Harvey Dent's cigar puffed smoke from his mouth; Carmine Falcone's did not.
"Deathstroke's been held off?"
The cigarette butt hit the ground and was crushed under a polished shoe.
"Boss, are you worried about those enhanced soldiers?"
"No."
In response to his subordinate's question, Carmine shook his head.
"More than half the enhanced soldiers are dead. We have more men. If bullets can't kill them, we'll run them over with cars. If we throw enough bodies at them, they'll go down eventually."
"Then what are you worried about...?"
"We've been fighting for so long, I'm worried that bat will show up and ruin my plans."
Carmine Falcone's resources were the deepest among Gotham's crime families. In terms of numbers, the Two-Face Gang might be on par with Falcone's, but in quality and weaponry, Falcone's men were superior.
With far more affiliated gangs than Two-Face, Falcone had planned to use Deathstroke's power to swiftly wipe out the Two-Face Gang and the Hog Union.
He figured that with Deathstroke and his own forces, the enhanced soldiers and robots on the other side wouldn't last long.
By the time Batman showed up to intervene, Deathstroke would have already dealt with the most troublesome enemies in the Two-Face Gang and the Hog Union. Then, Falcone could pay Deathstroke extra to take on Batman.
With the Two-Face Gang eliminated and the rapidly rising Hog Union crushed, he could unify most of Gotham's underworld.
But he hadn't expected Hog Union's Watt, in that mechanical armor, to hold out against Deathstroke for so long.
If Batman, the GCPD, or other forces entered the fray, the outcome of this battle would become unpredictable.
...
...
"Barbara, report."
"Dick and Tim have Penguin covered. He won't get a chance to ambush anyone else's turf, and he can't help the inmates at Arkham or Blackgate escape."
"Good. One crisis is enough—I don't want a second."
High above, Batman looked toward the distant battlefield and changed his approach vector.
His wide bat-wings shielded him from the crossfire below. Like a giant bat, he swooped down onto the face of a Titan-enhanced soldier, plunging a syringe into the man's neck.
After Wayne Enterprises' satellites captured footage of Hardy's deal with Two-Face that night, Bruce Wayne had collected blood samples from the Titan-enhanced soldiers Hardy had injured and immediately began working on an antidote.
The second Titan-enhanced soldier was taken down by a batarang...
Here is the English translation:
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The darts struck with precision, hitting the gaps between the bulletproof helmet and armor, and the built-in needle at the tip injected serum into the targets.
At the same time, the body of the first enhanced Titan who was injected with the serum began to shrink and return to normal.
Next came the third, the fourth, the fifth...
In just a moment, all seven Titans were taken down.
Meanwhile, the police who had previously been stationed outside to seal off the combat zone began to enter, advancing layer by layer with riot shields, gradually compressing the battlefield.
"Goddamn Batman!"
Harvey Dent cursed under his breath and quickly hid himself.
He didn't want Batman to take this opportunity to send him to Arkham Asylum.
The fight between Hardy and Deathstroke was also interrupted by Batman.
A Batarang traced a precise arc through the air, flying straight toward Deathstroke.
He tried to deflect it with his sword, but the Batarang was equipped with an electromagnet and latched onto Deathstroke's blade.
Without hesitation, Deathstroke hurled the sword at Hardy, who was looking to seize the opportunity to attack.
"Boom!"
Mid-flight, the Batarang attached to the sword exploded, releasing an electromagnetic pulse.
The black-gold armor paused, and Hardy inside frowned.
Affected by the EMP, all the infrared displays, ballistic calculators, and other sensory and auxiliary control devices inside the black-gold armor failed.
However, only the auxiliary systems were affected; the black-gold armor was powered by chakra threads, not electricity.
Batman didn't pause his actions.
Several spherical devices were thrown to the ground, exploding into thick smoke that quickly enveloped the surroundings.
Just because others' infrared vision was blocked didn't mean Wayne Enterprises' advanced tech would be.
Within the dense black fog, the sounds of Deathstroke and Batman fighting rang out.
In the distance, an engine roared—a black Batmobile rampaged across the plaza, crushing everything in its path as it charged toward the black-gold armor. Miniature missiles were fired at Hardy; when they exploded, there was no fire.
Batman doesn't kill, so these mini-missiles, upon detonation, released ultrasonic waves strong enough to knock out a healthy adult male.
Hardy felt a sudden dizziness and immediately activated the Swallow, launching himself into the air and forming hand seals.
"Wind Release: Typhoon Passes!"
In an instant, the smoke was blown away by a powerful gust.
"Wind Release: Gale Palm!"
The moment he saw Batman fighting Deathstroke, Hardy unleashed another jutsu.
A compressed ball of air shot out. Batman and Deathstroke reacted instantly, glanced at each other, and, with tacit understanding, each kicked the other away.
As they flew apart, Deathstroke drew a submachine gun from his waist and fired at Batman, while Batman threw two curved Batarangs at Deathstroke and wrapped himself in his cape to block the bullets.
"Boom!"
The swirling air currents blasted a shallow crater several meters in diameter where the two had just stood.
Watching Hardy land lightly, Batman silently updated his information on the Puppet Master.
Suspected to possess an ability to control air currents, and...
The black-metal armor is not primarily powered by electricity.
Under their gaze, the black-gold armor strode heavily and imposingly to Hardy's side.
The matte black metal was pockmarked with shallow bullet holes and several gashes from Deathstroke's sword.
Batman quickly scrapped most of his previously devised anti-Puppet Master plan and began reanalyzing Hardy's abilities and possible countermeasures.
A strange balance was established among the three.
"It's time to end this farce," Batman was the first to break the silence.
He knew that, for now, it was impossible to defeat the Puppet Master—let alone with the equally formidable Deathstroke present.
But now, with heavy casualties among the gangs and all the Titans subdued, as long as Deathstroke and the Puppet Master stopped fighting, this conflict could be temporarily resolved.
"I don't see this as a farce. Harvey Dent tried to use me as a pawn, and after Falcone realized he couldn't turn me into his weapon, he wanted to get rid of me. Do you think... I'll just let that go?" Hardy said unhappily.
"Falcone still owes me money," Deathstroke's voice came from behind his mask as well.