"Why do we always have to talk in the rain?"
Barry glanced at the few people deep in thought, his brain at work would trigger Divine Speed, making his thought process incredibly fast.
He had already thought it through and concluded that it was best to continue following Deathstroke's lead, so he felt a bit idle:
"Should I go find some materials to build you guys a shelter?"
Su Ming looked up at the clouds overhead. This city didn't feel like it was going to brighten at all, and now it was even darker than night.
"Don't you think there's a certain ambiance about a group of mysterious people holding a meeting in a dark, deep alley?" Su Ming smirked, anyway, his style was always this dark, don't play if you don't like it.
Arthur casually brushed his long hair, the water-beaded blonde hair drawing a plane in the air as he laughed, "So that's how it is, I thought you were like me, enjoying soaking in the water."
Su Ming glanced at him through his anti-toxic mask, "The rain in Gotham is different from other places, considering you like clean seawater, I should warn you first if this really is Gotham's rain, you should be itching all over."
"Gotham has a lot of chemical factories, and the air pollution is very serious, mainly sulfur dioxide and nitrogen monoxide, which combine with clouds in the air to form some acidic rain, but more importantly, there are some unknown components, who knows what those factories are burning..."
Thomas added a comment, being an old-timer in Gotham, his understanding of the city exceeded everyone else's. Yet it seemed he remembered something, suddenly looking at Deathstroke with a horrified expression.
"Looks like you've figured it out." Su Ming shrugged.
"The rain! Something's wrong with the weather!" Thomas pointed to the sky.
"What's wrong with the rain?" Diana stretched out her hand from under her cloak to catch a bit of rain, placing it under her nose to smell, but detected nothing unusual.
It still smelled pungent and irritating, like materials from a chemical factory transported to the sky.
Su Ming sighed, "Right now it's early summer, Gotham is located on the eastern seaboard of the Middle East of the United States, and experiences a warm temperate continental semi-humid monsoon climate with most rain occurring in the summer, though there is wind year-round, only the direction changes."
"So...?" Diana opened her eyes wide, looking at him like a cat.
"Ever since Barbatos and the Dark Knight Order devastated Gotham, half of the chemical factories have closed down, plus the shock caused by Wanda moving the Earth, my deterrent actions against the villains while I played Batman, Gotham had no operating chemical factories even before the Alien Sea God submerged the Earth."
Su Ming explained clearly, pinpointing the crux of the issue.
"Uh... keep talking." Diana felt a bit embarrassed; she still didn't quite understand.
Oliver took a deep breath, "The global flood not only cleaned the surface but also formed rain clouds through the water vapor, which moved with the monsoon over America. Considering the weather, the wind hasn't stopped, these rain clouds should have originated from the Atlantic Ocean... So, the question is, without any chemical factories emitting waste gas, why do these clouds, which should be clean, smell of chemicals?"
"!!!"
Diana showed a look of surprise; no wonder they said something was off about the rain.
"The reason why they make us feel the rain has a smell now is that when the rain really starts to smell, no one will notice...."
Thomas regained his composure, although he continued looking at the sky, the clouds and rain were real, only the smell was a manipulated impression.
Su Ming nodded, "That's the Laughing Bat's Final Smile, his trump card."
Oliver joined the discussion, "The Owl's Final Smile is disseminating an antidote or toxin across the city via airship. Bruce's Final Smile involves spraying antidote across the city like lawn sprinklers via Wayne Tower, which is why Wayne Tower is so tall. The Laughing Bat intends to manipulate the weather because Gotham is always gloomy, exploiting our blind spot of thinking. It's usually like this, so we didn't notice!"
"Indeed, if the rain were light and odorless, this prolonged rain would catch our attention. Even if we understand what's causing the odorless rain, there will be misunderstandings, attracting investigation, so he simply changed the rain's smell, making everyone enter a 'habitual' thinking mode..."
Thomas was slightly surprised, the Laughing Bat was also Bruce. Wasn't he supposed to be as crazy as the Joker? Why is he this smart?
"Making rain have a smell isn't hard. Just launch some pungent chemicals into the rain clouds, a drone can do it." Su Ming speculated about the Laughing Bat's methods, looking at the rain above, "After visiting Dream Country, I understood where the problem lies, not only can eyes deceive, but noses can also sometimes deceive."
Su Ming mused, sometimes it's not just perfume's fault, foul smells can also be a crime of the nose.
"Why didn't our Batman think of artificial rain before, instead squandering billions on building the Wayne Tower?" Arthur, holding his Trident, watched the scene unfold like a bystander.
Su Ming smirked, the question was quite pertinent.
This is the Main World, the Laughing Bat as an outsider didn't have a chance to construct his Final Smile here on a large scale, so he decided to use the forces of nature, utilizing gravity and the water cycle system to achieve his goal.
The cost is extremely low, and if he prepared the toxin, it might only take a small rocket or a drone to doom the whole city.
As for the Batman of the Main World, hmm, maybe he thought of this method too, but he also wanted a tall lookout point, not only to serve as a spray nozzle but also to allow him to pose on the rooftop platform.
On a dark, windy night, he stands in a forward lunge on the stone gargoyle head atop Wayne Tower, a gust lifting his black cape as he launches himself toward the direction of the Bat Lamp.
Isn't it delightful?
Batman's style is also this kind of darkness; if you don't enjoy it, don't play. Aesthetic demand is one of humanity's advanced needs, and the wealthy indulge in it.
Barry was scratching his head anxiously: "Now that we've seen through Laughing's strategy, what should we do? Do you know who the third Dark Knight is? How do we stop him?"
Su Ming gave a strange smile and let out a Darth Vader-like breathing sound: "No, my good mate, that's not my style, I choose... to flip the table!"
That's the best choice. Laughing Bat came to win, so why not just stop him from playing altogether?
Deathstroke isn't Batman, who would indulge Laughing's nasty habits, just kick him out with a negative score.
Thomas scratched his chin, squinted his eyes in thought, then nodded in agreement. As for Oliver, being the funder, decided work strategy didn't matter, he had no objections.
Meanwhile, Barry and Diana were already used to following Deathstroke's plans, while Aquaman didn't seem to understand anything at all.
So it was decided like this.
"What should we do? Speak." Thomas folded his arms, standing in the pooled water of Crime Alley.
Su Ming also looked up at the sky, calculating something, then said: "As everyone knows, clouds move with the wind, Laughing dismantled Bruce's Final Smile to prevent him from detoxifying the whole city. So we'll get back at him and dismantle Laughing's Final Smile too."
"I'll get Superman and Ron to come over and blow some air."
Barry appeared ready to run, but Su Ming swiftly pulled him back.
"Luthor's probably watching Superman, don't let him wander around and trigger a chain reaction, I'll handle it here."
"But even though you can fly, blowing air will take forever, won't it?" Barry had a skeptical expression: "How about you blow on me so I can feel the wind power?"
Wind speed is a type of speed, and as the Flash, he believed he had a say on the matter.
So after speaking, he even stuck the lower half of his face, exposed from the mask, right in front of Su Ming, intending to feel the wind with his skin.
Seeing this weird♂ scenario, Diana forcefully inserted herself between the two: "How about I blow on you instead?"
Barry scratched his head, wondering why Diana seemed a bit upset, why indeed?
"Hmm, you can fly too, I guess blowing should be doable?"
Su Ming held his forehead, heavy breathing came from under his anti-toxic mask: "Don't get hung up on that, do you know the fundamental difference between humans and animals?"
"Humans make tools." Oliver also held his face, having guessed why Diana reacted this way, no wonder she always stuck with Deathstroke, some things finally made sense now...
Su Ming raised his right hand, melting the gauntlet on one finger, revealing a ring that turned everything in Crime Alley gold.
The golden light spread in the rain, like a candle in the night, but the emotion it emitted made the surrounding people frown involuntarily.
"Yellow Lantern Ring." Oliver, being good buddies with Hal, had vivid memories of that red-faced man from the Yellow Lantern Corps.
Su Ming removed the anti-toxic mask from his face, brush his hair: "The Yellow Lantern Ring is the ring most compatible with me, it can use me as a Lantern Furnace to harness energy. And like the Green Lantern, it has the ability to manifest objects, right now I need a giant fan that can cover half of Gotham."
"Then it requires someone to instill fear in others or for oneself to feel boundless fear." Oliver chimed in.
"The good news is there's an abundance of fear, it's an easily accessible resource for us."
Su Ming looked at Thomas, Clan Leader Wayne just stood there watching the younger generation perform, he felt he might really be getting old.
"How do you know?" he asked.
"You're Batman, there must be Fear Toxin in your belt. Sometimes you fight other mind-affecting toxins with poison, Fear Toxin is the easiest to obtain in Gotham and highly effective."
Thomas nodded, the young man codenamed Deathstroke was right, he did carry Fear Toxin.
It wasn't for counteracting toxins, but in the previous Flashpoint World, he needed Fear Toxin to deal with Aquaman Arthur's sister-in-law, Queen Siren of the Underwater Kingdom Zebel.
That woman, like her sister, was exceedingly beautiful, only she envied her sister's place, and after Flashpoint World's Mera was killed by Wonder Woman, she found her chance.
Siren wanted to be with her brother-in-law and become the rightful Queen of the Seven Seas, so she'd frequently appear on the battlefield, assisting the troops of Atlantis.
As her name implies, she's a sea siren, skilled at using her singing to enchant and control enemies, leading them to a beautiful yet deadly illusion.
And the safest solution in such situations isn't to stick cotton balls in one's ears, since they might get knocked out during a fight and impact combat effectiveness.
Thomas's method was to inject himself with a controlled dose of Fear Toxin before she spoke.
The deepest fears submerged in his mind would surface, consuming every corner of his brain, after which even the most enchanting songs sounded like ghostly cries, ensuring safety.