## Chapter 6: Clever
Killer Croc crushed the rat in his mouth, the broken bones and blood dripping from his fangs, leaving red ripples in the water.
He opened his mouth and exhaled a bloody, foul breath.
Killer Croc, Waylon Jones, stood over six and a half feet tall, covered in dark green scales that could withstand direct rifle fire. His sharp claws and fangs gleamed menacingly, making him look more like an upright crocodile than a human. He seemed ferocious, but not very clever.
Yet, even if his mind succumbed to primal senses and animal instincts, he still clearly remembered the name of the person who had hurt him.
“Bain!”
The name echoed in his mind like an endless scream.
He walked through the darkness of Gotham City’s sewers, searching for the scent of his enemy amidst the stench, filth, and fumes.
His arm still ached. Last time, he only lasted one move against Bane before his arm was broken.
Killer Croc knew he had become a tool for Bane to prove his strength to Batman. It was a great humiliation, but also an unparalleled motivation.
The fury of the beast burned fiercely in his heart. In nature, crocodiles were always vengeful creatures.
But… before revenge, he needed to find something to eat.
At that thought, the ferocity of the beast vanished.
He snorted sadly.
Ugh, I’m hungry, and the rat isn’t filling me up at all…
It’s alright, I’ll stop being hungry after a while.
The big crocodile slumped down in the pile of trash. Although he was warm-blooded, he still had certain reptilian characteristics, like liking to sit still for hours.
But just then, his keen sense of smell detected an aroma. The scent was so alluring that it stretched his curled-up body like a hedgehog.
It smells so good! Too good! What is this? Roasted whole pig!
No, above the sewer where I’m hiding should be the slums. Why would the slums… but it smells so good!
Killer Croc’s brain lazily churned for a while before simply shutting down.
As the strings in his brain snapped with a pop, his cold, vertical pupils took on a strange shape.
“De-li-cious!”
With a clang, the drooling Killer Croc lifted the manhole cover and crawled out. He found himself in an abandoned open-air parking lot, filled with the wreckage of derelict cars and various construction debris. There wasn’t a soul around.
It was late at night in Gotham. The fog had dissipated, revealing a clear sky with a few bright stars. The cool night breeze intertwined with the aroma, leaving kisses in every corner of the air.
Under the bright moonlight, Killer Croc saw a golden-roasted pig placed in the center of the empty lot.
“…?”
Killer Croc’s nictitating membrane flickered. Reason came back online, and a human-like thought flashed in his beastly eyes.
It’s a trap. The intention to lure is too obvious. The roasted pig must be poisoned.
There isn’t any unusual smell in the air. Oh… is it odor remover?
Who would go through so much trouble to… to… um…
… yeah, who?
I don’t know.
At this point, Killer Croc got stuck.
Ugh, my head itches.
How was I supposed to extend the line of thought?
Forget it. It doesn’t matter, but…
Whoever set this up, Killer Croc had absolutely no intention of backing down.
Killer Croc’s mind was clear, but his face was like a pig, his saliva dripping, and he staggered towards the roasted pig, step by step.
He already had a plan.
Whoever the mastermind was, they had to make sure Killer Croc ate the poisoned bait before they could proceed with the next step.
And he was going to play outside the rules, taking the bait into the underground sewer pipes.
If the other side really came down to see if he was poisoned, then the roles of hunter and prey would instantly reverse. If they didn’t come, then he could observe secretly and attack first.
Either way, the initiative would remain firmly in his hands.
Killer Croc couldn’t help but give his intelligence a thumbs-up in his heart.
I’m so smart to come up with such a cunning plan in such a short time!
Then he grabbed the roasted pig.
The next second.
Zzzzt!
Hundreds of thousands of volts of electricity surged through his body in an instant, frying him both inside and out. He fell to the ground, twitching uncontrollably, his dark green scales turning black from the electricity.
Clang!
Four searchlights hidden in the pile of trash suddenly lit up, illuminating the entire abandoned parking lot as bright as day.
“No way, is that it?”
Killer Croc heard the surprised voices of the masterminds from the corner:
“No way, no way, someone really fell for such a simple trap!”
In an instant, Killer Croc felt all the blood in his body rush from his feet to his head!
Reason decreased by 100%!
His brain instantly went off-duty, Killer Croc let out a distorted roar, jumping around like a Parkinson’s patient.
But because the effects of the electric current were still lingering on him, his movements looked more like an electric dance than an attack.
However, considering his weight of over 1500 pounds, these movements still held considerable destructive power.
The Ventriloquist practically crawled away from his previous position, the wireless communication module built into Chen Tao inside the bat-shaped baby doll constantly broadcasting mockery.
“Is that it? Is that it? Is that it?”
Chen Tao genuinely felt the pleasure of trolling from his past life on the internet.
Especially seeing the Ventriloquist rolling around in a panic while he sat comfortably in a regular van parked by the roadside a few miles away, drinking coffee and observing the scene with a satellite and a camera mounted on the doll.
Knock knock knock!
A small thug was knocking on the car window:
“Bro, you know this is someone else’s turf. You gotta pay…”
Chen Tao rolled down the window, revealing pointed ears and Batman’s half-covered mask: “You serious?”
The thug who wanted to extort some money looked like he had seen Batman. He let out a girlish scream and ran away.
Damn, seeing a living Batman at night was really scary.
Meanwhile, Killer Croc was completely insane.
“Aaaaaargh!”
He hadn’t taken two steps when he felt something tighten around his feet. He had stepped into a pre-prepared trap.
Dozens of ropes sprung up from the mud on the ground, climbing up his body with blinding speed, wrapping him up like a dumpling.
Falling for a trap again, Killer Croc was even angrier.
But he was hungry, numb, and heartbroken. He couldn’t break free, so he could only crawl on the ground sadly.
“Is it really that easy? Did it really work that easily?”
Deadshot emerged from his hiding place, looking at the man dressed in yellow and blue, looking like a superhero, with disdain.
“Enough with the blathering, Captain Boomerang. You should be grateful our employer was willing to take the initiative to attract the enemy, allowing you to last this long.
He said sarcastically:
“I thought this task would have been more suited for you.”
“I made $2 million from this deal! It was so easy!”
Obviously, the seemingly excited Captain Boomerang hadn’t heard a word of what Deadshot said.
“Heh heh! I have $2 million! Heh heh!”
He was so excited he was incoherent.
“I’m not going to take any more missions after this one. When this mission is over, I’m going to retire and get married back home.”
He spoke almost reverently:
“This is the best day of my life!”
“…”
Deadshot was speechless. He ignored this idiot playing the role of background noise and said to the Cheshire Cat beside him: “Send a message to Livewire and Tattooed Man, have them come over.”
The Cheshire Cat nodded, happy to receive a paycheck without having to do anything.
“Cough, although it’s been unusually smooth, but since the target has been captured, then…” Deadshot turned to the Ventriloquist, who was panting on the side:
“My dear employer, I’m curious, you’ve been forbidding us from killing Killer Croc, saying you wanted him to work for you—”
He pointed to the enraged Killer Croc: “Now, do you still intend to do so?”
“Of course,”
Arnold stammered, unable to speak. The bat-shaped baby doll in his hand answered for him: “I have a plan…”
“Un-for-give-a-ble!”
But he was interrupted before he could finish. Killer Croc was face down on the ground, writhing, emitting a deafening roar.
Deadshot calmly lowered his hand covering his ears:
“Alright, but actually, I think you’ve probably made an enemy out of this beast now – getting him to be quiet is basically impossible, let alone getting him to work for you!”
(End of Chapter)
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