But coming even earlier than Cain was another group — Witch Circe and her recruits.
"Bruce, you can't fool me. Your ridiculous mask can't block soul tracking. Did you think that by releasing your news in Gotham, I would be so foolish as to attack that city?"
Witch Circe entered through the front door with a triumphant smile, satisfied with Batman's downturned lips, and glanced at the Bloodline Elder whose face was ashen, continuing in a light tone.
"Hundreds of years have passed, and yet you have made no progress, to be deceived by such a simple trick. The most dangerous place is the safest place, but today, Bruce, you have made a mistake."
"Do you intend to interfere in the grudges between me and Cain?" Batman squinted at Circe, asking.
"I just want the Core Fragment. When I get it, Sky Corrosion will grant me an incomparable power, and then, whether it's you or Cain, you will meet your end."
Batman turned his head and glanced at the motionless blood-red eye decoration. His brows slightly furrowed as he spoke softly, "Well then, Ms. Circe, how about we play a game?"
Batman took a step forward, pulling out a prism from his bosom and setting it on the table. Witch Circe recognized it as the Core Fragment, and her eyes lit up instantly.
"This is what you want, and it's just three meters away from you. But in my hand, I have this button..." Batman's other hand extended, holding a button with an orange key.
"It controls a big bomb, capable of blowing us all to kingdom come. Your teleportation magic and shield won't work."
"So now, do you want to bet on who will get the Core first, you running over to grab it or me pressing the button and blowing up everyone first?"
Witch Circe's advancing foot froze. She glanced at Batman with a hint of hesitation, but in the end, she chose not to act rashly.
As a figure in the mystic world, Witch Circe had heard more legends about Batman from Hell. The fact that Batman could cause that much commotion in Hell meant that he was quite accomplished in mysticism and could potentially nullify her teleportation magic and shields.
Without magic, it was uncertain whether she could survive in a violent explosion. The longer one lives, the more one fears death, and naturally, Circe didn't think it was worth to gamble with her life.
"Batman, stop doing this," Circe's tone softened, and she also didn't dare to use any other magic, fearing that Batman would see through it and impulsively press the button.
Circe was somewhat intimidated by her overestimation of Batman's mastery of mystic arts. She originally thought this would be her surprise attack, but she didn't expect to step into the trap that he had set for the Blood Clan. Apart from admitting her bad luck, Circe had no intention of giving up.
"Batman, we both know, we are not each other's enemies, because you have the most important Core Fragment and I control the most ordinary fragments. We should cooperate."
Circe took a gentle step forward, lowering her voice, "You see, without regular fragments, you cannot build a complete Dark Heart. And without a Core Fragment, I can't obtain the power of Sky Corrosion. There is no point for us to insist on our own ways."
"We should work together to find all the fragments first. After creating a complete Dark Heart, we can distribute the power equally. I even more willing to compromise, letting my people find the regular fragments. All you need to do is contribute the Core Fragment to get half of the powerful force of Sky Corrosion, how about that?"
Batman narrowed his eyes slightly. Seeing that he didn't speak, Circe took another step forward and explained, "I know you're worried about me going back on my word, but I also worry about you breaking your promise. A verbal guarantee is worthless. We can make a contract to ensure that no accidents would occur in our cooperation."
The muscles around Batman's eyes relaxed, and he looked somewhat absent-minded as if he were contemplating something. Circe, seeing that her persuasion was working, took it a step further in her persuasion.
Just as Circe was about to exhaust her persuasive skills, Batman remained expressionless, not uttering a word. Then, a peculiar feeling crept over Circe. Her face stiffened just as she was about to say something. A wave of bloody wind swept over from the door.
Circe turned back and saw a pale Cain standing at the door, folding his bat wings. His face wore a crazed smile, but from his cold gaze, it was clear he wasn't in a good mood.
Batman's gaze fell completely on Cain's face. He looked Cain up and down, asking, "You're hurt?"
Cain laughed manically a couple of times, and said, "I got stabbed by a kid who looks a lot like you. You really do look alike."
Transforming into a cloud of blood and making a sweep through the hall, suddenly, an elder standing in front of the table gripped his throat tightly, his body shriveling up and turning pale within seconds.
"No! Ancestor! No…"
He screamed in terror, but all his blood was drained nonetheless. As he fell to the ground, Cain made a satisfied sigh. Batman, however, stared at him and said, "So you're saying you don't care about your descendants? That's harsh."
"I've never thought about having descendants voluntarily, Batman. Using this tactic to fight me, it's far stupider than I imagined."
"The same goes for you, Joker. Should I mention how you sent your dumb descendent to Wayne Manor to kidnap my child, and ended up being hung on a tree? How hilarious is that?"
Cain's expression suddenly became rigid. He swept a chilling glance across the Bloodline Elders present. Then a Bloodline Elder, who hadn't quite grasped the situation, flashed a pleasing smile and said, "Ancestor, we just wanted to threaten Bruce to hand over the Core Fragment… Ahhhhhhhhh!!!"
After a round of violent screams, this Bloodline Elder also turned into a mummy. Everyone else looked panicked and transformed into bats in an attempt to escape, while Batman nonchalantly said, "Anyone who tries to leave, I'll press the button. Trust me, you won't be able to get out of the blast range in such a short time."
The head elder, Bruhe, was completely panicked. He looked at Batman and Cain and yelled, "What on Earth are you doing?!"
But Circe saw this as a golden opportunity and hurriedly turned to Batman, "Batman, the Blood Clan are untrustworthy. We should band together to subdue Cain first and use his blood as a sacrifice for Sky Corrosion!"
In an instant, Batman and Cain simultaneously turned their gazes towards her.
Meanwhile, at Wayne Manor, Harley and several children were tallying their current gains. "Deathstroke has found over a hundred shards for us, settling the bill. The thieves of Gotham have collected over three hundred shards. Cobblepot has rewarded them all handsomely. Selina brought over fifty shards, and I gave her a beautiful gemstone necklace," she reported, counting on her fingers.
"So we now have over four hundred and fifty shards." Damian sighed, "Half remains unfound. What should we do?"
Just then, they heard a commotion downstairs. They rushed out to find Alfred serving tea to Clark.
"Hey, everyone. Is Bruce around? I need him for something."
"He's out. What did you need him for?" Jason asked.
"Oh, nothing major. He asked me to find the black diamonds. Bruce has helped me out a lot in the past, so I've been working on this. I want to give him the black diamonds I found, is he here?"
The children immediately ran downstairs, looking up at him and asked, "How many did you find?"
"Over three hundred and fifty, I think. I should thank Little Kryptonite, his nose is very sharp. He's a master at finding things." Clark sighed and continued, "Bruce was right, these things are quite dangerous. When I went looking for the diamonds, a lot of people had already gone crazy, attacking others. Thankfully, I managed to subdue them."
The children glanced at one another, concealing the shock in their eyes. Jason cleared his throat and said, "Oh, you've done quite well. But many are still missing."
"Oh, right. But these are all the black diamonds I could sense on Earth. The rest might be in places I can't detect. Although such places aren't plenty, they do exist."
Harley tugged Jason's sleeve, and the children followed her to the side. Their heads huddled together as Harley lowered her voice and said, "In that case, we have eight hundred shards now. We're close to our target."
However, a concerned Jason said, "I know Clark, he's very powerful. If he can't find them..."
"Oh, Clark, you're already here." A familiar figure appeared at the door. Clark turned around and saw Bruce.
Bruce was casually dressed and carried a box. Clark walked over, clapped his shoulder and said, "I found over three hundred and fifty black diamonds for you. I hope that's enough. I tried my best."
"Thank you so much," Bruce nodded. "That's great. I have a hundred more here. I've just beaten up a witch - well, more like watched someone else do it."
"After she was knocked down, I tied her to a chair and threatened to push a bomb button to blow her up. Then she handed over all the black diamonds she had collected. Quite a nice person, don't you think?"
Other than Damian gasping in surprise, all the children excitedly crowded around his box to see what was inside.
Indeed, many black diamonds lay inside. Adding them up, it was over a hundred. Harley did the math again and said, "So now we have nine hundred. But what about the remaining hundred? Where could they be?"
Bruce handed the box to the children and walked over to the telephone, dialing a number. Then he said into the receiver,
"Hello, Professor Shearer? Yes, about the black diamonds I've been looking for, I'm only a hundred short now. Do you know where they could be? … You're back in Gotham? Alright, see you."
About half an hour later, Bruce appeared at the gates of Rodrix Manor. Butler Merkel was busy fertilizing the plants in the garden. Spotting Bruce from the window, he hurriedly came over to open the door for him.
As Bruce entered, Shearer was just coming out of his bedroom. He was buttoning his suit while descending the stairs, examining Bruce from head to toe. Bruce was dressed in sportswear and had brought nothing with him besides his clear and naive aura.
Shearer helplessly said, "Is it that hard to bring a bottle of red wine in exchange for what you want? What do you think I collected them for?"
But Bruce held up a hand to stop him, made his way to the hall's telephone, dialed a number and spoke into the receiver.
"Hello, Diana? It's me. Where are you and Nightwing? Do you remember the object I asked you to forge? … You've brought it back from Mount Olympus, right?"
"Yes, I need it now. Just use the portal to send it over."
A few seconds after hanging up, a teleportation portal opened next to Bruce, and with a "thud," a huge box fell to the ground, causing Shearer to raise an eyebrow.
Bruce then proceeded to punch the box lid, and the sides of the box fell down. The sight of the object inside caused Shearer's eyes to widen.
Pointing into the box, Bruce said,
"A bottle of red wine is so uninspiring. Only an old relic would offer that."
"Look at this, a Shredder crafted personally by Fire God Hephaestus of Mount Olympus. The shell is forged from volcanic molten iron and deep-sea crystal and is endowed with sixteen durability magics, twenty-two divine blessings. It withstood the test of the Thunder God, and the blessing of magical tenacity is permanent!"