Bai Qi chose to let Batman leave without taking action.
The reason was simple.
In the main world, besides the family of Chen Long, Zheng Qi had a few other targets they valued highly, and Batman was one of them. Although Bai Qi was not afraid of Zheng Qi now, there was no need to fall out with Zheng Qi over a child of destiny favored by them. Furthermore, Batman's abilities were evident. Killing such a talent without reason would not only shake the social stability of Gotham City but also weaken the defense of the main world, making it a loss rather than a gain.
Batman, upon realizing he had been discovered, had already started planning his escape route. However, it seemed the other party had no intention of attacking him. Although he didn't understand why, being able to leave safely without any losses was already good enough.
After leaving, Batman immediately used his radar to locate the defeated Superman.
But when Batman arrived at Superman's location, intending to take him for treatment, the scene before him caused his brows to furrow deeply.
It was a coincidence that the falling Superman landed precisely in Metropolis, the city he was sworn to protect.
During his fall from outer space to Metropolis, the gel-like substance enveloping Superman had expanded considerably. It had transformed from a cocoon into a larger, irregularly shaped meteorite, its surface gradually resembling stone.
By the time it landed, it had become an extraterrestrial meteorite.
The people of Metropolis, unaware that it contained Superman, were merely drawn by the large, black meteorite that had suddenly fallen, causing a considerable commotion, and gathered to watch.
The Daily Planet, Metropolis's largest newspaper, immediately dispatched its closest reporter, Lois Lane, to investigate.
As the crowd grew, the meteorite showed signs of reaction, its surface cracking and eventually shattering into several pieces. A humanoid figure, enveloped in a black liquid, emerged from within.
As expected of Metropolis, with Superman as a bug in their system, the residents had seen all sorts of grand spectacles. Their first reaction to someone emerging from a rock was not whether they posed a threat to their lives, but to pull out their phones to take pictures and post them on their social media. A few daring youngsters even approached the figure and took selfies with it.
Lois, as Superman's girlfriend, naturally couldn't be outdone by these ordinary people. Driven by her news-gathering instincts, she urged the photographer to join her for close-up shots.
However, the photographer was a timid individual who had recently transferred from a neighboring city. No matter how Lois urged him, he remained unmoved.
As it turned out, the photographer's decision was the correct one.
The battle with Bai Qi had already consumed most of Superman's energy, and then the gel-like substance had absorbed a significant portion of it. At this moment, Superman was unconscious, his body completely controlled by the black suit that enveloped him.
Incidentally, this substance that resembled water, attached to Superman and absorbing his energy while controlling him, was called a Symbiote. It was originally a type of symbiotic organism from outer space.
Perhaps the term "Symbiote" is not easily understood. If we say "Venom Symbiote," many people might understand. This one is of the same species as the one Spider-Man wore back then.
The difference was that when Bai Qi found this Symbiote, it was extremely aggressive and invasive. It even tried to attack Bai Qi and forcibly parasitize him, absorbing Bai Qi's energy to strengthen itself.
The result was clear: Bai Qi's single slap instantly subdued the Symbiote.
Afterward, Bai Qi captured it and wore it, intending to study it thoroughly when he had time.
And so, after obtaining the Chronosphere from Kal, Bai Qi used the Symbiote to test its effects. He reordered its biological gene sequence and added a few programs to make it easier to control.
Bai Qi also gave the Symbiote a very fitting name based on its characteristics: Gluttony.
Perhaps due to the short amount of time and Superman's exceptionally strong body, Gluttony was unable to fully adapt to its new host. The energy it could absorb from Superman was decreasing. At that moment, a few curious youths ran over to take pictures with it. Wasn't this food delivered right to its mouth?
Gluttony stiffly turned its head to the side, its gaze meeting the eyes of a nearby youth. Instantly, the youth felt a cold sweat breaking out, feeling like he was sitting on pins and needles. But it was too late.
The hungry Gluttony grabbed the youth who was trying to escape, its right hand transforming into a sharp blade that pierced directly through the youth's body. Immediately, the black liquid, as if summoned, rapidly retreated from Superman's body and, along the blade piercing the youth, parasitized the youth.
Anyone with eyes could see that Gluttony had dropped the watermelon to pick up the sesame seed. No, it should be said that it had dropped a whole cartload of watermelons.
But in Gluttony's eyes, it was not the case.
Firstly, the Superman covered by Gluttony could not absorb sunlight to restore his internal energy. When Gluttony realized it could no longer obtain more energy from Superman, it ruthlessly abandoned him and parasitized the youth to gain more energy.
However, compared to Superman, a human youth's internal energy was too little, not enough for Gluttony to consume. In less than ten seconds, the youth was drained and turned into a dried corpse.
And Gluttony, having lost its energy source, continued to parasitize the next host, consuming its energy.
Seeing the dried, mummy-like corpse of the youth, everyone present panicked. Fear once again gripped their hearts, and they began to flee in all directions, while Gluttony, like a hungry tiger, continuously hunted the fleeing prey.
Humans parasitized by Gluttony, regardless of age or gender, could not survive for more than ten seconds, all turning into dried corpses.
"Run, why are you still here?"
Amidst such chaos, the photographer urged Lois to escape. But Lois remained unmoved, not because she was particularly brave, but because her gaze was drawn to Superman, Gluttony's original host.
Lois hurried forward and helped up the unconscious Superman.
Due to the prolonged energy draining by Gluttony, Superman was now as dried up as a mummy, just like those youths. The difference was that, thanks to his far-superior physical strength, he had not died despite his energy being depleted.
"We have to save him."
"How can we save him? We can't even protect ourselves, and that monster could come and turn us into mummies at any moment."
As the cameraman spoke, a person possessed by Gluttony charged towards them, clearly intending to suck them dry as well.
Just as the cameraman prepared to meet his glorious death, sacrificing himself to the monster to give Lois a chance to escape, a strand of webbing from behind caught Gluttony and flung it more than twenty meters away.