Soulmates

Bane had never experienced such a strange sensation.

The other party only needed one glance to understand his meaning, and with a single movement, the other party could immediately respond accordingly.

Their coordination was so eerie, like that of soulmates, that it nearly drove him insane.

They did not seem like enemies who had been locked in a life-or-death struggle just days ago. Instead, they seemed like twin brothers who had rehearsed countless times and worked together with perfect understanding.

"Damn it, how could you..."

The monsters of The Black were no match for them at all.

Large amounts of wood were torn apart as easily as peeling the fleshy ridges from a dragon fruit. The Plant Master had already been extremely weak, and there was no way he could withstand the combined assault of Bane and Batman.

The Black's power still lingered on Bane's body. It could neither corrupt Bane nor do anything to Batman, who could turn into metal at any moment.

Even dead things would lose their ability to resist once dismembered. The Plant Master's body was already horribly damaged. Although the Three Hunters of The Black did their best to drive it, once the body was physically shattered...

The Three Hunters barely managed to command the people under their control to charge forward in one last act of resistance, but they could only keep supplying Chen Tao with Crisis Energy.

Boom!

The creation of The Black fell. The Plant Master, whose body had been completely taken over by decay, collapsed onto the ground and trembled nonstop. All kinds of rotting matter oozed from the breaks violently punched into his body. Bane panted as he braced himself against a nearby tree. After destroying an army and being controlled by someone, his body and strength had reached their limits.

Chen Tao spat at The Black creature twitching on the ground, then pulled out a large bottle of Lazarus Water and poured it over him.

Amid sounds like meat roasting, the monster of The Black finally lay motionless on the ground.

Poison Ivy had regained her strength. Strands of green plants slowly wrapped around the Plant Master. "Jason can't die. He is an important part of The Green—"

"I have no intention of killing him." Seeing the slight wariness in Poison Ivy's eyes, Chen Tao replied, "Keep him under control."

Poison Ivy breathed a sigh of relief. "All right. After all, Jason isn't human... I was really worried you might..."

Batman had killed countless talking plants she had created in the past.

Chen Tao ignored her.

"Next is..."

Before Chen Tao could turn around, Bane leaped high into the air. "We'll meet again, Bat. This definitely won't be the last time we see each other—"

Chen Tao shook his head.

He turned his attention to Cheshire Cat and the others. The power of The Black faded from their bodies. Supporting one another, they foolishly got to their feet.

[Cheshire Cat's Mask: Cats never willingly remove their masks, even in front of the people they trust most. Her father forced her to marry a master skilled in the use of poisons, directly driving Cheshire Cat to run away from home. But one day, Cat would have no choice but to accept her destiny.]

["My face has brought me nothing but tragedy."]

[Ventriloquist's Glasses: Arnold had never felt the warmth of the human world until Batman came to his side.]

["Batman! My god!"]

Their insignificant scratching attacks brought Chen Tao nearly 14 points of Crisis Energy and three more nearly useless Batmans. But what Harley Quinn gave Chen Tao left him unable to ignore it:

[Harley Quinn's Broken Baseball Bat]

[Description: The baseball bat in Harley Quinn's hands was made from the wooden handle of the giant mallet the Joker had given him after it broke, with Poison Ivy personally doing the work. Although Ivy often objected to Harley keeping the Joker's things around and always turned this baseball bat into a wooden snake to scare Harley, it was still Harley Quinn's favorite weapon.

Before Harley Quinn was corrupted by the power of The Black, this baseball bat was the last thing to break. But extraordinary devotion could not change the fate of destruction. Even the most twisted yet loyal feelings in the world could not win the slightest response from the cruel Pale One. Perhaps you could use it to summon a Batman from some parallel universe...]

[Error! Error!]

???

Chen Tao was startled. This was the first time he had seen the Alfred Protocol undergo such a bizarre change.

[But the being summoned by a twisted devotion to the Pale One—would it really be a Batman?]

["No, my Puddin'! He loves me, I believe he loves me! Why? Why are you always thinking about Batman? I'm the one who loves you most!"]

[Converted Crisis Energy Units: 40]

[Your current Crisis Energy Units: 124]

[Warning! Downloading targetable...]

[The Batman Who Laughs...]

[Error! Error!]

[Target acquired—]

[Joker-Man]

[Danger Level: D]

The Iceberg Lounge in Gotham City was the headquarters of the supervillain Penguin.

It had once been Gotham's largest casino and center for liquor smuggling, but now only the smuggling business remained. Under Batman's relentless crackdowns year after year, Penguin Oswald Cobblepot had finally given up running a casino in his own lair.

It was already past nine at night. The evil and ruthless Penguin was eating his late-night snack: a slice of pink strawberry cake.

The Iceberg Lounge was about to close for the night, and the underworld tycoon, who had worked hard at breaking the law all day, needed a slice of strawberry cake to reward himself.

—Of course, eating this kind of dessert late at night was probably why he was short and fat, looking exactly like an oversized, wrinkled fat penguin.

Penguin was somewhat distracted today.

Recently, the lunatics who had escaped from Arkham Asylum had nearly destroyed Gotham's order. Every last one of them had gotten out.

Joker, Scarecrow, Zas, Riddler, Two-Face—it was a complete madhouse. They had turned Gotham into a pot of porridge. Every day, lunatics engaged in shootouts and terrorist attacks in the streets. His business either ran into the police or ran into accidents. It was practically impossible to keep operating.

"Sigh, everyone's gone mad." Thinking of this, Penguin let out a long sigh and poured himself a glass of milk. He did not drink coffee. At his age, too much caffeine would keep him from sleeping.

These days, lunatics kept appearing one after another. The recently arrived Bane was another madman. It was becoming harder and harder for respectable criminals like him to make a living. He might as well close early for the next couple of days and wait for Batman to sort out the chaos.

Penguin smacked his lips, his mind going blank under the nourishment of sugar.

The casino and arms businesses were constantly being targeted, and his old businesses were becoming difficult to run. He needed to think of new ways to increase revenue and cut costs...

Perhaps he could invest in ice cream trucks or Mexican burrito shops endorsed by Penguin? Then he could have armed henchmen guard the entrances. Surely no one would dare rob him then?

Or he could try stock trading. He had heard there was something called Bitcoin that was doing pretty well lately...?

But just as Penguin enjoyed the tranquil moment of eating cake while considering the future direction of his business, one of his henchmen stumbled into his office, a look of terror on his face, and tripped on the immaculate carpet.

"It's bad, boss! It's Joker! Joker is here!"

"!"

With a puff, Penguin, who was holding his cup, inhaled sharply, and milk sprayed straight out of his hooked nose.