American comics: Praising the sun, starting from Gotham!

The phone call was answered before the icon representing the sugar daddy and troublemaker on the phone screen even blinked twice.

Bruce's voice sounded noticeably tired.

"Whether you want to ask about the cleanup costs of those vampire ashes, or complain that Afu didn't prepare breakfast for you, listen to me now, Xiu En."

Batman on the other end was clearly in a high-speed moving vehicle, with the background sounds of an engine roaring and wind cutting.

"The Joker escaped. One hour and forty-five minutes ago, which is about the time you started messing with that plate of flour."

Ivy raised an eyebrow, and her vines thoughtfully handed Xiu En a glass of water.

Because this guy, who in her eyes had never known what nervousness was, finally froze, choking on half a hard biscuit stuck in his throat.

He pounded his golden chest twice, producing a dull thud.

"Say it again?"

Xiu En turned his phone on speakerphone, and his usual smug smile vanished completely.

"I remember Arkham just reinforced it. You used anti-superhuman composite walls after you came back from that ruined world of the Red Barrel. Even if he digs with a spoon, it'll take him two or three years, right?"

"This time he didn't try to break through the wall. He walked in through the front gate."

The voice on the other end of the phone grew even deeper, as if even Bruce himself found the matter somewhat strange yet inevitable.

"Harleen Quezel. The psychiatrist you seemed quite interested in earlier. The surveillance footage shows that she obtained the highest level of access to the prison, personally opened the top-level electronic lock, and didn't even point a gun at anyone; she led him out with a smile."

"Also, before they left, they blew up the West District's drug depot. This time it wasn't nitrous oxide, but some new product mixed with the otherworldly remnants I brought back."

Although I've seen this scene countless times in many comics or parallel universes, it doesn't feel so romantic when it actually happens to someone you know, especially when that unfortunate Dr. Harleen is most likely Ivy's employee.

Ivy's previous ease completely transformed into a cold indifference tinged with murderous intent.

An ornamental fern next to her burrowed into the soil, and the next second a thorny bramble appeared.

"That idiot!"

She muttered a curse under her breath, it was unclear whether she was cursing Harleen or that green-haired madman.

"Does she really think she can cure pure chaos?"

"She's not a doctor anymore, Ivy."

Xiu En looked at Ivy.

"She's probably already half-brainwashed by that Joker. If things go wrong, Gotham will soon have another crazy woman with pigtails and a baseball bat smashing people's heads."

Xiu En paused.

"If she's lucky, maybe she'll just become a laughing corpse, but I doubt the Joker would waste such a highly educated toy."

Bruce left one last sentence before hanging up.

"The Justice League members have all left Gotham for their respective cities, and we'll have to handle things here ourselves. I'm going to track down their escape vehicle disguised as an ice truck, but I suspect it's a decoy."

"Shuen, watch out for the orphanage. The Jokers left a box at your door. If the Jokers want to spread this madness, that's the perfect breeding ground."

The phone hangs up.

Only a busy signal remains.

Xiu En glanced at the children in the yard who were still trying to flip coins to guess heads or tails, and then looked at Ivy.

The latter had already stood up, and the surrounding air was filled with the smell of some kind of dangerous plant spores.

"We have to work overtime, Ivy."

Xiu En sighed, but the light in his palm unconsciously brightened, and the air became scorching hot.

"Now even if I want to eat barbecue, I have to swat these annoying flies first. I'm currently reading Chapter 130, The Sunflower's Choice, and I'm completely engrossed in it."

Xiu En and Ivy went to check the box by the door.

The box was placed openly at the main entrance of the welfare home.

The wrapping paper was a glaring fluorescent green, and the ribbon tied to it was a smiling face shape that could make anyone feel physically uncomfortable at first glance.

The ends of the ribbon were even carefully trimmed into the shape of forked tongues.

"It seems that our Dr. Harleen didn't forget to send a gift to her old colleagues before leaving."

As Xiu En walked through the gate, he deliberately took half a step back, and the golden light in his palm had already taken shape.

His previously relaxed expression had now completely transformed into the frustration of being forcibly dragged into the hell of overtime work.

Ivy's complexion wasn't much better; she looked more gloomy than any poisonous plant in the world.

She knew who had done it almost the instant she saw the box.

Only Harleen knew how to use this specific surgical knotting method to tie ribbons.

"I'm not going this time."

Ivy looked at Xiu En.

She directed a thin vine, like a bomb disposal expert, to pry open the ribbon.

With a bang, the box popped out a clown spring doll painted with pale white paint, clutching a bunch of genetically modified violets that had been corroded by strong acid, leaving only half petals, yet still stubbornly trying to bite.

"This flower has been contaminated."

Ivy looked at the struggling plant, her eyes filled not only with anger, but also with a trace of heartache for a former friend.

"He's declaring war on me. If I leave here, this acid could be poured over the heads of the children sleeping upstairs the next second."

"Then I'll go and incinerate that garbage that's trying to pollute the environment myself."

Xiu En nodded.

He knew that with Ivy here, it was an absolute safe zone, while he himself outside was the biggest deterrent.

Just as he was about to turn around, a sunflower with a smiling face and a ring of golden petals around its head suddenly jumped out from the vines on the ground.

The little guy was incredibly fast, leaping onto Xiu En's shoulder in a flash. Two tiny leaves even mimicked a human's gesture and patted Xiu En's ears.

"Take me with you, I know where they are, to the amusement park."

Ivy's voice came from the sunflower head.

"Okay, Xiaohua."

Xiu En turned his head and glanced at the sunflower that was still jumping around on his trench coat, which was now radiating heat.

It's clear that Ivy gave this clone an extremely high heat resistance attribute.

He grinned, and the floor tiles beneath his feet instantly cracked due to the immense reaction force.

The next second, a real streak of light rose from the streets of Gotham's East Side.

The air was violently pushed aside in front of his protective golden light, producing a sharp sonic boom.

Countless Gotham citizens looked up in horror, only to see a golden comet trailing a long, fiery tail as it hurtled toward the abandoned amusement park in the north of the city, which Batman had just marked as having emitted a violent energy reaction.

Inside the welfare home.

As the light faded into the distance, the garden, which had been filled with the warm fragrance of plants, instantly transformed into a deadly maze.

A giant black-gold carnivorous plant raised its head from the pool, and the banyan tree that usually provided shade now had every leaf as sharp as a knife.

Ivy stood in front of the gift box, which was now completely covered in vines.

Even a fly.

Her eyes turned completely into that inhuman emerald green.

"Anyone who dares to come even half a step closer with that annoying laughter, even if it's Harlin herself, I'll kill her without hesitation."