Chapter 931: Amidst theMisty Rain (Part Six) (Patreon)

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Catwoman couldn't simply make her way to Wayne Manor on foot; she needed a ride. However, in the current chaos, it was unlikely that any driver would let her hop into their car. So, she decided to find a vehicle on the spot.

After a quick search, she stumbled upon an unattended old pickup truck. Fortunately, Catwoman wasn't too picky. She skillfully picked the lock on the truck's door and got inside.

Luck was on her side as the vehicle started without a hitch, and it had plenty of fuel. Catwoman stepped on the gas and began her journey towards Wayne Manor.

While Catwoman's driving skills weren't exceptional, they were better than the average Gotham resident's. After all, she often used a car as her getaway vehicle when stealing, so she had acquired some proficiency.

But in the current state of Gotham's roads, even above-average driving skills were of limited use. Catwoman had just turned a corner when she encountered two trucks blocking the road. Judging from the bloodstains by the doors, it seemed the unfortunate drivers had succumbed to madness.

Catwoman shook her head and had to continue straight, taking a detour to bypass the blockade. However, not long after, she encountered yet another roadblock, forcing her to reroute again.

Originally, the route from the northern part of the East District to the South District was straightforward, requiring only passing through the central roundabout and heading south. But now, Catwoman had to take a circuitous route, first driving west and then south, passing through the outskirts of the West District to reach the South District.

Gotham was already a sizable city, and with these detours, Catwoman's eyes were struggling to stay open. However, as she was passing the edge of the West District, she suddenly heard intense gunfire.

Instantly, she snapped to attention and instinctively veered left. Unfortunately, her right wheel hit a sharp object on the road, causing a leak. When she tried to steer back on course, she found that the steering wheel was unresponsive.

Through the car's windshield, she saw smoke rising from the engine. She cursed, but a stray bullet whizzed past the front of her car. Catwoman had to accelerate to avoid her vehicle getting caught in a second round of a shootout.

However, in her haste to step on the gas, Catwoman failed to notice what was in front of her.

With a deafening crash, the old pickup truck slammed into an iron plate used to block Gotham University's eastern entrance. A figure leaped out of the vehicle's window, and the next moment, the entire truck was engulfed in gunfire, exploding where it stood.

The sound of bullets flying past her ears made Catwoman flinch. She attempted to dodge, but a bullet struck the ground half a meter away from her. Though it didn't hit her, the proximity caused her to freeze into an ice block.

Two students rushed over and carried the frozen Catwoman into the school. Victor took the Freeze Gun from the students without scolding them for missing their shot.

In the dark and foggy conditions, he didn't notice Catwoman's distinctive attire. Victor waved his hand and said, "Another infected delivery driver, it seems. Let's put them all in the sealed warehouse until we find a cure."

Then he turned to the students on the watchtower and said, "Keep a close eye on the east gate. I can't afford to lose to Anna, or our entire mathematics department will become the laughingstock of the university."

Accompanied by Victor, the students ascended the watchtower. They could see that Gotham University had set up watchtowers at the east, south, and north gates, all manned by students and professors armed with weapons and Freeze Guns.

Within just a few hours, the entire perimeter of Gotham University had been fortified. The doors were the most critical, and all students and teachers showing signs of infection were frozen with the Freeze Gun and stored in the warehouse, to be thawed out once a solution was found.

When Catwoman was carried into the warehouse and tossed onto the floor, she saw that it was already filled with dozens of ice sculptures. Most of them had frenzied expressions, while a few looked like they had been prepared before being frozen.

Catwoman couldn't move, but she realized that the ice layer on her was thinner than the others. She thought it might be because the freezing projectile hadn't hit her directly, just grazed her foot, so she wasn't at the center of the freezing explosion.

Catwoman certainly wasn't content to stay frozen. She struggled to move her body, continuously searching for gaps between the ice and her skin.

Luckily, her flexibility served her well. After some effort, she discovered that the upper part of her body had a thinner layer of ice, particularly around her shoulders.

After more struggle, Catwoman managed to create a gap in the ice. She bent down to break the ice on her feet but soon realized it wasn't ordinary ice.

She had to remove it like she was taking off a shoe. After a few minutes, she finally got rid of the ice blocks and regained her freedom. She wanted to leave this place quickly, but when she peeked through the warehouse door's crack, she saw students patrolling outside.

"Wow, have they turned this into a military base?" Catwoman muttered quietly. "Is all this really necessary for a zombie crisis and plant mutation? Are they overdoing it?"

With a disdainful snort, she reached into her uniform, pulled out a lock pick, and quickly unlocked the warehouse's back door. She slipped out through the opening and took another look at the ice sculptures before locking the door again.

Catwoman, now free, planned to find a vantage point to scout the patrol routes and identify their blind spots for a swift escape.

Fortunately, the warehouse's rooftop provided access to the balcony on the second floor of another building. Catwoman agilely climbed to the warehouse's rooftop and jumped to the adjacent building, using the water pipes on the balcony to ascend to the rooftop.

Standing there with a commanding view, Catwoman quickly spotted her way out. She needed to exit through the east gate of this building, so she swiftly unlocked the rooftop's door to the interior of the structure.

However, as soon as she entered, she had some regrets. It appeared to be a biological research building, and there were laboratories with strange specimens that had been left open.

Feeling a chill down her spine, Catwoman increased her pace to leave this place. Just then, she heard faint sobbing coming from downstairs, as if a girl was crying.

Dark corridors, bizarre experiment specimens, and the faint sound of weeping – Catwoman's hairs stood on end. She nearly sprinted downstairs, eager to get away from this place.

But as she rushed through the ground-floor corridor, she stumbled upon several corpses, vines embedded in their chests.

Catwoman intended to bypass them, but she heard faint cries for help from the adjacent room – likely the same girl who had been crying earlier.

Catwoman hesitated for a moment but ultimately stood by the door, glancing inside. To her astonishment, she found a girl tied to a chair next to a lab table.

Almost instinctively, Catwoman hurled a dagger, severing the vines. However, this seemed to enrage the plants, and they surged towards her.

Once she was engaged in combat, Catwoman no longer felt fear. She retrieved the whip coiled at her waist, the snapping sound of the whip piercing the night. With three or four quick swings, she repelled the vines, and her thrown dagger severed their roots.

Yet more vines continued to pour in, and Catwoman found herself struggling to keep up.

Then, at that moment, the girl tied to the chair let out a piercing scream. Catwoman's attention was drawn to her, and she saw the girl continuously nodding in a certain direction.

Catwoman turned her gaze toward the indicated direction, where a liquid incubator stood. She immediately understood the girl's meaning and threw a dagger toward the incubator.

With a shattering sound, the glass of the incubator broke, and the liquid spilled everywhere. To Catwoman's surprise, as the liquid splashed onto the plants, the vines immediately stopped moving.

Catwoman retracted her whip and approached, tearing off the tape that covered the girl's mouth. The girl gasped for air, her face contorted in pain.

"Who are you? How did you end up here?" Catwoman inquired as she surveyed the laboratory.

"I am... I'm a freshman in the biology department... cough...," the girl wheezed, her voice weakening due to pain. She continued, "Who are you? And why are you here now? Didn't everyone evacuate from this building?"

"I'm... just consider me a student from here," Catwoman hesitated for a moment but chose not to reveal her true identity. She pulled out a knife and cut the ropes binding the girl.

She was certain the girl was telling the truth. Only a Gotham University freshman would be as frail as her and unable to untie even the simplest knots.

Once her hands were freed, the girl coughed heavily and introduced herself, "You can call me Pamela. I just started university in September."

Still panting, she said, "Don't bother bandaging me up; it won't help. Haven't you noticed? I'm already infected..."

"Infected? You mean, you've turned into one of those crazies on the streets? How do you know? You seem perfectly rational right now," Catwoman asked while disinfecting the girl's wound.

Pamela chuckled somewhat mockingly and said, "I am rational now, but in five minutes, I'll be craving to sink my teeth into your flesh..."

She closed her eyes, her face contorted in pain, and continued, "When the disaster broke out, I was conducting an experiment with my classmates. A lunatic burst in and injured one of them. We scattered and ran for our lives..."

"I took refuge in this laboratory with three other students," Pamela grimaced as she spoke. "They realized that the crazies only attacked one person at a time, so they tied me up here as bait."

Catwoman paused her actions and asked, "What about the other three? Did they manage to escape?"

"Didn't you see the corpses outside?" Pamela gestured toward the window. "After people went mad, the plants also went berserk. Vines from outside killed them. I don't know why I'm unharmed, but then you arrived..."

Catwoman examined the wound on Pamela's shoulder and said with a frown, "Why is this wound so swollen? I can't even stop the bleeding. This..."

"Don't bother," Pamela interrupted. "It won't help. Haven't you realized? I'm infected with a plant toxin..."

"A plant toxin?" Catwoman's breath began to quicken. Pamela's voice grew weak and laborious as she explained, "This kind of infection probably spreads through the bloodstream. I have to change the composition of my entire blood system to have a chance at surviving without going mad."

"Hurry up! It's running out of time!!" Pamela began to roar, madness flashing in her eyes. She looked toward the rain and mist outside, gritting her teeth. "If this mad world is destined for destruction, so be it. But I won't be destroyed, for I will make those who betrayed me pay for their actions!"

Catwoman wasted no time. She injected the liquid from the glass container behind the broken incubator, following Pamela's instructions. After administering the injection, she hesitated and said, "Are you sure about this? This substance looks corrosive..."

"It's a plant toxin," Pamela gasped for breath, her words becoming weaker. "This infection likely spreads through my bloodstream. I have to change my entire blood composition to have a chance of survival without going mad."

"Quickly... no time left!!" Pamela roared, her eyes filled with madness. She gazed at the rain and mist outside, gritting her teeth. "If this crazy world is destined for destruction, so be it. But I won't be destroyed, for I will make those who betrayed me pay for their actions!"

Catwoman plunged the needle into Pamela's neck. Gradually, the spark of life in Pamela's eyes faded, replaced by a different vitality, unlike that of humans or any other animal.

As a piercing scream tore through the night sky, the swaying tree shadows in the darkness, the contorted vines, and all shades of light and dark green within the rain and mist bowed down, as if welcoming their king.

In the silent sound waves that spread, deep within the thick fog, all the rampaging plants came to a halt. Then, with great force, they extended their stems, as if praying in a single direction.

In a dim alley, a cigarette butt fell, igniting the leaves of a plant. However, it didn't make the plant retreat. Constantine turned his head to the Gotham sky and murmured softly, "The Green..."

At that very moment, Schiller, standing on the rooftop, suddenly directed his gaze toward the biology laboratory.

His figure, clad in a suit, disappeared into the thick fog of the rooftop. In the next moment, he appeared before Pamela.

The raindrops outside the window froze as Thunderbolt arrived, freezing everything in the room. An umbrella appeared in mid-air, somersaulted, and was captured by a hand. Schiller descended from above, placing the umbrella handle against Pamela's forehead.

"Get out of her body!"

With those words, the branches waved, and the vines surged. Numerous plants emitted sharp cries. The green power in the space boiled, and the tidal wave of green, like a stormy sea, rose to great heights, engulfing Schiller's figure in an instant.

[Read at www.patreon.com/shanefreak, and thanks for the invaluable support!]

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Next Chapter>>Chapter 932: Amidst the Rainy Mist (Part Seven)