Multiverse: Deathstroke

Chapter 62: Ch.61 Hitching a Ride

Rain soaked the uniforms of the four, and they stood in the pitch-black night, buffeted by the fierce wind. Finally, it was Bryce who spoke up. She looked at Su Ming with her blue eyes from under the mask, as if trying to discern his true intentions.

"Barry speaks highly of you, but I still can't trust you."

"There's no need for trust. Just pay us."

Su Ming's condition was fluctuating—absorbing the memories was painful and made him question his identity, but it didn't affect his thinking. He knew she wouldn't trust anyone, let alone himself and Cindy, given that they were Deathstrokes. She probably didn't even fully trust Barry.

Cindy, on the other hand, had a perfect track record with her contracts. Once she took on a mission, she had a 100% completion rate. That kind of reliability could ease Bryce's mind. For someone as smart as Batwoman, if Su Ming were to offer help for free, it would only make her suspicious. Charging money guided her thoughts in the right direction.

Sure enough, after Su Ming's remark, Bryce's expression softened considerably. She was a person who lacked a sense of security but had absolute confidence in her wealth.

If the Deathstrokes wanted money, that was easier to deal with.

"Alright. I'll give you both a check. You can fill it out for anything under thirty million."

"That's too little. Cindy and I, we each need thirty million, and we only accept cash or gold."

This price was a blatant rip-off. The main universe's Deathstroke had helped fight the Earth-3 Evil Justice League—the Crime Syndicate—and Lex Luthor had only paid him 2.5 million.

But right now, the more they haggled, the more at ease it would make Bryce feel because she knew the world was on the brink. She didn't have many options.

Bryce looked at Su Ming, her lips tightly pressed together as rain fell in the space between them. After a long pause, she finally spoke, "It feels like you're trying to make me feel comfortable, but you don't understand me at all... Fine, thirty million each. Deal."

Rich people really are something else, talking about thirty million like it's three dollars.

Without further ado, Bryce turned and walked to the roadside. In the distance, two headlights rapidly approached, like ghostly lights in the dark. Su Ming nodded at Cindy, who also walked over. Despite the layers of calculations and schemes, they all had the same goal for now.

"Get in."

The lights belonged to the pitch-black Batmobile, remotely controlled by Alfred back at the manor. Everyone knew the Batmobile had only one seat. Bryce climbed into the driver's seat, her black cape trailing water as it drew a graceful arc.

"Where are we going?" Barry asked her, shielding his eyes from the rain with his hand, though all he could see was more rain.

"Home first. There are some things we need to discuss, and I have to make some preparations." Bryce didn't even look up as she fiddled with the various switches and buttons in the cockpit, like she was piloting a plane.

"Then I'll take these two and meet you there?" Barry gestured toward the two Deathstrokes and wiped the rain off his face.

Bryce pressed a few buttons in the cockpit, and the massive trunk of the Batmobile opened, revealing four seats that slowly extended outward. "The trunk is for transporting prisoners and the wounded. You can ride in there, and we'll move together."

Transporting prisoners, huh? So it's basically a cage. Su Ming narrowed his eyes under his helmet, looking at Bryce, then at Barry.

He casually climbed into the trunk and took a seat. As the seats retracted, he noticed that the trunk wasn't just spacious but also well-lit. There were drinks, emergency rations, and several first-aid kits secured on either side.

He handed some biscuits to Barry, who immediately started eating.

High-speed running consumed a lot of energy, so speedsters rarely gained weight. Once they tapped into the Speed Force, they were almost constantly hungry.

The car sped along, and Su Ming could hear the sound of air friction against the vehicle. Barry, munching away, chatted happily with them, animatedly sharing stories of his past, clearly in high spirits.

Cindy's impression of him improved considerably, and she stopped thinking about how to take down a speedster. The two chatted about the differences between their worlds, while Su Ming quietly organized his memories, his fingers tapping absently on his gun.

When the trunk opened again, they had returned to the Batcave.

The Batcave was completely transformed. Not only were the previously damaged equipment repaired, but even the furniture was replaced. The remains of the mechanical dinosaur were gone, and the mess, the black footprints on the floor, had all been cleaned up.

How Alfred managed it alone was a mystery—magic, perhaps?

"Alright, you didn't bring us here just to eat, right? What's the deal? We're all short on time," Su Ming said to Bryce, noticing how she casually pressed a communicator and asked Alfred to prepare a second supper.

Bryce removed her helmet, shaking out her black hair before taking off her gloves.

"I don't know what your situation is, but a lot has happened today, and I need to review Gotham's surveillance and news from this month."

Su Ming and Cindy exchanged a glance and took off their helmets. Barry, meanwhile, had already taken off his uniform, looking like he'd just showered and changed into fresh clothes and slippers.

"What made you decide to search the pyramids?" Su Ming asked Barry.

"Because Hawkman and Hawkgirl are in a cycle of reincarnation. In the main universe, they were once an Egyptian pharaoh and queen. We were hoping to find Nth Metal in the pyramids." Barry, sitting in a chair, dried his hair with a towel.

"Nth Metal can be useful, but it's not enough to deal with Barbatos."

Su Ming shared his knowledge from the comics. In the comics, Batman's son used a Green Arrow's Nth Metal arrowhead to severely wound a twisted Robin of the Batman Who Laughs, leading them to believe Nth Metal could destroy Barbatos.

But how much dark energy could one twisted Robin contain? Barbatos was a god, on a completely different scale from an insane Robin.

"Yes, you mentioned that at the research lab too, but Green Arrow saw Nth Metal severely wound a twisted Robin," Barry looked at Su Ming in confusion, his face still wrapped in the towel.

Su Ming, unhurried, took off his gloves and placed the weapons from his back on the table, slowly sitting down himself. "You're right. Nth Metal can manifest dark energy, and promethium can absorb foreign energies. But they're not strong enough. They can only deal with ordinary dark creatures, not destroy Barbatos."

"Then what do we need?" Barry asked urgently.

"X-Metal."

"Where is it? What is it?" Barry scratched his head. He had never heard of such a thing.

"It's the material used to forge multiple worlds. You can think of it as the primordial substance of the universe," Su Ming said, revealing his guess since the comics were always vague, never explaining it clearly. "It's somewhere in the Dark Multiverse, a place called the World Forge. That's where Barbatos came from."