Watching as the unrelated people left the study, Vico chose to conduct the interview outside that blood-stained place, finally allowing Su Ming to speak with Briss.
"Barry, I know what you want to ask. I'm Deathstroke from another universe; you can call me Slade. Since my memories are somewhat jumbled at present, you can temporarily call me Su. A name is just a label, it doesn't matter to me."
Barry examined him closely, as if looking at something incomprehensible: "You don't have magical energy, nor Divine Speed. How did you get here?"
"Do you think if I knew how, I would still stay here? It's not exactly safe here." Su Ming smiled at Barry, as if telling a joke: "Relax a bit, although your appearance has added some flaws to my original plan, at this moment, we can't engage in internal conflict."
Indeed, at the first sight of Barry, Su Ming considered using Divine Speed to head directly to the Main Universe, but he quickly dismissed the idea.
Barry, being a good-natured person, seeing Earth -11 still surviving and Briss not turned into the Drowned, would never leave it unattended when he could change history without side effects, deeply immersed in the effects of time and Divine Speed.
If he doesn't leave, neither can Su Ming, because Barry's Divine Speed is the most direct method to cross dimensions. Although this world also has Speedster villains, none of their abilities involve dimensional travel.
"You seem very familiar with me, but I have no memory of you, and you're way too young." Barry relaxed a little, sitting down on the other side of the sofa, just touching the edge, but judging by his tone and body language, he remained wary, his eyes still on the sword on the table.
This sword, unlike the Slade he knew, used a Promethium-made Giant Sword, a massive weapon twenty centimeters wide and one meter long, while the one on the table in front looked like ordinary metal and was of the samurai sword category.
"You can call my world 'Origin Earth,' so over there, sometimes I know things... a little earlier."
Su Ming concocted a lie that couldn't be falsified, since unknown worlds still existed in the DC Universe. Even users of Divine Speed couldn't guarantee that 104 is the total number of worlds.
Not to mention Barry retains memories of the pre-Flashpoint world; he's seen the Infinite Earths of the Infinite Universe.
It was as if he understood something, yet understood nothing at all; Su Ming's answer left him in a fog, starting to ponder whether during the universe convergence, a world might have been left out.
Su Ming hadn't completely lied; it was indeed Origin Earth, the DC Editor Department was in what used to be the United States in his world, isn't that 'origin' enough?
Briss didn't bother with Barry's confusion, as the matter of parallel universes was beyond her control. She was more concerned about why Cindy appeared in Gotham again, a very sensitive time.
She knew the habits of Deathstroke, who always acted only when paid, and now there were two Deathstrokes. She had to stay alert every moment.
But now Barry was completely scared by one sentence; whether she could really handle two Deathstrokes was questionable. If the confrontation dragged on too long, it might cause issues for the world.
She hadn't reviewed the surveillance footage, nor did she know what happened outside Gotham City. She wasn't confident enough to confront Deathstroke right now.
"Why are you in Gotham?" Briss looked at Cindy, speaking in an interrogating manner. She hated all criminals, especially violent murderers.
Deathstroke wasn't really murder, but slaughter. The corridor outside was lined with bodies, and she saw no need to kill; they weren't a match for Deathstroke.
Cindy glanced at her indifferently, sheathed her sword, and lounged comfortably on the sofa: "I come because I want to; Gotham's not yours."
"Answer my question! Why are you here in Gotham? At this time!"
"Oh? You want to fight? Go ahead and try! You don't have to hold back, let's see who will die!"
Cindy stood up and fastened her helmet, her black-yellow armor nearly touching another dark figure, their noses almost meeting, their eyes locked in a stare, neither yielding.
She had anticipated that Batwoman knew about the world heading towards destruction; during such times, there's absolutely no way she'll act, her feelings for Gotham surpass everything else.
Cindy herself had plans to engage; she was considering her previous plans and the current situation.
Su Ming had said Briss was the fuse; their original plan was to capture Batwoman, with two against one plus holding Barbara and Gordon as hostages. They practically had her cornered.
After defeating her, they would lock her away for a while, while Su Ming and she handled the war issues, thus saving the world, wouldn't it?
But now with the appearance of a Speedster, it's much harder to accomplish this, as no matter where she's held, the Speedster can easily find her.
It seems the plan requires some changes.
There are two options; one is to kill the Speedster and Batwoman, eliminating the problem once and for all, but with the world crisis approaching, they also wish to prevent Earth's destruction, so an internal conflict would be like cutting off their own arm.
The second option is to keep Batwoman under surveillance, uniting forces, with both Deathstrokes acting together with her. At the very least, don't let her use the Speedster to disappear again, so they can legitimately monitor her. Should she show any instability, Su Ming and Cindy can immediately stop her.