Another peaceful day, but the edge of the Solar System welcomed a new visitor. An elderly woman wearing black armor and a golden cloak stood on a small asteroid fragment, gazing at the Solar System.
"Unbelievable..." she muttered, "How did Krypton come to be here? Weren't those idiots up there wiped out a long time ago? Could it be the work of New Genesis Star again?"
She stood in place thinking for a while, then waved to her subordinate and said, "Fly in and take a look, remember not to stir up any big commotion. If you do find any trace of that artificial intelligence, then report back to me."
The subordinate quickly flew inside and returned shortly after. "Signals from him are everywhere within the Solar System, on Krypton, Mars, and Earth. It seems he has completely taken over this Star System."
"Hmph." The elderly woman snorted coldly, revealing a sinister smile, "Taken over? I think it's a bit too early for that. Let's go, we have to report back to His Majesty Darkseid. It won't be long before this place becomes his territory!"
In the office of Gotham University, Jonathan Crane, sporting dark circles under his eyes, threw himself onto the sofa with a long sigh.
"God, is it easy for me to make some money?!" Jonathan picked up the box he had just tossed aside.
Opening the box, a very faint yellow light emanated from inside. He took out the item within, revealing a small ring.
After putting it on his hand, Jonathan took a deep breath, yellow light flashing in his eyes, and then said, "Blackest night, brightest day. Evil and conspiracy, fear my divine light. Buried by dreadful fire, those who defy me perish. Fear is the source, Say command! I am the new Lamp hero of Earth's Sector—Jonathan Crane."
The ring also flickered with yellow light, as if someone was responding. Jonathan quickly said, "The Solar System is being invaded by some artificial intelligence, Green Lantern seems to be in conflict with it. I don't know how to describe it, but maybe there will be a war between them. Are you coming to take a look?"
"Really?" A voice came from the ring, "Artificial intelligence? Where did artificial intelligence come from?"
"Who knows, that reckless Justice League dragged a planet near the Sun, what's it called... Krypton? Seems like it came from there."
"Green Lantern is fighting with it?"
"I don't know. Right now, there are monitors from that guy all over Earth, I have no way to leave Earth, you can only send someone over to take a look."
"Hmph, useless. Forget it, wait there, I'll have Archilo go check it out. If those Green Lanterns are really in trouble, our opportunity will come."
After ending the "call," Jonathan said one last thing, "That's right, your opportunity for destruction will come."
Just then, there was a knock on the office door. Pamela pushed the door open and walked in, asking, "How's it going on your end?"
"All done, bringing in that damned ring cost me quite a bit of raw materials. How does the Justice League plan to compensate?"
"Compensation? What compensation? That's called reimbursement." Pamela rolled her eyes slightly and sat down before saying, "When will their people arrive?"
"Should be soon, didn't they say they are kind of like Green Lantern? Should be here shortly."
"Same on my side, maybe they'll bump into each other. But that's good too, I wager the other side thinks there's a secret on Krypton."
"I actually don't quite get it," Jonathan said, "I know the Justice League wants Brainiac to deal with potential Earth threats, but did you consider the possibility that he might not succeed?"
"That's not your concern," Pamela replied, "Even if he doesn't succeed, there's still the Justice League, and if the Justice League doesn't succeed, they have other ways."
"Are you really not planning to reveal anything? I'm still a member of Earth, and I've helped you with such a huge task, I deserve some right to know, don't I?"
"Alright, do you remember the guy who punched Mercury into pieces before?"
"You mean Clark's old buddy? Not that I underestimate him, punching a planet apart is pretty impressive, but that Apocalypse Star and the Yellow Lantern Corps should also be no pushovers, right?"
"His greatest strength isn't his fists," Pamela smiled and said, "You'll find out when the time comes."
On Krypton, three figures slowly descended onto the rooftop. Clark gazed at the horizon of Krypton far away and sighed.
"Aren't you angry?" Injustice Superman asked, "Even if it might all be arranged by your father and Zod, this evil artificial intelligence still murdered all your kind."
"I don't know how I feel, but I wouldn't say angry. Right ahead is the research center, let's head in and take a look first."
Superman stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder, saying, "You're way more mature than us. When we first learned about Krypton's destruction, it felt like the sky was falling."
Clark said nothing, flying straight to the research center. They landed on the top of the flying saucer-shaped building, then flew in through the broken windows.
"I've always been wondering about one thing," Clark said, "regarding the extinction of the Kryptonians back then."
"What?"
"The war back then — I'm talking about the great battle that changed dark matter across the entire cosmos — what exactly was the treasure they were fighting over?"
"You're interested in that thing?" Superman frowned, "Greed is the original sin of the human race, and it's the same for Kryptonians. If only one of these races could control their greed, it wouldn't have plunged the entire cosmos into chaos."
"Easy for you to say," Injustice Superman said, "Wouldn't you want the treasure that could make so many powerful civilizations fight each other?"
Clark looked at the research center. Although he knew it was Brainiac's old home, he didn't make any violent moves, just silently observed.
"The thing they were fighting over was a 'Mother Box'." Brainiac's voice sounded, "It's a kind of divine artifact used by the New Gods, possessing extremely powerful strength, even their power source comes from the power to create the cosmos. No one doesn't want such power."
"Brainiac!" Clark looked up at the ceiling, "So where did it eventually go?"
Brainiac fell silent again. Clark lowered his head once more, saying, "I know without you telling me, you think it's on Earth; otherwise, why would you be so kind as to provide intelligent services to the human race?"
"You mean, Brainiac invaded Earth actually to find the Mother Box?" Superman took two steps forward and said, "Since you already know, why didn't you stop him?"
Clark shook his head, without speaking. Just then, an alarm suddenly sounded. In the cosmic environment diagram surrounding Krypton, placed in the center of the hall, several red dots suddenly lit up.
Injustice Superman understood instantly, he said, "Something is invading the Solar System... What is this?!"
He walked over to operate the panel, but it seemed ineffective. Clark still shouted, "Brainiac! Brainiac! What's wrong with you?!"
The projection screen suddenly changed, with the camera aimed at the outer Solar System. To the surprise of the three, many monsters appeared on the Kuiper Belt.
The monsters were bizarre and varied: some looked like wriggling caterpillars, others like giant mantises, and some seemed to be blends of several animals. They floated among the asteroid fragments, their eyes glowing red as they stared at the Solar System.
And they were all calling out the same name— "Darkseid."
Before the three could figure out what was going on, the screen shifted again, a blinding yellow light appeared. As the light faded, a group of yellow figures emerged.
"Yellow Lantern Corps?!" Superman stepped forward and said, "Why are they here?! No, how can this cosmos even have a Yellow Lantern Corps?!"
"I'm afraid we need to go," Clark said, "We need to check around the Solar System to see what's trying to invade here."
"You can't go." Brainiac suddenly said, "Clark Kent, I hope you understand that with alien beings invading the Solar System, Earth would be in danger as well. Right now, we're in the same boat. If you don't help me, the human race will be in trouble."
"Now you remember we're in the same boat." Clark said coldly, "I guess they're probably here to deal with you."
"How do you know?"
"In that war back then, besides the Apocalypse Star and New Genesis Star, the Kryptonian Star Alliance also participated. The result was that none got the Mother Box, but they surely suspect the others got it and hid it."
"Apocalypse Star and New Genesis Star are archenemies; if they got the Mother Box, they would have attacked each other first, but they haven't moved for so many years, suggesting they probably didn't get it. The most suspicious ones are the Kryptonians."
"Although they haven't acted against Krypton for years, it doesn't mean they've given up. Once there's any movement on Krypton, they would surely rush over first to search for the Mother Box's location."
"And you, as the only remaining artificial intelligence on this planet, are highly suspicious. You claim you didn't get it, but maybe you're a product of the Mother Box itself?"
Brainiac was silent for a long time before finally speaking, "Is this the Justice League's conspiracy? Pretending not to know what I'm doing, allowing me to rule Earth, but actually luring these powerful enemies to deal with me."
"You call me an evil artificial intelligence, but you are a hundred, a thousand times more evil! The enemies you've brought won't only threaten me, but will also threaten your compatriots! You must realize this!"
Clark finally showed his fangs, saying, "Either you defeat them, or we die together."
"You're all a bunch of madmen!" Brainiac was almost roaring, "You even think Apocalypse Star isn't enough, and want to bring in the Yellow Lantern Corps! Do you want to start a Lantern Corps war here?!"
"I fear that depends on you." Another voice came from behind the three. Hal flew in and said, "Whether this battle can be won and to what extent it can be fought, it all depends on our advanced artificial intelligence gentleman."
"What about the Justice League? You plan to do nothing?!"
"I'm sorry, but that's exactly it. You've ruled Earth, so you need to be responsible for Earth. Now, Mr. Brainiac, enjoy your time as a ruler."