Attacked Again

Cheshire Cat and Killer Croc were both still alive, and Chen Tao could not help feeling overjoyed.

He and Ventriloquist, who had mysteriously appeared from the side, pulled all three survivors out of the rubble.

[ KILLER CROC'S BROKEN SCALES ]

[Description: Scales shed by Killer Croc after suffering an inhumane beating and watching a powerful enemy escape. What shattered along with the scales was his fierce heart. You might be able to use them to summon a Batman from a parallel universe.]

Chen Tao was slightly startled. He looked at Killer Croc, who was very clearly still alive beside him.

[But if a being was summoned by something nonhuman, could it really be any kind of normal human?]

["Bane escaped? How could he escape! Is there actually an immortal technique in this world that lets someone survive without fighting? Then what was the point of all the hard fighting I did before?"]

Crisis Energy Units converted: 50

You now possess 60 Crisis Energy Units

Warning! Downloading Batman-targetable file

Bat-Dragon

Danger Level: E

Earth 27 is a world filled with dinosaurs. There is no Justice League here, only the Jurassic League. All superheroes and supervillains are dinosaurs.

Consume 20 Crisis Energy Units to synchronize immediately?

Chen Tao had no intention of synchronizing in front of the three of them.

He would take the wounded away first. He helped Deathshot to his feet.

Deathshot said miserably, "Am I going to Arkham Asylum?"

"I don't want to go to Arkham." Killer Croc, who had just been beaten senseless by Bane, blankly climbed up from the ground. His eyes were vacant, and he did not even react to the enormous Batman standing right beside him.

He groaned, "I'm so hungry. Do you have anything to eat? My arm's broken."

Only then did his eyes focus properly. When he saw who was standing before him, he shuddered in fright and struggled to stand, but soon collapsed back down in despair.

He simply had no strength left.

Even in this state, Cheshire Cat was still wearing her mask. She was in decent condition, the only one of the three who could stand.

She limped away, only for Chen Tao to smack her on the back of the head.

Chen Tao discovered that he was becoming increasingly skilled at hitting people over the head.

Everything seemed normal. At last, things were developing in a stable direction. Next, Chen Tao only needed to take them away, continue manipulating them from behind the scenes, recruit more fighting power, hire more fighters...

But Chen Tao kept thinking about one question.

Bane...

Had he really escaped that easily?

At that thought, Chen Tao frowned and retreated behind the three gravely wounded people, one old man, and three corpses.

He had an ominous feeling.

Based on what he knew of Bane from the comics, the man was bold, meticulous, sinister, and ruthless. Whenever he encountered Batman, he always found a way to test Batman's condition.

Running away without a fight truly did not resemble him.

If he were Bane, he would definitely take advantage of Batman thinking he had scared him off and suddenly launch a counterattack--

The moment he thought this, his face darkened. He almost wished he could slap his own jinxing mouth twice.

"Alfred?"

There was no response.

"Alf? Alf?"

"Ah, sorry, Tim. I was a little distracted--where were we?"

"We should capture Batman and beat him with whips and a crowbar." The third Robin, Tim Drake, folded his arms, making the chains around his hands rattle.

When he saw that Alfred remained silent, he said anxiously, "You still don't believe me? He absolutely isn't the one I know..."

"He isn't the Batman you know. He's Bruce."

"He's only pretending to be Bru--"

"You don't understand..." Alfred seemed somewhat dazed. "You really don't understand... Tim. Gotham, Gotham gave him back to me."

"What?"

"He's come back to life. The child who died with his parents in Crime Alley, my little Bruce, he's alive! He was only this big back then... not that Batman."

"But..."

"This filthy city, this wretched city. I cursed it countless times. It took Thomas and Martha, my best friends, away from me. But today, it showed mercy!"

"Wake up, Alfred. He isn't--"

"No, I know him. He's my little Bruce! Tim, Bruce told me so much. We're going to retire. We're going to leave Gotham and go to Fiji, where we'll grow old..."

Alfred rambled on. He had once been so sharp and capable that he had nearly made Robin forget he was an old man past fifty--and old men were always nostalgic, softhearted, sentimental, and stubborn.

"Jean-Paul, Jason Todd... Bruce has already lost too many people..." He sighed. "Tim, let him go. Gotham isn't Bruce's responsibility."

He lamented, "Bruce... my poor little Bruce. He's suffered so much! There isn't a single soft bone left in his body. Every time he swings a fist, two of his bones grind against each other, making him suffer unbearable pain. The scars left by Two-Face, Riddler, and Joker fester every rainy season."

"But what about Gotham? Without Bruce, who will save Gotham?"

Alfred was silent for a moment. "Though I'd like to say, 'Let Gotham be destroyed,' Bruce said he would find a successor."

He continued, "The person he previously asked you to find but never did--the one named Clark Kent. I don't know why Bruce chose him, but--"

"My Bruce is going to be free. We should all return to normal lives."

"And you..." He hugged the young Robin. "We'll leave Gotham, along with your parents. We'll search for a new life together, all right?"

Tim embraced Alfred, holding his thin body and the fading scent of old age clinging to him.

He could not bring himself to refuse.

"If this Clark Kent Bruce mentioned can really protect Gotham..."

He promised, "I will."

Chen Tao felt he was about to be free.

When he saw the muscular freak emerge from some hidden corner, he felt every drop of blood in his body shoot from his anus all the way into every bit of gray matter in his skull.

"Bane--" The moment they saw him, everyone present felt their hair stand on end.

Deathshot struggled to rise and load his gun, while Ventriloquist hid behind him. Cheshire Cat... well, the delicate-looking woman was still lying unconscious on the ground.

Killer Croc stopped lying down as well. He rolled to his feet and stood beside Chen Tao.

Wah, it really is safer beside a superhero.

Killer Croc remembered the civilians he had once seen protected by Batman, and now he finally understood them.

He said, "This world is insane. I never would have imagined that one day I'd fight alongside Batman."

But no one had the time to care about Killer Croc's emotional reflection.

Everyone prepared for battle.

Batman slowly rose to his feet.

That single movement made Bane feel as though he could hardly breathe.

Fighting spirit mingled with fear, making his heart pound like a war drum. Venom, flowing through his veins like magma, surged and strengthened his body.

That pure strength and killing intent were enough to snap a person--any person--like a little wooden stick.

But the man before him was different. Exceptional.

Never had he been so worried that he might be unable to break this "stick."

"I knew you when I was still thousands of miles away, in a damned underground cell."

Bane spoke in the silence. His voice sounded hoarse and deep beneath the respirator.

"I met you in my dreams. Then I escaped that hell, escaped my dreams, for one purpose: to find you, destroy you, and take the Gotham that belonged to you."

"So you came to my city and hid timidly in a sewer like a rat?"

He heard Batman say, "You released the lunatics from Arkham and watched me deal with them. Until they wore me down completely, you didn't dare stand before me?"

Bane knew perfectly well that Batman was trying to provoke him. He would not take the bait.

"I've seen too many self-important fools like you. You caused so many deaths and brought so much ruin to so many lives... all for the so-called goal of ruling this city? For such an absurd and laughable reason?"

"I kill for anything."

Bane answered him. His imposing presence rose little by little as the verbal exchange continued. "I kill to silence irritating sounds."

His muscles flexed and his bones twitched. "I kill to extinguish the light in the eyes of those who dare look directly at me."

Bane clearly saw fury surging in Batman's eyes. He knew this was an unprecedented challenge--

A direct confrontation with a Dark Knight who had not been weakened to the limit!

This was...

Exhilarating!

Then he saw the giant black bat say nothing at all. He placed Cheshire Cat and Deathshot on his left and right shoulders, scooped up Killer Croc, tucked Ventriloquist under his other arm, brought his feet together, and with a whoosh transformed into two wheels.

Bane: ?