Chapter 396 - 396: Constantine’s Disaster

Harvey Dent was not having a good time either.

He had originally come looking for something he could use against Karl. Instead, he had discovered that Karl's Luna House business was flourishing, while Harvey himself could barely secure the minimum funding necessary to keep the police department running.

It almost made him want to cry.

Compared with everyone else, Jason was the only one who remained completely calm.

The boy gave the two departing men a meaningful glance, then quietly ordered his subordinates to gather the cloth sacks stuffed with coins, load them onto a handcart, and send the money to Karl's private bank.

Those coins represented one of their most important sources of income.

"Every day, people with bad intentions come snooping around this place. What a headache."

Jason sighed.

"Still, I guess that movie for the neighborhood cinemas is officially on the schedule now. Let's dig out the footage from the island and see what we've actually got, shall we?"

Meanwhile, Karl's casting campaign was already in full swing.

The announcement that the first judge would be the Gray Ghost himself had made an enormous difference.

Simon Trent, the star of a classic superhero television series, gave many people who had previously remained skeptical a reason to believe that Karl genuinely intended to produce a serious, high-quality Batman series.

Applications began pouring in.

There were so many new applicants that even the police patrol blimps were sent out during the daytime, carrying Karl's recruitment advertisements all across Gotham.

Some people looked up at those advertisements with anger and resentment.

John Constantine was obviously one of them.

Especially because he was currently wrapped in plaster from head to toe, lying helplessly in bed and unable to move.

That only made him grind his teeth harder.

"Bloody hell..."

Constantine muttered bitterly to himself.

"Where the hell did that woman even come from?"

"Her strength is more terrifying than some of the fiercest demon lords in Hell. I have no idea where Karl found a savage woman like that. Damn it!"

A moment later, a hunched figure wrapped in a thick cloak suddenly appeared inside the room.

The figure leaned heavily on a cane and looked as though she had stepped straight out of an old fairy tale.

She was an elderly witch.

Hearing Constantine's complaints, the witch tilted her head and laughed.

Her wrinkled face resembled the bark of a withered tree, while her voice was as harsh as a saw scraping through wood.

"Hehehe... I am sorry about what happened, Constantine."

"But remember what you told me. You said you needed something powerful enough to defeat an ordinary mortal."

"A three-headed hellhound was more than sufficient for that."

Her smile widened.

"The problem is that your opponent was a demigod."

"Naturally, something like that wasn't going to be enough."

As she spoke, the witch tapped her cane against the floor.

Constantine, who had been lying there wrapped up like a mummy, suddenly felt an inexplicable force surge through his entire body.

In an instant, every broken bone in his body healed.

It was as though he had never been injured at all.

Constantine's eyes widened in shock.

There were indeed healing spells in the world of magic.

He knew that firsthand.

When Karl had once suffered a severe abdominal injury and then spent a long time submerged in seawater, conventional medicine had barely been able to save him.

Fortunately, he had encountered the young witch Zatanna.

Using her formidable magical power, Zatanna had barely managed to stabilize Karl's wounds.

Even then, it had taken months of effort before she finally pulled him back from the brink of death.

Constantine's own injuries were not quite as severe as Karl's had been.

Most of his bones had been shattered, but Wonder Woman had deliberately avoided crippling him permanently.

That, in itself, had been an extraordinary display of restraint on her part.

But now this mysterious witch had healed all of Constantine's injuries in a single instant.

The sheer level of magical power involved was astonishing.

"Who the hell are you?"

Constantine asked cautiously.

His mind rapidly ran through every occult figure he knew who might match the appearance of the witch standing before him.

The strange thing was that he had met her before.

She had been a seller in an underground magical black market Constantine had visited some time ago.

It was the sort of filthy den where every variety of occultist, black-magic enthusiast, con artist, and supernatural trader gathered together.

People sold all kinds of bizarre spells, cursed objects, magical creatures, and other questionable goods there.

Constantine loved places like that.

Mostly because he loved haggling.

That was where he had first encountered this sly old witch.

At the time, he noticed that she possessed an extremely powerful magical summon.

After some bargaining, Constantine struck a deal with her and obtained it, intending to keep it as a weapon for dealing with Karl.

Who could have expected the creature to be destroyed almost immediately after being sent against Wonder Woman?

Constantine frowned as he remembered what the witch had just said.

"Wait a minute."

He stared at her.

"What did you just say?"

"That woman is a demigod?"

Constantine's expression became incredulous.

"You've got to be joking. Since when are there so many demigods wandering around that one can just appear right in front of me?"

Apparently expecting him not to believe her, the witch raised one hand.

A crystal ball materialized above her palm.

Images immediately appeared inside it.

Constantine saw Wonder Woman during the First World War, leading British soldiers against German forces.

Then he saw Diana charging into an enemy position alone, advancing directly through the fire of Maxim machine guns.

Constantine stared at the crystal ball in stunned silence.

The witch spoke slowly.

"Princess Diana."

"Daughter of Queen Hippolyta of Themyscira."

"She carries the bloodline of Zeus, the ancient king of the gods."

"She is one of the Amazons, and during the First World War she left Themyscira and entered Man's World."

Constantine fell silent.

Only now did he finally understand.

His entire confrontation with Diana had been a misunderstanding from beginning to end.

The witch let out another strange laugh.

It was almost as though she had read his thoughts.

"Hehehe... Getting you into so much trouble last time was partly my fault."

"So, as compensation, I'm willing to help you deal with that Wonder Woman."

As she spoke, the witch reached into her cloak and pulled out a strange magical scroll.

Constantine raised his head, stared at the scroll, and said coldly—

(End of Chapter)

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