Superman from the comics: Starting with the Black Robe

Chapter 80 Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Chapter 80 Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

"I've already inspected the scene; that condition hardly qualifies as 'still alive,' does it?"

Joey casually placed the "Superman" body into the Red Sun Cell in Sector E. On the way back, he used his super senses to scan the entire base but found no living people anywhere.

Unless the Senagan alien that Spark mentioned isn't the Hawkgirl in the hall whose wings were torn off.

In Joey's eyes, the other person had already been split in two, just like the Flash next to him, with blood gushing out from between his upper and lower body. He had stopped breathing and his heart had stopped beating; even his brain activity had stopped long ago.

"Not there, it's on the other side."

The watchtower and its surroundings had long been buried by a thick layer of rock and soil. Aside from people like Joey who could see through things, the only people present at the scene were...

Nobody can see anything.

Xinghuo clearly doesn't see with her eyes; she perceives with her emotions.

After pushing her abilities to an even more sensitive level, she reached out and twisted Joey's head in another direction, the twist producing a metallic clang.

Are you really not trying to take this opportunity to break my neck?

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Faced with Joey's complaint, Spark quickly apologized in a gentle and apologetic tone:

"Sorry, I'm still not quite used to it."

There are still good people among the Kryptonians. Regardless of their intentions, they did save my life before.

Dr. Thomas's treatment rekindled his fading consciousness, and the increasing star radiation further strengthened his condition.

This allowed her to gather energy through her emotions and pull herself back from the brink of death.

After recovering from her near-death experience, her physical abilities seem to have inexplicably increased significantly, and they are still growing, which has led to her not daring to touch anyone except Joey.

While still not as outrageous as the Kryptonians, for Earthlings it has reached the point where a mere brush against them is fatal and a single contact is an injury.

Kryptonians have a biofield that allows them to continuously adjust the interaction of power with each individual, preventing situations where an attempt to embrace results in a sudden, severed connection. Starfire, on the other hand, clearly relies solely on self-control.

From the moment Joey was almost dragged into the ground by the other party, he had already started to increase the power level of his interaction with Starfire, but it was obviously not enough, and the power needed to be increased further.

Following the direction indicated by Starfire, Joey saw a lost relic outside the space station: a one-handed spiked mace that once belonged to Hawkgirl.

To Joey, it was just an ordinary hammer with no power fluctuations, but that just goes to show that it was anything but ordinary.

After all, Hawkgirl's spiked club is made of N metal, the same material as Doctor Fate's helmet.

Joey used his body to carve a path to the N-metal warhammer, choosing to be on the safe side by letting the only truly steel-clad member of the group pick up the hammer:

"Steelbow, put it on your drone."

This equipment, forged from N metal, seems to be able to anchor its owner's "soul," allowing successors to inherit the memories of their predecessors when inheriting their belongings—in a sense, it's practically a reincarnation.

However, Joey wasn't sure if the reincarnation of Hawkgirl was the same one.

"Uncertain? Really? I respect these predecessors, but that doesn't mean I want to inexplicably become someone's next life!"

Upon hearing this, Cyborg, who was already carefully holding the hammer handle, involuntarily loosened his grip and almost threw the warhammer back into the dirt.

"Relax, reincarnation doesn't work that way. She needs another 'self,' and you're not even a physical body right now."

Yang Yi felt that Cyborg's worries were somewhat unrealistic. Did a cyborg like him really want to dream about a bionic sheep?

"Don't forget that your main body is currently conducting search and rescue operations on the surface with Billy. What's standing here now is a drone clone of you, a metal robotic shell. What do you have to worry about?"

Steelbone, who was remotely controlling the drone on site, considered the matter through a dozen threads and had to admit that Joey's words made a lot of sense:

"What you said...is reasonable..."

Just then, the drone's voice began to become intermittent.

"Steel Bones?"

Joey felt that what he had just said might not make much sense. He could see with his eyes that the processor, signal receiving unit, and sound unit of the drone in front of him were not damaged, and the electromagnetic signal reception was unimpeded.

So what made this robot act strangely?

"Superman, get out of the robot's sight!"

Batman was the first to understand the situation and tried to warn Joey, but it was too late.

A dazzling flash of lightning illuminated the robot's entire body as the hammer struck, then a powerful, sweeping blow aimed at Joey's head.

The N-Metal Hammer gave Cyborg's dilapidated drone an unimaginable boost, so much so that Joey, who was standing close to the robot, almost couldn't dodge it in time.

The tip of the mace grazed almost past Joey's nose, but the warhammer wasn't just about physical damage; the lightning bolts crackling on it exploded in a chain reaction, sending Joey flying.

The originally cramped underground passage was now blasted open by the lightning strike that erupted on Joey, and even the buried watchtower ring at the other end was faintly visible.

Joey cursed inwardly, thinking to himself that he was a real genius when it came to ideas.

Sending Cyborg, a remotely controlled drone that is theoretically a complete shell, to retrieve weapons seems like a good idea at first glance, but upon closer inspection, it doesn't seem impossible. Even Batman thought it wouldn't be a big problem.

But in practice, big problems like the one we're facing now have arisen.

This was originally supposed to be a fantasy story about collecting legendary artifacts and resurrecting ancient heroes.

Now it has completely veered towards science fiction and horror!

Even Blade Runner wouldn't dare to film like this!

The robot's vocal unit was almost overloaded, operating at full power, and its steel-boned voice broadcast a roar that echoed throughout the entire underground cavern:

"You beast! I'll kill you!"

Cyborg, a Black guy, probably would never utter such hysterical words in his life, so there's no doubt who's inside the robot's body now.

If you were ambushed and tortured by a former comrade and lost consciousness, what would you do after regaining consciousness and seeing the other person's face?

The first thing Hawkgirl saw upon waking was the murderer's face, which almost instinctively triggered a series of attacks, with the deadly hammer threatening almost everyone.

Her response was met with a counterattack from Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Starfire.

In Batman's view, the three men's choices were correct. A violent madman with immense destructive power was attacking indiscriminately underground, and subduing him first was the best option.

But the sword of Vulcan, the trident of Poseidon, and the energy beams of the Tamaran.

This was his long-lost partner, and remembering the horrific way she died last time, Batman couldn't just let everyone attack her without restraint.

"Stop! She hasn't regained her senses yet!"

Seeing that the body carrying the Eagle Girl's consciousness was about to be shattered to pieces under the attack of the crowd, he had no choice but to take action.

Batman doesn't know what principle Hawkgirl's "reincarnation" is based on, but if the robot's body really is her, wouldn't breaking it mean that she would die again?

Two exploding batarangs temporarily slowed down Diana and Aquaman's weapons, and a concentrated 10-to-2N gas bomb caused Starfire to laugh uncontrollably for a short time. Her inability to concentrate caused the energy torrent around her to dissipate.

While it may seem shameless, Batman does sometimes carry small gadgets in his belt that can quickly deal with his teammates.

Wonder Woman and Aquaman are practically flawless all-rounders; they can simply unleash their power without worry. But Starfire, with his greater destructive power and more obvious weaknesses, has much more to consider.

Batman then fired a double-ended grappling hook, securing the robot, which was attempting to leap into the air and fight Joey for three hundred rounds, to the rock surface.

He himself acted extremely irrationally, stepping forward in an attempt to rouse the other person's consciousness amidst Hawkgirl's wildly swinging hammer:

"Hawkgirl, stop!"

With a deafening roar, Joey, who had just been nearly paralyzed by the electric shock, finally managed to pull himself off the rock wall at the top. He swooped down and pinned the robot to the ground, also shoving away Batman, who had almost been smashed in the head by a hammer.

Enduring the excruciating pain from the lightning unleashed by the N-metal warhammer, Joey firmly pinned the eagle-woman robot to the spot:

"Look closely at my face! I'm not the Superman you know!"

After the initial frenzy, the Hawkwoman, having vented her emotions, finally began to regain her senses:

"You are indeed not him, I'm sorry... But... my heartbeat? My voice? What's wrong with me?"

Hawkgirl sensed something was wrong with her body and was about to look around to check on herself when Batman, who had been pushed away, rushed over and covered the robot's eyes with his bat-cloak.

"Don't look yet, Eagle Girl."

This is where the horror lies in the sci-fi thriller: Hawkgirl is reborn in a mechanical body. To Joey and the others, it's just science fiction, but to Hawkgirl herself, it's pure horror.

"I'll leave her to you for now, Bat. We'll go take care of things over there."

After confirming that Hawkgirl had no intention of launching another attack, Joey lifted the restrictions on her.

"Don't stop me!!!"

Joey, pulling Starfire, who was furious and about to deliver a punch to Batman, led the others away from the scene, giving Batman and his former teammates some private space.

Before their superhero team was even officially formed, they had already fought more than once, and now the members were even forming new feuds.

"This is absolutely amazing!" Joey couldn't help but grit his teeth and marvel at how wonderful the universe and the world were.

The four of them planned to first collect the remains of the remaining people inside and outside the watchtower, so that Hawkgirl, who was able to accept the current situation, would not be further agitated.

Joey believed that with the Watchtower's technological reserves, he or that bat should, probably, perhaps soon be able to solve Hawkgirl's physical problems.

But getting the other party to temporarily accept that their consciousness is residing in a mechanical body after their resurrection is a troublesome problem.

"Whatever," Joey used his super vision to guide everyone and carefully conceal their bodies, so that the heroes wouldn't be exposed underground so hastily. As for Hawkgirl's problem, it was no longer her problem.

Although Joey himself came up with the idea, people always have to learn to shirk responsibility. For example, now it's Batman's problem.