American comics: Damn it, I’m surrounded by those who worry about their fathers!.

Chapter 1043 Azu's Fury: The Farm is Mine!
The next day.

Gotham.

Gotham's sewer system reeks of a stench stronger than ever before.

Sewage, carrying ash and unidentified filth, flowed slowly through the concrete pipes.

This is an area where, after the sunlight is blocked, the vampire patrols disdain to set foot on the ground.

Near the abandoned sewage treatment plant in the old town, in a room that has been converted into a temporary "laboratory".

Harley Quinn was bound tightly to a metal platform in a "T" shape.

Harlequin's signature pigtails were now disheveled, covered in sweat and grime.

Her pretty face, which always wore a crazy smile, was now contorted with pain, and her mouth was stuffed with a dirty rag, so she could only utter muffled whimpers.

Around her, three figures were busy near the operating table.

Professor Pigface, wearing his blood-stained butcher's apron and his signature pink pig head mask, was looking at Harley with great interest.

Near Professor Pigface is Gotham's villain, "The Thinker"—Clifford DeVor.

The Thinker sat a short distance from the operating table, in front of a metal workbench.

Another Gotham villain, Dr. Hugo Strange, stands at the head of the operating table, looking down at Harley's pained and contorted face.

Dr. Hugo held a tablet that displayed Harley's vital signs in real time—heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, and other information.

"The pain index reaches a threshold, and adrenaline and cortisol levels surge."

Hugo checked Harley's vital signs and ordered the two men, "Pigface, I need to observe the stress response pattern of her body's special substances under extreme pain. Clifford, record all nerve signals and hormonal changes."

Professor Pigface, The Thinker, and Dr. Hugo are conducting human experiments on Harley Quinn.

They are not vampires.

When the disaster struck, the three of them survived the initial conversion frenzy thanks to their cunning and familiarity with Gotham's underworld.

However, the eternal darkness and the ever-present threat of vampires made them realize that hiding was not a long-term solution.

By sheer chance, they captured Harley Quinn.

The shameless trio began using Harley Quinn as a human test subject to study how to turn a vampire into a human.

the other side.

Gotham Surface, Natural History Museum.

This magnificent Romanesque building is now nothing but ruins, with the huge dinosaur skeleton lying on the ground, half-buried in thick ash.

The shattered dome let in no light, only thick smoke billowing inside.

Several figures, like ghosts, silently descended into the central hall of the museum.

Raven was the first to land, followed by Barbara Gordon, Black Canary, Vi, Booboo, and Ceressa.

Raven gathered these people and brought them to Gotham to investigate the situation.

By this time, Barbara's leg injury had been healed by Raven.

Black Canary was also persuaded by Raven to join the team.

"According to the map provided by Bruce, several major entrances to the deep underground pipe system have been blocked by vampires or collapses."

Barbara lowered her voice, the beam of her flashlight sweeping across the dark ruins around her. "But there is an abandoned specimen transport tunnel that connects the museum's underground warehouse to the main sewage pipe of the old sewage treatment plant. That might be the way to bypass most of the blockade."

"Specimen passage? That sounds disgusting."

Bao Bao frowned and said, a look of disgust on his face.

"It's better than crashing straight into a vampire's lair. They've blocked most of the passageways, so there's nothing we can do about it."

Wei stretched his wrists, which were covered in boxing gloves. "Let's go. Let's find a clue as soon as possible and send those bastards to their deaths."

The black canary didn't speak, but silently checked the sonic transmitter at its waist.

The argument in Kandor and Barbara's "capture the king" theory did not completely convince her, but Raven privately approached her and expressed her willingness to go to Gotham to investigate clues, hoping that she would join her.

Ceresia held up the magic crystal, which emitted a soft glow that dispelled the unsettling chill.

"Sister Raven, something seems wrong up ahead."

Seresa immediately spoke to Raven, while simultaneously sensing the flow of magic.

Raven nodded; her senses also picked up on the unusual fluctuations Ceresia had described.

"That's the direction, be careful."

Led by Barbara, the team silently passed through the collapsed exhibition hall, bypassed the huge Diplodocus skeleton fossil, and crawled into a narrow passage filled with dust and cobwebs.

The passage sloped downwards, becoming deeper and deeper, and the air grew increasingly polluted and damp.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, a faint light and indistinct sounds appeared ahead.

Raven raised her hand to signal everyone to stop, and the team immediately stopped and held their breath.

The group was currently behind a rusted metal ventilation grille at the end of the passage.

Below the fence is a culvert that has been converted into a laboratory.

Raven and her friends peered down through the gaps in the fence.

The sight before them stunned everyone.

Harley was bound tightly to the operating table.

A butcher wearing a pig's head mask, a bald scientist staring at a holographic screen with fanatical eyes, and a guy in a white lab coat with a fervent look in his eyes.

"Harley...Quinn?"

Barbara's voice was filled with disbelief.

"Did they kidnap Harley Quinn?!"

Vi clenched her fist instantly, and the Hextech Gauntlets emitted a blue light as they gathered energy.

"These bastards!"

The black canary couldn't help but mutter a curse under its breath.

Although she had no feelings for Harley Quinn, seeing her tied to the bed with three ugly men staring at her strangely, Raven felt she had to rescue her no matter what.

And it seems like Harley Quinn knows her father?

Just as Raven was deep in thought, Boo leaned over and whispered to her, "What should we do? Raven, should we kill these three ugly bastards?"

Raven glanced at the others and whispered, "Let's get them out of here first."

"Roger that!"

When Bao Bao heard that a fight was going to happen, his eyes lit up with excitement.

She loves fighting!

With lightning speed, she ripped three different colored bombs from her waist and, without even looking at them, smashed them down through the gaps in the ventilation grille.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

A blinding flash, a deafening explosion, and thick green smoke instantly erupted inside the culvert laboratory.

The shockwave from the explosion overturned the instruments on the control panel, shattered the screens, snapped the data cables, and green smoke with a strong, pungent odor filled the air.

"What?! An enemy attack?!"

The Thinker screamed as the holographic screen in front of him went out instantly. The next second, he was blown away by the blast wave and crashed heavily into a metal rack piled with debris.

Hugo Strange reacted extremely quickly, lunging toward the nearby control panel the instant the explosion occurred, attempting to activate the defenses.

But a silent sound wave struck the back of his head like a heavy hammer.

"Uh!"

Hugo groaned, his vision went black, and his movements froze instantly.

The black canary attacked him.

The black canary stood at the vent, its lips pressed into a thin line, and deadly sonic waves continued to bombard Hugo.

"Cough cough!"

Professor Pigface coughed repeatedly, choked by the blast wave and green smoke from the explosion, but he endured the pain and charged towards Raven and the others.

Before he could rush over, Wei crashed through the rusted fence from the ventilation shaft and fell from the sky.

"Ho!"

The Hextech gauntlet, crackling with blue energy arcs, slammed into the spot where Pigface had just been standing.

A large crater was smashed into the concrete ground, and gravel flew everywhere.

"Go away!"

The pig-faced creature roared and swung its bone saw at Wei.

But Wei was faster. With a nimble sidestep, she dodged, and her other gauntlet slammed into Pig Face's ribs with a whooshing sound.

"Crack!"

A heartbreaking voice sounded.

The pig-faced creature let out a painful scream as its massive body was slammed against the ground and sent flying, crashing into a trolley full of surgical instruments.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Raven and Barbara slid down through the ventilation shaft and ran toward Harley on the operating table.

Raven rushed to the operating table, and her chaotic magic transformed into sharp purple blades of light, instantly severing the straps binding her limbs.

"Ugh...ugh...!" Barbara quickly ripped the gag out of Harley's mouth. She gasped for breath, the pain preventing her from speaking, her blue eyes filled with confusion.

She hadn't realized what was happening yet.

"let's go."

Barbara quickly checked Harley's injuries, then pulled her away to leave.

"Ra...Raven?"

Harley's weak voice rang out, and her unfocused gaze finally focused on Raven's face, recognizing her.

Upon seeing that the person who saved her was Raven, a strange light instantly shone in her eyes.

"Little...little witch? It's...it's you, Peter...Peter's little witch?"

"Uh, little witch?"

Raven paused for a moment, then said somewhat speechlessly, "I am Raven Patrick, or you can call me Raven, but please don't call me Little Witch."

"Peter..."

Harley seemed not to hear Raven's words. She grabbed Raven's wrist, her blue eyes fixed on her with urgent questioning, "Your dad... my pudding-flavored marshmallow... where... is he? Is he... alright? Those monsters... are they...?"

Before she could finish speaking, she began to cough violently, perhaps due to her injury.

Raven was surprised that Harley would ask her about her father. After hesitating for a moment, she said to Harley, "Dad is missing now, but I will definitely find him."

"Let's get out of here first."

As Raven spoke, she looked up at Barbara and shouted, "Oracle, Vi, Boom, Black Canary, Seresa, let's get out of here quickly. Don't linger, or we'll alert the vampires nearby."

Upon hearing Raven's words, Vi, who was in the middle of the fight, punched away the pig-faced guy who was rushing at her and threw out two smoke grenades. Dense gray smoke instantly filled the culvert.

The black canary unleashed a powerful sonic shockwave towards Hugo and the Thinker, sending them flying once more.

The team members quickly left the lab with the injured Harley.

A shipyard on the outskirts of Gotham.

The group rested there temporarily, and Raven helped Harley treat her injuries.

Harley curiously felt the pain in her body lessen.

This was the first time she had ever witnessed such a miraculous healing ability; it was as if Raven had absorbed all the pain in her body.

But Harley soon became frustrated.

"This time I really messed up; I almost got turned into a new pig's head toy."

After making a comment, Harley asked Raven about Peter: "Peter, my pudding-flavored marshmallow, has he gone on another trip to another world?"

Raven shook her head. "To be honest, I don't know, but I believe Dad will get here in time and I'll be able to find him."

"Well, this guy is always unusually mysterious."

The light in Harley's eyes dimmed for a moment, then was replaced by a deeper worry.

After catching her breath, she seemed to have made up her mind, and her eyes became unusually serious.

"Hey, listen up, little witch..."

Harley lowered her voice even further, “My blood should be somewhat special now.”

"what?"

Raven paused, unsure of what she meant.

Harley swallowed hard, lost in her memories. "At first, I ran into a hapless vampire named Andrew, who was being hunted by even more ruthless members of his own kind and was on the verge of death."

Harley paused for a moment, then continued, "He was holding half a tube of blood in his hand. He said it was the heart blood of the vampire queen who had been killed earlier."

He said this thing might be the key to reversing transformation, and could potentially turn monsters back into humans.

Harley's eyes darted around. "Then the vampires came after him."

"That idiot shoved the tube into my hands and told me to keep it safe, and not to let it fall into the hands of the new queen."

Harley's lips curled into a crazy smile. "When have I, Harley Quinn, ever listened to anyone? Run? How boring! Besides, those bastards are chasing us way too closely."

Her gaze fell on the wound on her arm. "I had a moment of madness, thinking that it was such a precious thing, it would be a pity to destroy it, and if I carried it with me, it would definitely be stolen, so I might as well..."

Seeing Raven's shocked eyes, she shrugged and said, "...Why not inject it into my own body, make it mine, so they can never take it away?"

"what?!"

Upon hearing Harley's words, Raven gasped in surprise.

Barbara and the vigilant Dinah were also instantly drawn to the news.

Harley Quinn!

The blood flowing through her veins was actually the heart blood of the previous vampire queen?!
Raven felt incredibly overwhelmed.

She now has another task: ensuring Harley Quinn's safety.

After calming herself down, Raven decided to put Harley's matter aside for now.

The most important thing now is to get into Gotham City. She asked Barbara to see if there were any other routes.

Now all bridges, tunnels, and major roads in Gotham are heavily guarded and fortified.

The surveillance in the sky is even more airtight, with the transformed Wonder Girl, Black Adam, and several other equally powerful superhumans patrolling the skies.

It seemed difficult for the group to enter the main city without alerting the vampires.

"Would the sewer work?"

Wei pointed to the crisscrossing blue pipelines on the map.

"It's no use."

Barbara shook her head. "The vampires obviously know this is their weakness; all the underground pipe network nodes leading to the main city have been blocked."

Hearing Barbara say this, Raven's gaze finally fell on the main river on the map that runs through Gotham and eventually flows into the sea.

What about the waterway?

Barbara hesitated for a moment. "The current is swift, underwater visibility is zero, and there are reefs and shipwrecks everywhere. Most importantly, the Vampire King must have set up deadly traps and patrols underwater."

"But this is the only gap."

Raven stood up. "We have no choice. Teleportation is no longer working in Gotham. I suspect there are powerful mages among the infected vampires who are making Gotham's teleportation magic ineffective."

After half an hour.

The group found a small, half-submerged, rusty patrol boat, worked together to right it slightly, cleared out a barely usable cabin, and headed towards Gotham's main city.

At the same moment, over the town of Smallville.

Azu hovered beneath the billowing smoke, staring intently at the place below—Padrick Farm—that held his childhood memories and countless complex emotions.

Anger surged wildly in his chest.

These guys have taken over my farm!

Around the farm, dozens of shadowy figures silently patrolled the scorched earth; these men had pale skin and eyes that gleamed with a hungry, crimson light.

"My...home...!"

Ah Zu squeezed out three words through gritted teeth.

Who is he?
He is a citizen of the motherland!
He is Peter Patrick’s nominal eldest son!
He is the rightful heir to this farm!
These filthy, lowly, mongrel vampires who deserve only to be fodder!
How dare they?!

How dare they defile this land?!

How dare they occupy what belongs to them?!

"Boom!!!"

Azu suddenly burst forth with a blinding crimson light, and heat vision shot out from his eyes without warning.

Filled with a destructive rage, it swept its gaze fiercely across the farm below.

"boom!"

Wherever the scarlet beam of light passed, the soil and gravel instantly vaporized under the extreme heat.

The vampires didn't even have time to scream before they were completely vaporized, leaving not even a trace of ash behind.

Azu's blow was like a stone thrown into a calm lake; the entire farm instantly "came to life."

"Roar--!!!"

Countless scarlet eyes lit up, and even more vampires surged out.

The vampires spotted the intruders hovering in the air, and with their incredible jumping ability, they leaped dozens of meters into the air, their claws reaching for Azu.

"Scum! Get out of here!!!"

Azu roared, moving so fast that it left a piercing sonic boom cloud in the air.

boom--! ! !
Like a meteorite, it crashed into the most densely populated central area of ​​vampires, and the energy shockwave spread wildly in all directions the moment it hit the ground.

Centered on Azu's landing point, all the vampires that rushed at him within a radius of fifty meters instantly exploded.

The vampire transformed into a thick, blackish-red mist of blood and bits of flesh and limbs spraying everywhere, like a bloody downpour.

Then, Azu's figure appeared amidst the blood and gore, and with a "bang," a strong vampire was blasted into pieces along with his shield.

"Crack!"

An agile vampire who leaped high into the air, attempting to bite his neck, had his spine broken by a mid-air kick and crashed to the ground like a sack of potatoes, kicking up a cloud of dust.

(End of this chapter)