"I've never heard that name!"
Icicle's cautious gaze swept over Eric.
"What is your purpose? Why are you here? This is my territory, you'd best think carefully about how you answer my questions."
While questioning Eric, Icicle's right hand gradually became covered in a blue chill.
He was prepared to thoroughly subdue his opponent the moment he made a move.
Though they hadn't exchanged blows yet, he could feel the dangerous aura emanating from the other party just from their presence.
Even though he had fought countless enemies, no one had ever given him such an oppressive aura before.
"I know a person, Lex Luthor, who once said: 'I am convinced there are countless universes in this world, some exactly like ours, but some vastly different.'",
Eric sat in Icicle's original seat and said in a slow voice, "In a certain universe, a universe similar to ours, my brother, after experiencing the same trauma as you, developed the same idea as you. He believed that the primary reason for so much injustice in this world was certain problems with the social system. So he chose to establish an authoritarian government, to create a new order."
"But what he did was far from enough. If you truly want to change minds, it cannot be achieved through force, but rather from the root of thought."
Eric continued in a calm tone, "If, after establishing a new order, he hadn't been busy with military suppression but instead focused on ideological education, perhaps decades later, those who resisted would have become a small group of 'terrorists'."
"So, I actually admire you all a bit."
Eric stood up and continued, "Knowing the importance of ideological education, not using force to rule the world, but using thought control—your methods are much stronger than my foolish brother's."
"You—"
Icicle took a few steps back in astonishment, "You know our plan?"
"That's not a secret. At least for me, there aren't many secrets left in this world."
Eric took a step forward and said in a nonchalant tone, "However, in my opinion, my brother, who vainly attempts to rule the world, and you people who want to establish a 'New World', are nothing but a bunch of frightened children."
"If no one can tell you how to face fear, and not only that, but the people and the world around you keep scaring you, then you will try to transform the world in the wrong way. You will strive to achieve this goal, and if you think you can't do it, you will try to make yourselves worthy, even if it means wearing jewelry you shouldn't."
Eric thought of Clark, who, in a certain parallel world, lost Louise and eventually turned dark.
After a series of unstoppable conflicts and wars, Clark even became so paranoid that he wanted to destroy Metropolis and Gotham, to make an example of them.
Although the ending was somewhat tragic, he bore some resemblance to the fellow in front of him.
Icicle hadn't expected the stranger in front of him to know so much about him, and he stared at Eric with a look of astonishment.
"You—"
Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to calm down.
"Perhaps you're right, but who among us isn't a frightened child?! Listen, I don't know how you know these hidden stories, but you'd best leave here, otherwise your profound statements won't help your current situation in the slightest."
"Is that so? It seems you're very confident in the security of your base."
Eric took another step closer to Icicle and asked, "Or are you always this confident in your actions?"
"I don't know how you interpret it, but I'm telling you, everything I do is to help others! Five hundred thousand people die from cancer every year, and I can cure cancer! Even if some people die in the process, that is their contribution."
Icicle said with some agitation, "The greed and shamelessness of politicians have caused no less Death, and my wife died because of them. But now I can change all of this, and no one can stop me!"
As soon as Icicle finished speaking, a group of people serving as base guards rushed in.
Wielding sharp blades, they quickly charged at Eric.
But these ordinary grunts were all instantly knocked to the ground.
It happened so fast that Icicle didn't even see what happened.
The next second, the astonished Icicle just felt a blur before his eyes, and the other party had moved in front of him.
He grabbed his neck and lifted him up.
Eric, with red Heat Vision emanating from his eyes, grabbed Icicle's neck and said with a chilling expression, "I originally had no interest in your 'New World Plan', but after a family gathering, I changed my mind. Take me to Brainwave."
"Mmmph!"
With his neck gripped, Icicle, struggling to breathe, gritted his teeth and looked at Eric, "I won't let anyone stop my plan! After my wife died, I vowed to make this world better, this—this is the meaning of my life."
But Eric, who had already been modified to possess some Kryptonian physique and characteristics, exhaled a blast of freezing breath first.
He now possessed the ability to exhale freezing breath, though its power was relatively small, far from the scene of Clark in his prime freezing an entire dam with a single breath.
But dealing with a super-powered individual of Icicle's caliber was effortless.
Eric exhaled a stronger blast of freezing air than Icicle, blocking Icicle's freezing air, and the freezing breath instantly froze his mouth.
"Mmmph! Mmmph!"
With his mouth sealed by ice, filled with frozen shards, Icicle, unable to utter any words, let out a painful groan.
"In that case, then, die!"
A beam of red laser Heat Vision shot from Eric's eyes, striking Icicle's face.
"Mmmph! Mmmph!"
Icicle, whose mouth was gagged and neck choked, making breathing increasingly difficult, was struck in the face by Eric's Heat Vision.
He struggled violently, emitting painful "mmmph mmmph" sounds from his mouth.
After struggling for a few seconds, he completely lost his life, and his hands, which had been clutching Eric's arm, dropped limply.
Thud!
As Eric let go, Icicle's body fell heavily to the ground.
The moment the body, already covered in ice, hit the ground, it splattered many broken ice shards.
After dealing with Icicle and the underground base guards, Eric looked left and right.
He activated his Super Vision, searching for Brainwave's figure.
Finally, he found the other party in the deepest part of the base, in a room equipped with machinery and devices.
Brainwave, wearing various instruments on his head, was sitting in a chair, eyes closed, activating his superpower.
Flashes of silvery-white electrical sparks constantly flickered around him, and the powerful mental energy, amplified by the machines, exerted a strong oppressive force throughout the entire space.
After determining Brainwave's location, Eric walked towards him.
He had no intention of stopping the other party.
What he wanted to do was also very simple.
Brainwave was currently controlling the brain nerves of many people in Kansas, and Eric intended to use him to send a subconscious thought to those controlled individuals.
In other words, he was going to use Brainwave to implant an idea into the minds of people in Metropolis and Smallville.
He had no interest in using mental control to brainwash everyone in the world.
But if he could make use of it conveniently, he wouldn't mind.
As for taking the blame, he could leave that to the professional villains.
Walking forward along the deep and complex tunnel, Eric shot Heat Vision from his eyes, eliminating all the guards who tried to block him.
A few minutes later, he arrived at the last large door.
After cutting through the final metal door with Heat Vision from his eyes, he found Brainwave already waiting for him inside.
Taking off his helmet didn't seem to affect his mental control over others.
"I didn't expect it to be you."
Brainwave, dressed in a trench coat, stood at the entrance, quietly watching Eric.
"I'm surprised too."
Eric walked through the metal door, "I originally thought you would be a complete cripple after your stroke, but I didn't expect you to wake up and cause such a big commotion."
"Are you very surprised?"
Brainwave smiled, a look of unclear meaning in his eyes, "The ideal I once thought I might never achieve is now before me. My abilities have increased countless times, I don't know what happened, but I think God has given me this responsibility."
"You should thank me."
Eric shrugged, "I killed your son, turning his body to dust, and the abilities your son took from you returned to your body. But you don't need to thank me, I always enjoy helping others."
Eric replied in a calm tone.
Hearing Eric say he killed his son, Brainwave paused.
Eric expected him to be enraged, but to his surprise, the other party smiled instead.
"You're right, I really should thank you. You killed my son, and most of the abilities belonging to his body were absorbed by me, allowing me to wake up."
Brainwave smiled at Eric and said, "Do you know? I killed my wife. I could hear everyone's thoughts, which made me recognize this society too early."
"If I saw the turbidity of this world and didn't try to purify it, I would be forced to not sleep. My son was an indecisive person, I had already heard his thoughts, even if you hadn't acted, I still would have killed him! And absorbed his abilities for myself. So I really must express my gratitude to you."
"Is that so?"
Eric was quite surprised by the other party's thought process, "If I kill you, will you resent me?"
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