"Is this enough?"
In the dim Bat Cave, in the faint glow of the Brother Eye screen, Green Arrow walked over to stand next to Deathstroke.
At this time, the mercenary was just quietly watching in the direction the Wayne family trio had left.
"I don't know, Oliver, you understand, the most unpredictable thing is the human heart. I've done what I can, and as for what happens after, it's up to Batman."
Su Ming sighed and changed his uniform into a suit, turning to head upstairs.
"Sometimes I think you're quite a complex person. Maybe they don't notice it, but I can feel it. It's like you hold special feelings toward us," Oliver caught up with his steps, watching the black shoes take each step on the stairs.
Su Ming stroked his beard and pulled out a cigarette from his pocket: "Who can say? Sometimes, I can't even see myself clearly, which probably means I'm getting closer to Arkham."
"Hey, what are you guys talking about?" Barry appeared next to Su Ming with a flash of electric light, draping an arm over his neck.
Oliver smiled: "Deathstroke did a good deed just now, but now he's feeling a bit lost."
"Huh? What's there to be confused about? Hasn't he always been doing good deeds?"
Barry looked puzzled. From Earth -11 to the Main World, from Barbatos' invasion to Papetua's awakening, he had been beside Deathstroke in every event, knowing how much he had contributed to this world in darkness and how many people were indirectly saved by him.
If there really was such a thing as a dark hero, he felt like his buddy Deathstroke was more qualified than Batman, at least not always prioritizing Gotham when a global crisis needed assistants everywhere.
Oliver raised his hand to rub his neck from side to side: "I guess this is what they call the clarity of the bystander, haha."
"Do you guys know that super soldiers have super hearing? Moreover, discussing me right next to me, is that really okay?" Su Ming turned his head helplessly, sighing.
Indeed, finding Thomas wasn't the path of maximizing benefits, and it exposed his trump card of cross-world travel, which in every way seemed like a loss.
The most advantageous way for Su Ming was to seek out the Pale Knight alone, that Batman turned from the Joker, a madman with boundaries that was scarier than Batman.
Just imagining the half-pale face revealed under the pointy-eared mask, shining white under the moonlight, you could understand what those criminals felt when they met the Pale Knight.
But Su Ming still chose the thankless method, using means and intel to enter the Flashpoint World.
Clearly, it's unknown if this would even restrain Mad Laugh, yet once again, he found his heart leaning toward helping Batman.
This issue wasn't faced for the first time; there were so many opportunities in the past, and Su Ming always chose to stand with the Justice League, which exposed the key to the problem.
If he just wanted benefits, he could totally help Luthor instead.
The benefits wouldn't be any less, and Luthor's side didn't have so many restrictions and rules.
Unlike acting with the Justice League, where to kill someone, you first have to do it behind Barry's back, and to execute some underhanded tricks, you need to soothe Diana—constantly expending extra energy.
Perhaps the influence from his past life left a much deeper mark than he originally thought.
Hopefully, this doesn't become a weakness.
But there's never a perfect person, at least not in reality. Su Ming doesn't demand of himself to be a moral model or a perfect person; he just wants to live more comfortably.
Back when he first arrived in DC, he fought to survive. Now, his reason for fighting is to live more smoothly. Indeed, he's still fallen...
"Stop analyzing me, get ready for the meeting in the dining room. Green Arrow, can you cook?"
"Oh? Changing the topic so bluntly, huh? Haha, alright, if you don't mind having pancakes for breakfast, I'm quite good at making them." Oliver passed him, disappearing into the air with a flash.
"Pancakes..." Barry chuckled, rubbing his stomach as he hooked Su Ming to go upstairs: "You know, eating pancakes for breakfast has a specific meaning. It means 'thank you for last night,' that's what Iris used to tell me—oops... said too much."
Barry quickly covered his mouth, looking around sneakily, with only Diana watching him playfully, while Arthur seemed not to understand.
Su Ming rolled his eyes. Because of the Flashpoint, Barry's wife Iris had become his colleague, and his former first love Patty was now the official girlfriend.
But Barry remembered things from before the Flashpoint, and he seemed to always blurt out something out of the ordinary.
"Oliver isn't some woman, and I don't need anyone thanking me," Su Ming patted his head. Barry's words had sounded a bit awkward: "If you have nothing to do, go help Green Arrow set the table and whip some cream. The Batman family won't take long to return."
"On it." A golden light flashed, and Barry took the opportunity to slip away.
Diana walked to Su Ming's side, looking at his resolute face, she thought for a moment: "About the Flashpoint World, nothing you want to say?"
"In the wrong timeline, some right things slipped in; there's nothing more to say."
Su Ming shook his head, unable to explain how he knew those extremely secret pieces of intelligence. Diana actually didn't want to ask about Flashpoint; she just wanted to know how she turned out that way in that timeline.
"Alright, so what do we do next?" Diana felt a bit relieved seeing that Deathstroke didn't seem too concerned and started talking about the difficulties they faced.
Su Ming pushed aside the mechanism's blocking clock, found the dining room, and went in. First, he pulled out a chair for Diana to sit down, and then he sat beside her.
Electric Light brought over the plates, with electricity crackling around the cutlery.
"Barry, some tea."
"On it."
To shut everyone's mouths, Barry was now diligently at work. However, it was his first time using Divine Speed to brew tea, accelerating the interaction between molecules left him sweating.
Diana patted Su Ming: "Stop teasing him, have you thought about what Laughing Bat plans to do next?"
Su Ming lifted his teacup for a sip, closed his eyes amidst the swirling steam.
"Last time we clashed, he said destroying the Final Smile system was to cut off our detoxification method. I'm not sure if this is some sort of misdirection."
"Oh?" Diana propped her chin with both hands, lying on the table, turning her head to look at him.
"If he still plans to spread some kind of virus, then Gotham actually has a 'Final Smile' system built by the Owl Court. Despite sounding ancient, trust me, those Owls lived well in pyramids before the Common Era. This system must still be operational."
Su Ming turned the plate before him, looking at its gold-etched patterns on the edge: "If Laughing Bat intends to use this system to spread toxins, we should find a way to discover Owl's secret base and block Laughing Bat."
"But? I know you're going to say 'but' next." Diana saw through it all again, reaching for the sugar jar in the center of the table, her cloak still wet from the rain.
"But if that statement was deliberately made by Laughing Bat to mislead me, if his action is not to spread toxins, chasing after the Final Smile matter would fall into his trap. He could use this time to defeat us through other means."
Su Ming brought his teacup closer, watching Diana pick up two sugar cubes, dropping one into each cup.
Diana stirred her tea with a small spoon, her daring eyebrows furrowing: "We still don't know who the third person in Laughing Bat's team is."
"I can't think of it either. Generally speaking, a reasonable team should balance long-range and melee, magic and technology; whether there's superpower is more of an additional bonus. But for a team composed entirely of Madman Batmen, conventional logic doesn't apply." Su Ming shrugged and retrieved his cup.
Arthur sat silently on Su Ming's other side, trying to add some liquor to his morning tea, completely uninterested in analyses or plans.
"You said we found Thomas, who is also Batman. Isn't it possible that Laughing Bat also has a Batman that's not Bruce Wayne?" Diana's gaze became sharp as if discovering a blind spot.
"Unfortunately, there's no evidence to support this hypothesis." What she could think of, Su Ming had thought of long before.
Diana deflated and went back to sipping her tea, while Su Ming continued telling Arthur corny jokes because, no matter how you look at it, this is still Gotham.
In terms of understanding this city, no one surpasses Batman.
No matter what Laughing Bat plans, Batman's guesses are more likely to be correct, especially since Bruce is currently under Joker Poison, making his thinking more 'open.'
Once those two join us for the meeting, let's hear their opinions. That's also why we came to the dining room.
If there's a meeting, it's better to solve the meal issue simultaneously; it's a Celestial Dynasty tradition to discuss matters over food.
Considering Thomas' return, today Ah Fu shouldn't be too strict.
Before long, the two Batmen returned, talking quietly, while Ah Fu had changed into new clothes and took the pot from Green Arrow's hands.
It seems Joker's corpse had been 'taken care of.' Judging by Ah Fu's relaxed smile, one could guess how.
The group quickly placed the pancakes in their mouths. Su Ming had only one comment: apparently, Oliver had made these for Dina more than a few times before.
The taste was surprisingly good, especially considering Green Arrow had survived in the wild for so many years, nearly losing his sense of taste.
Originally, they planned to discuss Laughing Bat's matter over dinner, but Thomas and Bruce sat side by side opposite Su Ming, with Ah Fu standing behind them, towel over arm.
Every time Su Ming opened his mouth, he could feel Ah Fu's 'death gaze.'
It wasn't until everyone had finished their after-dinner juice that Ah Fu, satisfied, left. Only then could Su Ming and Oliver talk to the two Batmen about the pressing issues.