DC: Chapter 200/201

Chapter 200: We Have a Traitor
Solomon Islands.

Pennsylvania City.

In a basement in the slums.

The basement was fairly large, illuminated by yellow lights, and crowded with six people.

Barry, Bruce, Constantine, Hal, Victor, and an Indonesian Javanese man over fifty years old, with graying temples and deep wrinkles on his face—Jacopo.

He was the one helping them with his solid medical knowledge.

Previously, while fleeing from Barmulodi's pursuit, Bruce brought Jacopo and a few others to test Bardi, to gauge how much Bardi knew about the future, how much he knew about the Justice League, and how many heroes existed in this future world.

Bruce believed that Bardi possessed knowledge of a certain future. From the way he preemptively set up his plans, he seemed to know about heroes and villains in advance, dealing with them first by drawing them in, killing them, or manipulating them into his control.

However, he only seemed to know the general outlines of most heroes and villains.

Over the years, Bruce had collected much information about Bardi through clues, speculation, and tests.

The future that Bardi knew clearly wasn't as detailed and meticulous as the future Bruce had access to through his own memories.

Otherwise, there was no way they could still hide across the globe under Bardi's surveillance.

After all, in the comics, Bruce never did something like urinating for realism, nor were there any depictions of a "real" Bruce helping out morally ambiguous characters.

That realization woke Bruce up—Barmulodi didn't truly know the future, only the stories of the characters.

Those background-like characters who never appeared in the comics became Bruce's safe harbor and source of help.

Jacopo was one of them. In the future, Batman had passed through Indonesia and helped Jacopo rescue his granddaughter from human traffickers, earning his deep gratitude.

Now the roles were reversed. Bruce and the others had helped him deal with gang threats and, in turn, received his gratitude and temporary shelter.

At that moment—

A bright yellow light filled the entire basement.

Bruce was wrapped in bandages from head to toe. His eyes were red, swollen, and already blind. He lay on a wooden bed that reeked of decay. He was unconscious, his brow tightly furrowed, occasionally groaning in pain through clenched teeth.

On the other side, Constantine was also unconscious, though his injuries weren't nearly as severe. Strictly speaking, his understanding of magic made him far stronger than an ordinary person, but right now he was tied up with hemp rope like a dumpling.

"His spinal nerves were severely compressed. The trauma traveled up to the point where his brain connected with the nerves in his lower body. His internal organs are also badly damaged. Honestly, his will to survive is incredible. He should wake up soon, but... his lower body might not move again. In the worst case, he could end up paralyzed or even become vegetative."

Jacopo gently shook his head, the dark wrinkles on his face tightening as he spoke.

For a moment, the stuffy basement was filled with a suffocating, unbearable silence.

Barry remained silent, staring at Bruce on the bed. His heart ached. Bruce had taken all the pain to protect him.

"Damn it!"

Hal punched the wall in fury. With a loud bang, the lights flickered, his knuckles turned red, and dust trickled from the cracks in the wall.

"We should've used the exoskeleton armor on Bruce! We couldn't locate Aquaman and barely escaped being tracked by that damned 'dog nose.'"

Hal's eyes blazed with anger as he gritted his teeth.

They had acted separately from Bruce and Bardi, but their mission hadn't gone well. The emergence of Atlantis and Themyscira had drawn too much attention. Opportunities were scarce, and they had nearly been caught by Bardi's men.

With Bardi's tight net of pursuit, they had been struggling, humiliated. Now Bruce was in this condition, and Hal's anger exploded.

"Calm down! Bruce will be fine!"

Victor's face darkened. He placed a large hand on Hal's shoulder.

Bruce's condition weighed heavily on everyone. Though they had prepared to face darkness, the reality still hit hard.

"Damn it!!"

Hal angrily shook off Victor's hand.

His eyes then shifted toward the one lying not far from Bruce—the supposed culprit. Furious, Hal took two quick steps and punched Constantine in the leg, causing the swelling to intensify.

"OW!!"

The pain jolted Constantine awake. His eyes widened, his face twisted as he sucked in sharp breaths. His bound body arched involuntarily. His body had only just begun to magically repair itself, but Hal's blow caused his bones to creak as if about to snap, sending waves of pain through him.

"He's not the same John anymore. Hitting him won't help."

Barry's face was somber, grieving both for the former hero and for Bruce's condition.

"I don't care!!"

Hal ignored him and roared, unable to hold in his anguish. He raised his fist again and struck Constantine in the stomach.

Bang!

With a thud, Constantine, tied to the bed, bent like a shrimp. His stomach twitched. He had been healing with magic, but the blow only intensified the pain and worsened the injury.

Barry and Victor didn't interfere. They had all been under immense pressure for a long time. With Bruce lying like that, their emotions were on edge. Even they wanted to beat up Constantine to vent.

So, apart from Jacopo widening his eyes in shock as Hal lashed out, no one else moved. They all knew Hal wouldn't kill him.

"No... I'm still your beloved John!"

Constantine finally couldn't take it anymore. All sense of decorum vanished. His stomach spasmed, and he vomited up a mouthful of yellow bile.

He dry-heaved, disgusted and nauseous, curling up even tighter.

As Hal raised his fist for another blow, his face angrier than before, Constantine's expression suddenly turned serious.

"I actually admire you rebels," he said firmly.

"Why does Barmulodi have thirty-one top-tier secretaries, all kinds of black lace, white lace, and girls in uniforms seductively flirting? It's outrageous, absolutely enviable. Secretaries, man!"

"Why is he Time Magazine's 'Most Outstanding Man'? The guy women want to spend the night with the most? Number one?! I'm just as handsome. Are they blind?"

"He has everything—beauty, wealth, money, power, status, looks. A man who possesses the entire world is the natural enemy of all men."

"It's infuriating. I've always had a problem with him!"

"I completely understand your fragile, jealous male pride."

"I've decided to join your resistance!"

Constantine declared righteously, bile still at the corners of his mouth, glaring seriously as he spoke with stern conviction.

Sure enough, after those words—

Hal's raised fist froze midair, his angry expression stiffened.

He turned to look at Barry, eyes clearly asking, Are you serious? Is this really that damned John???

"Oh, is that so? We're in need of people like you."

A low voice came from Bruce.

He had just regained consciousness. Sensing the joy and surprise of his companions around him, Bruce added, "Don't worry. I'm fine. I just can't move my lower body, and I'm blind. My internal organs are displaced, and a few bones are broken."

(To be continued.)

Chapter 201: Knowledge

Metropolis.

Emperor Building.

It is now 14:00, the peak of the sun's intensity. The building's glass exterior, arranged like fish scales, reflects a variety of psychedelic color spectra, forming a giant parabolic chromatic rainbow that lights up the sky above Metropolis, bringing a dreamlike panorama to the city.

As time passes and the sun's position shifts, the refraction changes, casting a uniquely colored sky every moment, stunningly beautiful and mesmerizing.

The Emperor Building stands 2,000 meters tall with 390 floors. Although not many floors, each one is five meters high and spacious. From this height, clouds are visible, and the vivid sky of Metropolis offers a spectacular visual impact and unparalleled grandeur.

From the 380th floor upward, ordinary people are strictly forbidden from entering.

The 381st floor houses Raven's Magic Academy. Although it is called an academy, the number of students is pitifully small. Not everyone is qualified to become a magician.

On average, only one in 300,000 people turns out to be a subpar magician. After 10 years of training, such a person might only be able to cast a light spell or a fireball spell, and such magic users are less effective than a handgun. For this reason, Bardi's magician army, suffering from a lack of qualified magicians, was dissolved early on. Though it is still called a magic academy, in reality, it only consists of Raven and a dozen magicians from the magical world who have defected to Bardi. This floor, as the magic circle's control center, connects to all coordinate points around the world and can teleport to any location on Earth.

The 382nd floor is Pamela's Plant Kingdom Control Center. It manages all the plants within the Emperor Building. She also researches Kryptonian plants, demonic flora, Azarath plants, ancient Earth vegetation, and more. She collaborates with demon gods from the Magic Academy to cultivate many plants with magical properties.

As for the upper floors, others may reside there in the future.

At the very top, the 390th floor, is Bardi's private residence, where he eats, lives, and sleeps with Raven and Pamela every night.

The 380th floor is the highest office, belonging solely to Bardi. It also acts as the cutoff point—anyone below cannot pass. From the floor-to-ceiling windows here, one can see the entire skyline of Metropolis, shrouded in radiant light and mesmerizing illusions.

"Master, Constantine, who was pursuing Bruce, has gone missing. The satellite finally detected Barry Allen leaving Tescoviller Island in Indonesia at Mach 278, passing over Irian Island, and disappearing in Papua New Guinea. No further trace has been found."

Hera pushed open the door. Dressed in a professional suit, thin black stockings accentuating her pale calves, she stepped inside. Her complexion was fair, her skin delicate, and with a graceful flick of her fingers, a massive projected map appeared. In the ocean, Barry could be seen moving at super speed, with two blurry shadows flanking him and white waves trailing behind at high altitude.

Bardi poured himself a glass of special flame vodka. The red, flame-like liquid swirled in the transparent glass. He sipped it lightly, enhancing and amplifying his sense of taste and smell.

Yet even so, this special flame vodka, with a searing 340-degree burn sensation, felt no different to Bardi than drinking warm water with chili added.

Upon hearing of Constantine's disappearance, Bardi's expression remained unchanged. He simply nodded slightly, confirming the report.

As someone personally trained at the Magic Academy, Bardi held very little emotional attachment to Constantine.

In fact, for all the heroes and villains Bardi had captured, he never placed much hope in them. He merely used them as combat tools.

They were completely under his control, used to exhaust and probe the world's power.

Success or failure was irrelevant. Some of these once-famous heroes had even been maimed by him. Yet they were still not as reliable as operatives like Mike, Leon, and others whom Bardi had cultivated personally.

Since the early days, he had no interest in meddling with those pesky fly-like heroes. After fully integrating the Codex of Life into his cells and gradually activating his genes, Bardi's focus had shifted to Earth-level experimentation and enhancing himself using Doomsday Cells.

Expecting him to focus on a few "Reservoir Dogs"-type heroes would be a waste of effort.

That said, the fact that Batman could still evade surveillance under such tight monitoring impressed Bardi. As clever as he was in the comics.

His gaze turned to Barry, focusing on the blurred figure on the projection.

From the outset, Barry was moving at Mach 278. The name "The Flash" was well-deserved. That speed was astonishing.

No wonder he could travel through time and dash across eras.

Among all potential threats, Bardi believed that speedsters like Barry posed the greatest danger. They could travel to the past at will, leading to the creation of alternate futures.

Even worse, any attempt by a speedster to restore the timeline could trigger chain reactions, making it impossible to return to the original future.

He must be caught.

The Speed Force—Bardi needed it too.

Bardi took another sip of flame vodka, moved his gaze away from Barry, and downed the vivid red liquid.

"How's the latest test?"

"The 78,000th experiment. The Destruction Spore was subjected to temperatures exceeding 3 million degrees. It failed to evolve and the experiment ended in failure." Hera, sharp-featured and poised, replied calmly, "Master, I think we're heading in the wrong direction."

Bardi paused in thought, discussing the Doomsday experiment with Hera. However, no conclusion was reached.

In the end, Bardi said, "Transfer Lex Luthor into the Doomsday Plan."

After assigning Lex Luthor to the Doomsday Plan, Bardi selected two additional special operations teams specialized in countering high-speed enemies. They immediately deployed to support Mike in confronting Ocean Master Orm.

Bardi trusted in his own strategies, and he was certain that even if Bruce figured them out, there would be no way to stop him.

At this point, his power and influence were far beyond what Bruce or The Flash could resist.

If any accident were to occur, Bardi could easily correct it with his own hands.

And after all this was arranged.

Antiope was brought to the Emperor Building by Lex Luthor.

Antiope, sister of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, symbolized the arrival of Themyscira into the human world.

She was also Diana Prince—Wonder Woman's—aunt.

(To be continued.)