American comics: Starting with Luke the Maker

Bat-Base.

The members stationed at the base finally awaited the return of Stephen and the others. Besides the three of them, there was an additional tall and aloof-looking man. The man's limbs were bound by black shackles, but merely standing there, his robust muscles alone conveyed a sense of violent danger.

"Is this Darkseid? What do you intend to do with him?" Wonder Woman Diana looked at the man, instinctively sensing a divine power similar to that emanating from Steppenwolf. This confirmed the man's identity.

"Presumably, take him back and hand him over to Luke. He has prisons specifically designed to hold dangerous individuals like this, be they vicious criminals or dimensional deities," Stephen stated without concealment. As he spoke, his gaze lingered for a moment on the silent Bruce Wayne.

"That's good. What about Steppenwolf? Are you taking him as well?" Diana felt a sense of relief for some reason. It wasn't that she was against taking on responsibilities like guarding them, but if there was a better, more appropriate, and safer method, she naturally wouldn't insist on claiming custody of these two dangerous individuals.

In Diana's opinion, there was nothing safer than entrusting the prisoners to the person who captured them. For a moment, she even considered tossing Steppenwolf over as well. Although Lex Luthor, who was studying Steppenwolf's body, might not be too pleased, a choice had to be made. Diana was fed up with the troublemaking abilities of the smart people in her team, especially since every incident seemed capable of overturning the planet and disrupting the balance of the universe.

"Of course," Stephen nodded again.

"Do you need me to bring him over now? Or...?" Diana asked very directly, so directly that even the thick-headed Thor could grasp the meaning in her words. After all, as the King of Asgard, he had grown somewhat in that regard.

Bringing him over now meant asking if they were leaving immediately.

Or? This inquired whether they wanted to rest and recuperate, perhaps hold a banquet or something.

"No rush, we still have some loose ends to tie up. At least, unlocking the data dimension will take time," Stephen replied.

"Are we having a feast? That's my favorite! I can help with the grilling," Thor placed his hammer on the ground, rubbed his hands together, and couldn't help but feel eager to show off his skills.

"Let's go, let me arrange things for you. It will take them a while to get here," Diana was referring to the other League members.

"You guys go ahead, let me and Bruce have a moment alone," Stephen said, waving his hand in response to Diana's invitation, unexpectedly.

Diana and Thor immediately looked at Stephen, then their eyes swept towards the silent Bruce. After a moment, Diana seemed to understand something, and led Thor and Becky out of the room, leaving Bruce and Stephen with a private space to communicate.

When only the two of them remained in the monitoring room, Stephen flicked his fingers like a conductor's baton, and a chair came to life, its legs tapping as it ran behind him and Bruce. Stephen bent down and sat, shifting his buttocks to adjust to a comfortable position. Bruce, on the other hand, remained standing, seemingly at a loss with the chair behind him, but his inaction angered the chair, which forcefully bumped forward, hitting the back of Bruce's knees. Only then did Bruce sit down. As he sat, the chair behind him instantly quieted down, becoming an inanimate object once more.

"Quite fascinating, magic?" Bruce wasn't wearing his seemingly ever-present bat-suit, but there were at least three bat-suits hidden in the monitoring room, ready for his summons at any moment. He crossed his legs, placed his hands on his thigh, and looked at Stephen with some curiosity.

"You can certainly think of it that way. Let's talk about your situation," Stephen opened two more portals, reached into them, and pulled out a cup of hot coffee, gesturing for Bruce to choose one himself.

Bruce looked at the portals that had appeared to his side. Several cups were placed inside, ranging from drinks and teas to wines. Bruce thought for a moment and took out a teacup.

"What do you want to know? Why I would try to decipher and excavate that kind of power?" Bruce took a sip of tea from the teacup and asked Stephen in return.

"No, no, no, we can discuss that question later. I want to talk about your physical condition, or rather, let's go a step further and talk about your mental state," Stephen said, placing the coffee cup on the armrest of the chair on his right, propping his chin with his arm, and shaking his head.

"My mental state?" Bruce was startled, but his face remained expressionless. "I think I'm in very good condition right now, both physically and mentally."

"You know what? You remind me a bit of someone I know. He's also extremely intelligent, also a wealthy superhero, and just as stubborn, always thinking of solving problems with his own personal strength, or his clever brain. He also used to have serious mental problems, but his problems aren't as severe as yours," Stephen chuckled, not minding Bruce's concealment. Even if Bruce showed no problems in his tone or expression, Stephen didn't need to use his eyes or other organs to see and judge some things.

He was certain that Bruce had serious mental problems, and that these problems involved some hidden powers. If it were someone else, they might not even realize their abnormality, but he believed that Bruce, who was obsessively demanding of himself and meticulously cautious about everything, would inevitably notice some of his own abnormalities. His current conversation with Bruce was to determine which stage he was at. Only by determining this could Stephen try to help him solve the problem.

"Tony Stark? I know some things about him. He and I are different!" Bruce shook his head solemnly. "Completely different!"

"Then do you know that you are currently in a very dangerous situation? Ahead of you is a bottomless cliff, and as soon as you take one wrong step, you will face a disaster that you absolutely do not want to see happen. And this disaster will be caused by you," Faced with Bruce's avoidance, Stephen instead seemed somewhat aggressive, pressing closer step by step.

"What exactly have you seen?" Bruce was silent, finally opening up. Now that he was sure that Stephen had seen something, he, who had wanted to solve the trouble in his mind independently, suddenly changed his mind and tried to solve it together with Stephen. But he had to know what exactly Stephen had seen.

"The power of the dark dimension! This power is so concentrated that it's impossible for me to ignore it. It's like an opened can of surströmming, the smell is particularly pungent," Stephen said, fanning the air in front of his nose with his hand. "I've dealt with these dark forces too much, I've even 'eaten' quite a few of them. So I'm particularly sensitive to them.

Of course, the dark dimensional power that I'm familiar with is not the same as the dark dimensional power that is parasitic on you, but the 'smell' is just as pungent. If you can't solve it, then as time goes on, your entire soul will be polluted and occupied."

"Sounds like you know a lot about this power, even the consequences?" Bruce felt a sense of relief, and combined with his own situation, he was willing to believe Stephen's judgment to some extent. At least it gave him some reference information.

"You should know where I come from? Which organization I work for," Stephen sighed softly.

"The energy bank?" Bruce rarely showed a hint of a smile in his eyes.

"Oh, what you said isn't wrong. But strictly speaking, I work for a mage organization called Kamar-Taj. I inherited it from my teacher, and also inherited the position of energy bank. What kind of mage organization is Kamar-Taj?" Stephen asked and answered himself lightly: "It is a mage organization established in ancient times to protect our world from the invasion of dimensional deities.

The inside story is very complicated, and if I were to explain it in detail, it would take too much time. If you're interested, I can leave you with some historical records about Kamar-Taj later. But for now, you only need to know what the scope of this organization's responsibilities is.

The power of the mages at that time was borrowed from other deities and dimensional worlds, so there were always some mages who pursued power, or wanted to make up for the shortcomings in their hearts, to pursue more dangerous, more powerful, and more uncontrollable dark dimensional power. Those powers are so chaotic and dark that very few are suitable for human mages to master. So the mages who try to walk the forbidden path often don't end well.

Those dark dimensional deities will respond to them, but this response cannot fill the true shortcomings in their hearts, nor can it achieve the wishes they want. But the price has to be paid! And what those deities want is to invade and devour the world. What those believers can pay is their own souls, freedom, and opening a door for their masters who are preparing to feast.

Fortunately, the Supreme Mage has mastered the power to peer into the future, and can choose the future they want to minimize losses. But you know, even if you can peer into the future, some things can only be reduced, but not prevented from happening.

I've seen too many fallen futures, and those darkness! And I also know very well the signs and changes of my companions after they sink into the power of darkness. Do you feel that you are very rational, very calm, and that your current thoughts are all your own will, and that there is no change from before?"

Bruce was stunned, and a horrified fear instantly arose in his heart.

"Looks like you've already realized something is wrong, haven't you?" Stephen smiled: "In the early stage, the dark dimensional power only subtly affects your judgment and thinking. The simplest and most common way is to solidify one of your obsessions, let it take root and sprout, and suppress all your other thoughts and emotions, like a fanatic, focusing on and seriously doing one thing. And you won't realize that there's anything wrong with it. Even if you know you're being polluted, even if you know this betrays your former bottom line and duty, you will move forward! Because your obsession will brainwash you, it will give you a reason and excuse to convince yourself. You are awake, and you are also obsessed. Until the moment when your value is finally decided. This is the influence and erosion of the dark dimensional power."

"You think I've been polluted by the kind of dark dimensional power you're talking about?" Bruce asked calmly, suppressing the emotions in his heart.

"Dark dimensional power is also divided into many kinds. For example, psionic energy? Its dark dimensional power is divided into multiple layers, the deepest level is the abyss. Generally speaking, in the material universe, we only use the 'shadows' of the abyss, and dare not let its real power descend. But even shadows are enough to solve all the troubles with pollution and danger. But this solution, if there are no countermeasures, is like you cutting a wound in your finger, and in order to solve this wound, you cut off the injured finger.

The dark dimensional power wrapped around you has not yet reached the level of the abyss, although it is concentrated and dark enough. I'm sorry that this communication was hasty and direct, but I think if I didn't discover it for a longer time, I would have to consider taking some radical measures against you. This may cause some conflicts and misunderstandings between us and your group, leading to confrontation and hostility. This is not what I want to see," Stephen replied seriously.

"When did you first discover my problem? Was it today? Or earlier?" Bruce suddenly keenly noticed another question.

"I knew you would realize this. That's right, I noticed the abnormality in your body last time, but it was lurking very deep, so deep that I couldn't be sure, just suspected it. So in order to confirm, I did some tricks, which may have stimulated it," Stephen smiled modestly, looking embarrassed.

"So, it suddenly exposed itself these days because it felt the pressure you put on it?" Bruce was speechless.

"Don't worry about these! This is just a small intimidation. If the judgment fails, you won't have any problems. But if the judgment is successful, it will have a sense of urgency, and it must be exposed in advance without being perfectly prepared. Although it is still troublesome to deal with in this way, at least it buys time and gives you hope to return to normal.

I wanted to talk to you seriously at that time, but things always have to be solved one after another. Darkseid, you, data dimension. Believe me, we are professional in things like dimension invasion and dark erosion!" Stephen said in a light and confident tone. This confidence even infected Bruce.

Bruce certainly knew that things couldn't really be as simple as Stephen said, he probably just wanted to comfort him. Of course he wouldn't give up self-help and hand his life over to others, which didn't fit his philosophy. But he didn't resist Stephen's help. At least as he said, he was the professional in this kind of thing! Even if it wasn't successful, it would be good to grasp some intelligence and information.

So, Bruce calmly asked: "How are you going to solve my trouble?"(End of this chapter)