"Is everything ready?"
Cyborg finished calibrating the data, then looked up to ask one last time as a matter of routine.
Shane looked at the others beside him. Apart from the dejected Lobo, everyone gave him a clear answer.
Just as Shane was about to signal to Cyborg that everything was ready, a streak of green light delivered someone he hadn't expected.
Zhou Zhanxie leaped off the energy platform Kyle Rayner had conjured and landed lightly below the teleportation platform.
Before Shane could ask anything, Zhou raised her phone and waved it at Cyborg.
"Uh, she's the one I mentioned, in the application submitted by the United Nations... Commander Zhou Zhanxie is authorized to exercise reasonable oversight over some of the Justice League's activities for the time being."
Only then did Shane remember running off halfway through their last conversation.
Zhou Zhanxie put her phone away as though her presence were perfectly natural, then immediately made her demand.
"I request to participate in your upcoming activities and score certain quantifiable metrics during the process."
Shane frowned slightly. He had always felt that things should be handled one at a time, especially since, once they brought Batman back, he could dump that entire pile of burdens onto him.
That was why Shane hadn't intended to deal with the Neron incident so soon. It was also why he had immediately put Neron out of his mind after Lobo caused trouble at the bar.
Why shoulder a burden himself when he could dump it on Batman?
In the end, however, Shane raised no further objections to Zhou Zhanxie joining them and nodded.
Two seconds later, he added one more thing.
"I'm not going to babysit any team member. That's the rule."
Zhou Zhanxie didn't mind. She nimbly climbed onto the teleportation platform, pulling