Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics-Chapter 4553 - 3635: Edge of Tomorrow (44)

Everyone was not expecting to see a scene reminiscent of a mechanized crisis—the Brainiac Center construction site was surrounded by armed security robots patrolling.

These robots were clearly not products of this era; they looked just like the big villains from sci-fi movies. With their metallic shells glowing with a dim light and their movements so fluid, from a distance, they were indistinguishable from humans, showing no trace of the stiffness usually associated with mechanical creations.

They came in different models: some were over two meters tall, with heavy footsteps that caused tremors felt dozens of meters away; others were smaller but faster, circling the entire construction site with only afterimages visible in the dim night light.

And let's not mention the layers upon layers of turrets inside. Some were placed above the main gate, others arranged in windows, almost a 360-degree coverage with no blind spots. The dark muzzle of the guns appeared even darker in the night, making one's scalp tingle at just a glance.

Mouse Woman controlled a rat to slip over, but it turned to ashes under a laser beam before it even got close, almost making her scream.

Pamela quickly covered her mouth. Victor, standing beside her, said, "They must have night vision and thermal imaging; we can't rush in at all."

"If it's just thermal imaging, that's easy to deal with." Pamela stretched out her hand, and a vine crept along the edge of the pavement. But as soon as it entered the construction site, it was hit immediately.

"They might have some kind of dynamic sensing and recognition device that captures any abnormal movement."

"Now this is troublesome," Deathstroke clicked his tongue.

Their actions were all observed by Shiller, standing next to a floor-to-ceiling window on the top floor of a nearby building. These robots and security facilities were set up by Brainiac at Shiller's command.

"Predicting Amanda's actions isn't challenging at all. This dumb girl only knows how to barge in headfirst; she wouldn't choose to resolve her conflicts with Congress by negotiating, she would only think of flexing her muscles to make Congress bow to her."

"To make Congress bow, the commotion needs to be significant of course, and the globally watched Brainiac Center is a good place. She would definitely send the X Task Force here."

These robots were produced by Brainiac as soon as Shiller decided to take action. For Brainiac, it was not difficult at all; even the factories in Gotham were more than sufficient.

"It's just that I don't understand," Brainiac's voice came from the computer behind him, "humanoid robots have no combat advantage at all; other than looking similar to you, they lack stability, aren't strong enough, and their force structure isn't that scientific..."

"If machines are used to create weaponry, what we should do is eliminate the unscientific parts that nature has evolved in the human structure, not replicate them completely."

Shiller shook his head and said, "No, the kind of robot you should produce doesn't depend on which robot is more scientific, but on which robot is more easily understood."

"Easier to understand?"

"To be precise, it's about what kind of robot the public understands." Shiller explained, "Unfortunately, their impression of robots is humanoid robots. They can't understand the scientific machines you create."

"In this era, most people's impression of robots isn't even those seen in mechanized crises, but rather the Tin Man from 'The Wizard of Oz'—essentially cans made of tin."

"And in this team, except for Batman, everyone else's understanding of robots tops off at 'metal humans.'"

"This is what they call professionals looking at the doorway, while laymen watch the fun. Except for Batman, the X Task Force members are amateurs in mechanical engineering, and most humans are amateurs. They're just here to watch the show."

"Creating a complex and professional mechanical fortress for them to destroy means they, and ordinary people, can't see the intricacies of it; whereas a human vs. Metallo battle is straightforward and universally understandable."

"Why make them understand?" Brainiac asked again.

"Because we're not trying to kill them, we're just going to have a fight, winning or losing doesn't matter."

Brainiac seemed to understand a bit and said, "You want to launch a public opinion battle? Make people think my robots are terrifying?"

"Quite the opposite." Shiller said, "I want to make both ordinary people and politicians realize there's much in this world more terrifying than you and your robots. That way, we can hold the initiative."

Kneeling outside the fence, Pamela looked up at the sky. She could see many drones flying around the construction site. No surprise, they probably had cameras recording.

Having cameras was great; that way, not a bit of their work goes to waste, and Amanda can see it too, securing their pay.

For Congress's funding, Pamela hesitated no longer. She waved her hand towards the gate of the factory, and two vines shot into the chests of two robots at the entrance at a terrifying speed, instantly pulling them to the other side, disappearing silently into the soil.

This made Deadshot, who was aiming, withdraw his gun. Pamela said to the people beside her, "I'll hit them with my big move, and you guys take the chance to rush in. We'll regroup in the inner courtyard!"

Upon hearing these words, Batman hadn't figured out what she was planning. But the second the words ended, Pamela shot straight into the sky—she was flying!

Then, above the construction site, it was as if a green sun lit up, its dazzling green light enveloping all the surrounding streets. Subsequently, countless vines and trees burst forth from the earth.

Inside the construction site, even more vines erupted from the ground, with one every two to three meters.

Although the firepower deployed in the yard is dense, it cannot achieve effective fire suppression against so many vines. Lasers and bullets continue to sweep through, but as soon as they clear one wave, another grows back, even faster than they can be destroyed.

Especially since most of the vines are two to three meters thick, even lasers and bullets take a while to break them. Without instantly destroying the main trunk, the branches spread indefinitely, almost weaving a huge net.

"Follow me!" Batman, though shocked, still shouted.

A group of people grabbed their weapons and rushed inside. By the time they charged into the yard, it had already turned into a maze of plants. Everyone, including the robots, was trapped inside.

But Pamela seemed to have some kind of plant vision, and upon seeing them, all the plants would clear a path for them. So they were practically unimpeded and rushed straight into the main entrance.

"Don't go in!" Batman hurriedly shouted to stop, because he saw red lights flickering inside from the turrets.

He was just about to assign combat tasks when Victor, Deadshot, and Deathstroke raised their guns all together. Three people with three different bullets, but all simultaneously hit the turrets in the hallway.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The three turrets immediately went silent. Worrying that there might be an ambush in the lounge after the corridor, Victor threw an ice bomb over. With a loud bang, followed by the crackling sound of freezing, everything went quiet.

This building wasn't Brainiac Center, but rather an old building that had not yet been demolished. Behind the lobby was a lounge, with guest rooms on either side.

Through the windows of the guest room at the far end, you could see another building that had already been demolished. There were equipment and materials there for constructing the Brainiac Center.

Deathstroke shattered the window with the butt of his gun and climbed directly out of it. He saw the drones overhead flying over again. Although such movements annoyed him, he endured it for the money.

Deadshot and several others followed closely, with Batman coming last. Before he could take action, Dotted Man shouted, and countless colorful dots flew toward the robots in the yard.

Robots hit by the colorful dots instantly vanished. Dotted Man took a few breaths and said, "I need to rest for a bit. You guys go ahead."

This wave successfully eliminated more than 60% of the robots in the inner courtyard, but there were still some big ones left, like the heavy robot whose footsteps sounded like thunder. After discovering the invaders, it charged towards them.

Shark King roared and charged up, colliding with a robot weighing several tons, not falling behind at all. He even opened his big mouth, bit off half an arm, and chewed it in his mouth.

Crunch, crunch... "Bah! Disgusting!"

After spitting it out, he rammed his head into the heavy robot's head, causing it to stagger. Deadshot seized the opportunity, aimed, and with a bang, fired a bullet through the heavy robot's head.

"Don't hit the head, aim for the chest!" advised Charles, playing the Wise Man, "Their core is in the chest cavity!"

Deadshot nodded, aimed again, and fired another shot. This time it went straight through the center of the chest. The heavy robot's chest emitted a series of sparks, followed by a loud explosion, collapsing to the ground motionless.

"Impressive," praised Deadshot.

Charles gave a mysterious smile, fully embracing the role of a powerful hacker. But in reality, he didn't find the weak point through hacking; he directly read Shiller's brainwaves from a nearby building.

Batman squinted his eyes at the Wise Man.

Batman was well aware of the robots' weakness, which was in the software control system. If one could hack into their control system, no matter how many robots there were, they would be nothing to fear.

He hadn't attempted it because Brainiac was a super artificial intelligence, essentially the ancestor of hackers. Invading him would certainly lead to counter-invasion. Although they didn't have any electronic components worth controlling, even communication interference could be fatal.

This guy named Wise Man could directly see the internal structure of the robots; such hacking skills were beyond Batman's imagination.

Blowing up the heavy robot was just the first step, as more and more robots converged towards them, not only from the inner courtyard but also from those guarding raw materials and equipment. It seemed they were about to be encircled and annihilated.

"Step back, don't get hurt!" El Diablo said to the people next to him.

They retreated to the front of the previous lounge. El Diablo then turned to them and said, "No, you guys go back into that building, otherwise you will surely get burned."

So they returned the way they came, back into the previous building. Batman thought he was going to extend his hands to spray fire, but instead, El Diablo roared, and a huge shadow stood up in the flames.

It was a towering skeleton covered in flames, with brilliant feathers on its head. When he stood up, the entire inner courtyard erupted in flames.

And unlike normal flames, this fire was pure red, with an unimaginably high temperature. Even while standing inside the building, they were momentarily scorched by the heatwaves.

When Batman looked directly at the flames, he could hear the desolate echoes ringing in his ears, as if pulling him instantly into an ancient Indian civilization's sacrificial scene, where souls swayed in the swirling dust and stones.