The familiar smell of gunpowder, shattered wood and dirt scattered like a nebula all around, a group of people pointing at the large pit, their voices drowned out by the rain.
Green Arrow was the first to arrive, recognizing the Teen Titans and the Humiliation Squad. Finding no problem, he emerged from behind a nearby tree.
The Humiliation Squad's way of doing things was somewhat akin to his, although they were more extreme, but it wasn't like they couldn't be negotiated with.
After acquiring sin, he had witnessed firsthand Deathstroke and Constantine dealing with various demons, with both confrontations and negotiations; he knew he was now entangled with the Magic Realm, so inevitably he would have to make compromises in the future.
Gaining benefits naturally also comes with a price, that's inevitable.
But the rescued Barbara was now quietly arguing with the Fallen Knight, and although he couldn't hear what they were saying, their body language suggested it was nothing good.
The Fallen Knight leisurely crossed her arms, the rain turning her purple cloak black, while Barbara seemed quite agitated, occasionally stomping her foot and slapping her thigh to emphasize her words.
Indeed, Barbara was rescued, and there were too many smart people in this group.
Damian, Billy Wu, Harley Quinn, Himeko, and also Charise and the Divine Child.
While Su Ming was busy preparing and the Justice League faced devastating defeat, Harley was taking them to have ice cream in the city.
The owner not being in the shop wasn't a problem; they just broke in directly. Harley never understood politeness, quickly made ice cream by finding the ingredients and an ice cream machine that hadn't been soaked in seawater.
She couldn't help it; she liked places like circuses and amusement parks. As long as she wasn't locked up in the Madhouse, she would go to Gotham Park every day, so she not only knew how to make ice cream but popcorn too.
Logically, neither the Teen Titans nor Fallen Squad would allow such blatant robbery, but since it was Harley doing the robbing, that was a different matter.
The Teen Titans knew that Harley was now hanging out with Deathstroke, so as long as she didn't kill anyone, they turned a blind eye to whatever she did.
The Old Deathstroke had tormented the older generation of Titans to death, and this Otherworld Deathstroke was far stronger than that old man.
So when Damian entered the shop, he silently took a wad of cash from his belt and put it on the counter, paying for the use of ingredients and repair of the door.
As for the Humiliation Squad, it goes without saying—they're an anti-hero team, so as long as they consider someone their own, their moral standards aren't that high.
Not to mention that Dr. Quizer, before going mad, was something like a guiding light for them. Although the team's formation used to be merely a mutual aid group of patients, they all owed Harley one.
It's just money, right? Charise also took a wad of cash from her belt and left it on the counter. Next time the shop owner comes, they'd have enough to replace the ice cream machine with a gold-plated one.
With Harley lively setting the atmosphere, everyone sat down in the shop and had a chat. Charise explained the situation in the city, and then Damian exchanged some world environment intel.
Then, a group of smart people sat at the table having ice cream. Billy and the Divine Child got along well; they had loads of nerdy genius topics to discuss, and although the Divine Child seemed a bit gay, a blue-skinned fatty was at least less strange than a black gay guy, right?
Damian's mission in Gotham was to watch over the bait—Harley, while the Humiliation Squad wanted to take down a few more criminals at night.
But somehow, after eating a few cones, everyone's objective, under Harley's banter and jokes, became—to kill the Joker.
Damian was actually reluctant because he knew what would happen if the Joker was killed—the Joker Virus was no joke.
But if there was anyone in the world who could safely kill the Joker, it would definitely be Harley.
She was already crazy enough, so even if she contracted the Joker Virus, how much crazier could she get? Not to mention she likely had antibodies since she spent the most time with the Joker.
However, Da Mi's goal wasn't murder; he wanted to capture the Joker with his own hands, as he had never personally captured Gotham's nightmare.
Every time the Joker appeared, Batman would never let the Bat Clan intervene, at most giving them some logistics tasks like rescuing a hostage or dealing with henchmen.
Now, the chaotic situation seemed like an opportunity; Deathstroke would deal with the Laughing Bat, and the combined force of the Teen Titans and Humiliation Squad should be able to handle the Joker.
If both the Laughing Bat and the Joker were captured, the remaining villains in Gotham could be dealt with.
Charise had a similar thought if not for the menace of the Joker Virus, they would've gone for him after Harley and the Joker split.
But the Joker couldn't be killed. If that virus were merely a legend in the past, now the emergence of the Laughing Bat was well-known to everyone.
The Otherworld Batman was infected by the Joker Virus, turning into the Laughing Bat, and Charise didn't want to become a Laughing Knight. Rational thinking is good, she still found it valuable.
No one knows what the Joker Virus really is—it might be a disease or perhaps some kind of energy or curse.
Its nature and transmission route are unclear, so it's better to let Harley decide. After all, dealing with any criminal is the same; now, having this many hands, facing the Joker shouldn't be a big issue.
As for Poison Ivy, whatever Harley says goes; she's spoiling Harley rotten.
So when Harley gleefully walked out of the ice cream shop, running and dancing in the rain, everyone's target had already shifted to the Joker.
Although no one explicitly stated it, through the exchange of glances between Charise and Damian, they had already reached an agreement.
Charise originally planned to call for a ride, but Harley said eating too much ice cream at night makes you gain weight, so she wanted to go to the park and do some activities like yoga.
Damian couldn't restrict her actions because he knew that to deal with the madman on the other side, one shouldn't limit their own madman, and Deathstroke had also said just to keep an eye on the bait.
The Humiliation Squad didn't object either, as finding the Joker was too difficult, so they might as well follow Harley and let the Joker come to them!
So a group of more than ten people went to the park in the middle of the night.
On the way, they didn't encounter anyone foolish enough to cross them. Ordinary thugs would be scared stiff upon seeing the Humiliation Squad, knowing that even stealing a bike could lead to a death sentence if caught by them, it was terrifying.
Thus, on the dark streets, most criminals who were still active fled upon seeing them, and the group arrived at their destination very smoothly.
Once at the park, the red mound of explosives immediately caught everyone's attention, and they then saw Batgirl's head exposed atop the pile.
Charise and Barbara were both friends and foes, so of course, they had to save her in this situation. Meanwhile, Harley noticed a red and white Joker doll sitting on a nearby bench, its belly slit open with a camera inside.
A typical Joker move.
Harley was crazy, but she also had a plan.
She and Damian blocked the camera, saying a bunch of things to provoke the Joker while everyone else went to rescue Barbara.
The Joker had a quirk—when someone said something that caught his interest, he wouldn't interrupt; he would listen to it all and then decide whether to laugh or not.
As a comedian, listening to someone else's joke in its entirety is a form of professional integrity.
This was a weakness only Harley knew about.
Maybe Batman knew too, but he never chose to tell jokes to the Joker, had no sense of humor, and wasted this advantage.
Here in the park, Ivy casually tossed a seed at her feet, and within seconds, a giant vine plant as large as a subway erupted from the ground, swallowing all the explosives and spitting them onto the distant road.
The others, under her direction, rescued Barbara without harming the trees.
Before they could say anything, the explosives detonated in the distance, and Charise sneered, beginning to mock Barbara.
She brought up the old topic: the idea that justice without death is incomplete, and that justice must be achieved even if it means purifying the entire Earth, as life and blood are the most powerful examples.
All of which did not align with Barbara's values.
The argument about this issue between Charise and Barbara happened every time they met, often escalating into physical confrontations as Barbara's rhetorical skills weren't as sharp and her mind didn't work as fast as Charise's, so she was often at a disadvantage.
The key issue was whether Charise was doing it on purpose; she would often use foul language to mock Director Gordon and the Bat Clan, belittling the no-kill principle.
Barbara's attitude towards criminals was similar to Barry's; she wouldn't kill, but if other heroes did, she wouldn't intervene.
For example, other members of the Birds of Prey like Night Owl, Female Hunter, Samurai Sword, and Black Canary—each of these individuals had blood on their hands.
Especially Night Owl, once an Owl's Claw, who had hundreds of lives on her hands, all of her combat ability focused on assassination skills. If she participated in an operation, it was impossible to stop her from killing.
Samurai Sword was simply Celestial Eye Association's executioner, hoping to speak with her deceased husband through sword-killing people, so killing couldn't be stopped.
But Charise was too annoying; every time Barbara slipped out of her house to patrol at night, she would often be blocked by Humiliation Squad, with Charise always trying to persuade Barbara to change her stance and start killing.
"Barbara, I'm good friends with your brother, join us in killing criminals."
"I don't kill, you do as you wish."
"No, that's wrong, only killing is once and for all, killing is good, come on, I'll teach you."
"I have principles."
"Your principles are wrong, mine are right, you must kill criminals, or you'll be my enemy!"
Barbara was always devastated. Killing or not killing was always a matter of perspective—neither inherently right nor wrong, as Wonder Woman and Batman are both heroes.
But forcing others to change principles, as Charise did, was definitely wrong.
So, it wasn't just Barbara herself; even the Birds of Prey had clashed with the Humiliation Squad many times.
The debate among this group of women gradually shifted from a principle debate of whether to kill or not to the philosophical issue of whether justice could only be achieved by abandoning principles.
And now, another confrontation was about to unfold.