allendalepharm Chapter 246 I'm Not a Bad Person Either
Chapter 246 I'm Not a Bad Person Either
Chapter 246 I'm Not a Bad Person Either
Deep within the lava-filled underground cavities, each kidnapped superhero is trapped in a giant biological cocoon in small groups. These transparent cocoons are woven by prehistoric giant spiders that live in the Earth's core, maintaining both strength and resilience.
Even the immortal hero, who was also imprisoned—a superhero with extremely strong physical strength—could not tear open the cocoon without harming his other companions.
And the mastermind behind all this, "Dr. Earthquake," is frantically explaining his evil plan to everyone:
"Wabi Wabi, Wabi Babu—"
Even though the heroes were furious, they could only endure their high blood pressure and listen to the madman's ramblings in the face of their miserable predicament.
With a deafening roar, Superman and Invincible Young Hero, who had used their brute force to carve through the earth's crust, arrived deep inside, just in time for the perpetrator, Dr. Earthquake, to finish his "righteous sermon."
Don't always be surprised that in every traditional binary hero story, the villain always gives a speech at the last moment after succeeding.
These speeches not only explained the motives and methods of the crime and the causes and consequences, but also gave the protagonists a chance to fight back.
From a psychological perspective, most people have a need to confide in others, especially a mad scientist who is misunderstood and opposed by the whole world; his need may be even stronger.
From a certain perspective, the earthquake expert, who is over fifty years old and has gray hair and beard, is a noble person, a pure person, a moral person, and a person who has transcended vulgar interests.
However, this perspective is not from a human standpoint.
As a member of the Earth's ecosystem, humanity, driven by the evil capitalist machine, has been insatiably greedy, taking far too much from Mother Earth, while giving back only pollution and destruction.
Therefore, Dr. Earthquake's primary goal is to eliminate these superheroes, these human supremacists, these superpowered phasors.
Then, he could achieve his long-held vision:
May human civilization, which only knows how to take and not how to give back, suffer the consequences of its evil deeds and head towards destruction.
On the ruins of the old civilization, a brand new civilization that respects ecology and coexists with nature will be established.
From Joey's perspective, having listened to most of the earthquake doctor's lectures during the process of drilling into the Earth's core, he could only come to one conclusion: this idiot has gone mad.
Even if you dragged Billy, the brainless and dim-witted student from the next class, over here, he would instantly realize just how monstrous Dr. Earthquake's plan was.
The difference between Dr. Earthquake and the extreme environmentalists Joey met in his previous life is that the latter usually make a fuss to extort money from the parties involved, just like the industry Joey himself was in, engaging in "paid silence".
The reason the earthquake expert did this was simply because he was a complete idiot.
Right now, this crazy old scientist is still endlessly repeating empty rhetoric like "overthrow the old order and build a new world." If Joey weren't far enough away, he'd be afraid the other guy would spit on him.
Judging from his expression, Joey had no doubt that he genuinely believed in things like "the Earth gives birth to all things to nourish man, but man has nothing to repay the Earth" and "the Earth is still too urbanized."
Such environmental terrorists can only act as clowns and jokes on social media in their daily lives. However, once they have superpowers, they undoubtedly become real terrorists who are harmful to society.
Mark charged ahead towards Dr. Earthquake, who stood atop the lava waterfall:
"That's enough, nobody wants to listen to your bullshit!"
Dr. Earthquake is considered an old rival of Invincible Young Hero. In the past, Dr. Earthquake would at most do minor things like destroying the Washington Monument or removing the Mount Rushmore statue.
Unexpectedly, the opponent, who has repeatedly failed but never given up, has become so audacious this time that they actually want to trigger an earthquake in the Earth's core and destroy the entire human race!
This is no ordinary minor villain; we must strike hard!
While Mark was busy dealing with Doctor Seismic, Joey turned and flew to the cocoon that held the superheroes. With a slight tug, he tore open the incredibly strong cage from the outside and freed them.
Most of the superheroes were caught off guard by Dr. Earthquake and brought here. When Joey untied one of the cocoons, he saw that one of the unfortunate guys inside was even completely naked.
Lex, the "bomb" captured in the bathroom, stood tall and proud, not bothering to find a place to cover himself, exposing his lower body naked to everyone, as if no one in the world cared about him anymore:
"I don't care at all, laugh all you bastards!"
Fortunately, the superheroes present were all professionally trained and did not take advantage of Lex's social death.
Moreover, something even more important had captured their attention—
"A new Witrumman?"
He wears a red cape with a letter on his chest; the only difference is that his uniform is red and blue, while Omniknight's uniform is red and white.
Just looking at that outfit was enough to give the heroes present, who had experienced that great battle, PTSD.
Dr. Earthquake, who had been held back by the invincible young hero, was so ashamed of what he saw that he could no longer spout his usual nonsense and started rambling incoherently:
"Enough, you bastards, parasites, *&%@, #*%!"
He, who dared to kidnap all the superheroes, was naturally not alone; he also had a powerful backup plan.
He clapped his hands, and a shockwave of a specific frequency emanated from the instrument in his hands, spreading throughout the entire geological structure.
What followed was not the roar of tectonic movement, but a reverberation. Giant prehistoric insects, tens of meters long, that lived in the earth's core emerged from the dense rock layers, surrounding everyone from all sides along with the lava giants in the lava flow.
Although Dr. Earthquake is a madman, he is also a madman with genius-like madness.
He discovered a way to communicate with these subterranean insect populations by releasing pheromone-like vibrations at specific frequencies.
This allows him to command these insects, whose instincts outweigh their consciousness.
With the idea of capturing the leader first, Mark was planning to forcefully break through the numerous obstacles, smash through these giant defenses, and quickly defeat Dr. Earthquake. Little did he know that the exoskeletons of these insects were far stronger than his strength.
"idiot!"
The summoned swarm of giant insects guarded the Earthquake Doctor in the center, who laughed heartily, mocking the invincible young hero's ignorance:
"They live at the Earth's core, do you think they're as fragile as humans?!"
Creatures that can survive in the high temperature and pressure environment of the Earth's core naturally have a physical strength that is not comparable to that of species on the surface. A punch of hundreds of tons hitting the giant insect's exoskeleton would not hurt it at all.
The giant jaws of the creature, which stood upright and were dozens of people tall, swung around and stuffed the completely distracted Mark into its mouth.
Now Joey couldn't just stand by and do nothing.
This is Mark's world, and he naturally has to overcome some difficulties and hardships on his own in order to grow continuously—that's true, but turning into insect droppings doesn't do much good for growth.
Two beams of heat shot from Joey's eyes, piercing through the strongest part of the carapace on the back of the giant snail-centipede that was about to devour Mark.
At this point, several superheroes who had been questioning Joey about whether he was a Witrum alien all spoke up.
This is completely unlike the abilities and style of the Vixingians.
Mark, who was struggling against the pincers and mandibles, suddenly felt the pressure on his body ease. The giant centipede that had been devouring him just moments before suddenly went silent.
When he tentatively applied a little force, he discovered that the giant insect, which had extremely high defense and was something he couldn't do anything about in a short time, had already been divided into four equal pieces. The completely carbonized cut surface was smooth and neat, just like cutting a shrimp with a kitchen knife.
As Mark turned over and looked up, he saw Superman with bloodshot eyes standing in front of Dr. Earthquake, grabbing the latter's collar without warning.
Remembering what Superman had done to Angustron, Mark scrambled to his feet and leaped forward, not forgetting to verbally try to stop Superman:
"Superman!"
Dr. Earthquake is ultimately just an ordinary human being. Superman could probably crush this somewhat insane old man to pieces with a simple sneeze, let alone if he harbored murderous intent.
"What?"
The warm gaze in Joey's eyes faded, and he answered Mark's shouts while still holding the Earthquake Doctor: "What is it now?!"
Dr. Earthquake, being lifted high in the air like a chick, was even more enraged and embarrassed to see that Joey didn't take him seriously at all.
"How dare you ignore me!"
Threatened and with his hands still out of control, Dr. Earthquake secretly used his instrument to emit a specific frequency representing attack and protection, commanding all the giant insects beneath his feet to attack Joey.
But what he couldn't understand was that these giant creatures, which used to obey his commands without question, were now gathering in greater numbers around their location, hovering at their feet and refusing to move forward.
"What's going on now?!" For some unknown reason, the earthquake expert was enraged and increased the power of the seismic waves:
"Get moving, you stupid insects!"
As the signal intensified, the nearby swarms of insects were summoned on a massive scale, and more and more holes appeared in the surrounding rock strata.
All the insect swarms within a hundred miles were converging on the underground cavity, densely filling the entire space from top to bottom, almost crushing the entire cavern.
Even someone who isn't allergic to insects would feel their scalp tingle at the sight. What's more terrifying than a single insect is a swarm of countless insects, and what's even more terrifying than an endless swarm of insects is the scene before us.
Although the endless giant insects have not yet launched an attack, their sheer numbers have already squeezed all the superheroes into a small corner.
As long as Dr. Earthquake gives the order, he will pounce on them and devour these dozens of surface creatures.
For some people present, the crisis of survival was secondary; the worst off was a certain unfortunate soul who was completely naked.
He's practically leeching off his younger brother to other people in his increasingly cramped living space:
"A generous crab treat! I'm going to die!"
If you don't want to suffer social death by sticking close to your teammates, the only option is to move away and suffer biological death by sticking close to those giant insects.
The swarm grew increasingly restless, yet not a single insect dared to follow orders and advance, launching an attack on Joey.
Even Joey himself couldn't understand this.
He's not a scary person, is he?
Seeing that the free henchmen he had summoned were no longer effective, Dr. Earthquake gritted his teeth, risked injury, clapped his hands together, and unleashed a powerful shockwave at Superman in front of him.
"Be careful!"
Having already witnessed Dr. Earthquake's "sneak attack," Mark rushed forward at full speed, but was forced back by the powerful impact after a loud bang.
The shockwave triggered even more violent geological movements, shaking the already riddled underground cavern and causing everyone present to cry out in alarm.
"Stop him, Superman!"
If the cave collapses, the weight pressing down on them will be the weight of the entire Earth. They don't have the physique of the aliens, so they'll probably just have to be buried.
Fortunately, the underground cave found by the earthquake expert was quite sturdy. After a shower of falling rocks and dust, the nearly collapsed cave stabilized again.
When the smoke cleared, Joey was unharmed; the shockwave was nothing more than a gentle breeze to him.
He even had the capacity to expand the coverage of his biofield to protect the unsuspecting Dr. Earthquake as well.
"If you move even one more time, just one more time."
Joey grabbed the other person by the collar, lowered his voice, and patiently persuaded him with a gentle expression:
"I guarantee I can tear you in half right now, starting from the middle of my chest."
Joey dared to say this because he was absolutely certain of his success. His bio-field strength continued to rise, ready to hold up the cave in case it collapsed after fulfilling his promise.
He was quite curious to see if someone like the "earthquake expert" was truly willing to sacrifice his life for his so-called "ideal."
Who exactly are you?
The earthquake expert was ultimately terrified.
It wasn't that they were afraid of Joey's threat; the young man in front of them, who looked even younger than the Invincible Young Hero, didn't seem like someone who could deliver on such a terrifying threat based on his appearance and demeanor.
What truly frightened Dr. Seismograph was the reaction of these underground insectoids.
He studied sociology in college and had some understanding of the social structure of insects through analogy.
Although these insects are enormous, their distributed "brain" structure and extremely rudimentary neurons make it difficult for them to support things like "consciousness" and "emotions" like those of mammals.
Although different individuals still have survival instincts that guide their behavior towards seeking advantage and avoiding harm, this is more like a slightly complex "mechanical reaction" than an emotionally driven one. It is not complex and is easily manipulated.
This is why the swarm of insects can follow its orders without fear of death, even when the command is to fight against the most powerful group of superheroes on Earth and the most dangerous creatures in the universe, the Vitrum aliens.
He had figured out the behavior patterns of these giant insects and disguised himself as the one they needed to protect the most.
Now, even though the signal controlling the swarm was not turned off, the swarm ignored it and retreated along the hole they had come from, not caring about anything.
It was as if, in that brief minute, they had suddenly learned what fear was.
"I surrender!"
"You made a choice that benefits everyone."
Joey sighed inwardly, then tossed Dr. Earthquake from afar to the invincible young hero who was flying in:
"Don't worry, Mark, he's alive and well, you have to believe him—"
I'm not a bad person either.