"Hey~"
Su Ming walked out of the grand hall, holding his helmet under his arm. Outside the door, many of the goddesses were eyeing his appearance and physique, giving him flirtatious looks, but the way they greeted him seemed quite familiar — like certain individuals who roamed the streets late at night.
They were beautiful, sure, but they lacked any individuality. These types of vases could be fun to play with, but nothing more. And besides, playing around in front of all the gods of Olympus? He really wasn't in the mood for that.
Right now, he needed to hurry back to the mortal world to prepare for his next plan.
Just then, something golden rolled over on the ground and bumped into his foot.
Looking down, it was a golden apple.
Su Ming's lips twitched slightly. This trick, once played, immediately gave away one's identity.
"Come on out, Eris. Or would you rather I call you 'Strife'?"
From behind a pillar in front of the palace, a figure slipped out. It was a girl dressed in a punk rock style, looking about fifteen or sixteen years old.
She had heavy eye makeup, wore a low-cut t-shirt, and a fishnet-like, revealing garment over it. She walked over with a sly smile.
"You know me? Did the Queen of Heaven tell you about me?"
"It was the golden apple that told me. You've been pulling this trick for thousands of years, still not tired of it?" Su Ming remained entirely unfazed, with not even a hint of interest in picking up the apple.
"Heh, humans have been playing with jealousy and hatred for thousands of years too, and it doesn't seem like you've gotten tired of it, have you?" She picked up the apple from the ground and deliberately squeezed her chest, trying to show off some cleavage to Su Ming.
Unfortunately, her assets couldn't compare to Diana's; Su Ming felt absolutely nothing, and even found it a little funny.
"Goodbye."
"Eh?" Eris looked puzzled. Why did this mortal want to run away the moment he saw her? After all, she was a goddess. "Wait, I have something to ask you."
Why was he trying to avoid her? Naturally, it was because Strife was best at creating trouble. And at this time, it was best to have as little contact as possible with such a woman.
"No comment."
Su Ming strode off. Just a moment ago, he found the goddesses at the entrance who were giving flirtatious glances to be boring, and now here was someone with way too much personality — the kind who even dared to deceive Hera herself.
Eris had once caused Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite to fight over a single golden apple that was said to be for "the fairest goddess," sparking the Trojan War.
Her appearance at this moment certainly meant she had some purpose.
Don't be fooled by her seemingly young and naive appearance; in reality, she was one of the top strategists in the DC universe. Her far-reaching vision combined with her erratic behavior made her extremely dangerous.
She loved causing chaos, then watching the commotion.
Eris didn't press on, instead just watching as Su Ming left with Hephaestus. Her eyes turned as she held onto her apple, already planning to find her sister.
She had a fun idea.
...
Meanwhile, Su Ming directly asked Hephaestus to drop him off in Gotham. He wanted to see what was happening there, and maybe take a rest for the night.
Sleeping with the Bat-signal above his head? How could anyone sleep peacefully?
Originally, he had planned to gather information that night, but now that was canceled, and he found himself with nothing to do.
"Ah, Gotham, the city cloaked in darkness." Su Ming flew to the top of Wayne Tower, just like when he first arrived in Earth -11.
It all seemed like a dream.
He quickly calmed down. From Hera, he had learned that several forces sealed beyond the Source Wall would gradually descend upon Earth.
The exact timeline was uncertain, but they were sure to come.
They would change this world — possibly upgrading the DC universe to a cosmic level like Marvel's omniverse, or perhaps destroying the world, leading to another reboot.
As an outsider, a reboot was highly unfavorable to him, but he wasn't the same as before. He could run away whenever he wanted; if things really became impossible, he could always retreat to Marvel for a while.
For now, he could try to reap some benefits from the situation.
The "Metal" event was just the beginning, introducing the concept of the Dark Multiverse into the DC universe. The next step might very well be the return of the Infinite Multiverse, Infinite Earths.
Of course, it wouldn't be the same as before; instead, it might come through some new means.
At the moment, Su Ming didn't have any specific ideas, but the Totality was likely the beginning of it all.
The Totality was the embodiment of the Multiverse itself. It had self-awareness and immense power — it was the Multiverse itself, a remnant of the Old Universe guarded by the Source Wall.
As long as it gained a few other powers from beyond the Source Wall, the Infinite Multiverse could return to DC's setup.
Su Ming stood on a gargoyle, overlooking the lights of the streets below, summing up all the information in his mind.
Currently, it was known that a power had already made it to Earth from beyond the Source Wall, which was definitely related to the White Lantern — the Entity of Existence.
The strange sights he had seen near the giant head, with those anomalous proliferating plants, were very much the work of White Lantern energy.
Old cells couldn't die, and new cells kept growing, resulting in deformation.
However, the Entity of Existence was invisible and untouchable — not easy to get ahold of. Should he set a trap to lure out the White Lantern and take him down?
Some might think the White Lantern was powerful, but to Su Ming, with his vast knowledge, the White Lantern wasn't invincible.
Kyle Rayner had a father, two ex-girlfriends, and several good friends. Su Ming also had a Black Lantern ring. With all these combined, dealing with that young man was easy.
But such thoroughly villainous actions weren't appropriate for now — best to wait until later.
Right now, he just needed to wait for the Justice League's next move, so he could profit from the chaos.
Since he was already in Gotham, and Bruce was busy in Washington...
He slipped into a nearby rooftop storage room, hiding all his weapons and equipment in a concealed spot. Then, patting his chest, he commanded: "Stranglehold, transform."
The black symbiote flowed out from the gaps in his armor, covering the surface of the Holy Icon armor. A bat symbol in black and gray instantly formed on his chest.
Su Ming had the Cloak of Levitation adjust its form to resemble Batman's cape.
In about ten seconds, when he walked out of the storage room, he had become the spitting image of Batman.
However, with the Holy Icon armor underneath, he appeared even taller, and in the moonlight, he looked a bit greasy, as if he were an oily, fried version of Batman.
Su Ming found a piece of shattered glass to look at his current face. He was a bit dissatisfied.
"Stranglehold, this transformation isn't quite right. Is this really what I remember Batman looking like?"
"???" Stranglehold sent a confused signal. It had transformed based on the host's memory, hadn't it? Did the host want to look like the female Batman instead?
Su Ming removed a gauntlet and rubbed his chin, feeling the cold, unreal texture, like a piece of rubber.
"Why does my chin look like a butt right now?"