"The satellite and the locator you placed on her aren't working, didn't you try any primitive methods? Like having Superman use his vision and hearing, or that little sea star in your hand, hmm?"
Sitting in the command room of the Hall of Justice, Batman was still firmly fixed in his rescue armor. Upon hearing Deathstroke's words, he couldn't help but narrow his eyes.
Having Can Luo in his hand was known to the Justice League, but Deathstroke hadn't seen it, so how did he know?
Su Ming couldn't have told him; it was in the comic "Justice is Absent" where Batman was seen picking up the sea star fragments.
But these were all side issues, and Batman quickly set it aside, also avoiding discussing the locators he installed on other Justice League members.
Deathstroke was right, he did install them secretly, but no one else knew, and he wouldn't admit it.
"That's the strange part; I've tried everything I could think of, but I can't find Diana."
Su Ming smacked his lips, took a deep puff of his cigarette: "So that means someone has simultaneously blocked Diana with magic, technology, and even psychic superpowers."
"Though the methods I've tried weren't limited to those, you could understand it that way." Batman's voice came over the mic, still low: "Luthor and his group have been unusually quiet recently, something's off. The Justice League's primary task is still solving the Totality issue, as our universe is dying."
"Luthor has organized a small team, filled with your arch-enemies: Joker, Cheetah, Manta Ray, Grud, Sinestro. Currently, those without direct arch-enemies are Ron and Steel Bone."
Speaking into the mic, Su Ming regretted turning all the alcohol here into Molotov cocktails earlier, as his throat felt dry.
"So you think Luthor would recruit Grid to deal with Steel Bone and a Super White Martian to tackle Ron."
"Given the current chaos in the Magic Realm, I suspect the situation has escalated, and Luthor will assemble an army far exceeding the Justice League's numbers."
With Luthor's technological prowess and the Mother Box in his possession, he could even traverse the future and the multiverse to gather all villains together.
"I will investigate." Batman cut off the communication.
Actually, Su Ming had started to detect some clues, first with static force, then invisible light, followed by the Witch's Hour.
All these incidents occurred on the same day, within ten hours; how could there be no connection between them?
Considering Luthor's history of grand schemes, Su Ming was inclined to believe that the Witch's Hour and the War of Original Sin were part of his plan to seize the Totality and pursue destruction.
But what would that bring him? Inner satisfaction? Material gain?
Such things didn't seem to tempt Luthor, so his motive was still unknown to Su Ming.
For now, he'd treat Luthor as a suspect until Su Ming found evidence that the Witch's Hour had nothing to do with him.
Naboo and Circe's reactions were somewhat off as well.
Naboo taking over Doctor Fate's body was unprecedented.
And Circe, her motive for lying was equally mysterious.
Previously, Su Ming had thought Luthor would form a small team to play a 7V7 match against the Justice League, allowing him to profit from the sidelines.
However, with the Justice League's second-line heroes joining the fray, Luthor would undoubtedly form a substantial army.
Bo Bo sparred verbally with Albella, but the female mage's bottomless imagination overcame the naive gorilla, and he sought refuge beside Su Ming.
Albella looked smug, once again surpassing the world's smartest gorilla in eloquence.
She went to comfort the crying girls, a perfect opportunity for cheeky jokes.
"What did Batman say?"
Bo Bo asked Deathstroke.
Su Ming just chuckled and shook his head: "He said I'm the hope of the Magic Realm, and he trusts me unreservedly."
The gorilla's eyes turned as dead as a fish, side-eyeing Deathstroke, his lower lip about to flip.
"Do you think I'd believe such an outrageous lie? If he really said that, I'd suspect someone was impersonating Batman."
"Anyway, if you want to continue investigating and follow my team, don't expect Batman to offer any useful advice." Su Ming stood up, adjusting his gear: "He won't give me advice, and I won't listen to his advice."
"Alright then, this seems like a conflict between tactical masters?" Bo Bo nodded helplessly, with no choice, as leaving now while the case was only half-solved would be torture.
"No, humans usually call it chemistry."
Su Ming waved goodbye to a few young girls, who were visibly cold towards Deathstroke, especially Raven, as Deathstroke left a deep psychological shadow on the Teen Titans.
Although it wasn't Su Ming's fault, it was all on Main World's Slade, wearing this black and yellow armor meant he shouldn't expect any friendly banter with the girls.
"Albella, Donna, let's move." He signaled the two women to continue the mission with the team.
"Where are we going?" Albella inquired, now serving as their transportation.
"First, to Aiyu Island, that woman Circe deceived us, and I want to see if she has a reasonable explanation."
The four bid farewell to the girls, and Bo Bo specifically reminded Trish to clean the entire bar, especially the blackened floor, scrape off the burnt layer, and reapply varnish and wax.
Trish was about to cry again, hiding in Raven's arms.
Starting from the bar, they crossed over to Greece, then flew for a while before returning to Aiyu Island.
At this point, Circe's cave was empty, even taking everything she could with magic.
"Detective, it's your time to shine now, let's search for clues separately." Su Ming set Bo Bo down, letting him start exploring with a magnifying glass.
The gorilla had an advantage while investigating: his shorter stature and smaller size allowed him to access places humans couldn't.
The cave was filled with stalactites, but there were also bizarrely shaped little holes for the gorilla to search.
Bo Bo was quite effective at professional tasks, quickly finding things and not missing any clues at all.
Soon, he discovered traces of Diana's second arrival there.
"Here, Diana's footprints. Because her shoe soles got demon blood and hell dirt on them, I deduce it's evidence of her returning here."
Bo Bo pointed a flashlight at a line of footprints on the ground, very dense, indicating there had been a chair there and Diana, after returning from hell, sat there for a while.
Whatever she discussed with Circe was unknown, but she seemed uneasy, moving her feet frequently, indicating an anxious mind.
Su Ming patted the gorilla's shoulder: "Well done, Bo Bo, looks like Diana has been misled by Circe to some place."
The gorilla nodded, then took out a transparent evidence bag, shaking it in front of everyone.
"Besides, I found something concerning too."