The Watchtower was the Justice League's space base, but unfortunately, it was already under the control of Alfred and the altered Machine Batman, and the beam of light seen by the group on the ground was actually the teleportation gate to the Watchtower, which was also guarded by a Robot Army.
"I suggest we fly up directly." Clark said, "Since Batman has already taken control of the teleportation gate, even if we use it, he might be able to control the gate and throw us somewhere else."
"No, we must go to the teleportation gate." Iron Man proposed. "It's clear that he has built a robot factory in the base above us, and the Robot Army is all produced there. The teleportation gate is their entry point to Earth."
"Destroying the base's resistance and the factory is the ultimate goal, but right now we must cut off his troop transport routes, or before long, the entire Earth will be overrun by the Evil Robot Army, and all cities will be destroyed."
Clark asked in his mind, "Is that so? Do you think Batman... I mean, maybe... he might not necessarily..."
"You know the answer." Ultron said in a flat tone, "If the one who invaded the base and controls him isn't Alfred, do you still think he is Batman?"
Clark took a deep breath and said, "Alright, we can't let him continue like this. In the past, it was he who saved the world. Now, I have to save him and the world."
So the group began making their way to the teleportation gate on the ground, and Clark explained, "During the construction of the Watchtower, we selected locations for the ground teleportation gates and buried secret portals in dozens of cities around the world, to prevent our transport routes from being cut off in case a city fell."
"Gotham has three teleportation gates. There are two on the ground, and one in the Batcave. The one set up above Wayne Tower is the biggest, which is the beam of light we just saw."
"After the Watchtower was invaded, the teleportation gate has remained activated, and although ordinary people's police and armies did their best to breach Wayne Tower's defenses, they were unsuccessful."
"Where does the power for the teleportation gate come from?"
"I'm sorry, but the power core is not on the ground. We generate power through the energy devices inside the Watchtower and transmit it back to Earth."
"So he has control over the energy too."
"Yes."
"It seems we'll have to start with the control systems then. The teleportation gate and the Watchtower are networked, right?" White Can asked.
Clark nodded and said, "Unfortunately, the Watchtower and many of the superheroes' ground-based bases are networked, which is why so many bases were overrun the moment the invasion started, including my Fortress of Solitude. Batman is using its defense mechanisms and wounded me."
"Did he show himself?"
Clark didn't want to remember, but Ultron still encouraged him in his mind, saying, "Don't think of that as Batman. Your good friend might be trapped in a corner of that monster's mind, crying out for your help."
"Yes, he has completely turned into a killing machine, his entire body has been mechanized and altered."
Both Iron Men widened their eyes, and after hesitating for a moment, White Can said, "Are you saying he turned himself into a robot?"
"I'm not certain if he did it to himself, but he looks completely different than before."
"In what way different?"
"Please forgive my rudeness, but he looks a bit like you," Clark said straightforwardly, looking at White Can. "An Evil Robot that seems cold and heartless."
"Thanks," White Can said with no good humor.
"Then he might not have been mechanically altered, but rather wearing metallic Battle Armor." Iron Man said, stroking his chin. "Or it could be a combination of both. Since that's the case, we might be able to invade it in reverse... I have an idea, let's go."
The group quickly entered Wayne Tower, where Machine Batman had indeed set up quite a number of Guards, and Clark didn't even need to make a move. The Symbiotic Battle Armor of White Can dissolved the defense of the mechanical Guards the moment it touched their steel skin.
"Your hacking skills are incredible," Clark said, somewhat astonished, but White Can just sighed. He really wanted to explain to Clark that this was not some low-end hacking technology; this was something hundreds of times more powerful and cooler than hacking.
But with another Iron Man there, who hadn't bragged yet, if he spoke first, wouldn't that mean he had lost?
The group reached the depths of Wayne Tower at the fastest speed. It was clear there were no living people left, and as they approached the teleportation gate, Ultron was the first to issue a warning.
"The satellite's signal fluctuation is far beyond safe frequency. The enemy may have detected an abnormal signal and is closing in on your location. Be careful."
Clark immediately looked up, hearing a crackling noise from above. He flew up as fast as he could, with both Iron Men following closely behind, and then they saw every computer screen in the entire floor of the office was lit up.
"Long time no see, my old friend," echoed Batman's mechanical voice in the empty floor, ironically amidst the countless corpses, because he was supposed to be their hope, yet he had become their God of Death.
Clark opened his mouth, but as Ultron read his troubled thoughts, he knew it wasn't good; losing a verbal duel right off the bat wouldn't do.
"Clark, you're a bit out of control with your emotions. It wouldn't be good if you accidentally reveal our plan. Let me take control of your language and expression functions. Maybe we can probe for some information."
Clark was already looking for an escape. He felt that he wasn't ready to face Batman at all because he couldn't accept that this person, so similar to Batman, was actually a completely opposite monster.
He couldn't accept that if things were as Ultron said, his friend was now trapped in a mental prison waiting for him to come to the rescue, and that he had wasted so much time before. If Batman were watching, would he feel disappointed?
Clark handed over the language and expression modules.
"Accessing the Doujie System..."
"Querying historical visual data, keyword 'Superman', 582 results found, conducting precise search..."
"Appropriate language module target located..."
"'Justice Lord' activated!"
"Long time no see, Batman." Clark narrowed his eyes and said, "That you would betray me is the most surprising thing that's happened this year."
Both Iron Men's eyes widened in unison, stepping back in perfect sync because Clark's tone reminded them of Pepper on the eve of a storm.
Batman seemed to want to say something, but Clark cut him off, revealing a cold smile as he said, "Anyone who betrays justice is nothing but a fragile insect to me, including you, Batman. So overconfident, hardly worth mentioning."
Both the real Clark and Batman were stunned. Ultron heard clearly the thoughts whirling in Clark's mind, probably something like "How could my 37-degree mouth utter such icy words?"
"My God, you can't talk to him like that." Clark lamented in his mind, "If the real Batman hears this, we're both done for!"
If he was just complaining before, the Batman opposite him was now completely defensive and enraged, alarms blaring with various "beep beep beep" sounds, numerous computer cases overworking, and then exploding in a series of bangs.
The White Can turned abruptly, seeing the light intensifying from the top of the tower outside the window. With a whoosh, a figure descended from among the light.
Batman had arrived.
If that was the case, there was no more room for discussion. The White Can exchanged a look with his other self, and Iron Man charged directly towards Ultron's mechanical body. As Clark regained control of his body in a split second, he whooshed to the back of Machine Batman with a swift motion.
Clark threw a punch but missed. Dodging to the left, a fierce current brushed past his cape. He ascended, then spun on the spot, locating Batman before diving again, while Iron Man blocked Batman's escape route below.
Batman tried to turn and run the other way, but his body suddenly faltered. He caught a glimpse of a silver figure in his field of vision, which vanished in an instant, followed by his body starting to disobey him.
"Nanite computation virus." White Can snapped his fingers and said, "You wrap yourself in a shell of iron, yet you do nothing to guard against physical intrusion. I don't know whether to call you bold or foolish."
Countless tiny particles burrowed through the gaps in the armor, permeating the material, following the circuitry upwards and into the control hub. The moment the computation virus erupted, all control and computation systems were completely overloaded.
In short, the memory was maxed out.
Then the nanite computation virus started to steal processing power, essentially White Can was using Batman's computer to mine cryptocurrency, causing the center of Batman's Battlesuit to lag tremendously, even the display glitched.
Clark had already seized the opportunity to attack. His fist struck the face guard of the Bat Armor, and with one punch, Batman was embedded into the wall of Wayne Tower.
He flew over to extract Batman, who was struggling to clear the useless computation modules that occupied his thoughts. Once he managed to move slightly, he darted out from the wall.
Seeing Batman still not giving up, White Can let out a cold snort. He hovered in mid-air again, the battle armor glowing with a silver light, but this time, instead of unleashing a massive electromagnetic storm, he extended One Hand, and with a violent silver flash, a high-energy electromagnetic pulse struck Batman squarely in the chest.
"Ahhh!!!!!"
Batman let out a scream of agony.
"No!!!!" Clark shouted, "Batman!!!!"
He hurried to embrace the charred remains of Batman, but what lay beneath the molten armor was not flesh and blood, but metallic components and wiring.
A sly glint flickered in the eyes of Machine Batman.
Clark froze.
He felt something interfering with him, causing a momentary delay in his thoughts.
Iron Man immediately flew over, saying, "Not good, it's a trap, its purpose is to hack into the brainwaves."
White Can immediately grabbed Machine Batman's arm and cursed under his breath, saying, "Damn, he's gone, no... wait, there's something else, a faint signal still remains!"
White Can pressed his face guard, then placed the hand of the Symbiotic Battle Armor on the wreckage's forehead, and in a moment he heard a deep voice, "Answer me, I'm Batman... That evil creature has merged with part of me, becoming an even more wicked AI. His plan was to pretend to be defeated, to hack into Superman's brainwaves and control him."