American Comics: Multiverse of Madness

337. ‘The Sleeper’ Lex Luthor.

Who knows why Martian Manhunter's powerful telepathy didn't pick up on this at the time?

Maybe it was because they were the ones being ambushed. When they stormed Apokolips, Paradooms flooded the place to an overwhelming degree, and even Martian Manhunter's telepathy couldn't handle that many enemies.

For example, Alex had initially intended to directly control these Paradooms to use them against their own forces. However, as he attempted to do so, he realized his telepathic ability couldn't manage to control over a dozen Paradooms.

So Alex had to settle for something simpler—just making sure they wouldn't detect the presence of him and his allies.

"Didn't expect there was a way to do that." Lois let out a relieved laugh, then quickly said, "Alright, let's move inside while we can."

"No."

Alex looked at Lois, mildly exasperated.

"Now we should finish off all these Paradooms."

Initially, he'd thought the Justice League's heroes holding back was just a bad habit, but seeing even Lois hesitate to fully eliminate the threat confirmed it wasn't just that—it was a dangerous flaw.

"Well said!"

Jason nodded vigorously, Alex's words resonating with him completely.

Jason felt a rare kinship with Alex; it had been a long time since he'd met someone so on the same wavelength. If only Alex had grown up in Gotham—they would've been best friends!

A green flash of the Kryptonite blade sliced through the air, and two Paradooms' massive heads rolled to the ground. Their fearsome faces remained frozen in a neutral expression, as if they hadn't even realized they'd died.

Seeing this, the others charged forward as well, swiftly taking down the Paradooms guarding the door.

Luckily, they had a fair amount of Kryptonite on hand; otherwise, even with these parademons standing still, breaking their defenses would've taken considerable effort.

"Are there any more ambushes around?"

After finishing off the last one, Dick scanned the area, maintaining a vigilant stance.

"I don't hear any other Paradooms on this floor."

As the team's other sensory-focused fighter besides Alex, Superman had been keeping a close ear on their surroundings, prepared to alert them if any enemies approached or attempted an ambush.

With battles raging throughout LexCorp Tower and the surrounding area, Clark had to limit his focus to this floor to avoid being overwhelmed by the cacophony of combat.

Listening carefully, Clark seemed to detect something and said with a serious frown, "However… there's something behind that door. My vision can't see through it, so I'd say this is definitely our target."

"Yes, based on the Sleeper's signal, the activation device for the Boom Tube is in there," Lois added.

At her words, everyone's gaze shifted to the massive steel door. Although Damian still believed this mission was a doomed joke—and even suspected the Sleeper might be a trap set by their enemies—there was no turning back now.

As they braced themselves, the indicator light above the door turned from red to green, and the door slowly began to open under their watchful eyes. Then, the sound of applause echoed from within.

In the dim light, a short figure appeared as the doors opened.

"You actually broke free from the liquid Kryptonite. I must say, that's quite a surprise..."

Hearing the mocking, familiar voice, Clark narrowed his eyes slightly as the bald man's image became clearer.

"Luthor. Of course, it's you."

"Naturally," Luthor replied, laughing with an easygoing shrug as though he held no fear of the people before him. "And you all… I don't think you received permission to be here."

"You talk too much."

Jason's intense burst of power showed itself then and there. In the blink of an eye, he lunged at Luthor, his left hand clutching Luthor's throat and slamming him hard against the wall, while his right hand raised the Kryptonite blade, the tip pointed directly at Luthor's forehead.

"Hey! How about waiting a moment?" Luthor felt his breath catch. He could tell that this guy didn't have the slightest intention of sparing him—he wanted him dead. Dropping all pretense, Luthor quickly spoke up.

"I'm not interested in your last words, Luthor," Jason said, glaring at Luthor with a killing intent in his eyes.

He knew that, despite joining the Justice League as an honorary member, Luthor's history as a supervillain remained undeniable.

Lex Luthor had long been an arch-nemesis of the Justice League, repeatedly outsmarting even Superman, let alone the younger generation of heroes. Just as the Joker was Gotham's legend, Lex Luthor was Metropolis's infamous figure. So, despite Luthor's supposed change of heart, many heroes still viewed him with deep distrust.

And, to top it off, Luthor had led the way in surrendering to Apokolips when everyone else was fighting back. Killing him would honor all those heroes who sacrificed themselves.

"You don't understand! When Earth was falling, I had to make a choice," Luthor said, frowning. "When all of you were losing ground, someone had to step up and preserve our resources."

Jason's gaze turned strange at that.

"You're saying you're 'that person'?"

"Of course, it's me."

Luthor swatted Jason's hand off his throat and adjusted his tie calmly.

"Ever since that day, I've been secretly communicating with Lois, sharing critical information with her. Otherwise, where do you think those Kryptonite weapons and supplies have been coming from?"

Lois froze at his words, first glancing at Clark and then looking back at Lex Luthor in shock.

"You… you're the Sleeper?"

"Who else?" Luthor raised his eyebrows, speaking in a deep tone. "Who else but me could have given you poor rebels so much vital information?"

"Oh, don't try to spin it into some noble cause. You're just a treacherous opportunist," Damian retorted, frowning. "What's to stop you from selling us all out to Darkseid again?"

"Because you need me. And…"

Luthor gestured to the massive door behind him.

"The Boom Tube requires a skilled operator to engage it. Without me, you have no chance of succeeding. Time is running out. We need to begin the plan before Batman notices, or we're all finished."

.....

📢30 advanced chapters on p@treaon📢
For advance chapters: /Uchiha_Itachi007 (replace @ with a)
338. Time Is of the Essence.
339. The Coming of Galactus!!!
340. Doctor Doom vs. Galactus!
341. I Am Doom!!
342. Doctor Doom's Final Act!

Who knows why Martian Manhunter's powerful telepathy didn't pick up on this at the time?

Maybe it was because they were the ones being ambushed. When they stormed Apokolips, Paradooms flooded the place to an overwhelming degree, and even Martian Manhunter's telepathy couldn't handle that many enemies.

For example, Alex had initially intended to directly control these Paradooms to use them against their own forces. However, as he attempted to do so, he realized his telepathic ability couldn't manage to control over a dozen Paradooms.

So Alex had to settle for something simpler—just making sure they wouldn't detect the presence of him and his allies.

"Didn't expect there was a way to do that." Lois let out a relieved laugh, then quickly said, "Alright, let's move inside while we can."

"No."

Alex looked at Lois, mildly exasperated.

"Now we should finish off all these Paradooms."

Initially, he'd thought the Justice League's heroes holding back was just a bad habit, but seeing even Lois hesitate to fully eliminate the threat confirmed it wasn't just that—it was a dangerous flaw.

"Well said!"

Jason nodded vigorously, Alex's words resonating with him completely.

Jason felt a rare kinship with Alex; it had been a long time since he'd met someone so on the same wavelength. If only Alex had grown up in Gotham—they would've been best friends!

A green flash of the Kryptonite blade sliced through the air, and two Paradooms' massive heads rolled to the ground. Their fearsome faces remained frozen in a neutral expression, as if they hadn't even realized they'd died.

Seeing this, the others charged forward as well, swiftly taking down the Paradooms guarding the door.

Luckily, they had a fair amount of Kryptonite on hand; otherwise, even with these parademons standing still, breaking their defenses would've taken considerable effort.

"Are there any more ambushes around?"

After finishing off the last one, Dick scanned the area, maintaining a vigilant stance.

"I don't hear any other Paradooms on this floor."

As the team's other sensory-focused fighter besides Alex, Superman had been keeping a close ear on their surroundings, prepared to alert them if any enemies approached or attempted an ambush.

With battles raging throughout LexCorp Tower and the surrounding area, Clark had to limit his focus to this floor to avoid being overwhelmed by the cacophony of combat.

Listening carefully, Clark seemed to detect something and said with a serious frown, "However… there's something behind that door. My vision can't see through it, so I'd say this is definitely our target."

"Yes, based on the Sleeper's signal, the activation device for the Boom Tube is in there," Lois added.

At her words, everyone's gaze shifted to the massive steel door. Although Damian still believed this mission was a doomed joke—and even suspected the Sleeper might be a trap set by their enemies—there was no turning back now.

As they braced themselves, the indicator light above the door turned from red to green, and the door slowly began to open under their watchful eyes. Then, the sound of applause echoed from within.

In the dim light, a short figure appeared as the doors opened.

"You actually broke free from the liquid Kryptonite. I must say, that's quite a surprise..."

Hearing the mocking, familiar voice, Clark narrowed his eyes slightly as the bald man's image became clearer.

"Luthor. Of course, it's you."

"Naturally," Luthor replied, laughing with an easygoing shrug as though he held no fear of the people before him. "And you all… I don't think you received permission to be here."

"You talk too much."

Jason's intense burst of power showed itself then and there. In the blink of an eye, he lunged at Luthor, his left hand clutching Luthor's throat and slamming him hard against the wall, while his right hand raised the Kryptonite blade, the tip pointed directly at Luthor's forehead.

"Hey! How about waiting a moment?" Luthor felt his breath catch. He could tell that this guy didn't have the slightest intention of sparing him—he wanted him dead. Dropping all pretense, Luthor quickly spoke up.

"I'm not interested in your last words, Luthor," Jason said, glaring at Luthor with a killing intent in his eyes.

He knew that, despite joining the Justice League as an honorary member, Luthor's history as a supervillain remained undeniable.

Lex Luthor had long been an arch-nemesis of the Justice League, repeatedly outsmarting even Superman, let alone the younger generation of heroes. Just as the Joker was Gotham's legend, Lex Luthor was Metropolis's infamous figure. So, despite Luthor's supposed change of heart, many heroes still viewed him with deep distrust.

And, to top it off, Luthor had led the way in surrendering to Apokolips when everyone else was fighting back. Killing him would honor all those heroes who sacrificed themselves.

"You don't understand! When Earth was falling, I had to make a choice," Luthor said, frowning. "When all of you were losing ground, someone had to step up and preserve our resources."

Jason's gaze turned strange at that.

"You're saying you're 'that person'?"

"Of course, it's me."

Luthor swatted Jason's hand off his throat and adjusted his tie calmly.

"Ever since that day, I've been secretly communicating with Lois, sharing critical information with her. Otherwise, where do you think those Kryptonite weapons and supplies have been coming from?"

Lois froze at his words, first glancing at Clark and then looking back at Lex Luthor in shock.

"You… you're the Sleeper?"

"Who else?" Luthor raised his eyebrows, speaking in a deep tone. "Who else but me could have given you poor rebels so much vital information?"

"Oh, don't try to spin it into some noble cause. You're just a treacherous opportunist," Damian retorted, frowning. "What's to stop you from selling us all out to Darkseid again?"

"Because you need me. And…"

Luthor gestured to the massive door behind him.

"The Boom Tube requires a skilled operator to engage it. Without me, you have no chance of succeeding. Time is running out. We need to begin the plan before Batman notices, or we're all finished."

.....

📢30 advanced chapters on p@treaon📢
For advance chapters: /Uchiha_Itachi007 (replace @ with a)
338. Time Is of the Essence.
339. The Coming of Galactus!!!
340. Doctor Doom vs. Galactus!
341. I Am Doom!!
342. Doctor Doom's Final Act!