The Death Knell

"Thalia, my daughter."

Lei Xiaogu stared blankly at Talia, who was constantly stirring the tea foam. Her eyes were obviously blank. Even though the movement of her hands did not stop, her mind had already gone to nowhere.

"Huh? What's wrong, father?"

She came back to her senses and looked at him doubtfully. The cold wind blowing in the distance was taking away the last ray of heat in the tea bowl. If it continued, it would freeze.

The fire in the hall was burning brightly, and the flames cast the shadows of the two people on the wall, like dark monsters.

"What are you thinking about?" Lei Xiaogu turned his head and continued to look at the mountains in the distance. In this place, half of the year is daytime and half is night. At this time, Nanbadal is in the polar night.

"I'm not thinking about anything...just...a little distracted. The weather has been really cold recently."

Thalia made the excuse that there was no way she could say she was thinking about Gotham.

Lei Xiaogu snorted lightly, noncommittal. He knew what his daughter was thinking, and the mountains in the distance also knew that her little thoughts were like a black spot on the snowy mountains. No matter how small they were, they were still invisible to Lei Xiaogu. It is also very obvious in the eyes.

"I told you, Gotham must be destroyed. Its very existence is a stain on the world."

Thalia lowered her head, added a little hot water to the bowl, and placed the kettle on the fire aside: "Yes, Father."

Lei Xiaogu sat quietly on the futon, smelling the smell of matcha. He liked Thalia's obedience very much, and the reason why she could live and enjoy the eternal life of the Lazarus Fountain was because he liked to listen to it. The word "father" is full of parental authority.

Her mother died long ago, so she only had her father, and she could only have her father. Even though he had the Lazarus Fountain, he did not resurrect the woman, even if she was his wife.

"When Bane finds what I want, we will take action. Gotham will devour the people of the Alliance, and I will make it pay with blood."

Despite saying such words, Lei Xiaogu's expression was very calm, as if he just wanted to wipe away a mud spot on the snow, rather than a city with a population of 8 million.

Even if there is no one in Gotham, he must erase the city that represents ugliness so that he can feel peaceful.

After so many years, he has been further and further away from peace. The calmness on his face is just an imitation of before. His heart has always been turbulent.

"Yes, Father."

Thalia pursed her lips and responded lightly. She knew that when Lei Xiaogu went crazy, no one here could stop him. It happened that Batgirl disappeared at this time. Even with the alliance's intelligence capabilities, no one knew where she had gone.

Thalia originally wanted to suppress the news because she knew that once Batgirl was gone, her father would definitely have plans for Gotham. It was like this every time, even if he knew it was a trap, Lei Xiaogu would rush into the bottom of the trap to find out.

The league has suffered many such losses.

But the situation deteriorated too quickly. One of the assassins who was originally lurking in Gotham disappeared the day before yesterday. In the early hours of this morning, another assassin found her body dumped on the roadside, drowned by heavy rain.

Ordinary assassins have no right to use the Lazarus Pool, and death is death.

When the news came, she knew that Bat was no longer in Gotham and she could no longer suppress it. If a member of the alliance died, the alliance must avenge her. This is the rule of the assassins, and it is also the core guarantee that so many assassins can unite under the organization. .

She bravely told Lei Xiaogu the news.

Lei Xiaogu's face was unimpressed, but she could see the flames in his eyes burning up all at once.

He sent his men to contact Bane, the man who knew Gotham best.

............................

Bain used to be a member of the Assassin's League. He was brave, good at fighting, and powerful, until he offended Lei Xiaogu for unknown reasons and was expelled.

After that, this stupid guy didn't know who he took refuge with. When they met again a few years later, he actually put on a gas mask and carried a venom device on his back.

The venom behind him called 'Titan' can double his size and strength, and greatly enhance his recovery and resistance to blows. However, long-term use of Titan venom can damage the brain and cause internal organ failure. Currently, only Bane has a special physique that can withstand it.

Lei Xiaogu seemed to see that the scrap metal he had casually thrown on the side of the road had been made into a sword by someone, and it was placed in front of him.

Of course he wouldn't miss it. At that time, he sent Thalia to contact Bane to cause trouble in Gotham.

Bain doesn't hold grudges either. He and Thalia have always had a good relationship. As soon as they met, he agreed to assist his old club.

In the process of causing trouble, he used a wrestling move to break Batgirl's spine, threw her into the "death well" in the Middle East where he had suffered, and tortured her by letting her watch Gotham's destruction without being able to do anything. she.

Unexpectedly, Batgirl was rescued by her former enemy, Ms. Shiva, who not only healed her broken spine, but also taught her new moves and fighting techniques.

Batgirl then returned to the city and beat Thalia away again. She discovered that Bane's weakness was the plastic hose that conveyed venom on his back. After unplugging it, she easily defeated him, captured him in Blackgate Prison, and used 50 The tons of special equipment were locked up.

Until a few days ago, I don't know how Bane obtained the raw materials in prison and reconfigured Titan Venom. With his strength greatly increased, he escaped again and hid somewhere in Gotham.

The Ninja Master thought of Bane again this time, and sent someone to inform him that the Assassin's League needed something special, so he treated it as a favor that the Assassin's League owed him.

Only Lei Xiaogu and Bain knew about this so-called special thing. Even Thalia didn't know what it was.

But as far as she thought, it wouldn't be a good thing.

At this time, Thalia was in a complicated mood. On one side was Batgirl, her friend, and on the other side was her father and the organization. It was as if there were two voices constantly tug-of-war in her mind.

In fact, she felt that Gotham was doomed this time. Batgirl is nowhere to be found, and even if she wanted to notify her secretly, she couldn't.

Of course Lei Xiaogu also understood, so now he pretended to wait calmly for Bain's good news. He was in a good mood, and even took Thalia to enjoy the snow scene at night, which he had seen for hundreds of years. scenery.

"Ah, Thalia, is my tea ready?" he asked softly, stroking his beard gently: "You won't be able to taste it until Gotham is destroyed, right?"

"Of course... No, father, it's ready. Please use it."

Talia sat up on her knees, put the tea bowl on the wooden tray, and slowly pushed it in front of Lei Xiaogu.

Lei Xiaogu nodded with satisfaction, with a kind smile on his face. He looked at her and nodded with approval, picked up the tea bowl and took a sip.

"Very good. The Kyoto matcha this time is very authentic. Your tea-making skills have improved again."

"Thank you for the compliment, father." Thalia prostrated. She had been taught this way since she was a child, and it seemed like it was her instinct to obey her father.

She had been fighting against her instincts before, but this time it seemed that there was no hope for her in the future.

"Hahaha...Hahaha!" Lei Xiaogu looked up to the sky and laughed. His powerful aura radiated out without reservation. The flames shook even more violently, even in the distant mountains. Echoes of his laughter.

This laughter is pride, relief, and madness.

"No one can stop me anymore! Destroy Gotham, and then destroy the world!" He touched Thalia's head and helped her up: "We will let the world bathe in the corpses of the Amazons and the ruins of the earth. Reborn by fire! Belongs to my world!"

However, just when he was looking forward to a bright future, a hoarse voice suddenly sounded from the dark corner of the room, interrupting his sweet dream:

"I don't think so."

"who?!"

Lei Xiaogu instantly drew out the sword from his waist. It was an oriental-style double-edged long sword. It was his best weapon. He was known as one of the best swordsmen on earth and a world-class swordsman. Master of Swords.

He never thought that someone would dare to sneak into the Assassin's League headquarters and be so close to him.

The visitor did not answer his question, but slowly took a few steps forward, allowing the swaying firelight to illuminate her appearance. Wearing a black cloak, a black uniform, and a black mask, she had wavy black curly hair hanging loosely on her shoulders, and two pointed ears standing up on top of her head.

She wore black lipstick and hung a golden medallion with a bat on her neck, which was used both as a decoration and as a voice-changing tool. A pair of blue eyes looked at Lei Xiaogu through the mask, with an expressionless face.

Lei Xiaogu frowned, pushed Thalia away, held the handle of the knife with both hands, and raised his momentum to prepare for battle.

"How could you possibly find this place?"

Batgirl threw out two batarangs and hit the brazier directly. Strange gray mist was sprayed out from the darts. The flames in the brazier were extinguished instantly, without even a trace of smoke, and the hall fell into darkness.

Only her voice, which had been processed by a voice changer, could be heard coming from another direction in the darkness.

"Because...I'm Batgirl!"