"Security... Security..."
Greed weakly said into the walkie-talkie, "21... 21... number..."
The communication channel went silent for a moment. Greed knew something was wrong. He was calling for Deathstroke, but it was Deathstroke's first time doing this job, he probably wasn't familiar with it either, so he said again, "The room... the room where the pulley block broke earlier..."
The reason he used the walkie-talkie instead of the team channel was because the agent was also in the team channel. This damned true mole, if he knew where Greed was, he'd be on his way to silence him. The Battleworld communication channel couldn't be used either, because Greed hadn't added the Primary Universe Deathstroke as a friend, they didn't know each other before, so the walkie-talkie was his only option.
The communication channel emitted a sizzling sound, then a slightly muffled voice said, "That room, right? I'll be right there."
Greed broke out in a cold sweat. That wasn't Deathstroke's voice!
There were two possibilities. Either Deathstroke was taken down by someone, that someone could be the agent or Bruce. Clearly, the person was speaking with their mouth covered, making it hard to hear clearly. Or it was Deathstroke's first time doing this job being unfamiliar, he casually tossed the walkie-talkie somewhere and they picked it up.
Greed glanced again at the wall that had already been pried open slightly, he gritted his teeth, leaned against the wall, and slowly moved towards the inner side of the corridor.
As Harley suspected, to simplify things, the structure outside of the room was extremely simple. All the room maintenance rooms were connected to the energy room through employee corridors, one room one path, with no interconnections or other exits.
In other words, if the guy with the walkie-talkie was now coming from the central energy room to find him, there would be only one path, he couldn't avoid it because Harley was blocking him outside, he couldn't go anywhere.
Greed forced himself to move into the deeper maintenance room. Sure enough, after Deathstroke finished repairing the pulley block, he had tossed the wrench here. Greed picked up the wrench, standing at the entrance to the corridor leading to the central energy room.
He slowly untied the jacket wrapped around his abdomen with one hand, holding the wrench with the other, pressing his body against the wall.
Countless colors danced before his eyes, and because of this, he could predict the other's arrival in advance, feeling a tangled mess of thoughts approaching, Greed tightened his grip on the wrench.
When the figure walked in, Greed didn't directly use the wrench to smash, but instead fiercely threw the blood-stained jacket out, directly covering the other's upper body.
The opponent was clearly shocked, but responded quickly, not struggling to remove the object from his body, but instead dodging sideways.
The wrench carried a force far beyond that of an ordinary person, delivering a powerful strike. Yet, for some reason, it landed slightly off. It didn't hit the head but struck the arm.
"Crack!"
"Ugh!!!"
The bone broke with a sound, and the person stiffened in pain.
Greed didn't linger for long, pushed the person away in an instant, and rushed into the corridor behind him.
Bruce tore off the blood-soaked garment covering himself and turned to chase down the corridor. At this time, Harley had also smashed through the wall, chasing into the corridor.
In the room where the lantern was, Loki studied for a while, then released a group of people. Meanwhile, those being attacked by Thor finally remembered to flee. They each picked a door to enter, Loki hesitated briefly and decided to follow Thor to chase the Joker.
This guy was the first to drop, indicating he couldn't be the mole; he must be a wealthy individual tricked by the mole, killing him first couldn't go wrong.
After Batman and Superman emerged, Batman jumped onto the platform where the lantern was. He first used an iron rod to insert into the gap of the employee channel door on the floor, starting to rattle the chained links binding it. After loosening it, he used a crowbar to pry open the door. Eventually, the chain snapped, and the door was opened.
Batman also released a group of people, it was Charles and Erik. But after releasing them, they proceeded along the employee corridor downward, ready to explore the secrets beyond the level.
After Charles and Erik came out, since the room was now empty and the door to the next stage was open, they studied it a bit and decided that continuing the plot was less beneficial than advancing quickly, released the next group before heading to the next stage.
The last ones to emerge were Anatoli and Lucifer. Anatoli thought for a moment and randomly picked a door, which happened to be the one Stark had escaped through.
After everyone left, the room fell silent. But there was still one person who hadn't left, Arrogant.
After everyone else left, he sighed, stepped out of his compartment, made his way along the circular path to the platform, then descended into the lower maintenance room through the central employee corridor.
He scanned his surroundings but didn't find anything unusual, lifted his foot and walked towards another corridor, this corridor led to the central energy room.
Greed rushed into the central energy room at maximum speed. He had little physical strength left, must respond effectively before the pursuers arrived, and the first thing he did was dash to the lighting power switch, yanking the lever down hard.
"Sizzle—"
All the lights in every level, including those in the staff passage, flickered twice and then went out. Everyone was plunged into darkness. Greed breathed a sigh of relief in the darkness.
Darkness is a disadvantage for others, but for Greed, whose talents have now reached their peak, it is a huge advantage, like having full-map transparency.
Greed hadn't used this ability for a long time, because, as the behind-the-scenes manipulator overseeing everything, he hadn't been in dire situations for a long time, and even crisis situations were rare. He preferred to solve problems using conventional methods.
But now it's clear that's not enough. A wolf behind, a tiger in front; if he doesn't use it, he's doomed.
Greed focused his mind and then discovered a huge problem—besides the injured Bruce and Harley, there were actually two more teams coming this way.
But Greed didn't have time to look closely because Bruce was already near, they were almost synchronously arriving at the central energy room. Fortunately, the terrain here is complex; besides energy devices, several shelves of tools and parts were piled up, so Bruce couldn't immediately spot him.
But Greed quickly found that Bruce navigated the area effortlessly, as he had been here before and memorized the terrain, now he could conduct a carpet search.
Staying in the energy room was impossible. Greed took a deep breath; he could only gamble by choosing a passageway to enter, hoping it was unoccupied, and then leave from that checkpoint room.
Choosing any passage was the same; except for the two confirmed occupied ones, others might later have people entering. Greed simply picked one randomly and stumbled in.
Luckily, due to pressure on the wound, the bleeding reduced, and the scent wasn't very strong; even with Bruce behind a shelf, Greed successfully passed by him and entered the passage.
As Bruce continued to patrol the energy room, he suddenly heard the wind beside him and instinctively dodged, his injured right arm bumped into the shelf behind, causing him to let out a low cry.
The opponent seemed to immediately cease action. Bruce squinted, raised his voice and asked, "Who are you?"
The opponent did not answer. With no light at all, Bruce couldn't see who it was. Judging from the speed and force of the punches, it could possibly be Batman.
But why could Batman find his position? And why attack him?
Within moments, Bruce figured it out. The damned organizer threw on him a blood-stained coat, not only to blind his sight and allow ambush but also to cover him in the scent of blood. So when he pulls the lighting, everyone would resort to smell and touch to find others, and if he carries a heavy scent of blood, others are bound to target him.
No, not all players, because not necessarily all know the organizer was heavily injured and bleeding profusely. But one person sure knew, the one who hurt him.
Turns out Batman stabbed the organizer. What a cruel move. Bruce couldn't help but retreat a couple of steps. Even though he wasn't the organizer, he felt guilty.
He knew he had stirred a significant mess in the Multiverse, and if the Primary Universe Batman learned he sneaked out to play games, he might boot him out the Origin Wall. He whispered, "I'm not the organizer..."
"I could tell." Batman's deep voice sounded. Bruce hadn't exhaled before a fist as big as a sandbag appeared in front of him.
Bruce instinctively dodged but was hit in the shoulder, right at his injured arm. He let out a scream. The opponent withdrew his hand and asked, "You're injured?"
Bruce gritted his teeth in silence. Then Batman lifted him directly, throwing him over his shoulder, heading out of the passage.
"Wait, wait, put me down!" Bruce struggled constantly, "Let's talk properly, can't we?! We're in a cooperative game, you can't..."
Before he finished shouting, Batman put him down, but on an empty tool bench. Bruce looked at Batman in alarm, worried he might dissect him!
This wasn't Bruce being paranoid; he couldn't tell which Batman it was. Judging by how he dealt with the organizer, he was definitely not a good type.
But wait, if not a good type, wouldn't that make them comrades?
Bruce hesitated about revealing his identity. At that moment, Batman adjusted Bruce's right arm, murmuring to Superman behind him. Shortly, Superman brought a long metal plate over: "This is all I found."
Batman examined it, nodded, then took some nearby cables and used the metal plate and cables to heal Bruce's fractured arm, giving him a neck-hanging fixture to prevent bone misalignment and pain from friction.
Words caught in his throat, Bruce at this moment was genuinely feeling guilty.
After entering the passage, Greed walked slightly before sitting against the wall. He was genuinely exhausted, only adrenaline had kept him going.
Soon, his body temperature rose quickly, he felt fiercely thirsty, then dizzy and dazed. In such a haze, he vaguely sensed someone approaching.
Looks like the gamble failed. Greed closed his eyes, letting despair engulf him. Then, a voice like heavenly light broke through:
"How did you end up so pathetic, Greed?"