area51novel Chapter 783 Your relationship is as fragile as glass.
Chapter 783 Your relationship is as fragile as glass.
Chapter 783 Your relationship is as fragile as glass.
In some ways, Hero Day and Supreme Little Monkey are quite similar.
Heroes' Day.
Let's call it Heroes' Day for now.
As a dummy hand-molded by the World Maker, a creature pieced together by the World Maker using sixth-dimensional divine power, matter, and memories, he possesses the most absurd life form and awakened consciousness.
Heroes Day uses grand narratives of legendary superheroes to mask a deprived reality and an escape from confronting oneself.
Even when Chen Tao confronted Hero Day by revealing his past through the "Wedding Dress Destruction Day" incident, he still reacted in the way Hero Day would have, which is an interpretation of the "bad faith" of the French philosopher Sartre.
Sartre believed that humans are isolated and gradually eroded by materialism, industrialization, standardization, and Americanization. These erosions shape people's beliefs, but these beliefs are all "bad".
Therefore, Heroes' Day was simply a result of the "bad faith" of the World Forgers.
Hero Day himself is not a superhero.
However, the Supreme Little Monkey has leveled up again. He confronts the meaninglessness of life and rejects the mission and sense of belonging given by the superhero symbol system. This is a Camus-style absurd hero.
Little Super Monkey confronts the meaninglessness of life, like Sisyphus pushing a boulder uphill. Even when he chooses to help Chen Tao and Hero Day, it's not for any superhero mission or anything like that.
He was simply:
Me, the monkey; you, my friend.
The monkeys are living together in the main universe, yay!
But Chen Tao has no time to think about these complex philosophical questions and existential paradoxes right now.
Barbatos and the Anti-Monitor were fighting inside one body. Chen Tao never expected that using the Dark Multiverse Batmen he had taken from the Batman Who Laughs would be so effective.
When he accepted the identity of the dragon given to him by Barbatos, he originally intended to use these Batmen to help him share the burden of Barbatos's mental pollution.
But just now, he used these bats again, through their connection with Barbatos, to make them use their own willpower to stimulate him in reverse.
For Chen Tao, he originally thought that it would be good enough if the weak and feeble willpower of these Batmen could wake Barbatos up a little. Next, he would have to rely on his own willpower to activate him.
But now, for some unknown reason, the result of his stimulation is...
It's not so much that the effect is good, but rather that it's exceptionally good.
A group of ordinary Dark Multiverse bats were able to help Barbatos, who was originally completely at a disadvantage and whose consciousness had been suppressed into a deep sleep, to wake up in an instant to the point that he could fight against the Anti-Monitor. Chen Tao vaguely felt that there must be something he didn't know about... Who was helping him?
But he doesn't have the mind to dwell on that right now.
Heroes' Day remains in a state of severe nausea.
The hero's day that used to be as calm and collected as a hero of the golden age, making people feel at ease, has simply vanished.
When Chen Tao saw his current appearance, his heart skipped a beat.
Supreme Little Super Monkey wouldn't like it.
The thought had just crossed his mind when he suddenly felt a little sad.
Heroes' Day has collapsed to this state, yet he has no empathy for the other party and is only thinking about his own plans.
He felt he lacked the empathy a good person should have, but that was the truth.
While Chen Tao genuinely sympathized with Hero Ri's psychological breakdown, he calmly analyzed the current situation.
His emotions and reason split in two in an instant, operating simultaneously. His sympathy for Hero Day did not affect his judgment, which would have made his sympathy seem a bit like crocodile tears, but no, not at all.
Chen Tao's sympathy was genuine, but his cold-blooded scheming was equally sincere.
That's right, what Supreme Little Super Monkey likes is the Hero's Day of that golden age, a day that gives Supreme Little Super Monkey an extraordinary feeling.
Yes, Chen Tao's acting skills are very good, but the problem is that his understanding of the heroes of the Golden Age is flawed. When Chen Tao read the comics in his previous life, the history of the DC multiverse had already progressed to after the New 52.
Clearly, when he picked up the comic book, what he saw was Superman N52 stumbling and falling, bleeding from his head...
And in the New 52 Batman main issue, Batman is portrayed as a wise and powerful figure, incredibly intelligent, driving the Fenrir armor (i.e., the anti-Justice League armor) and the Bat-Slam armor, brutally beating up the Justice League and the Court of Owls, leaving them utterly defeated.
Chen Tao lacked that deep affection for the heroes of the golden age.
He was ultimately not a remnant of that era. No matter how profound his understanding of the DC multiverse was, he did not actually read through each issue of the comics like he did with the New 52 or even the Rebirth era.
He only knows about the major events. He is indeed a fan of American comics, but the history of the DC multiverse is just too vast!
It's impossible for any human being to have read every single issue of the comic!
He never truly empathized with the golden age, and no matter how convincingly he pretended, he was never "perfect."
And perfection is what Supreme Little Superman, or rather Supreme Little Super Monkey, values most.
Superman Supreme wants facts, and only a true hero of the Golden Age can move him, especially one whose intelligence has declined in his ape form.
Chen Tao wouldn't assume that the friendship between Hero Day and Supreme Little Super Monkey was particularly strong just because they drank two glasses of juice from two broken cups.
Supreme Little Super Monkey loves a phantom, a phantom that will never, damn it, ever come back!
Hero Day simply happened to respond to the expectations of Supreme Little Monkey, becoming a projection of Supreme Little Monkey's emotions.
In Chen Tao's view, their so-called control relationship was as fragile as glass. Chen Tao never denied that there was genuine affection between them, OK? But this genuine affection was based on the premise that Hero Day was Hero Day and Xiao Chaohou was Xiao Chaohou.
If either of these two premises changes, this "genuine" friendship will run into problems:
If Hero Day were to transform from a staunch hero of the Golden Age into a clueless idiot who can't do anything and just sits there aimlessly, Little Super Monkey would immediately leave him.
Similarly, if Little Super Monkey could regain his senses and stop being an ape and instead become a Little Superman, he would continue to pursue the creation of a perfect world instead of just being a monkey and fooling around with Heroes Day.
Little Super Monkey won't turn back into Superman yet, but Hero Day has already changed!
Chen Tao's eyes were red with anxiety. He had to find a way to stop all of this. Now, was he really going to have to fight to the death again, turning around and relying on his connection with Barbatos to fight the Anti-Monitors for control of Lord Barbatos?
He had actually made contingency plans for what to do if Hero Day suffered a mental breakdown, but even a fool could see that these plans completely crossed the line of humanity and morality, thoroughly turning an intelligent life into a mere tool.
When formulating these contingency plans, Chen Tao completely regarded Hero Day as a potential enemy. He never thought that Hero Day really had any free will, but rather regarded him as a puppet manipulated by an enemy behind the scenes, such as the World Forger.
Therefore, back then, he could devise plans that even erased Hero Day's personal will without any psychological or moral burden, but now...
Chen Tao couldn't bring himself to do it!
He cannot convince himself with the deontological view that "this is the enemy, a puppet without will, and I have an obligation to use the enemy's tools to save the world," nor can he use the utilitarian view that "sacrificing one of them will save more people" to motivate himself to take action.
This is what worries Chen Tao the most.
He clearly had a plan in hand that could turn the tide, a way to make Hero Day back to Hero Day and maintain the idea that "Hero Day and Little Super Monkey are good friends," but he was limited by his own moral standards. He couldn't use it, nor could he give it up. It was like a fishbone stuck in his throat, only making him gurgle.
"You are not Mrs. Nasby!"
Chen Tao clung to Hero's Day, futilely shouting useless words, even he himself knew that it would not achieve any results.
He took a deep breath.
"Come on, Hero's Day, I need your help."
He seized the day when the hero stood silently in place, like a puppet.
Just like...
Just like Woody the cowboy trying to persuade Buzz Lightyear's toy.
"Bass, I can't do this without you. I need your help."
Then Woody the cowboy heard the voice of Buzz Lightyear the toy.
"I can't help you, Woody. I can't help anyone. I... I can't."
"Of course you can, Heroes' Day/Bass!"
Woody the Cowboy/Chen Tao shouted, "Of course you can get Buzz! You can get me out of here, then I'll take down the rocket for you, and then we'll escape back to Andy's house! The kind kid who's good to us! Not that bully, Xue!"
"Of course you can, Hero Day! Stop ignoring what the Anti-Monitors are trying to put into your head. Just turn back into your original form, and we'll get the help of the Supreme Supermonkey. Then we can save the whole world, save everyone! Instead of letting villains like the Anti-Monitors or the Batman Who Laughs World-Forgers manipulate the entire universe!"
Buzz Lightyear/Hero Day said, "What's the difference between Andy's family and Xue's family?"
"Whether we control it or others control it, what difference does it make to the entire main universe?"
Chen Tao saw Heroes' Day looking at him.
He stared blankly.
Woody the Cowboy/Chen Tao took a deep breath: "Hey, listen, Buzz/Hero Day, you've probably gone crazy from the fall/been driven mad by the Anti-Monitors, your brain's all fuzzy from the fall, listen to me..."
"No, Woody/Bat, this is the first time I've ever been this clear-headed. You're right/you guessed right, I'm not some Space Ranger/superhero."
Hero Day said:
"I'm just a toy, a stupid, insignificant toy."
At the end of the story called Toy Story, Woody successfully persuaded Buzz Lightyear.
They decided to leave the bully Xue's house together and return to the arms of the good boy Andy.
In any case, they got a happy ending to the story.
But reality is not a fairy tale, nor is it a Pixar animation.
"Oh, damn it."
Chen Tao had no time to persuade him any further. He turned his head and saw that not far away, Barbatos was gradually losing ground in his confrontation with the anti-monitors.
"Supreme Little Super Monkey, Supreme Little Super Monkey...?"
Chen Tao couldn't continue talking to Hero Ri, so he started desperately calling out to Supreme Little Super Monkey with his fifth-dimensional divine power, hoping that the other party could give him some response, instead of being completely unresponsive to him before and only smiling at Hero Ri.
But the other party completely ignored him, and in the end Chen Tao had no choice but to take the risk:
"You have to come back, it's dangerous on Hero's Day!"
"What?"
As it turns out, the Supreme Little Monkey could hear his calls perfectly well; he simply ignored Chen Tao.
"That's right, Hero Day is now under attack by the anti-surveillance agents." Chen Tao glanced at Hero Day, who was still in a stupid and disgusting state beside him.
"He's badly injured, and we need your help, Supreme Little Monkey! You can't pretend you can't hear me!"
Hero Day did suffer a severe injury, but it was psychological; Chen Tao was right.
"Awoooo ...
The Supreme Little Super Monkey emitted a series of wild monkey cries from the communication channel.
Chen Tao understood that this meant agreement.
Very well, he did just that. He summoned Supreme Little Super Monkey back, and now, once Supreme Little Super Monkey sees the current Hero's Day...
What will happen?
Chen Tao didn't know.
He only used the excuse that Hero Day was in danger to lure Supreme Little Monkey back. He never considered what kind of expression Supreme Little Monkey would make if he saw Hero Day now.
He couldn't accept the consequences just thinking about them.
He cannot completely abandon Supreme Little Monkey.
What Chen Tao was unwilling to admit was that, deep down, he knew very well that tricking the Supreme Little Monkey back was actually a prelude to him crossing his moral bottom line.
Logically, he shouldn't have called Superman back before Hero Day was restored.
Because as long as Supreme Little Monkey hasn't seen Hero Day's current appearance, then manipulating the opponent's offensive through Hero Day is still possible, and he still has the possibility of manipulating Supreme Little Monkey.
However, once Little Super Monkey saw it, the formula was immediately shattered. Once he lost control of the Supreme Little Super Monkey, Chen Tao's subsequent plans completely collapsed and became chaotic. His only option was to go all in, just as he had previously thought, and fight to the death to see if he could help Barbatos regain control of his body.
This is a huge price to pay.
Logically, Chen Tao shouldn't have insisted on recalling the Supreme Little Super Monkey at this time at such a high cost.
But he still did it in the end.
Barbatos was about to collapse under the strain of the anti-surveillance agents; he had no other choice.
(End of this chapter)