DC: A New Beginning-Chapter 42: Recruit

Superman was the first to step forward with his blue eyes filled with genuine concern as he scanned Viktor’s battle suit covered in blood.

"Let me take you to the Fortress of Solitude for treatment. The medical equipment there can help you recover faster."

"Oh, that’s not necessary for something this minor."

Viktore quickly waved his hand.

Superman didn’t insist, but his eyes showed a more serious expectation, and he suddenly asked something unexpected.

"Then would you consider joining the Justice League?"

"Oh!"

Shazam immediately reacted, putting his arm around Viktor’s shoulder, as if he had been expecting this all along.

"That is such a good idea, seriously. And man, you really proved yourself today."

Diana also slowly approached, her God Killer and Divine Shield having quietly been put away, with guilt and kindness remaining on her face.

She looked into Viktor’s eyes and softly said.

"I was too harsh on you before. After a while, I realized that in that kind of environment and indoctrination, you never really had a choice."

The Flash’s face was still a bit pale. He initially was one of the more skeptical ones about the Justice League’s records on Viktor.

But after seeing the destruction in the divine realm and Viktor standing covered in blood with the bodies of two gods at his feet, Flash couldn’t help but believe most of it.

"I...I’ve been running it over in my head about fifty times in the last few minutes."

Flash words came out at his usual speed, but with clear hesitation behind them. His eyes kept darting to the bloodstains on Viktor’s clothes, only to quickly move away.

"Today, whether it’s courage, responsibility, or quick thinking, you’ve exceeded expectations... but maybe in the future... we should focus on capturing them first when it comes to certain criminals rather than... anyway, on behalf of myself, I welcome you."

By the end, Flash’s voice became quieter, and he tried to stay calm.

"Don’t get me wrong, I’m not scared. It’s just that my metabolism is too fast and shaking is normal for me."

Green Lantern didn’t say anything but gave a long glance at his Green Lantern ring.

"I’m pretty sure I’m going to take more intergalactic business trips from now on."

They turned toward Viktor, some filled with hope and friendliness, and others with curiosity.

However, Viktor was looking past them, toward the dark figure standing at the edge of the cliff.

Batman’s black cape fluttered in the mountain wind.

The tactical display screen on his left forearm glowed with a dim blue light, and the screen was filled with rapidly moving data.

He tapped the screen quickly and precisely as if nothing around him mattered.

"Batman, say something too!"

Shazam called out to Batman’s back.

"This is an important invitation moment! Don’t just focus on analyzing the data!"

Batman’s movements paused for a moment before he slowly turned around.

The eyes behind the cowl moved past the rest of the group and locked directly on Viktor.

Batman’s voice was low and hoarse, but what he said had nothing to do with what the others were expecting.

"That ring should have about eight seconds left."

Viktor’s body tensed slightly. He slowly slipped out from under Shazam’s arm and stepped back twice.

He looked at the assembled Justice League, and shrugged.

"Thank you all for the warm invitation, but I can’t join. I’ve said it before, I’m not suited to be a hero."

Afterward, Viktor no longer lingered, his feet barely lifted from the ground, and his figure instantly became a black blur, speeding away into the distance.

He soon disappeared beyond the horizon.

The mountain wind continued to howl, leaving the others staring at each other in silence.

Batman slowly withdrew his gaze and returned his focus to the tactical display screen.

The tapping of his fingers resumed.

...

*FLASHBACK*

The Watchtower.

Batman quietly observed Viktor.

The usually friendly expression on his face suddenly twisted into a cold, distant smile as if he had finally seen through everything.

"Since you started spending time with that girl who uses magic, your emotional expressions have become noticeably more natural, more like a young person’s."

Viktor’s gaze instantly grew more complicated and looked genuinely lost.

"You..."

"You don’t need to pretend anymore."

Batman interrupted him without hesitation.

"From the moment you stepped onto Earth, I’ve been continuously building a psychological profile of you."

"You’ve always been very ’sincere,’ slowly peeling away the bloody lawful stuff that happened to you in the past and showing it to different people while honestly stating that you feel no remorse whatsoever. However, that has only made it easier for everyone to stop doubting you. The people you met are too soft-hearted. hey filled in the blanks themselves, imagining how much trauma you must have suffered, and ended up with even more sympathy and trust for you."

"However, you’ve been overlooking one person—the one who pulled you out of space that night."

Viktor’s expression finally showed some unexpected stiffness.

Batman continued speaking calmly.

"His power is beyond anything you could imagine. From the moment you were still frozen and drifting near the solar system, you were already within his range of perception. And that night, he also told me that the first emotion you showed when you saw Earth was genuine surprise, but the second one was filled with greedy malice."

Viktor’s face changed dramatically, and his pupils suddenly shrank.

’The power of that man had indeed completely exceeded my expectations.’

"You became an entirely different person when you discovered him and realized how powerful he was beyond compare. The humility, gentleness, politeness, and treating everyone with utmost sincerity..."

Batman’s speech began to quicken.

"You may genuinely despise Viltrum’s culture and values, but you still live by the survival rules it taught you, and they guide everything you do. The man who saved you became the person you compare yourself to."

"You adapted to the rules of Viltrum before and became exceptional under them. Now, you’ve done the same thing again, but this time, instead of following Viltrum’s rules, you’re living according to the "rules" of an absolutely powerful being with a clear moral stance."

"You’ve been mentally broken for a long time—and unfortunately for you, fixing, understanding, and dealing with the mentally broken is what I’m good at."

Viktor rubbed his brow and let out a long sigh, finally dropping all facades, but his tone carried a hint of resignation and acceptance.

"Alright, Mr. Batman, since you’ve seen through everything, I assume you have a contingency plan for me going into the divine realm alone to rescue Ms. Diana? You wouldn’t just let me walk into a total death trap with no way out... right?"

Batman’s answer was to raise one hand and toss something across the space between them.

Viktor instinctively caught it with surprise.

He knew receiving the ring was entirely different from what an ordinary person would experience.

Batman saw through his confusion and explained calmly.

"This isn’t the yellow lantern ring you received that night. This is an old one I got some time ago. The energy inside it originally could have sustained a Yellow Lantern in combat for three minutes, but since I already had a fully charged new ring to study and disassemble, I had the opportunity to dismantle this one. The residual energy left can support maybe ten seconds at most."

"This is also something I’ve calculated with your physiology. Your body only needs ten seconds of emotional energy to go from critical to stable."

Viktor cautiously opened the box and took a glance inside, and the yellow lantern ring emitted a faint glow. Then something clicked in his head and he looked up at Batman.

"Instead of using these ten seconds to heal me, why not use this ring to summon the Yellow Lantern Corps to Olympus? They could stir some chaos in the divine realm, and rescuing Ms. Prince would be easier. Kill two birds with one stone. How long have those Green Lantern Corps beeen stationed in the solar system anyway?"

A flicker of something serious passed through Batman’s eyes, but then he slowly shook his head.

"Instigating a battle between the Yellow Lantern Corps and the gods of Olympus would cause countless unnecessary casualties. The Justice League wouldn’t approve of this decision. But if you find yourself in a desperate situation inside the divine realm, you can improvise as you see fit. That would be your choice. It has nothing to do with the League."

...

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