American Comics: Godhood Unlocked, I Choose Sci-Magic Dual Cultivation

Bruce could not tell him too much. There were too many secrets in his Manor, and he could not let anyone learn of them.

Besides, Thomas was no ordinary person. He had displayed astonishing intelligence from a young age.

Bruce feared that he would see through his identity.

So he could only say firmly:

"Tommy, your task ends here. Leave the rest to me..."

Thomas stormed out, clearly disappointed in Bruce.

"I thought that after all these years, we were still friends. Looks like I was wrong."

Bruce raised his hand several times, only to lower it again. In the end, he could only remain silent.

Thomas left in disappointment.

At Wayne Manor, while Nightwing had only just awakened and still had some energy, Bruce got some answers from him.

"You're saying the person who attacked you was Deathstroke?"

Bruce was greatly surprised.

After joining the Justice League, he had thoroughly investigated every member, including Shazam's public identity, Dane Davis.

So he knew that Deathstroke had once attempted to assassinate Dane, only to be beaten to within an inch of his life.

If what Nightwing said was true, then Deathstroke had not died. He was still active in the field.

Deathstroke's involvement gave Bruce a headache. The man was a mercenary who worked for money, so getting clues out of him would be difficult.

But Batman had a feeling that Deathstroke's attack on Nightwing seemed unrelated to Killer Croc and Catwoman, yet all of it was actually part of the same plan.

He had to find Killer Croc and get to the bottom of this.

Fortunately, before Killer Croc had been taken away by the CIA, he had planted a tracker on him.

It showed... Hm? He was moving at high speed!

Bruce immediately put on the Bat Suit and drove the Batmobile after him.

His Batmobile was extremely fast, but he was in no hurry to catch Killer Croc. He hoped Killer Croc would lead him to the mastermind behind everything.

Though he did not know why, Killer Croc's target was that ten million dollars. Since the money had been stolen, he would definitely find a way to get it back.

Killer Croc climbed up a skyscraper. Clearly, he knew who had taken his money.

At last, on the rooftop, he found the thief—Catwoman.

Catwoman did not seem surprised by Killer Croc's arrival. She tried to reason with him.

"Stop, Waylon. Poison Ivy tricked both of us!"

Batman, who had just reached the rooftop, froze at those words. Poison Ivy?

Poison Ivy was involved in this too?

Killer Croc did not listen to Catwoman's explanation. He lunged at her furiously and kept roaring:

"Where's my money?"

Catwoman grew angry as well. "I told you, Poison Ivy tricked us! She took all the money!"

She nimbly dodged left and right through Killer Croc's attacks, somehow remaining completely unharmed.

But her stamina could not sustain that for long. As Killer Croc's attacks became increasingly savage, she soon fell into danger.

That was when Batman finally appeared. He raised his arm and fired a high-voltage Taser gun, instantly subduing Killer Croc.

The pain of the high-voltage shock seemed to clear Killer Croc's mind a little.

He watched Batman approach, but no longer showed any inclination to attack.

"Waylon, tell me. What did you need that money for? Who told you to kidnap that child?"

"Poison Ivy. She told me that as long as I got ten million, she could cure my illness and make me normal..."

This was absurd! Batman thought.

"Batman?"

Catwoman approached from behind him, seemingly hesitant to get closer.

"Selina..." Seeing her, Batman had a thousand things he wanted to say, yet none of them could leave his mouth.

In the end, he could only say something befitting Batman's identity. "Do you know where Poison Ivy is now?"

Catwoman looked at Batman. This was not the reunion she had hoped for, but the moment they met, countless tender feelings flooded her heart.

She slowly nodded. "I found another one of her safehouses. I was about to go settle the score with her."

"Batman, please believe me. I had no choice in this."

Poison Ivy could control others by manipulating their hormone secretion. Catwoman had clearly fallen victim to it.

After all, not everyone had Dane's level of poison resistance and could ignore the effects of hormones.

Batman turned to look at Killer Croc on the ground.

"Waylon, for your own sake, don't break out of prison again, all right?"

Chapter 52: Controlled Superman

At Batman's words, Killer Croc glared viciously at Catwoman.

"As long as she gives me back my money!"

"I told you, Poison Ivy tricked both of us! The money hasn't been with me for a long time!"

Catwoman was equally irritated. Why could she not make this savage monster understand?

But Batman, watching from the side, understood clearly. Killer Croc was not failing to understand; he was simply anxious.

He feared that Poison Ivy had lied when she told him he could become a normal person again. That terrified him more than having his money stolen.

Batman stepped forward and grabbed the restless Killer Croc.

"Calm down, Killer Croc. I'll get to the bottom of this for you."

"But before that, I need you to stay in prison and wait for my word."

"You promise?" Killer Croc asked in a muffled voice.

Batman gave him his word, and Killer Croc quieted down.

Not long afterward, the people Batman had contacted arrived. A helicopter landed on the helipad.

A Black woman stepped out. She was Amanda Waller.

Although her superior's situation had caused some trouble, Amanda had still used her connection with Hawkman to rise into the ranks of management.

Ever since Hawkman had been intercepted while entering the South American jungle that day, he had taken an interest in Umbrella.

For some time now, he had been trying to uncover the company's secrets, but his skills clearly could not breach Cortana's firewall.

Carter Hall was deeply shocked. He had always believed his technology represented the cutting edge of the planet, but reality proved otherwise.

Since ordinary methods could not uncover Umbrella's secrets, Carter gave it some thought and ultimately decided to work with Amanda.

He wanted to use official power to investigate Umbrella, while Amanda, who had been overwhelmed by problems involving her superior, naturally would not ignore the olive branch Carter offered.

After all, as a wealthy man who had reincarnated countless times, Carter's financial power was not to be underestimated. Amanda was happy to work with such a major capitalist.

The final result was much as Dane had expected. Amanda's former superior caused her only a few minor troubles, and she ultimately rose to a high position.

But this also brought her closer to the Justice Society represented by Hawkman.

The first thing Amanda proposed after taking office was the construction of a special prison.

It would be used to detain supercriminals with unusual abilities, and Killer Croc was one of her targets.

Batman did not like this woman because her ambition was intense and completely undisguised.

But she now represented official authority and the legitimate rule of law, so he could only suppress his irritation with her.

"I truly hope that next time, you'll notify us before taking action, Batman."

Amanda narrowed her eyes at him, her expression cold.

"Just do your job, Waller," Batman said icily. "This is my city. You don't get to tell me what to do here."

Amanda did not respond to him. Instead, she turned to Catwoman.

"Catwoman, this is a serious cri—"

"She isn't a criminal!" Batman rudely cut her off.

"Catwoman is an important informant in this case. She's coming with me."

Amanda warned in a low voice, "Batman, don't forget that you aren't a detective. You have neither investigative authority nor law-enforcement authority!"

Batman could not be bothered to answer her. He dismissed the warning hidden in her words just as easily.

In front of Amanda and all the field agents, he scooped Catwoman into his arms, fired out a line, and swung away.

Amanda watched them leave, a grim expression appearing on her face.

She pointed at Killer Croc lying on the ground and ordered her subordinates, "Take him away!"

Batman did not take Amanda seriously at all. Though she had risen into management, she was clearly not yet important enough to earn his attention.

Following the clues Catwoman had provided, Batman quickly found Poison Ivy's hiding place.

It was an enormous botanical garden filled with all kinds of plants, a hideout very much in Poison Ivy's style.

When Batman and Catwoman arrived, Poison Ivy was helping some flowers pollinate.

"Poison Ivy."

Poison Ivy spotted them at once, but she did not care in the least.

"You actually had time to come here? I thought you'd be at Nightwing's side right now."

Catwoman was the first to lose patience. She accused Poison Ivy, "You actually controlled me and made me steal for you!"

Poison Ivy remained unhurried. "Darling, you need evidence before you say things like that. How can you prove what you're saying is true?"

Then she looked at Batman with faint mockery in her eyes.

"Great Batman, what evidence do you have that I did this?"

"Or are you taking this thief's word for it?"

Seeing that Poison Ivy refused to admit it and was even trying to drive a wedge between them, Catwoman could no longer contain her temper and immediately kicked at her.

But Poison Ivy still did not move, which left Batman puzzled.

He knew Poison Ivy's fighting ability was actually inferior to Catwoman's. Without her plant-controlling powers, Catwoman could easily knock her down.

But just as Catwoman's leg was about to strike Poison Ivy, a figure descended from the sky and grabbed her ankle.

Catwoman cried out in pain and tried to pull back, only to find that the other person's hand was like a vise, utterly immovable.

Behind her, Batman's pupils had already shrunk to pinpoints.

"Superman!"

"That's right. It's him."

Poison Ivy's body was lifted by an enormous vine as she looked down at Batman and Catwoman from above.

At this time, the young Clark had yet to meet the woman he would love deeply. As expected, he had fallen victim to Poison Ivy's control.

Seeing this, Batman's first thought was not how to defeat him, but that he had discovered a new weakness of Kryptonians!

"Kill them!" Poison Ivy pointed at Batman and Catwoman and gave the order coldly.

"Run... run..."

Clark's expression twisted as he seemed to struggle against the control.

But before long, red light flared in his eyes.

"Heat vision!"