Before the War

"All right, I understand. I’ll respect your choice."

Zhang Ye nodded slightly. Black Canary’s choice did not surprise him in the slightest.

Or rather, he would have found it strange if Black Canary had answered any other way.

"Then… you’ll help me return to the universe I belong to, right?" Black Canary leaned forward, asking tentatively with hopeful anticipation. She needed a promise from Zhang Ye.

"Of course." Zhang Ye smiled.

"But for now, let’s focus on the plan before us. If we can’t rescue Red Hood, then none of this will mean anything."

Hearing this, Black Canary’s expression turned much more serious. Yet the burden that had weighed on her heart for so long finally eased. After coming to this universe all those years ago, Oliver’s death and the Justice League’s disappearance had remained nightmares haunting her heart. But now, she had finally kindled a glimmer of hope.

Or perhaps, just as she had thought deep down, if she truly could not save her own world, then at the very least, she would stay with it until it perished.

Meanwhile, Zhang Ye, seated across from her, forced a smile. He silently raised his glass to his lips, and the moment he lowered his head to drink, his thoughts had already drifted elsewhere.

Perhaps Black Canary did not know what her universe was going through, but Zhang Ye, who could perceive the entire timeline from a macroscopic perspective, was able to discern some deeply hidden details.

The first was the magical power and divine source that were completely different from those of the Marvel Universe within the DC Universe.

In the DC Universe, divine power could be said to be the origin of all things. This was reflected not only in the countless great powers born from the manifestation of the universe’s energy during reality’s earliest days, but also in the close connection between the decline of the Old Gods and the rise of the New Gods.

Unlike the countless dimensions contained within Marvel’s reality, the DC Universe’s descriptions of these Magic Dimensions were more restrained. Instead, the connections between its universes within the Multiverse were far more apparent.

Perhaps it was because of The Flash. In the DC Universe, forces that transcended reality were far more immense, and those forces gave Zhang Ye an urgent desire to come into contact with them.

For Zhang Ye now, magical energy was his primary source of power. If he could devour magic-based creatures from the DC Universe and absorb the unique magical energy within them, it would certainly raise his strength considerably. It might even bring about new changes.

This was the best method Zhang Ye had devised to improve his combat power after discovering that an external object like the Darkhold could not help him.

And beyond those differences between the DC Universe and the Marvel Universe, some clues revealed by the Apokolips War universe itself had also stirred Zhang Ye’s thoughts.

Whether it was the Justice League or the Teen Titans, nearly all of those first- and second-tier superheroes had appeared in Apokolips War.

Although the film mostly showed their miserable deaths and the way their corpses were desecrated, they had still made brief appearances.

However, what could not help but invite speculation was that neither Black Canary nor Red Hood had appeared in Apokolips War.

Or rather, they had never been mentioned in the film at all. Even scenes of their deaths had not been shown. Did that mean that, in some sense, they had already escaped their predetermined fate?

That result was enough to explain why the others had not come to this universe.

Because those people had long been bound by the predetermined framework. The scenes of them being killed by Doomsday remained vivid, and without the influence of an "external force" like Zhang Ye, they could not possibly break free from that "fact" through their own power.

Black Canary and Red Hood were the "fish that slipped through the net" beneath those greater rules.

However, Zhang Ye still could not see through these so-called rules. Although he had traveled through several different universes, his understanding of the spontaneous operation and changes between them remained far from sufficient. That was why he was so curious about Black Canary and Red Hood’s experiences.

If he could uncover the reason they had come to this universe, along with the secrets behind it, perhaps he could find clues to the unobservable origin of the Time Twister and gradually unearth the unknown secrets hidden within the Multiverse.

Therefore, given that premise, Zhang Ye had already set his next target on the Apokolips War universe the moment he came into contact with Black Canary. However, he still needed to deal with the matter before him first. Everything could wait until after Red Hood was rescued.

"The execution will take place tomorrow at ten in the morning, at New Times Square. By then, everyone who has come to New Babylon will gather there to watch Hydra pass judgment on Red Hood. At the same time, quite a few criminals will try to take advantage of the situation. There are plenty of people targeting the ‘Justice League’ now."

Zhang Ye set down his glass and told Kara and Black Canary about the information he had gathered in New Babylon over the past few days.

"Those gang members and mercenaries aren’t a problem, but we have to guard against the Hulk Gang and the mutants. We don’t know which side they’re on right now. If we’re their target as well, this rescue operation probably won’t be easy."

"This is Hydra’s headquarters, after all. Since Red Skull is confident enough to hold the trial with such fanfare, that means he has plenty of cards up his sleeve. Kate Bishop talked to me about Red Skull and Hydra. I could sense Kate’s wariness toward Red Skull. He’s definitely a terrifying guy. We can’t underestimate him."

"But haven’t all the powerful beings in this universe already been driven out of reality? Could there still be something here capable of threatening us?" Kara asked, her brows tightly furrowed.

"That’s what I want to know too. Red Skull can’t possibly be unaware that beyond Earth, among the stars, there are countless forces capable of threatening his rule. So I’m guessing he must have something that gives him the confidence to face any challenge." Zhang Ye stroked his chin.

"But you’ll have a way, right?"

Although Zhang Ye had made the situation sound serious, Kara noticed that his heartbeat had not changed much.

"No matter what, this will surely be the grandest battle since the old war in which the superheroes fell. I can’t predict every possible development."

As he said this, Zhang Ye turned his head and glanced at the raven standing on the rooftop outside the window, silently watching in the direction of the White House.

"As for the outcome…"

The next moment, a smile appeared on Zhang Ye’s face.

"…Who knows?"