The days of being a spiritual mentor in Meiman.

Chapter 4429 Dark Prelude (XIV)

After leaving the base, Victor soared into the sky. He flew directly towards his mother's grave. On the way, he recalled his conversation with Bruce.

At that time, they had already discovered that their mother's grave had been disturbed; the soil was unusually damp. But by then, he had already identified his father as the suspect. He was convinced that his father had dug up his mother's grave and taken her body.

But what if the order were reversed? What if his mother came back to life, dug up the grave herself, and was then taken away by his father?
Soon, Victor arrived at the cemetery. He reopened his mother's grave. Last time, he had only glanced at it, not looking closely, his mind filled with incomprehension and anger at his father's actions. He was blinded by emotion, failing to realize that the truth might be completely opposite to what he imagined.

This time, he completely dug up the grave and even took out the coffin. He carefully examined every part of the coffin and then discovered that there were scratches and pushing marks on the bottom of the coffin lid, also known as the coffin board.

It's fortunate that Western coffins aren't nailed together; after the viewing of the deceased's face, the lid is simply closed and the coffin is placed in the cemetery. Although some may have latches or similar mechanisms, they're actually quite easy to open. After all, this is just a ceremonial object, not a device to prevent resurrection, so there's no need to make it so perfectly sealed.

Moreover, burials in such cemeteries are usually shallow. This is because people believe that burying someone too deep would obstruct their path to heaven. Therefore, in many movies, you can see that the pit dug is only slightly deeper than the height of the coffin. When filling it with soil, about one shovelful per person is sufficient.

Therefore, the creature inside the coffin must have first pried open the latch on the left side of the coffin, then kept pushing the coffin lid to create a crack, and finally lifted the coffin open.

So here's the question: if his mother crawled out on her own, then why did she end up in the culture tank at his father's experimental base?

The other people's resurrected relatives all went straight back to their hometowns, sitting upright at home waiting for their families to return. Surely it's not like only his mother ran out of power after coming out, and then happened to be picked up by his father?

This was clearly suspicious. Victor couldn't figure it out either, so he decided to ask his father directly. He flew to Florida and arrived at the gates of the Red Room experimental base.

Dr. Stone seemed surprised to see him approach. Victor slammed his fist on the table in anger and exclaimed, "What's going on? What have you been hiding from me?!"

"What are you talking about, Victor?"

"Stop pretending. The Justice League guys all told me that these people who came back from the dead are no different from normal people. There's no such thing as them lacking energy. Besides, my mother clearly climbed out of the coffin herself, which proves she can move freely. Why did you put her here?!"

Dr. Stone paused, then sighed deeply and said, "I knew I couldn't hide it from you. Victor, I didn't lie to you. I really do want to resurrect your mother. But not through anyone else."

Victor squinted at him. Dr. Stone said, "I was indeed the first to discover your mother's resurrection. But not by phone; it was from the security cameras in the old house that captured her image."

“For so many years, I’ve been under military control. I know they might do something desperate. So every time I go home, I maintain the security system and repair the cameras to make sure I can see everything that’s happening in the house and prevent them from killing you.”

“But I didn’t expect them to be so depraved as to exploit a car accident. However, the security system still played a crucial role. It alerted me the moment your mother returned home that the house had been broken into. When I saw your mother, I realized something was wrong.”

“Although I don’t know who it was, I know very well that the figure standing in the house that looked exactly like your mother was definitely not Eleanor. No one knows better than me the price that must be paid for resurrection.”

“Even you, Victor, did not successfully resurrect. My son died long ago. What is alive now is the Mother Box containing Victor Stone’s consciousness. I resurrected you not entirely to soothe my feelings. It’s just that I realized the military was getting out of control, and I needed someone to put them to rest.”

Dr. Stone walked to the lab table and said, "This imposter who suddenly appeared in the old house, although not the real Eleanor, still aroused my curiosity with her flawless appearance, demeanor, and seemingly perfect memories and habits."

“While a perfect resurrection is impossible, this sample is even closer to perfection than you could imagine. So, I subdued her with a stun gun and brought her here. I need to figure out how the person behind this did it.”

Viktor was stunned; he had never seen his father so cold-blooded. Perhaps the long-term oppression and control by the military had driven him mad, or perhaps he was always insane. But this mad scientist's disregard for ethics and morality truly shocked Viktor.

“How…how could you do this?” Victor asked. “This is disrespectful to her, it’s blasphemy!”

Dr. Stone's gaze finally turned cold. He stood behind the experimental table, staring at Victor, and said, "The one who destroyed the coffin I prepared for Eleanor, the one who let someone exactly like her crawl out of the grave and shamelessly invade the place where we used to live, the one who wanted to use a mother's love to deal with her son—his actions are the real blasphemy."

Victor was speechless.

He looked again at his mother in the culture jar. It was the face he had longed for day and night, looking so close, yet so far away.

Victor was unwilling to admit that this wasn't his mother. But he had no proof. Although he could access the console view, he hadn't used that view when his mother was alive, and he didn't know what his real mother's source code was, so he couldn't distinguish between the real and the fake.

Furthermore, Victor himself didn't quite understand much of the data from this perspective. It wasn't something an emotional being like him should be seeing, so he couldn't analyze the flaws in this resurrected imposter.

Yes, Victor had already accepted in his heart that the person who crawled out of the coffin wasn't his mother. He just couldn't accept the disparity. To lose and then regain, to gain and then lose again—the feelings were indescribable.

Victor slumped into a nearby chair, utterly exhausted, and stared silently at the incubation tank. After a long while, he came to his senses and looked at Dr. Stone, saying, "You said you want to truly resurrect her?"

Dr. Stone nodded and said, "That's the ultimate goal, although I think it's unlikely to be achieved. But even the slightest progress would be a huge step forward in exploring the rules of the universe. Besides, the Justice League will come after me sooner or later and make me find out who resurrected them."

Victor didn't deny this. His father's scientific research skills were extremely high. Let's put it this way: the military wasn't unaware that killing Victor and his mother could provoke a strong backlash, but even at that risk, they wanted to control Dr. Stone because no one else could do it.

Regardless of the extent of his research on the Mother Box, the very fact that he can research it means he has at least reached the level of observing truth. Aside from Batman, he is probably the only person with the potential to figure out the principles behind this conspiracy. The Justice League will definitely need his help.

Dr. Stone's willpower is astonishing, given that he can use experimental subjects identical to his deceased wife for research. If he were to recite the Green Lantern Oath just now, he might very well be a Green Lantern himself.

But this wasn't the first time. After all, he had resurrected Victor before. At that time, he was also alone facing his son's corpse.

Victor sighed deeply. He knew all too well how unpleasant this feeling was, so how could he possibly be too harsh on his father?

Ultimately, helping the Justice League is helping the universe. What he's doing now is equally noble. And I, a member who hasn't made any significant contributions since joining the Justice League, have no right to criticize him.

“I understand,” Victor simply said. “If you have any new developments, be sure to let me know as soon as possible.”

“Victor,” Dr. Stone called to him again, and then said, “Although your body is now made of the Mother Box, you must remember that you are Victor Stone. Take control of it, don’t let it control you.”

Victor stood in the darkness before the door and nodded to Dr. Stone. He had long realized that the Mother Box possessed its own consciousness—not intelligence, but awareness, and even some memories. The power of the universe's origin was so immense that once lost, it would be utterly annihilated. He had to be extra careful.

Just as Victor stepped out the door, a scene flashed before his eyes. In the flickering firelight, he was laid on the ground. A man lay beside him, and the figure slowly approaching them looked remarkably like Wonder Woman, Diana.

Victor suddenly woke up. He realized something was wrong.

When Barry and Ron arrived in the Amazon, they found the atmosphere unusual. The entire country was under martial law, making it impossible to enter through normal channels. But given the urgency, Barry had no choice but to lead Ron in and force their way into the Queen's palace.

As the two figures appeared in the palace, the guards shouted and surrounded them. The Queen was startled and turned to look at them. Upon discovering they were members of the Justice League, she didn't relax; instead, she became even more tense.

"What are you doing here?! You despicable thieves!"

"What?" Rong En asked.

"You were the ones who instigated Diana to steal the Mother Box. Wasn't that right?!"

"what?!"

Barry and Ron exchanged bewildered glances. The Queen stared at them with a deep frown, seemingly trying to determine if they were acting. Ron quickly spoke up, "Your Majesty, we're here to see Diana. To be honest, we've discovered that the Justice League members' relatives have been resurrected..."

Ron briefly explained to the Queen what had happened. Upon hearing the word "resurrection," the Queen seemed to realize something and suddenly said, "Steve..."

"what?"

“Diana may want to bring Steve back to life,” the Queen said, looking at them. “He was her former lover.”