Just a few steps out the door, Bruce saw Diana rushing along the corridor.
"Ah, you little gorilla..."
Bruce grumbled to himself, considering once again setting up Bo Bo with someone. However, he leaned against the wall, showing a tired smile as he looked at Diana.
Diana slowed her pace, observing Bruce up and down: "Are you hurt?"
"Holding up a dimension and putting it down gently without breaking it—if it were someone else, they'd probably be dead." Bruce casually placed his hand on her shoulder, making a show of being a gravely injured man. "Why are you here?"
Diana initially wanted Deathstroke to think of a solution for the world's situation, but seeing him like this rendered her unable to speak.
So she bowed her head, pulling Deathstroke towards the Teleportation Gate. She had arrived here using Night Shadow's help for teleportation, so the process went smoothly.
"It's nothing; I'm taking you to the Hall of Justice for treatment."
"It's damage to the soul and spiritual power. The Final Machine doesn't have this function. The situation isn't serious, just needs time to recuperate."
Bruce refused, noting that Batman seemed easygoing at the moment but only because he was acting crazy. As for the Final Machine, it was constructed by Batman, who knows what tricks it might hold.
Diana pursed her lips and nodded: "Then I'll send you to Paradise Island. The island has hot springs, palaces, all very nice; just don't go killing the elders recklessly."
"You're learning humor too, huh. Haha, those undead really don't serve any purpose you can learn from, except maybe practicing arguing?" Bruce chuckled twice, clutching his side.
"It's practicing political maneuvering, not arguing..." Diana said, humorlessly, dragging him into the dark Teleportation Gate: "Stop talking, tough guy, you've got yourself in this condition, just listen obediently now."
They were using a passage from the Shadow Plane; inside, there was still the smell of seawater, likely left over from Earth's drainage.
It's a pity about the drainage outlet set on the Origin Wall, it's truly a work of art.
"I'm not going to Paradise Island; I have my arrangements and need to leave for a while. I've already secured enough time for you all, or rather, Luthor will give everyone time."
Bruce shook his head with a smile, still rejecting going to Paradise Island—not that it wasn't a good place, but it's definitely full of Diana's spies.
"But the Void is devouring our universe, at this rate, it won't be long." Diana placed Bruce on a chair in the conference room and pulled down her hood.
Bruce first squinted at Bo Bo who was facing the wall in the corner. It wasn't until the gorilla shivered that he answered the Female Hero's question.
"I destroyed the Third Dimension, and the Seven Heroes should destroy the Sixth Dimension too. The first, second, and fifth dimensions represent illusions. So, Luthor and Papetua can only choose to play in our current dimension. As soon as Papetua awakens, the Void's devouring will quickly cease; she's preserving this dimension."
Bo Bo turned his head, unable to keep pretending: "So, what Luthor mentioned in his speech about 'the Year of Villains' wasn't just a metaphor; he really provided time."
"Yes, at least a year. It's plenty of time for me to heal. Is there any other issue now?" Bruce slumped into his chair like Hawking.
"Resource issues, now that Luthor has exposed a lot of intelligence unfavorable to the Justice League, everyone is going crazy." Diana went to the console to adjust several channels, letting Deathstroke watch the news and the protestors outside the Hall of Justice: "The scarcity of living supplies has made global citizens anxious, while robberies and thefts are frequent."
"Uh-huh, same old story, no worries, these are minor issues."
Bruce watched the various news segments on the screen for a while, waved his hand indifferently. Even if he didn't return, Bo Bo could surely think of a solution soon:
"Luthor loves 'dramatic silence,' I suspected he would pull a suicide stunt, with heroes framed and dying unjustly, allowing spectators worldwide to enjoy the short-circuited silence. Haha, the Joker was right; Luthor is still Luthor… So, with Batman unavailable, should I issue orders in his stead?"
"Go ahead, we're all listening to you." Diana agreed without hesitation, finding a sense of stability.
After Batman's untimely behavior, she found Deathstroke more reliable.
Control of the Justice League was in hand, especially with the complete assembly of heroes. Using each person's abilities appropriately made it akin to a Super Wish Machine—there was nothing they couldn't achieve.
Green Arrow had been brought back to the Justice League seat, only the 'Door Handle of Transcendence' was missing, the initial strategic goals were fully achieved.
To everyone—even his tagalongs like Green Arrow and Diana—it seemed as though he was being dragged around by Mad Laughs and Luthor. But in reality, all the pieces were in place.
Not playing the game with Batman, Mad Laughs, and the Joker wouldn't drive Batman to madly entrust the Justice League to him.
Not letting Luthor feel like he's leading everywhere wouldn't provide a chance to set traps for Papetua.
Next, they couldn't just sit back and let Luthor smoothly develop. They needed to make a vehement stand against him, making Luthor perceive resistance to play his part unaware of the lurking darkness...
And likely, by now, the preparations made on Earth -11 should be about ready for action.
A myriad of thoughts crossed his mind as Su Ming smiled and pulled a cigarette from his pocket, lighting it up: "Assemble all the heroes we can gather; we're preparing for full-scale war."
"I've already given the same order, but now every available hand has been deployed." Diana quickly explained, puffing her chest with pride that her thoughts aligned with Deathstroke's.
Su Ming first nodded, then shook his head.
"I'm talking about everyone, not just all the heroes of our Monistic Universe, but the Multiverse, including Light and Darkness, all the heroes from the remaining 90-plus Monistic Universes that still survive."
"Hiss... Are you planning to reboot the Hall of Justice?"
Bo Bo widened his eyes in surprise, leaning in to hear more.
"Why not? A crisis in the Multiverse naturally calls for the entire Multiverse to respond. Bruce is out of commission, but we still have seventy or eighty Batmen..." Su Ming said casually, letting Bo Bo light his cigarette sycophantically, exhaling a puff of smoke.
"Hope they won't blame us, Earth 0's Justice League caused an incident that involved everyone..." Diana showed a guilty expression; clearly it was the Justice League's mistake, yet other heroes are implicated.
"It's the only way, otherwise I can only give you Hua Tuo's Three-in-One." Su Ming slightly boosted her morale: "Besides, they're superheroes, and your Otherworldly Equivalents, they can surely understand your plight."
"What is Hua Tuo's Three-in-One?"
Diana tilted her head; she'd heard a term she didn't understand again.
"Don't worry about the details." Su Ming waved his hand in the air to start issuing orders: "Have Barry contact the Flashes of other worlds, notify their Justice Leagues to come to Midtown in the Main World for a conference, and also procure food and supplies in advance for you."
Diana immediately understood, and continued: "Bo Bo, find people to quickly repair Qiongji; we'll use the Watcher's warships to transport food across universes. Other worlds should be stable now; normally food and basic supplies aren't worth much, which isn't a problem at all for so many Batmen."
Su Ming interjected slightly: "Except for Earth -43, which is the Vampire Universe, you definitely don't want to know what their food is. As long as people come to the meeting, that's enough."
"I'll go find the Science Squad." Bo Bo tucked the cigar in his mouth and hurried off.
With the sound of the automatic door opening and closing, the large conference room now only held Su Ming and Diana. Looking at the people on the screen, she thought perhaps the situation would greatly improve with the food supply, so it wasn't as tense now.
Though the misunderstanding regarding the Justice League requires time to dissolve, at least with enough resources, society can brake from the edge of self-collapse.
If not for Deathstroke's reminder, they really wouldn't have thought to use food from Parallel Worlds to aid the Main World; clearly, their strategic insight wasn't enough.
Luthor seemed to make the same mistake; he didn't make arrangements in Parallel Worlds, easily allowing Deathstroke to break his offense.
"What's next? What should we do?" Diana turned to Su Ming, blinking her big eyes, looking very obedient.
"You should prepare the Hall of Justice for receiving so many people, you need to represent Earth 0's Justice League." Su Ming stood up and patted his backside: "If I appeared in such a scenario, I'd probably get mobbed, right? So, I've got to find a place to recuperate and secretly observe Luthor's movements."
"You're leaving?" Diana sighed in disappointment, her fingers gripping the rope end of the Lasso of Truth.
"It's not like it's a life and death farewell; we'll meet again in a few days. Now you go ahead and get busy, Luthor won't resurrect in the short term, we all need to watch the development of the situation."
Su Ming pinched the bridge of his nose, Diana's gaze made him a bit guilty; regardless of how the world changes, some things have indeed happened.
He is only flesh and blood, not a machine.
However, he himself used Magic Manifestation to secretly prop up a Dimension, and its side effects haven't passed yet; now he needs to urgently find experts to research his injuries.
The physical issue isn't significant, but why does he constantly feel this ethereal, as if he's about to undergo Soul Emergence?
The Supreme Mage is most knowledgeable about dimensions, but Su Ming is Body Technique Supreme Venerable, not Magic Supreme Venerable, so he's preparing to return to Marvel and see if he can find Master Gu Yi for suggestions.
Speaking of which, The Ancient One went touring after retirement, currently should be in Marvel's All-Powerful Universe, need to return to Kama Taiji to inquire the Magic Prince, see if she can be contacted through magic.
Indeed, during Su Ming's vacation years, Kama Taiji has almost entirely been managed by Monac on her behalf; the once handsome guy has now lost quite a bit of hair, probably from too much workload, it's affecting his liver.
"Take care." Diana knew Deathstroke had made up his mind, and wouldn't easily change it; she smiled again, adjusting her mood for the upcoming tasks.
Superheroes are like this, they're all flesh and blood, influenced by various emotions.
But sometimes, you have to force yourself to forget about this.
Watching Deathstroke open a Teleportation Gate, being drawn in by the writhing monstrous gate, Diana stood silently for a long time.