The Attack

The fastest-germinating plant in the world is the soybean. Under suitable conditions, its seeds only need three to five days to sprout rapidly. Other common plants usually take more than seven days.

But under the influence of certain supernatural powers, three to five days would become...

0.3 seconds.

As the last cryo-grenade on the monster's body exploded, Poison Ivy slowly pushed herself up and spread her hands. Thick green vines pierced through the soil that had nurtured them in just 0.3 seconds, binding the monster tightly.

Harley Quinn said with tears in her eyes, "Little Red, it's so good that you're okay! Boo-hoo-hoo, I was scared half to death!"

Chen Tao gave Poison Ivy a slight nod.

Having read the comics extensively, he knew very well that The Black was an important member of the magical side. Their creations were essentially magical creatures, and his old man had once said that only magic could resist magic.

These fundamental elemental forces were not completely immune to science and physics. For example, no matter how powerful Plant Master was, he would still be brought to his knees by herbicide, a chemical humans had specifically synthesized to slaughter plants. Likewise, when Dr. Slangton (note: Gotham's supervillain Man-Bat) injected that drug into his artery, The Red had no choice but to rush its power into him, no matter how unwilling it was.

But magic was usually opposed to physics. Chen Tao had never expected physical means alone to force one of The Black's creations into submission. That was why he had told Poison Ivy, who had already begun to regain consciousness, not to wake up directly but to keep pretending to be unconscious, while he quietly scattered several soybean seeds supplied by the other side into the soil beside Plant Master.

"Wretched The Green..." The monster struggled desperately. Ms. Vick's beautiful human skin was completely shaken loose and torn apart, falling to the ground with a putrid stench. Only the upper part of the skin still looked fresh and attractive; everything below was rotten and blackened.

"The Black will never let you off! The Black will take control of the entire world, and our master, Arcane, will corrupt everything! And as one of the Three Hunters, I will..."

"Third-rate villain dialogue." Chen Tao interrupted the villain's dying declaration without the slightest respect. "Even an old fossil who jumped out of a Shakespearean opera wouldn't say something this clichéd."

"You dare look down on The Black? The Black is..."

"The natural magical force representing death and decay—standing alongside The Red and The Green—" Chen Tao spoke in an emotionless, reciting tone. "And it has been quite active over the past few centuries, seeking to overturn the balance among the three forces."

"Do you think I'm some savage living in the deepest mountains? You think I don't know even that?"

The monster's voice faltered, and he stumbled over his words.

What? Is The Black really that famous?

At last, he stopped rambling.

He stared fixedly behind Chen Tao. Poison Ivy met his gaze without fear. "I'll be back... We'll be back. When the time comes, black will—"

Poof!

The vines suddenly contracted, crushing the monster's head outright.

Poison Ivy said, "Why so much nonsense?"

Unfortunately, The Black itself represented death. For its creations, the word "death" simply did not exist in their dictionaries.

The monster barely managed to re-form his body. "Remember this. I'm one of the Three Hunters. When the power of The Black grows strong enough, I will..."

Before he could finish, under the threat of the vines Poison Ivy had raised, he voluntarily shattered his own body, turning into a lump of rotten flesh on the ground before transforming into ashes in the blink of an eye.

"The Black cannot die. They'll always return, but not now." Poison Ivy was silent for a while before speaking.

Chen Tao turned his head and saw her rise from the ground and shrug off Harley's support. She sadly stroked the plants that had died beneath the herbicide.

"When you used that herbicide to murder these plants, I was practically furious enough to jump." Poison Ivy said, "But The Black is more important. I understand what you did, and I allowed you to do it."

At that moment, the green woman quietly mourned the plants for a brief while. "But I'm sorry to them."

Clang!

Chen Tao turned his head and saw everyone throw down the weapons he had provided.

Deathshot in particular stripped off every weapon Chen Tao had given him, including the Pulse Wave Gun he had been holding and admiring just a few hours ago.

The gun now lay in the muddy ground, while the man who had promised to love it for the rest of his life stood beside it with an air of complete indifference.

Chen Tao gave him a disapproving look.

He said, "This is just a precaution, a contingency plan for emergencies. A plan B."

"How could I possibly have bad intentions?"

"You're making a mountain out of a molehill, being unreasonable, and overreacting."

As he told them to "pick up the weapons, quickly," he activated his money power. Thus, a few minutes later, everyone was fully equipped with the deadly weapons.

Looking at Plant Master lying motionless before him, Poison Ivy busy restoring the greenery in the area, and the devastated battlefield whose dust had finally settled,

Chen Tao let out a long breath.

If nothing went wrong, things were finally coming to an end.

He wondered how things were going on Gordon's side.

"Roar!"

Venom had a maximum input capacity.

In essence, Venom was not a one-time drug that simply did its job after being injected into the body. It was a cocktail-like toxin formulated by scientists, composed of heavily enhanced male hormones, a highly addictive synthetic steroid, and many different kinds of neural stimulants. Its potency and speed of effect left all other drugs far behind.

Bane's subordinate "Zombie" had built a Venom circulation system for him, allowing Bane to incorporate the toxin into his bloodstream and continuously draw power from it.

Central nervous system stimulants enhanced his energy. The dangerous combination of multiple drugs created an explosive, unstable reaction inside his body, while that explosive reaction was suppressed by X-Factor, achieving a perfect balance.

But if—let us say, if—

the dosage of Venom exceeded the upper limit that X-Factor could stabilize, then the explosive reactions that had originally been suppressed would take on an uncontrolled appearance, as though they had established a production mechanism. They would tear apart his tendons and form stronger tissues, while the excessive central nervous system stimulants would also cause his brain...

to suffer a decline in intelligence.

"Tell me! Where is Batman?"

The soldier looked at the four-meter-tall muscular monster before him. His crotch grew warm, and urine trickled down into his trousers.

Behind Bane lay countless soldiers, crushed onto the ground like dead mosquitoes.

Tanks had been torn apart like paper. Corpses were everywhere. Bodies piled up along the long street, and blood flowed like a river...

"Batman is... is dealing with the incident involving that kidnapped scientist. Gordon told us..."

A little of Bane's reason returned to him. This was precisely the plan he had devised.

He slowly lowered the soldier to the ground. Before the soldier could celebrate, Bane casually twisted his head off. Using the soldier's skull, he struck his own head hard several times, making sure it had not yet been filled completely with muscle.

But just as Bane was about to dust himself off and leave, a missile loaded with Joker Toxin landed in the center of the battlefield.

With a hiss, Bane, who had barely regained his senses, broke into a sunny, cheerful smile.