Chapter 146: Mother Box Anomaly
"First, regarding why the Transcendent didn't come with me.
He prefers to be alone and dislikes these kinds of events."
Clark muttered. David had only appeared in public a few times, and much later than him, yet his popularity seemed no less than his own. In fact, people were more curious and interested in the mysterious David.
He then smiled and answered the reporters' questions, their eyes shining with anticipation for big news.
"My suit? This is technology from my home planet. To be honest, I don't understand it very well."
"Home planet?"
A reporter seized on the keyword and asked excitedly.
"Superman, are you admitting you're an alien?
What about the Transcendent!"
The idea of Superman being an alien had become a general consensus after the Zod attack on Metropolis, but hearing it acknowledged by the person himself was different.
"That's right.
I wasn't born on this planet, but the Transcendent is different from me; he's not an alien."
Clark replied.
He wore a sunny smile, answering almost every question.
In fact, the purpose of his appearance today was precisely this: to address the public's questions about himself and David.
"Where is the Transcendent from? Is he from Metropolis?
My goodness, could I have brushed past him on the street without realizing it!"
An excited fan of the Transcendent in the crowd screamed loudly.
Clark pretended not to hear. He couldn't answer the question about where he and David were from; it involved too much of their real identities.
"Metropolis is big, but it's also not that big. Given certain conditions, finding a family isn't difficult."
Clark continued.
"Regarding my purpose for coming to Earth.
I can only tell you that my parents sent me here to escape a natural disaster, launching me towards Earth when I was still in a cradle. I grew up on this planet, breathing the same air as all of you."
He looked seriously at the crowd below. His alien identity brought him a lot of hostility and wariness.
"What you see is my true self. I'm not that different from you. I will do my best to use my abilities to help others, and when they are in danger and helpless, I hope my appearance can bring them a ray of light."
Finally, he finished saying what he had wanted to say for a while, letting out a deep breath, a hint of cunning flashing in his eyes.
"As for when the Transcendent and I met.
I can only say, it was much earlier than you might imagine. We grew up together."
He played a small linguistic trick, making it sound like he and David were childhood friends, but he wasn't lying. Their relationship was just much closer than that.
"Grew up together?
Two exceptionally gifted children?
The Transcendent must have been very lonely as a child. Did you become friends because of your shared uniqueness and loneliness?!"
Clark had answered some questions, but human curiosity was endless. People had more questions, and microphones were thrust towards him, making him slightly overwhelmed. He noticed a beautiful and sharp-featured female reporter in the crowd looking a bit flustered, being pushed around.
Even the title of famous reporter couldn't make her colleagues yield when faced with a major scoop.
"One last question.
I'll let this lady answer it."
Pressing his hands down to signal the reporters to quiet down, Clark smiled and pointed at her.
Lois Lane pushed past the two people next to her. She opened her mouth to ask, but suddenly realized that all the major questions she wanted to ask had already been covered by her colleagues. She gazed at Clark's face, observing him for a moment before asking.
"Superman?
I don't think anyone has asked this yet. Have you ever felt powerless while saving the world?"
Clark's smile faltered, and he fell silent, looking towards the brilliant sun that gave him strength.
"When I was little, I always hid my abilities, afraid of hurting others. The world felt as fragile as a bubble to me, and I even feared my own power because of it. But facing numerous powerful enemies from the universe who were hostile to Earth and humanity made me realize that my strength was still insufficient."
He recalled the scene of David's great battle with Brainiac, where he ultimately defeated him, his voice serious and filled with determination.
"However, I will strive to become stronger and use this power to protect you. I hope that by the time the next powerful enemy comes from the stars, I will have become stronger and be prepared."
"I hope that when the Transcendent faces a powerful enemy, I won't just be watching from the sidelines anymore."
...
"What's up?"
Inside Themyscira, David flew back to the island. As soon as he landed in the palace, a worried Hippolyta, along with Diana, came to meet him.
Before he left Themyscira last time, he had left behind a mobile phone. Hippolyta was somewhat resistant to new technology, but now she had her daughter use the phone to contact him.
"For the former Queen of the Amazons to bow her head and ask me for help, this must be no small matter."
As for what the matter was, David's eyes flickered with conjecture.
He had already made some predictions.
What could cause both Atlantis and Themyscira to call him?
"Something left behind by the gods on Themyscira has shown unusual activity. It's an item that once belonged to an extraterrestrial enemy."
Hippolyta quickly led David towards a fortress on the sea cliff of Themyscira, which was usually designated as a restricted area. As she spoke to David, she hoped the usually flippant Amazon King would realize the seriousness of the situation.
Diana followed closely behind. These matters were only partially revealed to her by her mother after the item's abnormality was discovered.
"As expected, it's the Mother Box acting up..."
David's eyes moved, signaling he was listening.
Only an extraterrestrial invasion, which they had barely repelled with the combined might of Earth, could make this queen so vigilant.
"Millions of years ago, a group of extraterrestrial enemies invaded, intending to destroy the world. The gods, along with the Amazons, Atlanteans, and the universe's Lanterns, defeated them. The weapon used by those enemies to destroy the world was seized by the gods."
Bzzzt!
As Hippolyta spoke, they entered the fortress made of piled rocks. In the center, on a stone platform, a box cast in iron continuously buzzed and vibrated, as if trying to contact something.
"This weapon has three identical parts."
Along the way, the Amazon guards bowed their heads in greeting to David. After waving them up, David looked at the box.
The molten iron box had already developed cracks, and a white, lightning-like glow was leaking from within. The Mother Box from the Fourth World, Apokolips, was restlessly vibrating, communicating with its former masters.
Through the cracks, David observed the dark silver Mother Box intently. With his energy manipulation abilities, he could clearly sense the terrifying energy contained within the cubic box, only a few dozen centimeters across, giving him a faint sense of danger.
"The combined energy of three Mother Boxes, if unleashed, could destroy a planet in an instant!"
Even he wasn't confident he could survive such terrifying energy.
"The three boxes were entrusted to us Amazons, humanity, and the Atlanteans by the gods for safekeeping. I don't know why it was suddenly awakened. But the other two Mother Boxes might also be showing unusual activity. I don't know if humanity and the Amazons have noticed."
Hippolyta looked at the box, her brow furrowed with worry. She had personally participated in that great war and knew how terrifying those extraterrestrial enemies were. According to Zeus, the young leader of the invaders had become a Dark Lord who made countless worlds and even the universe tremble and bow down. If the Mother Box hadn't been lost, and the recorded cosmic coordinates with it, Earth might have been destroyed long ago. She distinctly remembered Zeus showing a hint of apprehension, even fear, when he spoke of the extraterrestrial enemy leader who had nearly killed Ares.
"Atlantis, like you, has a history that has not been broken, even after countless ages. They have discovered the Mother Box's unusual activity and are deeply uneasy."
David glanced at the Lantern Ring and replied.
"How do you know?" Diana asked, confused.
"Because I became the King of Atlantis not long after I became the King of the Amazons."
His simple and clear answer left the mother and daughter stunned. They looked at each other, wondering if they had misheard something.
Ignoring the dumbfounded pair, David reached out to touch the Mother Box. He wanted to see if he could absorb its energy, thus eliminating the threat it posed and preventing the Dark Lord from turning his attention to Earth.
"Careful!" Hippolyta's face changed drastically, and she reached out to stop him. Hadn't she already said this was part of a terrifying weapon capable of destroying worlds? How could this guy still be so casual?
"It's in an unstable state of activity. Your touch might provoke its attack."
But the next second, a jaw-dropping scene unfolded.
David touched the Mother Box, and it suddenly stopped vibrating like a frightened rabbit, feigning lifelessness as its surface light faded.
"It's been vibrating non-stop for a day, this..."
Hippolyta stared, her gaze flicking between David and the Mother Box.
"What's wrong with it?"
She had a feeling the Mother Box was wary of the man before her.
The Mother Box, the pinnacle of Apokolips' technology, retracted all its energy. David absorbed nothing and withdrew his hand in disappointment.
"This Mother Box likely possesses a considerable degree of intelligence."
He recalled the original storyline where, after waking up and discovering Clark's presence, the Mother Box remained hidden until Clark and Lex Luthor's mutual destruction with Doomsday. Only then did it contact Apokolips, leading to Steppenwolf's arrival.
However, it didn't know that its original master, Darkseid, was no longer the same. Millions of years had passed, and he had grown from an equivalent of eight years old, gaining the Omega Effect and a surge in power. Following the path of destiny, he had become a tyrannical ruler who commanded the universe.
"If it's no longer vibrating, does that mean the situation has calmed down?"
Her spirit settling, Hippolyta frowned.
"It's not that simple."
David shook his head.
"It has merely marked this location as unsuitable for arrival."
Although the three Mother Boxes exerted their strongest power when united, they possessed various incredible energies when separated, such as opening Boom Tube portals across the universe to allow Apokolips' armies to continuously descend upon Earth.
With three Mother Boxes, there were three potential landing sites.
"Originally, the Mother Box would simply go dormant after waking up, not act erratically like this. This indicates it has already begun contacting Apokolips to summon their armies.
Has everything changed from the original timeline?"
David frowned.
"Arrival?
Are those extraterrestrial enemies invading this world again!"
Diana frowned, a spark of fighting spirit igniting in her eyes.
Themyscira was also a part of the world. She had left Themyscira before, and though the countries she visited seemed to be in division and war, she had also witnessed many things in the human world that were worth protecting.
Like those poor, innocent children.
Hippolyta, unlike her optimistic daughter, was deeply troubled.
"The world is likely facing destruction."
Even if the gods were still present, could they, by uniting all forces, repel the extraterrestrial enemies once more?
She doubted it.
Especially now, in an era when the gods had long departed.
She shook her head and looked up at David.
If David was truly a king of Atlantis, as he had said upon his return, and given his apparent 'contact' with the Green Lantern Corps, he seemed to be the best candidate to unite the current world powers. However, she didn't believe David could surpass Zeus and lead Earth's forces to repel the Dark Lord, who had become ten thousand times more terrifying.
"I'm taking this box.
It has become the source of trouble, and leaving it on Themyscira is not a good idea."
After a moment of thought, David manipulated gravity and grabbed the Mother Box from a distance.
While the Amazons were strong, they were still far from Darkseid's Parademon armies from Apokolips.
The original timeline clearly showed Steppenwolf leading the Parademon army and slaughtering the Amazons shortly after their arrival.
Even though he had instilled fear in this Mother Box, he couldn't stay here. Who knew if the Mother Box would reactivate and contact Apokolips' armies after he left?
"Where are you taking it?"
Although it was something the gods had instructed them to protect, the queen of the Amazons had changed, and she didn't have the authority to decide. Hippolyta merely asked.
"It seems to fear you a little.
If you find all three boxes and keep them with you, will they forever cease to contact the outside world?"
As they walked towards the outside, Diana considered this a potential solution.
Exiting the fortress built on the sea cliff, where waves crashed against the dark rocks, David inhaled the salty air and looked towards the distant, overcast sky, sensing an approaching storm. He shook his head without saying more.
"Why has this box, which has been dormant for millions of years, suddenly become like this?" Hippolyta's brow was clouded with worry.
David knew why the Mother Box was acting up.
In the original storyline, Clark's appearance had drawn the attention of governments worldwide to alien-related matters. An item, captured during World War II and identified as alien in origin, was unearthed and handed over to Cyborg's father for research.
That item was the Mother Box. After Cyborg's car accident following a football game, his father, in an effort to save his son, bombarded the Mother Box with an energy beam, activating it and setting the wheels of fate in motion.
His and Clark's simultaneous appearance hadn't changed that.
But what David couldn't understand was why the Mother Box had started contacting Apokolips now, with Clark alive. Although he wasn't as powerful as in the original timeline, David himself was now as strong as, or even stronger than, that version of Clark.
"Did I change something that triggered all of this?"
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