American comics: Today’s big news Chapter 063

“The basement has a newspaper archive, why don’t we go there and take a look?” Connors, who already knew all about this, said to the others.

Batman glanced at Connors, feeling very awkward about everything being pre-arranged.

But at this moment, he was a detective, not just a superhero, so he took the lead and walked towards the basement entrance Connors pointed to.

The stairs going down were narrow and long, and the light on the stairs seemed to be broken as well.

The group walked for almost a minute before reaching the bottom. Surprisingly, there was no so-called underground archive here, but a wall blocking the way.

“Beyond this wall, you will find the answer.” Connors kept the Riddler’s spirit alive.

Superman, Clark, saw what was behind the wall with his super vision, but he didn’t say a word, just punched the wall down.

Behind the wall was a small underground space, with an opening in front, and darkness behind the opening.

It wasn’t until they reached the open area that Batman, Wayne, and Green Lantern, Hal, realized this was a subway station.

However, the subway station had long been abandoned, with rubble everywhere, twisted steel bars, and the subway cars themselves distorted and covered in layers of rust.

“Earthquake?” Hal subconsciously asked. Having suffered a severe headache from using “Electromagnetic Scan” earlier, he now subconsciously avoided using this ability easily.

“Not an earthquake, but a war.” Batman quickly collected and analyzed the surrounding information.

After arriving in Coast City, he had lost contact with his butler Alfred, but this level of analysis didn’t require Alfred’s help at all.

Superman, Clark, picked up a damp and damaged newspaper from the ground:

“You’re right. Look at the date on this.”

The date displayed was precisely the time, in Green Lantern Hal’s memory, when the Justice Society stopped their publications.

“You mean… this is the Justice Society’s death date?” Hal wasn’t stupid and quickly understood the meaning of the date.

…

“You might not have seen it just now, Green Guardian just flew in the air, then grabbed the Music Meister…”

The Justice Society’s mascot, Ray Thompson, gesticulated excitedly.

The Flash, Barry, quipped:

“Do you only have those two police officers in Coast City?”

With sounds of laughter and chatter, they, having completely foiled the Injustice Society’s bank robbery plan, returned to the manor.

Here, at the table that originally belonged to the Justice Society, Connors, Superman, Batman, and Green Lantern were seated.

“You missed the Justice Society’s performance just now.” Barry high-fived the mascot Thompson and said to Connors and the others.

Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, did not go easy on them just because the Justice Society were his childhood idols.

Perhaps precisely because the Justice Society were his childhood idols, he spoke mercilessly now:

“They are not the Justice Society.”

Barry looked bewildered:

“Why?”

The mascot Thompson wore an even more incredulous expression:

“Why do you say that?”

The leader of the Justice Society, Velocity, stepped forward with a serious face:

“That’s a serious accusation, young man, please explain yourself clearly.”

“No, you should be the ones explaining.” Hal used his Green Lantern ring to envelop the newspaper, making it float in front of Velocity.

“The Justice Society died in the war…?” Velocity hesitantly read the words on the newspaper.

“This must be fake, a prank, a disgusting joke.” The mascot Thompson, like Hal once did, regarded the Justice Society as idols, and was the first to stand out and refute.

“Unfortunately, this isn’t a joke. The real Velocity, Tom, Black Siren, Catman, Green Guardian…”

“They’re all dead, I’ve seen their graves.”

Green Lantern Hal’s face held no trace of a smile, while The Flash, Barry, quietly shuffled his feet, moving closer to Connors.

Catwoman, Selina, and Black Siren, the two connected sisters, simultaneously took a step back, seemingly not intending to interfere.

“He’s not serious, is he?” Catman muttered softly to himself.

Velocity rubbed his temples. Anyone who was perfectly alive and told they were long dead would find it a bit of a headache:

“I don’t know, it sounds too incredible, but…”

Ding-a-ling—

The phone rang unseasonably. Velocity quickly walked over and picked it up:

“Hello?”

On the other end of the line, a police officer was huddled under his desk, head in hands, as a giant mechanical monster rumbled past outside the window:

“Justice Society, we need assistance! A monster is destroying the main street, you must hurry!”

Velocity reassured him with a sense of security in his voice:

“We’ll be right there, officer, please rest assured.”

Hanging up the phone, all members of the Justice Society, without a word, walked out of the manor—except for Black Siren.

A green barrier blocked their way. Green Lantern Hal Jordan’s ring glowed:

“We haven’t resolved things on our end yet.”

Velocity said helplessly:

“But Coast City needs us.”

Batman, who had been silent until now, seemed to have made his final deduction after the phone rang:

“Don’t you understand yet? The library is full of blank books, the ice cream truck never stops, and the massive Coast City has less than two hundred people, with only two police officers.”

Connors added:

“Whenever someone gets too close to the truth, a danger arises that requires the entire Justice Society to act. —Kid, you truly didn’t try to stop me at all, very good.”

The kid remained silent, just clenching his fists.

Velocity retorted:

“What truth?”

Superman, Clark, stood up. He worried that what he was about to say would be unacceptable to the Justice Society, leading them to take extreme actions:

“The truth is, you are in an illusion, or rather, a dream. Coast City was destroyed forty years ago, a living memory, and the Justice Society sacrificed themselves for this city.”

Green Lantern Hal summarized:

“That’s why, in our world, the Justice Society stopped publishing comics.”

This was a comic that only Green Lantern Hal had read in his childhood, and it had long since stopped being published.

“Whenever someone approaches the truth, an obstacle suddenly appears… If what you say is true, then who created this illusion?”

Velocity stood in place, thinking hard as he spoke.

“I suggest asking Ray Thompson.” The blonde beauty Black Siren said.

“Why?” The other Justice Society members were a bit confused.

The mascot Ray Thompson even backed away repeatedly:

“Why me?”

But he had nowhere to retreat. Green Lantern Hal took his shoulder:

“Because you are the source of everything.”

The power brought by the Green Lantern ring, “Electromagnetic Scan,” was used without reservation, making the patterns on Hal’s uniform shimmer, and the Green Lantern ring glowed as bright as day.

Ray Thompson fell to the ground, his head quickly swelling and shattering, then reassembling, transforming into the monstrous form with layers upon layers of tumors that Connors had seen with his “Athena’s Sight.”

“You ruined everything, you ruined it!”

The original mascot kid transformed into a monster, eyeballs protruding from his head, blood vessels throbbing on the tumors. He launched an invisible attack at Green Lantern Hal, sending Hal flying backwards on the spot.

At this moment, the roof of the Justice Society’s manor was ripped off, and the metal monster the police officer had mentioned on the phone appeared.

The Justice Society members didn’t have time to think and immediately moved to engage the enemy. Black Siren, after gritting her teeth, still followed her comrades into battle.

The Flash, Barry, immediately wanted to go help, but Batman stopped him:

“Don’t go, that’s just an illusion, Thompson is the root cause.”

Superman, Green Lantern, Batman, and The Flash faced Thompson, while Connors pulled up a chair and sat beside them:

“I won’t interfere.”

“Coast City has already ended once, it was I who gave it another chance. This is the world I control, whether you interfere or not, the outcome will not change.” The already monstrous Thompson said with a horrifying, piercing voice.

“…But the outcome is you croaking, though.” Connors said, slightly speechless.

“Is that so?” Thompson extended a hand with only four fingers, two of which were fused together, and swung it at Batman.

The Caped Crusader was sent flying back on the spot and buried under falling rubble.

Superman, Green Lantern, and The Flash immediately attacked as well, but they couldn’t resist the monster Thompson’s suspected dual mental and physical attacks, falling one after another.

Connors remained seated, unmoved, not even intending to save them.

Someone else was there to save them.

Outside the manor, Velocity saw Batman and the others falling one after another and immediately rushed to help.

But Green Guardian stopped him, looking at the beautiful Coast City and saying:

“Wait, if what they say is true, defeating Thompson might destroy this reality, and everything in it.”

Black Siren added: “Including us.”

As superheroes, they knew the beauty of life, which was why they protected this city.

But now the price of protection might be their own lives.

The members of the Justice Society fell silent until Green Lantern Hal was seized in the air by the resentful monster Thompson, letting out a scream.

Velocity, as the leader of the Justice Society, no longer hesitated:

“If we died once to save this city, then we can die again.”

With that, he charged out first, followed closely by Tom Turbine, Catman, Black Siren, and Green Guardian.

Inside the manor, the monster Thompson clenched his fist tightly, making Green Lantern Hal constantly scream in pain. Thompson gritted his teeth:

“Without you, Coast City would always be beautiful. You’ll regret destroying all of this!”

But then the monster Thompson was sent flying by a punch from Velocity.

With all members of the Justice Society present, Tom Turbine stood before the monster Thompson, the squinty-eyed man raising both fists, electricity flashing:

“In Coast City, crime has a price.”