Bruce had spent the past few days continuing his search for new team members.
However, there weren't many potential recruits to be found at the moment. Even in many cities, there weren't enough candidates who qualified to become new members.
"Master, what are you doing..." Alfred began.
"Let's put aside recruiting new members for now. How's the promotion of the Incinerator Lanterns going?" Bruce interrupted.
Bruce had expected he wouldn't find many qualified members, but he had to pay full attention to promoting the Incinerator Lanterns.
Only by distributing large numbers of Incinerator Lanterns could the Covenant Incinerator's power be continuously enhanced, and the power in the rings would also improve.
"We've begun promoting them to churches around the world. Since we're donating them freely and the lanterns have attractive designs, most churches have accepted our donations," Alfred reported, handing over a cup of coffee.
He knew the importance of the Incinerator Lanterns. So while Bruce searched for new members, Alfred had been seriously donating the lanterns to churches worldwide in the Wayne Group's name.
Faced with donations from a world-class super corporation, all church staff had gladly accepted.
After all, besides the lanterns themselves, they also received monetary donations. Plus, the lanterns looked very sacred and fit the solemn atmosphere of churches. No one had chosen to refuse them.
After getting Alfred's answer, Bruce nodded gently. He knew it wouldn't be long before Incinerator Lanterns spread to churches all over the world, and the Covenant Incinerator's power would continue growing with the prayers of people worldwide.
"That's good. Our strength will keep increasing. When facing stronger enemies, we'll at least have the power to fight back."
They didn't mention Marcus. Whether it was Alfred or Bruce, they both knew Marcus wouldn't stay here forever. After this demon incident was over, Marcus would probably leave.
This meant they couldn't put all their hopes on Marcus. They had to become stronger themselves.
However, while promoting the Incinerator Lanterns these past few days, Alfred had also collected some noteworthy information.
"Master, do you remember what happened in 1984?"
Bruce recalled that year when his butler mentioned it.
That year, some strange changes had occurred. People all over the world had seemed to experience a collective hallucination. Some unimaginable things had happened.
"I remember. Is there a problem?"
"When I was donating the Incinerator Lanterns, I heard some strange rumors," Alfred said.
He told Bruce all the information he'd collected. There was a woman who rode lightning, there were miracles at the Greek Pantheon, and even the wishing stone that had appeared in 1984...
Bruce's eyes widened at these simple revelations.
What was he hearing? A woman who sounded like Superman from the neighboring city? Except that she couldn't fly and didn't have laser vision, there was almost no difference between them.
As for the miracles in the Pantheon and the wishing stone in 1984, he was even more shocked.
So everything that had happened that year wasn't fake. It hadn't been a collective hallucination, but actual scenes after the mixed desires of all mankind were realized.
"I see. In other words, that woman could be a new member?"
"Yes, and I also obtained her photo. It may be a little blurry, but it's definitely a very important clue."
Alfred turned on the computer and opened an old black-and-white photo for Bruce to examine personally.
"This woman? She looks no different from an ordinary person, but then again, Superman also looks no different from ordinary people..."
"It seems I'll have to find her personally and talk about these demons. I hope she won't reject me," Bruce murmured.
With the photo, he could find out the woman's identity more easily, even if it was an old photo.
If it was really as Alfred said, she would be one of their most powerful allies—a powerful helper second only to Superman.
As for Marcus, Bruce didn't count his teacher among them. He knew very well Marcus wouldn't stay here forever. If they wanted to deal with these threats, they could only rely on themselves.
Meanwhile, in Gotham
"Back again!" Constantine muttered, walking through Gotham's streets and looking at the surrounding environment.
He'd been hunting many demons these past few days. The strength of these demons varied, which had rapidly consumed the Incinerator Ring's power. The energy stored in his Incinerator Lantern had reached the bottom.
Now he only had the last bit of strength left, which forced him to stop destroying demons and return to Gotham.
He'd gotten his strength from the Covenant Incinerator, and he also needed to see the demon remains Bruce had brought back so he could thoroughly confirm their identities.
After all, demon servants weren't all identical, and Bruce might have encountered some ordinary demons with unusual strength. Before seeing those remains, he couldn't determine the truth and could only plan for the worst scenario.
Arriving at Wayne Manor, Constantine put out the cigarette in his mouth, straightened his clothes, and rang the doorbell.
Ding dong~
A voice came through the intercom. "It's Mr. Constantine!"
As the voice spoke, the manor's gates slowly opened, and Constantine walked in.
"I'm here to recharge my lantern's power, Alfred," he called out, greeting the voice on the intercom as he entered.
Alfred was surprised at that. It had only been a short time since Constantine left, but he'd already used up all the lantern's power. Such a consumption rate was enough to prove how active he'd been in dealing with demons.
Walking into the room, Constantine was stunned by the scene before him. Not only was Alfred at home, but Bruce and Selina were there too. These two busy people being home surprised him a bit.
"What are you all doing..."
"Looking for new members. Only when more people join us can we be more effective," Bruce replied, continuing to examine the documents in his hand.
This was all the information he'd found about that woman, and he had to find key details from it.
Seeing Bruce say this, Constantine became interested. He understood the importance of new members too.
There were so many people and so many cities in the world. If they relied on themselves alone, they could work themselves to death and still fail to solve all the demon problems.
With one more member, their efforts would become easier. He approved of Bruce's choice.
Placing his Incinerator Lantern on the table, Constantine stepped forward, wanting to check the documents in Bruce's hands.
His actions naturally didn't escape Bruce's notice, but these documents weren't top secret. Since Constantine wanted to see them, Bruce was happy to have someone else's input.
"Currently, besides the few of us, we also have Superman from the neighboring city, Green Arrow from Star City, and The Flash from Central City. As for others, I haven't decided yet, but she could definitely qualify!"
Bruce indicated the woman in the photo he was examining. This was a newer photo that Bruce had obtained through secret channels.
After getting this photo, Bruce understood the woman's strength was definitely significant. After all, the first photo he'd obtained was taken during World War I.
That's right—this woman had lived from World War I to the present day, and the latest photo he'd gotten was taken recently.
She was called Diana Prince, an archaeologist specializing in Greek civilization.
"This woman..." Constantine frowned as he looked at Diana in the photo.
Although he'd never seen her before, he recognized the equipment she was wearing in the old photo.
"She's not an ordinary person!"
"I know. This photo was taken during World War I, but this one was taken recently," Bruce said.
Constantine shook his head gently. "You don't understand what I mean. She's not ordinary—she should be an Amazon."
He pointed at the equipment in the photo with his finger.
"Although this photo is blurry, this type of equipment can only appear in two places. One is the temple of the Greek gods, and the other is with the Amazons."
Now it was Bruce's turn to be curious. They'd read through all the information and couldn't see anything extraordinary. How could Constantine recognize her identity so directly?
Noticing the gazes around him, Constantine sat down and drew some patterns on a piece of paper.
"This is a special script mastered by the Greek gods and Amazons. The equipment Diana's wearing is engraved with these symbols.
"Moreover, this type of equipment is also a unique style for them. That's why I said she's an Amazon."
"Why not one of those Greek gods?" Selina asked.
"They disappeared long ago, and I don't know where they went. That's why I can be sure she's an Amazon and not from the temple of the Greek gods."
Hearing the word "Amazon" again, everyone's confusion grew stronger.
They knew what the Amazon was, but was there really any relationship between it and Greece, thousands of miles away?
Seeing their puzzled expressions, Constantine immediately realized they'd misunderstood.
Amazons had nothing to do with the Amazon rainforest known as Earth's lungs. They didn't have even the slightest connection.
"The Amazons aren't in the Amazon forest. They're all hidden in a mysterious place that only the Greek gods and Amazons know about."
Constantine wasn't very clear about where exactly the Amazons were. After all, before Diana appeared, he'd been more willing to regard this race that had never appeared as merely a legend.
The reason he knew so much was because of a human skin book that recorded countless things.
According to the story in that book, long ago, the Greek gods, Amazons, Atlanteans, and humans had formed a coalition to face an extremely powerful invader.
The coalition had won, and the invaders had been beaten so badly they fled Earth.
It was because of this that he'd researched all the coalition members and finally concluded that the records in the human skin book were true, though perhaps exaggerated.
Because for so many years, he'd never met anyone from Atlantis, let alone an Amazon.
If he didn't know the Greek gods had really existed—they'd just disappeared without a trace—he might not have believed the human skin book's records at all.
Now, because of Diana's appearance, he was more certain of this matter's authenticity. After all, only Amazons and Greek gods could have those patterns.
Hearing Constantine's explanation, everyone nodded.
Although they were confused about whether this was all true, at least Constantine had given his assessment that Diana was an Amazon.
"In that case, I understand. But what do you think about this?" Bruce showed Constantine the documents about the wishing stone.
This had happened in 1984. As an exorcist, Constantine should have heard of this kind of thing.
Looking at the wishing stone in the document, Constantine was silent for a moment and frowned again.
"The stone itself is nothing, but the metal ring is the most important part."
Seeing Constantine so serious, everyone felt surprised. Constantine hadn't been like this just moments ago. Was there something wrong with the wishing stone's metal ring?
Just as they were about to ask, they heard Constantine say, "If I'm not mistaken, it was made by Hephaestus—the god of fire among the Greek gods—and it should have the blessing of some gods."
The metal ring's style was very similar to Greek god craftsmanship, and among the gods, only the god of fire had the power to forge such things.
This was the main direction of his speculation. After all, he didn't know everything—he just knew a bit more than Bruce and the others.
"But you don't need to worry. This thing has no effect now. I think it was that lady Diana who stopped it."
"We're not worried. This matter passed long ago. The reason we're paying attention to it is just because Diana's related to it," Bruce said with a chuckle.
He already had a certain understanding of Diana's strength. He was very satisfied with her power. Someone like her would definitely be a powerful ally.
If Diana could be persuaded to join, their strength would improve greatly. After all, their strongest person right now was only Superman, the Kryptonian.
It wasn't that he was unwilling to trust Clark. After all, as Superman, Clark was Marcus's godson. Having such a relationship was the foundation of his trust in him.
But having only one high-end combatant wasn't enough. At least when facing multiple powerful demons, Clark couldn't handle everything alone.
"It seems I'll have to go out again!" Bruce said with determination.