Core area of the City of Injustice, headquarters of the Celestial Punishment Association, at the deepest underground level.
A dim oil lamp flickers.
Casting the giant shadow of a cross on the smooth, cold black stone wall, twisted and ominous.
Chen Wudi's withered body is tightly bound by several chains, with disheveled hair covering his face, his breath as weak as a candle in the wind, his remaining bit of vitality seemingly ready to extinguish at any moment.
The figure in the crimson robe stands silently beneath the cross, like an eternal sculpture.
The hood is hanging low, arms crossed in front of the chest.
Seemingly engaged in a silent prayer.
In the deathly still space, only the faint crackle of the burning oil lamp and Chen Wudi's barely audible, painfully weak breathing can be heard.
Suddenly.
The thick shadow beside the cross writhes like a living creature.
