The blue-green fruit was brought to his lips, the dark green juice spreading in his mouth with a taste reminiscent of pears soaked in seawater.
Listening to Deathstroke explaining his plan, Arthur was munching on the fruit like an oversized hamster.
This thing originally had a long name in the language of Atlantis and was a type of algae, but since it grew in seawater, calling it a fruit wasn't wrong.
Since strange monsters began appearing from the sea floor, he had been busy, and now he was indeed a bit hungry. His large build represented a large appetite.
Where did Deathstroke find this novel food? Why is this crab meat so tender? I must ask how it's made.
The emergence of Poseidonis above the sea had a great advantage, which was the ability to make fire and eat cooked food.
Although there was a kitchen in the royal palace, it was merely a place with knives and plates. The last time Barry and Deathstroke were invited for grilled fish, even the grill had to be hastily assembled, like being in the wilderness.
So, how much Arthur actually absorbed from Su Ming's long explanation, only he knew.
"So, how about now? Got it?" Su Ming looked at the burly man with long hair and a bushy beard inquisitively, and honestly, Arthur's appearance did have the vibe of a warrior carrying a sword from "Game of Thrones".
"Uh? Sure! No problem, leave it all to me!" Arthur momentarily showed a bewildered expression but quickly smiled and patted his chest with a resounding thump.
Beside him, Mera covered her forehead, her slender fingers trembling slightly. If it weren't for Diana silently laughing beside her, she would have really wanted to strangle her husband.
As if he really comprehended the plan!
But since he agreed, better to save him some face in front of outsiders.
Her seizing power wasn't because she wanted to be king, but because Arthur was really unsuitable. No matter what others might think, she saw herself merely as a regent.
Arthur still was the king, and his words should be as good as a decree.
Only, after this plan, the citizens of Gotham would probably suffer again, but if it only flooded the sewers, it shouldn't be a big issue.
Su Ming's plan was just that, it didn't matter what the Mad Laugh intends underground, once the flood comes, everything is in vain.
Knowing they're planning to tunnel meant Su Ming held their destiny.
As long as they were forced back to the surface and could be seen by satellites, Su Ming was determined to reduce their numbers by at least one, targeting the suspected magic caster in the enemy's team as a priority.
With the magic caster dead suddenly, how could the remaining members escape Su Ming's team? They'd probably be chased and beaten.
Su Ming stood up, his uniform transforming back into the likeness of Zorro. He tightened his gloves; did it matter if Arthur understood?
As long as he agreed.
"Alright, shall we depart?" Su Ming drew out a rapier, sketching a Z in the air.
"Let's go right now. I'll get Poseidon's trident, wait for me a bit." Arthur stood up and left with Mera, almost out of the door, he turned back and said, "You make a good Zorro, I used to love Zorro movies when I was a kid. When my dad had money, he'd take me to see them."
Diana tilted her head, pointing at Arthur's attire—golden armor on top and green pants on the bottom: "But now... has your aesthetic style changed?"
Arthur sighed, speaking of old times with a tone of regret: "Later I hit puberty, reached almost six feet three in height, and weighed 325 pounds (147kg). Have you ever seen a Zorro stronger than Ares?"
Wonder Woman showed a sympathetic smile, sighing to signal that he could go get the trident.
Arthur left with a pained expression, giving a 'I've received sympathy' look, pulling Mera along as he left. The Poseidon's trident was still in the temple; though the gods were mere shadows now, the divine artifacts could still be used.
The Inverted Man was becoming increasingly clever, learning more over time.
He knew that with the gods losing their divine power, the strong divine artifacts often became the source of conflict, and to compete for these artifacts, warlocks would surely draw more upon his power, letting him reap the benefits.
.............
Batman stuffed his intestines back into his abdomen, quickly applying medical gel to treat his wounds. Battling the Antlion Butterfly in these pitch-black tunnels, he suffered slight setbacks.
The opponent's speed was too fast, leaving little time to react when darting out from the darkness. Even with night vision, facing a monstrous half-demon with infinite strength, injury was inevitable.
Not to mention he had just dealt with Bane, that old rival becoming increasingly troublesome. After failing results from the first remote bat darts, Bane was on guard, and in the second battle, it came down to sheer strength.
Along the way, in the subway tunnels 'demonized' by Joker, there were various traps.
Laughing gas, bombs, automatic turrets, even bear traps, all these delayed him considerably.
Fortunately, the Antlion Butterfly was the last challenge. Batman managed to lure it in close as he became bait, detonating a sonic bomb when it tried to excavate his organs, a sound attack that left the opponent nowhere to hide.
He seized the opportunity and tore off the opponent's wings, then unleashed a flurry of punches at the moth's head, repeatedly kneeing the monster's chest, knocking the Demon out in seconds.
Not far away was a subway maintenance station, surrounded by neon arrow signs that spread like a peacock's fan, pointing at the door. Amidst the flowing lights, he seemed to hear the Joker's laughter.
The guy should be inside.
The fight with Bane had left his limbs fractured, his skull severely injured, and now his ears were ringing incessantly. The injuries caused by the Antlion Butterfly had worsened his blood loss, and his vision was now blurry.
Although he had injected Serum, the effect of the Laughing Gas was also affecting his judgment, with hallucinations flashing through his mind from time to time, seeing many dead acquaintances.
There were bad people and good people, continuously whispering in Batman's ear, peering out from the darkness, all with eerie smiles on their faces.
Batman ignored them with his rational mind, as this was the effect of the new Laughing Gas. Although this made it difficult to distinguish if they truly existed, his target was only the Joker—he just needed to recognize the Joker.
At this moment, he heard hurried footsteps behind him. Someone was running towards him—there were footsteps, meaning it wasn't a hallucination. He immediately heightened his vigilance and turned to look behind.
In the darkness, a glowing face appeared first, the features arranged in an @-@ pattern.
Batman removed his hand from the Flash Bomb in his belt—it was the Windbreaker Warrior, an ally.
Indeed, the Windbreaker Warrior was entirely soaked, water dripping off him persistently. It was hard to tell if it was from the previous bathtub or the rain outside, but when he stopped in front of Batman, he was breathless, panting heavily.
"Bat… Batman, I'm here… whew…" He rested his hands on his waist, his upper body leaning back and forth, trying to ease the fiery sensation in his lungs.
"You shouldn't have come." Batman turned away.
"Don't say that. Whew, although I almost died previously, I never thought of abandoning you." The Windbreaker Warrior scratched his hair, then rested his hands on his knees: "If you need to face the Joker, then you surely need help. You don't look so good right now."
Black may be a color that doesn't show dirt easily, but seeing Batman's suit full of various tears, it was easy to guess how much he had been hurt.
"How did you find me?" Batman stepped forward, no longer refusing extra assistance, using all his Willpower to suppress the pain and hallucinations, not in the mood to talk much with the warrior.
"Your aircraft, many people saw it. I should have come sooner, but my car was… not cooperating…" The Windbreaker Warrior followed, pulling out a pistol, indicating he was prepared and considered the switchblade insufficient.
Batman reached the doorway, but suddenly leaned against the wall beside the door, panting.
It turned out the Joker had decorated a small door extravagantly, mimicking the marquee outside the cinema back in the day. This psychological suggestion triggered stronger hallucinations in Batman—he saw his parents.
The pitch-black tunnel was like that dark alleyway from years ago. Now, right behind Batman, the scene of his parents being killed was replaying continuously.
Repetition, incessant repetition, like a videotape loop playing that segment over and over.
The sound of the bulbs lighting up and going out in front of the door was like the sound of the mother's pearl necklace being snapped and each bead falling to the ground.
No gunshots, and this was the scariest part—a scene like a silent movie, seemingly representing the inevitability of tragedy, destined to occur.
The Windbreaker Warrior swiftly approached him, slipping under his arm, shouldering the symbol of Gotham.
"Batman? Are you okay?"
But Batman didn't answer, his brows furrowed under the mask, eyes shut tight, unable to rid himself of the hallucinations.
That scene kept repeating in his mind, and he seemed to see each pearl bouncing on the ground.
The sound of the pearls hitting the ground grew louder, closer, now thunderous!
He didn't want to look and shouldn't look, and certainly didn't dare to look.
He used the last of his Willpower to focus on the pearls instead of looking at his parents' faces!
Simply forcing his mind to shift slightly exhausted all his mental energy, the pain in his body surged like a tide, nearly causing him to collapse.
But he knew clearly that if he gave up the struggle, as soon as he saw the eerie smiles on his parents' faces, he would be doomed.
That door named 'Madness' had already opened itself halfway for him—no, he could say he had already stepped halfway inside.
Inside the door, a ghastly pale face was smiling, beckoning to him.
At this moment, the Windbreaker Warrior supporting Batman reached into his coat pocket, and a sharp object stabbed straight into Batman's side.
All the previous hallucinations and physical pain seemed to vanish instantly.