Chapter 22 Not Off ≠ On Enemy: I don't care, not being off means it's on...
Wen Yue stepped back a few paces, and the fighter jet standing behind her deactivated its virtual holographic camouflage, slowly revealing its streamlined fuselage in the night. "Our equipment and combat suits are inside. Everyone, go in and choose. Tonight is our team's battle to make a name for ourselves. Let's smash through the Court of Owls and become the kings that everyone in Gotham City knows!"
Killer Croc nudged the mud-faced man next to him with his elbow, "Is this the script our team is on?"
"Not sending it?" The mud-faced man walked into the aircraft cabin, feeling dizzy and shocked by the dazzling array of weapons and combat equipment before him. For the first time, he realized the true value of the player as a powerful backer.
They'd never fought a battle with such wealth before. Tonight, the courtroom was literally crushed by money. The team members marveled and each selected their equipment.
Beneath the vast sky, the starry sea stretches endlessly, and all things reveal their exquisite beauty. Looking down at the tiny red figure standing outside the fighter jet, Wen Yue finally awaited the return of the world's consciousness.
【I'm back--】
A glowing ring entered the player's body, a warm sensation spreading throughout. Scattered light emanated from within, making the player appear divine and extraordinary, before receding and disappearing into the darkness after a few breaths. A semi-transparent game panel popped up with a notification, showing significant increases to the player's intelligence and strength stats, along with a 70% immunity to dark power buff.
"What is this?" Wen Yue asked, pointing to the gleaming halo above her head.
[Angel Halo.] This is an aura that was kindly provided by the world consciousness and the God of this universe after a friendly exchange and cooperation. It's perfect for players to use as a cheat.
[The aura has a special effect against dark forces, and after my enhancements, its purifying effect on dark forces is significant. You can think of it as a powerful bomb. Just be mindful of your energy levels; the aura's energy will be completely depleted upon self-destruction, and its self-replenishment takes a long time. It's more efficient to convert and absorb other forms of energy.]
The player's gaze shifted to the game panel, where the display read, "[Angel Halo: 100%]". It turned out that this 100% represented energy.
How can I help it absorb other forms of energy?
You can think of it as a shield, a shield that can absorb energy.
In other words, as long as it's not a physical attack, players can simply use their aura to block it. Wen Yue imagined the scene of an Omega Ray shooting towards her, her angelic aura flashing, not only blocking the damage but also instantly maxing out her energy, delivering a magnificent counterattack. A smile involuntarily crept onto her face. Awesome, so incredibly awesome!
The halo itself can also house your spiritual body, protecting your soul when your physical body is damaged.
The player, now with an extra life, stroked her chin. "A resurrection item has arrived! I'm an angel now?" she thought. "Do I have wings?"
When you become a pure spiritual being, you can freely change your appearance and form, and can conjure wings on your own. But a flesh-and-blood body does not have wings.
【Yay!】 The cheat is here, feeling relieved, the player perked up again. The halo disappeared, and Wen Yue happily hid the cheat.
Forget the "without the spirit of a strong person, relying on external things is meaningless" cliché. The player started it, so everyone else can do as they please. Even players who play the hacked version of Plants vs. Zombies can't handle any hardship. Besides, if you really look into it, the player didn't actually cheat; she just didn't turn it off. Her thinking is rigorous and logical; her ideas are clear and justified.
Once the villain squad was ready, Wen Yue led her team onto the fighter jet and arrived near the Court of Owls base.
This is the new entrance to the courthouse base that the player found. The sewer entrance that was previously tracked was decisively passed over by the player due to the tragic fate of the clone. After all, Barbatos's gaping maw was lying in wait for the player's main body to enter, so that was definitely not the place to go.
Between the twelfth and fourteenth floors of the abandoned Gosston Building lies a blank thirteenth floor, an unused and isolated space. Unbeknownst to many, it hides a secret base secretly established by the Court of Owls.
Wen Yue launched the grappling hook gun and landed steadily on the thirteenth floor. The newly upgraded grappling hook gun uses ultra-heated micro-nano ropes that can withstand the weight of at least two adults. After confirming the stability, the player launched the grappling hook gun and used his legs to grip the rope and climb up.
"Heave-ho... Heave-ho!" After some clumsy maneuvers, the player struggled to climb over the Killer Croc's head, panting and urging everyone to hurry up and catch up.
"..."
Villain Squad: Is it too late to resign now?
A flurry of actions, and the score was a mere 0.5. Harley rolled her eyes. "So why don't we just take our fighter jets and charge in?"
"A stealthy infiltration, we need to sneak in silently and catch the courtroom off guard." Wen Yue's eyes gleamed with wisdom; the players' tactical arrangements were definitely sound. "Besides, are those fighter jets even big enough to squeeze into the building?"
"Okay, okay, whatever you say. Little Ai~" Harley called to our teammate.
Poison Ivy smiled indulgently, beckoned with her finger, and the plant vines stretched upwards, leading the team members into the sky.
"Hey, help me out!" the lagging squad leader yelled. Were these villainous employees here to clean up the capital? It was blatant exclusion!
After some twists and turns, the players finally reached the thirteenth floor of the building. Wen Yue walked at the back of the team, looking left and right wary of enemy attacks, while the mud-faced man disguised as Batman was at the front, acting as a target.
Players presented the court with two Batmen: Deathstroke, who routinely patrolled the city at night, and Mudman, who accompanied the team in attacking the courthouse. Regardless of which Batman the court deemed the real one, both were wrong. These players were in the atmosphere.
A strange smell began to fill the air, and Wen Yue stopped, noticing the player status panel: [Hallucination buff... Confusion buff...]
"Poison Ivy!" Wen Yue decisively called to her teammates, "The air is contaminated with excessive chemicals. Are your plants immune to them?"
“Natural immunity is fearless.” Poison Ivy’s eyes were clear, completely unaffected by hallucinations. The surrounding vines grew wildly, the plants’ breathing accelerated, and the hallucinogens in the air gradually lost their effect. “But how do you know I can solve this?”
"Harley Quinn said it." The player smoothly shifted the blame to Harley, who was still in a daze and caught in a hallucination, taking advantage of her current mental state.
A dark shadow flashed past, lunging straight at the mud-faced figure dressed as Batman at the forefront. The mud-faced figure narrowly dodged, realizing it was a feint, and was immediately riddled with holes by the swarm of claws. The mud-faced figure collapsed, legs twitching, and as the assassins' claws showed expressions of excitement, he sprang up, laughing, "Hahaha, just kidding! This little bit of skill isn't enough to defeat Mudface!"
The vines lashed out, swatting away the claws that were attacking the mud-faced man. Poison Ivy slowly reached out and gently stroked the green leaves, her vines winding and coiling around the claws, suspending them from the ceiling.
Killer Crocodile devoured the self-service snacks one bite at a time. Its sharp, curved claws possessed astonishing gripping power, easily severing its clawed body. It showed no fear in the face of swarms of clawed throwing knives, scratching its undamaged skin and then spreading its fan-like hand to give the opponent a good thrashing.
Seeing that we had the upper hand, the enemy, disregarding all martial ethics, used a secret weapon to escape.
"boom--"
The flamethrower was incredibly powerful; a flash of fire melted the vines that held up the sharp claws, and blazing red flames shot into the sky, devouring the plants with overwhelming force.
Poison Ivy picked up Harley, who was incapacitated by hallucinations, and pulled her out of the fire ring. This fragile psychiatrist is still a beginner version 1.0 of Harley Quinn. She still needs to practice more in this high-level game.
Even the Killer Crocodile's hide couldn't withstand the intense flames; any longer and it would be roasted like a fish. It voluntarily withdrew from the battle. The Mudman ran even faster than the Killer Crocodile, joining the player in a corner to scout the enemy.
Sensing something was amiss, Wen Yue frowned and called for the fighter jets parked on the perimeter to take their positions. The massive fighter jets blocked out the neon lights outside the windows, and the shadows cast by the cargo bridge decks enveloped the building. The Batmobile 3.0 emerged from this shadow and landed steadily on the thirteenth floor.
The player, hiding behind a wall, taps their gauntlet to summon the Batmobile AI: "Activate Batmobile 3.0 weapon diagnostics, enter war mode."
The clay figure crouching nearby spotted the key point. (Watson, you've found the blind spot!)
Did you just mention the Batmobile?
The player glanced at him sideways with a calm, expressionless gaze: "You know too much." A faint blue arc of light flashed from the disc-shaped object in his hand, radiating a silent threat. The magnetic stun gun was ready to strike again—the next death knell would be you.
The mud-faced man instantly broke out in a cold sweat, his body stiffening as if he'd been electrocuted, and he fell silent for a moment: "Oh no, Barbie Q! He seems to have discovered some secret he shouldn't know."
The mud-faced man, who had unwittingly boarded the pirate ship, was caught in a dilemma, his whole body tense, fearing that his teammates would kill him to silence him.
"Freeze launcher activated."
"Anti-Dionysian factor immune effector antagonist activated."
"60mm cannon activated."
"Uproar control activated."
The bat AI smoothly launched its prepared arsenal.
Cold air, medicine, fire, and roars flew in unison, wiping out a large swarm of undead claws in the blink of an eye. Freezing agents extinguished the fires while halting enemy movement, stun agents slowed the healing effects of the Dionysian factor within the claws, cannons provided precise targeting and devastating firepower, and riot control devices eliminated any remaining survivors. Each weapon had a clear role, efficiently clearing the battlefield.
The overwhelming momentum of the battle was quickly quelled as the players effortlessly dismantled the enemy ranks, swiftly dispatching the swarming claws. The chaos subsided, and moments later, on this smoke-filled battlefield, only the villainous squad stood proudly, with no other enemies remaining.
"We should go." The ever-low-key master casually patted his spotless sleeves, his gentle expression humble: "Thanks to the team's cooperation and help, let's keep up the good work." This move certainly impressed the players.
The entire team turned around in unison and said, "Didn't you say we were going to sneak in covertly?"
“Yes, but weren’t we discovered?” Wen Yue raised an eyebrow. Taking out all the enemies who discovered the team’s whereabouts was also a sophisticated infiltration method.
"..."
Teammates: Xiuer, it has to be you.
The long, melodious chimes tolled deeply in the quiet night of Gotham, piercing through the layers of darkness. Midnight arrived, and Gotham City entered its darkest hour.
After a thorough search, the villainous team finally found the secret passage through which the Claws moved. Killer Croc opened the loose floorboards, peered into the bottomless darkness, pointed to the entrance, and asked, "Who goes first?"
Undercurrents were stirring. The apparent teammates looked at each other, then took a step back in unison.
Wen Yue: "Mud-faced man." If anything happens, the mud-faced man will handle it; he won't die anyway.
Mudman: "Red Robin." As soon as Red Robin landed, he ran away at top speed.
Poison Ivy: "I don't get involved in your human affairs."
"Huh?" The Harley Quinn, who had just woken up, was still confused and out of touch with reality.
A silent silence spread through the team until Wen Yue finally gestured for them to go together. Everyone nodded and jumped down simultaneously.
The villainous team arrived at the Owl Court classic maze instance. The player's semi-transparent game panel flashed a few times and then suddenly disappeared, its panel gloriously retired, following the old path of the Bat PC's internet outage and crash.
Harley stepped forward and knocked on the wall separating the maze, judging by the sound: "Solid." She shrugged helplessly, blew on the stray hairs on her forehead, and, carrying the unused freeze gun, said, "So what do we do? Just keep going through the maze?"
"No." That won't work. Wen Yue had anticipated this, so she took out her mini cutter and shot out a laser, cutting a circular doorway shape on the wall as easily as cutting tofu. Then she walked over, kicked the core away, leaving an empty hole, and turned her head to signal to follow.
The ion laser can not only cut through thick walls of rock, but also reinforced metal walls about 30 centimeters thick. This time, the pay-to-win player has a slight edge.
The villainous team arrived smoothly at the core base of the Court of Owls. The conference hall, laid out like a courtroom, was deserted. In the center of the hall stood a solitary model of Gotham City; flipping it revealed another side of the city, completely shrouded in darkness. This was where the court's senators usually held meetings.
"What's with the 'empty city strategy' that the Owl Court is playing?" Wen Yue muttered.
"Where is everyone?" Harley looked around and found a hidden passage. The lead team went in, and the others followed closely behind.
"Is an owl a gopher? How come it can burrow so well?" Killer Croc shrank its massive body and squeezed into the secret passage with difficulty, scraping against the surrounding walls as it stumbled and bumped its way forward, trying to keep up with its teammates.
A note from the author:
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