Chapter 4913: There Is No Batman Here (Eighteen)

Although the distance was a bit far, and they encountered quite a few monsters on the way, these small fry could never be a match for Polaris; a single magnetic storm reduced them to nothing, not even ash remaining.

Pamela told them about the boss fight, and Polaris thought for a moment before saying, "You shouldn't have rushed in so impulsively. If you discover it's a boss, you should mark it on the map and call people to go fight it together."

"That doesn't sound like your style," Harley said with some surprise. "I thought you were the type who'd want to charge right in..."

"Mutants are all about the gang beatdown," Polaris said. "Why else do the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants always move in packs wherever they go? We're not stupid either; going solo means you might get killed..."

"Little Lorna." Charles spoke up, sounding a bit helpless.

"Cough, cough." Polaris cleared her throat and said, "What martial virtue is there to discuss with monsters? We should just gather all the superpowered beings on the whole map and hammer these bosses straight into the ground."

"Area bosses might be doable that way," Pamela said, "but I suspect the Four Kings aren't that simple. They very likely have a forced instant-kill mechanic; without doing the investigation quest, you'd get oneshot."

"Is it that exaggerated? What can oneshot a magnetic field?"

"That depends on Brainiac's settings," Pamela said. "If it's set as something like a Death Bringer, then even a magnetic field can't escape the trope. After all, your side has 'No More Mutants' too."

Polaris shivered. She said, "Our universe doesn't have that. Wanda's temper is quite good; sometimes I can barely stand those little demons, but she's always very patient."

"Too bad she got married too early," Pamela added.

"Who's on your team?" the Arkham Knight asked.

Pamela gave him a brief introduction, then said, "You came at just the right time, perfectly making up for the regret of Jason having class and not being able to make it back."

The Arkham Knight fell silent again, but everyone else also knew this universe was full of taciturn types; if any of them had a big mouth, the plot couldn't have dragged on this long.

They soon returned to the Viscount Manor. Bringing back newcomers, everyone naturally had to show some hospitality, but the man-eating plants hadn't been grown yet, and even if they were, they wouldn't be that easy to eat, so they made some simple meals, recovering stamina while discussing.

"What's the situation on the West Side?" Polaris asked curiously. "It seems to be raining there constantly. When we passed by, it felt eerie, so we didn't go in."

"We didn't go over there either," Tim said. "But the West Side has Gotham University; the monsters there definitely won't be easy to beat."

"How so?" Polaris asked curiously.

"I even suspect..." Tim drew out a long note, then said, "No, nothing. I think your plan to gather everyone and fight the boss is good. Why don't we find a boss to test it on?"

The other group's Robin suspected there was an area boss in the cemetery. Charles spoke up aptly: "They were besieged while investigating the missing bodies case, but were saved by Shiler. In the cemetery's underground, they discovered a suspected area boss mutant monster, but because their equipment was poor, they hadn't gotten around to fighting it yet."

Everyone opened their maps and looked at the cemetery's location. After studying it a bit, Ted said, "I think we can go take a look. It'd also be good to link up with the other squads in the South District."

Everyone quickly worked out a rough plan. At the same time, Charles also notified Red Robin and Damian, who were loitering around the cemetery. Learning that everyone was coming to support them, they breathed a sigh of relief.

This place was a bit far from their base. If they went back to prepare fully and then came to fight, even if they could win, it would waste too much time. If nothing good dropped, it'd be a loss.

But if the other few groups helped, no matter how you put it, the mission would definitely be completed. Getting the mission rewards without lifting a finger would be nice.

And this support lineup was even more luxurious. Pamela had just finished fighting a boss and needed to rest, but besides her, basically everyone came — Polaris, Ted, Lilith, and other superpowered beings.

Seeing this huge crowd, Red Robin almost wanted to laugh. Especially Polaris. You mean this little Magneto didn't have her abilities restricted, could give the planet a shoulder throw at any moment, but still participated in the game alongside them?

Actually, calling Polaris "little Magneto" isn't quite accurate either, because her style is completely different from Magneto's. Magneto plays with fundamental forces, but Polaris is exceptionally fond of electromagnetism. Her moves are all things like railguns — not as profound as fundamental forces, but very satisfying to watch.

"The monster is right down there." Red Robin pointed at a sewer entrance. Ted glanced at Polaris and said, "Fighting down there is inconvenient. I'll go down and lure the monster up."

He turned into a holographic projection and jumped down. Before long, there was a bang — the ground around the sewer entrance exploded, and a giant corpse over three meters tall leaped out. Obviously, he was the cemetery's area boss.

Everyone scattered, each unleashing their abilities. Don't be fooled by Polaris's killing power, but whether it's railguns or electromagnetic fields, they all need aiming. And this giant corpse was exceptionally agile, even knowing to pick on the soft targets. Right off the bat, it charged at the unarmed Red Robin.

Red Robin dodged immediately, but didn't expect this thing's speed to be faster than he imagined. Just as the giant corpse's claw was about to rake his shoulder, Ted instantly flashed over, a holographic shield blocking the attack, but he was still swatted flying.

"Brainiac!" Ted shouted. "Did you input the wrong values?! This thing's strength is nearly catching up to Spider-Man!"

"What?" Polaris perked up immediately. "Let me try!"

She instantly turned into a ball of lightning and rushed at the giant corpse, deliberately revealing herself before the monster, blocking with an electromagnetic shield. The next second, she was swatted flying.

"Wow, it really is Spider-Man," Polaris said. "Too bad the build is a bit large. If it were as agile and nimble as Spider-Man, that'd be trouble."

Although this giant corpse had a fast charge speed, its wind-up before swinging was relatively long. Besides charging and swinging to smash people, it had no other moves. Polaris timed it, and a single super railgun pierced its chest, followed by an electromagnetic storm that tore the entire monster to pieces.

"Phew." Polaris let out a light breath, seeming to feel the intensity wasn't enough, not satisfying enough.

"This won't do either," Damian said. "Feels like it went down before using its full strength."

"It's that Polaris is too strong," Red Robin said. "If she went all out, she could probably stir up an electromagnetic storm covering all of Gotham. What would monsters even play at?"

Just as they were about to go check the corpse, Lilith suddenly spoke up: "No, don't go over!"

Lilith covered her head with her hands: "Black... sludge... Drowned ones whispering... Don't go over!!"

The two Robins here weren't too familiar with Lilith, but Ted knew his classmate well. He shouted, "Lilith can prophesy! There might be danger next. You all back off fast!"

Red Robin and Damian were also cautious. Hearing this, they immediately retreated. The next second, on the monster's remains — already torn to pieces and charred black — black sludge began to surge.

Something slowly wrapped around it, reshaping the entire monster into a twisted form, with more sludge bubbling from its mouth and nose.

"A symbiote?" Polaris said with some surprise. "But it seems like..."

"Don't look at it." Charles suddenly said coldly.

Polaris was used to obeying Charles's orders. Whatever the Professor said, her instinctive reaction was to comply. The moment Charles finished speaking, Polaris immediately turned her head away, not looking.

But the others hadn't coordinated much with Charles, and his order wasn't especially direct. Many people present didn't react in time. The next second, the sludge suddenly twisted the monster into an extremely distorted shape. Whispering voices murmured in their ears, and everyone felt as if their brains had been hammered, all letting out a miserable cry.

"Lorna, take them away." Charles said. "Fast!"

Polaris immediately realized what had happened. She directly used magnetic chains to grab everyone, turned, and tried to run out. But the sludge spread all the way over, forcing Polaris to take to the air.

"What the hell is this???"

"It came from the East District," Charles said. "Shiler fought it and thought it was already destroyed. Didn't expect it could still resurrect."

Polaris sucked in a cold breath. Something that escaped from under Shiler's hands was definitely no simple character. She had no more desire to fight, and hurriedly took everyone and fled.

Racing back to the Viscount Manor at breakneck speed, Tim stared wide-eyed at the people lying all over the floor: "Good heavens, you didn't run into one of the Four Kings, did you?!"

"It was an area boss from the East District that ran over," Charles said. "Should be related to an Outer God. The attack was too sudden; the mental defense didn't fully block it."

Tim clicked his tongue, and with Dick and Cassandra, put everyone on the sofas. They were all unconscious. However, thanks to Charles's mental protection, no one was truly corrupted. After waking up, although some looked pale, their minds were still clear.

"Good lord," Red Robin exclaimed. "Just knew it wouldn't be this simple."

Just now they still felt the monster strength was too low in front of Polaris, and the Outer God arrived right on cue. This thing is truly troublesome. Mental attacks with no wind-up at all — you can't even look at it once.

People woke up one after another, all clutching their heads and grimacing. Tim and Dick prepared ice packs and towels for them. While they rested on the sofas, Charles explained the monster's origin to them.

This is the "Drowned One" from the East District's tail alley. Back then, Shiler used Diana's Blessing to blast it to smithereens. But this thing is clearly unkillable. After being shattered, it resurrects elsewhere. Without the correct method to banish it, it will resurrect infinitely.

Polaris began to have a headache: "That would mean I can't kill it either? How exactly do we get rid of this thing?"

"We need to do a research mission," Brainiac gave a reminder, "There is a series of missions in the East District. Only after completing all of them can we obtain all the key items needed for expulsion. Of course, if you're strong enough, you could also just kill it outright."

"Wait." Tim and Red Robin spoke almost simultaneously. They had both thought of the same thing. "The drowned will choose that corpse to revive; it shouldn't be a coincidence, right?"

"It fears light," Charles said, "That monster just happened to be underground, and it's also a corpse. The drowned may have already been hiding inside it for a long time."

"It sounds more and more like a symbiote," Polaris said, "We need to study it properly, figure out how to deal with this thing. Otherwise, if it comes looking for us, we'll be even less able to fight it. By the way, where's Jason?"

"He went to the West District," Charles said, "There's a cold storage door in Gotham University that he needs to help open."

"Why does it have to be him to open that door?" Polaris asked, a bit puzzled.

"He also has a symbiote on him," Charles said, "That cold storage door is too hard to open. Without using some extreme measures, we can't get the items inside."

Polaris suddenly understood. Arkham had actually told her about this before—he really does have a symbiote inside his body, and its name seems to be called "Red Hornet."