Multiverse: Deathstroke

Chapter 24: Ch.23 Gathering of Powerhouses

"But that's only for now. We still don't know what kind of gift Falcone has prepared for the League of Shadows. It could very well be a biochemical bomb meant to take all of Gotham down with him."

Cindy extended her bottle towards Su Ming for a toast and sighed. If Falcone had kidnapped Gordon for Batman, he was probably planning to take himself and everyone else down with him.

Ten years ago, Gotham was his city. Ten years later, it had turned into a playground for lunatics. Falcone had every reason to lose his mind. The criminal empire he had spent decades building was gone.

He was old now, without the decades needed to rebuild his dark kingdom. So, taking his city with him before he died fit perfectly into the logic of a madman.

As for why drag the League of Shadows into it? That was because Ra's al Ghul saw Gotham as the source of all evil. The League of Shadows had always wanted to destroy Gotham, but they had been thwarted by the Bat.

Now that the Bat was gone, both Falcone and Ra's al Ghul had a shot at it. But there was only one Gotham; who would get to destroy it?

Even though they had the same goal, their philosophies were completely different. One was a criminal emperor, the other a ninja master—fundamentally incompatible.

Conflict between the two was inevitable.

Of course, so far, there was no evidence to support this theory. Cindy kept these thoughts to herself as a contingency plan.

"We can't go in before the ninjas, so the only option is to stake out near the site. Once the ninjas go in, we follow them. That way, we'll be able to respond no matter what happens."

Su Ming smiled wryly and clinked his bottle with hers. This was a non-plan, plan.

"Let's hope the one leading the League is Talia. She's the only one who's somewhat rational. Otherwise, even if we take down Falcone, we'll have to fight the League of Shadows too."

Cindy downed several gulps, golden liquor flowing down her pale neck. She wiped her mouth with satisfaction, tossed the bottle aside, and voiced her concern.

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Su Ming had the same thought. If the ninjas' orders were to kill everyone, they would slaughter every vagrant at Indian Hill, let alone Gordon.

But who could predict the future? Even if Talia showed up, changing her mind would probably involve a fight first.

It would require a duel with the leader to prove their honor and resolve. The League of Shadows valued that. Only by earning their respect could they change the orders; otherwise, there would be endless assassinations.

If they had to face so many assassins, they'd need someone to specifically protect their tech expert.

"It would be great to have some reliable help. Do you have any mercenary friends in Gotham?" Su Ming asked.

"Ha, mercenaries don't have friends, just business."

Cindy scoffed. She couldn't think of any trustworthy people to work with. She could stab others in the back for money, so naturally, others could do the same to her.

Su Ming looked at her helplessly. This woman...

"You've alienated all your business partners. No wonder your work is getting narrower. Haven't you heard of playing the long game?"

"That depends on the catch. Even if I bait them, they'd just turn out to be octopuses. I don't like eating octopus." Cindy wore a nonchalant expression, clearly not caring about past grievances.

"Forget it. By the way, back in my world, a new mercenary emerged in Gotham. Codename 'Silence.' Have you heard of her?"

Su Ming decided to stop arguing. Everyone had their own ways of doing things. Maybe Cindy liked running her business this way, just as he enjoyed a free life. He didn't want to meddle in her affairs.

Instead, Su Ming remembered a newcomer from the comics, a black woman with the codename Silence, an assault specialist and a master of heavy weaponry and explosives.

The key point was that, like Deathstroke, she was very professional and valued contracts. As long as she got paid, she wouldn't abandon a mission.

Cindy thought for a moment and shook her head. "Either she doesn't exist, or she's too unknown. I don't know how you're doing over in your world, but on this Earth, when people think of mercenaries, they think of me first. Isn't that right, Barbara?"

Barbara, sitting in her little wheelchair, had been listening to their conversation in utter confusion. What were they talking about—your world, our world? This Earth?

Hearing Cindy suddenly talk to her, Barbara was stunned. But her dazed expression was taken as agreement by Cindy, who proudly puffed out her chest at Su Ming.

"Lady Shiva," Su Ming said as he sidestepped her boast, mentioning the name.

That took the wind out of Cindy's sails. Lady Shiva was widely regarded as the world's deadliest assassin. She wasn't originally called that; Shiva was the name of a Hindu goddess. People used the term to describe her combat skills because she was too powerful.

Su Ming had read the official DC RPG rulebook. Batman and Bronze Tiger had a combat skill rating of 14, Deathstroke was 15, and Lady Shiva was 16.

The explanation for 16 in the rulebook was: cosmic-level superpower.

For a mere human to cultivate her martial skills to a cosmic level was unheard of. Even though it was just an RPG game, it still reflected certain truths.

"She's an assassin; we're killers. It's not the same." Cindy tried to justify herself, but she turned away sheepishly.

She did have a point. Deathstroke's assassinations were often high-profile, with swords slashing and machine guns blazing, using all sorts of modern weaponry.

Lady Shiva, on the other hand, preferred bare hands. She killed with a strike or a finger, quietly and without a trace.

"In the shadows of this world, there are others like Lady Shiva or even stronger—like Sa'ar, the Aikido Grandmaster; Sensei, Shiva's teacher; Huang, the father of the Twelve Brothers in Silk; or the Japanese old man codenamed 'Sensei.' There may be others I don't even know about."

Su Ming sighed. The waters in the comic world were deep. His current power level was on par with Deathstroke, but it didn't give him much to rely on.

Those people were just martial arts masters; he hadn't even started counting superpowered beings yet.

He had to find a way to grow stronger. Martial arts and firearms alone wouldn't be enough.

Cindy shared his concern. Aside from Sensei, she hadn't heard of the others. She just hoped they didn't exist in their world.

But in reality, all these figures were supervillains. Their existence in the Dark Multiverse was inevitable.

"Alright, enough talk. These people mostly operate in Asia, so be careful if you go there. We have business to attend to."

Su Ming broke the silence first. He was merely setting future goals for himself. He might not be able to match those people now, but that would change.

Powerful opponents only gave him more motivation, not discouragement.

"Right. We still have a bit of time before the League of Shadows arrives. We should replenish some energy to prepare for the upcoming fight." Cindy agreed with him, and it gave her the idea of becoming stronger.

Before, everyone only knew of Lady Shiva. Now there were a bunch of martial arts masters in the shadows. How could she, who hated losing, stand for that? She decided that if she survived this, she would find a quiet place to refine her martial skills.

Even though she could still get work with her marksmanship.

Since they couldn't find help, they might as well eat first. It was going to be a long night.

Cindy headed up the stairs, likely to raid Wayne Manor, while Su Ming looked at Barbara, who seemed lost in thought, and quietly said to her:

"Use this system to look up Bruce Wayne and his butler Alfred's whereabouts."

Barbara immediately became alert. A mercenary asking about Gotham's most famous billionaire couldn't be a good thing.

"What are you planning to do?"

"Nothing. Just trying to develop some new clients. You heard earlier; Cindy's business hasn't been doing well lately."

"You're definitely up to no good. I'm not going to help you." With that, the young girl spun her wheelchair and squeaked away.

Su Ming laughed. As expected of Gordon's daughter, even her stubbornness was the same. She might have wheeled herself away, but the system was still on, and her laptop was still connected.

Just like Gordon: if I don't see it, it doesn't exist.

Now that she had some understanding of the darkness, she knew Bruce was too rich for mercenaries to harm without a good paycheck.

Watching her leave, Su Ming thought that perhaps, having seen the darkness, she would gradually get used to the power within it and mature completely.