Chapter 353: Thank Goodness We Have the Bald Overlord!
"The upcoming battle is out of your league, so find a place to hide!"
As Chen Ye spoke, his body slowly rose into the air.
No one dared to argue.
Because what he said was true.
Seeing Chen Ye about to confront Darkseid head-on, Barry Allen immediately shouted, "Chen, be careful!"
Chen Ye smiled slightly at that. "Don't worry. If I can't win, I'll run."
Everyone: "..."
The next moment—
Boom!
A deafening sonic boom echoed.
Like a bolt of lightning, Chen Ye shot through the air and charged into the army of Parademons in the blink of an eye.
Then—
His body suddenly erupted with unimaginable flames, forming a blazing sea of fire in the sky.
It was his self-created skill: Hellfire!
In fact, this was the first time "Hellfire" had been deployed in battle.
But the effect was spectacular.
At least when it came to clearing out low-level monsters like Parademons, it was incredibly efficient.
With Chen Ye's current mental attribute of over 4800 points, the "Hellfire" he released was terrifyingly powerful.
Whoosh whoosh—
Even the air seemed to be burning.
The entire world was suddenly drenched in red light.
Countless Parademons were swallowed by the firestorm, crackling as they burned.
For a moment,
The blazing sea of fire in the sky was like dark clouds before a thunderstorm, blotting out the sun, nearly covering the entire sky over Metropolis.
Batman, Flash, Mera… everyone was stunned!
At this point, they could no longer fathom how terrifying that bald man truly was.
The only thing worth celebrating—
Was that the Bald Overlord...
Was on their side!
Otherwise, humanity would have no hope left.
In the sky—
Chen Ye was burning through his mental energy to slaughter Parademons—not to help Batman and the others—
But for his own mission!
Yes.
His quest had been activated.
This particular mission needed to be triggered first.
After he had taken out one Parademon with a fire punch, the quest was activated.
Quest: Kill at least 10 Parademons!
Time limit: 30 days (from activation).
Just like his previous quests, the more Parademons Chen Ye killed, the greater the rewards would be when he returned.
So Chen Ye had decided: he was taking them all!
He was confident that after this wave, he'd max out his rewards—and surely get bonus ones too.
...
The "Hellfire" Chen Ye released burned in the sky for a full five minutes before it finally dissipated.
Once the sky cleared,
Everyone saw that more than 99% of the Parademons had been incinerated by Chen Ye.
Only a few dozen lucky ones on the outskirts had survived the inferno.
Aside from those survivors, the fleet of alien spaceships also remained intact.
Clearly, Darkseid's ships were packed with advanced tech, especially in terms of heat resistance—they'd survived unscathed.
Otherwise, with the temperature of Chen Ye's flames, even King Kong would have melted.
The next moment—
The large central spaceship suddenly opened its hatch.
Then, an alien nearly three meters tall with an extremely muscular build stepped out.
With his hands clasped behind his back, he stood at the ship's edge and looked down.
It was none other than the Lord of Darkness and ruler of Apokolips: Darkseid!
This was the first time Batman and the others had seen Darkseid in the flesh.
Everyone who had previously seen him—had either been turned into puppets like Superman... or was already dead.
There was no denying it: Darkseid's face carried a unique and commanding majesty.
Combined with his powerful physique, he exuded overwhelming pressure!
Just one glance made him appear as an unfathomably terrifying powerhouse.
Even though everyone present—superheroes or supervillains—were all people of extraordinary willpower,
They still felt fear upon seeing Darkseid.
In terms of oppressive aura, Darkseid easily outclassed corrupted Superman.
He was the kind of enemy whose mere presence could crush resistance and plunge hearts into despair.
Thankfully, they had the unstoppable Bald Overlord on their side!
Otherwise, everyone truly believed they would all die today.
"This guy is way too scary,"
Barry Allen couldn't help saying, "Bruce, shouldn't we be leaving?"
"It's time," Wayne replied. "If we stay, we'll only drag Chen down."
No one disagreed.
Even the egotistical Joker and Deathstroke now fully realized—
Before monsters like Chen Ye and Darkseid, they were nothing more than side characters.
"This battle will decide the ultimate fate of humanity!" Cyborg suddenly declared. "Chen absolutely cannot lose!"
Everyone froze for a moment.
Then, upon thinking it through, they nodded in agreement.
If even the Bald Overlord lost, they would have no hope left—even if Superman came back.
Barry Allen said, "Chen's that strong—there's no way he'll lose."
Cyborg didn't refute that, but instead looked at Batman and said, "Wayne, maybe we should help Chen somehow."
"Help?" Mera asked doubtfully. "How? That bald guy could probably kill us all with one punch!"
Batman's eyes lit up slightly. "Victor, are you talking about… Clark?"
Cyborg nodded. "Maybe it's time to go ahead with the previous plan—bring Clark back!"
Barry's eyes lit up.
"Now that all those annoying monsters are gone thanks to Chen, and Darkseid is being held at bay, we can finally proceed with our plan."
Batman looked at the still-unconscious Clark and gave a firm nod.
"Let's go!"
So—
They carried the unconscious Superman and headed toward Metropolis.
...
Almost immediately after they set out,
A terrifying explosion erupted in the sky!
The Bald Overlord had engaged Darkseid in battle—
And instantly—
Thunderous sonic booms and earth-shaking collisions echoed nonstop!
Like a clear-sky thunderstorm.
The shockwaves from their clash rampaged across the battlefield, turning the sky over Metropolis into a no-man's-land.
Skyscrapers kept collapsing one after another.
This created significant obstacles for Batman and the others.
But no one complained.
They all knew—without the Bald Overlord, they'd have already failed or died.
"Sh*t! These two are just too damn terrifying!"
Deathstroke crawled out of the ruins of a freshly collapsed building and cursed, "There shouldn't be such freaks on Earth!"
Mera glanced at the sky, then quickly lowered her head in fright.
"Wayne, we need to hurry. If they keep fighting like this, Metropolis will be reduced to rubble soon!"
Batman nodded and said, "Follow me—we'll take a shortcut!"
Then, he led the group into the sewers…
...
Over ten minutes later—
The group emerged from a sewer near a plaza.
They had arrived at Superman Plaza!
The Kryptonian ship was located here.
Naturally, the Kryptonian ship was incredibly durable. Even after Darkseid took over Metropolis, it had remained intact.
Without wasting any time, they immediately began executing their plan.
A moment later—
Everything went smoothly.
With the help of the Mother Box's energy, Batman used just a fragment of Lois's remains to successfully revive her.
It had to be said—the Mother Box was truly magical.
Of course, the key was having Cyborg on their side.
Since Cyborg was revived by a Mother Box, he could manipulate part of its energy.
Among humans, only he could do this.
"Who am I? Where am I? Who are you people?"
A naked and panicked Lois looked around at the crowd.
Seeing her awkwardly trying to cover herself, everyone looked on with disdain.
'This plain woman… Only Clark was blind enough to treat her like a treasure.'
"You are Lois. Lois Lane. A journalist at the Daily Planet."
Wayne's voice rang out. "Don't be afraid, Lois. There was an accident that caused your death. We just revived you. The confusion is just a temporary side effect—death's aftermath."
Lois looked utterly lost.
Batman didn't waste time. He picked up the unconscious Superman.
"Lois, do you remember him?"
Seeing Superman, Lois was momentarily stunned.
"He looks… familiar. What happened to him?"
As he untied Superman's restraints, Batman explained, "Our world is facing an unprecedented crisis. We need his help. Lois, once he wakes up, if he shows any abnormal behavior, it'll be up to you to bring him back to his senses."
Lois hesitated. "Sorry… I don't even remember his name… Clark?"
Seeing Lois regain some memory, Wayne revealed a satisfied expression and tossed Superman into the spring.
The spring had healing properties.
Very soon, Superman regained consciousness.
Everything that followed went according to plan.
Upon waking and seeing the woman he loved, Superman quickly returned to normal.
Then, with pain on his face, he said, "Damn it… What have I done?"
Clearly, despite being corrupted, Superman still retained his memories.
"Clark!" Wayne said firmly, "Now's not the time for guilt. Earth needs you. Humanity needs you. Chen needs you!"
Superman nodded and stood up.
"I need some time to recover. Take care of Lois for me."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Then—
Superman shot into the sky.
He didn't immediately join the battle. Instead, he flew into space and faced the sun, beginning to absorb solar energy.
He had his memories—and remembered all too well how badly that bald man had beaten him earlier. He knew he'd be no help in his current state.
So he needed sunlight to restore himself to peak condition!
That was Superman's unique trait—the more sunlight, the stronger he became.
...
As Superman ascended,
Darkseid, still locked in battle, immediately noticed.
"Stop, human!" Darkseid called out.
Chen Ye paused, flexed his wrists, and said, "I was just getting into it. Why should I stop?"
In truth, he wasn't enjoying the fight.
Darkseid's combat style was incredibly annoying.
He had some kind of teleportation-like ability that let him dodge Chen Ye's punches. And his Omega Beams, which could curve mid-flight, were unavoidable and a major headache.
Add to that his superior strength and defense (thanks to his New God physiology), and he'd managed to hold out this long.
Even though Chen Ye was stronger and tougher overall—
Taking him down quickly was still no easy task.
At this point, their fight had turned into a battle of endurance—waiting to see who would run out of stamina first.
Of course, Chen Ye wasn't worried.
His stamina was just as monstrous as his power.
He could keep fighting Darkseid for a whole year if needed!
Incidentally—
In the movies, Darkseid had once come to Earth and was driven away by the combined efforts of the old gods.
That might've made him seem weak.
But that happened thousands of years ago.
Back then, Darkseid was merely the second prince of Apokolips—still in his juvenile phase. Naturally, his strength was far from today's level.
In the millennia since, he had ascended the throne of Apokolips and become one of the strongest and most terrifying New Gods in the entire DC multiverse.
He had conquered countless worlds, growing stronger through each conquest and acquiring many new abilities from other universes.
Such as the Omega Beams!
He even had numerous avatars scattered across other worlds.
Even if Chen Ye killed him here today, Darkseid could be resurrected elsewhere.
That was the truly troublesome part about him.
Which was why Chen Ye hadn't gone all out so far—he had only been using 70% of his power throughout the fight.
If he struck with full force and Darkseid failed to dodge, he might be able to kill him once.
"So what? Are you scared that Kryptonian will show up?"
Chen Ye asked.
Darkseid shook his head and answered honestly, "The Kryptonian is just a minor nuisance. The only one who can truly stop me… is you! Human, why don't we strike a deal?"
"Not interested!"
Chen Ye cut him off coldly. "If you don't want to fight, then get off Earth!"
Darkseid's expression darkened.
His abyss-like eyes stared into Chen Ye's as he continued, "This planet is mine for the taking, human. But what if I find your species a new world—one larger, with richer resources—and help you relocate?"
"If you agree to this arrangement, you will gain the friendship of the Lord of Darkness!"
Chen Ye sneered. "What you're really after is the Anti-Life Equation hidden on Earth, right? You think I'll agree and let you grab it—only for you to come back for revenge later?"
Darkseid furrowed his browless forehead and said, "I swear upon the Dark Throne—if you cooperate with relocation, I will never invade your kind again."
Chen Ye waved him off. "Don't waste your words on me. Go convince someone else. If you can get all of humanity to agree, I won't object."
And that was true.
Because he'd nearly completed his mission—and when the time came, he'd disappear.
(End of chapter)
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