Diana's martial arts are excellent. If it's just about swordsmanship, the two of them could fight for a long time. Just as their fierce battle was ongoing, a person suddenly appeared in the middle of the battlefield.
"Hiss....."
Su Ming immediately retracted his sword; the two of them almost sliced off Barry's head.
"What's the matter? Barry, why do you always go weak in the knees when you see me?"
He helped Barry up from the ground. Barry's Divine Speed seemed to be unreliable these days, and although he claimed there was no danger of falling into the Divine Speed Plane, Su Ming felt it was getting questionable.
"It's nothing, Bruce just said there's a task and he's hiring you to join us." Barry rubbed his knees as if they were on fire from the rocky ground.
Su Ming squinted his eyes. If Bruce was trying to send him away, it meant they had already taken action.
But that's fine, he thought. He would act with Barry and the others first; after Batman suffered a loss, Su Ming's importance would become even more apparent.
"No problem, the price is negotiable, let's go." Su Ming immediately sheathed his weapon and signaled Diana to follow.
"Those Suicide Squad people..." Diana just remembered that group was still in her room.
"Well, you have nothing but a bed." Su Ming shrugged. The Suicide Squad members were rather low-level, and since Batman wanted Barry and the Female Hero to act, this task surely wasn't simple.
Leaving the Suicide Squad here was better than prison; they likely wouldn't have any complaints.
So, Su Ming briefly explained to Death Shooter, and then he, Barry, and Diana left the underground Divine Hall and found Arthur soaking in the water in Sea King's area, and the four of them set off together.
This time, the target was beneath the surface of a location in the Pacific Ocean. Su Ming could currently breathe underwater, but Barry and Diana needed to take her plane.
The group first rode the stealth plane by 'squatting' to the seaside, after which Su Ming and Sea King went underwater themselves, and Diana followed in the stealth plane.
The vehicle made by Fire God was indeed remarkable, doubling as a submarine underwater without a leak, maintaining a decent speed.
Of course, Sea King was still faster underwater; he swam like a fish, while Su Ming clung to the plane's edges, propelling himself with the current.
The underwater environment began changing with the increasing depth; at first, there were fish schools and beautiful marine creatures, but soon it turned pitch black, relying entirely on the stealth plane's headlights for visibility.
Strangulation bore the water pressure for Su Ming, and the Magic Floating Cloak allowed him to breathe underwater. Su Ming didn't really feel differently, except the water was a bit cooler.
The group plunged into a deep ocean trench, revealing a different sea below.
"This is one of the Underground Seas. Changes caused by the Ape People two days ago linked some underground seas to the oceans, and this place was once filled with poison." Arthur explained via an underwater communicator, describing the sea in front of them.
For him, it was an unfamiliar domain, and even in Atlantean legend, underground seas were considered mythical.
"What's down there?" Barry squatted inside the stealth plane, trying to see beyond, but all he saw was darkness.
"There are some unknown sea creatures and some behemoths capable of living in poisonous waters, certainly possessing poison, so be careful." Arthur warned with care.
Su Ming had gathered more intel from Strangulation, revealing that the waters held unfamiliar energies that enlarged living creatures. For humans, such energy manifested as a toxin, as if they were incompatible.
Fortunately, the Symbiote shielded him from those concerns, the only potential issue was for Barry.
"I'm not planning on leaving the plane, just let me stay inside." Barry squatted inside the plane, hopelessly.
Sea King laughed, blowing bubbles, and pointed at Barry's suit: "No matter what's down there, they'll definitely see you."
"Wait, Arthur, is that a light in the distance?"
Diana's gaze sharpened as she piloted the plane, pointing her arm toward a glimmer in the depths.
Su Ming realized another benefit of the stealth plane—it made conversing with those outside its cabin convenient...
Arthur squinted, peering downward with a puzzled expression: "I'm not sure, it could be a giant angler fish; their first dorsal fin glows, but no sea creature in that area returns any of my telepathic signals..."
"Let's check it out; even if we're eaten by fish or swallowed by a dragon, we four could still get out, right?" Su Ming spoke through a diving throat mic, not needing to open his mouth as he swam toward the light, assisted by his cloak.
Sea King twirled his Trident with a laugh: "Haha, right, let's go."
Su Ming raised an eyebrow, thinking if Arthur kept laughing underwater like that, how much ocean water would he swallow?
The dark waters teemed with rapid currents, and the complex terrain made the currents quite perilous.
Occasionally, colossal black shadows swept past in the distance, indicating this place was certainly unsuitable for human-sized beings.
With great water pressure, the four landed on the seabed.
Not far from them glowed the previously seen light, which now revealed itself to be a grand and magnificent underwater structure.
"Incredible, why is there such a building here?" Arthur shook his head repeatedly. This area, unfit for human habitation, now housed a majestic construction.
And the lamp light from within indicated the building was intact and possibly inhabited.
"Uh, though I shouldn't say, this building's exterior looks like a scaled-up Black Manta helmet." Barry remarked, hesitant as he stared at the enormous, stadium-sized structure.
Every mention of Black Manta made Arthur's arm ache, but he had to admit Barry was right, the building indeed matched that form.
"Let's find an entrance." Arthur exhaled bubbles and swam forward, drawn to the light like a lighthouse guiding those at sea.
Mystery shrouded the underwater building, and Arthur was inevitably drawn to explore it.
Minutes later, they located a dock beneath the building and ventured inside, finding obvious evidence of human activity: suitable temperature and remarkably fresh air.
"Inside, it's decorated in Amazon style." Diana looked around, bewildered by the ceiling and surroundings.
"Yet the technology it uses is Atlantean, from centuries ago. I'm quite confounded..." Arthur pressed forward with a grave expression, weapon ready.