Chapter 1 A Sudden Development

Pa—pa—pa—

Suddenly, from more than ten meters away, came the rhythmic sound of clapping.

Shiva reined in the hint of weariness and relaxation on his face, turning his head to look in the direction of the sound.

In his line of sight, a strong man was approaching. He wore military pants, a long-sleeved t-shirt, and a dark-colored jacket.

"Qisha," Shiva stated the other's name directly, clearly indicating that they had crossed hands before.

Qisha stopped clapping. "The fight was wonderful, but personally, I don't like your miscellaneous skills." He said with a smile, "Men should settle things with their fists."

"You're a strange person," Shiva said. "Since you were already here… why didn't you take the opportunity to launch a sneak attack while Wusicanxuan and I were fighting? That way, you might have taken both of us down by now."

"Heh…" Qisha laughed. "Because I'm a one-on-one advocate." As he spoke, he began to move his neck and crack his knuckles, looking like he was about to use the Fist of the North Star.

"I've never heard of that kind of 'ism'," Shiva said, discreetly using a survival value replenishing agent while talking to his opponent, returning his blood points to full.

"It's simple, whether watching or participating, I want the form of combat to be one-on-one." Qisha said, "It's like a sport… two top experts, giving it their all, fighting to the last moment, but only one wins." He clenched his fist. "That way… the winner is the strong one, without question."

"Hmph… victory and defeat are always debatable. I have excuses right now." Shiva said half-jokingly, "For example… I just finished fighting Wusicanxuan and suffered great damage."

"Hahaha…" Qisha laughed heartily. "Come on, you still have plenty of stamina, I can see that, and as for survival value, you replenished it a dozen seconds ago." He was a very direct person, always speaking his mind, "Besides, I'm not in much better shape than you. I ran into that little sister named [Cai Bu Pa Ne] earlier. I thought the little girl would be vulnerable, but I didn't expect the girls these days to be even more vicious than the old men. I almost got killed by a small mistake."

"That's what makes Thriller Paradise interesting…" Shiva responded. "You've noticed, haven't you? [Zhao Ying Wang] was actually killed." He paused, adding in a deep voice, "And not by you, me, or Wusicanxuan."

"Yeah, it's really unexpected. I lost to him once before. That guy's Blood Stone Golem is really hard to deal with." Qisha changed the subject. "But… I don't think he was killed by [Cai Bu Pa Ne]. That girl doesn't have the strength."

"So… you're saying, this was done by that guy named [Feng Bujue]… a player who's only level twenty-eight?" Shiva asked tentatively.

"Speaking of which, I seem to have heard that ID somewhere…" Qisha scratched his head. "But I can't remember when." He shrugged. "Whatever, we can't just assume that Zhao Ying Wang was killed by a player, can we? There are still many powerful characters in this city, aren't there?"

"That's true." Shiva paused for two seconds before continuing, "Stone Golems are too eye-catching. Maybe he provoked the police or the superheroes and was killed by someone in the script world."

"Alright, there's no point in analyzing, you said that to Wusicanxuan just now." Qisha said, "To win this game, just focus on one thing—kill all the players except yourself."

"Okay, one-on-one advocate, I'm happy to oblige." Shiva replied.

With that, the two became tense, and a fight was about to break out.

After the previous exchange, Shiva and Qisha had reached a consensus that this battle was likely to determine the winner of this killing game early. Because in their opinion, the other two players were not a threat at all.

Just as the two were about to strike, suddenly, another change occurred.

A figure suddenly rushed out, instantly appearing between them, and said in a low voice, "You are the so-called 'super criminals from another world', aren't you."

Shiva and Qisha didn't know who this person was, but they both retreated rapidly in an instant, pulling away more than ten meters. This was entirely the instinctive reaction of two powerful players in a combat state to danger.

This uninvited guest who broke into the battle was wearing a black-gray skintight suit, a black hood, and a white cloth robe over his upper body. There was a blood-red cross in the center of the robe. He held two swords, wore a leather belt around his waist, and stepped on a pair of long boots, looking like a Crusader from the Middle Ages.

"Who are you?" Shiva asked.

The figure turned his face to Shiva, revealing a mask under the black hood. The mask was white, with a pattern of unfolded red wings printed on the lower half, without revealing the mouth or nose.

"That's what I'm going to ask you." The same low response came from under the mask.

…………

Hundreds of years ago, Saint Dumas joined the Knights Templar.

A group of chosen knights participated in the Crusades and eventually broke with the Church.

They established their own secret organization, coiled up in Sweden, and created an avenging angel to guard "the word of the Lord."

This guardian was called Azrael, the Angel of Death.

As times changed, the candidates and images of the Angel of Death continued to evolve.

The man standing before Shiva and Qisha at this moment was named Michael Washington Lane. He was a linebacker on the football team in college, then joined the Marine Corps, and after retiring, joined the Gotham City Police Department as a patrolman.

Let's put aside the setting of his whole family dying and the bizarre cause of death, and talk about the main point… Lane had participated in a secret project that the military cooperated with the Gotham City Police Department on.

The content of the project was… to select and train a group of people who could serve as substitutes when Batman was injured. Lane was one of the three finalists, but the project fell through when the other two candidates went insane.

But Lane's story didn't end there. Now, he was clad in the Suit of Sorrows, with "Sin" (a red flame wrapped around the blade) in his right hand and "Redemption" (a blue flame wrapped around the blade) in his left, transforming into a new generation of the Angel of Death, active on the stage of Gotham City along with the GodNet.

…………

"Listening to your tone, you seem to be a vigilante too. It doesn't seem to have anything to do with you that we're fighting here, buddy," Qisha said. As a "one-on-one advocate," being interrupted at the moment he was about to attack undoubtedly made him very unhappy.

The Angel of Death heard this and turned his gaze to Qisha again. At that moment, a suffocating baleful aura and sense of oppression permeated from under the white mask. Just this invisible momentum hinted at how powerful the superheroes in this script were.

"Were you one of the two who were digging holes in the streets of the East End before?" The Angel of Death replied. "Because of what you call 'fighting,' an innocent taxi driver and a couple died on the spot, and many others were injured in the car accident."

Hearing this, Shiva was overjoyed. Seeing the situation, he could completely use the NPC to eliminate Qisha, and he wouldn't have to take any more risks. So, he said loudly to Qisha, "It seems like he's here for you, I won't keep you company." With that, he was about to leave.

"I don't think so." Another voice sounded.

Shiva turned his head sharply and realized that two people were already standing behind him. Although Shiva wasn't very nerdy, he still recognized these two. The handsome, long-haired man in the blue-black skintight suit was Nightwing, and the beautiful woman in the purple soft armor, revealing her thighs, was Huntress. And the one who spoke just now was Nightwing, Dick Grayson.

"I don't remember doing anything to harm the citizens of Gotham." Shiva's reaction was very quick, he immediately said, "You have no reason to be enemies with me."

"Maybe…" Nightwing replied, "But… just a few hours ago, a visitor from another world calling himself 'Nameless' entered a bank, killed three robbers who were robbing the bank, as well as three police officers, and scattered millions of dollars in cash on the street. And before running away, he deliberately hinted to the police that there were six other alien criminals like him who would turn Gotham City upside down." He paused, and then continued, "Buddy, I'd like to hear your opinion on this."

"I know nothing about this… the alien traveler you mentioned has nothing to do with me," Shiva replied. As he listened to the other party's account, he gradually realized the truth of the matter, and thought to himself: Is that guy named [Feng Bujue] framing us…?

"Is that so? Then can you explain what's going on with the stone disc behind you?" Huntress obviously didn't believe him.

Before Shiva could respond, Nightwing continued, "Sir, in my opinion, your power is very dangerous to yourself and others. If you really have no malice, I suggest you disarm and explain things clearly."

"Why waste time talking to them, Shiva? I think it's better to just take down these three in front of us, and then we can find another place to fight." Qisha said. Even so, with the deterrence of the Angel of Death in front of him, Qisha didn't dare to act rashly. He had to see Shiva's attitude first.

"This reckless fool… it's okay if you want to kill yourself, don't drag me down with you…" Shiva thought with dread. Qisha's nonchalant tone would definitely arouse the hostility of the NPCs.

Sure enough, upon hearing these words, Nightwing and Huntress both adopted a defensive posture, their hands already on their respective darts.

"I surrender," Shiva said, slowly raising his hands, and the psionic weapons were also taken back and dissipated directly. "I was just fighting in self-defense." He glanced back at Qisha, "The other five are all lunatics, murderers, and I can't do anything about it."

Seeing this, Qisha instantly understood that he had been sold out. He was a straightforward person and couldn't "act" at all. It was impossible for him to pretend to surrender to the NPCs. For him, either he really surrendered, or he continued to resist.

"Tch… you don't dare to attack them yourself, and you want to use them to kill me…" Qisha roared, "You're ruthless!"

Before he finished speaking, he stomped his feet fiercely, kicking up a cloud of dust, and using this force, he suddenly窜out in another direction.

"Want to leave?" That low voice sounded again.

The Angel of Death stared intently at Qisha, anticipating his escape. At this time, he blocked Qisha's path even faster.

"So fast…" At this moment, Qisha was horrified. He originally thought that his physical skills in the game had far surpassed ordinary people, and the skills he possessed could compete with the so-called "superpowers," so he didn't take these superheroes from the Batman stories seriously. But he never expected… these heroes would have such exaggerated strength.

In fact, Qisha had made a common-sense mistake. This was the "DC Universe," not the "real world." Here, even heroes without superpowers cannot be regarded as "ordinary people." They are all comic characters protected by the author.

For example, Batman, this guy often jumps down from the third or fourth floor unharmed, and the explanation is simply: his cloak has a slow-fall function.

Heh…

There is also the fifth Robin, Damian, who can survive a bullet to the chest, and be lively and kicking a few hours later. Alfred's calm explanation for this is: "Your Kevlar bodysuit saved your life, but you still lost a lot of blood and suffered severe lung contusions. Fortunately, my sewing skills are good, and sewing up blood vessels severed by bullets is not the first time for me."

It can be seen that for the heroes of this universe, the bodysuit is comparable to a bulletproof vest. They can get up and continue fighting half an hour after a fatal injury, and their combat power may even be improved.

Unfortunately, ordinary people and extras don't usually have this kind of treatment. They are the real "ordinary people."

And if players regard those superheroes and super villains without superpowers as ordinary people in fancy dress, they would be completely wrong…

"God is a righteous judge, pouring out anger on the wicked day after day." The Angel of Death's divine nature flared up, and he began to mystify by quoting scriptures. "If anyone does not turn back, his sword must be sharpened, his bow must be strung, ready to go…" The twin swords burning with red and blue flames spread out on both sides of the Angel of Death's body, his close combat ability, without flaws. Even if the assassins of the Shadow League joined forces to besiege him, they had never gained any advantage from him.

Qisha had not yet exchanged a single blow with the other party, but his body was already soaked with cold sweat. His fighting specialization had reached Grade B for a long time, coupled with the cooperation of many fighting-type active and passive skills, he was rarely matched in close combat. Even when facing Shiva, the second-ranked player on the combat power list, he felt that he had a 50% chance of winning. But he didn't expect… facing the pressure of the Angel of Death in front of him, he couldn't even make a move.

A master like Qisha would naturally have a prediction in his mind about what would happen next before attacking. But when facing the Angel of Death, all the assumptions that appeared in Qisha's mind were that he would be dismembered by the flame sword within two moves…

"Wait…" Seeing that the other party was about to make a move, Qisha quickly shouted, raising his hands, "I surrender too… you shouldn't kill people casually, right? Heroes."

…………

Night fell on Gotham City, and this night was destined to be uneasy.

Gotham Police Department, right above, the tower.

The glass of the Bat-Signal was smashed, and the black bat pattern projected in the air revealed the three light letters rid, seeming to announce something to the city.

Commissioner Gordon always wore a brown trench coat, paired with a shirt and tie. He stood in the wind, his hairstyle undisturbed, his eyes under his glasses revealing a firm and sharp gaze.

A young man in a red tights, a black cloak, and a mask came to his side. "The good news is… Nightwing and the others have found two and subdued them, and are bringing them to the police station." He paused. "The bad news is, there are still four… whose whereabouts are still unknown. But the GodNet will find them soon."

"For me, these news have nothing good or bad about them." Gordon said, "The families of three police officers lost their fathers, husbands, and sons today… these new super criminals suddenly appeared at this sensitive time, it's hard to imagine what will happen next…"

Tim Drake (the third Robin) replied, "No matter what happens, the GodNet can handle it."

"Kid, it's good that you have confidence." Gordon sighed, "It's undeniable that the GodNet prevented the collapse of Gotham. But the current Gotham City is like a dam with countless holes. Every time we patch one hole, three new ones appear. A dam break is only a matter of time…" He looked at Tim, "Nightwing knows this, we know this, and the criminals lurking in the darkness also know this… They are ready to destroy this fragile city made of paper."

"We won't let this happen." Tim said with considerable excitement, "Batman… will stand up." He also knew very well that in the end it would be either himself or Dick who would eventually don the cape.

"By the way, kid, about those alien travelers, I have a possible lead." Gordon changed the subject. "This evening, the police received a tip-off, someone provided us with the whereabouts of Professor Victor Fries."

"Mr. Freeze?" Tim's expression changed slightly. "Where is he?"

"In a factory owned by a company called 'Northern Sanctuary', but that's not important anymore." Gordon said, "About half an hour ago, it was razed to the ground by a huge explosion. The specific cause of the explosion still needs to be investigated, but my intuition tells me that this is directly related to those 'alien travelers'. Maybe you can go there and try your luck…"

As Gordon said this, he was turning his head to Tim, but he only saw air, so he didn't finish his sentence.

In the wind, the Commissioner lit a cigarette for himself and smiled bitterly. He couldn't help but recall another man who often disappeared suddenly at the end of a conversation. Unfortunately, that old friend was already dead…