Chapter 2446

Robin King arrived earlier than anyone had imagined.

When night fell, all of Gotham's lights were not as bright as before; the interior glow of the glass curtain walls was almost completely extinguished, and the neon lights were like withered, decayed flowers, leaving only a few scattered spots. The city shed its gorgeous coat, leaving behind a dark core.

A massive airship slowly appeared beneath the overcast night sky; countless spikes protruded from the airship's hull, and its livery bore a giant smiling face.

A deafening broadcast voice that could be heard throughout the city spread from above, and Robin King's sharp voice rang out.

"People of Gotham, your King has come to fulfill this great pact. Now Bruce Wayne is dead, and I shall be Gotham's new King!"

"You must all obey me, heed my commands, and absolutely no dissent against me is permitted. I..."

Robin King's voice grew quieter and quieter. He lowered his outstretched arms, slowly walked toward the edge of the flight deck, stuck his head out over the edge, and looked down.

There was no panicked flight, no bewildered expressions, no anger, screams, bloodshed, chaos... only a dead silence.

Robin King's eyes widened. He took a deep breath, rushed back onto the ship, let out an irritable shriek, and two Manic Robins charged out.

They also had the appearance of children, looking only about ten years old, but extremely emaciated and hunched, with pale faces, also wearing that strange makeup, grinning widely, hopping in place, and nodding at Robin King, looking like some strange subterranean creatures.

"Go check the monitors! See what happened to this city, where the people went, why no one came to welcome the Great King's arrival!"

"What do you think would happen if I shot him right in the head just now when he poked it out?" On the building opposite, a man in a jacket, wearing a silver-white mask with a red targeting reticle over one eye, lay prone on the ground adjusting a sniper rifle.

Beside him, Harley Quinn lay prone, propping her chin on her hands, and said, "That'd be too boring. Besides proving he's an idiot, it wouldn't show off your marksmanship at all. If he just died like that, people would only curse you as a bastard who kills kids, and your reputation as Deadshot wouldn't hold up."

"Fair point." Deadshot adjusted the gun mount and said, "But I really don't know who'd be stupid enough, upon just arriving in a strange city, to choose an airship as transport and then stick their head out twice in under three minutes."

"I can tell your trigger finger's itchy, but we have to wait. We've got to follow the script." Harley Quinn said with a giggle.

Robin King on the airship personally rushed into the monitoring room, but every single one of the deployed monitors showed this city had become a dead city, with almost no human activity whatsoever.

The only footage capturing human presence showed people who seemed dead, limp and motionless, with no movement at all.

"What's going on?! What is this?!" Robin King screamed frantically. "Land! Land now!!"

The Manic Robins went to pilot the airship. Robin King still refused to believe it, craning his neck to keep looking down, when suddenly he heard a very faint *whoosh*. A bullet grazed his scalp and flew past, shooting directly into the most vulnerable lower half of the airship's envelope.

*Pfft! *

The airship's envelope sprang a small leak, and Robin King turned back; the escaping gas hissed him right in the face.

"Plug it up, quick!" Robin King waved at his subordinate Robins. The Robins hurriedly brought a ladder and started plugging the hole.

Deadshot, who had fired the shot, wore a look of surprise. He said, "So it really is a primitive gas airship. What was he thinking?"

"Don't think about it, let's go." Harley Quinn pulled him running downstairs and said, "Even if he's that stupid, he should've seen you by now."

Sure enough, Robin King on the airship was looking around frantically, but he didn't seem to possess the ability to deduce the shooter's position from the bullet's trajectory. However, he started rummaging through his belt and soon pulled out a strangely shaped gun.

He picked up the fallen bullet from the airship's floor, loaded it into that gun, and fired. The bullet began curving, seeking its owner.

Deadshot and Harley Quinn had just run downstairs to change positions when they heard a *whoosh*. A bullet flew toward them at an extremely bizarre angle.

Deadshot tackled Harley Quinn to the ground. When Harley Quinn climbed up from the ground, she discovered that bullet had actually slammed on the brakes in mid-air, made a 180-degree sharp turn, and shot back at them.

"What a nuisance." Harley Quinn swung her hammer. *Bang! * The bullet was knocked back.

"Move it. We need to take down that airship fast. The people on the ground have been waiting long enough; we can't drop the ball."

Deadshot and Harley Quinn climbed up another high-rise and soon fired another shot at the airship, followed by a second, a third. That poor airship was quickly riddled like a sieve, leaking air everywhere, wobbling as it plummeted.

But Robin King had already jumped down before the airship crashed, his face ferocious as he searched for the culprit who dared attack his airship. Yet just as he landed on the ground, a manhole cover in front of him *bang* flew up high, soaring through a beautiful parabola in mid-air, then *clang* fell to the ground.

"ROAR!!!"

A massive black shadow roared out of the sewer, *boom* landing on the ground. When the dust settled, Robin King saw dense scales covering its body.

"Heh, Killer Croc?" Robin King curled his lip in disdain. "You think you can stop this King's great conquest just with you..."

Just as he spoke, another burly figure walked out from the street entrance. When he came closer, Robin King saw the dense pipes strapped to his back. He frowned and said, "Bane? Now this is a bit interesting. Is this the welcome ceremony you prepared for me?"

Then at this moment another figure appeared at the other end of the street. Black and yellow armor proclaimed his identity. Robin King called out his name, "Deathstroke..."

Now enemies were slowly surrounding him from the front, left, and right, but Robin King didn't panic at all. He threw his head back and let out a long laugh. "That's right, just like that. Come welcome this King with all you've got, hahahahaha!!!"

The next second, his laughter cut off abruptly, because an even more massive figure descended from the sky. Covered in spikes like undulating mountain ranges, its angular, ferocious face revealed sharp teeth flashing with cold light when it roared. It first curled up like a slumbering dragon, then leaped up, expanded its chest, and the shockwave of its roar toppled the building in front of it.

Though smaller in size, Killer Croc was not to be outdone, still roaring as he charged at the opponent, but was casually swatted aside by this gigantic monster. Deathstroke leaped up, stepping on Killer Croc's shoulder and the surrounding building walls in successive jumps. *Bang bang* two shots hit the monster's rear spine.

Bane stood by holding his ground, but his fists were already swollen red, blood in his veins seeming ready to burst forth. Finally he seized the moment the monster turned sideways, and punched its right shoulder.

The gigantic monster roared in pain, leaned forward, grabbed Bane and threw him out — *Boom! * Bane smashed Robin King and the surrounding buildings, sending them all flying.

"Wait! Wait!" Robin King crawled out from under Bane's body and shouted. "Stop! Stop fighting! I'm the King of Gotham!! You can't do this here..."

Deathstroke executed a kip-up, landing nimbly, then fired a grappling hook, soaring to the roof of a nearby low building, dodging the monster's massive fist. Killer Croc backflipped; despite his massive frame he was strangely agile, dodging to the side, then evading a kick from the monster.

Robin King was too busy shouting lines to dodge a single one. First a massive fist grazed past him, blasting him into the air along with the asphalt road surface. Immediately after, a straight kick shot out, striking Robin King squarely in the stomach.

"You damn..."

"Batman." Deathstroke's deep voice rang out, as if the dark clouds lowered even further. Robin King had just been about to finish that curse, but instantly realized — Batman? Who was he calling? Surely not himself???

"I'm not..."

"I never imagined that one day, being enemies with Batman would take this form." Bane stood up, exhaled a long turbid breath, looked up at the gigantic monster, and said, "Truly pathetic, Batman. Never thought the Dark Knight of the past would now choose to flow with darkness."

"You understand nothing." The monster roared in a low voice. "It was this world that betrayed me!"

"Hold on!" Robin King jumped up and shouted. "What are you talking about? How can you possibly be Batman?! What the hell are you all fighting about?!"

"No one pays him any mind."

"You're unworthy of the name Batman." Bane rolled his shoulder and said. "Then let us settle this today."

Immediately after, several figures lunged again, engaging that monster in combat.

Robin King was bewildered the whole time. Usually he wouldn't waste this much talk on this bunch; whoever caused trouble before him, he'd just kill them all. But... Batman? Then he'd have to wait a bit longer, figure out what's going on first.

Not that he was afraid of Batman, but he had a purpose in coming here. That Batman trapped by his Fifth-Dimensional Imp had too strong a will, refusing to break. And now another Monster Batman pops up here, brawling with this gang of Gotham criminals. What on earth is going on?

Forget it. He needed to get some intel back to report. Robin King thought, activated his recording device, filmed their entire battle, and added his own commentary. "This guy is an unidentified species of Batman. Don't know why he got this big. For now, his ability seems to be only brute force, but his strength is strangely immense. If you need a big lug who only knows how to brawl, he's not a bad pick."

Finished recording, Robin King thought for a moment, left a surveillance device on the spot, because he knew that annoying guy who loves giving orders would definitely want the full footage of this battle. He couldn't rashly intervene; better go elsewhere, look around, find out why Gotham's people aren't moving.

Oh right, and Batman. Robin King remembered. He had to keep an eye on the battle situation on the Fifth-Dimensional Imp's side.

Underground in Gotham, in a certain secret chamber built by Batman, Arkham Knight, who was helping Robin dismantle the protective device's switch, suddenly stumbled.

Clang! The wrench in his hand fell to the ground.

"What's wrong with you?" Robin asked.

Arkham Knight clutched his head and let out a painful groan, fragments flashing through his mind—a familiar man, the skin on his back torn open, a wound running from his right shoulder to his left waist gushing blood, the agony nearly blurring his consciousness completely.

"Save... save him... save..."

A wildly chaotic signal came through; Arkham Knight couldn't make out any complete words, only more fragments of injury—the wound torn open and healed, torn open again, until the final image froze on a pair of deep, bright eyes, like stars, like constellations.

"Ha..." Arkham Knight drew a deep breath, and when he woke again, he saw the ceiling of Wayne Manor's bedroom, Barbara, Robin, and Nightwing gathered anxiously by his bedside, Alfred standing at a distance.

"Batman... Batman is in danger!"