Joey and Superman's earlier fight had almost torn apart half of Gotham City. After such a massive disturbance, it was impossible for the authorities not to come and take a look.
And the leader of this inspection trip was an old acquaintance.
Even before the person appeared in anyone's field of vision, Joey could already sense the ionized energy stream radiating from supersonic flight hundreds of kilometers away.
"You mean the one coming is Captain Atom—Nathaniel Adam?"
Cyborg, who had briefly panicked when Joey mentioned things were about to get messy, immediately relaxed upon hearing who it was. He trusted Captain Atom.
"Don't worry, Adam is a very upright, model soldier. He's not like the trigger-happy guys in the Pentagon."
"Don't be stupid, Cyborg. You should hope he's not as 'perfect' as you say," Joey replied. "Otherwise, something's definitely going to go wrong."
Joey knew Cyborg had become close friends with Captain Atom during his time as National Security Advisor, but personal relationships didn't always matter to certain people.
If Captain Atom really was the 'perfect soldier' Cyborg described, then things would definitely get complicated today.
A soldier's duty is obedience. Would a perfect soldier abandon orders just because of personal ties?
And that wasn't even considering the fact that someone else was flying alongside Captain Atom—moving at a speed that matched him.
A man in black robes and black clothing, his entire body wrapped in crackling lightning. On his chest was a lightning emblem similar to Shazam's, flickering in and out as divine energy surged across the sky.
Before Joey could even announce the incoming presence, Billy's Shazam group had already gathered instinctively.
"Shazam!"
With that shout, the true Shazam—his original form—returned.
This time, it wasn't Billy's version. It was Shazam himself.
His scarred face looked even more severe than before, and his expression was grim. He had sensed the presence as well.
That alone was enough to confirm one thing: the visitor was not friendly.
Through gritted teeth, he spat out a name:
"Teth-Adam!"
Just as Shazam was not unique to Billy alone, the ancient Greek gods had once granted their power to mortals—so too had the gods of ancient Egypt done the same thousands of years ago.
A man named Teth-Adam.
Like Shazam, he carried the endurance of Shu, the speed of Horus, the strength of Amon, the wisdom of Thoth, the power of Aten, and the courage of Mehen. Six divine forces combined within him made him an unstoppable existence among mortals.
The difference was this: Billy and his companions still retained their innocence, while the Egyptian-chosen champion had long since been corrupted by absolute power.
He was no longer content to be a defender of morality. He wanted the world to bend to his will—and he would use extreme violence to achieve it.
The wizards who granted him power could not take it back, but they managed to subdue and seal him away in an unknown place.
Over the long years, his name was stripped away, leaving only a terrifying legend:
Black Adam.
And now, that legend had returned.
Far in the sky, Black Adam sensed Shazam's transformation and the crack of thunder that came with it. He accelerated instantly, leaving Captain Atom behind and arriving alone over Gotham first.
Hovering in the air, he displayed the blackened version of Shazam's lightning suit and cloak—twisted by darkness. He stared directly at Shazam with obvious hostility.
"Miss me?"
Shazam remained on high alert.
"I thought you'd attack on sight."
The wizards had already told Billy about Black Adam—his cruelty, his ruthlessness, and his betrayal of them.
Black Adam at this moment absolutely wanted to kill his successor Shazam immediately, to make him feel the fury of being imprisoned for thousands of years.
But he did not do so.
Because he was being polite.
Just not to Shazam.
Instead, he descended to the ground and, under Shazam's hostile glare, strode forward and shook Joey's hand without hesitation—an ancient Egyptian gesture of respect.
"Salutations, Liberator of Africa."
"...Do I know you?"
Joey was completely confused. He knew of Black Adam, but Black Adam definitely did not know him—so why was he showing respect, and even addressing him with a title Joey felt he did not deserve?
"The spirit of the earth has told me of you and your companion—of what you did in Africa, in my homeland."
"Thank you for driving out the monstrosities and protecting them. Now all oppressors will think twice before stepping onto that land."
Joey only then remembered that he had originally followed Kara to Africa to help the locals and stabilize the situation a bit.
"No, most of the good work was done by Kara. I barely contributed anything."
All he had really done was arrive early on and wipe out the telepathic gorilla Grodd and his followers. After that, he had mostly been busy dealing with the conflict between the Amazons and Atlantis.
Most of the tedious, laborious work—distributing and transporting relief supplies, suppressing local armed groups, relocating displaced civilians—had basically all been handled by Kara.
Black Adam took this as simple modesty. He bowed slightly toward Joey again.
"And where is she? I would also like to offer her my respect."
At the mention of Kara, a trace of regret surfaced in Joey's heart. Maybe he shouldn't have driven her away while he was still angry. Maybe he should have tried to reason with her more?
That feeling of regret only lasted for an instant before Joey suppressed it.
Because he knew there was no longer any argument that could convince Kara—she had simply made the correct choice.
Due to an initial accident, the Kryptonian ship had failed to transmit information to her in time. She had believed, just like Joey at first, that Krypton had long since ceased to exist, and her love for Earth had been entirely genuine.
But that kind of love had limits. In Joey's eyes, he naturally loved humanity more than creatures like Grodd the gorilla. And in Kara's eyes, she undoubtedly loved her own species more than humans.
He could no longer keep Kara by his side. Separating before the final confrontation was better for both of them.
With Kara's impulsive personality, staying near him would only leave her torn between Joey and Krypton.
And for Joey, he was not shameless enough to demand that a girl who had been captured, tortured, and experimented on by humans for nearly twenty years—fundamentally a sensitive and fragile girl—betray her homeworld and fight for humanity.
Black Adam glanced at Joey, who seemed lost in thought, and roughly guessed that something had happened between them. He wisely chose not to press further about Kara's whereabouts.
Before Atom arrived, he offered Joey one final respectful farewell:
"To borrow a phrase my people like to use—may peace descend upon you."
But Black Adam knew that, unfortunately, what was about to happen would not be peaceful.
He had no intention of fighting for these insects of North America, even if this group had helped restore his freedom.
He had merely come with Captain Atom to take revenge on the new Shazam.
At that moment, Captain Atom finally arrived late. It was not that he could not fly as fast as Black Adam, but he was unsure whether accelerating to that level would ignite the entire atmosphere with his radiation output.
"Superman, thank you for your contributions to world peace. The White House recognizes and supports your stance in defending Earth."
Captain Atom looked down at Joey and the others from above. While speaking politely, he completely ignored the hand Cyborg had extended in greeting.
Although Captain Atom's cyan-silver metallic body made it impossible to read his facial expression, everyone could tell his words were polite but his attitude was not. He had come with hostile intent.
"We require you to immediately hand over the other Kryptonian invader you fought earlier. He is a dangerous enemy and must be detained immediately."
There it was again.
Joey knew that once Cyborg decrypted that message, the news of an impending Kryptonian invasion would be no secret to the real power players. Their distrust of him was understandable.
But directly demanding a person like this was not only ugly—it was stupid.
And that very stupidity made Joey suspicious.
He scanned the surroundings within hundreds of kilometers—sky to underground—but found nothing particularly dangerous, no blind spots, no hidden threats.
That only made him even more alert.
Where was their backup plan? Surely it wasn't just Black Adam?
From what he had just seen, Black Adam would likely go straight for Shazam in a real fight. Joey himself might not even be in his target range.
"He is dead."
Joey's answer clearly did not satisfy Atom.
"Then I would like to see the body."