Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics Chapter 6065 - 5081: Fighter’s Fate (27)

"You mean, you allied with Loki, wanting to withdraw from the Nine Major Kingdoms to avoid Thor capturing you, while supporting Loki to cause trouble for Thor?" Natasha looked somewhat puzzled at the priest in black robes, tied up like a dumpling, sitting on the interrogation chair. "Don’t you know Loki’s name?"

The other party muttered something which Natasha didn’t understand. She couldn’t help but say, "Loki’s full name is Loki Laufeyson, the God of Mischief. Even if you don’t know our universe’s situation, you should at least have read the mythological stories, right?"

"He needs us too," said the priest. "He wants to get back at his brother, so he needs our power. We don’t even know why he..."

Natasha thought for a moment and actually found it reasonable. Loki has always been chased by Thor, having to leave the Nine Major Kingdoms, but wanting to come back for revenge, he surely needs support. Even if you step back a mile, you still need to leave a spy in the Nine Major Kingdoms; you can’t just retreat forever. The Court of Owls is indeed a good choice.

However, Natasha still couldn’t understand, "But no matter what, Loki is a god. You just ran out in your physical form, how could you possibly oppose him? What if he kidnaps you..."

"We originally had superpowers," explained the priest, seemingly puzzled as well. "We use some kind of Dark Power, which causes strong corrosion. Loki has no way to resist it."

"Then why didn’t you use it?" Natasha asked.

"Our power comes from the gods we worship. If the god doesn’t grant us power, there’s nothing we can do..."

Natasha couldn’t help but facepalm. It turns out these people thought they could manage Loki, then physically ran out, only to have the god they worshiped falter at the critical moment and not grant power, so naturally, they got kidnapped by Loki.

Natasha walked out of the interrogation room and looked at Thor, who was leaning against the wall, saying, "Did you hear that? Your brother did a rare good thing by taking down the Court of Owls."

"Sorry, but it wasn’t my brother who did it." Thor, a bit ashamed, touched his cheek. "It was the Loki from another universe, the one who came to the wedding."

Natasha was speechless, "I knew it."

The Loki from this universe is notorious for being unchanging, and expecting him to do any good is tough. However, Natasha was a bit curious as to why another universe’s Loki would bother with the Court of Owls, an organization that should have no grudge against him.

Moreover, his method was peculiar, first deceiving these people out, then their worshiped god perfectly cut off supply, leaving them at his mercy. Natasha wondered how Loki managed this, surely he didn’t conspire with the god the Court of Owls worshiped to trap them?

But anyway, the Rebirth Alliance was relieved, or rather, during this period, they more than just relieved a sigh.

First, the Court of Owls inexplicably ran off, then Hydra somehow angered the mutants. Not only did the mutants face the Sentinel Robots’ attacks, but they also destroyed their home base. They didn’t just demolish the sub-base, even the American Headquarters was entirely wiped out.

Soon after, the remaining members of the Court of Owls, who had been hiding, were captured and confessed that they had been kidnapped by Loki, with little chance of surviving.

This meant that the two main organizations that had been troubling Forward York City, the Court of Owls and Hydra, are now essentially history. With these two organizations gone, the city’s non-violent crime rate has declined.

The Rebirth Alliance struck hard against violent crime, achieving great results. Most madmen and psychiatric patients were locked up in Arkham Psychiatric Hospital. However, dealing with non-violent crimes, especially economic ones, was much harder.

Incidentally, these crimes were mostly intricately linked to the Court of Owls and Hydra, providing them with not only funds but also connections. Even within the three major corporations, there were plenty of their forces, making it extremely challenging to uproot them.

But for some reason, they’ve hit a streak of bad luck, seemingly not checking the almanac before heading out, causing a series of unfortunate events that wiped out years of painstaking efforts in the major city on the East Coast. Building skyscrapers took decades, but collapsing only took a few days.

Sudden collapse instead of long-term decline has its advantages. It came so abruptly that many of those cooperating with them were caught off guard, constantly searching for their news, and were thus easily swept up by the Rebirth Alliance.

A long struggle had concluded. Natasha barely had time to relax when she faintly sensed that another force seemed to be trying to infiltrate Forward York City.

It manifested as more than one superhero reporting encountering strange black shadows at night, which disappeared in a flash and moved with black mist. And someone found oddly shaped darts in the alley.

While these couldn’t serve as evidence, the next day, an employee at the joint office of the three major corporations was assassinated. If not for Superman’s timely intervention, the employee would’ve surely died.

According to Clark’s description, the assailant was a ninja dressed in dark attire, using darts and a type of small trowel. Natasha knew he was referring to a Kunai. The attacker could teleport, had excellent martial skills, and most importantly, retreated swiftly. After realizing Superman was unscathed, he vanished in an instant.

This drew significant attention from the Rebirth Alliance. Based on information from informed insiders, the organization was identified as the Assassin’s Union from Thunder Valley.

Indeed, a major city like Forward York City has always been a strategic battleground for crime organizations. As the Court of Owls and Hydra moved away, the Assassin’s Union moved in.

There are indeed downsides to merging with New York. Gotham’s original strange attributes have been weakened, allowing many organizations that previously couldn’t enter to find ways to infiltrate, the Assassin’s Union being one of them.

For many years, Ra’s al Ghul did not focus on Gotham because he knew this city was extraordinary, and he wouldn’t wade into muddy waters. But after the merger, this place turned into a piece of undeveloped wasteland, and with other competitors eliminated, he naturally started digging first.

The first issue to address is the alliance of the three major groups, and conveniently, assassination is the Assassin’s Union’s expertise. As long as they keep harassing the higher-ups of these groups and silently infiltrate with their strength, it won’t take long before the city falls under his control.

"Our next step must be to enhance defenses," Nick said at the main table, "The Assassin’s Union may not be any easier to deal with than the Court of Owls or Hydra. We know little about the ninjas they train, but they know us very well."

"Besides, they couldn’t have infiltrated so easily without local forces’ help, which we also need to investigate. However, the wedding progress cannot be delayed any longer. How’s the scheduling going?"

"Almost ready," Coulson replied. He’s been in charge of the wedding, and after a moment of consideration, he said, "Professor Rodriguez and Mr. Wayne have finalized the basics of the process. The outfits and props are basically ready, and once the Cathedral setup is complete, we can start the final rehearsal."

Nick nodded, apparently satisfied with the progress, saying, "We need to hasten the Cathedral repairs, but security work should not fall behind, make sure it doesn’t get ruined again."

Coulson hesitated a bit, saying, "The Mutants are busy dealing with the Sentinel Robots attacks and can’t spare anyone for security. The Rebirth Alliance also has to guard against the Assassin’s Union, so we might be short-handed."

Nick rubbed his brow, saying, "Although I don’t want to do this, it’s an extraordinary period with extraordinary measures. Let guests from other universes lend a hand but remember, don’t force them. Those interested can join, and those not can continue their travel."

"I’ll discuss it with them," Natasha said. "Most have been here for enough days, toured what they could, they might be interested in testing the strength of our universe."

"Have the Batmen arrived?" Nick asked.

"They can only get here the day before the wedding," Carter sighed, "it’s not very peaceful over there either; they’re not free for tourism."

"A shame. The Assassin’s Union is from their side, and Batman should have plenty of experience. But it doesn’t matter, we’ll keep our spirits high and won’t let them find any weaknesses."

Following that, Nick asked, "How’s the bride and groom?"

"Not bad," Green Lantern Hal replied. He’s responsible for the bride and groom’s affairs, saying, "Their clothes are all prepared, including two sets of ceremonial wedding dresses, two sets of banquet gowns, and clothes specifically for photography. But the bouquet isn’t ready yet; it may take a few more days."

"What about the other ceremonial personnel? Father and flower boy?"

"Everything is ready," Green Lantern said, "Father is the former Bishop of Gotham Cathedral, he’ll bring his own clothing and styling. All flower boy supplies are prepared and tested, no issues. Even if there are problems, I can adjust them with Green Lantern energy."

Nick was very satisfied. Although Batman from the neighboring universe is somewhat unreliable, the others are quite competent. Despite being busy for so long, the wedding progress hasn’t fallen behind, and everything necessary has been completed.

"Oh, right," Green Lantern added, "setting up the wedding venue requires a lot of flowers, but I couldn’t find Poison Ivy from our universe; could inter-universe guests help?"

"Are there Poison Ivy guests among the attendees?" Carter asked, puzzled, "I remember that we didn’t invite any Super Villains, right?"

"In some universes, Poison Ivy isn’t considered a Super Villain," Hill, in charge of reception, thought for a moment and said, "I’ll check the guest list. If there is one, I’ll call her and ask her to come to the Cathedral to meet you."

After some discussion, before leaving, Nick advised, "Be sure to protect those who understand the wedding process; if anything happens to them, no one will understand this Catholic wedding."

Upon exiting, Natasha whispered, "The Assassin’s Union has quite an ambition. To undermine the Rebirth Alliance’s reputation, they will surely send assassins to disrupt the wedding."

"It’s not certain who will disturb whom," Nick replied, "Our universe is the original Prime Universe; who doesn’t know how tumultuous the Prime Universe is? Every Superhero who dares to come here has some skill."

Natasha smiled and said, "The water in these two cities runs deep; the Assassin’s Union won’t understand."