The way into the shield was incredibly simple. They crouched quietly while an alien spaceship flew out, they trailed it, captured the ship at a deserted location, drove it to another entrance, and smoothly passed through.
This wasn't their original plan, but something they copied from Batman's playbook. Bruce figured Batman probably only used this method once or twice, and the opponents' security system hadn't been updated quickly enough, so using it once again should be safe.
The shield's lights flickered, part of the area below the gate vanished, and a shuttle-like ground ship carrying two mechanical soldiers flew out. They were staff responsible for inspecting and maintaining the shield generator.
Because they had to check the status of the shield, the spaceship flew slowly. Superman carefully controlled the biological field, trailing behind until the spaceship reached a location midway between the two gates. Then, he shot a bolt of energy, reducing the two mechanical soldiers to ashes as if they had been skewered.
The spaceship remained stationary, and Bruce immediately boarded. With a micro-computer given by Batman, he unlocked the spaceship's system within moments.
Bruce drove while Peter sat co-pilot. Clark, to keep an eye on the Joker, sat with him in the back.
"You said you encountered a bit of trouble recently?" Bruce asked while piloting the ship. "I think you can share. We might be able to offer some advice."
"It was trouble at first, but after you turned Gotham into a mess, it's nothing in comparison." Clark sighed. "After the arrival of the aliens, it's even more insignificant."
"You can't think like that," Bruce retorted. "Global situation, the future of the species, and personal wellbeing are all equally important. Regardless of the state of the world, the troubles you've encountered are critical turning points in your life and are sometimes more worthy of your attention than the bigger picture."
"But we can't solve these troubles now," Clark shook his head. "We have more important things to worry about."
"Yet, if you could realize how powerful you are, then you'd understand that the troubles from the outside world are no problem for you. The real troubles always come from within, right?"
Clark was taken aback by his words. Peter turned to him, asking, "Any recent troubles? Even though we might not be able to solve them…"
"We certainly can." Bruce cut Peter off. "Clark, Mr. Joker sitting with you is the most professional psychologist in the world. I hope you realize I'm not joking."
"We're a team now, and undoubtedly, you're the strongest one among us. If you can't focus and stay firm, we might all be in great danger. So I think it would be good for you to talk things over with him. Peter and I can put on our headsets."
Both Clark and the Joker were stunned.
Clark looked at the Joker with a mixture of shock and suspicion, yet he also believed that Bruce, as the world's richest man, might be more knowledgeable than him. He must have purpose for bringing along this eccentrically dressed man.
The Joker, however, was shocked at Bruce's shamelessness. Throughout his artistic creation process, he had manipulated and toyed with people's minds for his amusement.
You're asking me to provide therapy for this kid, in the name of team cooperation, yet you clearly don't want to pay for it. You're treating me like one of you guys, aren't you?
The Joker had always contemplated manipulating Superman, the team's strongest fighter. He'd initially thought that Bruce's earlier chat with Superman was a pre-emptive move to keep him at a distance from Joker.
But now, Bruce was pushing Clark his way - what was he up to? He surely didn't just want a free session?
The Joker realized that this young Batman never played by the rules, always having a card up his sleeve. It was full of surprises.
By this point, Bruce and Peter had already put on their headphones. Clark, propping his arm on his knee, scratched his face and said, "Actually, it's nothing. Just that recently when I work at the newspaper, there's one thing that's been on my mind..."
Honestly, providing psychological counseling for an alien was a novel experience for the Joker. Typically, aliens that came to Gotham usually couldn't reach the district he resided in alive, and the ones that showed up at the Batcave were usually specimens.
While shopping, the Joker occasionally saw the red and blue search dogs from Metropolis fly overhead, but he didn't care. Above the rooftop was the gods' territory, while he only played games with ordinary people under the eaves.
But it was impossible for the Joker not to be curious about Superman. What intrigued him most was what kind of parents could raise an extremely powerful entity that appeared human but had nothing in common with human beings into a saint who was even more human than humans.
That was like getting a human to accept that they are an ant. Given 10 years of time, the Joker was unsure if he could brainwash someone to that extent, because it was entirely counter-intuitive and against instinct.
Bruce deliberately piloted the spaceship leisurely, making a sightseeing trip around the city outside of the shield, entirely ignoring the chaos caused by the Apocalypse Star Army command center at the attack on the inspection spaceship.
They breezily drove to a gate on the other side of the city opposite from their original gate, which was more or less the other side of town. The sounds of the disturbances finally subsided. Bruce took off his headset and saw Clark in thought, while the Joker quietly rested.
The psychological therapy seemed to be incredibly successful. Clark, who initially seemed to be inattentive, became focused again and was less guarded.
The state of the Joker was somewhat strange, he seemed to have become peaceful and languid, however, Bruce was quite familiar with this state. After a vigorous analysis or treatment session, psychological masters all need time to digest and absorb.
They care more about every detail they have learned from individuals among humanity than ordinary people. They need some time to remember these details and transform them into an art that belongs to them.
During this time, the madness and excitement that should have been indulged in were temporarily contained, because introspection requires focus and tranquility.
Bruce piloted the ship into the city; the shield did nothing to stop him. However, after he passed, the shield behind them flickered and changed color. It seemed to have entered an emergency defense state.
This shows that Bruce timed it very well. He estimated that those who maintain the shield and those who need it are not the same group; power infighting is an eternal theme for intelligent beings. So once one party makes a mistake, mutual attacks are inevitable, and chaos ensues.
The entrance they walked through was the upstream of both the Hudson River and the Gotham River, the origin of the war. But at this moment, it had become completely ruined.
This was one of the positions seized by Hydra. They should have continued to push south, but due to the arrival of the Apocalypse Star Army, everyone gathered in the middle of the Queens District to fight fiercely.
After the Court of Owls gained immensely from the power of darkness and fought back forcefully, their first target of revenge was not the Apocalypse Star Army, which had descended here for unknown reasons, but Hydra.
They understood that these peculiar aliens were here to find something and would naturally leave once they found it. However, Hydra wanted to take their painstakingly managed city for themselves, and it goes without saying which was their true enemy.
The Court of Owls, after achieving supremacy, resoundingly blew the trumpet for a counterattack, but the Hydra of today is not the same as before. After the German Hydra's series of sloppy operations, the vast majority of Hydra leaned towards Nick's faction.
As the saying goes, they will follow whoever feeds them, whether it is S.H.I.E.L.D. or Hydra. When necessary, they can adopt any identity.
Since Hydra could no longer be relied upon, they naturally became unwavering S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers, uniting under Nick Fury, resolutely hitting the terrorists known as the Court of Owls.
This had a benefit, immediately transforming the war from a struggle between two terrorist organizations to a siege of terrorists. There's not just one city like New York in this world. When they are fighting this fiercely, Congress cannot ignore it.
Nick's means of putting pressure on Congress was much harsher than his own. Don't forget, a third of his cosmic S.H.I.E.L.D was the KGB. Even if it didn't exist in this universe, it could at this time.
Somehow, Russia obtained a top-secret report about the Court of Owls, partially showing the East Coast notables, and even well-known upper-class Americans, who were involved with the Court of Owls.
In another way, the search team sent by the aliens landing on the American East Coast accidentally crashed in the South Sea. A certain Eastern Great Nation expressed deep concern about the safety issues of the two cities at the UN Security Council meeting on the New York-Gotham terrorist attack.
Yet somehow, a laser shell fired by the alien army searching within the East Coast Cities fell in the crucial Danish Strait for international energy security. NATO exploded on the spot, and the Congressional phone lines were busy for three days straight.
After such a series of operations, the New Jersey State National Guard had to take charge. Even the surrounding two states were sending troops. Otherwise, Nick Fury would dare to let the next shell fall on the State Council's head.
America, in essence, is a union of several small countries, and the National Guard is the state's highest armed force. In terms of equipment and quality, they are in no way inferior to the federal troops. Some wealthy states even have better equipment, obviously including New Jersey and New York.
Massive support from regular troops must have an effect. Human beings underestimate the firepower they possess. Regardless, no matter how tough the Talons' bodies are, they can't withstand the repeated bombing of large yielding land missiles.
There is no such thing as a human rights bill for these monsters and aliens. If it doesn't work, use armor-piercing bullets, or solid-state gasoline if that fails. As long as the rules of physics still exist, under the firepower that could plow into the ground for over ten meters, it's hard to find a complete corpse.
These measures don't inflict much damage on the Type Demons of the Apocalypse Star. The defense power of the exoskeleton is still very strong, but the trouble lies in the electromagnetic signal interference and the smoke produced by the ground being bombed, which greatly reduced their search efficiency.
The arrival of the regular army from the S.H.I.E.L.D side obviously exerted considerable pressure on the other two factions, but they also had their trump cards.
The Court of Owls reestablished contact with Barbados, saying they needed a stronger force to counter the regular army. The Apocalypse Star Army also sent a message to the headquarters through the portal, saying they needed stronger equipment and personnel support.
The moment they bring in more significant forces, Nick will not hesitate to let the terrorist and alien weapons reach further, forcing the countries that were observing the situation to step in and show their true abilities to deal with these devils.
If they cannot win, they shake others; if they can win, the other side shakes others; if they cannot beat the people the other side shakes, they shake again; if there's more water, they add dough, if there's more dough, they add water.
In such a way, in the new city formed by the fusion of New York and Gotham, the two chosen places, the magic-side Court of Owls, the technology-side Human United Army, and the independent system Apocalypse Star Army, started an unprecedented arms race based on hot war.
By the time Bruce's team advanced towards the city center, the intensity of the war here was already surreal.