"Ah Zhen fell in love with Ah Qiang on a starry night~~, an airplane flew overhead, and a meteor streaked across the night sky..."
The powers from the Lantern Ring were being whimsically squandered by Su Ming, not only transforming various lights during flight but also humming pop songs thanks to his ability to breathe and speak in the cosmos...
Anyway, being bored during the flight, singing a song seemed just about right.
Actually, right now he was being tugged along by the Black Lantern Ring, so he didn't have to worry at all. Before wearing the Lantern Ring, he never thought this thing had a full-auto navigation function.
However, the word 'home' can never be said to the Ring again, otherwise, Su Ming's fingers might all get twisted off.
The Green Lantern Ring would take him towards Oa Star, the Red Lantern Ring would take him to Ismot, and the Yellow Lantern Ring would head to Kovad in the Antimatter Universe.....
It's likely his fingers would dislocate instantly.
As he was lost in thought, the Black Lantern Ring stopped.
In front of him was a normal cosmic space, distant stars shining, planets orbiting, appearing nothing special.
But the Black Lantern Ring wouldn't be wrong, phase abilities cannot sever the connection of energy.
"Eclipse Star! I am here to negotiate terms!"
For some reason, saying this line initially felt awkward, but after a few times, it actually became smoother?
Was it because the Master Ancient made some modifications on the Magic Floating Cloak? Did he use psychological suggestion when I was absent-minded?
No, I can't be the Supreme Mage, unless Emperor Vishanti makes a contract with Su Ming like the Inverted Man.
Too costly, better not, although raising rabbits is good, they always stink.
Heard bamboo rats are cleaner?
Su Ming, expressionless, crossed his arms, floating up and down in the cosmic space, yet his mind was simultaneously pondering unrelated matters.
The Magic Floating Cloak fluttered like a banner, even in a windless environment, still flowing behind him, a corner of the sun's light obscured by it.
The space ahead showed no reaction, as before, seemingly empty.
Because of phase transfer, not only can it not be seen, but it also can't be touched.
Su Ming laughed; if he can find it, why would he fear it running away? Is phase ability really that formidable? Looks like Eclipse Star needs to learn about magic.
"Man topples, man topples, man topples..."
Su Ming immediately chose to start chanting, and the Inverted Man would not disappoint him, almost instantly appearing by his side.
Still with that disgusting way of arrival, a wormhole tearing open, a white body covered in mucus slipped out backward.
But for some reason, the Inverted Man was holding a...Deadpool doll?
And it was the Ancient God version.
Su Ming dry-heaved a bit.
This setup became more lifelike in the Inverted Man's hands; he modified the 'Ancient Divine Attendant' using magical rules, now this eerie thing seemed alive.
"Deputy, what do you need from me now?" The Inverted Man had the Ancient Divine Attendant in his hand perform a ballet, the tentacles between its legs wobbling like tails.
"Before anything else, can you tell me what's with the thing in your hand?"
Su Ming turned his head away; if one were to describe this with a metaphor, it would be the Inverted Man inviting Deadpool over for dinner—utterly disgusting....
"This, this is a method I use for debt collection." The Inverted Man nudged the small 'Ancient Divine Attendant' image towards Su Ming, who pushed it away in distaste. Unperturbed, he continued: "Last time, I noticed the item you created has enormous destructive power against Earth's mages. Since I'm in the loan business now, I must have a helper for debt collection, right?"
Indeed, there are always some mages who choose not to repay debts. Now, with powerful magic, Zha Kang is bound to be tempted to learn some new spells or something.
With that guy's character, he'd definitely default on the debt.
The Inverted Man can't personally collect every debt, so using magic to create a minion for debt collecting as a henchman makes perfect sense.
But where did the Inverted Man learn this from? When did he pick up the tricks of a debt collection agency?
"For some reason, after we first signed the agreement, the more I thought about it, the more this image seemed perfect for debt collection, as if a voice from outside the cosmos told me so."
The Inverted Man added a few more sentences, obliviously gazing at the item in his hand, while the 'Ancient Divine Attendant' with its rotten mushroom-covered face smiled back at him.
"Ugh...as long as you're happy." Su Ming switched his position, now facing the Inverted Man with the right side of his body, lacking eyes: "There is a fixed star in front of us, can you see it?"
"Of course, I can see it clearly. It is situated in the fourth phase, in human terms, it's turned into light."
The Inverted Man, though eyeless, could still perceive everything distinctly.
"I need to pull it back to the main phase, using my stockpile of fireball techniques with you, in exchange for a Space-Time Anchor Magic."
"Sure, the volume of the fixed star is enormous; it would require the energy of ten thousand fireball techniques, are you sure?"
The Inverted Man hung upside down in the air, speaking through the doll in its hand like a ventriloquist.
Although calling out the Inverted Man to exchange magic each time seemed very troublesome, the Inverted Man had to ensure that Deathstroke had no ulterior motives towards it. It didn't want to be outsmarted by humans like Hecate.
Knowing what the agent is casting for allows it to feel more at ease, which is also part of the cooperation foundation.
If it felt that the magic to be exchanged was harmless to it, it could transform the Fireball Technique stored with Deathstroke into any form of magical expression.
"Confirmed."
Su Ming, of course, understood all this clearly, and he decided to just keep storing the Fireball Technique. The current issue was whether to give the Inverted Man a walkie-talkie, to avoid having to chant incantations every time, which seemed overly mystical...
The Inverted Man snapped its fingers, a sound heard distinctly even in the airless cosmic space, like tearing through space itself.
In the next second, a gigantic purple fixed star appeared before Su Ming.
...................
Poseidonis had already completely submerged underwater, and Batman ordered the spacecraft's altitude lowered, flying close to the sea surface.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of meters above them in the sky, the alien fleet was gathering, and on the forefront flagship, Batman could see three Sea Gods standing side by side.
Black Manta was hiding behind them, tucked away in an unremarkable corner.
Between the enemy and us, a thick red grid-like barrier extended to the horizon, which was the blockade used by the alien fleet for Earth.
"We must find a way through that barrier." Diana turned her gaze to Batman.
The Justice League, by then, had walked onto the deck with Titan and Shadow Contract, leaving Bo Bo to pilot the spacecraft on the bridge. Each one of them looked up at the enemy fleet, obscuring the sky.
An atmosphere of an ultimate battle spread out; in a war of this scale, any one of them might perish.
"..."
Batman remained silent. His armor could teleport to the Moon's Watchtower Space Station, but what good would that do?
Although Batman was proud of his identity as an ordinary human, it was apparent that an ordinary human, even wearing Luthor's armor, could not play any major role in such a war.
If he had enough understanding of the enemy's three Sea Gods, he might have a perfect plan, but currently, the success rate was dismally low.
He tended to be headstrong, but that didn't mean he wanted his teammates to die in vain.
If push came to shove, he would ask Mera for the Tear of Extinction and handle those aliens himself, even if it meant merely coating his armored fist with a layer of the Tear, which was better than waiting for the enemy to bomb them.
Indeed, to Batman, aliens were not considered people; they were killable. After all, who knows how many demonoids from Apocalypse Star he had killed, so a few more alien sea creatures made no difference.
But just as Batman was about to speak, Arthur, always seen as a reckless brute, spoke up.
"There's a way, that is to let Atlantis fully submerge," he answered Diana's question, awkwardly stroking his beard, sneaking a glance at his wife, now the Queen of Atlantis.
"What do you mean?" Diana frowned.
"Last time, I acted with old Deathstroke, hoping to find N Metal on the sea floor of Atlantis. There's an ancient Tomb of the Kings there."
"And then you found it but were ambushed by the Dark Knight Order, and hung on a Christmas Tree with that Deathstroke," Barry retorted, pointing out how getting separated by the enemy led to such a dire situation then.
If Barry hadn't encountered Otherworld's Deathstroke on Earth -11, and that person was willing to help the Main World fight the crisis, who knows how things might have turned out.
"Ahem... anyway, it was like that. In that tomb, there were also some launch platform controllers." Arthur awkwardly rubbed his face as Mera's fingers discreetly twisted on his waist.
How dare he keep little secrets! Where would this lead? Would it escalate to keeping a mistress secretly too?
"Atlantis was once a land-based nation, a cosmic pioneering civilization, those launch platforms...?" Barry seemed to have realized something.
Arthur nodded, holding Mera's hand: "Yes, they are all ship launch platforms, look beneath the water, those Atlantean spire structures are actually special crafts similar to rockets."
Batman understood: "In other words, they all are made of Divine Gold, enough thrust power could break through any barriers or obstacles."
"Uh, probably, I'm not certain if being underwater for so long they could still work..."
Seeing everyone inclined to follow his plan, Arthur became anxious, what if the idea didn't work?
"Sigh, if only Deathstroke were here, I mean the Otherworld's Deathstroke, not our Main World's old Deathstroke, that Deathstroke turned into a fish and wanted to stab us with a sword... Although it sounds like a tongue-twister, I do miss Deathstroke's Nightfall Greatsword, X Metal could break through these barriers, like cutting through a cake, right?"
Diana remained silent. She actually had similar thoughts, but where had Deathstroke gone?
Batman's eyes narrowed, he probably guessed where Deathstroke went, but he saw no threat, instead something beneficial to the Justice League.
So he looked at Superman beside him, and Superman, with determined eyes, nodded slightly, waiting for an order.
"The Justice League has no Deathstroke, now, let's move out."
Batman calmly issued the order.