"Excuse me, is there a death penalty for being such a pain in the neck?
Urgent! Waiting online!"
Bruce Wayne clenched his fists tightly, his face turning grim with frustration, teeth grinding.
If corporal punishment were still a thing in America, Bruce Wayne would have already given this cheeky son a good beating.
His sharp eyes locked onto Atreus.
Who could've expected that this disrespectful son would place four fingers on his chest and open his mouth with a dramatic flair?
"Have you heard the cries of the children? Have you felt the city crumbling? Did you notice the sneers of the plotters succeeding? Have you ever thought... friends are no longer friends, home is no longer home…" Atreus's voice, full of emotion and intensity, shot out a string of rhetorical questions so mesmerizing and brainwashing that Bruce was left speechless.
When this Atreus compared Gotham City at this moment to the infamous [Corona Virus], and brought up the fact that Bruce had been tricked by that treacherous Miranda into giving up the nuclear fusion reactor not long ago, it was all just too fitting.
Bruce was usually a calm, nearly cold-hearted man. He knew Atreus was messing with him, yet deep down, he also knew—Atreus was right!
Compared to their insignificant father-son relationship, wasn't the safety of Gotham's 12 million people far more important?
At that moment, the criminals below were clearly under attack.
Screams echoed out one after another, yet the areas of silence were expanding rapidly.
This wasn't the work of just one person, but a mysterious team with capabilities far beyond those of special forces, clearing the place in some mysterious way.
Bruce focused and asked in a deep voice, "Who... are you really?"
Atreus kept his cool, a wide smirk curling his lips. "Who are *you*? Gotham's richest man, Bruce Wayne? Or the legendary Batman?"
This soul-searching question caused Bruce's face to stiffen.
Adults are creatures who live behind masks.
Everyone has two faces, the surface one and the real one.
The biggest difference between Bruce and regular people is that he plays on a much grander scale behind the scenes.
He has a moral and legal purity that has driven him to act countless times beyond the confines of the law. It's for this reason that after the Joker incident, when Commissioner Gordon had to publicly smash the Bat-Signal, Bruce sank into silence for a long time.
This was self-exile, a severe self-examination of his own soul.
He hated those who operated above the law, yet he despised even more the criminals who escaped legal justice.
Thus, Batman was born!
Now, staring at his illegitimate son before him, Bruce realized that Atreus was also playing a grand game behind the scenes.
What could he do?
Gather evidence on Atreus, and if he found something wrong, send his only son to either prison or Arkham Asylum?
He didn't want to bend the law for personal reasons! He always believed he never would!
But now, he felt stuck!
Above him, there was the nuclear fusion bomb he'd developed himself, which would destroy Gotham if even one innocent person was killed by its explosion—he would never forgive himself.
Beneath him, there was the eerie portal to another world, needing someone, or rather, a team of top-tier experts to handle it.
Batman can't be in two places at once!
Even if he called in Robin, it's unlikely they could handle both crises simultaneously.
As Batman, Bruce fell into silence.
At that moment, Atreus spoke up: "Here's the deal! I don't want to make things difficult for you. You handle the humans, but when it comes to non-human threats, don't worry about Kratos' methods."
By "humans," Atreus didn't guarantee anything, but that was the closest Bruce's moral code would allow. Wiping the blood off his face, Bruce walked past Atreus without saying a word.
His silence was consent!
As Bruce was about to leave the corridor, Atreus's rebellious voice came from behind.
" Wayne Group will always be run by Waynes. After this, I'll leave the voting rights for the company's shares to you or Mr. Fox. I don't have time to deal with any 'secret science departments.'"
This was the exchange.
In this life, Batman was unlikely to retain his "money power."
But Batman could still be Batman!
At the end, Atreus casually added, "Oh, by the way, 001-917-XXXXX, that's Tony's number. If you want weapon"
If he could avoid it, Batman would never dial that number. His pride wouldn't allow it.
But Gotham's citizens' lives would always come before Bruce Wayne's pride.
Bruce remembered the number.
After watching Bruce's retreating figure disappear, Atreus put on Kratos' helmet: "Alright, let's see what little Bane has in store for me."
When Atreus leaped down in Kratos' form, the scene was already under control.
"Hurry, evacuate through here!" The Lance sisters were organizing the innocent bystanders to leave.
Catwoman, Huntress, Katana, and Ghost-Spider surrounded the massive portal.
Huntress spoke up, "Boss! This is bad! It doesn't seem to be stopping."
Although Bruce, the "main course," had been saved, the blood pool remained.
What appeared to be a harmless waste pit was, upon closer inspection, surrounded by a dense blood-red mist that pulsated and swirled ominously.
Thanks to his elemental intuition, Atreus easily spotted the sinister red runes glowing within the blood mist.
"Throw the incendiary grenades," Atreus ordered.
Everyone pulled out their prepared grenades, setting the area around the blood pool ablaze within seconds.
Except for the blood pool itself!
The pool, like a living organ, began to suck in the blood it contained, growing angry as its sacrifices had been partially stolen.
From the seemingly empty portal came a non-human beast's roar.
"ROAR—"
It wasn't an illusion!
This was some otherworldly being howling in hunger for flesh!
"Heh! This... is hardly impressive," Atreus sneered.
Gwen shot him a look. "Something this evil doesn't impress you?"
"Of course not. I thought Bane's grand finale would be—blowing up the nuclear fusion reactor, sacrificing 12 million lives to open this apocalyptic gate. That would've been impressive! But now? A little underwhelming."
The six women beside him were left speechless.
"Boss, please stop talking! If the thing on the other side hears and follows through, what do we do?"
Atreus casually added, "Seems like Bane didn't want to stop it. Rather, this cross-dimensional portal probably requires fresh blood, not charred corpses."
Suddenly, the seemingly empty portal reacted.
Thick blood mist began to form images, albeit blurry, but enough to see that the other side was Gotham's sewer system as well.
But a hellish version.
Countless scarlet human bones were scattered across the opposite side, and a foul stench of decay poured through the gate. Along with it came faint, eerie whispers, as if countless ghouls were feasting beyond the gate.
When several figures of varying shapes crossed the blood-red threshold, the light on the gate dimmed sharply, and the massive blood mist shrank to a pinpoint, disappearing entirely.
Clearly, the gate's energy had been fully depleted.
Staring at these grotesque new enemies, Atreus's face twitched slightly.
"Suicide Squad!"
Except this was the zombie version!
(End of Chapter)