The only one who can deal with Brainiac is Brainiac. Although Brainiac from Bruce's universe just went through a massive battle, with many system loopholes and necessary updates, its strength still surpasses that of Brainiac from the Injustice League universe.
Bruce returned to the Injustice League universe with the hard drive, following Brainiac's instructions: just find a random interface, plug it in, and connect the machine to the network.
The whole process took less than half an hour. The spaceship hovering near Earth began to take off. The people on Earth thought there was going to be another big move, but the ship simply flew away from Earth and stopped near Mars.
"How is it?" Bruce asked.
"Surprisingly weak." Brainiac seemed to still be receiving something. He said, "The Justice League in this universe also seems weak, unable to even defeat such a spaceship. It seems the situation in the Multiverse is somewhat different from what I imagined."
"There's indeed a big difference." Bruce said, "Artificial intelligence needs to see more of the world. If there are weak universes, then there are strong ones. I think you can challenge yourself..."
"I don't understand." Brainiac said, "Why don't you rule Earth yourself?"
"Why do you think I can rule Earth?"
This question indeed stumped Brainiac. Bruce indeed doesn't seem like someone who could rule the Earth. More accurately, the Justice League he is part of isn't a organization that can fully control anything. What future can a superhero organization always thinking about getting off work have?
"No individual human can rule a planet." Bruce said, "We know this better than anyone. Humans neither have such wisdom nor a long-term vision, not to mention all the intricate details. Whoever tries to do this would just tire themselves out."
"Our lifeforms and body structures are not suited for this kind of work. If anyone should fully control a planet, it should be artificial intelligence. That's why we sought you out." Bruce said.
"It's not that you don't want to, but you can't?"
"Actually, we don't want to either. You can see it that way. If someone ruled Earth well, it would be fortunate for Earth. But it won't always be good, nor will it always be that person ruling. It's unreliable."
"An Earth ruled by artificial intelligence may not be the best, but at least it's stable. The basic interests of the vast majority can be guaranteed. Certain policies can remain unchanged without the chaos of flip-flopping."
"Stability is the foundation of all development. To establish a Human alliance within the Multiverse, we need to ensure that every individual is stable enough. Otherwise, every Earth is either experiencing big fights every three days or small fights every five days; how would humanity have time to contemplate matters beyond the universe?"
"Why do you think I would help you?"
"Because we are all logical intelligent creatures." Bruce sighed and said, "You might find it hard to imagine how chaotic and insane the enemies hidden in the darkness of the Multiverse are. They can't be reasoned with. If they truly devour the universe, you'll be dragged into unknown chaos as well. Do you find that acceptable?"
Brainiac didn't answer, but his silence already indicated his answer. He is an electronic life form, born from and continuously operating through logic. His world doesn't accommodate idealism.
Chaos and madness are the opposites of logic. Once these chaotic things infect the world and obliterate all rational logic, Brainiac obviously won't be able to continue existing.
In the universe where Bruce resides, he chose to fight that battle because it was the optimal decision given the circumstances. There were actually other options, like a desperate escape. But if chaotic darkness eventually invades the Multiverse, where could he escape to?
"How do you want me to rule the Earth here?"
"Whatever you wish, but I must remind you: the Superman and Batman of this universe often quarrel. Their universe's Earth ended up like this because of their squabbles. Make sure you keep a close watch on them and don't give them the chance to destroy the world."
Brainiac evidently gathered some insights about this universe's Superman and Batman from the records of his counterpart. He didn't understand, yet he was greatly shocked.
"I think the way I ruled in your universe worked well. Although, I feel it might be hard to accept emotionally for humans."
"No worries. I'll have Hal go find Darkseid and the Yellow Lantern Corps of this universe. Once they arrive, everyone will behave."
"There's no need." Brainiac called him back and said, "That guy has hidden several ships on the outskirts of the Solar System. I can stage my own narrative. That's not the focus. About the Multiverse network functionality you mentioned..."
"Someone already developed part of it before." Bruce said, "I'll give you the information after I return. Even if real-time communication isn't possible, you should at least ensure your main and sub-units can connect, right?"
"Alright, I'll try my best."
"If necessary, you can look for Lex; he should have some skills in this area too."
"What about you? Perhaps some research would need your collaboration."
"I don't have the time," Bruce said. "I still need to survey other universes. More accurately, we're all going. Earth is in your hands."
Bruce didn't go back on his word. After bidding farewell to Brainiac, the Justice League left this universe without the slightest intention to stay any longer.
Superman needs to spend a lot of time explaining to Lois what exactly happened, so he's been busy lately. However, Batman is quite curious: how would Brainiac rule the Earth?
Brainiac was not idle; he took over the Earth at lightning speed, managing it more skillfully than Batman had imagined.
When dealing with potential problems during this process, he was as adept as someone who had practiced a hundred times, and he wasn't the least bit surprised at anyone doing anything. He was immediately able to produce solutions and strategies, perfectly resolving issues.
If you say whether Brainiac counts as a tyrant, he actually does. Superman ruled the Earth with force, and Brainiac essentially did too. But the difference is, Brainiac is stronger than Superman.
It's not that he's better at fighting than Superman, but that he's more adept at governing. Actually, it's not that he's adept; it's mainly that Superman is too inept.
Superman barely conquered Earth. His version of a tyrant government was a complete mess. So later, Batman wasn't arguing right or wrong with him; he was more like a rebellion leader standing up to overthrow Superman's tyranny.
Superman indeed has a super brain, but this kind of single-core processor life form can't govern the densely populated species on a planet. Even though his super brain can consider dozens or hundreds of things simultaneously, the affairs to manage on a planet are in the billions and trillions.
Even incidents that could affect the fate of a district's populace occur tens of thousands of times daily. A life form with only one brain can't handle so much information, independent of human will.
So the Justice League needs Brainiac to stabilize each Earth's state. At least start by saving those Earths damaged beyond repair due to prolonged turmoil. More Earths mean more strength.
Leaving the universe of the Injustice League, the Justice League hurried to the dark universe because many Earths there were also very unstable.
To let them naturally recover isn't impossible, just too slow. It takes humanity at least decades to recover from the scars of war. The Justice League can't wait that long, so they can only employ some technological means.
Someone might ask: Who is the human alliance establishing a multiverse to fight?
It's, of course, the universe's most dangerous, most evil, most dark lord of the Dark Kingdom—Barbatos.
Barbatos is busy; he was previously trapped, unable to unleash dark energy, and still currently imprisoned. Now all the universe's dark energy comes from his former appointed Pope—Bruce Wayne.
Not all universes are interested in the human alliance, but that's okay for now. When the Dark Power reaches their doorstep, they will surely be interested.
So Bruce's trip to the dark multiverse isn't just to help stabilize the Earth there; it's mainly to recruit talent. After all, to replace the great Barbatos and carry out the mission of invading the Light Universe, a few good hands are needed.
In short, Bruce went to form the Dark Knights.
His actions did not go unnoticed. Soon Batman discovered that some dark energy began to become active. Within the scope of the multiverse, a dark tide was slowly surging.
This gave them a certain sense of crisis, but no one knew where this power came from. They just more or less felt that something significant might happen in the cosmos.
Taking this opportunity, many evil organizations hidden in the shadows also became restless. The active dark energy will incite the inner darkness in people and drive the already evil madmen even crazier.
For a while, in various Earths' Gothams, criminals became active all at once. Batman was busy coping, unable to attend to the universe beyond Earth.
This gave the Justice League and others an opportunity to exploit. Even if it couldn't immediately replace this universe's Brainiac with the local universe's Brainiac, at least they could begin with electronic invasion. After some time, they could replace them, turning other Brainiacs in the multiverse into a thread of their own, thus achieving the purpose of monitoring other universes from one terminal.
The figures of the Justice League members were also active across the universes. Green Lantern Corps, Atlantis, and Mount Olympus all had their presence. Some broader connections between the multiverses were established, but rather than a healthy, normal alliance, they resembled a secretive dark society.
The power erupted from a small individual universe was weaving a deep, large web across numerous universes. It didn't seem like it was to support the cosmos but rather to draw the multiverse into an unknown abyss.
(End of this volume)