Slaughter Swamp

"The Earth Mother's salvation plan will begin here."

Plant Master's hand was still pointing at the map, but in the next moment, he and Poison Ivy both froze.

"Pamela?"

Poison Ivy's expression turned grim. "I felt it."

Night fell.

Slaughter Swamp lay on the outskirts of Gotham. It was the largest marshland area in Gotham's suburbs.

It was the largest dumping ground for corpses in all of Gotham, second only to the Gotham docks.

Over the more than two hundred years since Gotham was founded, countless bodies had been thrown into this swamp. They had then turned into lumps of disgusting, sticky sludge, becoming indistinguishable from the filthy dark-green swamp water and the winding, gnarled tree roots.

The Suicide Squad and Chen Tao were wading forward along the edge of the swamp. They passed through clusters of low reeds and cattails, relying on twisted trees and slippery moss to point them in the right direction.

"Oh, this is practically swallowing me alive!"

A huge swarm of mosquitoes and other flying insects circled around Harley Quinn's head, making her pale little face look even paler.

Robin pulled out a bottle of potion and sprayed it around them. Instantly, all the tiny insects near him dropped stiffly into the water.

This immediately caught Harley Quinn's attention.

"Oh, thank God. Can I use some of that?"

Tim answered her, "That's concentrated sulfuric acid, an extremely powerful dehydrating agent."

"You actually dare to stuff something that terrifying into your bag?"

Harley complained:

"Couldn't you bring some bug spray into this damn swamp?"

"Um..."

"What use could you possibly be, hm?"

Three bugs spun around and around above Harley's head, as if they were riding a happy carousel.

Tim said, "You might need to take some vitamin B."

(Note: A vitamin B deficiency can easily cause irritability and anger. Here, Tim was cursing Harley in a roundabout way.)

"Forget about all that!"

Harley Quinn let out an agitated shout. "Your equipment is like something out of the Boy Scouts."

She tossed out that remark, then strode forward. As she walked, she violently slapped herself on the head. Unfortunately, she failed to hit a single bug and instead smacked herself hard enough to let out a yelp.

Robin hurried to Chen Tao's side. The two of them walked forward shoulder to shoulder, silently watching Harley Quinn ahead of them.

"Batman, I've always had a question. How did you find Harley Quinn?"

Of course, he had found her by reading the comics. Harley Quinn owned a house in Brooklyn, New York, and was still paying off the mortgage. He had used the Wayne family's connections to investigate the most gaudily decorated house in Brooklyn, New York, then checked the homeowner, traced the flow of funds, and found out who was paying wages into that account. That had led him to the Super Baby restaurant.

But he couldn't tell the young detective that directly. Judging by Tim's expression, he had been holding this question in for a long time. He seemed to be suffering from the torment of Why can my idol do this so effortlessly when I can't do it, can't understand it, and have no idea how he pulled it off at all? Aaaaaah!

So Chen Tao could only answer, "Because I'm Batman!"

"..."

"All right." Tim sighed. "Let's not talk about how you found Harley Quinn. I only want to talk about her. Batman, I hope you'll reconsider this more carefully."

Robin said in a low voice, "Harley Quinn is known for doing whatever she wants. Based on what I know about her, there's a high chance she'll support Poison Ivy's plan at the last moment."

"She might decide that Ivy's reasoning doesn't sound so absurd after all. Or perhaps today's wind direction could change her mind. Maybe it's because today is Thursday. Any of those things could make Harley Quinn change her mind on a whim."

Chen Tao said nothing.

"All right, I get it. I get it—because I'm Batman."

Tim was completely numb. He waved his hand and walked off to the side, cursing under his breath as he no longer wanted to walk alongside Chen Tao.

"..."

Of course, Chen Tao had learned this from the comics. Harley Quinn had always firmly opposed Poison Ivy's overly insane plans, just as Poison Ivy had always opposed Harley Quinn's excessive infatuation with the Joker.

In a sense, the two women resisted the worst and darkest sides of their own personalities through each other. They targeted the most serious weaknesses in each other's character. It was a form of mutual salvation.

Therefore, whenever Harley Quinn knew that Poison Ivy was planning something dangerous, she would never stand by and do nothing.

But he had no way to explain his reasoning to Tim, so he could only brush him off with "Because I'm Batman."

"Welding Dog, are you sure you don't need any other additional weapons?" Ms. Vick asked from behind.

Among those participating in the mission, Dizzy Earl, Deathshot, and Batman were all old acquaintances she had dealt with before. The only exception was this strange fellow who called himself Welding Dog. She had never even seen him before.

"Batman provided us with some strange equipment, didn't he, Lawton?"

Deathshot, whose name had been called, responded with an annoyed grunt.

Ms. Vick continued:

"Cryogenic grenades, supposedly based on Mr. Freeze's technology; Fear Toxin Smoke Bombs—one breath and you'll be scared stiff."

"Ultrasonic Rocket Launchers, Pulse Wave Guns, and this: Ionizing Radiation Bombs..."

Dizzy Earl said expressionlessly, "These things are completely pointless."

"Tch..."

Deathshot snorted coldly but said nothing more.

He knew the man. Dizzy Earl was a fake superpowered individual who had implanted an electronic device into his right temple to disrupt his opponents' balance. To him, combat meant using that tiny lump of equipment in his head to interfere with others. He looked down on firearms more than anyone.

Deathshot had no desire to argue with Dizzy Earl. If he had a sniper rifle, he was completely confident he could blow Dizzy Earl's head apart like fireworks from several kilometers away. But at this distance, it was ideal for Dizzy Earl to activate his ability. He wasn't stupid.

Ms. Vick paid no attention to the friction between the two men and continued speaking to Welding Dog. "I'm saying, you..."

"Ms. Vick."

Welding Dog finally spoke. The dog on his left hand began speaking in place of his mouth, quite openly saying, "Could you keep your distance? There's something I'd like to tell you."

"I'm grateful that you want to get to know me, and I'd very much like you to know me as well, but I can't. Because there's something wrong with my head."

He spoke very seriously. "There's something seriously wrong with my head. Therefore... unless you can always remember the fact that I'm a pervert when you interact with me in the future, you'd better stay away from me."

Those words clearly failed to frighten Ms. Vick. Just as she was about to say something else, Harley Quinn ahead of them spoke.

"I think we're almost there. As far as I know, I can make a bet with you—Poison Ivy will definitely turn the bushes and some trees into monsters to serve as guard dogs, just like something out of Mr. Green Goblin with cheat codes enabled."

Harley Quinn said:

"I'm not joking. Once, she turned my cane and lollipop into a three-headed snake branch, and the lollipop was still in my mouth! I haven't eaten a lollipop since then."

Then she suddenly stopped.

"I'm certain Little Red is here."