Chapter 219: Brain

A thunder far stronger than the so-called Lei Shen suddenly erupted, lightning serpents and thunderous coils darted wildly in all directions, shattering walls, incinerating electronics, and melting metal wherever they passed.

Cervantes, directly exposed to the storm at close range, was instantly pierced by multiple bolts of lightning; he abandoned his chance to finish off the fake Batman, retreated at top speed, kicked Professor N out the window from his wheelchair, and leaped out after him, escaping the apartment building.

The storm had a diameter of fifty meters, encompassing the floors above and below, as well as the buildings on either side, every window glowing with blinding electrical light.

Zzzt—

Smoke emitting a charred odor gushed from Cervantes's collar and cuffs; the lenses of his eyes had been "cooked" by the intense heat.

He pulled out a vial of Life Potion and drank it down in one gulp, healing his injuries.

Meanwhile, the fake Batman donned his custom helmet again, leapt from the skyscraper, clutched the Thunder Horn in his left hand, gripped the Batgun in his right, fired a grappling hook, and swung through the air in a curved trajectory, diving toward them.

The storm centered on the Thunder Horn—wherever the horn went, the storm followed.

Fuck, a suicide bomber!

Cervantes's scalp prickled; as a member of the Laughing Troupe, he excelled at covert operations and only engaged in direct confrontation when he had no other choice.

I'll use that move.

He took a deep breath, stepped half a pace back, straightened his spine, and pushed both hands forward, channeling Qi.

【Skill Name: Riding the Tide, Whirling Wind, Churning Clouds】

【Type: Martial Arts】

【Effect: Churning Clouds. Launch a cone-shaped blast of wind from both hands, comparable to an ultra-super typhoon.】

【Cost: 100 Spirit Energy, 150 Physical Energy】

【Cooldown: 60 seconds】

【Requirement: Experience an ultra-super typhoon while unprotected.】

【Note: "The bigger the storm, the pricier the fish!" A fisherman surnamed Gao, upon seeing the weather forecast, rejoiced wildly and sailed his boat into the storm.】

Rolling waves of wind surged forward, sweeping up garbage bags and gravel, even causing lightweight sedans to skid along the ground.

The Batman caught in the storm suddenly stalled mid-dive, forced to fire his grappling hook and cling to the building's exterior wall.

"Trap him!"

Cervantes roared loudly; the Strange Doctor by the beach immediately opened two spatial gates.

One spatial gate teleported the Thunder Horn—the storm's epicenter—far out into the ocean.

The other transported the Batman from the building's wall directly onto the concrete pavement, trapping both his legs.

Cervantes dared not approach directly; instead, he borrowed a steel pipe from a passing train and hurled it from afar, knocking the Batman's helmet off.

Without his helmet, the Batman, now under Professor N's mental control, fell silent.

'Something's off.'

Cervantes's unease intensified; that scene had been too bizarre.

This fake Batman's original form was merely a Level 3 Physical Enhancement cultivator, yet he had somehow produced equipment clearly sourced from a slaughter zone—and used it normally.

This defied all logic; something was definitely wrong.

Zzzt zzzt—

His Bluetooth earpiece suddenly filled with static and terrified screams.

"This is Beta Team, we're under attack! Need support!"

"Charlie Team under attack! Repeat, Charlie Team under attack!"

Vanguard Corporation's armed personnel across all defense lines were simultaneously attacked; distress calls rose in waves.

Cervantes paled, turned to Professor N, who instantly understood and transmitted via telepathy the scenes observed by other teams directly into Cervantes's mind.

Five kilometers from the bridge, Myopia (derived from the Avengers' Vision) and Beep-Boop Man (Spider-Man) were being brutally beaten by Wonder Woman.

Myopia's base was a Level 3 cultivator with severe myopia, capable of phasing himself and any object he touched.

Beep-Boop Man could shoot silk from his coccyx, moving rapidly between skyscrapers in an undignified posture (in a certain sense, this better matched the spider's form).

The opposing Wonder Woman was also abnormal—a heavyset, obese Black woman whose punches and kicks could shatter stone and split concrete.

Three kilometers from the bridge, Shang-Chi of the Avengers was battling the Flash of the Justice League.

Shang-Chi's original was a runaway from a major Eastern nation who had illegally entered America; he talked nonsense mid-fight: "Time for dinner, guys!" "Donuts are delicious."

Utterly incomprehensible.

The opposing Flash was a cultivator enhanced for running speed, who echoed Shang-Chi's nonsense: "Can you keep up with my speed?"

One kilometer from the bridge, the Avengers' Hulk and Iron Man were fighting Green Lantern.

Everyone was a counterfeit: Iron Man had no Stark armor—only his body transformed into cast steel.

Green Lantern could summon and unleash modern firearms in rapid succession.

As for Hulk…

Uh. He wasn't sure if the modified old seal had malfunctioned, but the original movie's Hulk possessed Bruce Banner's intelligence along with the Hulk's physical attributes.

Whether due to a flaw in the Old Seal transformation, the original movie Hulk possessed Bruce Banner's intellect and the Hulk's physical prowess.

But this Hulk, after transformation, had Bruce Banner's body and the Hulk's mind.

In short: a brainless, middle-aged loser who roared wildly, smashed everything, and even broke his own fingers.

Cervantes had purely been operating on a waste-not mentality when he placed him there—at the very least, it could throw the enemy into confusion for a short time.

Cervantes had assigned him there purely out of utilitarian thinking—at least he could confuse the enemy briefly.

All defense lines were under attack, completely disrupting Cervantes's deployment.

He had planned to use the city's surveillance system and Professor N's telepathy to detect the player at the city's perimeter and intercept early.

If he failed to spot them immediately, he could use the Strange Doctor's spatial gates to rapidly summon members from all defense lines and consolidate forces for a counterattack.

Cervantes suddenly noticed something: in every image transmitted into his mind, each Justice League member across from him seemed to have a scar on their forehead, hugging the hairline.

Cervantes suddenly noticed something: in every scene transmitted to his mind, every Justice League member's forehead, just above the hairline, bore a scar.

【61】 Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash—all had them.

Cervantes strode up to Batman, yanked off the bat-hood, and saw blood seeping from the scar beneath.

A terrifying possibility rose in his mind; Cervantes felt as if plunged into ice, a chill flooding his entire body. "Are you a player?"

Only players have inventory slots; only players can freely use arena items.

"Took you long enough to notice?"

Batman lifted his head, grinning. "I thought you'd figure it out later."

"How is this possible?"

Cervantes stared wide-eyed. "Whether it's a clone, mind control, or some external avatar—none can bypass system restrictions to directly share inventory slots and retrieve equipment from a player's inventory."

"How did you do it?"

"Conventional methods can't achieve this. But I have my own way."

Batman slowly raised his hands, and with a soft "click," he smoothly peeled off his own skull, under Cervantes' horrified gaze.

Revealing the brain inside.

"WTF"

Cervantes' scalp prickled—he saw that one section of Batman's brain had a color distinctly different from the surrounding tissue.

And that section of brain had a small USB wireless network card plugged into it.

"I used a method to cut off a piece of my own brain and implant it into the corpses of deceased superpowered individuals, allowing me to remotely control them."

"In this state, the lifeless corpses of superpowered individuals are no longer regarded by the arena as complete entities, but as extensions of my body—part of me."

Batman smiled. "That's why I can control them and access their inventory items."

"Cut off your own brain to create clones?"

Cervantes said, horrified. "The healing potions sold in the Slums can only treat external wounds—they can't heal the brain. To regenerate brain tissue, you need arena-produced Life Elixir. How much did you hoard to dare this?"

"It's not as hard as you think."

Batman said calmly. Previously, Li Cheng had instructed Huiyu in advance: using the 【Assembled Puppet】 effect, he first separated his head from his body, then cut off a large portion of his own brain.

Li Cheng, now missing half his brain, was still alive—just unable to move.

With Huiyu's help, he was given a micro Life Elixir, prompting brain regeneration.

Then Li Cheng, cooperating with Huiyu, split the removed half-brain into several fragments, each fitted with a USB wireless network card.

Next, he installed a signal transmitter into his own skull.

The signal transmitter corresponded to the wireless network cards.

But this wasn't enough. The 【Assembled Puppet】 effect has a limit: the main body must be "Li Cheng" himself.

He had to be in a state of having only his head remaining, then implant the separated brain fragments into the fresh corpses of different superpowered individuals.

Only after that could he reattach his head to his original body.

If the order were reversed, the puppet effect would weaken, preventing perfect control of the clones.

(When only his head remained, the arena's definition of "Li Cheng" focused entirely on the head—making the puppet effect stronger.)

(When only a head remains, the arena's definition of "Li Cheng" is concentrated entirely on the head, and the assembly effect is even stronger at this point.)

But the surgical process was genuinely abstract—Caroline threw up several times while watching.

"Dude, I think you're crazier than me. Want to join the Laughing Troupe? New members get perks."

Cervantes rubbed his temples. "Why tell me all this? Aren't you afraid of exposing your weakness?"

"No thanks—I'm not interested in the Laughing Troupe."

Batman's clone smirked. "As for why I told you: first, even if I didn't, you'd have figured it out the moment you opened my skull and saw the brain."

The Batman clone curled his lip. "As for why I'm telling you all this—on one hand, even if I didn't say anything, once you crack open Batman's skull and see the brain inside, you'd be able to guess the truth.

Cervantes felt unease rise in his chest. "A warning?"

"Yes. If I can remotely control superpowered corpses this way, turning them into clones—could I do the same to other players?"

"Right, since I can remotely control the corpses of superpowered individuals this way and turn them into clones, is it possible I could do the same to other players?"

The next second, a furious engine roar erupted three kilometers down the street.

Li Cheng sped toward them on a Bat-Wing Weight motorcycle, with Caroline and Angelica riding behind.

As for Huiyu, she didn't transform into a giant iron ball this time—instead, she became a conical obstacle-clearing device mounted on the front of the motorcycle.

As for Grey Rain, this time she didn't transform into a giant iron ball trailing behind the motorcycle; instead, she became a cone-shaped obstacle-breaker mounted on the motorcycle's front.

Vehicles blocking their path were flung aside by Huiyu's obstacle-clearing device.

The Vanguard Corp's armed personnel attempting to intercept them were held off by the Justice League's clones.

Three kilometers. Two kilometers. One kilometer.

Cervantes watched Li Cheng barreling toward him, hearing Batman's threat to turn him into a clone—cold sweat beaded on his forehead. He wanted to call the police.

"Hello, Special Affairs Bureau? I've met a madman."

The motorcycle roared forward, arriving in an instant.

Cervantes' rage surged, his courage hardened—he bellowed: "Space Gate!"

The distant Weird Doctor instantly understood, opening a space gate directly in the motorcycle's path, trying to bury the rider and vehicle underground.

But this time, facing the original Li Cheng, he twisted the handlebars sharply, veering off—not plunging into the gate, but riding the motorcycle straight up the exterior wall of a high-rise.

The engine roared as tires scraped the wall, leaving sulfur-like traces.

The motorcycle engine let out bursts of roaring, and the tires scraped against the wall's surface, leaving trails of sulfur.

The vehicle soared over the building, pausing briefly a hundred meters in the air.

Caroline, holding Angelica, felt intense weightlessness, gazing down at the distant ground—her acrophobia flared, and she screamed, eyes shut.

Li Cheng leapt off the vehicle, mid-air, slipping on his Information Synthesis Goggles, then gently tapped the motorcycle. "Your turn."

Li Cheng jumped from the vehicle, donned his Information Synthesis Goggles in midair, and lightly patted the motorcycle, "I'm leaving it to you."

"Understood."

Hui Yu formed two arms, one hooking onto the vehicle, the other grabbing the rooftop railing, and hauled the motorcycle up onto the high-rise's roof. Then he shifted his form, changing back from the cone-shaped obstacle-breaker into a human shape, and sat down in the driver's seat.

"Hold on tight."

Hui Yu, trying rather hard to look cool, raised an eyebrow at Caroline, then drove the vehicle off the rooftop, landing neatly on the arching steel frame of the sea-crossing bridge. Weaving past the gridlocked cars and the armored vehicles lying in ambush on the bridge deck, he headed toward Angel City.

The Pioneer Company employees stared dumbfounded at this whole series of fluid, flowing movements, their thoughts seemingly jamming up and falling into a brief stall.

As for Li Cheng, he plunged toward Cervantes on the ground, drew the 【Two-Aspects Blade】 in midair, and stabbed it into himself.

(End of chapter)