Chapter 134: New subordinate
The first order of business was to quickly scramble away from the nuclear power plant, as Abby was clearly determined to rid the world of alien energy as soon as possible by turning the area into an impenetrable jungle.
I even had to remember the druid school to break out of the encirclement. The dryad at that moment (or maybe it was at the beginning of the assault) was hooked to Green and was completely unresponsive to external stimuli, and my gut told me that trying to force my way through a tangle of strange bushes with blood-red buds would do no good. Well, maybe Harley and I due to the natural coloring of mana had at least some chance of avoiding the attention of the angry avatar after the destruction of her "children", but the Amazons could not boast of such immunity and would get the first number. So I had to play the role of Moses and create a corridor in the "sea" of intertwined plants. Of course, no one canceled the presence of our flying transport, but it was busy transporting the wounded and taking the spoils before they were swallowed up by the merciless elements.
The march was a good one, and soon we were camped at the foot of a familiar hill not far from the city, where I could cast privacy charms and begin the normal treatment of the injured, of whom there were many. We needed the cloak so that our company would not be disturbed by fighters with air-to-ground missiles flying in the sky. Still, the appearance and then disappearance of the huge energy dome over the abandoned nuclear power plant attracted too much attention, despite Victor's best efforts, connected to the satellite system.
In the course of treatment, it suddenly became clear that I had overestimated the capabilities of the charming allies. No, the warriors were incredibly strong, especially under the buffs, but the durability of their bodies left much to be desired. Their skin didn't hold splinters, and strong blows with blunt objects left bruises. Diana, though she was much stronger than her sisters, did not escape the same fate, so she preferred to take machine-gun bullets on indestructible bracelets. As a result, Harley and I had to deal with the wounded for quite a long time to make sure that they reached the healers. By the way, despite the relative vulnerability of Themyscira's inhabitants, there weren't many dead: only twelve girls, but the fact that the best of the best, the old guard, who opposed Darkseid himself, really went to the battle, and the elemental, which drew most of the alien army to itself, should not be written off.
Well, as I suspected, there were certain difficulties in getting the Amazons back to their homeland.
The sorceress had certainly recovered a bit in the past four hours, but that didn't mean she was ready for large-scale spells again. Her strength after a short rest was only enough to move to Shadow Peak to rest and prepare for the upcoming concert, and I was not yet cool enough to be able to create a real stationary portal. Even using a direct connection to the Dragon Vein, such a feat was unlikely to be possible for me in the near future. I simply don't have enough knowledge and control to redirect the flow of energy. And the load on the seventh beginning would be so heavy that I might not be able to cast spells at all.
I have long ago noticed that complex weaves, in addition to large amounts of magical energy, imagination, will, and high concentration, are very demanding to control and, let's say, to get used to, somewhat reminiscent of skill training from computer role-playing games. Mana, of course, is not a muscle that can be trained for certain actions after a lot of repetitions, but there is something in common, because over time it begins to respond to the call much easier, making it much easier to create weaves. It's just that so far I haven't done anything particularly large-scale, and if there was anything more or less serious, it was always with a ba-hion that allowed me to jump above my head.
Now my maximum in spatial enchantments is to create relatively simple spatial folds with a decent percentage of weight relief (using the right materials, of course) and setting up a ready-made portal arch, well, maybe a spatial leap of five meters, if given time to prepare. But to let a bunch of left-handed women into the abode of magic, even if most of them had incredibly attractive looks, was somehow not very good, otherwise Zee would have done it herself, having organized from her mansion a transit point. But instead, she'd chosen to exhaust herself and turn the fluffy one into a skeleton, which had caused Harley to disapprove of her.
Luckily, Bats took care of the problem of getting the girls home, and I only had to fly with the first batch to monitor the condition of the most difficult patients, after which I went to Gotham in the company of a lovely blond cutie. Naturally, we wanted to stay on the island and take part in the traditional party after Beaver's victory over Donkey. Considering that Amazons managed to prevent Darkseid's invasion, the feast promised to be even cooler than after saving the magic box, but nobody was going to delay the flight for the sake of two passengers. I only had enough time to stop by Ivy's and briefly recount the results of the battle, or else the green-skinned beauty would have given me a good time. First he disappeared wherever the hell he was, leaving me to take care of the younger generation, then he came with a bunch of mistresses, even if some of them appeared on Harley's initiative, and then, when the dryad seemed to accept the sudden expansion of his harem, he brought a whole bunch of wild women to the island, which was a real test for a girl who liked peace and quiet.
Flying first class on an airplane is great, but it doesn't take away from the amount of time spent on the flight. And that's because it was necessary to hedge Jay Arkham's arrival in Gotham for the trial.
Naturally, I spent my time in reading a magical folio disguised as a physics textbook, but the fact that instead of setting up a portal and moving instantly, I had to go through customs and then sit in a chair for several hours was really annoying. Although I don't know when I'll be able to carve out time for a thoughtful study of the instructions for the scanning circle.
Yes, yes, one "genius" still remembered about that thing, which he personally helped the sorceress to draw in one of the rooms of the Shadow Peak. In principle, there was nothing particularly complicated in the formulas, because the main load is taken by the pre-drawn runes, and the energy required is the minimum, due to the connection to the source of the mansion. It remains only a little to tighten the basics of the astral, having learned to leave the body, and it will be possible to normally scan for abnormalities, and at the same time to look at the soul. It's just not normal for any attempt to take advantage of the System to go wrong all the time.
Even now, after the victory over the Wolf, taking into account the points spent on the copy, I had an unrealistically huge pile of ba-hion in the amount of three hundred units, of which only four points were used for reinforcement, causing an unpleasant burning sensation in the solar plexus. I tried to put a little bit into each of the Initiates, getting a glowing ball of energy in my belly as I did so.
I admit that I'm using my ability incredibly crookedly, and maybe some trainee with experience would have long ago figured out the not-so-friendly interface and would have easily reached the level of Superman, or someone like Aquaman, but any attempt to force my own development leads to the fact that I'm literally harming myself, and it's obviously not normal! Besides, I'd only be a complete psycho to do dangerous experiments on myself when there's no equivalent of preservation or awesome regeneration.
***
A tall, red-haired man with a thick red beard, about thirty years old, dressed in very old, tattered clothes, consisting of a patchy gray shirt and the same pants, was scrutinizing the huge room, the walls of which were covered with throbbing, spiky vines. The plants moved sluggishly, trying to take up all the available space, but they also tried to avoid the intruder, crawling away quickly to let him pass. At first glance, the strange visitor could be mistaken for a homeless man, especially if you consider the lack of shoes, but the powerful figure would be more suitable for a fitness model, or a man who devoted his life to sports, and the piercing gaze of blue eyes, from which came a faint blue glow, did not allow to take him for a simple vagrant.
"What happened here? - The stranger voiced his thoughts as he approached the severed horned head.
He'd been wandering the world for a while now, having given up his past, so he was used to talking to himself so it wouldn't be so boring.
"Hmmm... Really..."
The wanderer looked around the room once more, making the numerous spiky vines cling to the walls as if frightened. The unusual eyes saw much more than mere mortals could see, and the man was not happy about it.
"Not a breakthrough yet, but close, very close. Hmm... What is this strange emotion?! - For the first time in an incredibly long time, a note of surprise slipped into his voice.
It wasn't hard to decipher the mishmash of energy and understand the basic background of events by tapping into the infofield. In a moment, his eyes flashed with rage, and an invisible wave spread from his body, instantly destroying some of the surrounding plants along with the concrete floor.
"How dare they! - A loud scream made space itself squirm in agony.
The air covered in glowing cracks dramatically sobered the human-like creature.
"No, no, no, not again," he clutched his head, violently suppressing his own strength and quickly patching up the gaps in space, as well as energizing the nearby vines, bringing them back to health.
"We must be subtle, she must not know of my involvement," his gaze fell on the severed horned head, which had not yet been swallowed by the merciless elements of nature.
A brief request to the universe, after which the wanderer's lips parted in a grim smile.
"And I have a good executor... Just need to push him to the right decision. He's too cautious and slow."
***
Gotham, during our absence with Harley, had not changed at all, as if there had been no destruction of the secret organization, no purge of criminals and no attempt to enslave the planet by a warlike alien. As one classic said: "Everything was as usual. Everyone was stealing and throwing, cutting each other and hanging, in general there was a normal civilized life". However, a couple of McDonald's were built, but it was really the least of the problems, because another supervillain once again escaped from Arkham, a small but promising gang appeared in the east of the city, pretending to be Mexican wrestlers, and Alfred managed to find traces of the Scarecrow returning to Gotham, as well as the movement of Two-Face's six.
By the way, this time the highlight of the "Get out of the asylum" program was the Enigma Man. And the most curious thing is that he had escaped a long time ago, having replaced himself with Mudface. I don't know what exactly Nygma had promised him, but this lump of shit, successfully pretending to be a piece of dirt, was playing the role of Edward to the last, avoiding preventive examinations by all means, and was caught when Dr. Arkham noticed his patient's strange behavior. A couple of broken guards and damaged interior items, after which the monster was once again locked in a special box, from which he could not get out without help.
I didn't stay home very long. Given the time zones, it was just enough time to catch up on the latest news, have a word with the little one, who was showing a mortal resentment toward the whole world, causing Harley's fits of amusement, and update the alarms around the mansion, making sure that no one had tried to break into the mansion during our absence, and then I had to go straight to the meeting.
Dr. Fries' trial went off without a hitch. Everything was eerily standard. No kidnappings, supervillain attacks, or any other unpleasantness that could dilute the dullness of the event. There was a small flurry of activity when I was called to the podium, but a short story about the company's activities in the field of mobile game development and planned expansion activities caused only more boredom among the tired people in the hall.
The main stages of the trial and the questioning of witnesses had long since been completed, so, after I had spoken, the jury went immediately to the next room to reach a verdict. As Dershowitz had said, the court allowed the scientist to avoid imprisonment, but did not release him from the horse fine in favor of Boyler. I fear that if it weren't for my intervention and Alan's work, Victor wouldn't have gotten off so lightly, and the world would have gotten another crazy supervillain.
It's a bit of a shame that the System left such a feat unrewarded, even though it gave Ivy a decent amount of plushies for freeing her.
After leaving the walls of the kingdom of Themis, we all went to my office, where the sleeping beauty, immersed in cryosleep, was comfortably settled. In general, the hired firm had done a great job of turning the basement into something resembling a normal lair of a mad scientist.
"Nora--" the doctor, who had been silent all the way, and who was unable to digest that he was really free, spoke at last. - Meine Liebe.
He fondly touched the glass flask with a beautiful girl with snow-white hair imprisoned inside. After a little chatting with his beloved in German, the scientist found the strength to stop for a while.
"Mr. Arkham, Mr. Dershowitz, danke... Without you, my life would have been a perpetual flight, and now there's a chance..."
"Oh, come on, dove. I was just doing my job."
Alan gently patted Fries, who was almost crying, on the special spacesuit we had wrested from the police with great difficulty. So what if it's a piece of evidence with incomprehensible technology. My new employee couldn't even go outside without it. Luckily, a couple of gifts allowed us to get the suit back. You'd have to wonder if it's really worth it to rid the city of corruption, otherwise what's the point if you're going to break the rules all the time, just so you don't get your brains blown out.
"Huh, and I won't refuse my gratitude. But I'll give you a week to get used to the new place, to order and install the equipment, and after that I need some inventions from you," I answered with a wide smile.
"Invention? Ya, Ya, I think I remember something like that."
"Yeah. You know, even this," I pointed to the room with the pile of freezing equipment and the tools to repair it, "costs a lot of money. Plus, I'm the one who has to pay the money for Boyler's treatment, so the firm needs patents that can be registered and released to the world. And I need to kick science in the direction of a brighter future."
"Hmm..." the doctor thought for a moment. - I've already got a couple of interesting projects I didn't want to share with that fat bastard... Ya, right," he nodded at his own thoughts. - I can get started right away.
"I am, of course, pleased with your enthusiasm, but let's get to the bottom of the problem first, and then provide the documentation, and we'll think together about whether it's worth it. You know, I don't want someone to be able to build a cryopuscule based on your designs and freeze half the world."
"Ahem," the scientist gasped for air, averting his gaze in embarrassment. - You're right, Nora wouldn't like that at all.
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