## Chapter 26: Slaughter Swamp
“The Earth Mother’s salvation plan starts here.”
Plant Master’s hand still pointed at the map, but the next moment, both he and Poison Ivy stopped.
“Pamela?”
Poison Ivy’s face was grim: “I feel it.”
…
…
…
Night fell.
Slaughter Swamp was located outside Gotham, the largest swamp cluster in the Gotham suburbs.
It was the biggest dumping ground in all of Gotham, second only to Gotham Harbor.
Since the establishment of Gotham over 200 years ago, countless bodies had been thrown into this swamp, turning into disgusting, sticky masses, indistinguishable from the dirty, deep green swamp water and the winding, twisting tree roots.
The Suicide Squad and Chen Tao were wading through the edge of this swamp, passing through clusters of low reeds and cattails, relying on twisted trees and slippery moss to guide them.
“Oh, this is going to eat me alive!”
A swarm of mosquitoes and other flying insects circled around Harley Quinn’s head, making her pale little face even paler.
Robin pulled out a vial of liquid and sprayed it around, immediately causing all the small insects near him to fall straight into the water.
This instantly attracted Harley Quinn’s attention.
“Oh thank heavens, can I use some?”
Tim replied: “It’s concentrated sulfuric acid, a super dehydrator.”
“You dare carry such a terrifying thing in your bag?”
Harley complained:
“Can’t you bring a bug spray to this damned swamp?”
“Hmm…”
“What good can you be, huh?”
Three insects were circling, circling, circling around Harley’s head, like they were riding a merry-go-round.
Tim said: “You might need to supplement some vitamin B.” (Note: Lack of vitamin B can lead to irritability and anger, here Tim is subtly scolding Harley.)
“Never mind!”
Harley Quinn’s voice was agitated: “Your gear is like a Boy Scout’s.”
She dropped that sentence and strode forward, slapping her own head with her palm as she went, unfortunately, she didn’t hit any insects and instead slapped herself and cried out in pain.
Robin hurried to Chen Tao’s side, the two walked side by side, silently watching Harley Quinn ahead.
“Batman, I’ve always had a question. How did you find Harley Quinn?”
Of course, I found her from the comics. Harley Quinn had a house in Brooklyn, New York, and she was still paying off her mortgage. Using the Wayne family connections, I investigated the most flamboyantly decorated houses in Brooklyn, then checked the homeowners, investigated the flow of funds, then checked who was paying the salary to this account, and then I found “Super Baby” restaurant.
But he couldn’t just say that to the young detective. Looking at Tim’s expression, this question seemed to have been weighing on him for a long time, with a kind of “Why can my idol easily do what I can’t do, can’t understand, and can’t even figure out what the operation is, ah ah ah ah ah ah ah!” pain.
So Chen Tao could only answer him: “Because I’m Batman!”
“…”
“Alright,” Tim sighed: “Let’s not talk about how you found Harley Quinn, I just want to talk about her, Batman, I hope you’ll reconsider.”
Robin whispered: “Harley Quinn is defined as someone who does as she pleases, according to my understanding of her, she is very likely to support Poison Ivy’s plan at the last minute.”
“She might think Ivy’s reasoning doesn’t sound so absurd, or maybe today’s wind changed, or maybe it’s Thursday, all these can make Harley Quinn change her mind at will.”
Chen Tao didn’t respond.
“Okay, I understand, I understand—because I’m Batman.”
Tim was completely numb. He waved his hand and muttered, walking away, not wanting to walk with Chen Tao.
“…”
Of course, this was also from the comics. Harley Quinn has always been firmly against Poison Ivy’s overly crazy plans, just as Poison Ivy has always been against Harley Quinn’s excessive infatuation with the Joker.
In a sense, these two women were fighting against the worst and darkest aspects of their personalities, targeting each other’s most serious character flaws, a kind of mutual redemption.
Therefore, if anyone knew that Poison Ivy was planning to do something dangerous, Harley Quinn would never let it happen.
But he couldn’t explain his reasoning to Tim, so he could only brush him off with “because I’m Batman.”
“Welding Dog Hero, are you sure you don’t need any other extra weapons?”
Miss Vick said from behind.
Among the participants in this mission, whether it was the Vertigo Count, Death Shooter, or Batman, they were all old friends she had dealt with before. Only this strange guy who called himself Welding Dog Hero, she had never even met before.
“Batman has provided us with some strange equipment, hasn’t he, Lawton?”
Death Shooter, who was named, grunted in annoyance.
Miss Vick continued:
“Freeze grenades, supposedly from Mr. Freeze’s technology, fear toxin smoke bombs, take a puff and you’ll be paralyzed with fear.”
“Sonic rocket launchers, shockwave effect guns, and this: ionized radiation bomb…”
Vertigo Count said expressionlessly: “These things are meaningless.”
“Tch…”
Death Shooter snorted coldly, but said nothing more.
He knew the other man. Vertigo Count was a pseudo-superpower user who implanted an electronic device in his right temple to disrupt his opponent’s balance. For him, his combat was all about using that little piece of something in his brain to interfere with others, he was the one who looked down on hot weapons the most.
Death Shooter didn’t want to argue with Vertigo Count. If Death Shooter had a sniper rifle, he would have no problem blowing Vertigo Count’s head off like fireworks from a few kilometers away, but so close, it was Vertigo Count’s ability’s best distance, he wasn’t stupid.
Miss Vick didn’t care about the friction between the two men. She continued to say to Welding Dog Hero: “I’m saying, you…”
“Miss Vick.”
Welding Dog Hero finally spoke. The dog on his left hand began to speak for him unabashedly: “Can you keep some distance? I have something to tell you.”
“I’m very grateful for your wish to get to know me, and I’m also very much wanting to be known by you, but I can’t. Because I’m crazy.”
He said earnestly: “I have a very serious problem with my brain, so…unless you can remember the fact that ‘I’m a freak’ when dealing with me in the future, then stay away.”
However, these words obviously didn’t frighten Miss Vick. Just as she was about to say something, Harley Quinn in front spoke up.
“I think we’re almost there, as far as I know, I can bet you—Poison Ivy will definitely turn the bushes and some trees into monsters as watchdogs, just like in ‘The Green Goblin’ where he cheated.”
Harley Quinn said:
“I’m not kidding, once she turned my cane and lollipop into a three-headed snake branch, the lollipop was still in my mouth! I haven’t eaten a lollipop since.”
Then she suddenly stopped:
“I’m pretty sure Red is here.”
(End of Chapter)
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