55. Gotham: Meow Meow
63.
Tegoras had eaten many living creatures on this island.
His father had forbidden it from eating processed products. He said it was a great creation born from nature but transcending nature, and was the direction of evolution that humans should ultimately embrace. Those semi-finished products would only corrupt its mind and lead to its degeneration.
Tigoras didn't understand his father's meaning, but he tried his best to follow every word his father said. He caught the live poultry that was regularly released to the island, biting off the necks of the panicked animals that flapped their wings and fled, licking their blood into his stomach. He also fought large prey - it was difficult at first, but after learning the routine, it became much easier to strike with his claws. Even the largest cattle were just docile herbivores.
The pitch-black creature approached.
Tegoras guessed that it must be a nocturnal creature because it had a protective coloration that could successfully blend into the night.
It had two pointed ears, so its hearing must have been quite sensitive—but hunters also had thick flesh pads, and Tegoras was confident that he would not make any sound as he approached slowly.
The animal crouched down, investigating the footprints on the ground—the nature of prey dictated that they had to be cautious at all times. It wasn't its fault. Tigras felt the saliva in his mouth secreting. Its stomach would be the safest place in the world. Once there, he would never have to worry again.
While the prey was still analyzing the traces on the ground, it moved to a position where it could pounce, slowly backed away, pulled the muscles of its hind legs, and shot itself out like lightning!
The distance closed in an instant, and in Tigoras's dynamic vision, the prey stretched its claws towards its waist - it must have wanted to protect the part that was most vulnerable to breaking, but it was too late!
Hiss—a burst of spicy mist with a pungent smell sprayed towards it.
“Ouch!”
Tigoras fell to the ground, holding his nose. What the hell was this? My eyes hurt so much! I couldn't see anything!
Father, this hunt was a disgrace! We encountered the legendary skunk!
Batman silently put away his bear spray and deployed his jet net to prevent the beast from rioting and injuring anyone. A massive net engulfed the monster before him. It was much larger than a human, so it was only a matter of time before it broke free. But he was waiting for it to be trapped.
He could tell the difference between tigers in nature and the creature before him. He was afraid that Emil Dorian's conspiracy had already been implemented, and the one in front of him was one of the victims of the genetic plan.
"Can you hear me?" Batman quickly recounted Emil's crimes, hoping that the creature before him still retained a trace of humanity - whether it was anger or fear, as long as it showed some human expression, it meant that the transformation was not thorough and there was still hope.
"Don't be afraid, I'm Batman," he said, trying his best to comfort the victim while slowly pulling out a tranquilizer. One dose wouldn't be enough to calm a creature this size down and wait for rescue. "As long as we get a blood sample, we can develop a reverse antigen. We'll be out of this state quickly."
When he spoke, the tiger-shaped creature in front of him was stunned at first, and then struggled more violently.
"Liar!" Tigoras's vocal structure destined him to speak in a powerful and heavy voice, like a tiger's roar. He tore at the hateful spider web that trapped him, and was very angry at Batman for speaking ill of Emil: "I don't allow you to speak about my father like that!"
Father? Capturing the crucial information, Batman calmly changed his strategy, took a step back, and said calmly, "As far as I know, Emil Dorian has never adopted any children. You may have been deceived."
Having his connection to his father questioned was like another male marking his territory. Tegoras was furious: "Your child is not his biological child!"
Created by his father, he was naturally his child. Born to inherit the great cause, he had been working hard to hone his hunting skills. If it weren't for this human's underhanded tricks, it would be uncertain who would live and who would die.
...Father, the thought of him in the fortress, unaware of the invaders, made Tegoras extremely uneasy. He must find a way to escape this damn web and report it to him. He tried to recall his past memories. He had seen spiders weaving webs to hunt in the jungle before. Their luck varied—on good days, they caught insects that provided a good meal, but on bad days, moths tore through the webs, forcing them to spend the rest of their time mending the weak spots...
Yes! It was a spiderweb, just a bit larger. If he could find a weak spot, he could break through it just like a moth. Tygoras stretched his arm and groped for the end of the "web." His veins taut, he pulled out the spikes along with them.
It didn't know what had pricked its leg, but Tigoras, intent on returning to report, pulled himself up from the ground and ran. Blind? No matter, it still had a sense of smell. The pungent smell just now was no longer as bad. It would definitely be able to return by following the way it came.
It exerted all its strength, determined to leave this man called Batman behind, and ran wildly, then hit something with a thud.
Wrong direction! Try again!
With a head full of stars, Tegoras turned and headed towards the fortress. Grass leaves rustled against his fur as he walked. He must have gotten caught on some dead or broken tree in the jungle, as he felt heavy all the way.
In the blink of an eye, he rushed to the gate of the fortress. Without thinking about why the door of his house was gone, Tigoras rushed in with the "gifts" he had picked up while illegally driving along the way.
…
Some NPCs are really stubborn. They refused to give in even after being beaten up by Aria, and kept saying "It's coming soon" and "You'll never get the antigen if you kill me", as if something would fall from the sky and knock these hateful guys down.
The farmer's hands were sore from holding the red-haired animal, but the animal still didn't spit out any useful information. He felt a little frustrated as he suffered a Waterloo in the questioning for the first time.
Looking at the Red Hood calmly spinning his gun, Aria asked for advice: "Do you think I should give him a gift so that it would be easier to ask?" Some MODs can steal things from NPCs. The farmer had never tried it before, but now he feels it is very necessary to actively try it in all aspects.
Catwoman circled the three of them, her tail bent into a question mark, and she seemed very curious about what these people were doing - Aria found that her mind was sometimes in and sometimes out, and now she was clearly in a cat state.
Sensing the woman's anxiety, Selina, who had transformed into a cat, walked towards Aria. Catwoman was closer in size to a real lioness, so she rubbed the farmer's thigh.
"Would you consider my opinion?" Red Hood propped up a leg on the sofa. The missing person had been found, and now all he needed to do was get the antigen. The rest was a matter of psychological warfare, something he was more adept at. "You've heard of Russian roulette, right? This time we can play a high-stakes version—there's only one seat left. Let's see if this gentleman can still hold his tongue."
"Of course, we could also have a tea party and invite everyone here to sit down and drink some scented tea while we discuss whether we can exchange antigens." Jason Todd couldn't help but remark sharply at the farmer's naiveté: "Kitten, you should come closer. Be careful you might end up being given away as a gift."
It was a pity that the farmer didn't understand the bitterness in his words, but the support of her friends gave her a boost of confidence: "Then I'll give it a try!"
Carrying the person around the fortress, Aria found a bunch of empty bottles, jars and test tubes on the shelf, swept them all into her backpack, and took them out of the backpack and gave them to Red Hair.
The farmer finds it very easy to take things in person and then give them to the person concerned.
"This is for you." Aria handed over a set of test tubes she had just pulled out.
"This is for you too." The farmer lifted the table. Poor Emil was finally put down and was about to reach out to receive this "big gift". The scientist, who could not lift anything with his hands or shoulders, seemed to be about to be crushed by the table.
"They're all for you!" Actually, the farmer was always happy when giving gifts to others. Even when giving to someone he disliked, his tone would lighten up: "Aren't these your favorite things? Why don't you improve your favorability and then give us the antigens obediently?"
But in this environment, the sound of this to Emil Dorian was particularly terrifying. He stared at her with wide eyes, as if he were looking at a madman in Arkham who had suddenly gone mad. Emil wanted to resist, but after a long stammer, he could only utter one sentence: "...I can't take it anymore."
Aria shook her head, rejecting the other party's refusal. "Isn't there still half a room full of stuff left? I can give it all to you."
The farmer even smiled a little—but Emil tended to think it was an intimidation: "Look, when we came here, we didn't smash anything and destroy these experimental tools that were particularly important to you. Because he and I are polite, we respected you. Shouldn't you respect us too and let Selina Kyle return to her original state?"
"Or perhaps the gifts aren't enough to impress you." Aria counted the items in the room that hadn't been given away: "A lab table, a sofa, and a lot of soil outside the fortress."
"A piece of clay can be given as a gift," the farmer glanced at the unincreased favorability panel. Clearly, the strategy of giving an NPC's belongings to the NPC wasn't working, but judging by the NPC's expression, she was about to achieve her goal. "—The soil outside can also be divided into many portions and given to you."
Well, Red Hood shifted his butt on the sofa, now having goose bumps. He decided to retract his previous assessment of the farmer; she was actually quite talented in this area.
Emil never thought that he would be treated like this one day. The discomfort of carrying the table and not being able to put it down was even more terrible than being beaten. In the panic of the lack of reinforcements, he wavered: "The antigen is on Tigoras..." Now they should let him go and go find Tigoras, right?
Originally, Emil still had hope in Tigoras, hoping that it would come to save him, but now he just hoped that it would not be caught by these two perverts.
Unfortunately, things did not go as planned. With a roar, Tigoras passed through the empty door frame and ran to the center of the hall.
When Emil Dorian saw what the dark thing on its back was, he almost fainted on the spot.
"Idiot!" he yelled. "Why did you bring Batman with you?"
————————
Red Hood: Me? Pervert?
Aria: Me? Pervert? No way.
Tigoras: Aaaaaaaaa!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
