UGB Chapter 160 The Crimson of All Beings
Chapter 160 The Crimson of All Beings
Chapter 160 The Crimson of All Beings
"Batman, I think you're going a bit too far."
Killer Croc struggled to organize his thoughts.
"No matter what, directly threatening someone with an unborn baby is a bit too despicable. We are superheroes; perhaps we can use more gentle methods..."
Chen Tao glanced at him sideways.
Have you forgotten your days working for the mob in Gotham?
"Ah, yes, yes, yes," he nodded.
Killer Croc pleaded earnestly: "Superheroes should act like superheroes. We don't kill people, we..."
"An unborn baby is not a person."
The killer crocodile remained silent.
That actually makes a lot of sense.
Then he suddenly saw Batman smile gently and wave his hand—Batman with a mud face was really a bit scary.
"You're overthinking it. Even if the Crimson of All Beings doesn't send anyone to negotiate with us, I won't do anything to the future Queen of Life."
His tone was so sincere that Killer Croc couldn't tell for a moment whether he was joking or really meant it.
"I'm just trying to scare those old fogies in the Red Totem Council of All Beings. Otherwise, even if we shout ourselves hoarse, they won't take us seriously."
Chen Tao said, "I'm a superhero, killing a baby still in its mother's womb? Hahaha!"
He patted Killer Croc on the shoulder with a smile, and Killer Croc felt a chill run down his spine.
"Speak properly, bat."
"I'm really speaking properly, I wouldn't do such a thing."
"real?"
"real."
Chen Tao wore a sincere expression, then paused and added, "After all, I'm not some kind of villain like the Joker, the Riddler, Two-Face, Killer Croc, or Mr. Freeze."
Killer Croc choked, then immediately emphasized, "I'm no longer Killer Croc."
The crocodile grinned, then raised its arm, flexing its muscles: "I'm now planning to switch careers and become a superhero. It's illegal, but it's not a big deal."
Then he struck a classic bat-like pose: "I am the night, I am revenge, I am—Crocodile Man!"
"Let's talk about it after your new movie is released." Chen Tao waved his hand, indicating that the two of them should go somewhere cool, then he turned his head and looked at the cat in front of him.
"Hey, kitty."
He said.
He stared at the seemingly ordinary cat in front of him. It was a common tabby cat, and apart from its rather slender body and the still-dry slime on its body, it was no different from any other stray cat on the roadside.
But Chen Tao knew very well that it was not some wildcat. It was a "totem". When the king of the Red of All Beings died, it would return to the Red of All Beings and become a member of the Totem Council, becoming one of the controllers of this supernatural power, just as the "swamp monster", the incarnation of the Green of All Beings, would eventually become the Tree Council.
Chen Tao had read the comics and had some recollection of the cat, but he had forgotten its name. So he spoke up.
"What should I call you?"
"Itanes".
(Note: This is a character from the original work, appearing in "New 52 Animal Warriors")
The cat looks quite cooperative.
"This name is too hard to remember, so I'll just call you Socks."
Chen Tao casually gave it the nickname given to it by "Michael Xin," the Queen of Life who is still in the womb in the comics.
"Okay," Socks readily agreed, licking its paws like a real wildcat, before continuing its pretentious display of power.
"How much longer until we can open the passage to the Crimson Realm?"
"It'll be here soon."
Chen Tao smiled.
"You're waiting for Animal Hero to come back."
He spoke directly.
Socks involuntarily stiffened.
"Without a doubt, Buddy Baker is the most important protector of the yet-to-be-born Queen of Life, and so far, the strongest representative of the Crimson of All Beings."
"It's perfectly normal for you to place your hopes on him."
Chen Tao kindly showed the image projected on his arm to Socks: "So now Animal Hero is tied up by the people I arranged. I'm definitely coming to the Crimson of All Beings today, so don't even think about taking any chances."
In the video, Animal Warrior is engaged in a fierce battle with a large group of people: Deadshot, armed to the teeth; Cheshire Cat, wearing a suit and wielding a katana; Harley Quinn, tumbling and jumping; and of course, the most important character—Poison Ivy, surrounded by countless plants.
"So that's what I hate about you guys, you know? You want Buddybek to help you protect the future King of Life, but you're unwilling to give him too much power. As a result, he can't even handle these few people quickly."
In the video, half of Buddy Baker's body swelled up with massive muscle groups, as he used the strength of dozens of elephants to sweep away the vines that Poison Ivy had wrapped around him in an instant.
But the next second, the Deadshot's bullet exploded on his forehead, a huge electric current bursting out, electrocuting him so that he fell from the air and lay on the ground convulsing.
The others swarmed forward, some stomping on his nose, others tapping his temples, and the sound of ping-pong balls filling the air.
Socks heard Batman's voice echoing in his ears like a ghost:
"I used electronic means to block any phone calls Badibek might receive, creating an information cocoon for him in a short period of time, but he still discovered that his family had been attacked. You notified him through the Red of All Beings, right?"
"But you have too little time. You simply cannot rapidly amplify Buddy Baker's power. Your impact on the present world is very limited."
The cat took a deep breath.
How do you know so much?
"I know more. For example, the activation of the Crimson of All Beings won't take that long."
Then Socks heard Batman's cold voice. He appeared behind the cat like a ghost. Socks felt as if he had been suddenly thrown into the cold seawater, which was cold, bone-chilling, and filled with the aura of death.
The cat gritted its teeth, its fur stood on end, and its body writhed. Then, gills grew out of its neck.
But the organs from deep-sea animals did not alleviate his fear; instead, they made him feel even more suffocated.
But all of this paled in comparison to the terror he felt upon witnessing Batman's actions.
Chen Tao walked directly to Animal Hero's still unconscious wife, Allen, and placed a hand on her stomach.
"Either open the Crimson of All Beings and let me in, or choose another King of Life for you, Socks. I'll give you only 30 seconds to decide."
"Hey, Batman, you don't really want to..."
Killer Croc leaned closer: "Even by villainous standards, attacking a pregnant woman is incredibly cruel, you know that..."
Then, the next second, Batman turned around and glared at him.
A chill! A bone-chilling chill!
The air felt like it was about to freeze. Killer Croc was in a daze, as if he had returned to the scene when he first met Batman, many, many years ago, when he was still a rookie gangster.
The black shadow fell before him like a shooting star, its crimson eyes gleaming like the setting sun, and a powerful, roaring chill emanated from its body, its breath capable of freezing one's very soul.
"Shut up."
Killer Croc then belatedly remembered that Robin had once told him that Batman, like Scarecrow, was adept at instilling immense fear in others. He could frighten people in over 400 ways without harming them, and even his closest relatives would be terrified by him.
That familiar sense of fear surged into his heart once again, and he immediately fell silent.
On the surface, Chen Tao scared off Killer Crocodile, but in reality, the other party's actions were all within his calculations. Killer Crocodile was essentially the chicken; his deliberate intimidation was a classic case of making an example of someone.
He felt somewhat helpless.
If he's gone this far in his scheming, and the socks still refuse to open the door to the world's redness for him, then he'll truly be out of options.
Could he really possibly kill the future Queen of Life, Michaelson, in the womb? Putting aside how much hatred he would garner from Animal Heroes, if he really did that, the Red Clan would absolutely not have time to cultivate a sufficiently strong proxy.
The decaying black will completely spiral out of control, utterly dominating the red of all living beings and driving them into retreat, thus disrupting the balance of nature.
Chen Tao hadn't originally intended to get too involved in the magic side of things, but if he really caused the Crimson of All Beings to collapse, it would be tantamount to suicide.
This is why he didn't plan to recruit Animal Warrior to fight Brainiac: as the protector of the Queen of Life, Animal Warrior Buddy Baker's duty is to protect her. If he were to leave, who knows if Decay Black would take advantage of the guard's weakness to launch a surprise attack.
Animal Man's daughter, Michael Sheen, and Swamp Thing are key to fighting the Corruption Darkness. If problems arise because he pulled Animal Man away, it would be like creating a crisis artificially. Wouldn't that be idiotic?
And ultimately, as Killer Croc said, he wasn't a complete villain after all; one still has to have a bottom line. He never once thought of doing anything horrific to a pregnant woman.
He stared intently at the cat's eye on the sock, trying his best to control the last vestige of expression on his face.
This is a contest of momentum. As long as he can deceive the other party and get him to open the gate to the Crimson of All Beings for him, he will be able to...
Chen Tao had already prepared himself for failure. The only problem was that he couldn't fuse with the Bat Dragon to fight Brainiac. In the end, it wasn't an unacceptable result. It was just that he had one less trump card. He had done his best, and he would leave the rest to the final outcome.
He raised his hand, black nanobots coiling around his palm. "I advise you not to make any more moves, Socks. This is your final ultimatum. You have 10 seconds left."
"3, 2, 1—"
He lowered his hand.
It seems we've failed.
It's okay.
"Okay, I'll take you in."
Chen Tao's face lit up with joy.
The socks seemed to have made a decision.
"But I have a condition: I need to know your true purpose. Greater power? More authority?"
Chen Tao immediately spoke up:
"I don't intend to do anything to you. I just need a green dinosaur. I know you can pull it out from the river of time. You are the embodiment of life on Earth, and all life throughout history is a part of you. Of course, that includes dinosaurs."
"Is that all there is to it?"
"That's all there is to it," Chen Tao said.
"We have no way to strip you of your abilities," Socks said with a somewhat complicated expression. "The Crimson Realm is a very safe place; very few outsiders can enter."
He said, "If it's Animal Warrior, or that unborn King of Life, their power comes from what we bestow upon them, so we can strip away their power at any time. They enter the Crimson of All Beings and will not pose a threat to the Totem Council."
"But you are different, even Killer Croc is different from you. Like the Human-Faced Bat, your Crimson Power comes from extraordinary scientific potions, not from magic."
"And you have no other choice."
Chen Tao told him, "If you don't want to take any risks, then you'll just have to watch the King of Life be killed by me, and then be powerless to resist the Corruption Black."
"You have no room for negotiation with the Black Decay. It is expanding, an infinitely expanding, powerful natural energy that follows its own instincts. You simply cannot negotiate with it."
"But you can negotiate with me. I know you don't believe me, but all I ask for are things you can offer. We have a basis for negotiation. After all, I also control the power of the Crimson of All Beings, and we are on the same side."
Socks nodded. Batman was right. Rather than waiting to be killed, they might as well gamble on Batman's good intentions. Besides, their Totem Council wasn't entirely powerless against the Red. Once they got there, who knew who would win?
"Relax, be aware of that network," Socks said. "Animal Warrior Buddy Baker once tested the powers we gave him. Those nerdy humans at Star Labs called it the Animal Mimicry Field, but we actually call it the Life Network."
He stretched out one of his front paws and gently placed it on Chen Tao's arm.
"Feel the power of his crimson aura, and you will soon find the gate to his space within your body."
"What? The Crimson of All Beings is actually a specific place?"
Killer Crocodile exclaimed in surprise, "My God, I always thought it was just an abstract thing, an invisible energy that connects all living things, and I just accidentally obtained a part of it."
The cat rolled its eyes at the silly crocodile.
"That's because you're just a low-level agent!"
It snapped, "Stop talking nonsense!"
Chen Tao extended his hand.
Beneath his sleeves, tiny metallic particles of the Metal Spirit were slowly spreading, preparing for battle.
Oh my god, I suddenly realized that there was a duplicate paragraph at the end of the article. I'm so sorry. I was wondering why I wrote 4000 words so quickly today. It turns out that I accidentally got stuck when I was changing the paragraph breaks, which caused me to copy the paragraphs twice.
I'll write more tomorrow, sob sob, sorry to all the readers who followed along in the last few minutes.
In the Great Pirate Era of Arceus, countless people flocked to the sea.
The one who obtains the power of Arceus arrives in this world as the reborn Arceus. The combination of Pokémon and Devil Fruit abilities will bring about entirely new changes to this world.
(End of this chapter)