In a corner of Earth, Pandora, physically and mentally exhausted, returned to her residence; only in this place could she enjoy a moment of peace.
"How could this be? It's impossible!"
Pandora was at a loss; Superman was the most suitable person she could think of, yet even he couldn't open the Magic Box.
Since the path of "ultimate good" was a dead end, she could only take the path of "ultimate evil."
It wasn't easy to find a person with an "ultimately evil" heart in today's World.
It wasn't because they couldn't be found, but because everyone was filled with countless material desires, and Pandora didn't know who was the most extreme one.
She became very anxious because of this; recently, this World was becoming increasingly unsafe, with disasters constantly occurring.
Although the Justice League was there, overall there were no problems, but no one could say when a major trouble that even the Justice League couldn't solve would occur.
Pandora believed that the sooner humanity's inner Sin was eradicated, the sooner this World could return to peace.
With such beautiful hopes, she fell into a dream, and in her dream, Pandora met a woman.
"Pandora… I've been waiting for you for a long time…"
"Who are you?" Pandora asked warily.
"My name is Nimue Inwudu, you can call me Madame Xanadu."
Nimue took off her hood, revealing a typical Romani face.
"Madame Xanadu? I've heard of you."
Having traveled the World for many years, Pandora had, of course, heard of this famous immortal.
She heard that Madame Xanadu recently lived in New York and was a very successful psychic, but Pandora had never met her before.
Pandora always maintained a degree of wariness towards strangers.
"May I ask what the famous Madame Xanadu wants with me?"
Nimue smiled: "I dare not call myself famous in your presence, esteemed Lady Pandora.
I know what you are seeking, and therefore bring you a small revelation."
Pandora was noncommittal; she said with a hint of perfunctoriness, "Then you might as well tell me."
She knew the legend that Madame Xanadu possessed precognitive abilities, but she herself was also a Witch, and had even studied under ancient sorcerers.
Therefore, she knew that the future was not set in stone.
Thus, a Witch should not blindly believe in precognition, otherwise, the more one tries to change the fate of the future, the more likely one is to inadvertently bring about that very fate.
Hence, she never performed divination for herself, even though she possessed that skill.
But Nimue was not here to divine for her; she had discovered long ago that the future had undergone unpredictable changes, and aside from matters related to herself, Nimue had not divined for outsiders for a long time.
So she said, "First, I must tell you that you have misunderstood the Magic Box's activation conditions.
The one who can open it is not the most good or most evil, but rather the one with the strongest or darkest heart in this World."
Pandora frowned, lost in thought.
She wondered, wasn't Superman considered to have the strongest heart in this World?
Nimue continued, "Superman may be the most powerful human in this World, but he is, after all, just a mortal and cannot resist the Magic Box's allure.
You need someone with a stronger heart, or rather… a God, to do it."
Pandora looked up at her, then suddenly sneered, "Like, Shazam?"
But Nimue didn't mind her attitude, still nodding gently: "Yes, if there is still a God in this World who can open the Magic Box without reservation, then it is only he… Pandora, I have met that God, and he wants me to tell you that the Wizard Council's judgment of you was unfair.
The other two embodiments of Sin may be guilty, but you were merely ignorant, and you cannot be condemned for ignorance; you are innocent."
Although Pandora felt some comfort when she heard "innocent," hearing her say "ignorant" made Pandora feel a surge of anger again.
"Is that all you want to tell me?"
"Not yet." Nimue then finally said something sensible: "Shazam promises you that if you need his help, he can provide it.
But do not believe the legends about the Magic Box; there is nothing inside this box, and it is not a Magic Box containing Sin or hope, as you imagine…"
"Absurd!" Pandora shouted at Nimue, and argued, "He's just a young man who only became Shazam in recent years, how could he know about the Magic Box?
I personally saw the seven deadly sins escape from the box! Has that Shazam lived in the World for even a fraction of your time?"
Nimue looked displeased at her words: "Never mention a woman's age in front of her; I thought you would understand that."
Pandora didn't care at all; she had long passed the age of caring about such things.
"Go back and tell Shazam that since he admits the Wizard Council was wrong, he should not try to stop me.
I will correct this mistake, and I will prove to him that all his statements are wrong!"
After speaking, a magical glow emanated from Pandora, pulling herself out of the dream.
She wasn't trapped in someone else's dream, but rather Nimue had invaded her dream through some unknown means, so as soon as she, the Master, woke up, the other party would be expelled.
When the Master of the dream awakens, the dream World shatters, and those within it, if they do not leave, can only be destroyed along with the World.
So Nimue had no choice but to leave.
When Nimue opened her eyes again, Dane was before her, sitting in a chair at a coffee table, intently reading an ancient book with both hands.
"I failed," Nimue said.
Dane merely nodded at her words: "I know."
"I don't understand, you could have stopped her directly and taken the Magic Box, so why let Pandora continue to carry it?"
"Because I also cannot use the true function of the Magic Box."
"Hmm?" Nimue asked curiously, "It sounds like you know what it is? But that's impossible; even the Gods don't understand its origin."
Dane closed the book and looked at Nimue.
Although she was thousands of years old, her eyes were still very young, as if time had failed to etch any marks upon them.
"That thing, as I said before, is not a Magic Box imprisoning evil; it is a door, just like a mother box, and only life of the same lineage can open it correctly.
Although I meet the conditions mentioned in the Magic Box's legends, if I were to actually do so, I don't know what kind of entity would come from the World connected by the Magic Box."
Nimue mused, "So… the seven deadly sins Pandora released back then were essentially a mistake in opening the door, releasing things that shouldn't have appeared?"
Dane nodded; he speculated even more.
Earth-3 is a World full of Sin, so living on that World easily breeds negative emotions.
These emotions, when gathered together, would form magical individuals with powerful abilities under the influence of magic, and this is very likely the origin of the seven deadly sins.
After Earth-3 was corrupted by them, the seven deadly sins were no longer content with merely spreading their power in this Universe, but wished to radiate their strength to more Universes.
Perhaps this was why the seven deadly sins came to this World through the door Pandora opened.
Fortunately, the seven deadly sins were now locked in Hell, and right under his nose, he could interrogate them thoroughly.
As is well known, a door is two-way; if things can come from that World, then things from this side can also go over.
Dane still remembered that there was an animated movie about the Crime Syndicate called "Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths."
In this movie, although the Syndicate was very powerful, it had not yet fully occupied that World.
Because in that World, there was still a force of "good" fighting against the Syndicate, which was the Justice League led by Earth-3's Lex Luthor, and they had been contending with the Syndicate.
So he guessed that when the "evil" represented by the seven deadly sins infected Earth during the Garden of Eden period, the power belonging to "good" or "hope" on this side also passed through the "door" to the Earth-3 World, bringing them a glimmer of hope.
However, there are significant differences in the plot between comic books and animated movies.
Firstly, in the comics, the Syndicate came to this World as refugees because their World was destroyed by the Anti-Monitor and they couldn't survive there, which was an active invasion, with the main battlefield being the main Universe.
In the animated movie, Earth-3's Luthor came to this World to seek help from the Justice League, and brought Justice League members to actively attack the Syndicate, with the main battlefield being Earth-3.
It is worth mentioning that Earth-3's Luthor in the movie is the leader of the Justice League, but Earth-3's Luthor in the comics is Zanzar, also one of the Crime Syndicate members.
Although not explicitly stated in the movie, the Justice League whose main battlefield is Earth-3 should not belong to the main Universe, but rather one of its branches.
Wonder Woman even snatched a stealth plane from Earth-3 and brought it back.
But from Atomica's infiltration of the Justice League, it can be seen that the Outsider should still be lurking on Earth, planning to introduce his master into this World.
This, of course, was something Dane would not allow. This World was now his private domain. What kind of trash was the Crime Syndicate, a piece of garbage, daring to run wild on his territory?
Even if the plot's direction was Forever Evil, Dane would forcefully twist it into "Crisis on Two Earths"!
Nimue felt very strange in her heart. She knew very well that Dane actually had no ability to foresee the future, and moreover, the future of this Universe was now chaotic.
Even she could only see a small area related to herself. How could Dane accurately grasp every direction of the future?
She knew Dane's personality wouldn't mind such a thing, so she asked directly.
Dane just smiled and said, "Because I never look; instead, I act. The future is created in my hands!"
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