General Bart couldn't believe that he had gained freedom in such a situation, even regaining his demonic body. He had thought this would be a certain death situation, but now, it seemed he might have a new lease on life. However, before General Bart could even speak to express his relief, a terrifying sense of mortal danger enveloped him. He only had time to glance back before a chi blast struck him directly.
And in the moment the chi blast hit, General Bart suddenly realized something crucial—his connection with the dark dimension had been severed!
"Boom!" Everything happened too quickly, and even with General Bart's strength, he had no chance to react. His body was blown apart by the chi blast on the spot!
"Gurgle!" Seeing the terrifying explosive power in the sky, Mobius's eyes flickered with fear, then some excitement, as it seemed that General Bart had truly died!
"Is it over?" Tony Stark asked Robert hesitantly.
"It's over," Robert nodded. He had made a point of demonstrating this in front of Tony and Mobius as a deterrent to Mobius, letting him know that whether it was sealing him or killing him, both were effortless. So, he hoped Mobius would stay in line!
Given what had happened to General Bart, Mobius was unlikely to have any rebellious thoughts, and even if he did, he probably wouldn't dare show them. Robert thought it wise to keep Tony on the lookout, just to be safe.
As General Bart was completely annihilated by the chi blast, somewhere in the southern hemisphere, a lady resembling Mrs. Goff suddenly opened her eyes, incredulously looking towards the sky and saying, "What happened? How could General Bart just die? Who could possibly kill him? Why didn't the dark dimension save him?"
Tara voiced her confusion, but there was no one to answer her questions, and she had no way of knowing what exactly had happened to General Bart.
However, a sudden sense of crisis surged in Tara's heart. As more demons were devoured, she had seen a future where she could break free from the mask form and consolidate into a demonic body. But now, General Bart's death had reignited her caution.
"What on earth is happening? Even if Earth differed from my expectations, why are there so many strong beings? Could it be because of a breach in Earth's dimension?" Tara pondered with a mix of thought and cold sharpness in her eyes. "But regardless of the reason, whoever dares kill a major general of my Shadow Army will pay a price. It doesn't matter who you are..."
"Gods above!" In the Batcave, General Ikka suddenly opened his eyes, unlike the incredulous Tara, his expression was filled with intense fear.
After all, General Ikka's strength wasn't on par with Tara's. In his mind, he was immortal, even now caught by Batman, he wasn't panicking because if he could just survive long enough, he'd regain his freedom after Batman's death.
Having experienced both Batman and the Joker as hosts, General Ikka knew the problem wasn't with Earth at present—at least it wasn't full of monsters as he had initially thought. The real issue was just a very few individuals...
As General Ikka came to these realizations, he felt it might just be his bad luck to have encountered such formidable opponents. Among all the masks, perhaps only he had been this unlucky.
And now, knowing that General Bart was definitively dead, General Ikka realized there was someone even more unfortunate than him. The other's death not only proved that he wasn't immortal but also that Earth was far too dangerous...
"What to do? What should I do?" General Ikka was panic-stricken, not wanting to stay on Earth a moment longer. However, entering Earth's dimension wasn't easy, and settling here long-term was even more difficult. The dark dimension had gone through significant efforts and paid a hefty price to allow the Shadow Army to enter Earth's dimension.
Now, wanting to leave after settling in Earth's dimension wasn't so simple, especially since General Ikka was also sealed, and having Batman as a host didn't help, especially since he couldn't control such a host...
"Sir, that mask seems to have gone mad..." General Ikka's movements didn't escape the eyes of Alfred, the butler. After all, General Ikka was now one of Batman's most frequently used extraordinary items, and he was closely monitored.
Alfred didn't want to see Batman one day fall victim to this mask, so upon detecting the anomaly, he immediately reported it to Batman.
"Has it gone mad?" Batman's voice contained a hint of surprise. While he thought General Ikka wasn't very wise, going mad was something Batman hadn't anticipated.
"Could it be because of the Joker?" Considering his wariness of the Joker, the first thought that crossed Batman's mind was that
the Ikka mask might still be harboring some trick left by the Joker.
It wasn't that Batman was paranoid, but he knew the Joker could indeed pull off such a stunt, especially since the Joker's madness had exceeded anything Batman had known before—it seemed to have worsened, prompting Batman to immediately think of the Joker.
Moreover, the last time the Joker went mad, he had threatened chaos in Gotham, and so far, there had been no movement. Batman had prepared various measures, none of which had been needed, and it was hard for Batman not to suspect the Joker was brewing an even greater conspiracy!
With this in mind, Batman quickly made his way to the Batcave, his gaze fixating on the frenzied General Ikka. His expression was hesitant, as Ikka's current state of madness didn't seem quite as he had expected—at least there was no sign of his powers going berserk.
"What's the situation?" Batman didn't waste words with General Ikka, holding the mask in his hand and asking in a deep voice.
"Earth is too dangerous, if I stay, I fear I might die as well..." Even held in Batman's hand, General Ikka felt no warmth or stability, his voice trembling slightly as he spoke. Clearly, General Bart's death had a tremendous impact on him, even more shocking than being controlled by the Joker and Batman.
"Too dangerous? What has happened on Earth? Or do you foresee some danger coming?" Batman's eyes glinted sharply as he looked at General Ikka.
"General Bart is dead, I don't know who killed him, but whoever did could kill me too. Perhaps they are specifically targeting us from the dark dimension; otherwise, it doesn't make sense that they could kill us while we are empowered by the dark dimension..." General Ikka's voice was still shaky, but his logic was becoming clearer.
"General Bart? Didn't you say before that you couldn't contact your companions?" Batman's voice grew stern as he squinted his eyes.
"I indeed can't contact my companions, otherwise why would I be screaming here?" General Ikka slowly calmed down, his voice carrying a self-mocking tone, "We don't have any means of communication, especially when we're all sealed like this..."
"However, our origin comes from the same place, just like the last time I was judged by the Eye of Judgment. Although I was continuously hurt by the Eye of Judgment, my consciousness was continuously protected by the dark dimension behind me..."
"This time, someone successfully severed General Bart's connection with the dark dimension and killed him. The whole dark dimension has been stirred up, that's how I knew about this..."
"Severed the connection with the dark dimension?" Batman frowned, knowing what this implied. If someone could sever the mask's connection with the dark dimension, it would not only weaken a mask like General Ikka's, but also prevent mask hosts like himself from drawing on the dark dimension's power!
"Yes, I don't know whether General Bart was killed with a host or without one..." General Ikka glanced at Batman, "But it doesn't matter anymore. Even someone like you, a freak, would become ordinary once the connection is severed..."
"It looks like I need a new contingency plan!" A thought flashed through Batman's mind, beginning to formulate a plan.
General Ikka was one of Batman's most handy extraordinary items. Naturally, Batman hoped nothing would actually happen to him.
But regarding the enemy General Ikka mentioned, Batman knew nothing and could not effectively respond. Preparedness made Batman strong, but only if he had sufficient knowledge of the enemy. Without it, even knowing the enemy was powerful, Batman could easily be caught off guard...
"Stay quiet here, and call out if anything odd happens, I'll come to help," Batman regained his composure and sternly told General Ikka. "But before you encounter any danger, don't randomly scream, understand?!"
"I... I understand!" After coming to his senses, General Ikka felt that although the being who killed General Bart was terrifying, at least it wasn't currently in front of him, while Batman could indeed pose a real threat and even use the dark power to torment and restrict him, so it was better to continue playing it safe!
Moreover, from what Batman implied, if real danger came, he would try to help. With Batman's promise, General Ikka felt much more at ease, an imposing dark demon feeling gratitude towards Batman...
On the other side, Robert, who had dealt with General Bart, probably hadn't anticipated that he had almost lured out Tara. Unfortunately, Tara was still too cautious and hadn't followed General Bart's remaining trail to find Robert.
"Are you planning to continue researching the armor, or study this vampire?" Robert had returned to Tony Stark's home, enjoying a large meal while looking at Tony to ask.
"Let's check his situation first, I already have some initial ideas for the armor, so I don't need your
demonstration for now..." Tony shook his head, glancing at Mobius, "Besides, the vampire issue is more serious. Even if he claims he hasn't been feeding indiscriminately, he indeed has such tendencies, and I don't want him suddenly unable to resist and biting me one day!"
"No... I wouldn't, really, if that were to happen, I'd bite myself before I ever bit you..." Mobius looked somewhat dejectedly at Robert, fearful that Robert might misunderstand his intention to bite Tony and thus kill him, so he hastily explained.
"Hmm? You biting yourself, would that actually work?" Tony asked curiously upon hearing Mobius's words. "If that really works, and you can draw your own blood by biting yourself, wouldn't you be able to achieve perpetual motion within your body?"
"Uh..." Hearing Tony's words, Mobius's face stiffened slightly, momentarily unsure how to respond to Tony, because he had never considered, nor attempted, such a thing.
Since discovering he had been transformed into a vampire, and also unable to revert himself back, Mobius had given up the path of science, let alone exploring the many inconsistencies about himself.
"Such a lack of exploratory spirit, let's test it later, we're going to experiment anyway..." Tony shook his head, looking forward to speaking with Mobius, "Although I'm not very studied in the biological field, learning this kind of knowledge won't take me much time..."
"You don't have a diploma in the biological field, do you?" Originally, Mobius had quite a bit of faith in Tony, but hearing that Tony hadn't studied this field, he suddenly became somewhat incredulous, hesitatingly looking at Tony.
"Rest assured, learning knowledge for me is even easier than how Robert handled that mask!" Tony confidently slapped his chest, joking, what could possibly stump Tony Stark? He was the smartest man on Earth! No! The smartest human!
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