When Shane was carrying Aquaman and about to break through the atmosphere, the dark-faced Aquaman subconsciously hugged the trident in his arms tighter.
Shane could not help but feel a little amused.
"Your muscles are tougher than the reefs at the bottom of the sea. You shouldn't be killed by a fall from this height, right?"
Aquaman let out a resentful and cold snort. Having arrived high above in the heavens, he lacked his previous heartiness, and his gaze deliberately avoided the rapidly shrinking sea surface below.
He hugged the trident a bit tighter and urged him in a voice.
"Pick up the speed a little bit after we get out of the atmosphere later. Holding your breath in space is extremely uncomfortable."
Shane grinned, looked up toward the firmament, and with a burst of acceleration, directly punched through the snowy-white sea of clouds. Following a brief chill, the twinkling, boundless starry sky was laid out before his eyes in its entirety.
Before long, a steel satellite station crafted entirely from a special blue-black alloy, shaped like a spread-winged eagle with its body surrounded by honeycomb-shaped energy shields, appeared before the two of them.
As the two of them rapidly closed in, a wide metal gangway extended from a hexagonal entrance emanating a blue fluorescent glow.
Since he had already been here once, Shane familiarly approached the gangway and then gently put Aquaman down.
The latter hurriedly reached out to make a gesture, then broke into a light jog and rushed into the hexagonal entrance of the Watchtower.
Shane also landed on the gangway, though he was not in a hurry to go inside.
His previous visit had been a bit too rushed, but this time he stood in place and deliberately looked back at Earth. Light refracted outside the atmosphere, and the half of Earth captured in his line of sight seemed to radiate a pearlescent, milky fog.
Rachel could not be seen this time, however.
Rachel herself had little enthusiasm for going to a place with too many strangers, and secondly, to a place similar to the Olympian Realm, Rachel going might trigger even greater trouble.
Her demonic aura might not be concealable in the eyes of those deities.
After focusing for a few seconds, Shane stepped into the Watchtower with a slight sense of emotion.
This time, the majority of the current primary members of the Justice League seemed to be present.
Inside the conference room, Superman and Hawkman were sitting upright at their respective positions, Batman and Cyborg were standing beside a smart computer, and Green Lantern was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, nodding to give a greeting after seeing Shane enter.
There was also a red bottom swaying not far from Shane.
Taking two steps to the side, he could finally tell whose red bottom that was.
Shazam was pressing up against the exterior porthole of the conference room, cupping his hands over his eyes like a telescope while staring in wonder at the starry sky outside, his backside swaying back and forth the entire time.
Where had Aquaman gone?
Just as Shane felt as though something was missing, a crackling sound suddenly came from behind.
A figure clad in gold and red armor staggered two steps and appeared behind Shane.
"Whoa! First of all, I didn't mean to be late. The first two seconds when I received the communication, I was still in the restroom of the Central City police station, but at that time I suddenly remembered Iris asked me to help her prepare a special gift this morning because her birthday is coming up, and then I ran over to Tennessee because Iris mentioned to me during our last picnic that Tennessee has a kind of... after that I received the communication, but I saw on a highway... and finally I remembered the Watchtower is in space, so I called Batman's channel again, and he told me there was a scanner in Gotham that could identify my identity!"
After rattling off a huge, extremely fast paragraph of speech, the others in the Justice League had no particular reaction, not even turning their heads out of sheer habit.
Only Shane, dealing with this person for the very first time, managed to turn his head back barely in time and, dumbfounded, parsed through the brain for half a day before digesting just half of the long string of content the other party had just spoken.
Seeing Shane's daze and completely crashed expression, Superman reminded him helplessly.
"Next time the Flash speaks, you need to learn to filter out the useful information. He did the exact same thing to me last time, using zero-point-zero-something seconds to speak tens of thousands of words in my ear. Back then I didn't have time to engage the power of my super-brain, and I also got crashed by the massive amount of information for a few seconds."
Only then did the Flash notice Shane's presence. He turned his head, hurriedly yelled a hi, and then looked at the others with a terrified expression.
"Hello—why is there a child in the Watchtower?!"
As soon as these words came out, even Shazam's backside visibly stiffened. He turned his head by a microscopic angle, glanced sideways, and only after seeing Shane did he realize the Flash was not talking about him. Clearing his throat, he straightened up and walked toward his seat as if nothing had happened.
Green Lantern walked over and threw an arm around the Flash's shoulder.
"This is no ordinary child. He comes from a very mysterious planet..."
The two of them walked off to the side, whispering and starting to chat in undertones. Only then did Shane shiver and snap back to his senses, his mind having just finished receiving Superman's well-intentioned reminder.
Patting his throbbing forehead, Shane asked.
"Thanks for the reminder. By the way, where did Aquaman go? Didn't he enter before me?"
Batman's voice sounded quietly.
"Restroom, he went to vomit."
By the time Aquaman, wiping the water stains off his face, silently returned to his seat and sat down, Batman turned around and took a seat at the head of the conference table.
"According to the clues provided by Queen Hippolyta, the currently known information is that the abductor is most likely the God of War, Ares, but there is likely the intent of Zeus behind this, because Ares alone could not have taken Wonder Woman away without a sound."
Shane's gaze swept quickly in a circle, and discovering that Cyborg, Green Lantern, and Flash were all standing, he simply shoved his hands into his pockets and stood quietly in place to listen to Batman speak.
Batman tapped a finger lightly on the table, and the screen behind him projected an image of a sheepskin scroll inscribed with a line of unknown golden text.
Still, one could tell that the photographer was evidently unaccustomed to using electronic devices in daily life, as the shooting angle was somewhat tilted.
"This sheepskin scroll and the Vulcan Sword were left behind simultaneously at the place where Wonder Woman ultimately went missing. Queen Hippolyta helped us translate the text on it, which is in Ancient Greek."
Cyborg took over the conversation, confirming what Batman had said.
His voice carried a kind of quasi-simulated electronic synthesis.
"I searched the language database, and the content of this leftover clue is basically consistent with the meaning Queen Hippolyta translated. It says that Zeus is angry at the thief who stole the Golden Apple, and requires the thief to go alone to the Divine Realm to accept punishment, or else the wrath of Zeus will descend upon the mortal world once more."
The crowd fell into a brief silence, visible worry lining Superman's face, while the expressions of the others turned stern after getting into character. Meanwhile, Shazam turned back to look at Shane with a somewhat carefree attitude.
"Is this the kid who stole the Golden Apple?"
Before Shane could even respond, Shazam spread his hands toward everyone in the conference room, his face written full of compassion and self-righteousness.
"Guys, we definitely can't let a child go to the Divine Realm alone. My proposal is to find the entrance to the Divine Realm directly, storm in together, and rescue Wonder Woman!"
Most people didn't take Shazam's words seriously, though Green Lantern started nodding thoughtfully, only for his mouth to be elbowed by the Flash at a speed invisible to the naked eye the moment he opened it. Choking out a couple of wheezing breaths, he lost his breath and failed to speak further.
Cyborg's electronic eye flashed with blue light for a few seconds before picking up where Shazam left off.
"We currently lack sufficient data on those deities of Olympus. We can't be this reckless."
"The only one about whom we can find clear information in historical records is the God of War, Ares, but Wonder Woman has said that the Ares of the Divine Realm and the Ares of the mortal world are different."
Superman's blue eyes were filled with worry.
"I once asked Wonder Woman when we were casually chatting in the past. She said that even I might not necessarily secure a victory against Zeus. Zeus is different from the other deities of Olympus; the King of Gods possesses strength that towers above all other deities, and he is unfathomable."
Having finally recovered his breath, Aquaman looked directly at Batman, who had not spoken a single word since opening the meeting to explain the situation.
"I always feel like you already have an idea, right?"
Batman spoke in a hoarse voice, his calm tone sounding as if he had dropped a thunderclap into the conference room.
"Shane will enter the Divine Realm alone, and we will provide backup at any time."
As soon as these words were spoken, they were immediately met with opposition from several people present.
Aquaman wore an incredulous expression, and Shazam jumped straight up.
"You're letting him go into the Divine Realm alone? Batman, he's just a child!"
Then Shazam even began shaking Superman, who was standing nearby with his head lowered in thought.
"You certainly can't agree with this crazy idea, right? What kind of nerve has Batman struck today?"
Hawkman, on the other hand, cast a disdainful glance at Shazam before turning his head to look at Batman.
"So they really don't look at the data you upload on ordinary days."
Hearing Hawkman's words, the Flash frowned, his figure flickering like a dropped-frame video, and then his complexion turned as pale as if his blood had been drained as he looked at Shane in disbelief.
Shane simply raised a hand.
"I don't have a problem with that, except for the entrance to the Divine Realm—I don't know how to get there."
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