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

Chapter 995 Bruce's Deep-seated Criticism
“I’m not going, Reggie. The ship of the new era… has no place to take me anymore.”

He patted Reggie on the shoulder with a heavy thud.

“The remnants of the old era should remain in the ashes of the old era. This place,” he pointed to the burning asylum, “is my sky.”

Reggie froze, a chilling premonition gripping his heart.

"what?"

The Mothman did not answer.

He suddenly spread his arms wide, adopting that clumsy gliding posture that he had practiced countless times in the activity room.

But this time, against the backdrop of towering flames, the action was no longer laughable.

It carries an almost tragic and resolute meaning.

"Fly, Reggie, fly towards your light."

The old man gave him one last look, with endless words of advice and a sense of relief.

Then he turned around abruptly, like a moth drawn to a flame, resolutely and without hesitation rushing into the all-consuming gate of fire.

"Do not!!!"

Reggie's roar was swallowed up by the roar of flames.

He watched helplessly as the gaunt figure was engulfed by the swirling flames and disappeared.

The flames danced before his eyes, scorching his face.

Reggie knelt down, letting out a wild howl, tears streaming down his face.

After a long while, he tremblingly reached into his pocket.

The things the Mothman gave him are still there.

It was a crumpled ticket to Antarctica.

And a Rorschach mask with worn edges, wrapped in oilcloth.

Antarctica.

The cold wind was like a knife, the icy plain was deathly silent, and the Pharaoh's fortress stood alone.

Upon seeing Reggie, the Pharaoh did not resist.

He wasn't even wearing his signature uniform, just a thick white robe.

He looked pale and tired, sitting in a large chair, calmly watching Reggie burst through the door, wearing a Rorschach mask and exuding a murderous aura.

The ink splattered wildly and roared across the mask.

"I knew you were coming."

The Pharaoh's voice was very soft, with a barely perceptible hoarseness.

"For three million people!"

Reggie's voice came through the mask like a chilling wind from hell.

Then he raised his gun.

The Pharaoh did not dodge.

He even leaned forward slightly, facing the muzzle of the gun.

“Shoot me. If this can quell your anger, I am no longer afraid of death. My life is already on a countdown. I have cancer and my days are numbered. If I can release your hatred before I die, then my death will not be meaningless.”

His gaze pierced through the swirling ink on the mask, looking directly into Reggie's eyes.

There was no fear or arrogance in his eyes, only a bottomless, heavy weariness, and an undeniable regret and self-reproach.

Reggie's finger was on the cold trigger, his knuckles white from the force.

Images of his father and mother flashed through his mind, as did the Mothman's relieved look before he plunged into the flames.

Angered magma surged through his veins, threatening to melt him.

The gun barrel trembled violently.

Finally, the taut finger slowly and with great difficulty loosened.

Reggie lowered his gun.

He couldn't do it.

Because the remorse he saw in the Pharaoh's eyes was like a cold thorn, piercing his soul, which was completely consumed by hatred.

That regret made him realize that the butcher in front of him was also a person whose life had been completely destroyed by his own crazy ideals.

The other person already has cancer and doesn't have much time left to live.

For him, death may have been a relief.

He ultimately did not harm the Pharaoh.

The cold wind of Gotham pulled Rorschach back to reality from the mire of his memories.

He leaned against the dirty wall of the alley, his expression hidden by an ink-stained mask, only the slight rise and fall of his chest revealing the turmoil in his heart.

"So, you burned down the mental hospital, went to Antarctica, and didn't kill him."

The Saturn Girl concluded, her tone devoid of emotion.

She had been using telepathy to read his surging torrent of memories.

Rorschach remained silent, which was taken as tacit agreement.

"And now? Continue being Rorschach? Search for the 'traces' left behind by Manhattan?"

"Find it, find Manhattan."

Rorschach's voice was icy. "The Pharaoh's current goal is to save our world. Although I still hate him, I will cooperate with him."

The Saturn girl nodded.

“Your feelings are complicated. Come with me, let’s leave here first and then discuss our next move.”

The two then walked through the Gotham district.

After walking for a while, the two arrived near the slums of Gotham.

Abandoned factories, collapsed overpasses, and the air thick with the stench of garbage and chemicals.

Saturn Girl stopped at the entrance of an abandoned train station. She planned to cross the street to steal some clothes for Rorschach.

The rails were rusted, weeds grew between the sleepers, and most of the roof of the waiting hall had collapsed.

A faint green light emanated from within, along with suppressed groans and harsh curses.

After hearing the cursing, the two exchanged a glance and decided to go and see what was going on.

Deep within the ruins of the waiting hall, beside a pile of burning rubble, several emaciated, vacant-eyed young men were punching and kicking something. "Old man! Let go!"

"Damn it! This broken light is ours!"

"Get out of here, you who's trying to keep warm!"

An old man was surrounded in the middle.

The other person was wearing a dirty hospital gown, with a tattered woolen overcoat haphazardly over it, and his sparse white hair was covered with dirt and withered grass.

He curled up, clutching something tightly in his arms.

It was a lantern with an extremely simple and ancient design, seemingly made of some kind of dark metal.

The lampshade was frosted, and at that moment it emitted a faint green light from within, illuminating the old man's face, which was covered with bruises and bloodstains.

He was unusually thin, his bones clearly visible beneath his tattered clothes, but his cloudy eyes burned with an almost insane obsession and pain.

“Alan…Alan’s lamp…”

The old man muttered hoarsely, enduring the blows of fists and shoe soles, only clutching the lamp tighter, "Found it...found it...return it to Alan...the Justice Society...we need to assemble...!"

"You old madman, what nonsense are you spouting? These are our lamps for keeping warm. Who told you to take them? Give them back!"

A poisonous insect kicked the old man hard in the waist.

This lantern was discovered here by several poisonous insects, who had been using it for warmth.

Unexpectedly, an old man came in the middle of the night, suddenly hugged the lantern, and said it belonged to his friend.

The enraged insects had no regard for the elderly and began punching and kicking him.

Upon seeing this, Rorschach immediately sprang into action.

Without a word, he cut into the crowd like an ink stain blending into the shadows.

Rorschach's movements were so fast they left only afterimages, ruthless and precise.

The cracking sounds of dislocated joints and muffled groans of pain followed one after another.

A few seconds later, several poisonous insects had fallen to the ground, clutching their twisted arms or legs and howling in pain.

The Saturn Girl knelt down beside the old man, her fingertips glowing faintly as she gently brushed across the wound on his forehead, causing the bruise to fade visibly.

“It’s alright,” her voice carried a strange, comforting quality. “You’re safe now.”

The old man was still in shock, his cloudy eyes staring blankly at the two people who had suddenly appeared, before finally settling on Luo Xia, or rather, on the mask on his face with its ever-changing ink stains.

He took a deep breath, as if he had remembered something extremely important, and struggled to sit up, handing the green light in his arms forward.

"You...you are the new...new heroes?"

His voice trembled, filled with hope, “Tell Alan…tell Alan Scott…Johnny…Johnny has found his lamp! Thunderbolt Johnny…hasn’t forgotten! Never forgotten! The Justice Society…is waiting for him to light that lamp!”

He spoke urgently, his eyes glistening with tears, as if he were seeing a non-existent comrade-in-arms.

Luo Xia looked down at the ancient lantern in the old man's arms, which emitted a strange green light, and felt a slight stirring in his heart.

On the ink-stained mask, chaotic black and white slowly flowed.

Looking at the old man, he suddenly thought of his mentor, Mothman.

Their eyes were the same, both filled with unforgiving recollections of past pain.

He took a deep breath, reached out, and lightly touched the cold metal lamp body with his fingertips.

A faint yet resilient energy rippled through my fingertips.

What kind of lamp is this?

Rorschach's voice carried a hint of confusion.

The energy of this lamp... is unlike anything he has ever known.

It is faint, yet it is like a heart that beats tenaciously in the dead silence of the deep sky.

Saturn Girl's gaze also turned serious as she stared at the green light.

“A very ancient energy source, not belonging to this era.”

She looked at the old man. "You mean the Justice Association?"

“Yes! Yes!” The old man, or rather, Johnny Thunder, nodded vigorously, his face glowing with a sickly light. “Green Lantern! Starman! Doctor Fate! And my Thunder Spirit! We’re in this together! Best friends! Alan said, as long as the light is there, there is hope! He’s been waiting for me…”

His voice trailed off, then he fell into incoherent babbling, “My elf…where is my elf? It was supposed to fight for me…my elf is gone.”

Rorschach and the Saturn Girl exchanged a glance and saw the shock in each other's eyes.

"Can you read his mind?"

Rorschach asked the Saturn girl, "What happened to him?"

"He escaped from the nursing home. I can access his memories. His name is Johnny. I can see his memories. In his memories, there is a Thunder Spirit that controls the Fifth Dimension, a friend named Alan Scott, and the Justice Society."

"But in reality, there is no Justice Society, his friend Alan Scott died long ago, and he did not obtain the elf, so he told everyone he was looking for his friend Alan's magic lantern, and everyone thought he was crazy."

The Saturn girl explained the old man's situation.

"So, his memories have been altered?"

Luo Xia asked in confusion.

"No, I don't know. Perhaps the memories of the people in this world have been altered, and only this old man still retains some memories of the past that he can't forget. Who knows?"

The Saturn girl looked at the green light that the old man was holding tightly with a complicated expression.

at the same time.

Wayne Manor.

Alfred is reporting Rorschach's situation to Bruce.

The doctor who spoke with Luo Xia earlier was actually Afu in disguise.

Bruce was testing Rorschach, neither completely believing nor completely denying what he said.

"but."

Bruce frowned and said to Alfred, "Rorschach only recounted part of his life story. That's not enough for us. We still know too little. Besides, he was rescued by unknown people, which makes things even more complicated."

"Perhaps I can provide you with some information, Bruce."

A voice sounded behind Bruce.

"godfather!"

Bruce turned around in surprise and saw Peter standing behind him, smiling and watching him.

Good evening, Bruce.

(End of this chapter)