Multiverse: Deathstroke

Chapter 92: Ch.91 Tall, Rich, But Not Handsome

As they continued down the corridor, the temperature kept rising. Even with his augmented body, Su Ming's sweat was pouring off him, evaporating before it even hit the ground.

But neither of them were ordinary people; they could just barely keep moving forward.

Finally, at the end of the corridor, they came upon an iron door.

Yes, an iron door, looking like the kind you'd find at the back of a small restaurant in a shady alley. The paint was peeling, and it was covered in rust. Who knew where Hephaestus, the god of forging, found such trash?

"This forging skill... can we even trust it?" Barry wiped his sweat with his uniform sleeve, his face flushed red. "Should I take you to Pittsburgh or Detroit instead?"

Seeing this shabby door, Su Ming also felt a bit awkward. But Hephaestus only played with forging as a personal hobby, and this door wasn't meant to be the storefront.

"It's fine. This is the best blacksmith we can find on Earth. Unless you can figure out a way to send me to New Genesis? The Life Equation could solve our problem. Are you close with Darkseid's brother?"

"Uh, I think we're better off here. Let's go in." Barry forced a couple of laughs. The New Gods from New Genesis weren't exactly the easiest to deal with.

Su Ming was just making conversation. The Life Equation, unlike the Anti-Life Equation, had some flaws. In its current state, it would only turn people into monsters.

He touched the iron door in front of him. It wasn't too hot. With a little force, the door creaked open.

What lay before them was a crimson world. Everything was red. The walls held enormous crucibles, each one as big as a basketball court. Searing lava cascaded from them, pouring into the furnaces below.

In the center of the room was a massive device of unknown function, radiating intense light, supplying metals and other materials. Hundreds of people in heavy heat-resistant suits were bustling around it, delivering various materials to different furnaces or taking forged items back to the warehouse.

Yes, there were hundreds of people moving back and forth, but only one person was forging.

He looked like a half-beast, standing three meters tall, grotesquely ugly, his entire body a purple-brown color, completely hairless. His hands were covered in ash and cinders, with molten lava swirling around them. He wielded a seemingly ordinary hammer, pounding something on the anvil.

The thunderous clanging echoed through the entire volcano, each strike as powerful as a bolt of lightning.

Su Ming immediately recognized him as Hephaestus, the god of fire, son of Zeus, and brother to Wonder Woman.

Despite his monstrous appearance, his wife was Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of beauty, the most beautiful among all gods. It was said that if an ordinary person saw her beauty, they would be so captivated that they'd waste away, dying of hunger while still chanting her name. Even after death, their souls would still describe her beauty to the god of death.

That kind of death would actually suit Constantine. Didn't he want neither Heaven nor Hell? Just ask Hephaestus to let him meet Aphrodite, and then he'd be under the protection of the Greek pantheon after death.

Though Hephaestus looked fierce, he was actually the most humane and kind-hearted of the gods. He took in the male infants who should have been killed on Themyscira, and they worked here for him.

A few hundred years ago, before Diana's time, Themyscira had a brutal custom of kidnapping men from the seas.

Every three years, they would row canoes across the oceans. When they encountered human merchant ships, they would board them, using either force or charm to have their way with the sailors and passengers for three days, after which they would kill all the men.

Then they would return to Themyscira and wait for the children to be born. The girls would be raised to become warriors, and the boys would be thrown into the sea to die.

One time, Hephaestus found the corpse of such a child. He couldn't bear it, so he approached Themyscira and made a deal with the women there: Don't kill the children. He would come once every three years and take all the boys to the volcano.

Though Hephaestus had a mild temperament and spoke softly, he was a true god, with dominion over volcanoes, lava, thunder, and fire, as well as weapons and armor. The Amazons immediately conceded, handing over all the boys to him.

The workers here in the volcano were all these abandoned boys from Themyscira. They carried some Amazonian traits, such as longevity and immense strength. They knew Hephaestus had saved them, so they willingly lived and worked in the volcano, worshiping him.

In modern times, with advances in technology, the Amazons could no longer act so freely. In recent years, Diana became the queen of the Amazons and promoted gender equality and secularization on Themyscira. She encouraged Amazons to leave the island and find partners in the cities if they wanted to. If they didn't want to have children, they could stay and guard the island.

As a result, there hadn't been a manhunt on the seas for nearly a hundred years, and Hephaestus hadn't had any new recruits for decades.

Su Ming knew that Hephaestus had sensed his presence. Stepping into the volcano was entering his divine realm; nothing could escape his notice.

But he didn't act like an outsider, following the staircase behind the door downward. The staircase, built into the volcano's wall, was made of a special metal and spiraled like a ribbon.

He walked straight up behind Hephaestus, silently watching him hammer away at a lump of something, while Barry kept busy wiping away sweat.

After a few minutes, the formless lump of metal gradually took the shape of a scimitar. Hephaestus handed the shaped blade to a worker for quenching before turning to Su Ming with a nod.

"I thought it would be Diana coming to see me, not the strongest human warrior from another world."

"Strongest is an overstatement, but I do need the help of the Olympian gods right now."

Su Ming remained calm. Although the environment was stiflingly hot, he knew that when dealing with gods, one had to be cautious. No matter how gentle a lion looked, it could still eat you.

"I've already prepared. Come with me." Hephaestus casually tossed his hammer, creating a small crater in the ground, then beckoned Su Ming and Barry to follow him.

They moved to another part of the volcano. Hephaestus opened a large door and led them inside.

"Wow, it's so cool in here." Barry perked up immediately. The surrounding walls were made of forged metal, reflecting light, and the temperature was incredibly comfortable.

"Oh, this is the living area. I've got central air conditioning installed here." Hephaestus responded without turning around.

"Cough, cough... air conditioning?" Barry was dumbfounded, almost choking on his own saliva.

Hephaestus gave him an amused glance, his eyes like molten lava about to burst: "What, do you think we old gods are all out of touch? Or do you think I can't make something as simple as air conditioning?"

"No, no, I absolutely don't think that, ha ha, how could I?" Barry smiled awkwardly, trying to be polite.

Hephaestus wasn't angry. He turned a corner and took them to the warehouse, showing off his finished products one by one.

"This is a supercar I made. It's completely forged from divine metal, indestructible, with a top speed of 1,800 kilometers per hour."

"This is my private jet, also encrusted with divine metal and gems. It's powered by divine energy, flies autonomously, can turn invisible, and can even break through the atmosphere."

"This is a satellite I forged for the gods. With just one, Olympus can receive global television broadcasts. Skyfather is coming to inspect it in a few days."

One by one, shining, high-tech items were displayed, not only beautiful but also functional. Finally, Hephaestus showed them a half-assembled cosmic warship, which left both of them stunned.

Building a spaceship by hand—only a god could pull that off.

No wonder he could marry the goddess of beauty. Having money really does let you do whatever you want. Su Ming had thought Bruce Wayne was wealthy enough, but it turned out the real rich guy was hiding in a volcano, playing with his handmade collectibles.