"I need you to help me deliver a message," Strange said. "Guardians of the Galaxy are with us; they've been captured, and we must rescue them. But I'm afraid Batman has set a trap for us. I hope they can be prepared. Can you do this?"
"Why don't you do it yourself? You're much healthier than I am."
"I'll be discovered," Strange said. "The magic energy I use is quite different from yours, and Darkseid has a strong grasp on the Apocalypse Domain. The energy fluctuations caused by sending a message that far might attract Darkseid's attention. I don't want to take that risk. But if you do it, it shouldn't draw attention."
Constantine lingered for a moment, then touched his chest and said, "I really feel a lot better, and I haven't heard them talking in my ear."
"What?"
"If I use their methods to suppress the illness, there would be a lot of side effects," Constantine said, furrowing his brows. "In the worst cases, everything I see seems to be bleeding, spirits wailing in my ears, and my skin gradually peels off. For a long time, I don't know where I am. Once, when I woke up, I was standing in the middle of the street, and all the cars were honking at me."
Strange imagined that scenario and felt he would have gone mad if he were Constantine. It seems that the forces in his universe have severe restrictions; humans almost can't use them directly, or these side effects occur.
No wonder Constantine didn't use those powers to cure his lung cancer. Even if the cancer is cured, who knows what kind of monster he might turn into.
"Alright, I think we can make this deal," Constantine said. "However, even if I use magic, it might be monitored. There needs to be a legitimate reason."
Just as he finished speaking, the room door was knocked. The voice of Primary Universe Batman sounded outside: "Constantine, are you okay?"
Strange quickly transformed back into the blond Constantine's appearance. The two moved the box to the center of the room, pretending to study the magical tools. When Primary Universe Batman walked in, he looked at Constantine with some concern.
"Someone told me they heard coughing upstairs," Primary Universe Batman said. "What's that? Are you coughing blood?"
"It's nothing serious," Constantine smiled and said, "I didn't intentionally block the cameras. It's just that some of these magical tools shouldn't be looked directly at, or it could cause harm. I don't want to take out our commander on my first day here."
Primary Universe Batman couldn't help but look at the box, but the lid faced the door, making it impossible to see what was inside. He didn't want to risk looking at potentially dangerous items, so he said, "I thought about it and decided you should attend the meeting. But you can wait until the debriefing is over to receive new assignments."
"Will we have tasks?" Strange asked.
"There wasn't supposed to be any, but you captured members of the Guardians of the Galaxy. We might develop some tactical arrangements regarding them. You'd better listen."
"Oh, damn it," Constantine said. "I didn't come here to attend meetings, and must you really bully a patient?"
"What's wrong with you?" Primary Universe Batman frowned and walked in, closing the door. He was about to ask more, but then saw the images Strange had placed nearby.
He walked over, picked them up, and couldn't help rubbing his temples, saying, "It's the first time I've seen an organ image that can only be identified by the shape as a human body part. Is this really the lungs?"
"By shape alone, yes," Constantine nodded, indifferent, as he continued fiddling with the items in the box.
Primary Universe Batman glanced at the images, then at Constantine, and then at the images again. Strange almost couldn't hold back laughter; it was his first time seeing such a shocked expression on Primary Universe Batman's face. Apparently, it wasn't just him who thought this was a medical anomaly.
"Alright, stop standing here, Commander," Constantine stood up, walked to Primary Universe Batman with a hand in his pocket, and said, "You know what I'm here for. Nothing is more important than my life, right?"
Primary Universe Batman hesitated visibly, saying, "Yes, from the images, it is indeed your life that's more important. Have you found any good methods?"
Constantine smiled, "No. But if I die here, Satan won't get my soul, which isn't a bad ending."
Primary Universe Batman frowned; he clearly didn't want this result. After pausing, he said, "I can help contact mages from this Central Universe; they might have a solution. Once the war is over, you can go to Battleworld for treatment."
"That's not necessary; you know, I don't trust magic," Constantine shook his head and said, "If you insist, I'll attend the meeting, but I don't guarantee being effective."
After speaking, he took the images from Primary Universe Batman, sat back beside the box, and silently fiddled with the items.
Strange looked at Primary Universe Batman and said, "Even though I also don't want to attend that damned meeting if you require it, I can have a look. By the way, what's that... uh, Guardians? What's their background?"
"A cosmic mercenary squad, not too formidable, or else you two wouldn't have caught them," Primary Universe Batman briefly introduced and then said, "They're quite unruly, haven't yielded much useful information. But they have other uses."
Afterward, Primary Universe Batman left without saying much more. Strange glanced at the clock on the wall; the meeting was starting in over half an hour.
Since Constantine had been sorting the box earlier, Strange had already found that the box could contain far more than its volume suggested; there must be extra space inside.
"This thing is nice," Strange said, "it seems to hold quite a lot. Is your entire estate in here?"
"Sort of, I have some stuff in the safehouse, but most of it's useless. All the good stuff is right here," Constantine replied, "though it seems it doesn't hold much meaning for you."
"In our universe, religion doesn't possess any special power. To be precise, religious figures without a deal with a mysterious entity are just ordinary people. So, probably more than half of what's in there is unusable."
Constantine nodded, not showing too much surprise. Then Strange asked, "When we fought earlier, what was up with those animals you summoned?"
"The mimicry of the Demon's Blood," Constantine said, "that array is indeed a summoning array, but it can't summon the real demon. It can only summon the Demon's Blood I previously stored there. They haven't been completely purified, retaining the demon's traits, thus transforming into various monsters to attack others."
"Can you control them?"
"Not entirely, but since they died by my hand and still carry the fear before their death, they generally don't attack me first. As long as my opponent dies faster than me, I have a way to seal them again."
Strange nodded and said, "The magic on your side is really dangerous, should definitely use it less."
"What about you? Just now, when you were healing me, did you use the magic energy from your side?" Constantine asked.
"Kind of," Strange nodded, "but to avoid detection, I didn't use my own energy directly, I used a tool, similar to those in your box."
Strange took out the Eye of Agomoto and said, "The energy inside can provide healing to pure people."
"Pure people?" Constantine chuckled, "Didn't expect that I count as a pure person by your standards."
Strange shook his head and said, "It's not about the purity of personality, rather not having anyone under a contract. You haven't signed a contract with our demon gods, so naturally, you're considered pure."
"So, it can't heal mages?"
"Not entirely accurate, because not all mages have contracts. Some contracts expire, some parties die, and others like me, who don't sign long-term contracts with anyone but have a stable energy source, can use it."
"I see," Constantine packed up the box and said, "It's almost time for the meeting, let's go."
Strange nodded. The two walked out, one behind the other, quickly arriving downstairs at the base, then heading to the meeting room. Just as they were about to enter, Constantine leaned against the door frame, coughing violently, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, his face pale as a skeleton.
"You go in first," he said between coughs to Strange, "Tell Batman I need some time to mix the medicine, won't be long."
Upon hearing this, Strange remembered that the demon Constantine captured for medicine had been replaced by Shiller. Although he didn't think the gray mist would be affected by Constantine, if the medicine had no effect, Constantine might notice something.
"I'll go with you," Strange said, "That kind of medicine isn't good stuff, I can help alleviate your symptoms."
Constantine didn't refuse. The two headed to the restroom together. Once there, Constantine went into a stall and dry-heaved for a while. He staggered out, leaning against the door frame, then slumped over the sink, nearly unconscious.
Strange again held the Eye of Agomoto in one hand, placing his other hand on Constantine's shoulder, transferring healing energy into him.
But just as his hand touched Constantine's shoulder, Constantine turned around sharply, pinning Strange against the sink, grabbing his head and violently slamming it into the countertop. "Bang!"
Strange let out a cry of pain, instinctively struggling. Constantine twisted his other hand on Strange's wrist, seizing the Eye of Agomoto, and expressionlessly elbowed his neck again, causing Strange to black out and fall along the sink.
"I was right, wasn't I? He's not good at fighting," a voice echoed in the restroom, "You'd better hurry, or Batman will come looking for you."
Constantine stood crookedly, taking several deep breaths, tugging hard on his tie, then holding Strange's armpits with both hands, dragged him into the farthest stall, and quickly opened the suitcase, pulled out a small bottle of potion, pried open Strange's jaw, and poured it in.
Strange instinctively coughed twice but quickly fell into a deeper coma. Constantine walked out with the box, setting it flat on the sink countertop, reaching in for a jar.
To be precise, it was a slender bottle that could be held with one hand, within it was a swirling shadow.
"You're not the Slander Demon I caught earlier, who are you?" Constantine squinted and asked.
Soon, the dense shadow flew out from the bottle, and upon landing, the floor reflected the shape of a goat's hooves, the long horns casting two sharp shadows on the face, scarlet eyes glinting with amusement.
"My name... 'Mephisto'."