Hal was excited. In his view, he would be the core of Batman's plan, which would be a great opportunity to deliver a heavy blow to the behind-the-scenes manipulator.
"What should I do?" Hal asked.
"Although you already know the truth now, as long as you drink the rest of this alcohol, those traces can be maintained for a while. The Black Death Emperor has gathered at the seabed, when you rush to the scene later, they will definitely want to recruit you."
"Then I'll show these traces to them. Even if the information they got from the Black Death Emperor says that I'm not yet polluted or that they need to focus on me, as long as they see these traces, they would think the Black Death Emperor has other plans. And because there is a delay in their communication, at least in the next wave of operations, they won't focus on me."
"That's it." Shiller nodded with a smile and said.
"But this won't buy us much time." Hal said rationally, "At most one or two waves of attacks."
"That's entirely enough." Shiller and Hal walked out together.
"It seems you already have a clue? Where is the power of the White Light?"
"You will soon find out."
Reflecting on the journey, they have already reached the seabed. This was originally a seabed hot spring, near the bottom where hot streams should have erupted, but now it was astonishingly cold, and the closer they walked to the spring, the colder it got.
Hal prevented everyone from moving forward, he turned and looked at Clark, then said, "Cut it open here."
Clark nodded, took a deep breath, and a laser swept through, cutting a long crack into the ground. As soon as the opening was made, a dense smell of decay spread out.
Everyone recoiled in shock. Ron walked in front, then said, "I'll go down first, once it's safe, the rest of you can come down."
Ron flew down, and others looked worried. Soon Ron returned, but looking somewhat pale, he said, "It's full of skeletons down there."
"What?!"
"Not newly dead ones," Ron thought for a moment and said, "and they're not just human, there are various kinds of skeletons, including common animals, and it seems like there are even dinosaur bones, as if someone deliberately piled them here."
"Looks like this guy was well-prepared." Clark squinted and said, "Ron, you go up first, I'll burn this thing."
After Ron left the area, Clark repeatedly cut through with lasers, finally revealing the scene underneath the hot spring. Indeed, as Ron said, there were piles of biological bones here, each bone wrapped in the Power of Death, continuously spewing into the upper seawater through the seabed hot spring, thereby polluting the entire ocean.
Because the Power of Death on these bones was so dense, Clark dared not handle it rashly. He thought for a moment and said, "Hal, use your Green Lantern energy to get these bones out, I'll take them to the Sun for destruction."
Thinking it over, he still trusted the Sun the most. The Sun should be able to purify these unclean forces. As Hal did as instructed, using the Green Lantern energy to transfer these things out, Clark took the bones and flew to the Sun.
When he came back, he was holding one. Hal looked at him, and Clark said, "Leave one for Batman to study."
Hal nodded, actually, so far, they haven't really captured the true Power of Death, only detected some data. With a real power sample for research, they would be able to more easily uncover the weaknesses of the behind-the-scenes manipulator.
As one source was removed, the seawater visibly cleared up. The power of purification emitted by the environmental transformation device spread over the sea area, as decayed plants sprouted new buds, and fish eggs hatched one after another. It seemed that soon, it would be a vibrant and rich sea area again.
Members of the Justice League also breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, this environmental transformation device really worked. But thinking of Batman, Clark's heart clenched again.
"We can't be defensively passive, we must take the initiative to attack." Clark let out a long sigh and then said, "There's a source in the Atlantic, so there should be one in the Pacific too."
"That guy said he came from Seashore City." Hal timely spoke, "Seashore City is a West Coast city, their stronghold should also be over there. And the environmental purification device there is closer to Asia, further from their base, it might be hard to deal with."
"Hard to deal with or not, we have to deal with it." Clark said, "For this reason, the disasters on the West Coast might be more severe. We need to hurry over and take a look."
Hal wasn't not worried about Seashore City, but he knew that since these people chose the ocean as their starting point, they wouldn't likely devote too much effort on land.
Besides, they probably didn't expect the early preparation of Batman, able to purify ocean pollution, and these three setups were very scattered, with Europe, Asia, and America each having one. Other than America, the other two regions also have a lot of talented people. The manpower they have already tires out just stirring up troubles in the global sea areas, wanting to also handle land would be beyond their capacity.
Thinking of this, Hal once again marveled at Batman's foresight. He knew, if it weren't for these setups, allowing these guys to dominate the oceans, once they raised a tsunami filled with the Power of Death, all coastal cities worldwide would suffer.
And that guy, coming from Seashore City, wearing a black hood, would never show mercy to his hometown, and might even want to make an example out of them, turning Seashore City into a desolate area filled with death. At that time, Hal dared not think about how he would face the people of Seashore City.
Thinking of this, Hal also accelerated, and the group hurried to the West Coast, aiming to remove the pollution source in the Pacific Ocean as quickly as possible.
Batman, of course, was not idle. He was standing in the equipment room above the spike, constantly changing the settings. Although the power of purification continued to output and the Atlantic was regaining its former glory, he was still adjusting, seeming to want to do more.
Currently, the most idle person seemed to be Shiller. Since the president was not around, he had to temporarily take over the presidential duties. Fortunately, there wasn't much challenging work; it was just about collecting taxes and comforting the citizens.
But nearing dusk, an unexpected guest arrived at the President's Office. Hearing movement behind him, Shiller turned to see Damian.
"Shh!" Damian gestured him to be quiet, then raised his hands to show he meant no harm.
"Why are you here?" Shiller didn't intend to call anyone, and he already had some guesses about Damian's intentions.
Damian took a deep breath, looking somewhat hesitant, but some force induced him to sit opposite Shiller and say, "I want you all to help me."
"Help you with what?"
Damian's face displayed a conflicted expression but was soon overtaken by fear. He said, "I don't want... I don't want to become that kind of monster. I am not a monster! I am Damian Wayne, I am not a monster!!"
By the end, Damian was already shouting. Shiller poured him a glass of water and said, "Calm down."
Damian realized his loss of composure, but he was too preoccupied to care; he slammed the table and said, "Did you see Amanda's appearance? My god, if I turn into that, I'd rather die!"
He was shaking slightly as he said, "Batman was right. I really am a monster. I will become like that soon."
Shiller sighed, waved his hand in front of Damian's eyes, and said once Damian regained a bit of composure, "If I'm not mistaken, Amanda did not become like that because she was controlled by the Black Death Emperor; she chose to use that power willingly."
Damian was stunned, and Shiller said, "You resurrected ones were originally meant to sow discord among Justice League members, not to face Superman head-on. The Black Death Emperor didn't expect you all to play a significant role in the assault. Compared to warriors like Savage Wolf and Atlanna, you won't have much impact."
"Do you mean we've already been abandoned?"
"Sort of, Amanda was unwilling to be abandoned, hence pushed her internal power, turning herself into a monster. That same power, you can control it too, right?"
Damian's expression changed, then he said, "Things have reached this point; I have no need to lie to you. After revival, I indeed possess superpowers, but they are very weak, suitable only for sneak attacks, and I've never fully activated them."
"It's good you haven't," Shiller said after taking a sip of water, "otherwise you'd already be like Amanda."
Then Shiller thought for a moment and said, "Every bit of power the Black Death Emperor can penetrate the Multiverse with is precious and won't be wasted on useless people. You abandoned pawns are destined not to get new powers. Even if a battle goes badly, your current powers may be retracted and transferred to those spirits better at direct combat. So, you were wise to come to me."
"Do you have a solution?"
"Right now, there isn't any. But at least while you're here, they won't capture you and draw your power. That's already the best outcome."
Damian looked incredulous and said, "Surely Batman has a way, right?"
"Then you're going to have to wait," Shiller replied, "Batman won't disrupt his plan's rhythm just for you all. Consider yourselves lucky if you get included."
Instead of being disappointed, Damian got excited and said, "He really has a way, doesn't he? It'll all rely on Batman sealing the deal."
Shiller was somewhat helpless. Having Damian come to them for help was indeed expected. Given the considerable effort put into dissuading him earlier, the goal was precisely this effect. Yet Batman's allure was too overwhelming; no Robin could resist Batman.
"And Steve," Damian said, "he doesn't want to be involved either. However, he didn't come with me; he went to the Amazon instead."
Shiller thought about the spike's location in Europe and said, "Let him stay there."
Though they only managed to sway two people, accounting for Victor's mother being controlled by Dr. Stone, and the El couple unable to return from Krypton, that already comprised half of them.
Batman and Shiller had long surmised that taking back the powers from these people would not be easy for the Black Death Emperor. Otherwise, he would have recovered these powers at the moment the plan utterly failed. He'd likely need them brought somewhere or have certain contact made first.
With these individuals under their control, it equated to the Black Death Emperor wasting his invested powers on them entirely. His available power was limited, and such a waste would surely irk him.
Their preliminary layout seemed disjointed, but it was actually interconnected. Starting with the Mars people invasion plan foiling the discord tactic. Using Aliens as a guise, the spikes were driven into Earth as cover. Once the frontal attack commenced, they'd strike Oa Star, eliminate the drag Little Blue People, seize the Power of Seven Lanterns, and inoculate it into the spikes to purify the oceans. Then controlling some spirits to leave the Black Death Emperor stretched thin. The ebb and flow resulted in today's favorable situation.