Su Ming ran along the mountain path towards the summit, the neat stone steps flanked by grass and flowers, a spring flowing not far away, painting a tranquil scene.
Birds were poking their heads out from the trees, singing enchanting songs. As always, they sang of sunshine and life, despite the sky now being dim.
This was no time for leisure; Su Ming understood that he had already lost some time due to losing control, and he needed to hurry.
He strode directly into the Royal Palace; the guards apparently had orders and did not stop him.
At this moment, a meeting was being held in the Throne Room, Diana stood on a high platform, discussing with those below, while Barry wore an embarrassed expression not far behind her.
The people Diana was negotiating with were the Amazon Council, a group of women in hooded cloaks. They were the elders of the tribe, and Diana respected them greatly because she believed that their knowledge and experience were beneficial to the continuation of the Amazons.
However, Su Ming did not see it that way; these old women who should have been buried loved to rely on their age to impose their will and were always out of touch with reality.
Even without asking, Barry's expression showed that Diana was once again being given a hard time by them.
Su Ming stepped lightly, continuing to move forward, and heard the content of their argument.
"Your Majesty, there should be no men on Paradise Island. Please expel them," one cloaked woman stood at the front, loudly urging Diana.
"No, they are my comrades," Diana shook her head, wearily sitting on the throne. She was skilled in fighting, but political matters made her head spin.
"This is our tradition! Besides them, the Amazonian men originally living on the island should have been expelled long ago," the cloaked women revealed their true intentions, rallying together in agreement.
It turned out their goal was to expel the Amazonian men on the island. These men had been following the Fire God in smithing, but when the Eldest Son of God 'Primordial' attacked Paradise Island, the Fire God had them return to help their kin.
They helped the women drive back Primordial's minions, and Diana declared that they could stay on the island.
However, the good times didn't last; one time, while Diana was away acting with the Justice League, a small group on the island rebelled, and they stormed the men's camp, killing them.
When Diana returned, only a few out of hundreds of men survived by fleeing deep into the forest.
After the rebellion was quelled, the men were terrified and now live in hiding in the depths of the forest.
It seems the council still hasn't given up and plans to expel them.
If Diana was willing to pay, Su Ming could secretly get rid of these gossiping hags for her, but without compensation, he had no interest in meddling in Diana's affairs.
He walked straight through the crowd, standing before Diana as if the surrounding people didn't exist.
"We should leave and proceed with the next step of the plan."
"Yes, leave our island quickly, disgusting men!" The cloaked person next to him immediately clamored, showing a smug look.
Su Ming sighed, the entire planet of Earth -11 was like this. He thought he was used to it, but such extreme feminist types were still annoying...
He swung a backhand punch, and before the surprised council member could react, she flew out like a sack, losing half her teeth, and Su Ming could see blood-spattered saliva flying through the air.
Su Ming drew the Godslayer, the curved blade instantly filling him with infinite killing intent.
"Superman has come to Paradise Island before, and you didn't dare to expel him," Su Ming walked step by step toward the fallen person, while the surrounding people instinctively scattered. The killing intent emanating from him almost had a tangible thickness. Just a glance was enough to make one's spirit tremble: "He doesn't kill, yet you fear him. I've killed thousands, who gave you the courage to clamor here?"
"Not good, Barry, hurry, get us out," Diana saw things taking a turn for the worse and immediately spoke to Barry. She knew the council was making excuses, but the speed at which Deathstroke turned his face was also frighteningly fast.
Barry ran to Su Ming's side and grabbed his arm: "Let's leave it at that, we have more important things to do. After all, this is Diana's home."
Su Ming nodded. In truth, if he really wanted to kill just now, he wouldn't have used his fists. He just wanted to teach these guys a lesson so they wouldn't be as annoying as flies.
The world crisis hadn't been resolved yet, and they were here bickering over trivial matters, which was frustrating to see.
"Let's go, take me and the Female Hero to Binhai City."
Su Ming sheathed the blade, and as a bolt of lighting flashed, the three disappeared from the Throne Room, leaving only the silent cloaked people behind.
.........
In the Speed Force Space, Barry bolted with Diana and Su Ming, the scenery around them turning into beams of light.
"Are your injuries okay?" Diana asked him somewhat apologetically. After all, it was indeed Su Ming's plan that defeated the Merciless Iron Fists. She had instinctively brought him back to Paradise Island to recover, not expecting the council to cause such a stir.
"No worries, I've regained sixty percent of my combat ability. Dealing with the Dawn Ghost Lantern can only be done with strategy, so my physical condition isn't crucial," Su Ming replied, slinging an arm over Barry's shoulder, his helmet hidden his expression.
Barry interjected at this point: "By the way, your previous tactics were even crazier, using yourself as bait for mutual destruction with Iron Arm. Are you sure you couldn't die?"
Su Ming wasn't particularly pleased. If it weren't for Diana and Barry's presence, or without all the prior preparations, such tactics wouldn't have been possible.
Since everything was prepared and the plan was meticulously arranged, using overwhelming numbers in a localized area, victory was inevitable, nothing to be overly excited about.
"The tactic's origin is Batman's Agamemnon Contingency."
"Uh, actually, we all know that's Batman's backup plan for countering the Justice League; he always likes to be prepared for any eventuality..."
Barry exhaled and shook his head.
"That's right, the Kryptonite to deal with Superman was even found by Clark for him," Su Ming answered calmly, even though his mouth was still full of the taste of blood, and his chest felt like it was on fire: "If it weren't for the tactical objective, I would never waste words during combat."
The Agamemnon Contingency was Batman's precautionary measure in case the heroes ever went astray; a comprehensive plan for defeating each member of the Justice League.
For example, trapping Wonder Woman in an inescapable battle with illusions, hypnotizing Green Lantern Hero to believe he's blind, or burning the Martian Hunter's skin.
But the most devastating one was perhaps the plan to deal with Green Arrow, which was extremely simple—just grab his arm. It implies that Batman believed anyone in the Justice League could defeat Green Arrow by restraining his arm.
Batman demonstrated what it means to trust no one, even suspecting himself within those plans.
In it, he left methods for dealing with himself too, such as insulting his parents or kidnapping his loved ones, allegedly distracting or enraging him.
Su Ming used these without hesitation.
"Well, insulting Iron Arm's parents was a reasonable tactic. It's just that what you said was too terrible. I even thought you'd been possessed by something dirty from Constantine..."
Barry sighed helplessly; the Agamemnon Contingency had long since been leaked, and these methods had been used time and again by villains on the Justice League, making everyone miserable since it also suggested dealing with The Flash by breaking his legs...
Su Ming laughed, patting him and drawing a deep breath, trying to let his newly regenerating right lung adapt more quickly: "Don't worry, I always have proper plans, not much worse than Bruce's."
This reassurance did little for Barry's peace of mind...
Diana, however, nodded; she had seen the Dawn Deceit Lantern, and the Deceitful Lantern Ring had a lights-out program, completely countering the Green Lantern Hero, so having a plan was a good thing.
The title of Deathstroke as a Tactical Master was well-deserved, and his battle with the Iron Arm also proved he was more adept at eradicating enemies than Batman.
All his plans aimed to completely annihilate the adversary, using himself as a tool without hesitation, and not hesitating to employ any underhanded methods.
At least those crude insults about others' parents before, none in the Justice League could ramble on endlessly with such variety and deliver them with such lewd performance.
Diana even thought that if they swapped Deathstroke with Bruce, they might still be entangled with Iron Arm to this day.
Considering the current state of Earth, killing those Nightmares was the best option; Diana decided to follow Deathstroke's tactical arrangements in the short term.
At least until Deathstroke did something wrong again, she was willing to listen to him.