R Batman Incident (19)

Nick Fury stood atop the Empire State Building. He saw a burst of red light erupt in the distant New York sky, followed by a red beam shooting straight into the heavens. Holding his radio, he said, "All units, attention! That so-called Bat God Guardian has descended. Activate the monitoring equipment and be ready to launch the resistance plan at any moment…"

Before he could finish, a black Shade suddenly soared up from the roof of Highland Tower.

In an instant, a massive black storm devoured the sky over the entire Brooklyn District. A black curtain spread outward from its center in widening rings, and a dark tide filled with endless terror surged toward them.

Nick stood there with his mouth open and lowered the radio. After a moment, he cursed viciously and said, "Get me the New York Sanctum, now! What the hell is this Bat Guardian? Is he planning to destroy Earth outright? Aren’t those mages going to do anything?!!"

Near Highland Tower, every armed officer stared up at the rooftop in stunned disbelief. A gigantic black sphere burst open, then contracted again, gradually condensing into a black monster over a hundred meters long.

As the terrifying black bat appeared over New York, Steve looked up and muttered to himself, "Their so-called Bat God has really descended…"

Other than Schiller, who was watching from the roof of the mansion, everyone believed this was the Bat God the vampires had spoken of.

Of course, there was one other person who knew the truth: Morlun, the vampire who had descended here. But at the moment, he had no energy to explain himself.

The black Venom Bat Peter had transformed into was Bruce’s second-stage transformation—the terrifying bat monster that had fought Schiller above Living Hell.

Whether in size, form, or sheer presence, it was beyond the comprehension of ordinary people.

The Morlun Family traveled through countless Multiverses and had seen all kinds of monsters. The universe was vast and full of strange things; among such creatures, the Venom Bat was not particularly enormous, nor was its appearance especially striking.

Yet vampire Morlun could sense things ordinary people could not. In his vision, this Venom Bat was far more horrifying than it appeared. Its entire body was wrapped in an endless dark tide, radiating a terror that chilled him to the bone.

Even Morlun, who had traveled through countless Multiverses, had never seen fear so nearly tangible. The first eruption of the dark tide sent him flying all the way to the edge of the roof.

But Morlun quickly decided to strike first.

Members of the Morlun Family possessed the talent to drain the power of other living beings for themselves. They were accustomed to fighting this way, so the instant Morlun sensed danger, he activated his innate ability.

Morlun extended One Hand, just as he had when draining Spider-Man’s power before, intending to absorb the Venom Bat’s strength.

But this time, unlike the pure energy he usually gained from absorbing other creatures, when Morlun activated his ability, endless darkness and fear surged in alongside the energy.

In almost an instant, black energy broke through Morlun’s mental barrier. Dead, black Qi poured from the vampire’s mouth, nose, eyes, and ears.

That energy polluted his consciousness and infected his blood. Morlun let out a horrifying scream as his skin and muscles began to shrivel. He collapsed to his knees, and his entire body began undergoing a terrifying transformation.

His skin became like that of a real bat—dry, black, and covered in patches of fur. His forehead receded, his mouth and nose pushed forward, and he grew bat fangs and ears. Sharp wings sprouted from his back, while his hands and feet became batlike claws.

Infected by dark energy, Morlun turned into a half-human, half-bat monster, but the transformation did not end there.

As creatures capable of traveling through different Multiverses, members of the Morlun Family shared a special psychic network. They could communicate across different spaces and times, all through this innate psychic network.

Yet once the defenses of that psychic network were breached, infection spread with terrifying speed. A massive flood of dark energy suddenly poured into the psychic network terminal of this Morlun Family member who had descended here.

Other members of the Morlun Family detected the change in that terminal. Echoes continuously came from the depths of the universe: "What happened to you? Answer us! Have you encountered danger?"

What answered them was endless terror. In countless corners of the universe, every Morlun Family member who had sent a signal underwent the same horrifying mutation.

As for the Morlun who had descended on Earth, once his transformation was complete, the dark consciousness and fear completely devoured his mind. Trembling, he let out a low, crazed laugh and shouted amid the laughter, "I am a bat! I am the bat! I am the incarnation of fear! I am a disciple of fear! Death never changes; only fear endures! Hahahahahaha!"

Schiller watched the transformation from the neighboring rooftop. Naturally, he had no idea that the darkness deep within Batman’s heart had already infected most of the Morlun Family, turning them into new disciples of fear.

He had only one thought—Morlun, you’re so weak.

What happened to that Multiverse hunter? What happened to those Cosmic Vampires?

But after thinking it over, Schiller realized it might not have been that Morlun was too weak. The darkness deep within Batman’s heart was practically the Primal Power of the DC world, an overpowered weapon belonging to the entire DC world. Any Batman who unleashed Dark Force would instantly become a DC infinite-level villain.

And when that power was preserved within Venom and brought to Marvel, using it against an individual member of the Multiverse-level Morlun Family was like using an anti-aircraft cannon to swat a mosquito.

Unfortunately, releasing that power was a one-time thing and came with many restrictions. Not just anyone could bear it. Perhaps only a hero with a heart as kind as Spider-Man’s could retain his original sanity after accepting its release.

In truth, Spider-Man was indeed still sane right now, but he was panicking. Really panicking.

I woke up and became the Bat God himself. What do I do? Waiting online, urgent.

Almost every ordinary person on the ground believed that the enormous Venom Bat Spider-Man had become was the real Bat God Guardian. As for the half-human, half-bat monster beside him, it was probably some minion mutated by the Bat God Guardian’s power…

Only two people had directly witnessed the transformation: Morlun, the disciple of fear who had already gone insane, and Stark, who had already lost consciousness. So no one knew that this utterly terrifying monster had actually been transformed from Spider-Man.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Peter asked Venom inwardly.

"It’s all your fault! You did this last time and got us nearly beaten up by Captain Steve. This time we’ve caused an even bigger mess. What do we do now?"

"Nothing. Just stay here. Someone will come soon."

The moment Venom finished speaking, Peter heard a somewhat indifferent female voice beside his ear. "Who are you? Why have you come to Earth?"

In Peter’s vision, a mage wearing yellow robes appeared before him. The instant she appeared, ripples spread through the surrounding space. In Peter’s field of view, the clouds at the horizon became completely still, as if time itself had frozen.

She repeated herself, "I am The Ancient One, Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme. Who are you? Why have you come here?"

The Ancient One stood quietly within the fear field filled with the Venom Bat’s black mist. Around her was what seemed like a pure land, peaceful and serene.

Normally, when facing things like Demon Gods, The Ancient One would destroy them first and ask questions later. She had not acted this time because she had not yet figured out what this thing was.

To a supreme powerhouse like The Ancient One, who had nearly penetrated the universe and grasped the truths of space and time, the world was not as ordinary people saw it. In her eyes, every power could be analyzed. Each had its source, and each could be traced back to its root in the depths of the universe.

But this time, The Ancient One discovered that the power emitted by the monster before her had neither root nor source in the universe. She could find no place from which it originated, as though it had appeared out of thin air.

That aroused The Ancient One’s curiosity. What intrigued her even more was that although this overwhelming dark tide contained madness-inducing fear and darkness, it did not seem malicious. It was merely releasing its darkness.

In the past, every Demon God that had sought to invade Earth, no matter how well it disguised itself, had allowed The Ancient One to deeply sense its greed and malice. That chaos and madness carved into their bones was an innate trait of non-orderly beings. No matter how they concealed it, traces always remained.

But this time, the enormous bat-shaped being reminded The Ancient One of something that had happened not long ago—an ancient god claiming to be from Carcosa had appeared near Earth, issued a warning, and then disappeared for no reason.

The Ancient One examined the gigantic bat from head to toe. She was in no hurry; time was what she lacked least.

The Ancient One thought that, just like the ancient god who had appeared last time, she could not sense the source of their power or find the root of their existence. They shared the same trait, so she could not help linking them together.

Could that strange Cosmic Demon who had issued the warning last time have done so because this bat was going to descend?

Yet strangely, the instant this bat descended, it neither tried to destroy Earth nor launched any attack. Even when facing The Ancient One, who had introduced herself, it merely remained silent.

After observing for a while and confirming that she truly could not find the source of this power, The Ancient One tried looking at it from another angle. A bat? Why did it have to be a bat? Did that carry some special meaning?

After guessing for quite some time, The Ancient One finally sat down cross-legged where she stood. She seemed to begin communicating with some distant consciousness, seeking an answer from it.

"Totem… the power of the Beast Totem… a newborn totem?… Bat, disciple of fear… the power of fear? I see. It can indeed be put to use…"

After a while, The Ancient One rose to her feet. Whether or not the monster could understand her, she directly said, "Newborn totem, I am willing to lend you a hand. However, after you become a true Beast Totem, you must return this power to me tenfold…"

Peter could not understand a word she was saying. In fact, he did not even know who she was. Venom fell silent for a while, seeming to think, then sent over a signal: "…Twofold at most."

"You are too greedy. You have already caused damage on Earth. The excess will count as compensation."

"There isn’t that much…"

The yellow-robed mage stood with her hands at her sides and calmly said, "On Earth, only I set the price. If you do not wish to pay, then stay here forever."

"Fivefold…"

The Ancient One fell silent for a moment, then muttered to herself, "…The power of fear?"

"Deal."

"Now leave this place. I am going to catch a thief."

With that, The Ancient One waved an arm, seized the Morlun Family member who had transformed into a bat-man monster, and disappeared.

Frozen time shattered. The instant Venom withdrew his power into his body, Peter crashed heavily to the ground and cried out in pain.

Soon, Steve jumped down from a helicopter. Seeing Stark and Peter lying on the ground, he hurriedly helped them both up.

Stark was lifted onto a stretcher, while Peter was supported onto the helicopter by Steve. Schiller patted his shoulder inside the helicopter. Peter shook his head and said, "It’s okay… It’s okay, we’re all fine. How’s the battle going?"

"Don’t worry. The lizard serum is extremely effective. Ninety percent of those crazed bats can no longer fight. The remaining few are scattering and fleeing. We’re using freeze guns to capture them…"