"Ahem."
Seeing everyone looking at Batman like they were watching a show, Diana coughed twice in annoyance.
Batman had had a somewhat ambiguous relationship with Zatanna before, but in the end Catwoman was the one who won out.
Now Catwoman's body had already been frozen and gone cold, and yet they were already proposing to leverage Batman's connections to remotely control that team—wasn't that a bit indecent?
Su Ming looked at Batman, then at everyone else, and shrugged: "If you feel awkward, that's fine, I can go find Constantine. He'll definitely be able to convince Zatanna."
"No need, I can do it."
Batman agreed impassively. Among the Seven Invincible Warriors were the current top-tier Warlock Zatanna and Witch Child, plus several of the strongest tank-type Warriors; even in other Dimensions they were an extremely powerful force."
Su Ming nodded. He knew Batman would make the right choice: "Good, then send them to look for Superman, and to that so‑called Sixth Dimension to deal with the guy who conned you."
Diana was a bit worried. Remembering what she had seen over there, she still felt short of breath: "Let's not even talk about Troublemaker, but his accomplice is at least Multiverse Level. All those fakes we fought were created by him. The Seven Invincible Warriors..."
"Relax, Zatanna is a Reversed Speech Magic User, and right now she's directly linked to the Inverted Man. Witch Child isn't just holding the 'Fate Dice', she's also got the 'Father's Box' they stole from the Xida People. The other Warriors are either invulnerable to blades and bullets or have an Undying Body, and the team even has a Cosmic Level Escape Master like Mr. Miracle. Honestly, their lineup is way more balanced than yours."
"Hmph, you make it sound like the Justice League is weak. Since you think there's no problem, then let them go."
Diana was relieved, but she didn't want to hear it put that way. The League had fled with their tails between their legs and now needed the Seven Heroes to avenge them; it made them feel like they'd lost face.
Su Ming could guess what she was thinking. Everyone else's expressions said much the same; aside from Batman, who had no objections to retreating, the others all showed varying degrees of shame.
Whether the Justice League felt ashamed or not wasn't something Su Ming cared about. At a life‑and‑death moment like this, there was no room for embarrassment. He continued:
"The Inverted Man just told me that the one who fought you in that so‑called Sixth Dimension was the World Forger, Barbatos' missing master. Now I get where he went when Barbatos came here to make trouble. Turns out he didn't die; he's been in another Dimension hammering away at metal."
This was deduced by putting together the intel from the Inverted Man and Oliver.
The Watcher had died a long time ago, and the Qiongji had fallen into the League's hands. The Anti-Monitor had fallen into the Mad Laugh's trap and got killed last time as well. That left only the founder among Papetua's three sons, right?
The League's initial recon run into the Sixth Dimension and their clash with the foe hadn't been completely fruitless; at least they'd pried some intel loose.
The World Forger might be able to forge a Universe and shape some quasi-heroes, but he didn't know Magic.
If he didn't know Magic, then they'd use Magic to counter him. The Seven Invincible Warriors were an extremely seasoned team, at least more reliable than the Shadow Contract in this situation.
"Your intel is very valuable." Even Batman couldn't help but remark. He knew Deathstroke's sources were unclear, but there was no reason for him to lie now: "If they need help, the Justice League might still have some options."
Su Ming waved it off. These two matters were actually one and the same; most likely Superman was also trapped in the Sixth Dimension, so they could settle everything in one trip: "No need to worry. Even if they want to conserve Magic Power, they can still use Xi Jing's Superpower to cross Dimensions. That kid just has to draw a V in the air to open a Teleportation Gate; whether for attacking or retreating, it's foolproof."
"Xi Jing—if I'm not mistaken, he's the new masked man in Gotham." Batman tried to recall.
"Right. Back when Challenger Mountain—that black mountain—suddenly appeared inside Gotham City, this kid was on his way home from school and happened to fall into a crack in the street. That crack went straight down into the Dark Multiverse; he came into contact with Celestial Blood and Dark Universe Energy, and also touched the Divine Speed. You can probably guess the rest, right?"
"Is he a Speedster?" Barry vigorously wiped the corners of his mouth; the moment he heard Divine Speed he perked up.
Su Ming gave him a look and smiled: "No. He idolizes Batman. After Barbatos was taken care of, the first thing he did was have a friend make him a suit so he could become a Vigilante. On his very first outing, he ran into a Speedster from Midtown robbing a bank in Gotham. He slipped up a bit, and—oops—he killed the Speedster."
"Uh..."
Barry was speechless. How was that idolizing anyone? That was debuting at the peak—and plunging straight into Darkness!
Even Batman let out a sigh. Once you killed someone, you were walking a different path.
"He's a good person, and killing someone wasn't wrong. Were you planning to appeal for a Villain? Save it." Su Ming waved irritably, signaling to move the topic along: "Now there are only two problems left: dealing with Troublemaker and the 'Lussegapetua Legion'. Bald guys really are the hardest to handle..."
Batman thought for a moment and had the Hell Bat Armor close up again: "I'll handle Troublemaker. He definitely knows some things, and I can't let you kill him."
"That just leaves Luthor, and that's where the problem lies. We don't know where he's hiding, so we can't find him at all—we can only wait for him to make a move."
Su Ming was a bit helpless. Luthor now had both tech and Warlocks; trying to lock onto him by either method was extremely difficult.
Batman turned away and walked into the Darkness. He hadn't known the Owl Court had a secret base like this; the best solution was to bring in concrete and flood the whole place.
But before that, he had to scout out the situation here first. There was an obvious airship docking spot further back, so this should be under the Gotham City Government.
Thinking as he walked, he said to Deathstroke, "Let the Justice League handle the Destruction Legion. You can go help the Seven Heroes' side."
"Alright, but Green Arrow has to come with me." Su Ming nodded.
"What? Oliver's here? Why isn't he coming out?" Barry's head darted left and right at high speed.
Su Ming shot Barry a keep-it-secret look, and Barry got it—Deathstroke didn't want to say.
"Fine."
Batman answered curtly, then quickened his pace. He had to slip away from everyone and have a proper talk with Joker.
Watching Batman walk into the darkness, everyone from the Justice League stayed where they were except Ron, who followed him. The others just stood around waiting, a bit at loose ends.
Diana looked at Su Ming and casually pulled the giant sword out of the ground for him:
"Your injuries okay?"
"It's nothing. Self-healing just needs some time, and it's not like this is my first time getting hurt."
Su Ming was in a much better mood now. If it weren't to calm himself down, he wouldn't be chatting this much with the Justice League in a pitch‑black place.
There was still a lot to do next.
Diana thought for a moment: "If possible, when we fight the Destruction Legion I want to bring both the Titans and Young Justice League. Do you think that's okay?"
"What are Donna and the others doing now?" After they split up last time, Su Ming hadn't seen them again.
It had actually only been one night, but counting the time he spent in Marvel, it had been more than ten years.
"Young Sea Hero Gas turned into a fish and got a bit hurt. After things were resolved, apart from spending some time together in the hospital, the others should all be resting at home now."
Diana still knew a bit about Donna's whereabouts. After all, the two of them went back to Paradise Island together, and later the young lady only left when she got a message from her teammates.
Su Ming looked at her very seriously: "If you can have more people hitting fewer, you absolutely have to grab that chance. Bringing those two squads along doesn't hurt anyway. As long as you can protect Raven and the Purple Crystal Princess, those two powerful Warlocks can give you a huge edge, it's just…"
"Just what?" Diana's heart tightened.
Su Ming slowly let out a breath: "I'm worried Luthor might expose the Justice League destroying the Origin Wall and incite all the masses to turn against you. If you don't have a contingency for that, things could get ugly."
"We can't just kill the people who get stirred up, right? Batman's thought of that too, but I don't know if he's prepared anything." Diana scratched her hair helplessly, giving her head a little rub.
"Anyway, you've got to be careful. Don't let the Destruction Legion restore Earth's communication channels—TV, radio, newspapers, especially the internet. You have to keep a tight grip on the battlefield of public opinion."
"We know. Luckily the flood's also bought us some time." Barry unconsciously slipped between the two of them, earning Diana's "death glare," but he didn't notice at all and quickly started talking to Deathstroke.
"It's not our time, Barry. Don't forget the Destruction Legion is also waiting for Papetua to wake up. They need time too." Su Ming couldn't think of any good way to locate the enemy for the moment. "If Papetua wakes up, we'll instantly be on the back foot. Even though she compressed herself into the Multiverse to hide after Creation, so in theory she downgraded herself, she's still at the peak of Multiverse Level."
"How about I try going back into the past through the Divine Speed, see who sealed her into the Origin Wall, and then we ask that person to make a move again now?"
Barry rubbed his head, proposing a plan related to the Divine Speed.
The Divine Speed Plane was a very peculiar place. It not only allowed time and space travel, it could also show some timelines that had happened—or hadn't happened.
Su Ming ruffled his hair, face full of pleasant surprise: "Sure, looks like going to the Sixth Dimension actually made you smarter?"
Barry waved his hands in embarrassment, his face a bit flushed: "Don't mention it, that trip was basically getting scammed. I chatted with a fake Wally for hours there. Some of the stuff he said sounded totally ridiculous to me, but some things… I do think are worth a try."
"Then try it. Let's go."
Su Ming let him go and, together with Diana, looked at Barry with encouraging eyes, like onlookers waiting to watch the drama.
Barry sighed and held his hand out to Su Ming: "Then you have to give me something to eat first. The good stuff I ate in the Sixth Dimension, I just threw it all up…"