Until Anatoli walked into the Justice League's office, his face wasn't looking good. He went in, but left Shiller and Deathstroke outside, saying he wanted to talk to the Justice League alone.
"They won't start fighting, will they?" Deathstroke asked.
"It was hard to say before, but now they probably won't," Shiller said. "After all, they still need to save some energy to fish people out from the Origin Wall."
"So what's going on, exactly?" Deathstroke asked.
Shiller gave a brief overview. He hadn't really gone through the memories in detail, but he knew the outcome. Basically, Bruce orchestrated a whole operation, pinning everyone up against the Origin Wall. Once you're up there, no matter how powerful you are, you can't get down on your own.
"God." Deathstroke said, "So what's with that wall?"
"It's not just a wall; it can be considered a cosmic shield that protects the Real Universe from external threats. Because of that, anything that's hung up there can't come down."
"Can that Russian guy get them down?"
"Maybe," Shiller said. "He should have a way, but it's a matter of how big the commotion will be."
"You still have to consider how big the commotion will be?" Deathstroke said, "You've already got a Russian involved; all you need to consider is whether the commotion is big or very big."
"Not necessarily. He does have a completely quiet and efficient solution, but unfortunately, he doesn't want to use it."
"What solution?"
"Find Lucifer," Shiller smiled again and said, "Unfortunately, those two are in the middle of a Cold War."
"What's that about?"
This time, Shiller didn't elaborate and just said, "The two of them had a little falling out, and they've been in a Cold War for about a decade."
"A decade?! You might as well say they've broken up..."
Shiller shook his head and said, "Lucifer is an Immortal Species, living since before Genesis. A human decade is at most two and a half days for him. For a Cold War, that's not long."
"Yeah, the Soviets are great at this, aren't they?"
They both laughed. But soon, Shiller said, "Actually, getting these people down isn't hard. The difficulty is in doing it without any harm, not damaging a single one. That requires very precise operational skills."
"Sounds like something humans can't pull off." Deathstroke commented, "That Russian guy doesn't look special; can he really do it?"
"You know, to avoid backing down in a Cold War, Soviets would do anything."
Just then, Anatoli pushed the door open and came out. Wonder Woman was following him out. Hal was also walking with him. Only Arthur at the end said, "This First Lantern is weird; why do I feel like his English has a Russian accent?"
"You speak Russian?"
"I've talked to the fish over there," Arthur said, "but I didn't dare talk much, you know. I'm afraid there might be KGB among them."
"Where did he go?" Shiller looked towards where their group had disappeared.
"To the Total Furnace," Arthur said. "I must say, this First Lantern is quite gallant. We asked him to help find Batman, and he immediately agreed. And regarding the Power of Seven Lanterns, he didn't refuse either. I really don't know why Little Blue People locked him up in the first place."
"Maybe it was because back then, he hadn't started the Cold War with Lucifer yet." Shiller laughed again.
Then the two of them also went to the Lantern Furnace, just in time to hear Anatoli saying, "America sacrificed all its people's wisdom over two hundred years and got a Batman in exchange. I think it's worth it. This Lantern Furnace design is very clever, even more brilliant than the Guardians of the Universe. This can't be attributed only to the advantage of hindsight; he definitely has some accomplishments in mechanical engineering."
"Okay, let's stop the research on the Power of Seven Lanterns here for now." Anatoli said, "Now I need to go inquire in the Multiverse; we should have news soon. Wait for my return."
"I'm feeling a bit tired; I'm going back to sleep for a while." Shiller suddenly said. Deathstroke looked at him, bewildered. Going to sleep just as dawn breaks?
But they hadn't slept much over the last few days trying to complete their task. He's a Cyborg, so whether he sleeps or not doesn't matter, but Shiller, pretending to be a normal Orca, still needs to sleep.
Deathstroke figured another fierce battle might be ahead, so he went back to rest as well. Little did he know, his sleep was real sleep, while Shiller went back to the High Tower.
"He's a hundred percent going to find out about Lucifer." Greed said, leaning against the parapet, "But Lucifer mustn't find out, because if he does, he loses."
"Exactly, he's going to secretly find out." Another voice came from below, "If Lucifer doesn't plan to reconcile with him first, he absolutely won't ask him to get them down from the Origin Wall."
"Immortal Species really are a hassle," another voice came from high above, "How can you not have a winner after over a decade of Cold War?"
"Something feels off." Arrogant spoke, "Does Lucifer know Anatoli is the First Lantern?"
"How could he not know? He's the administrator and can see the backend data."
"Oh, right. Bruce is also an administrator, and still, he pinned everyone to the wall. The level of unprofessionalism among these Angels is astonishing."
"Oh my God, so Lucifer doesn't know?"
"He might know he's alive, but not that he's back." Another voice chimed in, "God probably doesn't want his eldest son having much interaction with Anatoli either. Once fooled was enough."
"You mean, God is also helping Anatoli hide it?"
"Heavens, if Lucifer finds out, won't he go insane?"
"No, I think if Anatoli is hiding something from Lucifer, there must be a reason for it. It's definitely not to make him sad."
"What could be the reason? Could it be that he's afraid of God coming after him?"
"If he were afraid of God, he wouldn't be doing those things."
The discussion in the High Tower grew more heated. Greed suggested, "We really should send someone to watch the show."
"Come on, you can't follow him without being noticed." A voice came from the bottom of the High Tower, "I once tried to track him to the cafeteria, and I was spotted before even leaving that corridor."
"That guy's KGB experience isn't for nothing, his counter-surveillance skills are too strong. If he finds out we're following him just for fun, I'm in trouble."
"Then what should we do? I really want to know if he's gone to see Lucifer. It'd be such a shame to miss this big show."
"If we go, he'll definitely know we're there for the show. But there is one person who wouldn't arouse suspicion."
"Ah, I know, the Agent." Greed looked downstairs at the Agent and said, "He knows you're just doing it for the mission."
"I'm not going."
"Why not?"
"What kind of mission is 'watching the show'?"
"Then let me rephrase." Greed cleared his throat, "Supervise the Origin Wall rescue plan."
"Then I could just squat by the Origin Wall, why follow him?"
"Uh, why not protect him up close?"
"Does he even need my protection?"
"Generally, no. But if he goes to see Lucifer, and Lucifer finds out he's already back, the two might end up fighting."
"So what? Can I beat him, or can I beat Lucifer?"
"But if you stand between them, they definitely won't dare make a move. Because Lucifer knows your relationship with Anatoli is deep, and Anatoli knows you've marked Lucifer. For the sake of each other, they wouldn't dare do anything to you."
The Agent looked helpless. Greed pressed on, "Plus, you could completely change his stereotype about American agents."
"What stereotype?"
"Uh, something like stupid and incompetent?"
"Then his stereotype isn't enough. Stupid, incompetent, reckless, impulsive, lacking professionalism, with the vigilance of a ripe banana, and ten times more efficient at killing their own than the enemy. Can I not know this?"
Now it was Greed's turn to be speechless. He said, "But you're not like that, you could totally leave him with an impression of being sharp and capable."
"Haven't you noticed?" the Agent pointed out, "It's the traits left by the morbidity on you, making you seek his approval. But I don't need it."
"It's not about seeking approval now, we just want to watch the show!" A voice came from the bottom of the High Tower again, "If you know him well enough, you'll know this is a rare opportunity. I think you've realized he's even harder to deal with than Batman. It's not easy to see such a person get frustrated."
"I was just about to say." The Agent said, "You're the closest ones to him, aren't you always thinking about watching his drama?"
"For a long time, that's been our driving force. Anyway, if you don't go, we'll go ourselves…"
The Agent sighed deeply and said, "I'll go, then. But he's probably going to do a lot of mysticism research, which I don't understand."
"Get a teammate." said Greed, "I'll help you find one. Remember not to stray too far, especially when he's planning to go to Heaven."
When Shiller opened his eyes, he sighed first. He's been sighing a lot lately. Considering the troubles the Multiverse is facing now, this sighing frequency is actually not high.
Soon he saw the news from Battleworld and then arrived at the Prime Universe's Battleworld teleportation point, also within the Justice League's base. However, because Batman was absent, Superman became the one to grant approvals. Shiller had evidently given him a heads-up. With a flash of the teleportation array, a figure in a long trench coat emerged from it.
Shiller stepped forward and shook hands with Constantine. Considering this might involve Heaven this time, he had sought out the Movie Universe's Constantine. In the Multiverse, only his power comes more from religion.
"You look much better." Shiller sized up Constantine and said, "Quit smoking?"
"No." Constantine pulled out another cigarette and put it in his mouth. But he had a good habit of only poisoning himself. He would seldom smoke when others were around.
Constantine indeed looked much healthier. Although still thin and pale, he was much better than that half-dead state he used to be in. He walked to the reception area and sat down, with Shiller sitting across from him.
"So, the mission this time is…"
Shiller opened his mouth and didn't know what to say for a moment. He thought if he directly told Constantine he was planning to watch Lucifer and someone fight, Constantine would definitely put a flaming Gatling to his forehead to wake him up.
So he put it more subtly: "We've invited an expert to solve the case of the Multiverse Batman's disappearance. During the process, we might encounter some friends from Heaven and Hell. We need to protect him throughout to ensure Batman can be rescued."
"I see. It seems those Archangels and Satans are restless again." Constantine shook his head and said, "I just didn't expect they would actually dare to mess with Batman. That's not a good choice, simply insane."
"Who says it's not?" Shiller also took out a cigarette, put it in his mouth, and said coldly, "I really don't know which fool caused this trouble, and which unlucky guy came to clean up the mess."