Ch.36 Good Luck

As previously mentioned, the Court of Owls' Amber Gold is a transparent, colorless liquid metal. It is always shrouded in a hallucinogenic silver glow, appearing as radiant as a starry river fallen to Earth. Batman in the prime universe once drank it unknowingly.

It is one of the five metals that turned that Bruce into a doorway. Of course, besides that, Amber Gold has some unique properties.

First, as a liquid metal, it not only tastes sweet but is also thirst-quenching.

Secondly, regular consumption can slow aging, enhance strength, and grant weak regenerative abilities depending on its concentration. Drinking it even induces wonderful hallucinations.

Lastly, if you find a suitable blacksmith, Amber Gold can be forged and has extremely high ductility and malleability. It is effective against magical creatures like ghosts, dryads, and werewolves. As an armor additive, it can further resist magical damage and curse effects.

As far as Su Ming knew, only Hephaestus, the god of forging, and the Weaponers of the universe could forge liquid metal. Others dealt with creation or shaping, which was more advanced.

However, he already had an armor made of Promethium, which is also a 'metal' and includes trace amounts of Nth metal to enhance magical resistance. There was no need to replace his armor.

As for weapons, they were made of ordinary alloys, but since no replacements were available, he would have to make do for now.

Earlier, while crouching by the corpse, he had been confirming whether the Talon possessed regenerative abilities. From what he saw, it seemed Amber Gold did not exist on Earth -11, or else the Court would have used it on their assassins.

He blew up the body to delay the time it would take to be discovered.

Returning to the three, he indicated they could continue. Cindy put away her weapon and merely shrugged, having already noticed that Su Ming was gathering information. She, too, had taken mental notes.

As for Barbara, she asked Su Ming if he was okay, glancing at the white mark on his armor's waist and only relaxing when she saw he was unharmed.

Predictably, Peter threw up. When Su Ming had blown up the corpse with a grenade, a piece of some unknown organ had splattered onto the camera lens. He couldn't hold it in any longer.

At this point, he was retching, crying and vomiting at the same time, while Vickie helplessly held the camera, tilting her mouth to the side as she waited.

"The Court of Owls has arrived; our time is limited. We need to find the Bat quickly."

Su Ming touched the white scratch on his armor as he spoke to Cindy. He removed his helmet, letting the rain cool his mind, which had been overstimulated by the recent bloodshed.

"The entrance to the underground research lab... We just need to find fresh footprints, the kind made by a group. In this heavy rain, no one can clear all the prints from the muddy ground."

Cindy patted him on the shoulder, rain washing over her armor as well. She looked around and shared her plan.

Su Ming nodded, exhaling gently and using his helmet to shield a cigarette he was lighting.

"Leave it to you then. I need to calm down; the bloodlust is affecting me."

"You're not right. Feeling hunger is your body's healing factor at work. It's a signal that your body needs energy, simply converted into an instinctual craving for blood and flesh. You may have sustained serious internal or even brain injuries recently, without even realizing it."

Cindy raised her hand, feeling Su Ming's skull as if checking for any injuries. Her tactical gloves and the armor covering them were cold to the touch.

"I don't feel hurt anywhere, except for a bit of a headache." Su Ming knocked on his head and patted his chest and abdomen.

"That's why I said it's not right; I can't guess the cause either."

Cindy let go and began looking for many footprints. In this weather, footprints would appear as round pits filled with dirty water.

At this moment, Peter suddenly screamed. Su Ming immediately drew his pistol, aiming it in that direction.

It turned out that Peter had instinctively sought out a low-lying pit to vomit in, but the heavy rain had caused another problem—soil erosion.

Indian Hill was originally a burial ground for Native American ancestors. Now, a skeleton had been unearthed by the buoyancy of the rainwater, rising right in front of him.

He was vomiting when he saw a flash of white. Looking up, he found a white skull floating in the water, its hollow eyes staring at him.

He couldn't help but scream.

But before Su Ming could act, Vickie had already slapped him, making him stumble.

"Useless, it's just a skull, and an old one at that. What are you screaming about?"

"Boo-hoo, a skull. I'm so scared. Isn't this place haunted?"

He still had disgusting froth at the corners of his mouth, and his hands kept wiping his face, trying to get rid of the liquid—whether it was rain or tears, he couldn't tell.

A burly man standing six foot three and weighing over 330 pounds, with a thick beard, whimpering to a tiny woman who barely reached his elbow…

The sight was too much for Su Ming to take; he was afraid he might pull the trigger on instinct.

To comfort him, Vickie grabbed the skull from the water and tossed it in the air, catching it like a toy.

"See? No ghosts. It's fun. Don't be scared."

Though her method was unconventional, Vickie was genuinely trying to help her partner. Unfortunately, the effect was quite the opposite, making Peter shake his head and back away even further.

Vickie, now holding the camera on one shoulder and the skull in one hand, looked up at the sky and sighed in exasperation, as if her spirit had been drained.

She raised her eyes to the heavens, seeking answers from Zeus, feeling utterly exasperated by her partner. He was a one-of-a-kind combination of traits. Timid and scared of ghosts, turning pale at the sight of blood, but capable of eating ten times her own portions during meals.

The worst part was, to avoid being photographed as unattractive, it was customary for news anchors to treat their camera partners to meals. All of this was heartbreaking.

But soon, something good diverted her attention.

"Huh? This skull has gold teeth! Nice, this one's mine. I'll get a ring or necklace made out of it."

She cheerfully pried out a row of gold teeth from the skull and pocketed them. Her blue eyes seemed to turn into coins, and she instantly forgot all about Peter's incompetence.

Peter blinked. Just a moment ago, he hadn't seen any gold teeth on the skull, yet when Vickie got hold of it, it was like magic; she discovered gold teeth.

Wasn't this creepy enough?

Cindy returned from the distant darkness, her figure blurred and shifting in the rain, resembling an indistinct cloud of smoke.

She came up to Su Ming. "Found it, but the path is difficult."

"No problem." Su Ming picked up Barbara in her wheelchair, motioning for Cindy to lead the way. "Once we're underground, it'll be much better."

"Do you think Falcone might have already spotted us with all this commotion we're making here?" Barbara, having witnessed the Bat's citywide surveillance system, seemed particularly sensitive to privacy concerns, always feeling watched.

Despite the mud sucking at his feet, Su Ming moved effortlessly, still striding quickly.

"Relax." He lifted the wheelchair higher and tried to step into Cindy's footprints. "This place is a haven for vagrants. If he tried to install surveillance here, the vagrants would dig out any hidden equipment to sell."

Leading the way, Cindy added, "He's keeping this place secret; he can't act against the vagrants around here, so he can only stay as low-key as possible. But once we're underground, things could be very different."

"Falcone doesn't seem like he wants the League of Shadows entering here. He's probably just trying to get the assassins into the city faster."

Discussing the possible situations they might encounter, they unconsciously entered what looked like a drainage channel, but it was surprisingly dry, with no water at all.

The flat concrete ground was covered in creeping vines, looking like a green cave in a forest. It seemed very out of place here.

This was absolutely abnormal for Indian Hill. If not for the strange smell and eerie terror emanating from this place, Su Ming guessed that many vagrants would have chosen it over the cramped wrecked cars for shelter.

At the dark end of the passage, there was a green metal door, with no signs or writing around it. The intense unease emanating from behind it made any ordinary person approaching feel dread.

The group reached the door. Cindy planted the explosives on the lock, inserted the remote detonator, and, after they all took cover, put her finger on the red button.

"Ready?"

"Don't kid around. Deathstroke is always ready."

Su Ming chuckled and shook his head, the red lenses of his mask leaving a faint trace of light in the darkness.