Chapter 572: 572. The Terrifying Steppenwolf!
"Who are you!?"
Red Robin drew the short staff from his waist with one hand and positioned himself in front of Silas, facing the enormous giant directly.
"My name is Steppenwolf, a herald of Darkseid."
Steppenwolf looked the young man up and down, a flicker of appreciation crossing his expression, but it quickly turned cold again.
"I admit, you're a competent fighter, far better than those before you. But... hand over the Mother Box. I won't say it a third time."
The Mother Box... is that the object Silas is holding?
Tim narrowed his eyes, glancing at Silas behind him, tightly clutching the iron box. He realized the creature's objective.
While Tim didn't yet know what the Mother Box did, its importance was clear—any object worth this much effort and risk to steal must be significant.
"I don't know what you're after, but coming to Earth to steal something? Don't you have any respect for the Justice Society?" Red Robin gritted his teeth and spoke slowly.
"Justice Society?" Steppenwolf frowned.
To be honest, before receiving the signal from the Mother Box and coming to this planet, Steppenwolf knew very little about Earth's power. His only knowledge came from the fact that Darkseid had once been defeated here.
Because of this, Steppenwolf had been very cautious. Initially, he kidnapped the guards from Paradise Island and Atlantis, using Apokoliptian technology to read their minds. He confirmed that both islands had isolated themselves from the outside world.
Only then did he take action, using blitzkrieg tactics to strike at the two races. His goal was simple: seize the Mother Box as quickly as possible, then leave without engaging in unnecessary battles.
Steppenwolf knew that Earth was far more complicated than he had imagined.
Now, hearing the strange young man mention the Justice Society, Steppenwolf's expression confirmed his suspicions.
He snorted coldly and said, "Don't worry, I'll be gone before your so-called Justice Society members arrive."
With that, Steppenwolf lost interest in further conversation. He grabbed the massive axe by his side and began walking toward Red Robin.
The moment Steppenwolf made his move, Red Robin's gaze sharpened. He acted immediately, swinging his short staff violently toward the ground.
The staff flew from his hand, spinning as it struck the ground before bouncing off the nearby wall.
Steppenwolf looked at Red Robin's actions with confusion, unsure of the purpose behind it. By the time he realized what was happening, the staff had ricocheted off the wall and struck the ceiling.
With a loud bang, the automatic sprinkler system in the ceiling was destroyed by the staff, and the sprinkler heads triggered, releasing a massive spray of water that drenched Steppenwolf.
Feeling the damp mist, Steppenwolf suddenly felt insulted. His face darkened, and he shifted his gaze to Red Robin, who now held a strange bat-shaped throwing weapon.
"Your name is Steppenwolf, right? Don't underestimate me."
Red Robin smirked slightly and raised an eyebrow at Steppenwolf. Then, the bat-shaped throwing weapon slammed into the waterlogged floor.
In the next instant, a massive electric current erupted from the throwing weapon, sending intense electricity surging through the water, shocking Steppenwolf. His body crackled with lightning, making a loud crackling sound.
At the same time, two metallic spheres popped out from Red Robin's waist. He stepped on them, and a large cloud of smoke poured out, enveloping half of the hallway.
"Go!"
After completing the move, Red Robin didn't spare Steppenwolf another glance. He grabbed Silas and ran.
Although it was Tim's first time encountering Steppenwolf, he could clearly feel the overwhelming power of the creature. It was definitely beyond his ability to fight.
The last time he felt such oppressive force was from Black Adam, and this kind of terrifying enemy meant that Tim had to contact the Justice Society as soon as possible.
On the other side, Steppenwolf, still feeling the tingling sensation in his body, looked furious. Having been here for so long, he had effortlessly snatched the Mother Box from the hands of both the Amazonian and Atlantean forces.
Both the Amazonians and Atlanteans were far stronger than these weak humans in front of him, yet he never expected to be outwitted by such a frail human.
Though it hadn't caused him any actual harm, it felt like a slap to his face.
In a fit of rage, Steppenwolf crushed the bat-shaped throwing weapon on the ground, which was still generating electricity. He glared at the mist-filled corridor and decided not to hold back anymore. He sprinted forward, charging into the black fog and chasing after Red Robin.
The mist spread wildly, and Steppenwolf's heavy and hurried footsteps grew distant.
Hanging from the ceiling like a bat, Red Robin listened carefully to the sound, slowly letting out a sigh of relief.
The bat-shaped throwing weapon was no ordinary item. It had been modified by Batman using divine lightning. Though it wasn't as powerful as Shazam's or Black Adam's true divine lightning, it was still not something an average person could withstand.
To his surprise, Steppenwolf wasn't affected at all. This only further demonstrated how terrifying the opponent's combat strength was.
"Has he... left?"
At this moment, Silas, who had been suspended by the grappling gun alongside Red Robin, looked at the now quiet hallway and couldn't help but ask softly.
"Probably."
Tim sighed and winced in pain from the injury on his shoulder.
'I should have asked Mr. Wayne to train me more in combat. If I had, I wouldn't have been so badly injured just dealing with a few alien lackeys.'
With that thought in mind, Red Robin turned to Silas. While hooking his leg around a ventilation duct, he reached out to help Silas untangle the grappling hook.
"I'll lower you down now. Take the Mother Box and run. I'll stay behind to buy you some time."
"But..." Silas frowned at Red Robin.
At this moment, even though Silas didn't know Red Robin's true identity, he could tell from his appearance and voice that he was a young man—likely no older than twenty-five.
Silas had a son of his own, and he didn't want a boy who was close in age to his own son to sacrifice his life to save him.
"Don't argue!"
Tim cut him off immediately. He knew what Silas wanted to say, but there was no time for such heartfelt moments.
"Listen, my little tricks won't fool that guy for long. They'll find us soon, and when they do, none of us will make it out. So you have to—"
Tim suddenly stopped mid-sentence. His face went completely stiff.
"What's wrong?" Silas was startled by Tim's sudden change. He looked at Red Robin in confusion, not understanding why his expression had shifted so dramatically.
What he didn't know was that Tim's years of crisis awareness had already begun to alert him. With the warning bells ringing in his mind, Tim didn't have time to think about where the danger was coming from.
After a brief pause, Tim gritted his teeth through the intense pain and instinctively grabbed Silas, quickly spinning in the air to shield Silas with his own body.
The next moment—
The floor above them exploded instantly, as though a massive amount of explosives had detonated. Before either of them could fall to the ground, the repulsive force blasted them both out.
A huge hole was blasted through the entire corridor, and the south building of the Star Labs was reduced to ruins.
Thick smoke rose in the air, and the terrifying explosion destroyed half of the building, with the third-floor corridor split open and exposed under the night sky.
Among the rubble, Silas felt like his body was falling apart, immense pain coursing through him.
He coughed painfully, struggling to get up.
After regaining his focus, Silas felt relieved when he saw the Mother Box still in his arms. Then, suddenly remembering something, he began scanning the area frantically.
The last thing Silas remembered was Red Robin suddenly holding onto him, followed by a huge explosion, and then nothing.
Looking at the now ruined Star Labs, Silas was horrified to realize that the explosion had thrown him from the second floor to the first.
Desperately clutching the Mother Box, he searched the surroundings for any sign of Red Robin. It didn't take long before he saw Red Robin's legs sticking out behind a large steel beam.
Upon seeing this, Silas quickly ran over, carefully avoiding the rubble, and finally saw Red Robin's condition.
At that moment, Tim was lying on his back, gasping for air like a fish stranded on the shore, desperately trying to breathe.
"Red Robin! Red Robin, are you okay?!"
Silas immediately collapsed beside Tim, worry flooding his face as he looked at Red Robin.
"Cough—"
Tim looked at Silas and was about to speak, but was interrupted by a coughing fit. Blood erupted from his mouth like a fountain, spilling onto the ground.
"You're going to be fine... you'll be fine."
Silas had never witnessed anything like this before. Trembling, he tried to help Red Robin up, but he saw that the battle suit on Tim's back had been torn apart by the explosion, revealing his blood-soaked back.
At that moment, from the third floor, Steppenwolf's massive figure appeared at the edge of the ruined building, looking down at the scene below.
"Hmm."
Seeing Silas with no way to escape and the human who had humiliated him now gravely injured, Steppenwolf's face showed a satisfied expression.
"This is the consequence of daring to deceive me."
With that, Steppenwolf grinned, knelt down, and prepared to leap down, eager to claim the last Mother Box, which was so close. Suddenly, a mysterious whistling sound from the sky rang out.
Hearing this sound, Steppenwolf instinctively sensed a change. He stopped and looked up sharply at the sky.
Whoosh—!
From the dark clouds, a sleek, jet-black round aircraft tore through the clouds, cutting across the sky.
Steppenwolf furrowed his brow, looking at the strange aircraft speeding towards them in confusion.
The next second…
The aircraft dove, and countless armor-piercing bullets rained down like a storm!
.....
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