"Where did Jason go? Why haven't I seen him lately?"
Clark asked curiously.
"He told me a while ago that he was going to look for a place called the 'League of Assassins.' "
"Apparently, that place is somewhere in a corner of the Arabian Peninsula, so he'll probably be searching for a long time."
"How did he think of going there? And what kind of place is the 'League of Assassins'?"
"The 'League of Assassins' is the organization that trained Batman. Jason wants to go there, probably to seek power."
As for why he sought power, Dane didn't need to say; Clark already knew.
In this year, the overt and covert business competition against Vanguard Technology was extremely fierce.
Even though there hadn't been an explosion of super-powered individuals yet, the assassins attempting to kill Dane were not minor figures.
And these individuals were usually dealt with by Jason.
He didn't leave after recovering from his injuries but stayed to help out of gratitude.
However, Dane actually knew in his heart that Jason, having spent a long time with Bruce, had also developed some suspicious tendencies.
He stayed to observe what kind of people he and Clark truly were and whether they posed a danger to this World.
Dane appreciated this quality because Jason must have known that even if he and Clark weren't good people, Jason's own strength would absolutely be insufficient to stop them, yet he still did so.
But Jason certainly didn't expect that after spending a long time with the two of them.
He was eventually won over by their character and ideals, and naturally joined the nascent Justice League.
And because it was inconvenient for Dane to act when doing business outside, Jason actually became his personal bodyguard, helping him deal with the mercenaries and assassins who attempted to harm him through malicious means.
At first, there were no problems. Jason, after all, was the second Robin, Batman's carefully trained assistant; ordinary assassins and mercenaries were no match for him.
But ever since those common types were dealt with, more troublesome guys appeared.
First was Deadshot. This sharpshooter, who had long been ranked first on the assassin list, never even met Jason.
He sniped from two kilometers away, and after the bullet passed through a building's glass window, it still accurately hit Dane's temple.
At that time, Dane was in a business negotiation with someone, and suddenly felt a mosquito bite his head.
He instinctively touched it and unexpectedly found a flattened bullet head.
Jason, who was standing beside him at the time, was slow to react. By the time he pursued to the firing position, the place was already empty.
The second time was Deathstroke. This time, the assassin came directly to their door, but Jason was completely outmatched.
This was natural; Deathstroke's combat skills were even better than Batman's.
Coupled with his disregard for human life, he often gained the upper hand in hand-to-hand combat with Batman.
If Jason hadn't abandoned the "no-kill" principle and struck with lethal moves, he probably wouldn't have lasted a few rounds against Deathstroke.
Even so, he ultimately owed his life to Dane's rescue.
As for Deathstroke, Dane simply waved his hand, and the guy flew off to who knows where.
It was only then that Jason truly confirmed that Clark's claim of Dane being a god was no exaggeration.
He fought tooth and nail and couldn't even leave a scratch on Deathstroke, yet Dane, with a wave of his hand, rendered the opponent's fate unknown.
Jason then understood how significant the Justice League Dane intended to establish truly was, and that he himself was far from qualified.
It was from that moment on that Jason hoped to gain greater strength, but he was merely a mortal and couldn't possess miraculous abilities like Clark and Dane.
So he simply decided to push the power he could master to its limits, just like Batman, not only reaching the peak of human physical quality but also possessing the top tactical thinking among humans.
If he wanted to become a better person than Batman, he could only go to the place where Batman was trained, the legendary League of Assassins.
So he refused Dane's help, intending to treat this journey as a form of cultivation, hoping to find that place himself.
"You see, he acts like he doesn't care about Batman, but he actually respects him a lot, so he unconsciously chose the same path as him."
Dane said with a smile to Clark, who also nodded.
They had discussed Batman's experiences before, and Clark already knew that Batman was Bruce Wayne.
At that time, Clark had secretly gone to Gotham and seen it with his own X-ray vision.
If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed that Gotham's famous playboy was the Dark Knight who upheld justice in the streets every night.
This shock was no less than if we discovered a superhero in the Real World, and the truth was revealed to be someone like Wang Sicheng.
"Are our preparations sufficient now?"
"The preliminary preparations are almost complete."
Facing Clark's question, Dane nodded.
"I remember you mentioned a while ago that you designed a gathering place for the Justice League?"
"Yes, it's a building constructed by Umbrella, located in the suburbs of the West Coast, close to the sea, and the scenery is quite nice."
Clark was a little surprised: "Oh? It's finished so quickly? I remember it's only been a few months, right?"
Dane sighed and patted Clark.
"Clark, technology is the primary productive force. When will you understand this?"
"With the knowledge from the Kryptonian archives, such construction speed is normal. I'm already being quite restrained for fear of being too shocking."
Now, Umbrella's production workshops have begun to switch to intelligent robots, with Cortana in charge of scheduling.
To facilitate her better control of these robots, and also to provide her with a better working environment on Earth, Dane specially redesigned a "brain" for her.
That was a giant pillar of light, standing in the skyscraper on the West Coast, where Clark's Kryptonian spaceship and his childhood escape pod were also parked.
To better protect these assets, Dane also set up a magic circle around the building.
It was enchanted with magic to ward off unwanted visitors, protective spells, and alarm spells, ensuring self-protection and sending alerts to him immediately if attacked.
Over the past year, Dane had also learned many practical magic spells through the Wisdom of Solomon. He always felt that this particular gift from Solomon within the Shazam Force was the real cheat, it was incredibly useful.
He had even encountered Solomon's "spirit" during meditation and had conversed with it.
Unfortunately, it was a Void, like an artificial intelligence, only able to answer questions according to a predetermined program.
But it was enough to guide him. He now somewhat understood why the wizard had disappeared so confidently back then; it turned out the Shazam Force came with its own instruction manual!
"So, can we finally invite new members now? To be honest, I've been so idle lately I'm practically rusting."
In the past year, Clark, besides helping Martha at home, observed the prospective teammates Dane had mentioned. Overall, he was very idle.
Most importantly, having become a millionaire, he no longer needed to work, and managing Jonathan's farm became his greatest hobby.
It felt as if Jonathan was still by his side.
But he took Dane's advice, occasionally going into space to bask in the Sun, and his abilities were steadily improving.
"Don't worry, this time we are inviting a hero who is more concerned with the bigger picture."
"Who?"
"Wonder Woman."
"Didn't you say she was in Paris?"
"Your information is outdated. I just received new news; she's back due to a job adjustment."
"Where?"
"She's currently working at a museum in Washington."
"Shall we go now?"
"Don't rush. We should always send an invitation first; otherwise, it would be impolite."
"What kind of invitation?"
Dane swiped his hand through the air, and a screen unfolded. He tapped a file, and a black and white photograph appeared.
It showed a group of Soldiers, and a woman standing in the center. Her attire was unusual; she was wearing armor.
"This is..."
"This is a photograph from World War I."
Dane explained.
If even Lex Luthor could get this photo, it was even less of a problem for Dane.
Diana must have had the original photo, but that thing was almost an antique, and no matter how carefully it was preserved, it would be difficult to keep it intact.
So Diana must have wanted to scan an electronic copy and save it to her computer before the photo was completely damaged. That computer, connected to the internet, was then discovered by Cortana.
"Dane, this is an invasion of privacy..."
Dane ignored him. He composed a message and then sent it along with the photo.