With the Hell Lord Nergal banished, peace gradually returned to Belur's estate.
Raven dispelled the magic circles the demons had left deep within the estate, while Constantine and Chas searched for Trish's soul.
As for Lynn, he found a chair, settled into it with lazy contentment, and inspected the rewards he had earned from this mission.
[One-Eyed Dragon's Beeper: Originates from the Marvel Universe. Nick Fury's beeper. Can mark any one person. Once used, it can instantly summon that person, even from across the entire universe.] [Chaos Wand: Originates from "Minecraft." Randomly triggers one of 10 absurd effects when used. There is no fixed pattern; it depends entirely on luck. The probability of each effect is completely random. It might turn an enemy into a sheep, grant the user an invincible shield, or even randomly replace matter (turning stone into cake or lava into water). In extreme cases, it will summon a friendly BOSS to help the player.]
"Ooh... this One-Eyed Dragon's Beeper is the perfect tool for ganging up on someone."
Lynn's eyes lit up as he read the item's description.
"If I marked a BOSS, found wherever the Justice League was, and then summoned the BOSS there, wouldn't that let me get other people to fight it for me?"
[BOSS missions are graded based on the player's performance. If the player accounts for a low proportion of the damage dealt to the BOSS, the grade will also be low.]
"Tch..." Lynn curled his lip. "In that case, isn't it just an item for calling someone in from far away to fight for me?"
He shook his head and looked up at the distant city, where neon lights flickered.
"Well, it's fine even if that doesn't work. There are no weak items, only weak players. As long as my astonishing intellect is up to the task, I can do something spectacular with even the weakest item."
Then he opened his personal panel.
[Player: Lynn] [Level: 7 (30/150)] [Attributes: Strength 102, Speed 52, Defense 36, Intelligence 66] [Currently available free attribute points: 20 (10 attribute points gained per level)] [Items: Salty Fish Thrust Sword, Amnesia Potion, Transformation Stick, Master Ball, Kun Kun's Basketball, Chaos Wand, Dimensional Pocket, Resurrection Card ×2...] [Skills: Batman's Communicator, Power of Lao Da, Indian Block, Feast...] [Costumes: Pleasant Goat Costume, Big Bear Outfit, Sister Yu Costume, Iron Man Armor (Durability 97)]
Without the slightest hesitation, Lynn distributed his attribute points among strength, speed, and defense in a ratio of five to three to two.
The system imposed no restrictions on point allocation. Even if his defense was 1 and his strength exceeded a thousand, he wouldn't end up like the Magnetic-Field Old Farmer, striking the ground with a hoe only to be killed by the backlash of his own strength.
As a player, he naturally had to prioritize strength, with speed coming second. The Big Bear Outfit provided more than enough defense.
He would only consider maxing out his defense if someone started dropping nukes on him.
Besides, with Resurrection Cards, he could simply wait out the loading bar and try again even if he died.
Raven walked over and asked a little awkwardly, "Uh... want to exchange contact information?"
Surprised, Lynn looked up and caught a barely perceptible blush crossing the girl's face.
"Are you hungry?"
"No, I'm not hungry. I just thought we could exchange contact information and become friends," Raven explained earnestly.
"Then do you know what my name is?" Lynn hit her with the soul-searching question.
"...John Constantine."
"That's a fake name."
Raven: "..."
I already knew that.
Lynn stood up, patted the iron armor he was wearing, and tilted his Bear Head Mask up at a forty-five-degree angle to gaze at the sky.
"There's no need to exchange contact information."
The night breeze gently stirred Raven's fluffy, seaweed-like blue hair, blowing a few stray strands against her pale neck. A barely perceptible trace of wistfulness appeared on her cool, beautiful face.
"If fate brings us together, we'll meet again.
When that happens, if you still want to exchange contact information, I'll give you mine."
As his words fell, the Big Bear Outfit on Lynn's body instantly changed into a suit of Iron Man Armor gleaming with a cold, hard sheen, and he shot into the sky like an arrow loosed from a bow.
The Blue-Haired Girl slowly raised her head, her clear eyes fixed on the pitch-black sky.
The figure wrapped in the armor's faint glow streaked through the thick darkness like a fleeting shooting star.
Raven cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "Then it's a promise! The next time we meet, you have to exchange contact information with me!"
By September, the temperature in Gotham had begun to drop.
Outside, cold winds howled through the rain, but the Freaky Outfit Bar remained brightly lit.
"Young man, your jeans are torn. Why are you still wearing them out?"
At those words, the punk with runes covering his arms and piercings all over his face looked at Lynn with utter contempt, practically spelling out the word "hick" on his face.
"You country bumpkin. This style is all the rage now. What do you know?"
Lynn scratched his head. "Really? But nobody else's pants seem to have a torn crotch."
"What torn crotch?" The punk looked down at his pants. "Holy shit! Who the fuck put a hole in my pants?"
Lynn shrugged. "Didn't you say it was the latest style?"
The punk: "..."
Lynn walked straight to the bar, ordered a bottle of Ice and Fire from the bartender, and began sipping it.
"Have you heard? Batman joined the Justice League. Apparently, the government wants to put together a similar organization to fight crime."
"Didn't you get that wrong? I heard the government wants to get those supervillains to turn over a new leaf and work for them."
"Heh... turn over a new leaf? Who's evil and who's good? Don't tell me the United States government is supposed to be the good guys. What the fuck do those politicians know about justice?"
"..."
Listening to the conversations around him, Lynn inwardly shook his head.
Not long after he had killed the Hell Lord Nergal's avatar, Superman from neighboring Metropolis had announced the formation of the Justice League.
The United States government had also begun establishing special projects in response, including the Suicide Squad led by Amanda Waller.
And then...
The Black woman had immediately set her sights on Lynn, an IRS agent.
Lynn remembered that he had been lounging in his villa at the time, drawing a comic of The Boys. He planned to give Supergirl, Kara, his drawing of Homelander using Getsuga Tensho sometime later.
Just as he was immersed in his art, a call from Amanda Waller came through.
The conversation had gone like this-
"Mr. Lynn, one of the IRS's finest agents. The government needs you to carry out a mission. The safety of every person in the United States is at stake."
"Oh, I'm not from the United States. Whether the United States lives or dies has nothing to do with me. But... who were you again?"
"I'm Amanda Waller."
"That one?"
Amanda Waller: "..."