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Chapter 551: Earth Assembles
The highest alert spread rapidly across the entire world. There was no need for deliberate concealment, much less foolish deception. The Parademon army, a War Legion from Apokolips, had already launched an all-out assault on Earth.
The slaughter began. These Parademons, possessing independent personalities and intelligence, had humanoid bodies that were slightly hunched. Wings harder than knives grew from their backs, enabling them to fly.
Their entire bodies were a fusion of biology and machinery. On their heads, they wore round metal helmets, similar to the flight helmets worn by Earth's pilots during World War II. Two round, black goggle-like lenses connected directly to their brains, rapidly calculating and collecting data on everything they saw.
Every single Parademon possessed terrifying computational power, an incredibly strong physique, and considerable intelligence. They were the mass-produced army used by Apokolips to sweep across the Multiverse. Even the weakest Parademon was more valiant and battle-hardened than any of Earth's non-powered superheroes. This was a complete domination in terms of combat technique, physical prowess, and experience.
Each Parademon was also a versatile warrior. From reconnaissance to intelligence processing, from guerrilla warfare to direct assault, they were masters of all tactics.
Their machine-like efficiency and ruthless mentality made the Parademons the nightmare of countless planets.
And now, they had become the nightmare of Earthlings.
Countless fighter jets took off, and numerous military bases were mobilized. The latest energy weapons were no longer held back and were fully deployed to the soldiers. With hearts full of anxiety and hope, the people prayed that their warriors could deliver a crushing blow to the invading enemy.
But the outcome was brutal. Earth's armies, composed of ordinary people, were massacred by the Parademons.
A single Parademon only needed to charge head-first to smash dozens of people to pieces. When the energy weapons of Earth's soldiers hit a Parademon, they would merely send it flying back with almost no injury.
Not to mention, the Parademons also wielded firearms manufactured on Apokolips, technologically crushing Earth.
The people of Earth discovered in horror that everything they took pride in was utterly fragile before these identical-looking creatures.
Massive amounts of corpses paved the ground, turning into piles of white bones. Tens of thousands of Parademons ran rampant across Earth, and very few could stop them.
Earth's weakness made the Parademons incredibly excited. Ear-piercing shrieks erupted from their mouths, expressing their excitement and frenzy.
In the past, when had they, the Parademons, ever been anything but cannon fodder? On grander battlefields, they were merely the most wretched consumables, an insignificant part of an army numbering in the hundreds of millions.
But here, on Earth, they were practically invincible!
The Parademons went wild, howling with excitement, baring their ferocious mouths as they carried out the slaughter and continuously destroyed resistance bases on Earth.
"It's not enough! Continue! You lowly scum! This planet will become my tributary world! I want you to conquer this place within a month! Or else, die!"
Steppenwolf grabbed the neck of a Parademon squad leader, roared, and then slammed him violently to the ground. He took a large step forward, stomped down, and with a squelching sound, crushed the Parademon into the earth.
It couldn't be helped. This planet, Earth, was too fragile, and its ground was too "soft."
Steppenwolf grew even more annoyed, directly raising his axe and striking down, hacking the Parademon to pieces.
The other Parademon captains scattered, frantically beating their wings and driving their squads to accelerate the attack on Earth.
The foul-tempered Steppenwolf personally searched for the whereabouts of the Mother Boxes. They weren't on Earth, which meant someone must have taken them.
Apokolips had a total of four Mother Boxes. Three of them were placed on the Earth of the Prime Universe, specifically to facilitate the countless avatars of Darkseid in their campaign across the Multiverse to find the Anti-Life Equation.
But as it turned out, the Mother Boxes were taken by some unknown bastard, who had also skillfully mastered how to use them, which was simply inconceivable.
"The Mother Boxes are treasures of Apokolips! Whoever touches them, dies! I will find him, and then I will kill him!"
Steppenwolf raised his long-handled great axe, his colossal body incredibly intimidating. The unique dark power of Apokolips spread out wantonly, alarming one organization after another.
…
On Themyscira, Queen Hippolyta, her face etched with grief, looked down at the equally somber warriors below. She took a deep breath and rallied her spirits. "The mighty foe from Apokolips has returned once more. Themyscira must dispatch powerful warriors to protect our planet. To protect humanity, to protect Earth—this is the very reason for Themyscira's existence."
Antiope had a miserable expression. "The gods have abandoned us. Must we still fulfill our duty?"
"Silence, Antiope! As my sister, I will not permit you to blaspheme against the gods!"
Hippolyta flared up in rage, but she soon looked helplessly at her pale-faced compatriots and slowly closed her mouth.
Not long ago, terrifying cracks had appeared on the statues of the gods, plunging the entire leadership of Themyscira into a great panic, causing them to pray day and night. They had even given the Mother Box directly to Tony when he came to demand it, unwilling to get entangled any further.
What was even more terrifying was that, a short while ago, the statues of the twelve Olympian Gods had all shattered. The dreadful message this conveyed was nothing short of a nightmare.
The gods... were dead.
Queen Hippolyta forced herself to pull together, gritted her teeth, and said in a solemn voice, "Regardless, we Amazons are a part of Earth. We have a duty to protect this planet—not for others, not for the gods, but for ourselves!"
All the high-ranking members looked up, staring in surprise at the queen's defiant words, but no one refuted her.
The Queen stood up and picked up the sword at her side. "We have defeated the mighty foe from Apokolips before, and we will do so again! Amazon warriors never yield! Never!"
"Contact Diana immediately. Have her organize her companions in the world of men. We need more warriors."
"Artemis, you will go to K'un-Lun. Find the Jade Emperor, the Thunder God, the Immortal Dragon Shou-Lao, and the new generation's Iron Fist. They can no longer remain in seclusion."
"General Phillips, immediately coordinate all Amazon warriors for battle. Remember, all of them! Everyone, including myself, will be under your command."
"Antiope, go to the New York Sanctum immediately and find the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj. The Sorcerer Supreme is a powerful combatant."
The series of commands lifted the spirits of the Amazon warriors, who held honor as dearly as life itself. Having something to do was far better than hiding on Themyscira, wallowing in self-pity.
General Phillips said grimly, "Your Majesty, the power of Earth alone is far from enough. I can feel the terrifying aura of the visitors from Apokolips. We need more powerful reinforcements."
"I will contact the Green Lantern Corps and request that they send reinforcements, just like last time, to join forces against this powerful enemy," the Queen nodded.
"Not enough," Phillips replied.
"I know what you're trying to say," the Queen said. "Someone will be very eager to contact Tony."
(end of chapter)
The highest alert spread rapidly across the entire world. There was no need for deliberate concealment, much less foolish deception. The Parademon army, a War Legion from Apokolips, had already launched an all-out assault on Earth.
The slaughter began. These Parademons, possessing independent personalities and intelligence, had humanoid bodies that were slightly hunched. Wings harder than knives grew from their backs, enabling them to fly.
Their entire bodies were a fusion of biology and machinery. On their heads, they wore round metal helmets, similar to the flight helmets worn by Earth's pilots during World War II. Two round, black goggle-like lenses connected directly to their brains, rapidly calculating and collecting data on everything they saw.
Every single Parademon possessed terrifying computational power, an incredibly strong physique, and considerable intelligence. They were the mass-produced army used by Apokolips to sweep across the Multiverse. Even the weakest Parademon was more valiant and battle-hardened than any of Earth's non-powered superheroes. This was a complete domination in terms of combat technique, physical prowess, and experience.
Each Parademon was also a versatile warrior. From reconnaissance to intelligence processing, from guerrilla warfare to direct assault, they were masters of all tactics.
Their machine-like efficiency and ruthless mentality made the Parademons the nightmare of countless planets.
And now, they had become the nightmare of Earthlings.
Countless fighter jets took off, and numerous military bases were mobilized. The latest energy weapons were no longer held back and were fully deployed to the soldiers. With hearts full of anxiety and hope, the people prayed that their warriors could deliver a crushing blow to the invading enemy.
But the outcome was brutal. Earth's armies, composed of ordinary people, were massacred by the Parademons.
A single Parademon only needed to charge head-first to smash dozens of people to pieces. When the energy weapons of Earth's soldiers hit a Parademon, they would merely send it flying back with almost no injury.
Not to mention, the Parademons also wielded firearms manufactured on Apokolips, technologically crushing Earth.
The people of Earth discovered in horror that everything they took pride in was utterly fragile before these identical-looking creatures.
Massive amounts of corpses paved the ground, turning into piles of white bones. Tens of thousands of Parademons ran rampant across Earth, and very few could stop them.
Earth's weakness made the Parademons incredibly excited. Ear-piercing shrieks erupted from their mouths, expressing their excitement and frenzy.
In the past, when had they, the Parademons, ever been anything but cannon fodder? On grander battlefields, they were merely the most wretched consumables, an insignificant part of an army numbering in the hundreds of millions.
But here, on Earth, they were practically invincible!
The Parademons went wild, howling with excitement, baring their ferocious mouths as they carried out the slaughter and continuously destroyed resistance bases on Earth.
"It's not enough! Continue! You lowly scum! This planet will become my tributary world! I want you to conquer this place within a month! Or else, die!"
Steppenwolf grabbed the neck of a Parademon squad leader, roared, and then slammed him violently to the ground. He took a large step forward, stomped down, and with a squelching sound, crushed the Parademon into the earth.
It couldn't be helped. This planet, Earth, was too fragile, and its ground was too "soft."
Steppenwolf grew even more annoyed, directly raising his axe and striking down, hacking the Parademon to pieces.
The other Parademon captains scattered, frantically beating their wings and driving their squads to accelerate the attack on Earth.
The foul-tempered Steppenwolf personally searched for the whereabouts of the Mother Boxes. They weren't on Earth, which meant someone must have taken them.
Apokolips had a total of four Mother Boxes. Three of them were placed on the Earth of the Prime Universe, specifically to facilitate the countless avatars of Darkseid in their campaign across the Multiverse to find the Anti-Life Equation.
But as it turned out, the Mother Boxes were taken by some unknown bastard, who had also skillfully mastered how to use them, which was simply inconceivable.
"The Mother Boxes are treasures of Apokolips! Whoever touches them, dies! I will find him, and then I will kill him!"
Steppenwolf raised his long-handled great axe, his colossal body incredibly intimidating. The unique dark power of Apokolips spread out wantonly, alarming one organization after another.
…
On Themyscira, Queen Hippolyta, her face etched with grief, looked down at the equally somber warriors below. She took a deep breath and rallied her spirits. "The mighty foe from Apokolips has returned once more. Themyscira must dispatch powerful warriors to protect our planet. To protect humanity, to protect Earth—this is the very reason for Themyscira's existence."
Antiope had a miserable expression. "The gods have abandoned us. Must we still fulfill our duty?"
"Silence, Antiope! As my sister, I will not permit you to blaspheme against the gods!"
Hippolyta flared up in rage, but she soon looked helplessly at her pale-faced compatriots and slowly closed her mouth.
Not long ago, terrifying cracks had appeared on the statues of the gods, plunging the entire leadership of Themyscira into a great panic, causing them to pray day and night. They had even given the Mother Box directly to Tony when he came to demand it, unwilling to get entangled any further.
What was even more terrifying was that, a short while ago, the statues of the twelve Olympian Gods had all shattered. The dreadful message this conveyed was nothing short of a nightmare.
The gods... were dead.
Queen Hippolyta forced herself to pull together, gritted her teeth, and said in a solemn voice, "Regardless, we Amazons are a part of Earth. We have a duty to protect this planet—not for others, not for the gods, but for ourselves!"
All the high-ranking members looked up, staring in surprise at the queen's defiant words, but no one refuted her.
The Queen stood up and picked up the sword at her side. "We have defeated the mighty foe from Apokolips before, and we will do so again! Amazon warriors never yield! Never!"
"Contact Diana immediately. Have her organize her companions in the world of men. We need more warriors."
"Artemis, you will go to K'un-Lun. Find the Jade Emperor, the Thunder God, the Immortal Dragon Shou-Lao, and the new generation's Iron Fist. They can no longer remain in seclusion."
"General Phillips, immediately coordinate all Amazon warriors for battle. Remember, all of them! Everyone, including myself, will be under your command."
"Antiope, go to the New York Sanctum immediately and find the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj. The Sorcerer Supreme is a powerful combatant."
The series of commands lifted the spirits of the Amazon warriors, who held honor as dearly as life itself. Having something to do was far better than hiding on Themyscira, wallowing in self-pity.
General Phillips said grimly, "Your Majesty, the power of Earth alone is far from enough. I can feel the terrifying aura of the visitors from Apokolips. We need more powerful reinforcements."
"I will contact the Green Lantern Corps and request that they send reinforcements, just like last time, to join forces against this powerful enemy," the Queen nodded.
"Not enough," Phillips replied.
"I know what you're trying to say," the Queen said. "Someone will be very eager to contact Tony."
(end of chapter)