Powerhouses Everywhere

"But that's only for now. We still don't know what Falcone has prepared for the League of Assassins. It could be a bioweapon meant to drag all of Gotham down with him."

Cindy raised her bottle to clink it against his and sighed. If kidnapping Gordon had also been for Batwoman, then Falcone was probably planning to wipe out everyone, himself included.

Ten years ago, Gotham had been his city. Ten years later, Gotham had become the city of madmen. Falcone had every reason to go insane. The gangster city he had spent decades painstakingly building was gone.

He was already old. He did not have another few decades to rebuild the dark order, so taking his city with him before he died fit a madman's logic perfectly.

As for why he had dragged in the League of Assassins? That was because Ra's al Ghul saw Gotham as the source of evil, and the League of Assassins had always wanted to destroy Gotham. They had simply been stopped by Batwoman.

Now that Batwoman was gone, both Falcone and Ra's al Ghul had their chance. But there was only one Gotham—who would get to destroy it?

Though they shared the same goal, their philosophies were completely different. One was an underworld emperor, the other a Demon's Head. They were fundamentally not on the same path.

Conflict between them was only natural.

Of course, there was no evidence supporting this speculation so far. Cindy did not say any of it aloud, merely keeping it in her mind as a possibility.

"We can't go in before the ninjas do, so the only option is to stake out the area. Once the ninjas go in, we follow. That way, no matter what happens, we can react."

Su Ming clinked bottles with her too, smiling bitterly. This was a plan that barely counted as a plan.

"Let's hope Talia is the one bringing the Shadow Dancers. She's the only one who still has some sense. Otherwise, even if we deal with Falcone, we'll still have to fight the Shadow Dancers."

Cindy took several huge gulps. Golden liquor ran down her snow-white neck. She wiped her mouth in satisfaction, casually tossed the bottle aside, and voiced her concern.

Su Ming had been thinking the same thing. If those ninjas had orders to kill every living person, they would slaughter even the Nomads at Indian Hill, let alone Gordon.

But who could say what the future held? They could only take it one step at a time. Even if Talia really came, making her change her mind would surely require a fight first.

One had to prove one's honor and determination through a duel with the leader. The League of Assassins valued that above all else. Only by earning her respect for your will could you possibly make her alter her orders. Otherwise, endless assassinations awaited.

If they had to face so many assassins, it would be best to have someone specifically protect the computer expert.

"It would be nice to have a few helpers. Reliable ones. Which of your Mercenary friends are in Gotham?" Su Ming asked.

"Heh. What friends do Mercenaries have? It's all business."

Cindy snorted disdainfully. At any rate, she could not remember anyone around here she could safely work with. She could stab someone in the back for money, and naturally others could do the same to her.

Su Ming gave her a helpless look. This woman...

"You've offended all your business partners. No wonder your business keeps getting narrower. Don't you know how to play the long game?"

"That depends on what kind of fish they are. Even if I hooked them, they'd be octopuses. I don't like eating those." Cindy wore the expression of someone utterly unrepentant. What could she do about the past now?

"Fine, forget it. By the way, over where I'm from, a rising Mercenary appeared in Gotham, codenamed 'Silence.' Ever heard of her?"

Su Ming gave up arguing with her. Everyone had their own way of thinking. Perhaps Cindy preferred doing business this way. He himself liked living freely too, so he did not want to interfere with her.

Then Su Ming recalled a newcomer from the comics: a Black woman codenamed Silence, an assault specialist, master of firearms, and skilled in explosives.

Most importantly, like Deathstroke, she cared deeply about Contract Spirit. As long as the money was right, she would never abandon a mission.

Cindy thought for a moment, then shook her head. "Either the person you mentioned doesn't exist, or she's too unknown. I don't know how well you did where you came from, but on this Earth, when people mention Mercenaries, I'm the first one they think of. Right, Barbara?"

Barbara sat in her little Wheelchair, thoroughly confused by Su Ming and Cindy's earlier conversation. What did they mean by your side and our side? What did they mean by this Earth?

When Cindy suddenly spoke to her, Barbara blanked out for a moment. Cindy naturally took that reaction as agreement, then proudly puffed out her chest at Su Ming again.

"Lady Shiva." Su Ming did not mind her trying to ram him with her chest. He simply turned aside and said the name.

That immediately took the wind out of Cindy's sails. Lady Shiva was widely acknowledged as the world's strongest assassin. That had not originally been her name; Shiva was the name of a Hinduism Goddess. People had begun using the name because she was so powerful, describing her fighting skill as something divine.

Su Ming had read DC's official TRPG rulebook. Batwoman and Bronze Tiger had Fighting scores of 14, Deathstroke had 15, while Shiva had 16.

The rulebook's explanation for 16 was: cosmic-level Superhumans.

For an ordinary human to cultivate their fighting skill to a cosmic level was simply unbelievable. Though it was only a TRPG game, it still reflected certain things from another angle.

"She's an assassin. We're killers. It's different," Cindy made an excuse, though she guiltily turned her head away.

She did have a point. Deathstroke's assassinations were often loud and spectacular—charging in with swords, hacking people apart, or simply spraying them down with a machine gun, relying on all kinds of modern weaponry.

Lady Shiva, on the other hand, preferred using her bare hands. She killed with only a slap or a finger, silent and unseen.

"In the shadows of this world, there are people comparable to Lady Shiva, perhaps even stronger. Aikido grandmaster Sa'ar, Shiva's teacher Master Otomo, Master Huang, father of the Twelve Brothers in Silk, the Japanese old man codenamed Sennsei, and perhaps others I don't know about."

Su Ming sighed as well. The waters of the comic world ran too deep. His current strength was probably comparable to Deathstroke's, but that did not give him much assurance.

Those people were only fighting grandmasters. Superhumans had not even been counted yet.

He had to find his own path to becoming stronger. Fighting skills and firearms alone were far from enough.

Cindy felt the same unease. Other than Master Otomo, she had never even heard of the others. She could only hope those people did not exist in their world.

Yet in reality, they were all Super Villains. Their existence in the Dark Multiverse was inevitable.

"Enough, I was only mentioning them. Most of them operate over in Asia. Just be careful if you ever go there. We still have serious business to handle."

Su Ming was the first to break the silence. He had merely clarified his future goals. Perhaps he was not a match for those people now, but that would definitely be different later.

Powerful opponents would only give him more motivation. They would not discourage him.

"You're right. We still have some time before the League of Assassins arrives. We should take in some energy and prepare for the coming battle." Cindy agreed, and it also stirred within her the desire to become stronger.

There had once been only Lady Shiva in the open, but now there was a whole group of powerful fighters hidden in the shadows. How could someone as unwilling to concede as Cindy endure that? She had already decided that if she survived this time, she would find a quiet place and properly train her fighting skills.

Though she could still find work with firearms alone.

They could not find helpers now anyway, so they might as well eat first. It was going to be a long night.

Cindy headed down the stairs, presumably to raid Wayne Manor for supplies. Su Ming looked at the dazed Barbara and quietly said to her:

"Use this system to look up Bliss Wayne, and the whereabouts of her butler, Alfred."

Barbara immediately became wary. A Mercenary asking after Gotham's most famous billionaire was not a good sign.

"What are you planning?"

"Nothing. I'm just planning to develop a new client. You heard it earlier—Cindy's business has not been going well lately."

"You're definitely planning something bad. I won't help you." With that, the little girl turned her Wheelchair and squeaked away.

Su Ming smiled. She really was Gordon's daughter. Even the way she stubbornly talked tough was the same. She had wheeled herself away, but the system was still on, and her Laptop was still plugged into it.

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

She now understood a little more about the darkness. Bliss was too wealthy. Mercenaries would not harm a billionaire without compensation.

Su Ming watched her retreating back. Perhaps after witnessing darkness, she would gradually grow accustomed to the power within it and truly mature.