Multiverse: Deathstroke

Chapter 26: Ch.25 Far-Sighted Considerations

It had to be said, Cindy's cooking skills were truly awful. As she'd mentioned herself, she just threw whatever vegetables she could find into a pot.

Su Ming swore this was the worst stew he'd ever eaten, and to make it worse, it was a Western-style sweet soup.

The turkey, however, left behind by Bryce, probably prepared by the old butler, was still edible despite the faint refrigerator taste.

The three of them ate in silence.

Vic couldn't find any proper protective suits but did manage to scrounge up a few Bat-masks.

They didn't know what Bryce intended to use them for, but after inspecting them, they confirmed they had some anti-toxic functions, so everyone put one on.

There weren't any decent weapons in the Batcave. Su Ming wasn't interested in Batarangs. He did, however, replenish his supply of smoke bombs, and that was the extent of their preparations.

The group returned to the vehicle, leaving a mess behind them, without bothering to clean up or cover their tracks.

Su Ming once again blindfolded everyone, and Cindy drove them out of the cave.

Outside, the wind had subsided slightly, but the rain had intensified. The torrential downpour engulfed the car, and the atmosphere grew heavier.

Su Ming leaned back in the passenger seat, resting his head on his arms, quietly contemplating.

If Falcone and Ra's al Ghul were still manageable threats, then the Batman Who Laughs and Barbatos, who remained hidden in the shadows, were a different matter. Su Ming knew their plans, but that was the comic version of them. In the real world, anything could change.

His presence alone was a disruption to the original story, and the resulting butterfly effect was incalculable.

His past knowledge of the comics no longer provided much help, except perhaps to gauge the enemies' power levels and their trump cards.

If the Batman Who Laughs engaged in a direct confrontation, he and Cindy could certainly win, but Barbatos was a completely different beast.

Known as the Dragon of the Dark Multiverse and the Bat-God, he was a multiversal-level entity. That kind of power was not something one or two people could handle.

In the comics, defeating Barbatos required certain special metals.

These metals were the keys connecting the Light and Dark Multiverses, and Barbatos planned to use them to enter the Prime Universe.

There, several metals were being injected into Batman's body according to plan.

So, through his dreams, Barbatos influenced people on that side, turning them into his followers, making them act according to his plan.

First was the Dionesium, which looked like clear spring water. Batman accidentally ingested it while fighting the Court of Owls.

Next was the Dionysium, found in the Joker's blood. It entered Batman's body during one of their many brutal encounters.

Nth Metal – Batman was exposed to its radiance while helping Hawkman and Hawkgirl, the energy seeping into his very being.

Then came Promethium, the metal used in Deathstroke's armor, which Batman had also used to construct his "Final Machine"—a high-tech automatic surgical table capable of rapid healing. He'd used it several times already.

All that remained was the last metal, the Batmanium, located in an ancient Bat-Tribe tomb in Earth-0's Egypt.

Once these metals were gathered, Batman from the Prime Universe would become a gateway to the Dark Multiverse. He and another Bruce, the one from Earth-22, would switch places.

The Batman Who Laughs would then summon Barbatos to Earth-0 and perform various dark rituals. Once Barbatos arrived, he would launch his plan to drag all the worlds into darkness, achieving his ultimate goal.

Nth Metal converted dark energy into reality, enabling it to harm Barbatos and his dark creations.

However, to utterly defeat Barbatos, they needed the Tenth Metal, Element X, which existed in the World Forge. As for the World Forge, Su Ming only knew it was located somewhere in the Dark Multiverse.

Where exactly? No idea. How to get there? Also no idea.

Which meant that even if they managed to save Earth -11, it would only buy them some time. Once the Light Multiverse fell into darkness, the entire DC Universe would lose its balance, and everyone would perish together.

Yes, Barbatos's original intention wasn't like this. He merely wanted to drag all universes into darkness, making them his domain, where there would be no light, and he'd be the sole ruler.

But the problem was, he didn't understand the principle of universal balance.

Fifty-two light universes, fifty-two dark universes, all located within an intangible cosmic plane, one side facing light, the other shrouded in darkness.

They were like two sides of a balanced scale, coexisting.

If he pulled several from the other side, the balance would be disrupted, causing severe consequences like the Flashpoint Paradox and Infinite Crisis.

If, as per his plan, he pulled all of them over, the scales would topple, and everyone would perish.

If Su Ming wanted to continue living, he had to head to the Light Multiverse and root out the problem.

Because the plot had changed, his arrival had already altered the fate of Earth -11. Everything was different from the comics. If the Justice League still acted like in the comics, the outcome was uncertain.

He didn't want to leave his fate in the hands of others.

But Deathstroke was a mercenary, not a magician. How could he cross the dimensional barriers?

Right now, he hadn't figured out a solution. He could only take things one step at a time.

Cindy didn't know what he was thinking. She just noticed that Su Ming had grown much quieter.

By now, the water on the road was so deep that driving felt more like boating. The car plowed through the water, leaving ripples in its wake.

In the car, apart from the five of them, there was only the corpse of the Shadow Dancer, wrapped in several black garbage bags and tossed in a corner. Maybe it could be used as a bargaining chip with the League of Shadows.

Everyone was silent. There was a sense of impending battle in the air, though each person's expression differed.

Barbara was lost in thought, her face alternating between blushes and paleness as she occasionally glanced at Su Ming's back.

Vic, on the other hand, was excited, adjusting her gas mask in the mirror, trying to see how it looked on her. She felt that tonight she would be witnessing history.

As for Pete, well, he didn't have any thoughts because he seemed to have passed out.

The weather had turned them into the only vehicle on the road. The dark highway stretched out before them, their headlights the only source of light.

The storm had likely damaged Gotham's power infrastructure, leaving most of the city in darkness, except for a few central districts.

However, the Bat-Signal atop the police station—it seemed like it was always on.