"The Olympian Gods don't have much contact with the Ancient Babylonian Divine System, so I'm not very clear on the details about Nabu," Hera said in a low tone. "All I know is that he's not dead and is still active on Earth."
"Active on Earth?!" Dick repeated, raising his voice in surprise.
Hera nodded and added, "I don't mean to boast, but the Mount Olympus Divine System was indeed the most powerful at the time. Aside from that, many other divine systems have deteriorated over the past ten thousand years and are no longer organized. The Ancient Babylonian Divine System that Nabu belongs to is one such example. They can hardly be called gods anymore."
"Is there any way to find this Nabu?"
"Nabu was one of the founders of the Grand Mage Alliance. If you can find a Grand Mage, perhaps you can learn of his whereabouts," Hera continued. "As the main culprit who imprisoned Hecate and put her to sleep, the Lords of Order are certainly the last who want the Magic Goddess to return. If you can find Nabu, they will surely help you with all their might."
With this new direction, the group didn't delay any further. If they had been asked to find a Grand Mage before, it would have been somewhat difficult, but now they had a toad at their disposal.
Besides wanting to learn about Nabu's whereabouts from Faust, they also held some hope of finding out if Faust had any insights about the mystic sun, and perhaps if they could control the Mysterious Gun, they might be able to deal directly with Hecate.
Hera used her divine power to send them back to Earth. Dick and his group met with Funa and Billy, who had been waiting for them at Wayne Manor, and Dick shared what Hera had told them with Faust.
After listening, Faust unusually fell silent for a while before saying, "I have heard of this God Nabu, but if everything is as usual, there must have been some accident."
The group instantly grew tense, and Funa forcefully pinched the toad, saying, "Stop beating around the bush!"
Annoyed, Faust kicked his legs free from Funa's grip, jumped onto the table, and said, "I'm not joking; it's very likely that Nabu died many years ago."
"Died? But Hera clearly said he is still alive!"
"What I mean is, his physical body may no longer exist, but such cunning and ancient gods may have continued to exist in some other form."
"How do you know that?"
Faust sighed, and another secret from the past unfolded before them. It's well-known that those immortals called Grand Mages didn't retreat from society because they truly disregarded fame and fortune, but because they had accumulated too many debts in their earlier years and now couldn't repay them. They had to resort to various means to avoid their creditors.
The power of the Lords of Order was all granted by Hecate. With Hecate asleep, they had no creditors, and their lives were quite comfortable and carefree.
However, as the Magic Goddess's sleep grew longer, their power also gradually weakened, eventually reaching a point where they couldn't maintain their own existence.
Many years ago, the Lords of Order and their mortal enemies, the Lords of Chaos, had a war which drained some of the already dwindling number of ancient gods.
The war is famous in the mystic world. Faust, who constantly collected magical items around the Earth, had also encountered them, and as one of the most powerful Lords of Order, Nabu had not been heard from since then. The Magic realm even believed he had perished in this war.
After pondering, Faust said, "At that time, fearing that the war would affect their people, a generation's Master of the Dark Night participated. He might know of Nabu's whereabouts."
Unexpectedly, the clues circled back around. Dick had no choice but to lead his team back to the Forgotten Bar.
There, the Master of the Dark Night, Jim, welcomed them warmly. After hearing about their journey, Jim said, "Yes, Nabu is indeed dead, to be precise, his body was destroyed. His soul now resides in the helmet he wore during his lifetime, which is currently with the spokesperson for the Lords of Order, Doctor Destiny."
"Where is Doctor Destiny now?"
Jim looked at them strangely and then said, "To find Doctor Destiny, you shouldn't come to me, but should have gone to Professor Shearer?"
"Ah?"
Dick and his group exchanged puzzled looks, not understanding how it had come back around to Professor Shearer again.
Jim, somewhat surprised, said, "You didn't know? Nelson is a well-known psychiatrist, and he studied under the same master as Shearer; he is his junior brother. Their relationship is much closer than ours."
Dick's mouth dropped open wide enough to fit a whole egg – so the sequence of puzzles was yet another circle, and the answer was still at the beginning!
"I've never heard Professor Shearer mention he had a junior brother..." Aisha was also shocked.
"It might be because Nelson is younger and works in Metropolis," Jim shrugged. "And I remember he said he strongly disagreed when Shearer wanted to go to Gotham. Perhaps some conflict arose because of that, so they lost touch afterward."
Jason covered his mouth, since he dealt with Shearer mostly and knew some old stories. Before coming to Gotham, Shearer had made a trip to Metropolis, and no one yet knew why. Could it really have been to meet his own junior brother?
No matter what, Dr. Kent V. Nelson remained a pivotal figure as they hurriedly returned to Gotham and sped towards Metropolis.
However, a troublesome fact was that although Tim had found Kent V. Nelson's identification details, the man was employed at Luthor Hospital, and Tim was uncertain if he could make direct contact without Lex Luther discovering it.
If caught in the act, Lex might not dare to mess with Bruce, but he was incredibly generous towards others—he gave too much, and Tim feared he might be swayed by Lex's incentives, which would drive Bruce insane.
Dick also felt that since they were working in someone's hospital, it would be inappropriate to suddenly approach them without informing their boss, Lex. Some matters necessitated informing Lex, who was nonetheless trusted when it came to protecting Earth.
Thus, they went to Luthor Manor.
In the midst of his busy schedule, Lex welcomed them. He always butted heads with Bruce, but his attitude towards his few good nephews was decent, having prepared a lavish spread of delicious food.
The Young Avengers, after running around for days, finally had a moment to sit down and feast heartily.
Dick discussed with Lex the process of forming their team and their journey of gathering clues. Lex nodded frequently, indicating his willingness to financially sponsor the Young Avenger's team.
Dick thought having one more sponsor was good, especially since their activities wouldn't be limited to Gotham but would cover the entire East Coast including Metropolis. It would certainly help Lex, making the sponsorship feel less burdensome.
It wasn't until Dick saw the amount of the sponsorship that he realized what Tim meant by keeping their distance from Lex—it was indeed too generous.
After a satisfying meal, the group discussed matters at Luthor Manor, mainly focusing on the Hecate crisis. Lex affirmed their deductions along the way and then brought up Dr. Destiny.
"When investigating Kent Nelson's background, I realized he and Professor Shearer were from the same school, and their research directions are quite similar. Academically, Professor Shearer is a bit more accomplished, but Dr. Nelson excels in the practical field, making him probably the best psychiatrist in the world."
Lex touched his fingertips together, tapping them lightly as he said, "Nelson is much younger than Shearer, besides being from the same school and having similar research fields, they shouldn't have much else in common."
Jason instantly remembered that Shearer had visited Metropolis before coming to Gotham, and he said, "I heard Dr. Nelson was strongly opposed to Professor Shearer coming to Gotham."
"I don't know where you heard that, but I'm not privy to their personal relations. If you're going to seek him out, be prepared that he might not be willing to help."
At that moment, Dick's group did not understand what Lex meant; they were always prepared that someone might not help them.
Help was not an obligation, even concerning the safety of the Earth. If someone chose not to assist for various reasons, it was normal—they preferred direct action over moral coercion.
But clearly, they had oversimplified matters; Nelson was not just unwilling to help, he took direct action.
In the psychiatry office at Luthor Hospital, a brilliant golden light flashed before Dick's group could clearly see the man's face. A golden helmet appeared on his head, followed by a blue and gold uniform, and a golden beam shot towards them.
Raven waved her hand, casting a Magical Shield in front, while Aisha bared her sharp teeth menacingly and lunged fearlessly at Dr. Destiny.
Doctor Destiny chose not to engage them there but instead turned and flew out the window. Raven quickly followed, and the two clashed in the skies above Metropolis.
Dick stood anxiously by the window while Funa handed the toad to Jason. Since Faust couldn't use his mana, they weren't worried about him escaping. She then twisted and joined the battle.
It was evident that Raven was powerful but lacked combat experience. Funa was a fierce fighter, but her strength paled in comparison to Dr. Destiny. Instead, Aisha, due to her unique nature, was untouchable—touching her gave a buzzing feeling in one's head, effectively restraining Dr. Destiny.
Dick's eyes followed Raven's figure, while Jason had already started making a call. He dialed Lex's number and said, "Nelson has taken direct action. I don't understand what deep grudge he has against us, but if he doesn't stop soon, your hospital might need a renovation…"
Not long after, having just dodged Aisha's headbutt, Dr. Destiny moved aside, picked up the continuously ringing phone, nodded repeatedly, and soon after hung up irritably and flew back to the office.
As the helmet came off, everyone was shocked—the guy was about their age, apparently just out of college, far too young.
This young man, with blonde hair and blue eyes, appeared sunny but didn't regard Dick and the others with the friendliest gaze, especially looking warily at Aisha.
Everyone was baffled—wasn't it said that he and Professor Shearer were from the same school? They seemed like they were from different generations.
"Coming from the 'same school' means we were taught by the same teacher, it has nothing to do with age, understand?"
Nelson's voice rang in], Dick startled, said, "Can you read minds?"
"This isn't mind reading, it's psychology."
"You really were mentored by Professor Shearer then."