Ch.410 Tactical Adjustment

Something was wrong, and Su Ming had to go all out.

The symbiote's power, Deathstroke's martial skills, plus the cloak's flight and anti-magic capabilities.

The key was the information he'd gathered. In this state, Diana's power limits and her combat style—he knew them inside out.

Currently, DC was in the post-New 52 Rebirth period, which meant her origin was that of Zeus's daughter.

Once upon a time, Hippolyta, the queen of Themyscira, met a powerful male warrior. He was incredibly strong, and she was no match for him.

So, Hippolyta fell in love with him.

However, that warrior was Zeus in disguise. He loved collecting beautiful women and making them pregnant.

He could shapeshift endlessly and knew each target's personality and preferences, so he succeeded again and again.

Diana was born as a result, but Zeus left soon after, and to prevent Hera from discovering the affair, he used his power to hide Themyscira.

Since there had never been men on the Amazon island, Diana never thought it odd not to have a father.

Hippolyta told her that she was molded from clay and given life by the gods.

Thus, she always admired the gods—until she left the island and joined the Justice League.

After a series of events, she saw the true nature of the gods, and it was only when her mother died that she was told she was the daughter of Zeus.

Athena, who had always guided her in combat, was her sister. Ares, who had always wanted to kill her, was her brother.

But this was merely a conflict between Athena and Ares, and she was used as a pawn.

The fate that followed was even darker. The First Born returned, intending to wipe out all the Old Gods and New Gods, and even replace God himself.

And in the prophecy, the only one who could stop him was Diana.

Thus began another series of battles. Diana ultimately defeated the First Born using her divine lineage, sealing him underground.

But that was merely a pause, not an end.

She seldom went to Olympus after that, and the only god she stayed in contact with was Vulcan. But trouble had found her once again.

Hecate had long since marked her, and Zeus knew nothing?

Su Ming didn't believe that.

In any case, Su Ming had seen Diana in this state, even if only in the comics. But in this form, killing gods was child's play for her—he had to be extremely cautious.

Blocking her attack with a shield had already sent him flying, and another block wouldn't change the outcome.

So he decided to adjust his tactics slightly. He would still carry the shield, but the fight would focus on evasion—relying on his skills and speed to overcome Diana.

If necessary, inflicting some damage on her would also be an option.

Breaking her limbs would be ideal. The Justice League's ultimate machine could easily piece her back together. Of course, as with any dismemberment, a recovery period would be necessary.

With that thought, he had the symbiote make its move.

Stranglehold detached the Nth Metal Gauss rifle from his back. After seeing the host use it twice, it had long wanted to play with the big gun.

But it had seen what happened to the cloak when it messed with the host's things, and as a smart being, Stranglehold wouldn't foolishly do that. It had glimpsed some of the host's thoughts and knew about the grand future plan. It understood that if it behaved, it wouldn't be shortchanged.

It was a symbiote—its power depended on the host's power, so taking anything from the host had no meaning to it.

Now that the host had ordered it to take the weapon and aim at the female, it naturally obeyed.

Not only the Nth Metal Gauss rifle, but Su Ming's dual pistols and all the magazines could also be used freely by the symbiote.

With the symbiote's help, suppressive fire was no longer something that needed someone else's assistance. It would be absolute, hitting whatever it aimed at. If he hadn't intended to keep some cards hidden earlier, Su Ming would've liberated his hands long ago.

"Cloak, let's take her into the sky."

That meant not flying too fast but rather leading Diana, letting her unknowingly leave the familiar battlefield.

In the high-altitude environment, temperature, oxygen, wind speed, and gravity—all these factors needed to be recalculated and adapted. This was where Deathstroke could thoroughly outmatch Diana.

If you're challenging me to arm-wrestle, I decline. Let's compete in a mathematics Olympiad instead.

The Justice Hall competition hadn't yet included such a category, so wasn't this the perfect continuation?

The anti-gravity cloak had been much more obedient after Stranglehold licked it with its tongue. It was like it had lost its soul—whatever Su Ming said was its command.

Su Ming found it odd—had he unintentionally discovered the cloak's weakness? It was afraid of being grossed out?

But the cloak had no brain and no stomach—how could it even understand the concept of disgust?

He had made Stranglehold lick it purely because he had no other way to deal with the cloak at the time. It wasn't Zatanna's magic hat—it might look like fabric, but it was a magical artifact, nearly immune to 99% of the world's magic.

And the magic flame that countered it belonged to some sub-dimensional demon lord from Marvel, who certainly wouldn't be showing up here.

Unless he used the Nth Metal greatsword to hack it.

But it had merely eaten some ordinary gems—things that were like chocolate chips to Su Ming. Money wasn't his objective anymore.

Since the Marvel side had an earlier timeline, it was more convenient for his larger plans, so making money over there was enough.

Money in the DC universe was just for casually buying a house, a boat, or a few planes—relaxing and enjoying life.

He had originally come back to DC for a vacation—who knew that after the Omega Titans, something like this would happen?!

In any case, he couldn't use his strongest weapon on his cloak just because it had eaten some of his candy. Criticism and education were the way to go.

While contemplating this issue, the two flew one after the other into the sky.

Meanwhile, in the deepest part of her mind, Diana had lost the will to live.

After hitting him with her full power in her complete state and him still being fine—was he even human? Could he be Kryptonian?

And what was that shadow behind him—some kind of super-advanced Omega nanobot system?

Just now, it had grown eyes and a mouth! It even seemed to smile when it picked up a weapon! That was definitely a living creature!

And she'd meant to ask last time but had forgotten in the chaos—was his cloak alive too? It performed all sorts of tactical maneuvers—was it an ace pilot before?

But now she couldn't control her own body—she could only watch herself, with a ferocious grin, rush into the sky, frantically swinging her weapons or her Lasso.

Yet Deathstroke was like an eel. When he focused solely on dodging, there were very few people in the world who could land a hit on him.

Diana could sense that Deathstroke was luring her into the sky for some purpose, but the unfamiliar consciousness controlling her body was clearly unaware.

Watching herself walk into the tactical master's trap was chilling—hopefully, the outcome wouldn't hurt too much.

Diana's consciousness decided to close her eyes, shutting herself off from whatever was happening outside.