American Comics: Today's Big News

Chapter 55 The Monster in the Nursery Rhyme

Carrying two snow-capped mountains on his back, Connors raced from Metropolis toward Gotham overnight. He named the "Fallen Warhorse" "Black Smoke." Meanwhile, on Black Smoke's back, Zatanna's embrace from behind tightened, making Connors's range of motion gradually smaller.

But this didn't stump him. The black smoke was connected to his mind, and he didn't need to give any commands. The black smoke, which was originally only slightly bumpy, didn't change its speed, but the degree of bumpiness increased significantly.

It was raining in Gotham, and the cold wind was biting like a knife.

Wearing a raincoat while riding a horse seems a bit abstract—Connors pictured the colorful raincoats that appear on the streets of China every time it rains.

If you're sitting in a supercar, you don't need to worry about these things, but you can't avoid them when riding a horse, provided it's an ordinary horse.

The thick black smoke emanating from the black smoke seemed to have a mind of its own, allowing Connors to feel no discomfort even in the biting cold wind, and the raindrops were evaporated before they even fell.

I wonder what happened in Gotham that made Batman rush back so urgently—Connors multitask, making the black smoke move faster.

The already fast speed increased again, allowing Connors to gradually catch up with Batman, who was driving the Batmobile ahead, and leave him far behind.

He didn't intend to get involved in what was happening in Gotham; he was in a hurry to go back so he could take a nap and wait for Batman to arrive before watching the drama unfold.

The black smoke, which was in tune with him, sensed Connors's desire to sleep and its speed increased even further from its already rapid pace.

Since Connors didn't know the way, he didn't let the black smoke run wild. Instead, he sped along the highway he had come from. There weren't many cars on the highway, so many vehicles were practically driving at high speeds.

At this moment, in a sports car traveling at over 120 miles per hour (approximately 193 km/h), several hippies were nodding and swaying to the music of the DJ inside the car.

The scenery rushing past the car windows on both sides, and the countless vehicles they overtook along the way, all testified to how much fun they had.

But the happy time didn't last long. The skinny young man with long hair, who was driving the car, glanced at the rearview mirror and then his eyes widened:

"Hey! What's that?"

"What? What's that?" The passenger, engrossed in the DJ music, asked nonchalantly, "A sports car? Is it as expensive as ours?"

The gaunt young man stared at the road ahead, but his eyes kept glancing at the rearview mirror, growing more and more terrified with each glance.

It moves incredibly fast, its appearance is obscured, and it's enormous—what kind of monster is this?

Seeing his companions still shaking their heads and gesturing wildly, the skinny young man was getting impatient and simply reached out and turned off the car's music.

One of the two people sitting in the back seat—or more precisely, the man and woman stacked on top of each other—looked up.

He cried out in dissatisfaction:

"Mark, what are you doing?"

"Stop messing around, look behind us! That looks like a monster!" shouted Mark, the skinny young man driving the sports car.

The passenger in the front seat turned and exchanged a glance with the couple. They had never seen Mark look like this before, and looked back in confusion.

But nothing came of it.

At the same time, the sports car they were riding in was affected by a fairly strong wind, causing the car body to sway uncontrollably.

When the people behind them instinctively turned around, they could only see a plume of black smoke streaking away like lightning and disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Mark, the driver, was a seasoned veteran of underground racing. He quickly regained control of the car after its brief loss of control, pounding his fists on the steering wheel and yelling:

"Did you see that?! A horse! It really is a horse! And there are people sitting on it! I'm not mistaken!"

The girl in the back seat sat up and glanced at the speedometer of their sports car:

"You mean—a horse passed by at what was probably three to four times our speed? Are you sure it wasn't an airplane?"

If they hadn't had to slow down when passing vehicles to avoid being overturned by the strong winds, they could have gone even faster.

Connors had already sheathed his spear, quite satisfied with the reward for getting the big scoop today.

He patted the black smoke on the shoulder, and the horse dissipated into a thick plume of smoke and disappeared.

When needed, Connors only needs to whistle to summon it, which couldn't be more convenient.

"It's just that I can't ignore gravity right now, otherwise I could ride a horse to the nineteenth floor," Connors thought somewhat arrogantly.

However, this may be achievable in the future. The description of the black smoke includes the feature of "growth potential," but the specific growth method still needs to be explored by Connors.

At least his action of riding a foreign horse on the back of a warhorse just now did not allow the black smoke to grow.

"Little Pa~"

Harley Quinn was always the first to greet Connors, while Poison Ivy would usually come over and ask, "Do you want to get down to business?"

But only Harley is here today; Poison Ivy is nowhere to be found.

"Where's Ivy?" Connors asked. He had only been away from Gotham for a day. Had "Poison Ivy" already returned to the Gotham Forest?

"Ivy? She's in Gotham City," Harley Quinn said. "A monster crawled out of the Gotham River and wreaked havoc in its path."

—What does the monster have to do with Poison Ivy? She's not a superhero, is she? Connors didn't understand, but Harley Quinn quickly explained:

"After the monster crashed into twelve buildings, it charged into the Gotham Forest, and Ivy said she was going to kill it."

"No wonder." Connors understood. "Poison Ivy" valued plant life more than human life; she was an extreme environmentalist.

The monster crashing into the building was no big deal to her, but damaging the plants was a capital offense.

"Do you know what the monster looks like?" Connors asked. There aren't many things in Gotham that can smash down twelve buildings in a row, and he already had a suitable candidate in mind.

"All muscle, looks like Bane!" Harley gestured with her arms outstretched, using Connors' physique as an example. "Pale skin, like a zombie—well, and a bit bald."

"Solomon Grandi?" Just as Connors guessed, it was the monster from that terrifying nursery rhyme.

"Wow~ Little Pa, you're so amazing! It seems like there's nothing you don't know. You're incredible!" Harley Quinn's emotional appeal was off the charts.

"—What are they talking about?" Selena looked at Connors in confusion, not knowing what this so-called "Grandi" was.

"It's a monster from a nursery rhyme, a being that can come back to life even after it dies," Zatanna whispered to "Catwoman" Selena.

"Zatanna is right, it is that thing, but how did this guy suddenly crawl out of the river?" Connors didn't understand.

Harley Quinn hesitated before saying:

"Ivy said it might be because she threw that taxi into the river?"

"The river ends at the 'Slaughter Swamp,' and that's where the monster crawled out of the Slaughter Swamp, crossed Gotham, and entered the Gotham Forest."

The river wasn't flowing that fast. Maybe it was because he kept throwing cars into the river that the previous vehicles had washed away Grandy's house. Connors, who had woken it up, felt a little embarrassed. After asking around for a while, it seemed that this matter was related to him.

"Has anyone died?" Connors didn't intend to be a superhero, but he didn't want to be a villain either, so he asked about the injured first.

"It seems a priest who tried to harm the little boy has died, and the rest are seriously injured." Harley Quinn pointed to the television screen. "Look, they're reporting on it."

good chance!

Zatanna thought to herself, and volunteered:

"I'm best at healing magic, leave it to me."

"Who are you—..." Harley Quinn had already forgotten about this magician.

Harley Quinn cheered loudly from the back of the black smoke. She had never ridden a horse before, only Connors had.

This novel experience made her impatient, especially after learning that the black smoke could obscure the outside world's vision, Harley Quinn became even more unrestrained.

She took off the vest she was wearing.