mtl008 Chapter 4390 Project Farstar (8)
Chapter 4390 Project Farstar (8)
Chapter 4390 Project Far Star (Part 8)
The night in the snow did not brighten. The dark clouds that hung over the metropolis plunged everything into deep darkness. Diana slept restlessly, her dreams sometimes filled with the pained faces of her wounded sisters, and other times with Schiller's indifferent yet enigmatic smile.
The sirens blared, startling a flurry of lights. Diana was awakened. She rushed to the window, drew back the curtains, and looked outside. Thick smoke billowed from the building, and raging flames illuminated the night sky.
Countless police cars and fire trucks converged in that direction, but Diana sensed something unusual. Without even changing her clothes, she grabbed the nearest Vulcan sword and flew away as fast as she could.
The building snapped in half, about to smash into a fire truck. A figure sped past, lifting the fire truck. Diana glanced at Hal, who was glowing green, and nodded slightly to him.
Soon, Rong En also flew over. They had clearly been suddenly awakened; the battle during the day had drained them of energy, and they had slept exceptionally soundly the night before. They hadn't even had time to change their clothes before arriving at the accident site in their pajamas.
When the building collapsed, Diana realized this was no ordinary fire. Firstly, while it was downtown, it wasn't the financial district, and no one worked there all night. With no one inside, a fire couldn't have occurred. Secondly, the fire clearly wasn't strong enough to cause the building to collapse, yet it broke in half.
"Could it be that Schiller released Doomsday again?"
Diana vowed that if she saw Schiller again, she would punch him. But after going around the stairs, she didn't see that huge figure, but another strange monster.
He had a strong physique, but wasn't as enormous as Doomsday, only slightly taller than an average human, yet his imposing presence was no less. He was clad in metal armor covered in spikes, had two massive, backward-curving horns on his head, and a ferocious expression.
When he looked over, Diana felt a chill run down her spine. His eyes were filled with brutality and cruelty. She instinctively raised her arm to block, but he was too fast. With a loud thud, Diana was slammed into the ground.
She coughed up blood, struggled to raise her shield, and blocked the opponent's next attack, but her face became even paler and her arms began to tremble.
Fortunately, his teammates arrived in time. Ron flew over like an arrow, slamming into the monster's side and sending him flying. Hal seized the opportunity to pick up Diana and place her behind the lines.
Barry retrieved the Lasso of Truth, intending to use the same trick again. But just as the blue lightning reached the monster, it swung its hand. Barry was blasted out of the Speed Force, thrown through the air in an arc, and then crashed heavily to the ground.
"Ugh!!!!!" Barry screamed. Hal rushed over and hoisted him up as well. When he put Barry down, he noticed blood foam coming from the man's mouth. He gasped in shock and shouted, "Barry's hurt!"
"Take him to the hospital!" Diana shouted from the ground beside him. "Hurry! It'll be too late if we don't!"
Diana had seen many wounded soldiers on the battlefield, and Barry's wound was clearly a broken rib punctured by a punctured lung; if blood entered his respiratory system, he would be finished. Hal had no choice but to carry Barry away.
Arthur, disregarding everything else, summoned seawater as he had during the day, intending to trap the new monster with it. But Ron shouted at him, "No!!"
The next second, Arthur was also slammed into the ground, his golden trident flying from his hand. The seawater instantly spiraled out of control, cascading down like a waterfall and flooding the surrounding streets.
Ron fired another laser beam, which the monster nimbly dodged. Ron narrowed his eyes, reading the monster's mind, and then called out its name: "...Steppenwolf."
No one recognized the name, but the monster known as Steppenwolf turned and stared at Ron, saying, "Have you heard of me?"
Rong En was still carefully searching his memory, but soon he saw a terrifying dark shadow deep in his memory.
Darkseid…
Upon hearing the name, Diana seemed to recall something. She struggled to her feet, half-kneeling and panting, and with the last of her divine strength, she charged forward, brandishing the Vulcan sword.
But her full-force strike was blocked by Steppenwolf's arm, sending her flying. Steppenwolf kept turning his head, seemingly searching for something. Soon, his gaze locked onto Victor in mid-air.
"Ron!!! Take him away!!!" Diana screamed at the top of her lungs, "Get him away now!!!"
Ron seemed to read Diana's mind. Without hesitation, he darted to Victor's side. Victor appeared to struggle, but Ron growled in his ear, "Go!"
Ron quickly led Victor away. Steppenwolf, seemingly angry that Diana had ruined his plans, turned around and grabbed her by the neck, lifting her up again. However, upon seeing her face, he seemed to realize something.
"Are you an Amazon? What is your relationship with Zeus?"
Diana struggled incessantly, unable to utter a single word. Steppenwolf continued, "Where is the Mother Box?"
He loosened his grip, and Diana fell to the ground. She gasped for breath, coughing between chokes, and said, "I knew it... Apokolips, Darkseid. You're still up to no good..."
"All the great power in this universe should belong to the great Dark Lord," Steppenwolf said disdainfully. "Otherwise, why should it be left to you weak insects?"
Diana rolled over and lay on her side, coughing violently. She propped herself up with one hand, glaring fiercely at Steppenwolf, and said, "Zeus could defeat you once, and he can defeat you a second time. You won't take anything from here!"
Steppenwolf's gaze turned cold. He walked to Diana's side, raised his foot, and stomped down heavily. But just as he shifted his weight to prepare to exert force, Diana rolled over, kicked his foot that was on the ground, and summoned back the Lasso of Truth. The lasso, like a nimble snake, wound around Steppenwolf's waist along his leg, and then bound his arms.
Diana flipped to her feet and kicked him to the ground. But in those few seconds, the Lasso of Truth seemed about to shatter. Diana thrust her sword into his chest, but the once indestructible Vulcan sword could only penetrate a small section.
Stimulated by the pain, Steppenwolf roared, broke free of the Lasso of Truth, and punched Diana to the ground. But the movement aggravated the wound in his chest, causing him to gasp.
A green light appeared on the horizon, clearly indicating that Diana's teammates were returning to defend. Steppenwolf snorted and said, "You'll regret going against Darkseid."
With that, he leaped high into the air and vanished into the darkness. Diana lay on the ground, panting heavily. She had completely exhausted all her strength, yet she still hadn't been able to harm the monster.
Ron, who had flown back, helped her up. Diana, barely catching her breath, exclaimed, "I have to...I have to go back to the Amazon..."
"What exactly is going on?" Hal asked. "Do you know that monster?"
Diana said as she walked forward, "He's one of Darkseid's men. Darkseid came to Earth many years ago, apparently looking for something. The gods and other ancient races fought them off. But now they've come again..."
“They’re looking for the Mother Box,” Ron said, “but I don’t remember what it is. They don’t seem to know it themselves, they just know it’s hidden on Earth.”
“How’s Barry?” Diana asked. She seemed to have changed her mind and wasn’t going straight to the Amazon anymore; instead, she took out her phone and texted her mother.
“He’s okay, but he broke a rib and may need some time to recover,” Hal said. “I put up a protective shield there, so no one can hurt him.”
“What about Victor?” Ron asked.
Diana opened her mouth. She knew Victor had survived by fusing with the Mother Box, but she had learned this information from the Battle Realm when the other Diana members introduced the Justice League members to her. However, explaining things related to the Battle Realm was too complicated, so she said, "Victor might be hiding the secret of what they're looking for. I'm afraid he'll be caught."
At this moment, Arthur returned, looking equally unwell. Like Diana, he appeared weak and coughed incessantly. The best-case scenario for him after taking a punch from Steppenwolf was internal bleeding.
"Where the hell did that monster come from?! Don't tell me it's another official employee of the Sky Eye Society! What the hell are they trying to do?!" Arthur couldn't help but roar.
Diana closed her eyes, sighed, and said, "As expected, Doomsday was just a warning. Steppenwolf is stronger than him, and we will have a hard time dealing with him."
"Did the Steppenwolf also come here through the Sky Eye?" Hal asked.
“No, if Darkseid wants the Mother Box, he’ll come sooner or later. It’s just that he’s coming at this particular moment, and Schiller might be behind it,” Diana said, clutching her chest.
"What's so special about this time?" Hal still didn't understand. "Although our rescue plan didn't succeed, it didn't harm us. Doomsday was the same; it took some effort, but it wasn't crippling. There's no point in arranging for Steppenwolf to take advantage of this situation, is there?"
“Perhaps someone else is taking advantage of the situation,” Diana said. “You all must be careful. If anything seems amiss, inform your teammates immediately. Understand?”
None of them objected. The group returned to headquarters, almost all of them exhausted, and some were injured. Everyone collapsed into bed and fell asleep.
But the night was not peaceful. In his sleep, Arthur saw a tsunami ravage Mercy Harbor. His father and the townspeople were all submerged. He wanted to take up the golden trident to control the sea, but he discovered that he was just an ordinary person, helplessly sinking into the sea and drowning painfully like everyone else.
Diana returned to the battlefield. Soldiers fell in agony on their charge. A young soldier, his chest riddled with shrapnel, looked at her with despair. His face blurred and shifted, quickly transforming into the faces of her sisters on Paradise Island. She wandered among the corpses, yet she didn't even know who the killer was.
Rong En dreamt of a raging fire. His family struggled in agony within the flames, their skin gradually charred black, their bodies contorted as they rushed toward him, only to be reduced to ashes along the way. He lost himself in endless agonizing cries and wails.
Victor returned to the scene of the accident. This time, however, he recalled more details: his mother's skin being peeled away piece by piece by shards of glass, her skull shattered, brain matter and fragments splattering out, then her chest and arms. She was reduced to fragments before his eyes, and he was powerless to stop it.
When everyone woke up, they felt a strange sense of terror. However, upon reflection, they could only vaguely recall having a nightmare, without remembering the specific details of the dream.
As they came downstairs, they both noticed each other's pale faces, but assumed it was due to exhaustion from yesterday's battle. Each of them, holding a cup of coffee, sat down at the conference table.