"Lothar!"
"Woz!"
The sudden shift in the situation stunned Mera and Barry, who had arrived in the Gotham ruins via the water current express.
The robotic cat, after tumbling into the rubble, dusted itself off and shook its head, discarding debris and smoke. Without time to check the extent of its own damage, its anxious gaze immediately fell upon Lothar, who had been directly hit by the pillar of light: "Your Highness Lothar!"
"He's not dead, rest assured."
Darkseid, with his hands clasped behind his back, walked over to Lothar, who lay in the ruins. His calm demeanor somewhat bewildered Mera and the others.
"You've been secretly observing Lothar this whole time?"
Because Lothar and Darkseid were too close, Mera, holding the Golden Trident, dared not act rashly. Her mind instinctively searched for a topic to distract Darkseid, hoping to buy herself some time to rescue Lothar.
"Since you provided me with the cosmic coordinates, I can tell you one thing." Darkseid bent down, extended a hand, and gripped Lothar's head, pulling the Saiyan, who was embedded in the ground, out.
"Never underestimate the power of a cosmic overlord. Never."
Whoosh!
Before his words finished, Lothar, in Darkseid's hand, had already transformed into a meteor and was flung to Mera's feet.
"Cough, cough..."
Lothar's body, already overstressed from power exertion, evidently began to break down under Darkseid's energy impact. He coughed repeatedly, spitting out blood that was horrifying to behold.
"Lothar!"
"I'm fine." Lothar refused Mera's assistance, supporting himself with his hands as he slowly stood up. Blood stained his body red, appearing particularly gruesome under the sunlight.
"No, Lothar, you—"
"I said, I'm fine."
"So, shut up."
Lothar's scolding, without even turning his head, instantly silenced Mera, though her worried gaze never dissipated.
"Are you sure? Your physical condition isn't optimistic. If you don't receive treatment soon, you might die." Darkseid watched Lothar with interest. This alien had repeatedly brought him surprises.
Lothar's plan had been under Darkseid's control from the very beginning. As an experienced overlord, Darkseid couldn't have missed Lothar's minor manipulations with the Reality Stone. He had simply seen through it but said nothing. The reasons were simple.
First, Lothar was indeed a talent, decisive and ruthless in his actions, without the indecisiveness of the original Kryptonians, making him more suitable as a vanguard general than Steppenwolf.
Second, Darkseid genuinely wanted to conquer Lothar's universe. Although the Reality Stone's power couldn't be fully displayed right now, it was merely due to the suppression of different universal laws.
As the knowledgeable Lord of Apokolips, Darkseid could naturally deduce the full power of the Reality Stone at its peak. To Darkseid, a universe capable of birthing such a treasure was certainly worthy of his conquest.
Reviving Superman Clark was merely Darkseid's way of testing what Lothar's ultimate trump card, betting everything on his own revival, truly was.
Simply put, Superman, revived by Darkseid using the Mother Boxes, was just a tool for testing Lothar. After all, Lothar was an alien from another universe. After being defeated by the combined forces of the gods and three races on Earth in ancient times, Darkseid would never be careless again or repeat past mistakes.
"I won't die even if you do." Lothar shifted his stance slightly, his hands crossed over his chest. His face bore a seriousness Mera had never seen before.
"Join me, Lothar."
"I can save you, and I can also elevate your body to another level, allowing it to adapt to the power you used to defeat the Kryptonian earlier."
Darkseid extended an invitation to Lothar, making a promise: "Steppenwolf is dead. You can take his place."
In the distant ruins, Steppenwolf's bones were barely cold, his wide eyes seemingly accusing Darkseid of this heartless betrayal.
"You were expelled from your original universe, weren't you?"
"I can give you my power, my army, and help you return to your familiar homeland in a new form."
"Then, kill those who expelled you."
"What do you say?"
Darkseid, with his precise understanding of human nature, offered a condition that even Woz found hard to imagine.
"Sounds very tempting." Lothar narrowed his eyes, seemingly lost in thought.
"But I refuse."
Behind Lothar, the worried Mera swallowed the words that were on the tip of her tongue.
"Oh?"
"May I know why?"
Darkseid, though rejected, showed no sign of anger, instead asking with interest.
"You don't have the qualifications to make me bow down." Lothar retorted unceremoniously. The only one Lothar would ever bow to in this life was his adoptive father, Thanos. Darkseid? What's that?!
"Is that so?"
"A pity."
Darkseid sighed, a look of regret on his face. He actually thought quite highly of Lothar. However, since Lothar was unwilling, he wouldn't force it. Everyone has their own ambitions.
"Then, you shall die."
Before his words finished, an ineffable terror instantly permeated the hearts of everyone present... The unmatched Lord of Apokolips, Darkseid, acted again!
BOOM!!!!
...
Marvel Universe, Centauri System, Black Quadrant Base.
The two girls adopted by Thanos long ago had grown into adults. However, their circumstances were vastly different.
Due to the painful loss of Lothar, Thanos was exceptionally strict with his two adoptive daughters, Nebula and Gamora. Especially regarding their personalities. Thanos would never allow Lothar's tragedy to repeat.
Therefore, after their training, he made his two daughters, Gamora and Nebula, duel each other. The loser would have a small part of their body removed, thereby implanting the impression of "obeying and not acting recklessly" in their minds.
For over twenty years, the girl named Nebula had never won once. For over twenty years, the girl named Gamora, despite winning every time, was filled with fear of her adoptive father Thanos due to Nebula's plight. Thanos commanded her east, and she dared not go west. Lothar's previous "I know I'm wrong but I won't change" personality was absolutely impossible to reappear. To prevent his two daughters from following Lothar's crooked path, Thanos had truly "gone to great lengths."
"Yo, Gamora, you're back."
"This mission only took three months; you've improved a lot."
At the Black Quadrant base's port, Gamora, who had made a name for herself across the cosmos just as the inexperienced Lothar had done years ago, stepped off her warship. Proxima Midnight, responsible for her mission handover, greeted her amiably.
"Thank you."
Gamora, her heart pounding with trepidation the moment she returned to the Black Quadrant, dared not show any hint of insolence, politely returning the greeting to Proxima Midnight.
This was the power of Thanos' improved educational methods. If this were Lothar back then, upon disembarking and hearing Proxima Midnight say that, his response would have been 100%: Get lost.
"Follow me."
After her thoughts drifted to the man from over a thousand years ago, Proxima Midnight couldn't help but shake her head, leading Gamora to the intelligence handover point. That was the area managed by Ebony Maw, one of the Black Order.
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