Ch.63 Landing

Meanwhile, with Cindy and Alfred wandering around Gotham City, far across the ocean, Barry was racing across the water with Bryce and Su Ming in tow.

For Barry, it made no difference whether he was running on water or land, so the shortest route from North America to Egypt was, of course, straight across the Atlantic Ocean.

The Atlantic, unlike the Pacific, has unpredictable currents, fierce winds, and towering waves that look like skyscrapers, especially when caught in a storm in the middle of the ocean. But to the trio, they were like dark blue crystal ornaments frozen in midair.

While Su Ming and Bryce could enjoy the scenery, Barry was feeling fatigued. Holding two people, his arms were starting to ache. As he ran, he complained to Bryce, "I can't believe your world hasn't developed flight technology. Isn't flying a human dream?"

Su Ming, held by Barry's arm and gripping his shoulder, responded, "Right, I asked Cindy the same question just a few hours ago."

Bryce, a native of Earth -11, had seen Amazons flying around and was somewhat interested in flying devices. She glanced at the still waves not far away, the grandeur of the scene bringing a faint smile to her face.

"Some Amazons have divine powers, which naturally allow them to fly. It's their privilege." She paused, tightening her grip on Barry's shoulder to ease his burden slightly, and continued, "But if science could make it possible, I'd be willing to give it a try. What's the principle behind it?"

"The Bernoulli equation, p + ρgh + (1/2) * ρv^2 = c," Barry immediately began explaining various basic principles of fluid dynamics, spewing out numerous constants and calculations unfamiliar to Bryce.

Su Ming's memories contained similar knowledge. Deathstroke sometimes used these principles for ballistic calculations, but mostly as part of shooting techniques.

Bryce, however, had no concept of this. Listening to Barry felt like hearing a foreign language, and the smile on her exposed half-face gradually faded beneath her mask.

"In short, it's about creating a pressure difference above and below the wings to lift the plane. Does that make sense now?" Barry asked with a big smile.

"You could've just stated the conclusion," Bryce replied, slightly annoyed, making Barry feel awkward.

Earlier, Su Ming had wondered if Barbatos had already set his sights on this world, but after analyzing the situation, he had overturned his hypothesis from a few hours ago.

As a god, Barbatos wouldn't have altered the technological path of a world centuries in advance just for a few human minions.

This led to Su Ming's new plan to deceive everyone and eliminate the Strigidae Priests of the Court of Owls entirely, preventing any major disturbances in this world.

The Strigidae Priests alone couldn't communicate with Barbatos. They needed to gather and use a ritual-like magic circle to send messages.

Now, they were going to take out their base.

The problem was that Su Ming's armor was the only effective weapon against them, but it lacked the lethal capability needed for a single decisive blow. The battle against the white cat had already proven he needed a new strategy.

Among the metals that could harm dark beings, Promethium definitely existed here, as Cindy's armor was made from it. Nth metal hadn't been found despite Bryce and Barry's extensive search, so it likely didn't exist here.

The most promising option was Promethium. Since Cindy's armor existed in this world, Promethium must exist here. There was also the Dionysium factor because this world had the Court Jester.

If they could find Bat-Metal in the temple this time, it could be used to craft weapons.

Although Bat-Metal is a magical metal and can only be forged with magic, if Su Ming could get his hands on a Bat-Metal brick, he could smash those Strigidae Priests to death with it.

This mission wasn't just about killing; it was also about looting.

While he was lost in thought, the trio had already landed in North Africa, in what would be Morocco on another Earth.

They passed through coastal forests and mountains and into the endless desert within a matter of seconds.

It was dusk here. The vast desert glowed golden-red under the setting sun. Some small creatures like lizards had already sensed the sand cooling and began to cautiously emerge from the ground.

They twisted their tiny heads, sensing the vibrations in the sand, searching for smaller creatures to fill their hungry bellies.

Barry continued running, leaving a yellow streak across the desert. In this sea of sand, there were no reliable landmarks, so he kept heading east, passing through Algeria and Libya, until they reached Egypt and saw the Nile.

Following the Nile upstream, they would find the Valley of the Kings, where the pyramids and temples were most concentrated.

Let's hope the Amazons didn't care about these defeated foes and hadn't demolished those Egyptian temples. The Amazons worshiped Zeus, and the Egyptian gods were considered heretical to them.

Though it was uncertain if the Egyptian pantheon had ever really existed in this world, the pyramids and temples were definitely built.

There was no scenery to speak of, just sand. The vast expanse of yellow filled their vision. Su Ming could see the wind-blown sand suspended in midair, each grain reflecting faint light.

A rattlesnake was hunting a sand rat. A cactus dropped a spine, and a few rare desert raindrops fell from the sky.

It was as if the pause button had been pressed on all these scenes.

Soon, a wide river stretched before them, its waters thick with silt, muddy and turbulent like a giant brown dragon winding its way into the distance. There were boats on the river, and people onboard were smiling, looking westward, enjoying the sunset on the Nile.

Not far away was a modern city, Cairo, bathed in the glow of the setting sun.

"Seven hundred kilometers south of Cairo, on the west bank of the Nile, is the Valley of the Kings," Su Ming told Barry.

"Yes, we're almost there," Barry replied, smiling, seemingly cheered by the sight of the sunset over the Nile.

The Valley of the Kings.

In Su Ming's original world, it was established between 1545 and 1515 BCE. By the time he had crossed over, 62 tombs had been discovered, including the famous Pharaoh Ramses II and the supposedly death-cursed Pharaoh Tutankhamun.

The valley wasn't just filled with tombs; it was also home to many temples. The Egyptian pantheon was vast, with not just the nine main gods believed to have created the world but also countless minor deities, like the scarab god and the serpent god.

Of course, the pantheon with the most gods had to be the Olympian pantheon. They even had gods for sewers, responsible for the drainage of public baths and toilets.

The ancient Romans took public sanitation to the next level.

"Our target is the Temple of Set. The Court of Owls' base is there," Su Ming said, letting go of Barry, stretching his neck and arms as he stepped onto the yellow sand, entering the valley and beginning to orient himself.

Barry also let go of Bryce but immediately held out his hand to her. "I saw a shop back there; can you spare some change, Bryce? Umm, this sandwich is chickpea flavored. Oh, right, the main thing. But Set isn't an owl god; he's not even related to birds."

"His animal form is a beast with long fur and tusks. Many scholars believe it was a boar or an extinct species," Su Ming continued walking, "But Set was also the god of storms and the desert. Later, he became the god of night and darkness. Sound familiar?"

"Barbatos, the god of darkness," Barry said, holding a bottle of mineral water and his sandwich, taking a bite and a sip.

"I'm not sure if they're connected, maybe it's just a similarity in names. But clearly, the Court of Owls doesn't think so. They're madly in love with Set," Su Ming shrugged. They abandoned their modern lives to live among ancient tombs. If that's not love, what is?

Bryce was doing something similar, first identifying their location and then observing the surrounding structures. "Set is one of the Ennead, but as the god representing darkness, his temple would usually be in a shaded place, separate from the main gods."

Su Ming agreed with her assessment and added, "Yes, and his temple is usually opposite the temple of the sun god."

The group looked towards the depths of the valley, where there was a corner shaded by steep cliffs, a place that would never see sunlight.