Laughing Bane

"What? How many people did you say died?"

"I don't know. I really don't know... Sob, sob, sob..."

The soldier standing before Gordon covered his face. He was at least 1.8 meters tall, a head taller than the over-fifty Gordon, yet at that moment he was crying like a giant baby.

"There are dead people everywhere. Bane killed most of us. The National Guard is finished. Everything is finished!"

"Where's Bane? Where did Bane go?"

"He..."

The soldier suddenly clutched his forehead. "Sob, sob, sob... He went to find Batman!"

Gordon still wanted to ask something. "You..."

"Sob, sob... Sob, sob!"

Gordon urged him twice, but received no response. The soldier just kept crying, making Gordon frantic with worry.

"I think his post-traumatic stress disorder has flared up. We won't get anything out of him like this. Calm down, Gordon. First, find someone to give him a sedative, and then—"

Chief Brock had only spoken halfway when he saw the soldier raise his head. His face, which should have been sad... now wore a smile!

"Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha! Hahahahahahaha!"

Chen Tao looked at the enormous body of Plant Master Jason Wood. He had collapsed limply on the ground and had barely recovered some strength, but Poison Ivy's vines were wrapped tightly around him, making him look like a crab waiting to be thrown into a pot.

He snorted twice in dissatisfaction. Poison Ivy pursed her lips. "Jason, I didn't want to do this. I'm sorry, but..."

"Pamela, fuck you." Plant Master was concise.

"Mm-hmm, yes, yes." Poison Ivy nodded directly. Then, in the next second, the vines extended upward and sealed Plant Master's mouth. Chen Tao even saw Poison Ivy summon a vine and ram it forcefully inside through his mouth, directly—well.

You really couldn't underestimate a woman's desire for revenge. Did this mean that since he had betrayed her, she intended to make things even more thorough?

Fortunately, Plant Master was essentially a tree rather than a human. Otherwise, sealing his mouth like this would have suffocated a human to death.

"Batman, would you mind saying—"

"Ivy, would you mind saying a few words?"

Harley Quinn squatted nearby, looking at one person and then the other. She felt like an outsider.

She puffed out her cheeks in anger, but no one noticed her little mood.

Poison Ivy said thoughtfully, "You go first."

She had originally wanted to ask Batman how Plant Master should be dealt with, but the moment Batman opened his mouth, his words immediately drew her attention and even sent a chill down her spine. "I suspect The Black is still among us."

"Don't turn around," she heard Batman say in a low voice. "I want you to protect Professor Goldbloom. That kind of potion, capable of greatly strengthening The Green, can only appear in this world through his wisdom. If I were The Black, I would never let him live."

"We can't guard the professor for the rest of our lives. Compared to passive defense, I prefer to weaken The Black's power proactively, so they won't have the strength to assassinate the professor. At least where keeping the professor alive is concerned, Ivy, I think we can reach an agreement."

He continued, "I know that borrowing bodies and resurrecting yourselves is second nature to you elemental representatives, but such rebirths aren't without a price."

"We've already dealt with one of The Black's minions. As for the other one—or several others—hiding within the group, I have no intention of letting him live either."

Chen Tao said, "I have a plan."

Rumble, rumble, rumble... A massive figure charged recklessly through the forest, smashing apart every tree in his path with sheer force...

"The mercenaries have been eating and drinking what I provided these past few days..."

Poison Ivy was somewhat distracted. Although she had other things on her mind, and Batman's tone of voice—like I'm your teammate—was rather unfamiliar, she still gestured for Batman to continue.

"I've already made preparations—and then lure out The Bl—"

The massive figure stomped into the muddy swamp. Such soft and dangerous marshland was a genuine death trap. Even a mammoth would be forced into the ground after stepping onto it, yet it couldn't hinder the giant figure's advance in the slightest.

He moved so quickly that he seemed to teleport. Wherever his feet landed, the swamp water exploded beneath the tremendous force of his steps, transforming into thrust and sending him charging forward like an agile great ape.

"We can do it at any time... Poison Ivy, are you listening to me?"

Chen Tao said, "What are you thinking about? We're discussing something very impor—"

But he quickly met Poison Ivy's serious gaze. "Something big is coming. Get ready. It seems to be an ene—"

"Hahahahahahaha—ho ho ha, ho ho hahaha..."

That happy laughter, as innocent as a young child's, drifted over from the distance. Chen Tao turned his head and saw Bane emerge from the woods, laughing madly without pause. He was also holding a weapon that served as a club, apparently a large tree he had casually ripped out along the way.

The muscles throughout his body writhed as if they were living things, both disgusting and horrifying.

Before this, no matter how Bane used Venom, or how Venom modified him to look like the cover of Muscle Man while freely adding enough varicose veins to scare someone to death, Bane had still looked like a normal person. He was merely a little taller, a little stronger, and a little more covered in varicose veins.

But now...

The endlessly multiplying lumps of muscle had broken through the limits of the space normally occupied by human muscle tissue. As a result, they could only pile up, one chunk after another, atop the original muscles. His skin had been stretched open by the suddenly enlarged muscles, revealing an unnatural whiteness.

Soon, the skin pushed to its limit was torn apart like rags, only to heal in an instant. All of this made Bane look like a slime made from a huge pile of oversized muscle balloons.

Chen Tao's entire body went numb at the sight.

Bane's completely unexpected move left him dumbfounded. Weren't we supposed to each take a step back, organize our forces and military strength, and then have a final battle? Why was it you again? Had all the tacit understanding we reached before been wrong? Had I gone off the deep end? Huh? Weren't you the one who went to such lengths to lure me away so you could buy time to prepare your plan???

In the few seconds after seeing Bane, Chen Tao had nearly begun to doubt himself. Could it be that I was overthinking things? Bane simply wanted to charge over and beat me to death, and all my previous analysis was completely wrong?

But soon, as Bane turned his head, Chen Tao overturned that idea.

Aside from his bloated, muscle-covered limbs, what drew even more attention was that the lower half of the mask on Bane's face had just broken away, revealing a smile that felt incredibly familiar to Chen Tao.

"Ha! Ha! Ha!"

Bane chuckled loudly. His mouth, covered in blood, was filled with blood that Chen Tao couldn't tell belonged to someone else... or to Bane himself.