Before the Final Battle

Before the Final Battle

In the dim sewers,

the stench swallowed the smell of blood.

The battle had ended after Killer Croc was forced back into toy form.

Of the Amazonian warriors who had fought Killer Croc for quite some time, only the Avenger Goddess remained unscathed, along with four female warriors who had hidden far away before the battle began.

The others had become floating corpses in the water.

"You should pay the price!" The Avenger Goddess raised her sword and pointed it at Li Zu. "I'll sever your legs and feet, then throw you into a concentration camp! You'll suffer every torment!"

She should have been gritting her teeth as she spoke, her bearing unfurling like that of a lioness, but Li Zu had maintained a strange smile the entire time.

"Can I make a small request? How about we wait until we leave this stinking place before we start? You definitely don't want to carry me on your backs, right?" Li Zu seriously considered things from their perspective and made the suggestion.

As a member of the Resistance, Li Zu's "value" was not low.

"Hmph! Take him out!" The Avenger Goddess carried her sword and turned to walk away.

Her companions' corpses were submerged in the water and could only be dealt with by the teams that came later.

Lois Lane, who had escaped, would have to be captured again later.

But before that, they had to take Li Zu away, lest he pull something terrifying from one of his bizarre boxes again.

Lois Lane ran for several minutes.

From darkness into even deeper darkness.

She could not tell which way was which and could only strain her ears, lest something escape from the shadows.

Her heart was still pounding wildly. She did not know whether it was the physical result of running so hard or the lingering nervous tension from having just escaped that terror.

"I can't leave him there alone!" Thinking of that strange man, Lois hesitated before deciding to run back.

"And those four women from Gotham!"

Remembering how the "friends" who had shared a dormitory with her and even trained alongside her had brought people after her the moment she fled, Lois was filled with hatred for those four women.

When she returned, she found that the battle was already over.

Li Zu had vanished without a trace.

The Avenger Goddess and the four women from Gotham had vanished as well.

Only corpses soaked in filthy water remained.

The Avenger Goddess walked in front.

Li Zu's hands were bound, and four female Amazonians guarded him as they surrounded him and walked forward step by step.

"Do you know how to scream?"

Li Zu asked the question mysteriously.

He admitted that this awkward sense of mystery was something he had forced himself to put on.

Compared with silence, he preferred a livelier atmosphere.

Who would have thought that the four women would nod seriously and cooperate so readily?

"Amazonians are this easy to talk to?" Li Zu found it strange. Those Amazonians had looked ready to chop him into minced meat.

"Sir, it's us!" The woman at his front left lowered her voice, afraid that the Avenger Goddess ahead would hear.

"He definitely forgot us!" the woman at his front right said with certainty.

"Gotham, the sewers, Killer Croc... sir?" another woman tried asking.

The last one nodded vigorously and looked at Li Zu expectantly. "When we came to Europe, we encountered Amazonians..."

"We were captured by the Amazonians and became warriors!" another added.

They pinned their hopes on Li Zu, hoping that he could act again and help the four of them escape.

Just like when they had escaped Gotham's sewers.

"Oh~"

Li Zu nodded as if it all made perfect sense. "Gotham?"

From the look of it, he had not remembered who these four women were at all.

"I told you he forgot us! It's only been a month or two!"

Rather than forgetting them, Li Zu had never remembered them in the first place.

"Ah!!"

A scream came from behind. The Avenger Goddess, who had been striding proudly in front, froze and abruptly turned around.

To her relief, Li Zu's hands were still bound, and he was being escorted obediently.

"What happened?" she asked with a frown.

These four were the recruits she thought most highly of. They trained desperately, and their willpower suited the Amazonians.

Only their ordinary human physiques were too frail.

But that could all be strengthened through training.

More importantly, the four of them proved that ordinary humans could also become Amazonian warriors.

"Over there, there's someone who was stabbed by a sword..."

Following the direction of the pointing finger, the Avenger Goddess saw an Amazonian warrior lying on the beach.

She ran over quickly and crouched beside the warrior.

A sword was still lodged in her abdomen, an Amazonian standard-issue longsword.

"She's still breathing! Save her, quickly!" Li Zu shouted from the side, waving his arms about.

"None of your business!" The Avenger Goddess snorted coldly and raised a hand to lightly pat the warrior's cheek, waking her.

"Which unit are you from?"

"..." The warrior opened her eyes. The whites were bloodshot, and her gaze could not focus.

Her breath was weak.

"Have I returned to Paradise Island?"

"You're in London, the Queen's new colony," the Avenger Goddess said softly, completely unlike the decisive ruthlessness she had shown when slashing at Li Zu.

"I'll send you back for treatment right away. You'll return to Paradise Island~"

The Avenger Goddess lowered her head and gently brushed over the eyelids of the Amazonian warrior, Adeline.

When she raised her hand, the warrior's eyes had closed forever.

"There's a traitor!" The Avenger Goddess stood, glared at Li Zu, then said to the four women, "I'm going to report this to the Queen! Take him back. The Resistance must have plenty of useful intelligence. Maybe we can get more of what we want to know from his mouth!"

"Yes!"

The Avenger Goddess strode away like a race car at full throttle, her heels kicking up dust as she ran farther and farther until she disappeared completely.

With a swing of a sword, the rope binding Li Zu was cut apart.

The four women followed behind Li Zu with perfect understanding.

It was like returning to the past, when four down-and-out women had followed him out of those abyss-like sewers.

"Shall we go?"

"Where to?"

"The concentration camp, of course. Wasn't that your mission?" Li Zu asked strangely.

"You still want to go there? That place is..." They found Li Zu's decision strange.

Once someone entered that place, it was very difficult to leave again.

"Hmm~"

Li Zu looked up at what was before him:

Space-Time Portal: Cooling down (Countdown: 254h)

World Exploration Progress: 45%

"You're right. Hiding out like this seems a little wasteful. We should do something big. Batman and the others should have arrived too. Missing the final battle would definitely be a pity."

He nodded very seriously. "Then we'll go to the concentration camp!"

"What?"

The four women were confused.

How was this decision any different from the one just now?

First, go hide in the concentration camp for 254 hours and wait for the Space-Time Portal to activate so they could leave this chaotic world.

Second, do something big and explore more!

It seemed that no matter which option he chose, going to the concentration camp was the best choice!

Li Zu still entered the concentration camp.

The place was dilapidated, pitch-black, and filled with despair.

The men were like livestock kept in pens.

Their eyes were lifeless as they stared blankly at Li Zu being escorted inside. Countless men were sent here every day.

He was the first one to enter with a smile on his face.

(End of Chapter)