“There’s a malignant tumour growing on the frontal lobe … That’s a lie you pulled on that young man in the Rorschach mask, isn’t it?”
The chandelier above Luke’s head was constantly shaking due to the air currents caused by the space transmission, illuminating his face half-bright and half-dark.
Because of the unequal power and information between the two sides, Luke firmly grasped the rhythm of the conversation and made Ozymandias fall into a passive position.
“Indeed, I lied to Reggie. He’s a poor child and only sees what he wants to see.”
Adrian had no psychological burden or guilt.
“I created the New York massacre, which killed his parents and sent him to a nursing home for mental disorders, hallucinations and delusions. I am the person he should hate the most.”
Luke picked his eyebrows. He knew the true identity of Rorschach II.
Reggie Long, the son of a psychologist.
His father once gave Rorschach an inkblot test — this was a famous projective personality test, which used abstract images to reflect the subject’s subconscious.
The doctors hoped to cure this ‘criminal’ who had severe violent tendencies by probing into the heart of the other party.
But he failed, not only failed to break Rorschach’s psychological defenses but was crushed by the other party’s beautiful illusions.
“He shouldn’t wear that mask. There may be only one Rorschach in the world, and it’s not realistic to want to be the second one.”
Luke flatly said so.
He knew about Rorschach’s past. His real name was ‘Walter Kovacs’, the son of a prostitute who suffered all kinds of bullying and insults since childhood.
Kovacs didn’t start out as an unswerving thug for justice.
His story began with a kidnapping case when he just became a costumed hero, nicknamed ‘Rorschach’.
As it happened, a 6-year-old girl named Blair Roche went missing, and Rorschach was responsible for tracking her whereabouts.
He had always been the most radical and violent one in the vigilante group.
He never showed mercy to criminals, and even Nite Owl, who formed a team with him, could hardly stand it.
But at the time, Rorschach was still young. The most he could do was break a few bones and send those guys to jail.
That dark night, he broke into the kidnapper’s house after finding some clues. But he didn’t find the girl, only a pile of burnt clothes and bloodstains on a bench.
There were two big dogs in the yard, and they were fighting over a child’s leg bone.
Rorschach could clearly see that there was a red shoe hanging from it.
He guessed what had happened and killed the two dogs in anger. Then he threw the bodies in the culprit’s house and waited for him to return.
Half an hour later, Rorschach used the butcher knife on the bench to cut the bastard’s head into several pieces.
According to the rules of the costumed heroes, he wasn’t allowed to do that. The guy should have been arrested and sent to jail to wait for trial.
This was the proper process.
But Rorschach didn’t do that. The tragedy before him made him understand the world and the dark side of human nature.
Ordinary men deserve punishment, but beasts deserve to die!
Since then, Walter Kovacs had died, leaving Rorschach, who would never compromise or show mercy.
“Rorschach … it’ll be hard to find someone like him in the future.”
Ozymandias was a little saddened. He appreciated people who could stand their own ground.
In the new generation of vigilante groups, Adrian paid more attention to The Comedian and Rorschach.
Nite Owl and Silk Specter were too weak. People like them couldn’t change anything, only drifting with the tide.
“Reggie is a … fragile person. What he wants to see most is that I feel remorse for my mistakes.”
Adrian started to get used to Luke’s all-knowing presence, and the conversation was gradually entering an unusually harmonious atmosphere.
“So, after he found me, I told him I had cancer and showed despair, despondency and regret in front of him.”
“This is far better than being shot by the villain in the story, which is far more painful.”
“Revenge is very much about psychological feedback. If the enemy is easily eliminated, there will be no pleasure.”
“A successful businessman who was once high up in the world, a famous costumed hero, is now being accused by thousands of people, cursed by countless others, and is very sick and dying, living in regret and pain all the time… This is the script that Reggie wants to see.”
“Since he craves such strong emotions, I will satisfy him.”
Luke clapped his hands with a smile on his face.
He had to give it to him. Ozymandias’s acting skills are really superb, and he deserved an Oscar.
‘Not bad for a man who deceived a god!’
People should know it’s not just Rorschach II– Reggie-Long, Marionette and Mime.
Even the government that issued the wanted notice all thought Adrian Veidt was really going to die.
If his Super Vision couldn’t see through Ozymandias’s skull, maybe Luke would be fooled by him.
“Reggie is one of your chess pieces. What about Marionette and Mime?”
Luke bent down and touched the red lynx. He felt a familiar energy. It was Dr Manhattan’s aura.
This pet was very strange.
“They once appeared in Jon’s past, and they can remind him who he really is …”
Ozymandias was sitting at the console an hour and a half before the two countries launched their nuclear bombs.
He needed to start the Nite Owl airship, leave this place and look for Dr Manhattan.
“Then why don’t you bring Silk Specter II, Laurie?”
Luke continued to touch the red lynx named Bubastis, a hybrid creature created by Ozymandias using genetics.
The other party’s original intention was to create an alien race that fitted his plan, but instead, a special ‘pet’ was created.
“No matter when or where seeing an ex-girlfriend is not something to be happy about.”
Adrian shrugged his shoulders, although Dr Manhattan didn’t necessarily care about human feelings, such as cheating, betrayal, cuckolding and so on.
Anyone or anything that might cause variables should be avoided.
“A man driven by his inner moral compulsion to forgive the murderer who caused the death of his parents, and is willing to help him fix his mistakes at the end of his life…”
“A couple of criminals who can remind Dr Manhattan of the past …”
“Good match. So, here comes the question.”
Luke’s mouth curled up at the corners. He looked at Ozymandias and asked, “How are you going to find him?”
“Every living thing has a unique signature field, a ‘quantum fingerprint’ made up of the four fundamental forces of nature.”
Adrian seemed confident.
“Jon’s signature field has disappeared twice. The first time, it was the accident that created Dr Manhattan, and the other time … was caused by me.”
Luke nodded. Ozymandias had previously tried to replicate the experimental accident that occurred by killing Dr Manhattan with the present field generator.
But it turned out that the latter had learned to reorganise his body long ago and didn’t suffer any harm.
“After that failure, I made a more in-depth study of Jon and later found that the surface of his blue body was actually the result of electrons escaping from his body, leaving a traceable trail of those electrons.”
Adrian spoke eloquently and laid out his plans.
“I modified the Nite Owl airship to be strong enough to withstand quantum tunnelling and follow the trails Jon left to find him!”
Luke couldn’t help, but praise smiled and said, “Beautiful plan!”
According to the original plot, Ozymandias successfully found Dr Manhattan but failed to persuade him to return to the Watchmen universe; he continued to play god.
“So, Mr Adrian Veidt, I also have a plan. Do you want to hear it?”
…
…
“You mean, you can stop this war that would destroy humanity?”
Ozymandias suspiciously stared at Luke, who was smiling and humming.
Half of this question was actually a test to get some more information.
Half of it was his real reaction, not believing the other party could do it.
To prevent a nuclear war between two great powers, relying on one man’s efforts?
Luke couldn’t do it unless he had Dr Manhattan’s infinite strength.
Although the other party had shown similar abilities, such as material decomposition and space transmission, it was far from enough.
Adrian was one of the most knowledgeable people in the world about Dr Manhattan, hands down.
He was commissioned by the Pentagon to replicate the energy composition of the blue man scientifically.
Although it didn’t quite work out, he could probably understand how powerful Dr Manhattan was.
That’s a despairing, unbeatable power!
“Do you know, Mr Anonymous, Jon once told me that he could walk on the surface of the sun, travel in space and transform a planet …”
Ozymandias’s words contained a hint of ridicule, deliberately making an expression of contempt, to see if it could arouse the emotions of this unknown person.
But he was disappointed, and the other party was indifferent, without the slightest bit of annoyance.
“Maybe you won’t believe it, Mr Veidt. I happened to have the experience of going deep into the sun’s core. It’s no big deal.”
Luke shrugged his shoulders and chuckled.
Not long ago, he and the Sentry let loose and fought with all their might. They both fell into the core of the sun.
It could also be counted as spending some time inside a sun, not much worse than Dr Manhattan.
“Mr Veidt, we still have one hour and 20 minutes.”
Luke continued to exert pressure and added.
“If you accept the conditions and are willing to cooperate, I can get rid of the upcoming nuclear war within 40 minutes.”
Ozymandias rarely hesitated. He couldn’t tell whether what Luke said was true or not.
“You only need this Nite Owl airship?”
Adrian was very confused. If the other party was trying to leave this universe, then with his strength, he didn’t need to talk to him about it.
“Plus, the traces left by Dr Manhattan, they are ‘coordinates’.”
Luke added.
According to the original story, Ozymandias travelled to the main universe and met Lex Luthor.
It was dubbed ‘the meeting of the two smartest people in the world’.
Then, Batman fell into a trap, and Gotham’s Dark Knight was severely beaten.
But all that was meaningless. Dr Manhattan was interested in the change of the main universe and the existence of Superman.
The blue man was making an unprecedented observation and didn’t pay any attention to Ozymandias’s persuasion.
“I need to go back and settle something with Dr Manhattan.”
Luke made it clear. The reason why he didn’t take it by force.
Because smart people like Ozymandias would know how to choose.
Besides, why do you have to wield your fists when you can make deals?
As the Sorcerer Supreme, bargaining is a basic skill.
It’s not too late to flip the table if talking about it didn’t work out.
Moreover, Luke needed Adrian Veidt, who was the best chess piece against Dr Manhattan.
“Then I want to know, Mr Anonymous, how are you going to stop the war? Russia has a total of 3,530 nuclear bombs; even if only one-third of them are launched, they will be enough to scorch the North American continent.”
Ozymandias expressed his doubts, and he hoped that Luke could give a reasonable answer.
“Not including the Pentagon’s planned nuclear strike, I guess the U.S. will launch at least a thousand nuclear bombs into Russia… This is a confrontation between the East and the West, and there’s nothing mere mortals can do about it.”
If the situation weren’t so bad, Adrian wouldn’t have had the crazy idea of bringing back Dr Manhattan.
The smartest person in the world, facing the final moments of the Doomsday Clock, deeply felt his powerlessness.
“First of all, I will intercept all the nuclear bombs launched by Russia and the United States within 10 minutes.”
Luke used a light tone to talk about a task that would be impossible for a normal person to accomplish.
“Then fly to the Kremlin, or the White House, and spend 15 minutes convincing the Presidents of both countries.”
“Honestly, I am a pacifist. I have persuaded many schemers and ambitious people who want to rule the world and initiate wars. So, the Presidents would definitely be convinced and cast aside their prejudice.”
“Everything will be resolved with satisfaction. Are you satisfied with this answer, Mr Veidt?”
Even a deep and talented person such as Ozymandias couldn’t help but feel shocked by Luke’s ‘perfect’ plan.
His mouth slightly opened as he asked in disbelief, “Is it that simple?”
“It’s as simple as that.”
Luke curled his lips as if it was just a small problem that he could easily solve.
“Intercept the nuclear bomb, and talk to the President of the country … for 40 minutes?”
Adrian was a bit dumbfounded, unable to think straight.
If these words hadn’t come from Luke’s mouth, he would have dismissed them as the ramblings of a madman.
“Believe me, Mr Veidt, I am very experienced in playing the role of the third pole of the tripod that balances out the world.”
Ozymandias didn’t know how to respond to Luke’s assurances.
This man was either an irrational madman or a god who came down to Earth.
“It looks like you still can’t believe it. Your imagination is limited by your poor knowledge.”
Luke looked up to see the time; the round clock hanging inside the secret base was ticking.
The second hand jumped from second to second, and time passed slowly.
“As a gesture of good faith, I don’t mind paying a little upfront.”
Snap!
Luke snapped his fingers, and space around him trembled as he left the secret base in the sewers.
Ozymandias sat, frozen in place, his hands slightly trembling.
Instead of being frightened by Luke’s special ability of instantaneous movement and spatial transmission, there was an uncontrollable excitement inside.
“Maybe, there’s more than one god for mankind …”
Adrian kept his eyes fixed on the round clock hanging on the wall, and his body remained motionless as if he was expecting something.
10 minutes later.
Luke returned to the secret base.
“Done.”
The young man looked like he had gone to a fancy restaurant and had a big meal.
Ozymandias, who was sitting across from him, twitched his nose and caught a faint whiff of tobacco smoke.
“You intercepted all the nuclear bombs of the United States and Russia? How did you do that?!”
Adrian stood up and quickly turned on the monitor array with external TVs and radios.
All kinds of information poured into his ears. As Luke said, the bombs disappeared before they even left the country.
Even the explosion, the glare, the aftermath, didn’t appear.
“It’s just an appetiser.”
The corners of Luke’s lips hooked up as if he had just done a trivial, insignificant thing.
“Now, let’s get back to the negotiations.”
