novellhall Chapter 205 already told you Reverse-Flash would betray you.
Chapter 205 already told you Reverse-Flash would betray you.
Chapter 205 already told you Reverse-Flash would betray you.
Grud was very cautious.
Although he seems to have used mental attacks on The Flash multiple times, he never dares to invade anyone's mind, for fear of being inadvertently corrupted.
This behavior is essentially like throwing stones at a car from the outside; no matter what evil spirits are inside the car, they cannot harm the person throwing the stones from the outside.
However, the increasing Speed Force within him and the Flash's apparent active absorption of the Speed Force under his control gradually made him lower his guard.
The Flash already had a close relationship with the Speed Force. Now he is absorbing the Speed Force collected by the lightning rod I created, and I am also absorbing it. It's like we are drinking from the same Speed Force "source" and transmitting my mental abilities through the Speed Force, which will greatly enhance my control over him.
At this point, I'll use this link to invade his mind. Whether I succeed or fail, I can escape unscathed thanks to the speed force, right?
The logic is sound, the thinking is very reasonable, and even the Flash's eagerness to acquire the Speed Force and his potential to actively seek out the "water source" for a meal is captured with unparalleled precision.
The only problem is... the choice to get into the car was right, but the target was wrong.
When Grodd tried to enter Batman's mind, it was like he'd stumbled into a giant silver slap—
In fact, although Reverse-Flash taught Grodd a lot, the gorilla who had never tasted nitrous oxide never really had a clear understanding of what "Gotham local flavor" meant.
In his view, this was nothing more than another kind of mental barrier, just like the special defenses against telepathy that he had seen in Ape City. So this old experience also led Gruud to make a momentary misjudgment.
Humans, even apes, tend to judge new situations based on their existing experiences.
We originally thought we were coming in to have a real fight with live ammunition and weapons, facing guards in bulletproof vests, so we prepared bulletproof vests and Thompson submachine guns in advance.
Upon entering, they found it was indeed a guard, but completely naked, with aphrodisiacs burning in the air, employing a gorilla-like seduction technique. Their preparations were clearly not for dealing with this kind of offensive scene. Even if they left, their hearts would be tainted, their eyes defiled, and they'd already inhaled the drugs—
This is the current state of Gruud.
Okay, that's Flash's state too.
Tick.
A drop of saliva dripped from the corner of his upturned mouth, which Barry wiped away.
"Hehe, hehehe!"
Barry remembered wanting to be the most approachable superhero, huh? And now, with that grinning face... it doesn't seem so wrong, does it?
The Flash felt very happy just thinking about it.
Yay! I'm Midtown's friendly neighbor, delivering smiles to others every day at supersonic speed. I'm the number one superhero in terms of friendliness!
"Hahaha, hee hee hee hee hee!"
The logical chain was established, the cause and effect were clear, and he chuckled softly, then immediately stopped himself in fright.
That's terrifying, bro.
This is a side effect of Chen Tao sharing Joker's chaotic thoughts with them through nanobots. Barry knew that Batman had no choice but to do so, otherwise Grodd, whose thoughts were accelerated by the Speed Force, could turn everyone into his puppets in just half a second, just like the previously dazed Captain Cold and Heatwave.
The two of them had been fighting him down below with the Turtle Man, but now they were also frozen due to the drained Speed Force in Midtown. Only the Turtle Man, who controlled the Stasis Force, was unaffected and could still participate in the rooftop battle. However, Barry guessed that Groud wouldn't leave such formidable fighting power unused by the two Rogues; he would definitely…
Hmm, I'm thinking of Turtle Man. Where did Turtle Man go?
Barry blinked. Actually, he had felt something was off for a while. When he was fighting the turtle man earlier, he felt that the other man seemed a bit distracted and lacked interest in the Speed Force "Water Source" generated by the "Lightning Rod" technology of Gorilla City.
This is strange and abnormal. Logically speaking, a villain like the Turtle Man should have no less desire for the Speed Force than the Gorilla Grodd, but he seemed to be in a daze throughout.
He didn't go all out when fighting him down there. After the battlefield shifted to the rooftop, he broke through the blockade and now he's simply disappeared.
Barry was thinking seriously, giving his brain, which he hadn't used in a long time and had accelerated with the Speed Force, a new lease on life.
What conspiracy does the turtle man have?
Does Batman know about this?
He should—
Click, click...
However, the Flash's thought process was interrupted by Captain Cold's cold air.
These two members of the rogue gang, who had been deeply controlled by Gruud, appeared on the rooftop battlefield at some point, just like the Turtle Man.
The Flash stared at the golden Speed Force coiling around them and secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that Groud wouldn't give up on these two combatants; he must have already taken measures to protect the Ice and Fire duo from the Speed Force storm.
"Hehe, bat..." Barry couldn't help but chuckle twice as he turned to speak, then quickly covered his mouth.
"Are you alright?"
He said very quickly, "I might be held up by them for a while."
Barry's gaze swept over Chen Tao. At that moment, Reverse-Flash was grabbing the head of the gorilla Grud with both hands, the Speed Force constantly wrapping around his hands.
He was using a high-level Speed Force technique that Barry didn't understand to help guide the gorilla Grodd, who already had enough Speed Force infused into his body, to channel that Speed Force into his brain, thereby accelerating the removal of "laughter pollution" from his mind.
However, faced with this situation where "the enemy is healing him," Batman did not attack immediately. He stood there quietly, like a silent statue, as if he had been stunned in the midst of the battle.
But Barry knew things weren't as they seemed. Although their contact hadn't been long, Barry knew that Batman was a...
A cunning good person.
He was always scheming things he wasn't even aware of, and Barry guessed he was definitely not idle at the moment, and must be doing something that neither he nor the enemy had discovered.
However, there was one more thing he had to remind Batman of.
"Never destroy the lightning rod directly!" Barry shouted as he worked with his old buddy Captain Cold. "Batman, it might sound complicated, but that machine has to be shut down properly."
"That machine is essentially like a giant vacuum cleaner, constantly blowing air to drain the Speed Force from the entire Central City, creating a Speed Force storm, but at the same time it is also a limiter of the Speed Force storm."
"Sisco told me that the machine is like controlled nuclear fusion. It's as if there's a non-existent speedster running around the storm, using the Speed Force to restrain it, and then stealing the Speed Force from the storm to keep it at a speed that constantly draws energy from the entire city, while at the same time 'supplying' water like a water source."
With a deafening roar, a massive explosion of heatwave erupted beside Barry. Barry leaped into the air, then conjured a hurricane with his hands, blowing away Captain Cold, who was close behind in the attack.
"But if the limiter is suddenly broken, the Speed Force storm will be unleashed and begin to expand recklessly. It will quickly cover Central City, and then Winston City..."
"It's only a matter of time before the entire world is threatened."
Barry repeated, "Absolutely, absolutely do not destroy this machine, otherwise—"
Otherwise, he would end up like the Red Death in the Dark Multiverse, watching helplessly as the out-of-control Speed Force storm destroyed his world. Chen Tao thought to himself.
Then he answered The Flash:
"I see."
The next moment, he was distracted and sent flying backward by the telekinetic power of the gorilla Grodd.
As time went on, the gorilla Grodd continued to absorb the Speed Force that was being channeled into his body. With the acceleration of the Speed Force, his mental abilities and telekinesis also increased.
"Thank you so much, Swann, you've been a great help."
The gorilla, whose smile had vanished, regained his serious expression. Then, with a reaction speed exceeding normal limits, he dodged Chen Tao's retaliatory heat gaze and once again used invisible telekinesis to bombard Chen Tao, who was suspended in mid-air.
"Thank you."
He thanked Reverse Lightning again.
"It's nothing, you just need to stall for time."
Chen Tao heard Reverse-Flash tell him, "Although Batman can temporarily control the power of Kryptonians through unknown means, this power is far inferior to that of real Kryptonians, and it is also time-limited."
He made no attempt to conceal the fact that Chen Tao was currently hovering right next to them.
"Reverse-Flash Swan will definitely betray you." Reverse-Flash heard Batman say, "Any cooperation with Reverse-Flash is like playing with fire."
Reverse Lightning chuckled inwardly. He didn't care about such praise; in fact, it was a compliment to him.
"Don't even think about trying to sow discord between Grud and his allies," the gorilla Grud said in a deep voice, his face seemingly filled with complete trust in Reverse-Flash. Several energy guns firing kryptonite beams rose from several corners of the rooftop under his control, focusing fire on Chen Tao, who was synchronized with the high-speed bullets, sending him flying backward.
"You think that because Gerudo's allies told him the crucial information that you can temporarily transform into a Kryptonian, Gerudo wouldn't take any corresponding action?"
He roared, "Grud was prepared!"
"A military-made kryptonite energy gun?" Chen Tao was grazed by the kryptonite beam and couldn't help but complain, "They actually managed to appear here, it's like they were just bought from a convenience store."
"Your assessment is correct, Reverse-Flash. It does work on Batman."
As he spoke, Gerud took a gun directly from a rising auto-aiming machine next to him and aimed it at Chen Tao.
"It's not that easy to dodge!"
He fired a shot, then, with the aid of super speed, transformed into a black blur and ran to another kryptonite energy gun, manually aiming as well.
He could have used telekinesis to achieve this aiming assistance, but he was too excited and preferred to use this more "Speed Force user" method to achieve the same goal.
As the Speed Force accumulated within him, the gorilla Grodd's speed increased, and now his near-teleportation speed was almost indistinguishable from that of a true speedster.
Faster! Stronger! More agile! Speeds that surpass the limits of all biological reactions, leaps that defy countless laws of physics!
"The connection to the Speed Force belongs to me..."
Gerud growled in a low voice, "Gerud will become the master of all Speed Force!"
More and more golden lightning bolts coiled around the gorilla Grud's body, complementing the crown on his head and his expression as he returned to his original position after launching the attack, arms outstretched, roaring to the sky, making him appear almost like a...
Uh, a really handsome gorilla?
It may be difficult for humans to appreciate how majestic and awe-inspiring Gorilla Groud looked at this moment.
At the same time, Reverse-Flash did something similar to what Groudon did.
Beep beep beep——
In an instant, countless green beams of light wove together in the air, forming a net. No matter how fast Batman was, he couldn't possibly dodge the barrage of energy guns.
But with a flash of silvery-white particles, Bizarro Batman's gray, disfigured face appeared before Grodd and Reverse-Flash.
Chen Tao simply spread his arms, letting the green kryptonite energy gun blast into his chest without even trying to dodge.
"..."
The gorilla Grud suddenly realized that he had looked a bit silly just now.
"Bizaro likes (hates) Kryptonite guns."
Chen Tao spewed flames, enduring the psychic power of the gorilla Grud, and forcibly melted the kryptonite energy guns next to him into a pool of molten iron. The kryptonite energy that shot towards him actually strengthened Bizarro for a short time, making it easier for him to break through the gorilla Grud's protective shield.
Chen Tao said, "Grud, you should always be wary of the guy next to you."
To be honest, he didn't like being in sync with Bizarro. Being forced to speak ironically and having his IQ drop by 50% severely interfered with his brain.
Boom boom boom!
With several Kryptonite energy guns destroyed, Chen Tao hurriedly switched back to Broken Bat. He hadn't managed to destroy them all; if he wanted to destroy all the energy guns while enduring Gerudo's attacks, the battle would have become a protracted war of attrition.
Because the more energy guns he destroys, the fewer are left—it seems like a no-brainer, but for Grud, fewer energy guns mean fewer targets for his telekinesis to protect, and also means that the telekinetic shields on the protected energy guns are thicker and harder to break.
Chen Tao's time to synchronize with Zaro's Batman is limited. If things become a tug-of-war, who will suffer more?
It's obviously him.
Therefore, the Kryptonite gun was never the point. As long as Chen Tao didn't use the Kryptonian system, these weapons wouldn't threaten him. So why did he insist on rushing in and forcibly using synchronized high-speed bullets to fight?
He could have easily destroyed the Kryptonite guns using other off-the-board methods and then synchronized the high-velocity bullets; there was no need to try to forcibly destroy all the guns now and waste precious synchronization time in a protracted battle.
and……
"Reverse Lightning will definitely betray you." Chen Tao repeated to Grud again: "Cooperating with him is like asking a tiger for its skin."
"Ha, what a joke!" Reverse-Flash, standing next to Gerd, immediately retorted, "Alberd Swann isn't that kind of person."
"Ha! What a joke!" said the gorilla Groud. "Such a divisive tactic is utterly pathetic, Bat. Reverse-Flash has no reason to attack Groud. Groud and Reverse-Flash cooperate perfectly; our alliance is unbreakable—Aaaaaaah!!!!"
Before he could finish speaking, his whole body trembled, and countless currents of the Speed Force were drawn from his body and gathered on Reverse-Flash, who had stabbed him in the back.
Gruud fell to the ground.
"I wanted to do it five minutes after I met you," Reverse Flash said.
A small scepter appeared in his hand, with a lightning bolt symbol on it.
Even as Groud fell to the ground, more Speed Force continued to surge from him into Reverse-Lightning.
Reverse-Flash chuckled: "You have a good eye for people, Batman."
"..."
Chen Tao was speechless. He muttered a curse under his breath:
"I knew it."
I've finally finished writing. The night sky at 3 a.m. is so beautiful.
(End of this chapter)