After losing contact with them, Batman immediately realized the gravity of the situation.
If Diana and Arthur simultaneously go missing in any event, it is, without a doubt, a global crisis, possibly even apocalyptic.
Then, he saw through the satellites that countless spaceships suddenly jumped into synchronous orbit around Earth.
They had silver metallic hulls and engines emitting red light, yet they still retained triangular sails and masts, resembling old-fashioned fishing boats, with a very peculiar style.
The number of ships was overwhelming, like an army of flying insects spanning the heavens, blocking the entire Earth.
From the tails of these ships, red energy nets were thrown out, merging together to form layers of impenetrable energy barriers, enveloping the Earth within.
Simultaneously, purple seawater began falling from the sky, and the sea level heights of the major oceans on the computer were rapidly rising.
Batman pressed the red button on the control panel.
"Justice League, emergency call, Earth is under invasion, everyone prepare."
..........
Meanwhile, Su Ming was on top of Wayne Tower with two beauties, watching the sea.
Barry's phone was unreachable; he probably went somewhere without a signal, though whether his telecom carrier was the Wayne Group, the service was truly poor.
"The top of Wayne Tower is temporarily safe, but my plants..."
Poison Ivy anxiously paced in place; not all plants could survive the flood.
Wayne Tower's height is above 500 meters, and it would take at least a dozen hours for the flood to reach the top, but the lower regions of Gotham City were not so certain.
The tsunami, like a white line, surged from the horizon, slow but fast in reality, with the gigantic waves seemingly endless, as if separating two worlds.
Batman had been prepared.
After the metal event and hearing from Barry about Earth -11, Batman seriously considered the issue of facing a tsunami.
He felt it couldn't be ignored.
So, he invested heavily, and with some new inventions from Midtown Star Laboratory, he built an energy wall around the entire Gotham City.
When the tsunami arrives, some energy generators will rise from beneath the ground in the suburbs, forming a hidden line of defense.
This wall, through fast-flowing air coupled with a strong magnetic field and energy, an invisible barrier will keep the floodwaters outside Gotham City.
But clearly, using Atlantis as a hypothetical enemy, his preparations were insufficient.
Perhaps under normal circumstances, he only needed to block the flood for a while, and Superman and Barry could solve the source of the problem.
However, now that the whole world is submerged in water, Superman and The Flash need to rescue people globally.
Earth's population is about seven billion; even if they work fast, it still takes time.
Thus, the protection of Gotham won't last long, and Gotham's complex sewer system is also beyond Batman's control.
"I see the Bat Clan. They're evacuating citizens."
Ivy saw through plants that some masked people started moving in the city center, putting citizens onto planes.
And now, with the sun rising, the new Divine Artifact Su Ming acquired was already being put to use, seeing more than what Poison Ivy could.
Wherever sunlight shines, as long as it's not obscured by magic or divine power, he can freely see real-time broadcasts.
Now, he observed the conditions fed back by the goggles from various places.
Perhaps as an exchange, alongside obtaining technology from Star Laboratory, Batman also helped fund Midtown's construction of a 'breakwater', only they chose Divine Speed as the drive.
The other members of the Lightning Clan were now like mice on a wheel, sprinting on treadmills to power the wall.
Of course, there were benefits because as long as they increase the energy supply, in other words, run faster, their breakwater could rise higher.
Before they tire out, Midtown would be safe.
But other cities didn't have such luck.
Metropolis was almost submerged, with water depth reaching the height of car engines.
This naturally caused car accidents and traffic jams, more importantly, as purple seawater flooded into the city, people who touched it almost instantly transformed into fish-headed monsters.
"Tsk, if not for seeing the Planet Daily Newspaper Building, I'd think I was looking at Insmouth, with 'Deep Divers' all over the street, really..."
Su Ming grimaced, continuing to observe other cities.
Star City, flooded.
Seaside City, flooded.
Even Washington D.C., where the Hall of Justice is located, was now inundated.
Many people turned into Fish-Men, almost like infected with a zombie virus; they immediately began attacking others.
Not eating meat or brains, but dragging others into the water, expanding their group.
This behavior is clearly being directed by something.
Su Ming sighed; this was what he feared most on Earth -11, and now it appears as a redux in the Main World.
Currently, the scale of the attack can rule out suspicions of Atlantis and the gods; their power levels aren't sufficient.
God could indeed cause an apocalyptic deluge, but there's no need to turn everyone into Fish-Men, so it shouldn't be his doing.
However, working with Poison Ivy and Harley naturally had corresponding benefits; they had no intention of rescuing people, reducing trouble for Su Ming.
Harley even eagerly watched the breakwater, counting how many seconds it held.
Some areas were already starting to leak; when the water level outside was too high, Gotham's sewers that originally drained into the sea began to flood the city, pushing lots of filth onto the roads.
"This seems like a biochemical attack targeting Earth's animals." The scene was too disgusting, Su Ming didn't want to watch anymore, he began explaining to the two women about what he observed earlier: "Any Earth animal that comes into contact with this purple liquid undergoes a mutation."
"What about plants?" Poison Ivy asked urgently.
"You can still connect with plants, which means the Green of All Things is currently unaffected, but if the sea level continues to rise and plants remain underwater for a long time, I don't need to tell you, as a botanist, what the outcome will be."
Su Ming told Poison Ivy the truth, she had already decided to act with Harley, and now she had an undeniable reason.
Actually, there wasn't much choice. The three of them were on the top of Wayne Tower, effectively stranded on an isolated island in the ocean, with only Deathstroke able to fly.
All of Gotham's manhole covers started gushing water, and it was only a matter of time before the city got flooded. The immediate priority was to leave and find a safe place.
Su Ming knew of many safe zones, like Maggie Ken's territory in Hell; the Forgotten Bar in a pocket dimension; the Magic Plane Maya; even Spirit Thin Prison, Dream Country, and the Land of Death.
These places wouldn't be submerged by the floods.
But his magic was limited to large fireballs, and obviously couldn't bring the two women to those places.
If magic won't work, then let's go the technological route, find a spacecraft, and hide in space.
"I'll go borrow a spacecraft from Batman, just wait for me for a bit."
After saying that, he soared into the air, heading toward the Bat Cave, where he would definitely find a way to contact Batman.
He quickly flew over, looking down at the chaos on the streets below, where some mutated fish-men had begun attacking residents, and gunshots echoed in the city.
Gotham never lacked gangs, and among them, some didn't want to turn into fish, while the fish-men wanted to drag them down, naturally, they'd resist.
Su Ming just glanced briefly.
Ordinary people turning into fish wouldn't bring any additional benefits, at most granting the ability to breathe underwater, regular handgun bullets could kill them, much easier to deal with than zombies.
But the gang members, no matter how much they struggled, were only delaying the inevitable, as the water continued to rise, they would soon be underwater.
"Ma'am, quickly get inside, go to the roof."
Gordon, with a few police officers, was piloting a patrol boat, patrolling the streets.
An elderly lady holding her cat had come out to check the situation, standing on the steps in front of her door, looking into the water.
Gordon urged her to return home immediately and lock the door, as there were more and more fish-men lurking in the water, those steps weren't safe.
And since the hero's aircraft had limited capacity, they couldn't evacuate too many people at once, so while Gordon maintained order in the city, he also notified people to get to the rooftops to buy time for rescue efforts.
But maybe it was the sound of the patrol boat's engine that caught the attention of the underwater creatures; some fish-men suddenly popped their heads up from the side of the boat, dragging the police officers into the water.
Though Gordon was getting old, he had rich combat experience. Before being grabbed, he jumped onto the steps in front of the house.
And when his men emerged from the water, they were no longer in their original state.
Gordon pushed the elderly lady inside and took out his revolver, planning to stand guard at the door and fend off the enemies.
Faced with suddenly mutated humans, he might have to deal with them as if they were zombies, even though those had been good lads under his command, he had no choice but to act.
However, these fish-men weren't purely aquatic creatures, their combat ability on land was still formidable.
They swarmed over, completely ignoring Gordon's small revolver, pinning him to the ground, intending to drag him into the water.
But in the next instant, all their heads fell off.
Gordon struggled out of the pile of corpses, only to see a black and yellow-armored figure floating before him like a god.
"Director Gordon, I suggest you retreat; Gotham is beyond saving."
"Deathstroke?!"
Gordon felt a sinking feeling in his heart, what was this terrifying mercenary doing here?
Could the flood be his plan?
Judging by his expression, Su Ming realized Gordon misunderstood, but Gordon made for a good hostage, so he grabbed Gordon and took off with him.
Anyway, even if you don't want to retreat, you're coming with me.
Not long after he left, Barbara arrived at the scene, but she only found Gordon's revolver on the steps, with no sign of her father.
She was at a loss and didn't know what to do. At that moment, the Birds of Prey communications channel broadcast bad news.
Nightwing had been shot several times while evacuating civilians and was now seriously injured and unconscious.
"What? Nightwing got shot?" Barbara searched the area in vain for any trace of her father, likely already become a fish.
She could only dry her tears and continue saving civilians.
She launched her grapple, climbed to a high point, observing the floodwaters pouring into the city from the sewers, guiding citizens in orderly fashion onto helicopters, while inquiring about Nightwing's situation.
On the other end of the communicator, Female Hunter informed her that Nightwing, while evacuating civilians, failed to recognize some gang members he had once beaten.
He was caught off guard by a few of them and took several short-barrel shotgun shots to the chest and head.
If not for Female Hunter passing by, Nightwing might not have survived, but given the current situation, treatment was urgent to keep him alive.
Barbara sensed things weren't going well.
Who can save lives and still pay attention to whether the rescued person is a bad guy? And those bastards choosing this moment to exact revenge also perfectly demonstrated the madness of human nature.
Gotham now had two fewer rescue members, the seriously injured Nightwing and the Female Hunter taking him to find a doctor.
Although the Justice League teleportation device was still functional, the Hall of Justice was no longer a safe place, as it was also being submerged.
So Female Hunter opted to take Nightwing to find Midnite Strange Doctor, whose medical skills could pull Nightwing back from the brink with just a roll of bandages.
Barbara couldn't help with this, so she could only continue rescuing people, working even harder to make up for the absence of the two and carrying their share as well.