R Batman Incident (VI)

Above the Brooklyn Bridge, Rhodey, clad in his mech, swiftly flew over the heads of ground troops, then slammed a bat that was trying to ambush him to the ground and punched it twice.

After receiving the signal from Stark in the sky, Director George raised One Hand and shouted into the communications equipment, "Attention! Prepare to begin suppressive fire! Force them off the bridge!"

Captain America Steve Rogers swung his shield, knocking back two humanoid vampires beside him. Then, feigning defeat, he jumped off the bridge with his shield, and the two vampires, of course, followed without a second thought.

In their eyes, the guy carrying the shield was just a little stronger than an ordinary person. If the shield hadn't been so hard, they would have already broken through Steve's defenses.

Seeing that the advantage was in his favor, the two vampires were hot on Steve's heels, completely unaware that several strange-looking mechs were rushing toward the bridge pier above their heads.

Natasha stood on the roof of a truck behind the line of fire, watching Stark's self-destructing mechs ready to go. She said, "Listen, this is the order of the explosions. Pier 1 is badly damaged, so we can leave it for now; the aftershocks will destroy it. We need to blow up the strongest pier first, all in one go, without giving those bats under the bridge any time to react..."

Stark said from the sky, "Jaegers 4 and 5 are in position, ready to begin the demolition. Jarvis, calculate the blast radius..."

"Explosion zone confirmed, all friendly forces evacuated, flight trajectory calculated... Preparing for demolition... 3...2...1..."

Stark floated above the Brooklyn Bridge, watching several streaks of light rush towards the bottom of the bridge. The moment they touched the piers, flames erupted, and a violent explosion pounded in the ears. Bricks were blasted hundreds of meters into the air, and the entire bridge collapsed with a roar. The rising smoke and dust temporarily obscured all details of the battlefield.

Jarvis's voice crackled through the walkie-talkies. "Demolition successfully completed, achieving the expected results. We can proceed to the next phase of operations..."

"How many enemy troops were killed?" Stark asked.

"According to the bio-scanning data from the surrounding mechs, the bridge collapse resulted in the deaths of 132 vampires, and approximately 120 vampires remain seriously injured and are recovering..."

Before Jarvis could finish speaking, Natasha shouted, "Record their location! Send it to the night vision mask!! Take out these heavily wounded vampires immediately!"

Stark clicked his tongue in the sky. He had just witnessed a bat whose wings had been pierced by nails, but after struggling and flapping its wings a couple of times, it managed to break free from under the two large rocks that were pinning it down. Within minutes, it was able to fly erratically again.

"This Self-Healing ability is deadly. I hope Connors can hurry up. If this keeps going, it'll never end," Stark said.

But the situation on the battlefield is still improving. With the cooperation of fighter jets and ground special forces, the cover of heavy firepower, and the infiltration of Stark armored units, the vampires' formation has been severely disrupted. The bridge explosion wiped out most of their manpower, leaving only some high-ranking vampires to put up a last-ditch resistance.

The strategic counter-offensive phase has begun in full swing. The human defense line is advancing continuously, with the flashes of machine guns and the explosions of grenades coming one after another, and sharp screams echoing from the ground from time to time.

Blade, wielding an assault rifle, fired a burst of bullets and blew the head off a high-ranking vampire. He took a deep drag on his cigarette, then tossed the butt under his foot and stomped it out, saying, "Looks like it won't take more than three days. I can take care of them tonight..."

As soon as he finished speaking, he sensed something was wrong. A red light suddenly appeared on the rooftop of a building in Brooklyn District.

Immediately afterwards, the beam of red light began to take on a tangible form, slowly forming a bat pattern.

Stark, of course, saw this scene and frowned, saying, "What's that? Why are people putting on a light show on the battlefield?"

Blade cursed under his breath, grabbed the walkie-talkie, and shouted, "They're performing that mysterious ritual!! Stop them!!!"

Before he could finish speaking, Captain America sprinted at supersonic speed and then made a huge leap, landing on the rooftop. But it was too late. Steve saw a huge, mysterious magic circle on the rooftop, but there was no one there.

"How do I destroy this thing?" Steve asked.

Before he could finish speaking, screams erupted across the battlefield. All the vampires illuminated by the red bat's light let out inhuman screams, their faces contorted in agony as they began to transform into bat forms.

The bats they conjured this time were quite different from the original large bats. Each of them had a wingspan of over 10 meters, with sharp spikes growing from the wing skeletons, and their fangs growing longer and longer. Their originally normal bat faces had also transformed into hideous and terrifying monster shapes.

More importantly, the red light in their eyes began to grow stronger and stronger, and then they collectively lost their minds and began to attack everyone around them indiscriminately.

Even the high-ranking vampires were not spared, except that the bat monsters they transformed into were surrounded by thick black mist. Several policemen who inhaled a little of that black mist immediately clutched their necks and collapsed.

"Quick! Put on your gas masks! Hurry!" Director George shouted.

But it was already too late. The police officers who had inhaled the black mist began to struggle, and wings sprouted from their backs, turning them into crazed bat monsters as well.

Previously, vampire attacks also had the ability to infect, but the conversion rate was relatively slow. Once an infection was detected, these individuals would be immediately removed from the battlefield to receive treatment.

But the officers who inhaled the black mist were transformed into bat-like monsters almost instantly, without even a chance to receive treatment. Director George, his eyes red-rimmed, roared angrily, "Open fire!! Indiscriminate attack!! Smash these monsters!!!"

Iron Man accelerated at full speed, grabbed a bat-like monster, and swooped down, then fired a shot into the bat's head. Instead of stopping its struggle, the monster became increasingly frenzied.

"They're being controlled by something!" Stark said. "Damn it! A headshot isn't even a fatal wound?"

Blade's voice came through the walkie-talkie. "That's the power of immortality! Burn them! Burn them to ashes! That's the One way to kill them, quick! Prepare the flamethrowers!"

But no one expected this change in the situation. Flamethrowers, an unconventional weapon, were not equipped by any combat unit.

The mutated bats have become much more powerful; headshots and heart piercings are no longer effective against them. They are also larger, stronger, and incredibly ferocious, showing no fear and only capable of attacking.

The tide of battle turned in an instant, with humanity being pushed back step by step. Even Stark was struggling to keep up with the onslaught of these crazed bat monsters.

Finally, after being bumped by another bat, Stark angrily shouted, "Jarvis! Connect me to my lab in Stark Tower!"

A familiar voice came from the other end of the line. Schiller said, "I'm working on a research project with Connors. What's up?"

"Manually disable the highest level of security protocol for me!" Stark said in a deep voice.

"Are you sure? Didn't you say you'd wait until the battle was Extremis lost before doing this?"

"We're already at our Extremis." Stark watched as more and more humans were transformed into bat-like monsters, the overwhelming hordes of creatures almost blocking out all the moonlight. He said, "Quick! This is no longer the time to consider costs!"

Schiller took the phone, walked to a hatch in the lab, entered a code Stark had given him, and went inside. There was only one lever inside. Schiller first placed his hand on the screen, and after hearing two "beep" sounds, he pulled the lever down.

Immediately afterwards, a beam of light, like a beacon, began to rotate on the roof of Stark Tower. The hatch of a weapons depot on the top floor opened, and dozens of mechs loaded with heavy weapons flew out.

Most importantly, two enormous steel monsters stepped out. One of them looked very much like the one Obadiah had piloted before, and the other was somewhat similar to General Johnson's tentacle steel monster, but with some differences, clearly having been modified.

The two enormous steel monsters emerged, leaped directly from the rooftop of Stark Tower to the rooftop of another building, and then sped toward the battlefield.

With the arrival of two giant mechs, the fierce battle situation was somewhat alleviated.

These steel monsters are large enough to operate both on the ground and in mid-air. They can tear a bat to shreds once they catch it. Moreover, the steel monster that Obadiah piloted was equipped with a flamethrower, which he used to kill many of the crazed bats.

As a result, just as the battle was beginning to turn around, more vampires joined the fight. It seemed that their commander had deliberately chosen this moment. As soon as these vampires rushed into the battlefield, they were irradiated by the red light and turned into even more frenzied bats.

Even Iron Man and his Jaeger team had to retreat temporarily to avoid a direct confrontation. Connors received a call from Stark said, "Connors, when are your reinforcements coming? We're almost at our breaking point here!"

Peter, holding the test tube, said, "Doctor, I think we're close to success. This serum should temporarily disable a vampire's Self-Healing ability."

"That's right, but the premise is that we must inflict effective damage on them within the duration of this effect, which means we must first take back the position."

Peter looked up at Connors and saw him take out a Connors. Peter said, "Wait! Doctor... what's that? It can't be...!"

On the battlefield, Stark dove down, tearing apart a bat's wing. Blood splattered onto his mech, and he cursed, "Damn! That's filthy!"

Before he could finish speaking, the bat's wings began to grow back.

Steve was almost buried in a swarm of bats. He struggled to hold up his shield and managed to knock one of the bats far away, but it flew back a short while later.

Hawkeye hid behind a bridge wreckage, rapidly drawing his bow and firing arrows; his arm trembled slightly. Next to him, Quake slammed her fist into the ground, sending the bats that tried to ambush them flying. Natasha provided tactical support from behind with binoculars.

"Iron Man! Back off! They..."

Before Natasha could finish shouting, Stark was pounced on by a much larger bat. The bat's fangs bit into the left arm of his mech, and a burst of electricity shot out. Stark roared, "Activate the shock!"

A powerful electric current erupted, paralyzing the bat. Stark seized the opportunity to escape, but before his mech could even take flight, the bat caught up with him again.

The airflow from his wings made Stark's mech unstable, and he was about to be knocked down again when Steve swung his shield and struck one of the bat's wings. The bat tilted, and Stark took the opportunity to pull himself up. He said, "Thanks!"

"Behind you!" Steve shouted.

Stark had just turned his head when a violent gust of wind rushed towards him. Clearly, a bat had been lying in ambush nearby for a long time. Stark tried to dodge, but it was too late; the bat was too close. Stark said, "Activate the escape sequence! Then the mech self-destruct!"

"If you leave now, you'll be at too high an altitude and your life will be in danger," Jarvis said.

Stark glanced at Steve on the ground and said, "Activate the escape! Immediately!"

A figure was ejected from the mech. Immediately afterward, the mech erupted with intense lightning and then exploded, blasting both bats away. One of them was burned to a crisp.

Steve leaped and caught Stark, then placed him on the ground. Before Stark could say anything, the two felt a huge shadow loom over them.

As they turned around, Stark cursed, "What the hell is this?!"

Behind them, a gigantic green monster, over ten meters tall, crushed the escaped bat into a bloody pulp with a single stomp. A lizard-like monster, as large as a small mountain, lowered its head, its enormous vertical pupils fixed on Stark, and flicked its tongue at him:

"Your support has arrived."

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