Second Assault on Arkham (Part Five)

Thea was itching to go over and give this ignorant and fearless guy a thumbs-up. Ra's al Ghul placed great importance on rules, or perhaps, having lived for over eight hundred years, his humanity and personality had mostly faded away, leaving only this spiritual anchor.

Facing the rapidly spinning blades, Thea wasn't afraid at all. She sidestepped one, cleaved another with her longsword, and finally, the last one was severed by Talia, who had climbed up from the ground.

Watching the enraged Talia, Thea couldn't help but find the rules of the League of Assassins quite interesting. She was trying to kill her, yet Talia didn't blame her. However, if anyone helped Talia, they would incur her wrath instead.

It was quite fascinating. With the duel interrupted it couldn't continue naturally. Thea decided to play along fully. "Who interrupted us?" she shouted loudly.

Talia, too, gripped her sword tightly, scanning her own ranks to find the one who had disrupted their sacred ritual.

Although they didn't see who intervened, among Talia's more than a hundred subordinates, there were a few with keen eyesight. They exchanged coded glances, and in an instant, over a hundred bows were aimed at the short, peculiar-looking Penguin.

Being targeted by so many archers, the Penguin was dumbfounded. All his life, he schemed and devised ways to more efficiently stab his comrades in the back. Today, in a rare act of goodwill, seeing Talia about to perish, he fired three blades from his umbrella. However, he got the opening right but got the ending wrong.

With over a hundred arrows aimed at him, it definitely wasn't a pleasant feeling. Professor Pyg, beside him, unconsciously took a few steps to the side.

"You've disrupted the sacred duel of the League of Assassins. In accordance with the ancient law, I shall kill you. Come out and face me in combat. If you win, you live; if you lose, you die." Thea's words were firm and powerful as she repeated them twice, once in English and once in ancient Arabic. She raised her longsword and pointed it at the Penguin from a distance.

"Win and live; lose and die!" The surrounding subordinates of Talia chanted as if at a ritual, some ecstatically drawing their blades and pointing them at the Penguin to add psychological pressure.

Talia had no complaints about her subordinates supporting her former enemy from just a minute ago. Her belief in upholding rules was ingrained in her bones. She had no intention of showing mercy, pointing her sword at the Penguin. "Come out! You must die!"

On Gordon's side, the people were a bit puzzled by this turn of events. Seeing Thea's stance, they realized she was trying to create discord among the enemy ranks. She's truly talented!

Bruce understood these rules. Seeing his side having nothing to do but tell stories, he recounted the life story of Ra's al Ghul and talked about the various rules of the League, whether good or bad. This left the listeners a bit dumbfounded. There actually existed a person who lived over eight hundred years!

Thea didn't know that her originally clear past was being embellished by Bruce in the mysterious atmosphere of the League. It made everything seem even more confusing.

"Is there some misunderstanding here?" The Penguin looked around as the crowd around him automatically cleared a large area. He didn't dare to go up and fight Thea. The two women had been fighting for half an hour, and their clash was intimidating. He had risen to power through schemes and tricks. He wasn't someone who fought head-on. Besides, he was disabled with a limp leg. How could he possibly win?

"The will of the League is unquestionable. You have insulted the sacred duel, which is an insult to Ra's al Ghul!" Thea felt her acting skills had certainly improved. Did she have any connection with Ra's al Ghul at all? She was just using his name to gain momentum. As expected, when she mentioned Ra's al Ghul, Talia's subordinates also roared in support, boosting her image.

At this moment, the Penguin truly wished he could faint right away, or someone would just shoot him. As the former underground emperor of Gotham, although he hadn't seen Ra's al Ghul, he still knew about him. He felt like this person was a legendary figure. Did he insult him? No way; he really just wanted to help.

"Alright, if you won't come out, then I'll just execute you." Thea also knew when to stop. It was okay to bluff a little, but if she held it for too long, it wouldn't be good if she actually summoned the tiger. Her relationship with Malcolm couldn't be exposed, and Talia was a defector. It was hard to say who would be the first target if Ra's al Ghul jumped out.

Drawing out a Freezing Arrow, she aimed at the Penguin. Thea wonder if this guy nicknamed the Penguin also has a strong resistance to cold. Could he withstand the effects of a freezing arrow, just like Mr. Freeze? She was about to let him experience the power of science.

With a "whoosh," an arrow was shot out. Penguin, being pointed at by over a hundred bows, was indeed a person of decisive character. He instinctively wanted to dodge, but fearing the scene of all those arrows being released simultaneously, he hesitated for a moment when faced with Thea's arrow. Ultimately, he decided to toughen it out, hoping he wouldn't die.

To maintain a benevolent reputation among those on the side of justice, Thea didn't aim for his vital points. Her target was the Penguin's lame leg.

In the instant the arrow pierced his leg, the Penguin felt the surrounding temperature plummet. He realized he'd been tricked—wasn't this supposed to be a regular arrow? This was the last thought that crossed his mind, but by the time the words reached his lips, he had lost the strength to speak.

Tch, "the Penguin," huh? Thea rolled her eyes. In less than two seconds, his legs were already covered in frost. The freezing speed was extremely fast, and she believed that within ten seconds, he could pass for an ice sculpture.

"Ah—!" Just as Thea was about to witness the Penguin's demise, his henchmen scattered and fled. She needed to stabilize Talia while leaving the remaining miscellaneous enemies to Gordon's team. No matter how many reinforcements they had, they weren't afraid. This time, they could say they had completely won. Her thoughts were interrupted by a roar.

Just as Thea was contemplating that with the Penguin dead, his underlings would disperse, enabling her to subdue Talia while leaving the remaining grunts to Gordon's team, she felt confident. She wasn't afraid of any enhanced individuals and was assured of total victory this time. However, her thoughts were abruptly shattered by an enraged roar.

A tall and burly figure jumped down from a nearby high-rise building, covering a distance of over a hundred meters in less than five seconds. The newcomer extended his thick arm, ignoring the gradually solidifying ice, and grabbed the Penguin by the collar, pulling him out of the increasingly frozen ground like pulling out a radish.

With his left hand, he yanked out the arrow in the Penguin's leg, glanced at his pale face, and grabbed his lame leg. Like a maniac, he ruthlessly slammed it against the ground a dozen times. The impact shattered the ice encasing him. Afterward, he picked him up and examined the results, grinning menacingly, then tossed the battered figure to one of the nearby Penguin henchmen.

"Bane." Bruce watched the familiar figure on the monitor, speaking bitterly.

Thea also saw this guy who suddenly appeared. She had anticipated this; after all, with Talia present, Bane couldn't be far. However, this guy had disrupted her plans, which was a bit annoying.

Bane had come fully armed today as well, his towering two-meter physique bare-chested, carrying his signature green canister on his back, periodically pumping the Venom through tubes into his masked mouth.

His muffled voice growled, "Talia, this is not what we agreed upon."