The Forgotten Bar has teleportation gates to locations all over the world, and it's also very convenient to travel back and forth to the underground Dark Justice League Headquarters beneath the Hall of Justice. However, Gorilla and Trish are busy cleaning up corpses, completely unaware of what's happening in the outside world.
Bo Bo reminisced about his previous activities.
When Diana came to him, he thought he was going to finally showcase his skills.
Full of ambition and taking his deceased good friend Master of the Dark Night, Jim, as a model, he intended to write his own hero's legend.
However, things didn't unfold as he envisioned.
Diana soon fainted, and even when she was conscious, it was Deathstroke who called the shots in the team.
Then Bo Bo's hardships began. His tasks included helping Deathstroke grab his phone or cleaning up vomit and garbage, sometimes acting as a living encyclopedia.
That was it; that was the content of his imagined hero's journey...
Recalling this made him feel a pang of hardship.
He decided to seriously train his abilities. Originally, he thought skills in reasoning and solving cases would suffice, but now it seems mastering a combat skill is also crucial.
Starting today, he plans to spend four hours a day going to Asia to find someone to learn swordsmanship.
As long as one practices for a decade or two, even a gorilla can become a super expert, right?
His lifespan is infinite, he has all the time in the world, assuming Earth can last that long.
At this moment, Trish was preparing the bar, selecting some stored wines from the cellar to bottle and bring up, while Bo Bo was still lugging a mop, laboriously scrubbing a human-shaped black smudge on the floor.
That was the mark left on the floor after the flesh had been burnt, extremely difficult to clean.
"Diana still says it has nothing to do with Deathstroke, but to me, it looks fishy," Bo Bo complained to Trish while scrubbing the floor: "Diana sometimes doesn't even listen to Batman's orders, yet she doesn't mind following Deathstroke's commands."
Trish was wiping a wine glass with a handkerchief. Now that magic has its cost, she doesn't dare to rely on it for everything, finally resembling a bartender more.
But she clearly wasn't very happy, which meant she couldn't slack off at work anymore.
"But the Queen was knocked out twice... If Deathstroke suddenly kills you, the boss, from behind, I wouldn't be surprised."
Gorilla propped himself up with the mop handle, straightened up to stretch, and revealed a teasing expression: "Have you ever seen a hero or a villain kill an animal?"
"Uh..."
Trish squinted her eyes, looking at the ceiling, trying to recall, apparently finding no such instance; everyone seems to be an animal rights activist...
The boss's disguise is exactly the appearance of an animal, how sly!
Bo Bo indeed knew of a guy codenamed 'Welder Dogger,' who would weld dogs onto targets' faces through special welding.
But his main targets were people, and the welded dogs were just collateral damage.
So unless the Earth's destruction affects Bo Bo incidentally, who would come to kill a gorilla specifically?
Just at that moment, the phone rang, it was Deathstroke's phone.
Bo Bo knew Deathstroke wanted to shake off Batman's surveillance, so when they parted, he didn't mention the phone at all, pretending to be clueless and brought the phone back to the bar.
Now Batman was probably still eavesdropping on his and Trish's conversation, and he kept pretending to be ignorant.
He came from the circus; pretending to be clueless is something he's very familiar with.
"Hello?"
Trish picked up the phone on the bar. Even receiving calls now required using hands instead of magic, which was really annoying!
"Let your boss speak."
An icy, hoarse voice immediately came through, and Trish felt as if she were standing naked on the Antarctic ice field, with seventy kilometers per hour cold wind sweeping through, instantly chilling her to the bone.
This world is truly eerily strange; they were just talking about Deathstroke, and Deathstroke's call came.
The bar owner reached out and took over the phone. After Su Ming roughly explained to Bo Bo the situation post-departure, the Black Ape also got serious.
"Either way, let's meet at the Forgotten Bar first. Do you know La Rinconada Town?"
"Yes, a small town in Peru," Su Ming recalled for a moment and remembered: "Located in the Andes Mountains, at an altitude of 5100 meters."
"Being the world's highest town, there's a teleportation gate of the Forgotten Bar there. I'll be waiting for you there."
"Good, I'm on my way."
Bo Bo put down the phone, grabbed his hat, and put it on, ready to head out.
A city at an altitude of 5100 meters would have enough time to prepare before being submerged.
It's a small mining town, not suitable for human habitation. It originally had a population of only fifty thousand; except for miners, nobody was willing to go there.
But now it has become the safest place in the human world.
The world is really crazy.
"Boss, do you really still want to participate in Deathstroke's activities?"
"This is an adult matter, children should stay out of it." Bo Bo lit a cigarette and walked towards the door.
"Alright, Master of the Dark Night." Trish turned her head away, showing a frustrated expression.
People are obviously doing this for your own good, yet you don't appreciate it.
"I told you, don't call me that!"
................
La Rinconada is bustling now. It's not just Bo Bo who knows it's safe here; there are many smart people around the world, naturally others can figure it out too.
Some wealthy individuals have relocated here themselves, and one of the evacuation sites Batman selected is also here, where numerous heroes are relocating civilians to high-altitude cities worldwide.
So when Su Ming arrived above the town, he saw a scene like Black Friday, with countless people vying for the few supplies available in the supermarkets.
Food, water, warm clothing—everything that could be bought was purchased down to the last item.
If it weren't for the presence of many superheroes in the town, coming and going in their uniforms, the situation wouldn't have remained just a simple spree of shopping.
Su Ming disabled the stealth function of the aircraft, he needed Bo Bo to see where he and the others were.
But some people, upon seeing a Justice League aircraft, got excited and wanted to question the Justice League about why the world has turned out this way, and whether superheros have once again attracted external foes.
Last time it was like this; almost the entire global population was tied to the Dark Tower just because Batman brought in the Dark Knight Order and Barbatos.
In the past, Superman brought in Zod, Green Lantern brought in the Lamp Beast, and the Justice League attracted Darkseid.
Upon careful thought, it seems like Earth might be more peaceful without heroes.
The spaceship landed on the school playground in the small town. Some people even had protest banners ready, as if they were going to throw feces and stones the moment the Justice League stepped out.
However, when the door opened, it was Deathstroke who walked out...
Crowd: "..."
Su Ming: "??? "
Su Ming, who walked out, was slightly surprised. Could it be that there were people here to welcome him? The enthusiasm in this end-of-the-world scenario was quite something.
But upon seeing their banners, Su Ming understood.
Some tattered curtains and bed sheets had blood-red letters written on them.
'Justice League, murderers.'
'Give me back my family and loved ones!'
'Justice League sucks!'
This kind of sentiment has a lot of traction among civilians, whether in DC or Marvel.
Without heroes resisting invasions, people would be less affected by war, and everyone would be safer.
The government propagated the same notion.
But would Barbatos abandon his plans just because there's no resistance?
Would Thanos not snap his fingers simply because there is no opposition?
Some villains do come to Earth because of personal grudges with heroes, but more often it's just about their own desires.
Without heroes, people could only become slaves to the Cosmic Tyrant or unknowingly turn to ashes.
Su Ming doesn't act the hero; he'd rather exchange a good reputation for visible or invisible gains, but he won't allow anyone to tear down the heroes now.
It's already tough saving people, yet not being understood creates huge psychological pressure; some second or third-tier heroes might not handle it.
Su Ming himself doesn't mind, but when he takes action, the other heroes need to stay home, so morale becomes very important.
Demoralizing the heroes now is going against Su Ming.
What are these people doing protesting at this time? Have they overdosed on democracy?
No, even an idiot wouldn't do it at this timing, because it would only lead to mutual destruction.
Who benefits from destruction?
Thus, it can be deduced that there are Luthor's spies among these people, inciting the crowd, exploiting human nature; this has always been Luthor and Joker's forte.
"Strangulation, dinner's about to be served."
Su Ming sneered and drew the Godslayer; any suspicion at this point couldn't be let go.
Strangulation is never picky about food; it also immediately picked up hot weapons from Su Ming and started firing into the crowd.
Killing or eating anyone wasn't a problem for it; as long as the host gives the order, it executes it. However, to ensure the brain wouldn't be damaged and affect the taste, it didn't aim at the head.
The Magic Floating Cloak also didn't mind; the candidate for Supreme Mage intended to eliminate some natives in Otherworld. What has it got to do with its Marvel Magic Holy Artifact?
If the aliens and Otherworld natives killed by The Ancient One held hands, they could circle Earth multiple times! She remains the Supreme Mage.
Su Ming flipped and jumped out of the cabin, rushing into the crowd intending to wipe them all out immediately.
There were probably fewer than a hundred ordinary people. With both ranged and melee means, even if they fled in different directions, resolving it would only take ten seconds at most.
But a red and blue figure immediately flew in to stop him, blocking all the bullets and sealing off his path.
"Superman, don't stand in my way, these people must die."
Su Ming rose into the air with the help of the cloak, continuing to chase the scattering crowd.
"For what? Just because they are protesting against the Justice League?" Superman continued to block him, only standing with his hands on his hips without intending to attack: "We can listen to others' opinions. Maybe their way and timing of expression are wrong, but they don't harm us. If there's a misunderstanding, we can explain it."
Su Ming sighed; just passing by the Bat Cave, how could he forget to grab a piece of Kryptonite? His plan to learn the 'Five-Finger Death Punch' from Batman jumped up in priority again.
"There are Luthor's spies among them." Su Ming started thinking of another way, memorizing the features of each protester.
"Maybe so, but you have no proof, and even if you did, that's not a capital crime." Superman wasn't buying it; he had his own code of conduct: "Listen, we have no right to decide others' life and death. Once it's all over, we can hand these people over to the law."
Su Ming sighed again; Superman's almost pedantic moral code really didn't align with his. He put away his weapon, and Strangulation likewise holstered the guns.
It seemed like he had given up.
"Perhaps the Justice League does indeed have a good lawyer, one that can send them behind bars for life, but I won't bear the risk that spies might pose; that's an uncontrollable factor."
"No, Batman will vet their identities and monitor them, everything is under control." Superman relaxed a bit too, as he slowly landed and walked towards Su Ming.
He thought Su Ming was sticking up for the Justice League, so apart from Deathstroke's rather extreme methods, he was a bit touched.
Su Ming removed his helmet, lit a cigarette, and hooked his arm around Superman's neck, seeming very chummy.
But on his face was only a cold smile and the look of a calculated victory.
"Batman is too busy, and you already have the best prosecutor, jury, judge, executioner in the world, and that's me, wearing many hats..."
He held Superman's neck firmly, with Strangulation rooting into the ground like tree roots, and the cloak also began to exert force, immobilizing Superman.
"What are you doing?!" Superman struggled, but now came the dilemma.
If he didn't go all out, he couldn't break free, but if he did, it would harm Deathstroke, a true catch-22.
And Deathstroke clearly had a plan to deal with those people; he was forcing Superman to choose between himself and those 'suspected spies'.
He placed himself as a weight on the balance scale.
"Don't panic, watch and see."