The Hawkmen turning into ash was merely the beginning, the entire planet started shaking violently, and through the entrance, they could see the buildings outside restoring to reality; it was a planet left in ruins after war.
All the buildings were broken, and there were no longer beautiful landscapes, only surrounded by destruction and silence.
The structure of the inverted pyramid was naturally not an exception, and it started to slowly tilt to one side.
The group planning to flee from the entrance suddenly had their attention captured by the seat behind the steward.
The backrest revealed its true face, peeling away like a soft fruit skin; it was actually a massive stone tablet, depicting a stern-faced woman holding a disc, marked with the symbol of transcendence and destruction united.
It seemed to possess magic power, and everyone was forcibly drawn to it, unable to look away even if they wished.
The woman's relief stared straight at the group, they could see endless chaos within her eyes, everything displaying in dazzling flames, fantasies were all to be scorched to nothingness.
Then, the disc she held suddenly emitted a blinding light, and those staring intently at the stone tablet couldn't help but scream as they fell from the air.
This gaze seemed to last ten thousand years, and when they snapped back to reality and climbed out from the dust, they found themselves trapped within the room.
The stone tablet was gone.
"The secret chamber of the steward has defensive measures, and the violent shock triggered the mechanism, now we're trapped inside." Xiara flew to the entrance, but at that time, the original entrance had been blocked completely by a huge metal slab dozens of meters thick, she shook her head with some despair: "According to its design, the next time it opens is a hundred years later."
Ron tried his phase ability, but everything around was N Metal, constantly growing stronger, now capable of blocking his phase transfer.
That means his wall-penetrating technique was ineffective too.
Kendra stretched her wings a bit, still feeling a little dizzy from being knocked on the head by Xiara earlier, but she understood their situation now.
"There's no food or water here, although there's still air, I think we won't need a hundred years, we'll be dead in about a week."
Ron shook his head, speaking earnestly: "I have self-healing ability, you can eat my flesh, drink my blood, at least lasting more than two weeks. Moreover, before then, the Justice League will detect the changes in Sena Gang, Batman will definitely come to rescue us."
Kendra looked at Ron with some emotion, this spirit of sacrifice had always been with him: "Ron..."
Ron simply smiled, giving Hawk Woman an affirming look, it was encouragement and an indistinct emotion, the atmosphere between them seemed to steadily turn somewhat ambiguous.
If everyone were to die, why not cherish the present?
Unfortunately, that strange atmosphere was quickly disrupted by a string of RAP, as the Black Lantern Hero John fired words off like a machine gun: "Hey, don't say such weird things, I absolutely won't eat my comrades! Instead of trying to turn myself into BBQ, why not do some hypnosis or something, let me try to power up the Lantern Ring, I bet we can blast our way out of here."
Xiara didn't see much hope in this suggestion: "All around here is N Metal, and as Papetua draws closer, they grow stronger, the Lantern Ring itself is an energy creation, while it is anti-energy."
Ron seemed to hear something, was the previous, real universe actually forged from N Metal? Like how the current universe is forged from X Metal?
As they pondered silently for a solution, the room suddenly illuminated with a faint violet glow, a pentagram-shaped teleportation gate opened, and Batman arrived with a team.
Ron stood up: "Batman, how did you find us?"
Batman tilted his head, indicating the Star Hero beside him, and calmly replied: "He saw you, then opened the teleportation gate using brain energy."
John attempted to shine the lantern ring at Star Hero, and the mechanical voice echoed: "Energy level, unable to calculate."
He stuck out his tongue: "God, damn it...."
Star Hero didn't mind his actions but walked straight to Xiara, a smile appearing on his dry face: "Xiara, Kendra, it's indeed strange seeing you like this."
"Sorry, do we know you?" The two women asked in unison.
"But I still recognize you, the Totality destroyed the chains of rebirth, splitting you into two parts simultaneously."
Star Hero reached out to Xiara, drawing from her chest a mass of green energy, like ethereal smoke, constantly writhing:
"Papetua doesn't want you complete, she fears what might happen if you face her."
"What are you doing?!" Xiara exclaimed, looking down at what was drawn from inside her, feeling as if losing her soul.
Star Hero pressed the energy towards Kendra, the green mist shot straight into Kendra's chest: "I'm doing what I was sent here to do, to set everything back on track...."
Kendra was struck, retreating as the green energy mist emitted a strong light, enveloping her and her wings.
"You're... wait, wow, I'm returning as the soul lost when Xiara died, and I feel... complete."
She was filled with doubt initially, but after accepting the gift, she discovered that Star Hero seemed to have no malicious intent, but instead had repaired her.
Especially her wings, as they charged with this energy, they spread high, displaying many mysterious patterns, like a star map.
She moved her new N Metal wings, stretching them in front of her to take a look: "How did you know this energy could be used like that?"
Star Hero shook his head; he actually didn't know, he just had a feeling that it could be done this way.
But he wouldn't say that. People like hope and confidence: "There are many broken things in this cosmos, it's time to repair them."
Xiara touched her chest and raised her head blankly: "What about me? You just ripped away half of my soul and handed it to her, what should I do?"
Star Hero opened a short-distance teleportation gate, transporting everyone to the ruins outside, as dust-laden winds blew by, all eyes could see was desolation.
"It's not like that, you are still you, your story is still your story, I will return it to you."
"...."
"Sena Gang still has thousands of survivors, they still need a leader, you can rebuild here without relying on the absorption device, others will come to help you, in the future, this place will play an important role."
What else could Xiara do? She really had nothing left to lose: "I understand...Thank...thank you."
Kendra had always regarded Sena Gang as her homeland, witnessing the dire situation, and seeing her former compatriots reduced to ashes, she deeply felt this pain as well. She grasped Xiara's hand: "Xiara...."
Hawkman Queen countered by clasping that hand armor: "No need to say it anymore, you were right before, the map on your wings leads to a higher plane, a mythical level dimension, do not tread it lightly, it's dangerous."
Batman had been quietly listening by the side, and unlike Barry who tilted his head in confusion, he seemed to understand quite a bit.
He looked at Deathstroke, who was simply pondering while pinching the chin of his face armor.
Batman remained silent for a while, then shifted his gaze to Ron: "So, did you obtain the knowledge you wanted?"
Ron paused, hesitated for a second before slowly nodding: "Yes, I discovered some things, when I was a child, I was once captured by humans. I remembered...some things but still need to research."
"Great, let's head back to the Hall of Justice....then make plans."
After bidding farewell to Xiara, a few of them still left through the pentagram teleportation gate, the Justice League finally replenished its ranks from a certain perspective.
And as they walked back with heavy footsteps, Batman noticed Barbara anxiously waiting for him, clutching one shoulder.
He took the bloodstained letter from her hand, silently extracting the thin piece of paper.
"Miss me?"
The letter bore eerie blood-red marks, as if they were written with a fingernail, or like cracks on the paper's surface. In Batman's memory, only one person would write such creepy stuff.
Deathstroke saw the content of the letter not far behind him, after all, there were only these big words on that piece of paper.
Batman first inspected the marks on the letter, then unfolded the envelope and took a look, sniffed it beneath his nose, and then used some device to examine it.
Afterwards, everyone could feel that although his expression hadn't changed, the feeling he exuded became heavier and darker. It was as if before everyone's eyes, he suddenly retreated into the abyss.
Barry lightly nudged Deathstroke's waist with his elbow, whispered: "Joker?"
Deathstroke merely nodded slightly, seemingly bored, walked to the side to find a place to sit down, removed the Nightfall Greatsword from his back, and casually tapped on the silver dots with his fingers.
Clark approached Bruce with a worried expression and asked: "Need us to help? Is this Luthor's trap?"
Batman shook his head, crumpling the letter paper in his hand into a ball: "Joker has left Luthor, he's already back in Gotham, waiting for me."
Barry covered his face and sat down next to Deathstroke: "We can help you capture him, stop playing games with that lunatic."
"You are not his match. He will continuously use various perverse actions to provoke you, making you kill him, and if he dies, the Joker Virus will turn everyone into Jokers." Batman refused the offer for assistance, as usual.
Ron first engaged in telekinesis communication with Megan, before joining the exchange among the others: "So far, we still cannot confirm whether the Joker Virus really exists, perhaps it's just a hoax...."
Batman shook his head at him and started walking out of the room, the black cloak disappeared at the doorway, leaving only his low voice resonating indoors: "That's not a mind game deception. Joker disdains lying about this matter. And we already have a Joker Virus patient, which is Laughing Bat."
Upon hearing this name, except for Deathstroke, everyone else seemed momentarily at a loss for words, and the atmosphere became suddenly tense.