Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics-Chapter 4535 - 3618: The Edge of Tomorrow (27)

The printer made a slight noise as sheets of paper were spat out one after another. Cobblepot took one out, shook his head, and said, "I knew it. They're not just targeting the Brainiac Center; their real target is Gotham's subway."

"No surprise," Harley said, "The old building at Brainiac Center hasn't even been demolished yet. Even if something goes wrong there, at most a few people would be crushed. But Gotham's subway concerns the survival and employment of millions. If something goes wrong there, Brainiac will be held accountable."

"They seem to have mixed the bomb materials into the latest batch of Dragon bone materials and transported them to the construction site. But the other side is quite cunning; we still can't determine where they plan to detonate. Brainiac, can you calculate the most likely spot?"

Before Brainiac could speak, Harley, who was examining the subway map, said, "I guess it should be here." Her fingertip pointed to the very center of the Gotham map.

"It's definitely here." Pamela turned her head to Waylon and said, "Wait here for me a bit. I should be back soon."

Waylon nodded. Pamela opened the car door and got out, her figure quickly disappearing in front of a construction site's entrance.

"Let me see... It should be this way..."

Pamela waved her hand gently, and vines emerged from the ground, knocking down the scaffolding at the entrance. Pamela slipped into the dusty subway station entrance.

Just as she descended the stairs to the first intersection, she saw fresh footprints. Brainiac's voice came through her earpiece, "The footprint and body type analysis results show that the person we're looking for is here. This section of the subway tunnel is only about 40% complete; the target is likely within 600 meters of you. They likely have an MP7, so be careful."

"Understood." Pamela's voice echoed in the empty tunnel.

Shiller, standing next to the chemical pool, turned to look out the factory window and said, "Looks like someone's coming."

As he finished speaking, footsteps became distinctly audible. Based on the size and frequency of the sound, it was clear that many people were approaching, and they were fully armed.

Jonathan and Victor were visibly a bit flustered. Shiller quickly pushed both of them towards the stairs and said, "Go upstairs, don't make a sound. Don't come out, no matter who calls you."

Shiller went up to the second floor with them, but instead of entering a room, he climbed a metal staircase to the third floor, found a position, and picked up his sniper rifle.

Jack stood on the first floor, as if unaware of anything, continually tossing bodies into the chemical pool, watching the flesh and bones slowly dissolve, happily humming a tune.

"Buzz—"

A slight wind sound came from by the window. Jack tilted his head, and a gleaming boomerang whizzed past his ear. After the boomerang reached its endpoint, it hung in the air for a few seconds, then flew back along the same path.

Jack turned to look, and the silhouette of the boomerang-wielder leaped in through the window.

"Boom—"

The factory's massive shutter door opened, and several figures walked in. Jack tossed the bone fragments high in the air and stood there with a half-smile, half-scorn look at them.

From left to right, the figures at the door were: a yellow-skinned woman with long black hair covered in tattoos, wearing a crescent-shaped headpiece; a Black man holding a sniper rifle with a silenced pistol strapped around his wrist; a man covered in tattoos with makeup depicting the Mexican Day of the Dead; a woman holding a katana; a man in red uniform holding a rope; and a muscular...shark???

Jack's gaze lingered on the shark. He wasn't seeing things or dreaming, the figure on the far right was indeed a shark.

"Waylon, I think I see your brother! I took a photo for you!" Jack typed frantically.

Soon, his phone vibrated twice.

"Bullshit! I'm a freshwater crocodile!!!"

Jack pouted, pocketed his phone, straightened his purple suit, and said, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"Federation Shield, X Task Force." The Black man holding the sniper rifle stepped forward, "We're ordered to investigate the Diamond Street terrorist attack. We now consider you a prime suspect. Hands up."

Jack smiled and raised his hands. But as he spread his arms, everyone facing him paused in their actions—a myriad of bombs were strapped beneath the purple suit.

The people below hadn't yet reacted, but Shiller on the floor above chuckled first. Jonathan and Victor, who had been hiding in the room on the second floor, also came out, leaning over the stairs to watch.

They were afraid of the police and the Regular Army, not this bizarre bunch of misfits. The other side claimed to be with the Federation Shield, but they themselves were in Brainiac's employ; who was more legitimate?

Victor took out his Freeze Gun, while Jonathan had already donned his Scarecrow outfit. Neither moved until Shiller above gave them a signal.

The two silently returned to the room and opened a window. Victor crafted a stairway with dense ice, and they descended through the window, circling to the factory's entrance behind the X Task Force.

At that moment, everyone received information on their communicators about these individuals: dressed like a witch was Witch, the Black man with the sniper rifle was Deadshot, the one with flames on his hands was El Diablo, the woman with the katana was Katana, the man with the rope was Slipknot, and the shark was Shark King.

"I bet this is another one of Amanda Waller's schemes." Harley's voice simultaneously rang in several people's earpieces, "But why is she opposing Brainiac? Because he's smarter than her?"

"It might not be that he wants to oppose Brainiac, but rather someone sees value in him. He needs to work for them to demonstrate his capability," Shiller said, "For him, this is a golden opportunity. If he can help them take down Brainiac, the Federation Shield would have great potential."

"He really managed to get the Suicide Squad together," Harley said. "But without me and the Joker, their combat strength is significantly reduced. Jack alone managed to scare them off, haha."

Just as she finished speaking, Shark King, standing at the farthest side of the team, let out a roar and charged at Jack.

Jack was taken aback. He quickly dodged to the side, but unexpectedly, the shark kept on chasing him, seemingly completely unafraid of the bombs on him.

As they say, the fool fears the brute, and the brute fears the one who doesn't care about life. It's the first time Jack has seen someone this reckless, and he was chased around, fleeing in panic—those bombs on him were real!

"Damn it! Where did they find these madmen?" Jack roared on the public channel.

"Is there a possibility that he doesn't even know they're bombs?" Shiller asked. "Don't worry, his teammates are more panicked than you are."

Jack turned around and saw the X Task Force members, originally posing there, going berserk and rushing at the shark, managing to hold him back with great effort.

"Are you crazy?!" Deadshot shouted at Shark King. "If the bombs on him explode, they'll be enough to blow the entire factory sky high!"

"Bomb... bomb... uh..." Shark King mumbled incoherently.

Deadshot covered his forehead. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

"'Bomb,' 'bomb,' understand?... You! Ahhh! Him! BOOM! You! Ahhhh!" Deadshot spread his hands, tilted his head back, and stuck out his tongue, making a deathly expression.

By the time Deadshot finished his preschool lesson, he turned around, and Jack had already disappeared.

Just as they were about to search for Jack's tracks, they heard "whoosh whoosh whoosh" sounds, and several blue ice cones flew towards them.

One ice cone hit Shark King's massive back, freezing him into an ice sculpture; another one was supposed to hit Deadshot, but he managed to dodge it; yet another exploded under Samurai's feet, freezing both him and Slipknot, who was nearby.

"Who?!" Deadshot aimed his gun.

But unbeknownst to him, Shiller on the third floor was also aiming at him. He knew that to deal with the X Task Force, he must neutralize the key members. And in this squad, the key person wasn't the strongest but the most reliable one.

Deadshot claimed to be the world's most accurate shooter, basically hitting his target every time he fired. Such people must be prioritized and subdued.

Shiller equipped the frozen bullet Victor gave him, and when Deadshot was aiming all around with his gun, he fired at Deadshot's feet. The frozen bomb exploded, freezing him too.

But also because of this shot, Shiller exposed his position. He immediately retreated, just as two flames appeared where he had been standing. If he hadn't moved quickly, he might have been burned.

"We need support." Shiller said into the communicator, "Deathstroke seems rested enough, when can he arrive?"

"In a minute and a half," Deathstroke's voice sounded in the communication channel.

Shiller's heart gradually calmed down because Mr. Freeze and Scarecrow on the first floor had already held them off.

The combined prowess of these two wasn't small. As soon as a few X Task Force members were frozen by the freeze gun, they were hit with fear gas again.

Jonathan tossed two fear toxin bombs over, and everyone was overwhelmed, immersed in their most terrifying scenarios and unable to extricate themselves.

Jonathan signaled to Victor, who lifted the freeze lock. But those who came out inhaled fear gas again, starting to roll on the ground.

Only Shark King, with his minimal brain, remained unaffected, but animal instinct kept him from approaching these two guys, and he was instead knocked to the ground by a crazed Witch, rolling on the ground while clutching his nose.

"Is Amanda crazy?" Jonathan walked towards the front, saying, "Did she plan to use this to deal with Brainiac? They can't even handle me."

"Don't go over there," Victor pulled him back.

"Afraid of what? They're incapable of resisting..." Jonathan scoffed, even mocking Victor's timidity.

"Didn't you say you were allergic to seafood? You still dare to touch a shark?"

Jonathan quickly stepped back. "But then again, getting a shark to join the squad is surely intended to deal with me. It's simply despicable!"

Just as they were talking, a figure in black and yellow leaped in through the window. Seeing everyone rolling nonstop, he just silently put away his weapon and said, "It's good that you're okay. Let's go."

"What about them?" Victor looked at the people on the ground.

"We are mercenaries now, and the first rule of mercenaries is: only do what's paid for, don't meddle. Our task is on Diamond Street; these people aren't part of the mission."

Shiller also came downstairs and said, "The time is still early, we can go back and play a few rounds of cards. Let's go."