Amanda looked at the team in front of her with satisfaction, a special forces unit coerced by bombs.
Of course, she wasn't just pressuring them; leadership is an art. Although bombs could force them to obey, sometimes a little incentive could give them more motivation.
For example, letting Death Shooter occasionally visit his daughter, giving Killer Crocodile more meat, or some Spanish music CDs for Flame Demon to reminisce about his deceased family...
Everyone has weaknesses that can be exploited.
Relatively speaking, Harley is the hardest to deal with. She used to have the Joker as her preference, but now it's different.
She's completely unafraid of death and has no other hobbies. If one had to say what she likes now, it would be going crazy. Lately, her condition has been very off, often asking others to call her Dr. Quizer and even having guards play her patients.
But seeing her present distracted state, Amanda felt somewhat reassured.
Just as she was planning to deploy the squad, the base alarm suddenly went off. The lights in the meeting room abruptly turned red, flashing incessantly.
"The base has been invaded." Rick approached Amanda, signaling her to head to the control room, while he raised the M4 across his chest, flicking off the safety with his thumb.
Amanda gave Rick a look, motioning him to take the squad to investigate, then quickly returned to the command hall.
Upon reaching the hall, Amanda was stunned by the scene on the screen. The military camp outside the Celestial Eye Association headquarters was under attack — a massacre, to be precise.
A person in black and yellow armor, wielding two long metal rods, was advancing rapidly through the army.
She immediately recognized this was not the Deathstroke from the Main World, but the one who had previously been to Detroit.
At that time, the leaders of the Celestial Eye Association had been captured by Merciless Iron Fists and locked up in some cell, but they were rescued a day later, and Amanda had even retrieved Merciless Iron Fists' corpse.
The Iron Arm had a massive penetrating wound in his chest; even the incredibly sturdy Divine Power Armor hadn't saved his life. The scene of this Deathstroke playing with tanks using a Great Sword instantly reminded her of that instance.
"Have we informed the Justice League? We're facing an Otherworld invasion." Amanda inquired of the staff at the console as if she had never targeted the Justice League before.
"They're under Security Council questioning and haven't responded." The staffer looked at Amanda with a grimace, this was truly a case of shooting oneself in the foot.
"How much time do we have left?" Amanda gripped the railing tightly, her face tense.
"Judging by the rate at which the army is being incapacitated, we might last another three minutes." Another staff member responded.
The plump woman covered her forehead, not remembering when she had provoked this Otherworld Deathstroke, and why he would target the Celestial Eye Association. After all, it is a government institution!
......
Su Ming didn't care about any government institution. Since he wasn't thrown out a second time by Dr. Manhattan upon his return, he felt free to do as he wished.
Though the US Army before him had decent equipment and training, they were far inferior to the German Army who piloted Gundams.
Moreover, Deathstroke's reputation sometimes had positive effects. Su Ming only knocked out or injured some individuals, but many fled upon seeing him unharmed.
Deathstroke wasn't killing, but it was hard to say how long he could hold back. If not now, when?
Thus, it didn't even take three minutes for Su Ming to enter the building, with the two infantry divisions outside completely routed, essentially out of commission.
He was here to negotiate, not to kill, which might backfire. Proving his intimidation was enough.
Although Main World Deathstroke wouldn't fear an ordinary army, dealing with a military unit solely by stunning and injuring was still somewhat challenging.
"Alright, let's see where the little mice of the Celestial Eye Association are hiding..."
Su Ming strode through the building, various analytical conclusions fed back to him via his red eyepiece. He bulldozed through automated turrets and bomb traps.
Soon enough, he found a large steel door looking like a nut.
After knocking out the last batch of steadfast special agents, Su Ming began cutting the door with the Nightfall Greatsword, reminiscent of the vault doors from the "Fallout" series, indicating the deep impression Merciless Iron Fists had left previously.
But this too was no match for an X Metal weapon.
With little effort, he entered the underground facility.
Everything was smooth, no one dared to stop him, until he confronted the Suicide Squad in the corridor.
"Slade! Stop!" Rick raised a hand, signaling for Su Ming to stay calm.
Deathstroke had previously joined the Suicide Squad for a while for his own purposes, and they knew each other. Amanda had been naive back then, trying to threaten a world-class tactical master with a bomb in his head.
And one who possessed a self-healing ability at that.
In the end, she had been outsmarted by Deathstroke. He completed his task, retreated unscathed, and left the Suicide Squad in shambles.
Rick knew that if Deathstroke appeared, he must have a comprehensive plan, capable of confronting any enemy directly, even giving Superman a hard time.
The Suicide Squad was no match for Deathstroke. If the Witch were still present, her magic might stall him briefly, but she had drifted away with the mages and parted ways...
The Witch was a Free People, wanting more to be a hero than a governmental Cleaner.
Rick was a patriot, a military man who would always obey orders.
After Zha Kang threatened Amanda to hand over the Witch, claiming he'd conjure a different hell creature in her underwear every day if she didn't, Amanda conceded, yielding the Witch to the Dark Justice League.
It wasn't the issue of underwear that she feared, but the reluctance to cross a dozen mages, including those indifferent to consequences like Constantine and the Swamp Monster.
"You thought I was the Main World Deathstroke? Your intelligence is rather poor, a bad review." Su Ming internally scoffed.
Not to mention that he knew the Witch was no longer there; even if the Dark Justice League replaced the people in front of him, he'd have bulldozed through them just the same.
Magic? At this moment, the Magic Floating Cloak floated behind him, his magic resistance was off the charts! High magic resistance, high power, he's the new Supreme Mage.
Su Ming wouldn't stop because a soldier wanted to chat. Who did he think he was?
He beckoned to the Suicide Squad in the corridor with a finger, his demonic voice echoing in the narrow passage: "Come on, I'm on a schedule, all of you, come at once."
Rick's expression froze, while someone in the Suicide Squad couldn't hold it in any longer.