Multiverse: Deathstroke

The smell of burning buildings filled the streets, and Shangri-La was soon about to be razed to the ground. A few people stood on the city wall, with the strong wind, brought by the temperature difference, causing everyone to squint their eyes.

Except for "Deadman" Brand, none of them had any intention of extinguishing the fire.

Besides the fact that Stranglehold did not like fire, Bobo also hated it. As a hairy animal, he instinctively disliked flames.

The mountaintop wind carried embers, slamming them against Su Ming's armor, turning them into white ash. He was still trying to calm the bloodlust impulse caused by his previous injuries.

But that did not prevent him from thinking.

After stopping a possible argument between Zatanna and Mazikeen, Su Ming inquired about the situation from Swamp Thing, and at the same time briefly mentioned what happened with the Parliament of Trees.

Swamp Thing currently had no combat ability, and worried about The Green, he sank into the ground like diving and made his way to the Amazon River basin along the plant roots.

As for Deadman Brand, he was still a foreign monk, a monk worshipping Indian gods.

Su Ming indicated that he was not familiar with him, and Deadman could do whatever he wanted.

Deadman's main form of attack was possessing enemies' bodies and pulling tricks from within, like something out of "The Grudge."

However, this type of attack had no effect on Hecate.

If he dared to get inside Hecate, he'd probably get blown to pieces by her energy.

Right now, even though Hecate only took back a fraction of her power, it was still much stronger than Diana's.

As an incarnation of magic itself, her current form was like a highly concentrated tank of magical energy.

Su Ming touched the Cloak of Levitation and quietly moved aside to ask it in a low voice.

"That giant woman over 300 meters tall in the distance, can you eat her?"

The cloak seemed to twitch, swaying left and right, indicating that it could not.

It could absorb more stable forms of energy, like from gems or magical items.

But the active energy inside an enemy, although rich in quantity and quality, couldn't be absorbed because it was controlled by the enemy's consciousness.

If Hecate were a biological entity, Su Ming could have let Stranglehold eat her. Although their size difference looked ridiculous, symbiotes were bottomless pits when it came to eating.

However, Hecate was a magical concept, her form conjured.

Similar to the Upside-Down Man, if he were to cut off a piece, it would just dissolve into colorful magical vapor and return to her.

Without a true physical entity, Stranglehold couldn't eat it either.

So the only option left was his earlier plan: release the Upside-Down Man and let the dark side of magic replace the light side.

The Upside-Down Man represented all the darkness of magic, while Hecate currently only embodied one-fifth of the light. As long as the Upside-Down Man didn't get distracted, he would surely win.

Though he was always curious about the Prime Earth and unaccustomed to a corporeal body, meaning he couldn't always fully utilize his combat power.

Still, he had beaten Constantine and his group of three. He was strong—just not very smart.

As for the effect of replacing one with the other on the magical community... At this point, having any magic is good enough—who cares about balance?!

To the Upside-Down Man, most current sorcerers were like thieves. Su Ming didn't have the Time Stone, and negotiating without leverage would be uncertain.

The Upside-Down Man had been shoved back twice by both Su Ming and Constantine; it would surely be more careful next time, making it harder to replicate the same tactics.

So, before negotiating, he needed to find a way to counter the Upside-Down Man—at least make it so the Upside-Down Man had no means against him.

That was not easy.

The idea was there, but the solution was challenging.

For instance, finding the ultimate wishing machine, the Cursed Trinity, the Fifth-Dimensional Imps, or code-named "A"—all could easily beat the Upside-Down Man.

However, these items or beings couldn't be found without years of research. They could come to you, but you could never find them.

Besides, this was a magic issue, and Su Ming's understanding of magic was quite limited, and the mages around him clearly didn't have this level of insight.

Nabu, the ancient one, might have known more.

But he had switched sides and disappeared.

Zeus was also missing. Dream, who recorded world history, was missing. The Parliament of Trees, which chronicled Earth's history, had mostly died, losing much of their memories. It seemed all paths to information had been cut off.

Su Ming had the feeling that someone had manipulated all of this.

But there was still a more reliable consultant—one who could not be stopped by anyone.

"You all find somewhere to hide; I'm going to consult someone."

"???"

Everyone was discussing what to do next, and suddenly it seemed like Su Ming's thoughts had jumped far away.

They couldn't keep up!

Barry was used to it, though. He had lost track of Batman and Deathstroke's thinking long ago.

Since Su Ming said he had a solution, they might as well wait.

Su Ming handed over the phone modified by Batman to Barry; he couldn't take the tracker along.

Then he began to remove the armor from his left arm, took out the Owl Dagger, and cut a deep gash on his arm. He reached inside, pulling and pressing.

Everyone's expressions were varied. Would self-mutilation lead to a solution?

Before they understood what was happening, Su Ming vanished in an instant.

"Uh..." Barry scratched his head. The disappearance process was too fast for even the Speed Force to see—what was going on?

In any case, whatever Su Ming was going to do, hopefully, it was fast—the two goddesses were still battling it out.

The Ancient One was at Kamar-Taj, overseeing the rebuilding efforts of her disciples while enjoying the gifts Su Ming had given her.

When they had last met, Gin had stuffed a bunch of things into her hands. Since it was a gift, she accepted it, and then examined it slowly back at home.

Those shameless undergarments had been thrown away, but she kept the stockings. Previously, she wore long pants under her robes, but stockings were more breathable and comfortable.

Anyway, no one could see them.

There were also those food items and drinks. She had lived for so many years, but these novel snacks were completely new, with tastes she had never experienced before.

Spicy, multi-layered—it was a flavor that Kamar-Taj didn't have.

Though she was bald, she wasn't a monk, nor did she abstain from eating.

These flavors of the mundane world seemed to bring her to a higher level, showing her the diversity of the world.

It was like she had attained enlightenment.

Now, she was sitting alone in a brightly lit side chamber filled with incense smoke, calmly drinking tea while eating spicy strips.

So when Su Ming walked in through the snowy winds, he saw the Ancient One having spicy strips for her midnight snack.

He could understand this behavior.

The spicy strips produced by Wilson Enterprises were of high quality and tasted amazing. Even from his past-life perspective, they were perfect.

They could be addicting—once you ate one, you'd want another.

However, those things were really spicy. If eaten at night, you'd notice the side effects the next morning when visiting the restroom. That burning sensation was enough to make even Captain America scream in pain.

Su Ming was now contemplating whether to remind the Ancient One to be careful about "localized snowfall" tomorrow.