Chapter 218 Interception on the Spot! The Winter Soldier on the Plane!

"Show me your courage…"

Batman words completely defied Destro and his men expectations.

Their eyes widened in disbelief. They couldn't fathom hearing such a statement from the mouth of a superhero.

Was this a provocation?

It had to be a provocation!

How could a superhero not care about the safety of the citizens, or the survival of an entire city?

Destro stared at the armored man before him, his face filled with astonishment.

"You!"

He swallowed hard, gritting his teeth.

"Do you think I won't do it? Batman, don't push me… If I'm cornered, there nothing I won't do!"

"Then do it! Activate the nano-worm warhead, Destro!"

Anton gaze was icy, his tone deep, his eyes carrying a hint of disdain.

"You!!"

Destro was momentarily speechless.

Activating the nano-worm warhead would mean not only the fall of New York but also his own death.

He wanted to live he didn't want to die!

But if he did nothing, he'd die for sure!

Torn and trembling, Destro found himself at a precipice, staring down at a raging river below.

Either he'd die on the cliff or take a desperate plunge into the river, hoping for survival.

"Fine!"

Destro let out a bitter laugh. "You pushed me to this!"

He slammed the case onto the ground with a heavy thud.

Bang!!

The case popped open, and the nano-worm warhead began to activate.

Clack, clack, clack!

At the same time, Green Arrow unleashed several arrows, striking the hearts of Destro nearby subordinates and killing them instantly.

Destro collapsed onto the ground in terror, his face pale as a sheet.

Cyborg stepped forward, directly in front of Destro, and transformed one of his arms into a port, which he inserted into the warhead internal system.

"It useless," Destro muttered, his voice trembling as he stared at Cyborg.

"Once the program is activated, it irreversible. There no way you can shut it down."

Destro face twisted into a mocking sneer.

He had resigned himself to his fate.

If he couldn't survive, at least he could drag his enemies into despair with him.

The nano-worm warhead was a weapon developed by Destro arms company.

As one of the investors and the head of the research team behind this weapon, no one understood its devastating power better than he did.

Clack, clack, clack!

However, Destro expression quickly shifted to one of disbelief.

"No!"

His eyes widened, his jaw nearly hitting the floor. "How… how did you do that?"

Before his eyes, Cyborg had seamlessly taken control of the nano-worm warhead activation program.

In a matter of seconds, he forcefully deleted most of its code, causing the warhead to enter a shutdown state.

"This…?!"

Destro was at a complete loss. The one left in despair wasn't his opponents—it was himself.

No wonder Batman had been so confident!

Among them, Cyborg possessed hacking abilities far beyond anything Destro could have anticipated.

He could even halt the nano-worm warhead after it had been activated!

Anton smirk deepened as he watched the scene unfold.

Earlier, Cyborg had infiltrated Alexander Pierce computer and obtained detailed information about the nano-worm warheads.

Cyborg knew that activating the warhead required a certain amount of time, and as long as he had a window of opportunity, he could disable it.

"It done!" Cyborg announced.

Wonder Woman stepped forward. "Now it my turn."

She summoned her Lasso of Truth, wrapping it tightly around Destro. It was time to extract some intelligence about Hydra from him.

Moments later, their expressions darkened before turning into cold smirks.

"There are three more nano-worm warheads…"

"Hydra has truly made Batman their ultimate target. They won't stop until they've achieved their goal."

Anton expression darkened, and a fierce killing intent burned in his eyes.

He had underestimated Hydra resolve—they were willing to risk exposing their existence just to make Batman pay the price.

It seemed that Cyborg earlier intrusion into Alexander Pierce computer, leaving behind that single sentence from Batman, had made Pierce and his cohorts feel a tremendous threat.

But seeing Hydra in fear was something Anton welcomed.

The conflict between them was fundamentally irreconcilable.

Now, they were already at war.

So why not let Hydra see whose fists were stronger?

"Continue the operation!"

Anton turned to his three avatars.

Even though his avatars shared a direct connection with his main body, with synchronized memories and a unified thought process, he still habitually spoke to them aloud.

"This time, let Hydra see whose territory New York really is!"

With those words, Anton raised his hand, and a massive aircraft descended to hover before the four of them.

The Batwing.

Its developer was Bruce Wayne old ally, Lucius Fox, the head of Wayne Enterprises' technology division.

This was Anton first time summoning the Batwing.

Previously, he hadn't needed it—the Batmobile had been sufficient for his solo operations.

But now, with all his avatars and his main body acting together, a single Batmobile wouldn't suffice.

It was the perfect time for the Batwing to make its debut.

"T-This is…!!"

Destro, still collapsed on the ground and wracked by the torment of the Lasso of Truth, found himself horrified anew at the sight of the Batwing.

The truth-compelling nature of the lasso had left his mouth beyond his control, forcing him to speak only the truth.

And now, the sudden appearance of the Batwing left him utterly shaken.

To Destro, this aircraft couldn't have simply appeared out of nowhere. It must have already been at the scene, merely hidden in stealth mode.

Stealth technology itself wasn't unheard of—similar technologies already existed in the world.

What stunned Destro was the implication of the Batwing arrival, combined with the presence of these four Justice League members.

It suggested they had been monitoring Cobra actions all along, as though they had been waiting for Cobra to step into a pre-laid trap.

"How… how could this happen?"

Destro felt utterly defeated, unable to believe that the powerful organization he had always revered was being led around like a dog on a leash.

"Hydra…" he murmured, his voice trembling with despair.

His heart was filled with terror: "What kind of enemy have you provoked?"

"Take him away. He can't die just yet," Anton said, casting a glance at the despondent and hopeless Destro behind him.

With that, Destro was escorted into the Batwing by Green Arrow.

The reason for sparing his life was simple: Destro was the head of a massive arms company.

Wayne Enterprises had recently entered the arms business.

Currently, it had just established domestic military channels and acquired production lines from Hammer Industries at a low cost.

The business was off to a solid start, considering Wayne Enterprises had only been around for a few months.

Destro company, MARS, however, had an extensive international presence.

As the leader of MARS, Destro could be incredibly valuable to Wayne Enterprises.

For instance, Anton knew that Destro personally controlled a secret production line called "Ares Factory." This facility mass-produced weapons supplied exclusively to the Cobra organization.

Anton planned to take over this production line from Destro and use it to expand Wayne Enterprises' reach.

With Destro downfall, his arms company, MARS, would inevitably suffer.

This disruption would leave a gap in the international arms market, providing Wayne Enterprises with the perfect opportunity to enter and establish a foothold in overseas markets.

The thought crossed Anton mind briefly.

Under his control, the Batwing ascended into the sky, flying unabashedly toward New York Airport.

If Destro information was correct, Hydra had enlisted other members of the Cobra organization to assist a high-ranking Hydra operative in transporting the remaining three nano-worm warheads into New York.

Anton goal was clear: to intercept them on the spot and eliminate the threat before it escalated.

Aboard a private transport plane designated MARS-1, a group of individuals sat in silence, waiting for the aircraft to reach its destination.

Their expressions were calm, but their eyes occasionally darted toward a figure seated in the corner.

This man was broad-shouldered, with slightly long hair and an arm made entirely of metal. He sat motionless in his chair, eyes closed, as though meditating, and had not moved since boarding the plane.

"Do you know who he is?"

One person asked in a low voice.

"He a ghost—a real ghost."

Suddenly, a man dressed entirely in white combat gear spoke, his voice slow and deliberate.

"Many intelligence agencies don't believe in his existence, but those who do call him the Winter Soldier…"

"Winter Soldier?"

At this, everyone but the man referred to as the Winter Soldier turned to look at one another.

Clearly, they had all heard the name before.

"I thought that was just a myth."

"Is it real?"

"White Ghost, are you sure he the Winter Soldier?"

The group was visibly unnerved.

"Over the past fifty years, he been linked to more than twenty high-profile assassinations."

The man in white combat gear, known as White Ghost, continued in his measured tone, his twin katanas strapped to his back.

"Fifty years ago, he carried out an assassination that shocked the world. Now he surfaced again… He more deserving of the title 'ghost' than I am."

"Fifty years ago?"

One person questioned skeptically.

"If he started killing fifty years ago, he'd have to be at least in his sixties. But he looks no older than his thirties.

Maybe 'Winter Soldier' is just a codename, passed from one person to another."

"No."

White Ghost glanced coldly at the speaker.

"A few years ago, when I first arrived in the U.S., I accepted an assassination contract.

But when I infiltrated the target home, I found him already dead—killed by a single gunshot to the head.

Then, I was ambushed. I fought against the man who attacked me, and I was no match for him.

He left me half-dead, and I only survived because I fell into a river by sheer luck."

He paused, looking once more at the Winter Soldier with visible apprehension.

"Afterward, I spent a long time investigating and finally pieced together his identity… The man I fought was him—the Winter Soldier!"

"And back then, he looked exactly the same as he does now."

Whoosh!

As they spoke, the Winter Soldier in the corner opened his eyes, his gaze icy and devoid of any human emotion.

The temperature in the cabin seemed to drop noticeably.

Everyone felt a chill down their spines, as though they were being watched by a predator.

This was especially true for White Ghost, who instinctively reached for the hilt of the katana strapped to his back, his eyes filled with wariness as he stared at the Winter Soldier.

Whoosh!

The Winter Soldier closed his eyes again.

The atmosphere in the cabin gradually returned to its previous calm.

But now, no one dared to bring up the Winter Soldier in conversation anymore.

Time passed slowly.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we're almost there!"

A man stood up, his face adorned with a polite smile. He was the temporary leader of the group—though whether the others truly recognized him as such was another matter.

He was Zartan, Cobra master of disguise.