The Justice League's first mission ended in retreat. Honestly, it was a failure.
Once they got far enough away from the Kryptonite, Superman's wounds healed right before their eyes. He was soon back to normal. "I'm fine," he said.
"I didn't expect there would be Kryptonite in a place like this." Flash was actually more banged up than Superman. After colliding with the Terracotta Warriors, his shoulder was all bruised. "Those Terracotta Warriors are heavy. I could barely move them. They're totally solid inside."
"Let me take a look at you," said Liu A'dou, who came back with the Kryptonite in hand.
As soon as Superman saw the Kryptonite, he wilted.
"Kaitou Kid, why did you bring that thing here?"
"I want Flash to help get rid of it." Actually, Liu A'dou could have destroyed the Kryptonite himself, but then he thought—if Superman ever went rogue, they might need Kryptonite to stop him. Kaitou Kid could've just hidden it, but with his reputation, the others in the Justice League would definitely be suspicious. If he did that, what would Superman, Wonder Woman, and Flash think of him?
So he decided to bring it here and have Flash toss it far away. That way, he wouldn't have to destroy it, and everyone could see he wasn't trying to play any dirty tricks.
Kaitou Kid used Ripple (Hamon) to heal Flash. Then, in a blink, Flash sped off toward the sea, threw the Kryptonite into the water, and came back in another gust of wind. "I already tossed the rock into the ocean."
"Good. Since that's handled, what are we waiting for? I can't wait to beat up Zhao Gao," Wonder Woman said fiercely.
"Wait," Liu A'dou said. "When I was trying to steal the Kryptonite, I noticed Zhao Gao has other abilities. His spells aren't just about transformation. If we rush in again, we might fail. This time, the Justice League needs to work as a real team."
Liu A'dou's words calmed everyone down. They had been too rash before and relied too much on Superman. Plus, they were only here to help Kaitou Kid, so they never even planned to fight together.
They all thought this was trouble Kaitou Kid had stirred up. But honestly, he was innocent—how could anyone expect a two-thousand-year-old eunuch to be so dangerous?
"All the Terracotta Warriors are gathering. They're forming a strange pattern," Superman said, using his X-ray vision to see everything. "They're surrounding Zhao Gao in the center."
Liu A'dou had Superman draw the formation. It turned out to be an ancient array. Liu A'dou didn't really get it, but it definitely didn't look good.
"Looks like a magic circle," Flash said.
That struck a nerve in Kaitou Kid. Suddenly, he remembered something important. "Today's the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month—Ghost Festival. I've got a bad feeling." The information from the magic box space on cultivation was patchy, but this was definitely a gathering-spirit array. And today was the very day Zhao Gao would rebuild his immortal body. Then, he'd really have an undying body and power like an immortal.
So after two thousand years, Zhao Gao still just wanted his body back. What a terrifying obsession.
"We have to free the villagers before sunrise," Liu A'dou said, trusting his gut. "We do this together."
The Justice League pulled themselves together.
Zhao Gao couldn't wait any longer. Tonight, he was going to become a man again. If not, what was the point of ruling the world? After that, he'd get revenge on Xu Fu, or Xu Fu's descendants.
Tonight, Zhao Gao was waiting for midnight, when the ghostly energy would be strongest. Then, he'd unleash his demon core and absorb the ghost energy, refining all the souls in the core and becoming the most powerful ghost demon—a Da Luo Golden Immortal.
After sunset, the whole area was shrouded in an eerie, ghostly chill.
"This is creepy, like watching a horror movie as a kid," Flash said, shivering a bit.
"We can't wait anymore. This time, Zhao Gao has to restore everyone," said Kaitou Kid.
"Let's go!" Batman was the first to stand up.
This time the plan was simple. Superman would draw the enemy's fire while the others worked to get Wonder Woman close enough to use her Lasso of Truth.
Superman charged in first, blowing freezing air from the sky and freezing a huge swath of Terracotta Warriors. But then came wave after wave of arrows. Seeing all those archers, Flash dashed back to town, borrowed a pair of scissors from a resident, and rushed into the thick of the fight, snipping bowstrings as he went.
Now this was teamwork. Wonder Woman soared ahead, while Kaitou Kid and Batman provided cover from below, knocking down any Terracotta Warriors who tried to attack her.
Once Batman realized just how tough these Terracotta Warriors were, he stopped holding back. He brought out all his gadgets and moved quickly through their ranks.
Kaitou Kid used the Force to knock down the enemies, working efficiently.
This was real cooperation—everyone had their role. The Justice League was finally starting to take shape.
"Watch out," Kaitou Kid called as a flash of lightning appeared. Then he saw Flash catch a flying dagger—someone was trying to ambush them.
As expected, like master, like underling. "Thanks."
"No problem. Just sign something for my friend later," Cisco said, his respect for Kaitou Kid growing even more, especially after defeating Reverse Flash.
"Sure," Liu A'dou said, tossing aside another Terracotta Warrior.
With Superman leading the way, the Justice League pressed toward the center. The closer they got, the colder it felt—not just cold, but like all their energy was being drained away.
It was bad enough for ordinary people, but Superman, who had no resistance to magic, was hit even harder. Still, it was nothing compared to Kryptonite. It felt more like the absence of the sun, the loss of solar energy.
Superman lost the strength to fly and was quickly surrounded by Terracotta Warriors, swarming like ants. It was clear—no matter how strong Superman was, he was too easy to counter.
Wonder Woman sped up to help break him out.
Batman, using his high-tech helmet, could see the entire area was wrapped in a special energy field. This energy seemed to feed on the life force of living people and had grown very dense at the center of the Terracotta Warrior formation.
"So how do we get rid of it?" Kaitou Kid asked, growing impatient just listening to Batman's analysis. Flash was already out of breath.
"We need sunlight." Of course, that was the Justice League's strategist at work—quickly figuring out the answer.
Sunlight? Liu A'dou thought, then I'll just light up Ripple (Hamon) energy.
He took a deep breath, stopped, clenched his fists, and let lightning wrap around him. Still not enough—he hadn't released his Ripple yet.
But Batman had already noticed that the energy around Kaitou Kid was fading. The Ripple was working. "It's effective."
Liu A'dou thought to himself, 'I haven't even started yet.' "Cosmic Ripple—activate!"
Boom—
The lightning turned into golden light. The sun—the very light of the sun.
Superman immediately felt his power return. Kaitou Kid was shining with the radiance of the sun. Wonder Woman was stunned. She recognized that energy—it was just like that troublesome man's power.
It was exactly the same. Now that she thought about it, Kaitou Kid and Liu A'dou were really similar. Same height, same build. But there was no time to get distracted now. Wonder Woman and Superman pressed on.
Flash looked at Kaitou Kid, who was glowing like a small sun. It felt so warm. Flash thought, 'Kaitou Kid really isn't a bad guy. No evil person could have a power like this.