But Brainiac didn't have time to deal with Clark anymore. The big guy Clark hauled over had already charged into Krypton and started smashing anything with an energy fluctuation.
Krypton's energy supply hadn't fully recovered yet. Even the most advanced equipment needs tuning after being idle for so long. That Brainiac could restart the assembly line for reconnaissance robots in such a short time after detecting the enemy is already a testament to his exceptional talent.
Yet, just as the assembly line started, it met with a catastrophic blow. Brainiac had to quickly assemble the reconnaissance robots he had produced to intercept the big guy.
However, reconnaissance robots are meant for reconnaissance, not for combat. It's one thing to fight ordinary machines, but this big guy that Clark brought over is Archilo, the top general under Sinestro of the Yellow Lantern Corps, a veritable veteran amongst veterans—he's got substantial skills.
Despite his burly build, he's agile, and he expertly wields Yellow Lamp Power. Though the robots don't feel fear, merely using Yellow Lamp Power as an energy weapon was enough to take down the motley crew Brainiac assembled.
What gave Brainiac even more of a headache was the arrival of the Yellow Lantern Corps leader. The Yellow Lamp heroes couldn't sit idle either; they sensed their leader's presence and flew over en masse.
The meager forces Brainiac produced were already struggling against Archilo, let alone dealing with the other Yellow Lanterns, who couldn't be intercepted mid-flight and could only be watched as they flew over.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Kindly Granny, a top general under Darkseid's command, led the Demon-like Army and saw that the Solar System seemed undefended, so they attacked without hesitation.
Brainiac initially thought they were heading to Earth, hoping the Justice League would at least lend a hand for the sake of their fellow humans and ease some pressure.
But he was overthinking; the Justice League had no intention of moving. The Demon-like Army had already flown to the Moon, and there was no sign of the Justice League.
Brainiac finally saw that Shiller was right. Rather than dealing with aliens, they preferred to see their fellow Earthlings suffer.
Brainiac had no choice but to use the few production lines he controlled to produce some robots, barely holding off the Demon-like Army's scouts. But when the main force attacked, he was powerless.
With both Earth and Krypton in chaos, Brainiac faced a headache. Earth's technological level was so low that the things they produced were as fragile as paper, utterly useless. Krypton's technology was advanced but didn't suit Brainiac's mechanical empire, making efficient operation impossible even after rebooting. The quality of the products was acceptable, but the quantity fell short.
So why didn't Brainiac run?
This brings us to the technology of Apocalypse Star. Apocalypse Star is not a backward civilization like humanity. Their technology level is among the most advanced in the cosmos, even beyond technology, reaching a level of governing rules. Like Darkseid being invincible within his domain of Apocalypse Star.
If we must compare, think of combining the Skrull Empire and the Kree Empire from Marvel, adding some magical traits from the Shi'ar Empire, and then creating a tyrant with top-notch skills in every respect—then you'd have Apocalypse Star's level.
Even the Little Blue People, the Guardians of the Universe, dare not mess with Darkseid lightly. Many Lantern Corps can't handle the matters of Apocalypse Star.
Moreover, they're far from isolated; Darkseid's path of invasion has never ceased. In terms of interstellar warfare, both theoretically and practically, they are also top in the cosmos.
The moment the Demon-like Army entered, they sealed off the entire Solar System, blocking dimensions to prevent ships from warping, and sealing all telecommunications in the Solar System so nothing could escape.
Knowing their opponent might be an AI, they encrypted their networks extremely securely, ensuring Brainiac couldn't sneak through Apocalypse Star's network.
In other words, Brainiac was trapped. Whether he wanted to escape alone or with Krypton was impossible, and heading towards Apocalypse Star would be like delivering himself to their doorstep.
With Darkseid being omniscient and omnipotent on Apocalypse Star, even a tiny signal deviation wouldn't escape his notice. If Brainiac fell into his hands, he'd truly understand what it means to be a scholar meeting a soldier, being powerless to reason.
Running wasn't an option, so fighting was all he could do. But clearly, he was outmatched; he couldn't even handle the Yellow Lantern Corps, let alone Apocalypse Star. Without coatings resistant to Yellow Lamp Power, his equipment was being dismantled in no time, rendering Brainiac's defenses meaningless.
On the night the Demon-like Army officially invaded Earth, it rained again in Gotham. By then, every country worldwide was in a panic, but panicking was futile as the invaders had already breached the atmosphere, leaving no time for preparations.
Soon, Apocalypse Star ships approached a visible distance, casting a massive shadow over the Americas and adding an indescribable horror to the rainy night.
As the ships arrived, the rain ceased. The gigantic ships dispersed the rain clouds, forcing humans to face the horror directly.
The ships were so enormous that no one could make out the whole picture, but just seeing the cannon ports and hatches was enough to realize this was an enemy humanity could not resist.
Shiller stood by his office window, looking up at the sky. A ship hovered over North America, another head for South America, and two more headed for Asia and Europe. They seemed intent on conducting a landing operation.
But of course, such a weak civilization as humanity posed no threat to their soldiers. If they were looking for something specific, a massive army conducting a carpet search would naturally be more effective.
As Shiller gazed at the sky, a missile trailing flames streaked across the sky, bringing a glimmer of hope to others looking up. The TV echoed with the president's voice:
"Don't panic! Everyone, stay calm! We've launched a nuclear missile! No matter what conspiracy the invaders have, they will not succeed..."
BOOM!!!!!!!
The scene was swallowed by a dazzling white light, and after the light extinguished, nothing was left. The process was indeed swift, with those vaporized feeling almost no pain.
The missile struck the spacecraft in the sky, but unfortunately, apart from exploding into a firework on the shield of the ship, it had no effect at all.
More missiles were launched toward the spacecraft, which hung like a canopy of the heavens. Most only left small sparks on the shield, and a very few failed to launch properly, plummeting to the ground. In an instant, the roar and screams were continuous.
Ironically, the spacecraft hadn't caused much damage to the human race yet. It was those misfired missiles and planes losing balance due to air currents that first brought death and destruction.
Up in the sky, the colossal entity just hung there quietly, like a deity awaiting the final judgment.
Some people kept shouting, some knelt to pray, some had completely collapsed in despair, hiding in their houses, afraid to come out.
Others began calling out for Brainiac. Yet, at that moment, a light shone simultaneously on several ships, and a slight hum echoed in everyone's ears. If one could look at Earth from space, they would see white light enveloping the globe.
This was not an EMP; to be precise, it wasn't any weapon of destructive attack. It was merely the spacecraft from Apocalypse Star detecting the signal of the Mother Box.
But it paralyzed all electronic devices on Earth.
No matter whether it was the internet or radios, anything requiring electrical signals was shut down completely. The human race was nearly instantaneously returned to a primitive society.
The impact on electronics brought more calamities. Devices controlled by electronic signals began to go out of control, communication between people was severed, and the deeper fear drove people nearly insane.
Clearly, this scan and detection yielded no results; they couldn't find a complete Mother Box signal. So they started the real landing.
This time, several continents on Earth ushered in the same kind of rainy season—the Demon-like Army descended like raindrops, equipped with the most advanced personal equipment and search devices from Apocalypse Star, killing every living being in the target area, searching every nook and cranny.
People fled in panic, but very few demons were dedicated to chasing the terrified humans. Because Darkseid wasn't here to exterminate the human race this time, he was just searching for something.
To him, Earthlings and ants were no different—when you wanted to find something in an ant nest, even without intentional slaughter, many ants might accidentally get crushed, completely destroying the structure of the nest. But your original intent was merely to search for something.
At this time, Darkseid had this attitude toward the human race—an edge, insignificant, and weak primitive civilization not worth his extra effort.
Faced with the rampaging Demon-like Army, Shiller did not move; he was merely waiting.
Since Barry revealed himself in front of him and said those words, he roughly guessed what the Justice League was planning.
He stood quietly by the window, waiting until the sounds of shouting and killing grew louder in the night, and the flames shot into the sky. The spacecraft, after dropping off its troops, flashed and disappeared completely from people's sight.
The scattered clouds gathered back in an instant, lightning and thunder, a torrential downpour suddenly arrived. It couldn't extinguish the flames in the city but did shroud more screams and cries.
Amongst the chaos and noise, the bell of Gotham Cathedral rang out at midnight. The clock struck zero.
12:00 AM, August 26, 1999.
The falling rain suddenly halted.
Then, the water droplets in the puddles began to slowly rise upward, faster and faster.
The clock's hands reversed. 12, 11, 10, 9...
The TV emitted a static noise akin to a tape rewinding, the sound of reversing particularly jarring. Annotations on the textbooks disappeared line by line. Doors opened and closed again. The golden light from the setting sun projecting through the window onto the hallway floor began tilting to another direction, growing sharp from broad, stretching into thin long lines, and vanished completely.
The monstrous figures on the streets started to ascend, the spacecraft left the atmosphere. The signal was restored, the Brainiac software icon reappeared on people's phones, but soon vanished as if it had never been there.
The TV emitted a buzzing electric sound, and Shiller turned around just in time to see a green figure appear on the screen:
"Hello, humans, it's a pleasure to meet you here... Wait! What's going on?!"
Shiller smiled slightly, softly saying, "Hello, Brainiac."