A long time ago, Batman had obtained intelligence indicating that S.H.I.E.L.D. intended to use the Tesseract to manufacture weapons.
Although the Tesseract data stolen by Black Widow had been compromised by Batman's tampering, the Cube itself had remained inside the Adirondack Mountains base all this time, serving as a persistent hidden threat.
He had delayed in addressing this liability due to a lack of proper opportunity. However, with the vast majority of the base's Hydra forces deployed today, Batman had rushed over after hastily mapping out a mere three or four contingency plans.
Fortunately, the process had been relatively smooth. By the time Baron Strucker and the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents within the base gave chase, Batman had already fled dozens of kilometers away.
"Robin, separate from the main force and head to Manhattan's Lower East Side," Batman ordered Venom-Robin through an encrypted communication channel as he sprinted.
"The Lower East Side? Isn't that Hulk's territory?" Robin asked, bewildered.
The sheer destructive momentum of the battle between the Hulk and the Red Hulk was so massive that media helicopters flying high in the sky were able to capture them directly.
Aside from the Daily Bugle, to which Eddie Brock belonged, this was the only way the outside world could visually perceive the battle conditions across the rest of Manhattan.
Wherever the two giants clashed, neither reinforced concrete walls nor cement pavement stood a chance; everything collapsed into complete ruins.
Even the lead ballast counterweights inside the abandoned shipyard—which Batman had once used for weighted training—had been utterly shattered by the duo. Wooden vessels quickly lost their residual moisture, dried out, ignited, and burst into flames.
These two were essentially demolition maniacs whose building-level destruction surpassed that of standard explosive charges. Robin knew that even if he went there himself, he wouldn't be able to keep up with their pace.
It couldn't be helped. Not only was he unable to beat Batman, whose strength was inferior to his own, but he stood no chance against the Hulk, whose raw power far exceeded his—and whose upper limit even Batman could not calculate.
"I am aware," Batman said. "Latverian forces are about to arrive. According to my intelligence, they consist entirely of high-tech criminals. However, I need you to stay close to the Hulk just in case."
"Then what about the Black Knight?" Robin asked, still concerned.
"I am about to reach Fifth Avenue," Batman replied.
Hearing Batman say this, Venom-Robin immediately felt at ease:
"Oh."
By now, Robin had retracted the wings on his back. Those wings, which were currently only capable of gliding, offered no practical combat utility beyond making him look somewhat peculiar.
He watched as the Black Knight continuously rode his steed, Strider, diving down from the sky. He used the Ebony Blade to knock Hydra soldiers unconscious before Strider reared back, kicking them away with its hooves.
With each successful strike completed, the Black Knight would soar back into the sky to seek his next opening.
Venom-Robin paid him no further attention, turning around to swing away toward Manhattan's Lower East Side.
After severing the connection with Venom-Robin, Batman patched through to Professor Morbius:
"Professor, immediately abort the mission I previously assigned to you."
"I am Batman," Professor Morbius responded over the comms system.
Batman went silent for two seconds before rephrasing his words:
"A new contingent of Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents is pursuing me. They possess weapons that even I cannot withstand."
Batman was referring to Baron Strucker's death spores.
Sure enough, hearing this caused Professor Morbius's heart to skip a beat:
"Then we're finished. I've already flown across half of Manhattan. By now, practically every Hydra soldier knows I am Batman, including your superhero friends."
"You need a new alias, and you must head to Times Square to rendezvous with the others," Batman said.
"Understood," Professor Morbius replied. "How does 'Morbius, the Living Vampire' sound?" [Translator's Note: The text reads "暗夜博士" (Doctor of the Dark Night), but given the character context, this corresponds to his comic moniker, Morbius.]
"Good," Batman approved.
As they spoke, Batman drew close to the perimeter of the Adirondack Mountains region.
Far behind him, Captain America—having retrieved his shield—had locked horns with Baron Strucker once again. Meanwhile, the short-haired man discharging blue electricity and Quake were flying through the sky, rapidly closing the distance toward Batman.
Behind them, the cybernetically enhanced S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were engaged in a brutal melee with the remaining handful of Hydra soldiers.
"Once you rendezvous with the others, tell them this: Baron Strucker of Hydra, characterized by his cybernetic eye, harbors death spores within his body capable of instantly extinguishing life. Under no circumstances should anyone make physical contact with him."
Batman delivered his final warning to Morbius, and upon receiving a firm affirmation, he terminated the transmission.
Aside from the Lizard, Dr. Connors, who remained hidden underground, and the Hulk in the Lower East Side, most of the other combatants were being intentionally or unintentionally directed by Batman toward Times Square.
Tony Stark, Iron Man, was an exception. Although he was fighting side by side with the Fantastic Four, very little communication occurred between the two parties.
Batman also instinctively preferred not to pull the Fantastic Four—specifically Reed Richards—into the fold to face the enemy together.
"Batman, I have new intelligence."
Just as Batman broke past the Adirondack Mountains perimeter, Dr. Connors, who was lurking in the sewers, transmitted another message:
"Seven individuals whom I've never seen before, yet who likewise possess special abilities, joined the Manhattan battlefield an hour ago."
"Enemies?" Batman asked.
"No, they appear to be allies," Dr. Connors replied.
"Describe their appearances."
Dr. Connors thought for a moment, relaying the information passed to him by the reptiles he had sent out to scout for data.
Those seven people were precisely the temporary alliance Captain America had gathered from various parts of the world, including Ant-Man and the Wasp.
What even Batman had not anticipated, however, was that there were quite a few individuals within this alliance whom he "knew."
For instance, the Werewolf and Iron Fist; or Mockingbird, whom Batman previously only knew by the designation Agent 19, but whose actual appearance he was learning of for the first time today.
Batman did not recognize Falcon or Patriot, but the final individual was someone he was intimately familiar with.
"Jack Monroe?" Batman recalled the young man who had lost everything overnight, yet still wore a bright, radiant smile on his face.
Batman had worried that a single bad day might turn the youth into something akin to the Joker. Instead, Jack had chosen to step up and become a superhero when Manhattan faced a crisis.
Yet, the more this happened, the more Batman worried about his psychological state. Those traumas would not vanish alongside Jack Monroe's smiles; rather, they would remain suppressed within his heart, bound to explode sooner or later.
Suppressing a sigh in his mind, Batman firmly noted Jack Monroe's situation.
He had already arrived at Fifth Avenue and was advancing in the direction of Times Square. Midway through his journey, however, Batman halted his steps. He looked toward a silver sports car that had crashed into a roadside building, its entire front end buried under heavy brickwork and masonry.
Judging by the tire skid marks on the ground, this car had clearly not been seized at random by Doctor Octopus or someone else to be hurled as a weapon.
A quick scan from Batman's Gargoyle suit revealed that a passenger was still trapped inside the vehicle, already in critical condition and on the verge of death.
No matter the time or place, saving lives remained the absolute highest priority. Batman immediately ceased his advance, rapidly clearing away the bricks piled on top of the sports car. With a casual twist of his hand, he ripped the severely deformed car door off its hinges, tossed it aside, and pulled the individual inside out of the wreckage.
"Doctor Strange?" Holding the dying doctor in his arms, Batman looked at that slightly sharp, aristocratic face and knit his brows.
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