Gothamites Under Disaster!

"Let’s not talk about that yet, Jason. Where have you been these past two years? Why couldn’t we contact you? And Tattooed Man claimed you were dead. What exactly happened? Were you taken to soak in the Lazarus Pit too?"

Kate stepped forward twice, her beautiful eyes cautiously fixed on Red Hood’s mask.

"Or are you not the real Jason at all, but some kind of clone or something?"

"I am who I am." Jason Todd replied casually. "In this world, I really did ‘die,’ but you have no idea what I went through."

"He traveled to another universe." At that moment, Zhang Ye and the others approached.

Barbara Gordon and Kate would have been lying if they said they were not tense at the sight of such a large group appearing out of nowhere. They had not seen outsiders in a long time, especially powerful outsiders.

Sensing their unease, Zhang Ye offered a friendly smile. "Relax, detectives. We’re not your enemies. On the contrary, we’re here to help you."

Staring intently at Zhang Ye and the others, Barbara felt a faint but palpable pressure. Her senses were especially sharp in that regard, but she had only felt this kind of power from members of the Justice League.

Batwoman Kate caught the key point. She looked around in astonishment before turning her gaze to Jason. "You traveled to another universe!?"

". Yes." Jason did not deny it. He silently nodded. "I don’t know why, but at the moment I was killed by the Doomsday Para-demons, I entered another world with a post-apocalyptic future."

". Then you are…" Kate looked at Pietro, Ashley, Zhang Ye, and the others, her eyes full of shock.

"I told you, we’re here to help you." Zhang Ye spoke calmly. "We came from very far away."

At those words, Kate froze in place, a hint of concern flashing through her eyes. Before this, she had never encountered beings from another world, much less ones from another world that was also facing an apocalypse.

Although she had been a superhero for quite some time, powerful figures like Batman had always stood above them. They rarely faced situations they could not handle.

But now, the Justice League was gone, Earth had completely fallen, and the surviving heroes were nearly all fighting on their own. Even unified orders had to be relayed through Superman’s wife, Lois, placing enormous pressure on them.

Under these circumstances, a group of people claiming to be "visitors from another world" had suddenly appeared. It was no wonder Kate was so wary, because no one knew whether this was another trick Darkseid had devised for his own amusement.

"Barbara, at least you can still trust me, right?" Black Canary, who had been standing behind Zhang Ye, finally stepped forward.

She had originally intended to reunite with comrades she had not seen in a long time, but when they truly stood together, Black Canary suddenly calmed down. She could feel the pressure weighing on Barbara and Kate, and she could see the bloodshot veins in their eyes.

"Dinah?"

Barbara froze when she heard Black Canary’s voice.

"It’s me." Black Canary stepped forward, and the two women immediately embraced.

If there were anyone in the Bat-Family and the Green Arrow Family with the closest relationship, Barbara and Black Canary definitely counted among them. They had known each other before the Justice League, and their bond ran deep.

For a moment, no one around them disturbed them, leaving this rare moment of tranquility to the two close sisters who had not seen each other in so long.

The only one who seemed somewhat distracted was undoubtedly Kara. Right now, all she wanted was to find her cousin Superman as soon as possible, but the Justice League’s disappearance was hardly news. She knew she could not rush it.

The only thing she prayed for now was that her cousin had not come to harm.

". Ahem."

After a long while, Zhang Ye spoke and broke the silence. "I normally wouldn’t ruin the mood, but all of us standing on Gotham’s streets in the middle of the night, even if there aren’t any Para-demons around, is honestly a little…"

Zhang Ye did not finish the sentence, but he knew Barbara understood what he meant.

"Oh, sorry. That was my oversight. It’s just… you all, I… Whew, I feel like I’m dreaming." Barbara let out a long breath and released Black Canary.

"I’ll take you to the new Batcave. That’s where we live."

"The new Batcave?" Jason turned his head.

Kate answered, "We moved a long time ago. The old Batcave was wiped out by the Doomsday Para-demons, and Wayne Manor became ruins too. The Para-demons that attacked Gotham were clearly prepared."

Zhang Ye nodded as he listened to Kate’s explanation. Indeed, when fighting the Bat-Family, one could only force chance encounters and absolutely could not give them time to prepare. Apparently, he was not the only one who knew that rule. Batman himself knew it too, after all, these Para-demons had been arranged by Batman personally.

No one understood Gotham better than Batman. After being "brainwashed" by Darkseid, Batman would not show mercy when he raised the butcher’s knife against Gotham. One only had to look at Gotham now to see that.

Led by Barbara and Kate, the group hurried nonstop toward the new Batcave.

Along the way, Zhang Ye and the others introduced themselves to them, briefly explaining the connection between the two worlds and Black Canary and Red Hood’s experiences in the wasteland world.

When they learned that Kara was actually Superman’s cousin, the expressions on the two Batwomen’s faces were beyond colorful. But since things like Black Canary and Red Hood traveling to another world had already happened, Kara’s appearance no longer seemed impossible to accept.

And with that, the League had gained another Kryptonian, making their combat strength even greater.

However, Zhang Ye could sense through telepathy that Barbara and Kate still did not truly trust them. They were only leading this group to one of the Batcave’s new outposts. In their minds, they were hiding the location of another Batcave.

But Zhang Ye was not surprised. If they had truly trusted everyone immediately, that would have been a little unreasonable. Trust was not something easily gained.

Beneath Arkham Asylum.

Everyone sat around a round table, with a pristine teacup before each of them. Barbara was pouring water into the cups from a kettle. "Have some hot tea and warm yourselves up. It looks like tonight will be a sleepless one."

Although Arkham Asylum had already been reduced to ruins, the underground facilities were still fairly complete. After Barbara and Kate arrived, they cleaned the place thoroughly.

Zhang Ye picked up his teacup, gently blew on it, then looked up and asked.

"Can you tell us about Gotham? I’m rather curious about this place. It may have fallen, but surely there can’t be no living people left at all, right?"

After pouring hot tea for everyone, Barbara returned to her seat and poured herself a cup as well.

Watching the black tea flow into the cup, Barbara’s vision gradually blurred, and scenes of flashing blades, flying bullets, and gunfire appeared before her eyes.

"Some people say Gotham is a magical place. You can never guess what horrors it hides."

Whenever Gotham suffered some kind of disaster—being ruled by Bane, threatened by Joker, occupied by Riddler.

Experts would predict that there would be a massive exodus from the city. Those people in suits who spent all day gesturing on television predicted that Gotham’s citizens would be unable to endure those experiences and would resolve to flee.

But they did not understand Gotham at all, nor did they understand the people who lived here.

Everyone who chose to live here was stubborn and unyielding. In fact, whenever Gotham faced a life-or-death crisis, many of the people living here would gather together without any prior arrangement, determined to prove something to those experts.

They wanted to prove to the whole world just how strong Gothamites were!

". The Para-demons, the Para-demons just broke through the Gotham City Police Department’s checkpoint! They’re moving down the streets—"

Boom!

Heat Vision blasted apart Barbara’s car barricade, and the enormous impact hurled her away.

The terrifying roar echoed through Barbara’s mind. She lay helplessly amid the rubble. Although her Batsuit had blocked most of the impact, the massive sonic boom had left her entire mind sluggish.

Her eyes were unfocused, and the countless noises filling her ears nearly deafened her.

Several minutes passed before she finally managed to focus her vision again, only to discover that the block around her had long since fallen. Countless Para-demons clustered densely in the sky, wreaking havoc all around.

As far as she could see, Gotham was already in ruins. Amid fierce explosions, the residents scattered in panic, but against those terrifying Para-demons, there was nowhere for them to flee.

Her leg was pinned beneath a car’s front end, leaving Barbara unable to move. Seeing her headset lying not far ahead, she desperately stretched out her hand, straining to reach for it.

Her bloodied fingers trembled uncontrollably. She could feel the agony radiating from her leg, but she had no time to think about that now.

Finally, her fingers reached the headset.

Barbara gritted her teeth and immediately put it on, trying once again to contact the heroes on the other side of the city.

"Kate! Kate, can you hear me!?"

But the only response was an abyssal silence.

There was no sound from the headset, and Barbara’s heart instantly sank to the bottom.

Her cries received no response, but they attracted quite a few Para-demons.

These monsters, capable of sensing fear, were experts at tracking prey. They could hear the faintest sounds, and they could also use fear to locate their targets.

A buzzing sound approached. Barbara struggled to lift her head and saw an enormous Para-demon land before her, opening its blood-filled maw at her.

Just then, a reckless, unruly chuckle came from behind the Para-demon.

"The more you cut me, the faster I grow. What am I?"

Before the Para-demon or Barbara could react, the next moment—

Bang!

A green bullet instantly tore through the Para-demon’s head from behind, leaving a clearly visible green hole.

The Para-demon swayed, then toppled stiffly in front of Barbara with a tremendous crash, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Barbara stared at the scene in shock, then looked up along the Para-demon’s corpse. A tall, thin man in a green suit and green hat stood there, laughing wildly as he held a pistol.

"The answer is—a hole, my love."

Barbara glared at the man, her face full of disbelief.

"Riddler, why are you…"

As a detective, Barbara could easily tell that Riddler was already terrified beyond measure.

Though his frivolous demeanor made him seem calm and composed, it was all an act. He was afraid of chaos, afraid of the Para-demons destroying Gotham.

Riddler knew it too. The corners of his smiling mouth could not stop trembling, but he still forced himself to maintain that smile, as if it could give him some courage.

Tilting his head as he looked at Barbara, Riddler extended his hand.

"The final prank has begun. Care to join?"

Barbara hesitated for less than two seconds before immediately extending her hand.

"Count me in."

Their hands clasped.

Both of them could feel the cold.