"Who are you working for?"
The surrounding scenery had already blurred into spots of light, and the tundra below had turned into barren mountains. Diana frowned, pondering the question Su Ming had posed.
On the other side of Barry, Su Ming was holding the wound on his chest, which was really itchy during the self-healing process.
"The Blackhawk Squadron has helicopters, warships, robots, military satellites, and an island concealed by magic; they also have secret bases distributed worldwide, elite special forces of several hundred personnel, scientists in various fields... but they are just ordinary people. Each operation requires the deployment of warships or planes, and when you add up the ammunition, fuel, and post-operation costs, it will cost at least close to seven figures in US dollars."
"Hmm? When did you visit there?" Diana asked doubtfully, a suspicious look on her face.
"...It's confidential. The issue is that you in the Justice League were previously supported by the United Nations, and later funded by Bruce, so you could build planes and space stations. So, who funds the Blackhawk Squadron? Where does their money come from?"
Su Ming certainly wasn't going to say his intelligence came from comics, so he quickly shifted the topic back on track.
"Aren't their leaders supposed to be Hawkman and Hawk Woman? Their first life was the Prince Hufu and his wife, they should be quite wealthy, right?" Barry thought quickly and immediately proposed a possibility.
Diana also leaned toward this explanation because it was a relatively reasonable explanation within the legal scope.
"Prince Hufu's wealth is still in the British Museum. Hawkman and Hawk Woman reincarnate through rebirth, and they may not even awaken the memories of their past lives. Wealth is something you can't take with you when you die."
Su Ming chuckled softly. If the Blackhawk Squadron could once be partially trusted, now they certainly couldn't be trusted at all.
"Judging by your expression, do you already know something?" Diana asked him back. Even through the mask, she could sense the smug look on Su Ming's face.
She still preferred Bruce's way of calmly delivering intelligence; Deathstroke's way of asking questions felt like solving a riddle.
Su Ming, of course, noticed her feelings. He intended to cultivate her and Barry's ability to think independently, which was a good deed, but unexpectedly, they didn't appreciate it. It seemed being a nice guy was a thankless task.
Might as well keep a record. How much should he charge for intelligence fees...
"Behind the Blackhawk Squadron is the Eternal Council. They are a group of ancient casters who are all immortals," Su Ming curled his lips and sighed, "including the Great Mage Morgan, the Great Mage Old Shazam, the Shadow Bureau's Director Time Elder, Egyptian Goddess Isis, God's Angel Iriel, and others."
Barry's face wrinkled into a frown, and he tightly pursed his lips, "It doesn't sound very reliable. Mages aren't usually trustworthy, right?"
"Sigh... it seems Constantine has tricked you guys many times before." Su Ming shook his head, correcting Barry's statement, "Most mages are reliable, except for Constantine... The Eternal Council used to have a reliable stance, but didn't you notice that Constantine's Mysterious House's array didn't call on them? Clearly, the Eternal Council is supposed to be the strongest group of mages on Earth."
"Are you saying?" Diana seemed to understand something.
"That's right, even he noticed earlier that they couldn't be trusted. The Eternal Council always thought of themselves as strong, but when Barbatos' dark forces from the Multiverse surge across worlds like a tsunami, their confidence from immortality made them feel that if even they couldn't resist, then surely no one else on Earth could resist... so they surrendered and became traitors."
Su Ming said calmly, and the other two couldn't see his expression through the mask, but his tone didn't sound too good either.
"Why?" Diana clenched her fists, wanting to beat up those bastards who truly surrendered without a fight: "Earth has faced countless crises, and they never even showed up."
"That's because they have a new immortal leader, Vandal Savage, who is an old acquaintance of yours."
Just hearing that name made Diana and Barry show expressions of disgust.
Savage has been an old adversary of the Justice League, gaining infinite longevity from meteor radiation since the Stone Age. He is highly intelligent, full of cunning tricks, and has accumulated countless wealth through all kinds of evil means. He's been a serial killer, joined the Nazis, orchestrated massacres, and incited racism and military coups worldwide—essentially amassing wealth extravagantly and developing military power.
His ambition was to rule the world, to become the lord of the world, and he would do anything to achieve that goal.
"Damn, what are they thinking? How could they let such a villain join?" If it weren't for the fact that the three of them were in the Divine Speed, Diana would definitely have stomped the ground beneath her.
Su Ming, however, understood how a group of undead monsters holed up in a little black room held meetings every day; their lives were too long, and their concepts of good and evil were long blurred beyond recognition.
"The Eternal Council is not the Justice League. Their criteria for membership require only one thing: members must be immortal, and Savage perfectly fits that criterion. One could even say he's the longest-living person in the world."
"...Does the Blackhawk Squadron know about this?" Barry was notably composed now; he already knew that if Deathstroke had spoken of this, it meant he had a plan. Now, heading to Black Hawk Island, the determining factor lay in whether the Blackhawk Squadron would comply. If they were completely under the control of the Eternal Council, then the few of them would likely face combat.
"The good news is they know nothing. The connection between the Eternal Council and the Blackhawk Squadron is a one-way channel. Currently, only their leader, this generation's Hawk Woman Kendra, is aware, but she should be in Antarctica attending a meeting with the Eternal Council now, heh heh."
Su Ming responded mockingly, indicating that the Eternal Council had been completely deceived. They wanted to continue living eternally and directly fell into Barbatos's trap.
"It's so ironic, the Eternal Council does not deserve to possess power." Diana was also reluctant to say anything more. She bit her lip and sighed.
"Barbatos's threat has forced these people to a dead end. They believe they are compromising for the sake of this world, thinking surrender can preserve Earth, but can Barbatos's promises be trusted?"
Barry shook his head. These people indeed seemed to be regressing as they aged, calling them naïve was inaccurate, to be precise—they were just afraid of dying.
Su Ming patted Barry's shoulder vigorously to comfort him. He also wanted to rub Diana's head, but her gaze stopped him.
"Anyway, the operations later might not be entirely quiet. Once it's time to act, you two have to stand by me—you know the reasons now."
"Of course, I trust you," Barry immediately replied with a bright smile. He had grown accustomed to trusting Deathstroke's decisions through previous battles.
Su Ming looked over Barry's nose towards Diana. Without hesitation, Diana nodded as well, unwilling to compromise with the enemy. Now those who surrendered were her enemies.
"Great, our target is the spaceship in the underground secret hangar on Black Hawk Island, the Qiongji. The 'Watchers' use it to traverse the Multiverse, and the central computer of that ship contains the coordinates to almost all locations in the Dark Multiverse. We need to obtain that intelligence."
Seeing her nod as well, Su Ming could proceed boldly. As for dealing with any possible guards, they were just ordinary people and didn't require any tactical arrangement.
"Hmm? Are we not going to use that spaceship? The Qiongji was originally intended to travel across the Multiverse dimensions, wasn't it?" Diana stared at the sea beneath her; the three of them were already above the ocean.
"The Qiongji is now the property of the Eternal Council; after its members surrendered, Barbatos became aware of the Qiongji's existence. If we pilot the Qiongji to the center of the Dark Multiverse, we will be as conspicuous as a target in the dark. We'll have to use other methods."
Su Ming immediately dismissed this option, as in the comics, Justice League members traveled on the Qiongji and were ambushed by the Dark Knight Order, escaping only thanks to Steel Bone's sonic boom passage.
Now the plot had changed; without Steel Bone on Su Ming's side, getting caught in the cosmic gaps would be a dead end.
"Makes sense. So what do we do? We still have to get the coordinates, right?" Barry nodded. Things were indeed as Deathstroke described, with the Qiongji's cosmic battleship being too conspicuous.
Su Ming didn't answer, just looked at him through the blood-red goggle of his mask.
Barry: "???"
Deathstroke's silence made Barry uncomfortable, slowing his steps, and he turned to see Diana looking at him meaningfully.
Barry: "???"
Diana's gaze turned sharp, as if suggesting something: "Stare..."
"Uh... is it me again..."
Barry smiled wryly, already understanding the next part of the plan.