can only walk cautiously into the beautiful and weird city ahead like two tourists in fancy clothes.

There was nothing unusual about the results.

The paradise on earth after the rain has a clear atmosphere. Its technology is much more advanced than at the beginning of the 21st century, and its pace of life is slow. Some shops didn't open until after noon. The owner of a roadside hot dog shop was instructing a robotic arm to repair a plaque. On the sidewalk, there were a few puppies with wet hair that ran out to bask in the sun. They dispersed when anyone approached.

Clark observed the peaceful scene on both sides in amazement and said to Batman: "This place is different from what I imagined."

As soon as he finished speaking, a cry for help came from the remote road next to him.

"...But it's not all good," Superman said, walking quickly over to stop a street robbery.

"The public security is very chaotic, which may be related to the large flow of people and the frequent visits from outsiders." Batman commented, "The shops on the main street are all locals, but the proportion is relatively small, and they are not the richest in the city. Powerful group.”

Simply put, this is a place that smells rotten amid its beauty. The difference between it and Gotham is that it is not as violent and crazy as Gotham. It seems that even death is quiet in the paradise on earth.

There is an inexplicable feeling that this should be the hometown of detectives.

Both good and bad, sunshine and shadow, prosperity and abjection, tepid and silent.

Superman asked, "Where do we go next?"

Batman said, "A little church that has been abandoned for a long time."

The church is located in the city center, and Starro's laboratory is not far from the church.

Batman hesitated for a moment whether to go to the church to look for Hercule first, or to go directly to the laboratory to eliminate the culprit. Finally, he planned to go to the church because he was a little worried about Hercule's condition. This church has a very high status in the hearts of the local people. Unfortunately, the big shots from outside the church perfectly replicated the attitude of their ancestors when they drove away the Native Americans, and ordered the gatekeepers who were originally stationed here not to approach.

Today, the guards patrolling in front of the church were attacked with the same symptoms as the claws outside the city.

Batman didn't bother to do more checks, and broke into the church without stopping to look for Hercule. When he pushed open the heavy door, a gust of wind came from outside, blowing up the cape behind Batman and the cables hanging on the walls on both sides. Theoretically this scene is a bit unscientific, but Batman's eyes are completely drawn to what's at the end of the carpet.

He saw Hercule - the body with the cross that Hercule had used was half-kneeling in front of the altar, its upper body leaning crookedly against the side table and losing consciousness, while the liquid-filled nutrient chamber was silent. Standing quietly on the altar, the dark red opaque water looks like a crystal clear blood diamond under the sunlight shining through the stained glass.

The next moment, the dome of the church collapsed without any warning. Batman immediately recovered from his daze and quickly rushed to the front against the falling rocks. However, he was tangled between a body that looked like a human being and a nutrition bin filled with unknown objects. In less than half a second, the ground sunk and there was no weight under the feet.

Batman only had time to adjust his posture to avoid being injured when he landed. Superman entered the door one step later than him and was further away. The two of them saw a huge boulder smashing the pipe connecting the nutrition chamber to the ceiling. The cylindrical warehouse fell downwards with them, and then Batman fell into a brief coma.

**

"—Hercule!"

He woke up gasping for breath and found himself lying on the smooth floor of the laboratory. Superman sat next to him, having been awake for a long time, and gave a wry smile when he looked over.

Superman asked: "What do you think is in that training warehouse..."

"I guessed it." Batman stood up and interrupted him, "Starro told me some of the secrets, and I used Omega's system to find out others. But the identity of the detective should be the secret among secrets, Si Tarot may know it, but it didn’t say it out loud and wanted me to see it myself.”

——See for yourself what kind of monster your friend is.

"That's why it brought us to the laboratory." Clark got up from the ground. Judging from the map on the wall, they were in front of the laboratory where Starro was imprisoned. "I was here when I opened my eyes. There was neither a cross nor a culture chamber next to it. The detective may be in danger, but now It seems that if Starro is not stopped, there will be more trouble."

"Actually, I have a question. If we were in Starro's illusion, it could transfer both of us from the church to here. Why was it trapped in the laboratory and could only kidnap Hercule with the help of the Court of Owls?"

"I have an idea." Batman pondered, "It wanted to leave here, but an object from reality, trapped in an illusion, but not under its control, stopped it."

Superman was stunned: "Being able to enter the illusion means that it is parasitized by Starro's spores, and Starro can control the host it parasitizes. These two are parallel. How can it be like you said, becoming a host but not being controlled?"

Batman shook his head: "I don't know, let's go deeper into the laboratory and see."

They walked through the office area and went to the innermost cells, experimental areas and storage rooms. There was nothing special around. The laboratory was a very common one, and the layout was similar to that of the Star Laboratory in the early 21st century. The two occasionally encountered some equipment they had never seen before, and both the room and the corridor were empty and no one was there.

Gradually, fighting and roaring came from the front.

Batman and Superman looked at each other and quickened their pace. They rushed into the hallway with a warning sign, and Superman twisted the gate hard, and the sound suddenly became deafening.

This is a room about the size of a football field, with a ceiling more than ten meters high. Both the walls and the ceiling are made of reinforced materials, but at this moment, they do not play the original defensive role at all. The floor of the room is particularly bumpy, with several broken scars caused by physical bombing.

A little starfish wearing a Robin uniform stood on the railing of the second-floor platform panting, posing a cute but non-lethal posture, and did not seem to have the upper hand. Opposite the Robin starfish was a huge, bloated evil creature with claws and tentacles, and the roar came from its throat. It occasionally paced back and forth around the little starfish looking for an opportunity to attack, and there was a hint of a cat in its behavior.

"--Hibida?"

Batman felt his heartbeat begin to accelerate. He glanced around the lab, looking for something that might be a detective (?), and said as steadily as possible: "Starro, you wanted to meet me, and now I'm here. What do you want to show me?"

Starfish turned his head away in a hurry, and tears of grievance instantly welled up. He wanted to get close to Batman but didn't dare to face Xibida directly, so he could only shout very loudly: "Dad!! Look at them!"

Before he finished speaking, Superman turned back and looked at his teammates.