Losing humanity and becoming the embodiment of 'strength' is indeed not what Su Ming desires.
Just thinking about Dr. Manhattan's ghostly appearance only sends chills down one's spine.
Back in his previous life, Su Ming had heard many debates about how powerful Dr. Manhattan was and what great feats he could achieve.
But if you ask these people, who do you wish to become as a superhero?
Not a single person said they wanted to become Dr. Manhattan.
They want to be Iron Man, want to be Superman, want to be Spider Hero, some even want to be Deadpool, with pain and joy... there are those too.
Why?
Because of the human spark they possess.
It has nothing to do with the strength of their abilities but rather the charm of being human.
Rather than becoming an inexplicable 'Quantum Structure Convergence', or some similar concept... being 'human' is truly the most important.
Su Ming is reminiscing about these past years.
In Marvel, he always lived relatively carefree, feeling the world broadened significantly.
That's because he always lived as a human, among the people.
But returning to DC, everything felt darker and more oppressive, simply because each time he had to defeat powerful enemies; the external environment forced him to become stronger.
Even if he was unwilling, he still had to engage with all sorts of 'concept'-level forces to ensure he was a step ahead.
"Maybe aside from Barry treating me as a friend, and Batman seeing me as human, in others' eyes, Otherworldly Deathstroke is merely synonymous with the concept of 'strength'..."
No, the more he thought about it, the darker it became; Su Ming shook his head.
He needed to avoid letting his thoughts go to extremes.
The situation wasn't that bad; at least to the Justice League, Otherworldly Deathstroke still had charm, right? Every time Sea King saw me, he seemed quite sentimental.
Speaking of which, Arthur indeed had some rich emotions; he named his trident 'Tom', which Su Ming didn't dare to mention.
"Deal, let them come with me."
This feels somewhat like being a human trafficker.
Hera was already prepared; soon Athena, with tissues in her nostrils, and Artemis, cautiously covering her backside, walked into the hall.
Additionally, there was a calm and poised woman, it was the never-before-seen Female Kitchen God Hestia, who was curiously observing Deathstroke.
"They're not particularly familiar with human society, you need to pay attention to some things."
Hera pulled the three women aside and instructed them about something, taking quite a bit of time, and even prepared a banquet for them before sending them off.
Su Ming had the three former goddesses board the aircraft, walked at the back, and replied with a cold joke: "Don't worry, I have a client who's quite adept at handling legal issues; he probably has a 'Celestial Maiden Descending to Earth' contingency plan."
"The future trajectory of the Multiverse is unclear; you must ensure their safety."
Su Ming nodded, don't put all your eggs in one basket; picking a few to send away indeed prevents Olympus from being completely wiped out in an instant.
"Olympus surely stands out, but next time you wish to share the risk, you can say it straight."
"If I said it straight, wouldn't it turn into a transaction again? Olympus has no more chips left, or are you planning to take Eris?"
Hera stood on the plaza; not far away, they were cremating Poseidon's garments because, with the annihilation of the Tomb of the Gods, the gods had no choice but to carve a wooden statue of Poseidon as a surrogate corpse.
The humanoid log gradually turned black with the blaze, its features blurred, and sparks drifted away with the wind.
Sporadic sobbing sounds emerged from somewhere, from a deity who had a closer relationship with Poseidon.
But a log or a clay sculpture essentially represented the original nature of a deity as a human 'idol'.
"Farewell."
The atmosphere wasn't suitable to linger here any longer; Eris had been Hera's accomplice throughout the entire affair; she knew everything, yet said nothing, deceiving everyone.
A woman like this is better left to rejuvenate Olympus; having her around is too dangerous.
Su Ming piloted the spaceship into the sky, observing the three women whispering in the back row, feeling a minor headache.
Hera did give him the three women, but not in an official capacity, with no weddings, and nobody knew; that big sister didn't even mention a word about marriage.
What does this constitute? Three maidservants were given? Bodyguards? Thugs? In any case, it's not about being a wife; you could even say they're strangers.
Hmm... Athena did speak a few words.
The current dilemma is where to settle them? Harley certainly doesn't have room for them, and letting these people interact with the madwoman feels somewhat unsafe.
Perhaps send them to Paradise Island?
But recalling Diana and Donna, he's not inclined to do so; Su Ming had always pretended not to understand those sisters' glances before.
"Where do you plan to take us?" Artemis, seemingly the chosen representative, nervously asked.
Having lost their divine power, they all felt particularly insecure.
Su Ming, at this point, wasn't wearing his helmet; piloting the aircraft didn't require it, and upon hearing this, he flashed a terrifying smile.
"I have a castle in Romania; I plan to turn you into vampires, assigning you to chop firewood, feed horses, clean toilets, and hold live sacrifice rituals... after I kill someone in a foul mood, you'll be responsible for impaling the corpses with stakes and setting them up along the borders of my territory."
"Wow! Wuuu wuuu wuuu..."
Artemis broke down; she doesn't want to be a vampire or clean toilets; she's a hunter and rarely kills.
She started crying, hugging Athena tightly.
But this kind of lie was just to scare her a bit; Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom, was surely aware of the legends of Vlad the Impaler.
She immediately knew Deathstroke was intentionally bluffing.
For now, Deathstroke seemed to be an enigma; she didn't understand why Hera dared to believe that Olympus could reach an agreement with Deathstroke.
The fate of the three of them was completely unknown.
So Athena listened to Artemis's cries, and her heart was filled with sorrow.
Only the Female Kitchen God tilted her head and looked at them puzzledly, "What is a vampire?"
"Uh... a kind of monster that drinks human blood."
Su Ming forcibly explained, realizing that Hestia truly lacked common knowledge.
"Is human blood tasty?" Hestia blinked her large eyes and asked cutely.
"Uh... pretty much like fish blood, a bit salty and fishy." Su Ming already thought about where to send them because he had some things to take care of.
Hestia thought for a moment, pursing her lips, "Then it doesn't taste good. Why do vampires drink it?"
"Because they can only live by sucking blood, that's why they're called vampires."
"Why can they only suck blood?"
She curiously pursued the question.
Hestia seemed mature and voluptuous, with a seductive face, but she was completely ignorant of some common knowledge.
She never lived in Olympus, spending her days at home practicing her cooking skills, like a blank sheet of paper.
No wonder the old lecher Zeus was interested in her, even though she was his aunt.
But now they were all ordinary people, except for having more strength.
They all belonged to Su Ming.
They came with divine artifacts: Athena's spear, shield, helmet, Artemis's longbow, and Hestia's pot.
"Because they don't eat properly. How about we have hot pot later?"
Su Ming couldn't explain further, so he changed the topic.
"It's not right not to eat properly, so... what is hot pot?" Hestia asked another question.
"Sigh..."
Su Ming pushed the control lever of the spaceship's thruster all the way up. He urgently needed to find some encyclopedias for her to read herself. There were too many questions, it was like taking care of a child.
..............
The seawater was receding quickly, it seemed Admiral Nu Tao had recovered quite a bit, and the purple seawater had returned to its original blue. Many buildings surfaced.
The Fish-Man issue was no longer a problem. After Nu Tao removed the magic, they would transform back in a few days. If they were in a hurry, they could find someone to use the Inverted Man's reversal spell.
But Atlantis remained broken, the entire city empty, with only Arthur and Mera working.
Mera was using hard water magic to wash the streets, cleaning away some blood and corpses, while Arthur was responsible for repairing buildings and patching large holes in the ground.
"You wanted to be a hero, and see what a mess you've made of our home. Even without Atlantis's rocket, Deathstroke would have found a way to open the obstruction barrier, right?"
Mera cleaned with an unhappy face, though she was just finding things to do to keep herself busy because she was still jealous from previous events.
Arthur carried a wall piece, trying his best to re-erect it, then stick it back with some specially made adhesive.
"Who knew beforehand? No one dared to delay at that moment."
"So you just stared at Diana's legs?"
"I did not."
Arthur defensively replied, this topic had been repeated too many times.
Mera seemed to latch onto this matter and wouldn't let it go. They started rebuilding Poseidonis after separating from everyone.
Then began the meaningless conversation that made Arthur want to run away.
Mera: "Did you have a meal today?"
Arthur: "No, I haven't."
Mera: "And you're still staring at Diana's thighs?"
Arthur: "...."
Or Mera would say:
"Have you glued that wall yet?"
"Not yet," Arthur replied.
"Then how did you stick your palm on Nu Tao's belly so quickly?"
Arthur: "...."
Arthur felt exhausted. Clearly, when they came out of the tomb and first met, Mera was still affectionate, eagerly hugging and smothering him with kisses.
The scene was so awkward that even the Half-Fishman Barry couldn't look directly.
But why did it turn into this after the battle ended?
On the battlefield, concerning oneself with a teammate's actions or rescuing the wounded, Arthur didn't think he did anything wrong.
"Dare not answer? Arthur Curry, what are you thinking?!"
Mera turned hard water into a little hand, pinching Arthur's waist and spinning like a drill.
"Wait, it's the Justice League's plane."
Arthur struggled, pointing to the distant sky, spotting a little black dot rapidly approaching, as if seeing a savior.
Mera snorted and retracted the little hand. The Justice League always showed up just in time, and she had to let her husband maintain some dignity in front of outsiders.
But this time it wasn't the Justice League; the figure stepping out of the aircraft was black and yellow.