The two of them flew along the surface of the shield. Outside, there were no restrictions, and their speed was extremely fast. During this time, Strange even opened a teleportation portal, so they quickly arrived at the other side of the Apocalypse Domain.
"Where is this?" Strange asked.
"Consider it an entrance and exit," Shiller said, "Previously, it's where the Green Lantern's fleet came out from. I speculate they'll dispatch some spaceships to patrol around here later too."
"Because of Asgard?"
"Exactly, suffering a defeat, Batman would only be more cautious. The sudden attack from Asgard was truly lethal, and the shield of Apocalypse Star may not be able to withstand the full power of the Rainbow Bridge. The best method is to directly dispatch troops for patrols; even if they can only hold Asgard off for a while, it could severely reduce the impact of a blitz."
Strange nodded. Fighting away games is inherently unfavorable, and with no victories in hand, Batman must adjust his strategy and cannot afford to be aggressive. The immediate priority is to not let the opponent press the advantage, yet Asgard is particularly adept at expanding its advantages. To prevent them from snowballing further, one can only choose to contract the defense lines.
"It seems like the odds of winning are not really high for the other side," Strange said.
"That's not necessarily true. Batman is very skilled at seizing opportunities. Moreover, although our side appears formidable, it has very few experiences of failure. If the other side seizes an opportunity and strikes a blow, the recovery speed is still uncertain."
Strange indeed had a subtle worry in his heart too. Although this side seemed to cooperate well, it was mainly because they were benefiting from Asgard. Asgard itself already comes with a complete combat system, having inherent advantages against mixed forces.
But what if a systematized force from the other side attacks this side's mixed forces? Just look at Doctor Strange. Wouldn't he just collapse without a fight?
"Let's hope Batman doesn't seize the opportunity," Strange sighed deeply.
The two arrived there and then hid behind a planet. Shiller said, "Our side convened a recon meeting; Batman surely will too. But there are many injured on their side who need time to recover first. Now they should be almost ready, and Batman is likely gathering everyone for a meeting. John Constantine surely falls within the call-up scope. If he wants to get to the main star without using teleportation, there's only one way—hitching a ride."
"Are you saying Constantine will hitch a ride with the patrolling fleet? Wouldn't that waste too much time?" Strange raised his eyebrows in slight surprise, "By the time those fleets patrol and return, the meeting would have already ended, wouldn't it?"
"If it weren't like this, Constantine probably wouldn't even come," Shiller snorted, "Do you think he'd care to attend Batman's meeting?"
"Oh, that's true. This matter doesn't concern him in the first place. If he went, and they assigned him some combat tasks, he'd have to use magic again, and I bet he wouldn't want to deal with such a mess."
"He will act, but only in his own way. Batman knows this too, and this time, the training exercise isn't about him. So even if he knows Constantine is deliberately wasting time by hitching a ride, he wouldn't do anything about it."
"Speaking of which, if the goal is training, they actually gained this time. They've exposed issues within their team and suffered defeat, so everyone's fired up and unified in their efforts. Unlike our side..."
Strange didn't finish, but Shiller knew what he was referring to. Those who suffer defeat only think about how to win, while the victors think about claiming credit.
Although Asgard provided most of the effort this time, they have little interest in the Human Alliance. As for Doctor Strange, who's most interested, he's too guilty over the heavy losses to openly come forth, yet the undercurrents have never ceased privately.
Shiller and Strange didn't have to wait long, roughly half a day, before they saw a somewhat familiar spaceship approaching Apocalypse Star. It was a small silver spaceship, coming from the opposite direction to Shiller and Strange.
"Wait, isn't that the Guardians of the Galaxy?" Strange said in shock, "So that missing Guardians of the Galaxy are here. Which universe are they from? How could they be so bold?"
"If they weren't bold, they wouldn't be themselves," Shiller continued hiding in the planet's shadow, looking that way and saying, "I suspect they're thinking of a decapitation action."
"Decapitation action?!" Strange's voice almost cracked, "Whose head? Apocalypse Star's? Or Darkseid's?"
"Of course, Batman's," Shiller said, slightly helpless, "With Star Lord's brain, he would only think Batman is an ordinary human who'd die with a shot. So naturally, they would think of rushing into Batman's lair for a killing spree."
Strange slapped his forehead, "Even not mentioning Darkseid, there are also so many Supermans and Wonder Woman. They would surround Batman firmly; how could they even get a killing chance?"
"Have you forgotten, there are good hands within Batman's ranks too," Shiller snorted coldly, "Someone who can come up with this idea must never have faced the Iron Fist of the President."
"What do we do now?" Strange said worriedly, "It looks like they're determined to go in; wouldn't they be caught on the spot?"
"Don't worry, Star Lord might not be that smart, but the Guardians of the Galaxy have wandered in the universe for many years, they have the basic sense. They wouldn't be unaware of how formidable this giant in front of them is; if they didn't have a way to blend in, they wouldn't come here."
"Can they break through the shield of Apocalypse Star?!" Strange was incredulous.
"As they say, there are ways for a cat, and there are ways for a mouse. Roaming the cosmos for so many years without being caught and managing to amass a fortune is certainly not just lip service. Just watch how they do it."
The two continued to wait, and that spaceship didn't rush to get closer but rather kept waiting there. Until another figure appeared on the front of the planet where Shiller and the others were.
The figure had black hair and black eyes, wearing a black trench coat, holding a briefcase, tall and lean, with a cold stern face, a cigarette unlit clutched between his lips, looking around as if waiting for a bus.
The bus didn't arrive, and with a buzz, several figures instantly appeared behind him. As soon as he turned his head, a laser gun was pointed at his forehead.
"It's actually a big fish," the leader, who was wearing a cosmic combat suit, said happily, "You're John Constantine, right? I've seen you in combat data, the infamous Hell Detective."
The person lifted the box, raised his hands, and took two steps back, saying, "Let's talk this through, no need for knives and guns. Who are you guys?"
On the other side of the planet, Shiller, having heard the commotion, brought Strange to a nearby place. Strange cast invisibility and silence magic on them. He nudged Shiller with his elbow and asked, "Why isn't this Constantine blond?"
"Things are getting interesting," Shiller smiled and said, "This happens to be the more serious Constantine."
Shiller had already recognized that the Constantine blocked by the Guardians of the Galaxy was movie Constantine, played by Keanu Reeves. Iconic scenes from the movie include but are not limited to a flaming Gatling gun and flipping off Satan.
Although Keanu Reeves was quite handsome in his prime, and the movie had full-blown special effects, it didn't quite restore the comic. Movie Constantine isn't that lousy; his inappropriate behavior stemmed from resentment over late-stage lung cancer and the strong purpose of wanting to go to Heaven, not as indifferent and nonchalant as in the comics.
In contrast, the exorcism part was better portrayed. Movie Constantine is a very skilled exorcist with strong inspiration and magic power, and his attitude is tough, fighting demons without mercy.
"The Guardians of the Galaxy have met their match," Shiller was somewhat gloating, the excitement of watching the spectacle written all over his face.
Strange was actually a bit curious too. Previously, he looked down on Constantine because this guy was really too rotten; no matter how strong his professional level, he couldn't make up for his huge flaws in character. Even Bruce's universe's Constantine didn't leave a good impression on him, let alone the others.
However, this Constantine, in front of him, gave Strange a good first impression. Because he didn't have that same reckless vibe as the other Constantines; instead, he kind of reminded Strange of his teacher, The Ancient One, the strongest Supreme Mage.
"Guardians of the Galaxy, have you heard of us?" Rocket said, walking over with a gun.
Constantine didn't speak, just slightly lifted his eyelids, took the cigarette out of his mouth. Seeing this movement, Shiller hurriedly pulled Strange away a bit — this was a prelude to a fight.
Sure enough, in the next second, a flaming whip smacked Rocket Raccoon flying away with a crack. Then another sweep followed, and except for Gamora doing a flip and landing steadily, everyone else was knocked flying, falling heavily to the ground.
Throwing away the cigarette, he stomped fiercely, the ground around turned into a pitch-black swamp, with countless ghost hands reaching out from below, firmly grabbing the members of the Guardians of the Galaxy.
Constantine stepped forward, tilted his head, and with a flick of his hand, tossed the cigarette butt onto Star Lord's chest. With a whoosh, it ignited into raging flames, causing Star Lord to howl in pain.
He took out another cigarette, lit it, took a drag, blew out the smoke, and clicked his tongue, saying:
"I've never heard of any Guardians of the Galaxy, but there are quite a few of you. If I take you back to Batman, maybe I won't have to attend that damn meeting."
"Wait!" Rocket, with his limbs tightly grasped by ghost hands unable to move, shouted, "Do you just want to serve Batman?!"
"What makes you think I'm serving anyone, kitty-cat?" Constantine snorted, puffing out a cloud of smoke from between his fingers, "You'd think we were in a life-and-death battle."
"You damn bastard..."
Before Star Lord could finish his words, the ghost hands pulled his limbs in all directions, eliciting a scream of pain. Gamora couldn't help but turn her head and curse angrily at him, "Didn't you say Constantine would be easy to bully?!"
"The ones we met before really were..."
"Hey, buddy," Strange lifted the invisibility spell and walked out — he still had Constantine's appearance, looking at Constantine, saying, "I don't want to go to the meeting either, those who see, share."
He was met with a flaming whip in response.
"Hey, wait a minute!" Strange nearly got hit, having to quickly retreat to avoid it, "We're on the same side, why are you hitting me?!"
Constantine remained silent, relentlessly pursuing Strange. Only then did he remember he still had Constantine's appearance on, and being a blond Constantine generally made people like him even less. Being beaten by this more serious counterpart was entirely natural.
"Stop!" Strange shouted at him, "This is the last warning! Stop attacking!"
Constantine seemed not to hear at all. Finding the whip ineffective, he grabbed at the air, and a shotgun emitting flames appeared in his hand.
BANG! A bullet wrapped in raging fire was shot at Strange.
The bullet left ripples on the golden array, and Strange's hands drew fluid arcs in the air. "Keep the heart, soul, and spirit eternal!"