American comics: Damn it, I’m surrounded by those who worry about their fathers!.

Chapter 1112 Lyra and the New Father's Sorrow

The darkness of the surrounding space receded like the tide, replaced by an eerie atmosphere of tranquility.

Bruce and Clark were led by Peter into some unknown space.

When the two regained their senses, they found themselves standing in an incredibly vast and magnificent space.

The two felt as if they were in a boundless library.

The dome stretched high and far, enveloped in a soft halo of light.

Looking out, there are countless bookshelves suspended in the air, arranged and stacked in a geometric structure, stretching all the way to the end of the field of vision.

The bookshelves were densely packed with countless books of various materials—there were ancient parchment scrolls, loose-leaf books that shimmered with metallic luster, and books that seemed to be phantoms made of light and shadow.

The air was filled with the smell of old paper and the scent of the "story" itself.

"Godfather, where...where am I?"

Clark murmured, his super senses seemingly rendered useless here, leaving him only able to passively receive the onslaught of this vast ocean of information.

Although the feeling of weakness in his body still lingered, the suffocating sense of darkness that was encroaching on him had been greatly reduced.

Bruce didn't speak; his eyes, usually so accustomed to the shadows, were now filled with shock.

He wanted to analyze the runes circulating in the book that did not belong to any known language, but found that his logical thinking seemed to be somewhat limited here.

"This is the Lucien Library."

Peter's voice rang out from the side.

He stood beside the two of them, still as composed as before, as if he were simply showing them around his study in the backyard.

"Lucien Library?"

Bruce repeated the name he was hearing for the first time, his brow furrowing slightly.

"It once belonged to the Sandman, the King of Dreams, a member of the Infinite Family."

Peter explained to the two of them, his gaze sweeping over the endless library.

"What is stored here is not ordinary knowledge, but all the stories that should never be told in eternity. They originate from the deepest fears, the darkest nightmares, and the most unbearable possibilities in the hearts of countless beings in the multiverse."

Peter spoke as he brushed past the books that floated by.

The books he touched trembled slightly, emitting faint sobs.

"Originally, these stories were carefully sealed here, serving as an indispensable shadow aspect of dreams, maintaining the balance of reality..."

Peter's tone turned serious. "But the rise of Barbatos and the encroachment of the Dark Multiverse have disrupted the realm of dreams, and these nightmares that should have been imprisoned have begun to disappear."

Peter pointed into the distance as he spoke, and Bruce and Clark looked in that direction, only to find that in certain areas of the bookshelf, black, burn-like marks were spreading, and some books were silently burning.

"The real world is corrupted by the power of Barbatos, where people's dreams and fears burn and are destroyed."

Clark swallowed hard and asked Peter what he had been through and why he had suddenly brought them to the Lucien Library.

Peter coughed and briefly mentioned that after parting ways with the Fathers, he first went to the Injustice universe to bring his daughter Lyra, born in his dream, back to reality.

He then began searching for a way to enter the Dark Multiverse and find Bruce.

For this reason, Peter visited the Death Sister of the Endless Family.

Although the second sister said she couldn't directly interfere in the incident, she still offered Peter help.

Peter's older sister not only helped him enter the Dark Multiverse, but also opened the Lucien Library, which her brother Sandman once owned, telling him that the answers he was looking for might be there.

After a search, Peter finally located Bruce and Clark's faint life signals and arrived in time.

However, looking at Clark and Bruce's aged and frail appearance, Peter sighed slightly.

He thought he could arrive in time, but he was still a step too late.

Moreover, despite Horus's attempts to dissuade him, Clark insisted on going there anyway.

Looks like this kid still needs to be taught a lesson.

Bruce seemed to have regained some of his composure from the shock, and he looked at Peter and asked, "Godfather, this library... can it tell us how to defeat Barbatos?"

Peter did not answer directly, but instead gently raised his hand, from which shimmering grains of dreamlike sand flowed between his fingers.

The sand grains danced and intertwined in the air, instantly enveloping the three of them in a starry sky.

"To understand how to defeat him, Clark, Bruce, you must first understand where the Dark Night comes from."

Peter's voice echoed through the starry sky.

"In the beginning, the universe was boundless, without stars or matter, only the most basic energy fluctuations. Then, specks of starlight were born, they collided and merged, creating matter and antimatter, and the prototype of the universe began to appear."

"And that followed."

Peter continued his narration, describing how two enormous, majestic figures appeared in the starry sky.

"They are a pair of brothers who monitor everything—the monitor and the anti-monitor. They represent order and chaos, good and evil, and together they maintain the balance of the multiverse."

The illusionary scene shifted, focusing on the feet of the two brothers, extending into the deepest part of the endless void.

"But what no one knows is that in the forge that forges all worlds, there is a third party."

Bruce and Clark saw that beneath the giants of light and darkness was an enormous cauldron boiling and churning with countless primordial energies—a manifestation of the Dark Multiverse.

"Over countless years, this nameless 'forger' used the power of the furnace to forge countless universes."

“Those stable, orderly, and hopeful universes were able to ascend to the orbit of the higher realms and become part of the luminous multiverse.”

In the starry sky, bright bubbles rise from the furnace and merge into the dazzling sea of ​​stars.

"And those universes that were distorted, unbalanced, and filled with failure and despair during the forging process..."

Peter's tone turned somber.

In the starry sky, more morbidly dark and distorted cosmic bubbles were intercepted halfway up by a giant dragon emerging from the depths of a furnace.

"Those failed universes... were thrown back into the furnace by the dragon he raised, returning to their origin, to await the next forging. This dragon responsible for destroying the failed universes was—Barbatos."

In the image, the dragon's image becomes increasingly clear.

A giant dragon lies coiled at the bottom of the furnace, beginning to melt down the failed universe.

"However, the endless years brought about a change. Barbatos turned against his silent master. The 'Forger' may have been devoured or fallen into silence. Barbatos forcibly preserved these failed universes that should have been destroyed, suspending them in the furnace, thus forming the Dark Multiverse we know today."

"He feeds on the despair of these universes and longs to drag the luminous multiverse into this eternal furnace as well."

The starry sky shows that the furnace fire, which should have been burning brightly and purifying everything, is becoming increasingly dim because it has lost the control of the forger and Barbatos's rebellion.

Peter's voice was more serious than ever before, "If there is still hope, if we still want to turn this around..."

He pointed to the very bottom of the star-studded furnace, where, amidst the churning darkness and despair, a faint, pure light seemed to be stubbornly flickering.

"...At the bottom of the furnace, there exists the legendary—the tenth metal."

Peter recounted the information he had found in the library.

After entering the Dark Multiverse, Peter spent his time searching for Bruce's whereabouts and browsing these books to gain knowledge about the multiverse.

So now he knows about the tenth metal.

"The tenth metal?"

Clark looked up, a flash of realization in his eyes. "Is this the N metal that Horus and the others are looking for?"

Peter shook his head: "No, N metal is just a ninth metal with a purity close to that of the others. The ancient gods on Earth used an eighth metal of a lower grade."

“The Tenth Metal, it is the foundation of the furnace itself, a fragment of the source, representing infinite possibilities, pure vitality and ultimate hope. This is why the Dark Knights fear it so much—they, these failed creations that should have been thrown into the furnace and burned to ashes, will have nowhere to hide in the face of the Tenth Metal.” He paused, looking at the two of them with a serious expression.

“Clark, Bruce, if the Furnace Fire is completely extinguished, and Barbatos takes complete control of the Dark Multiverse and devours the Light, then the Dark Night will be irreversible.”

Listening to Peter's words, a heavy responsibility weighed on Bruce and Clark's hearts.

What the two are facing is not just a few powerful Dark Batmen, but an ancient and terrible catastrophe that concerns the very foundation of the entire multiverse.

Peter removed the starry sky environment, and the sands of dreams returned to his palm.

He looked at the two of them with a solemn expression: "Now we know our goal—to find the tenth metal and rekindle the fire of the furnace. To reach the furnace's gates, we must venture into the deepest and most dangerous part of the dark multiverse."

He raised his hand and, using the power granted to him by the Second Sister of Death, slowly tore open a portal leading to deeper darkness.

On the other side of the door, a gravitational pull that seemed capable of devouring souls emanated.

"Let's head together to the furnace gates."

Peter patted his two godsons on the shoulders, “But there’s one thing you must remember, and always keep in mind—”

He looked at Bruce, then at Clark, and said, "We must have hope."

“Once your hearts are filled with despair and indifference, and you lose faith in the possibilities of the future, then we will be lost forever in the dark multiverse.”

After listening to Peter's words, Clark nodded almost without hesitation.

He took a deep breath. Although he was still weak, the belief and love for life that belonged to the small-town boy in his eyes had never truly been extinguished.

“I’m fine, Godfather. No matter what I see, I believe there is always hope.”

Peter wasn't too worried about Clark, after all, the kid had always been the embodiment of hope.

He was worried about someone else.

As Peter pondered this, he cast a worried glance at Bruce.

The prolonged torment and Barbatos's relentless amplification and exploitation of Bruce's inner fears have left his already dark soul riddled with deep cracks.

Bruce lowered his head, his body trembling slightly, his voice hoarse and filled with pain: "No, Godfather, I may not be able to do it."

He said bitterly, "My life, Batman's life, has always been a cycle of mistakes and failures."

"My parents died, and I chose fear and revenge; I protected Gotham, but it brought more madness and destruction; I was fully prepared, but it created countless troubles; even my existence became the key to Barbatos's arrival... All the truths and answers I sought ultimately pointed to a deeper darkness. I... Godfather, I'm sorry, I have lost the courage to continue the pursuit."

The prolonged torment here nearly destroyed Bruce's faith.

All he saw was the tragedy he, as Batman, had failed to prevent, and the fate he, as Bruce Wayne, could not escape.

"No, you are not, Bruce."

Clark grabbed Bruce's shoulder and forced him to look at him.

“That’s not you. That’s Barbatos’s trick. He’s amplifying your pain and twisting your memories. Look around you. Think about the people who have been saved because of you. Think about the people in Gotham who hold on to hope because of you.”

Clark's gaze was intense and sincere: "In this world, there must still be something that fills you with anticipation, something that makes you feel that it's all worthwhile."

Bruce was slightly moved by Clark's words.

He looked up and met Clark's determined eyes.

After glancing at Clark, his gaze involuntarily shifted to his godfather, who stood quietly to the side, watching him intently.

Peter didn't speak, but simply gazed at him calmly, his deep eyes seeming to say: I'm here, I've always been here.

Clark is right.

A voice resonated in Bruce's heart, growing clearer and clearer.

Peter's voice came at just the right moment, "Clark is right, Bruce, there must still be something in this world that will fill you with anticipation."

Hearing Peter's words, Bruce nodded subconsciously.

Yes, there are still many people in this world worth waiting for.

Alfred, along with Dick and Selena (Catwoman), and their close friends Clark and Diana, fight side by side.

Most importantly, there is the godfather in front of me, who is both a father and a teacher, whose trust and protection have never wavered.

What he protected was not just the nights in Gotham, but also these connections, these precious things that made him "Bruce Wayne".

The confusion and pain in Bruce's eyes, like mist exposed to sunlight, began to dissipate rapidly.

The indomitable spirit that belonged to Batman was rekindled in his eyes, and was purer than ever before.

He took a deep breath and straightened up. Although he was still weak, the heavy burden that had been crushing him seemed to have been lifted.

Bruce looked at Peter, then at Clark, and finally fixed his gaze on the portal leading to the unknown and the danger.

Although her voice was still hoarse, it was now full of renewed strength.

“I am ready, Godfather, Clark.”

Peter smiled as he watched Bruce, now energized, walk toward the portal.

Peter took two steps forward, then suddenly stopped and looked down at his watch.

The clock is almost at its end; the next father is about to arrive.

But now that he's no longer on the farm, he can only hope that Lyra can protect the new Father of Sorrow.

After he and Leila parted ways, he specifically told her about this.

DC Main Universe.

The Speed ​​Force lightning bolt sped forward like a shooting star.

The Flash, Barry Allen, caught up with Lyra's speed, and the two sped off toward Patrick Farm.

The surrounding scenery was bizarre and surreal, sometimes flashing past city ruins corrupted by dark energy, and sometimes seeming to traverse the chaotic dimensional gaps.

While maintaining his speed field, Barry couldn't resist his curiosity and turned to look at his new companion, whose speed was in no way inferior to his own.

“Miss Lyra, I still don’t quite understand why we’re going to the farm now instead of meeting up with Horus or Diana? I thought we should concentrate all our forces and give those Dark Batmen a good beating or something.”

Leila gazed calmly ahead. Instead of answering Barry's question directly, she asked him softly, "Barry, how much do you know about my father's children... I mean, those fathers who grieve?"

"The father is worried?"

Barry paused for a moment, then realized, "Oh, you mean Azu and Loki? To be honest, I don't know them that well. They're usually quite low-key and mainly operate in Metropolis, but each of them is, well, extraordinary."

His tone lightened: "And they have saved the world countless times."

Leila asked curiously, "What exactly are they?"

She wanted to know more about her father, since the two had always lived in different worlds.

Barry paused, "For example, in the previous 'Flashpoint event,' if it weren't for Mr. Peter's intervention, the whole world would probably be in chaos."

"And when the world was taken over by vampire superheroes and supervillains, it was Mr. Peter and his team who resolved the situation."

Barry, his throat dry from talking, looked at Lyra and asked curiously, "Alright, it's your turn to satisfy my curiosity. As a new member, Miss Lyra, what special abilities do you have? Besides running incredibly fast, can you also summon beautiful dreams?"

Leila listened to Barry's question and smiled slightly.

She didn't answer the question about her abilities, but said softly, "I can answer my question later. Didn't you want to know what we were going to do? Actually, before my father left, he gave me a task. We have to go to the farm."

Her gaze was fixed on the distance, as if she could already see that land standing tall in the storm.

“A new family member is coming soon, and we must make sure he…or she is safe before my father returns.”

(End of this chapter)