章節 75: Chapter 75 Arkham Knight Armor

"Batman, that green freak from earlier—do you know who he is?"

Seeing Batman deep in thought, George Stacy couldn't help but press the question, showing his typical police commissioner demeanor.

"No idea. You all handle things here now."

Anton shook his head, snapped back to reality, glanced at the NYPD officers, and disappeared into the darkness within seconds.

Night time.

Somewhere in a high-end Manhattan apartment.

The violently shaking bed finally settled down after a long while.

The beauty next to Eddie was sound asleep, while he felt utterly drained and was just about to succumb to exhaustion when he suddenly opened his eyes.

"Don't sleep!"

A low, booming voice erupted in his mind.

"Venom!"

Eddie growled in annoyance, "What the hell are you yelling for? I want to sleep!"

"Anton is outside!"

Venom words jolted him awake.

"What?"

Eddie suddenly panicked, quickly got up, threw on some clothes, and opened the door.

Anton stood at the doorway, smirking faintly at him.

"Dude, you know I'm not into men, right?"

Eddie expression was peculiar. "Showing up at my place at this hour could easily lead to some very wrong ideas."

"You mentioned at the bar earlier that The Foot Clan had stolen chemical supplies from a Brooklyn port, supplies that belonged to Oscorp…"

Anton wasn't in the mood for jokes. His expression turned serious as he continued, "Do you know why The Foot Clan targeted this batch of chemicals? What kind of experiments Oscorp was conducting with them?"

"Uh, no idea."

Eddie shook his head, pausing as he noticed something off about Anton. "What wrong? You don't look too good."

"Got a little banged up."

Anton waved it off. "I ran into some trouble earlier at the Brooklyn port. Eddie, New York is about to get very messy."

"Is it that bad?"

Eddie was stunned.

In the months he'd known Anton, he had never heard such words of concern from him.

"What exactly happened?" Eddie pressed. "Who could hurt you?"

"A grumpy old guy who likes riding a glider and wearing green armor is stirring up trouble!"

Anton explained briefly, glanced inside the apartment, realizing his timing wasn't ideal, and added, "Since you don't know much about Oscorp, make sure to bring April to the Daily Bugle tomorrow. I have a few things to ask her."

"Got it."

Eddie nodded, watching Anton leave, his brow furrowed.

From Anton demeanor just now, Eddie could tell the situation was dire.

Even when facing the Life Foundation or Kingpin, Anton had been full of confidence, never showing such a grave expression. What exactly did Anton encounter at the port?

Puzzled, Eddie turned back to bed. For a man utterly drained of energy, no problem in the world could rival the need for a good night sleep.

Back home, Anton took off his shirt, revealing a glaring bruise on his right chest.

"Damn it, this really hurts!"

He grimaced, every little movement tugging painfully at the muscles in his chest. It felt like even sleeping would be a challenge tonight.

Anton applied some ointment to his body.

Then, after putting on his sleepwear, he replayed in his mind the brief encounter with the Green Goblin at the port.

"Didn't expect this guy to show up now!"

The thought of his opponent made not only his chest ache but also his head.

Throwing knives.

A flying glider.

Pumpkin bombs.

The classic Green Goblin arsenal.

While it might seem simple, each piece of equipment contained a high degree of technological sophistication.

Especially those pumpkin bombs—easy to carry and immensely powerful.

Before the Green Goblin left, if he had thrown a few more pumpkin bombs, Anton wouldn't have dared to step up and shield the police from harm.

To be honest, using Iron Man emergence as a time marker, the rise of black-tech inventions had been growing increasingly rapid, almost to the point of diverging from the current era norms.

Oscorp and Stark Industries are both rare mega-corporations. While their areas of focus differ, their technological prowess is on par with each other.

This made it clear that, compared to Norman Oscorp, Anton current go-to Rabbit Armor was starting to lag behind in adapting to the world advancements.

Not to mention that soon enough, there would be Tony Stark Mark III, Mark IV…

As much as Anton didn't want to admit it, he had to concede that Iron Man armor far outperformed the Rabbit Armor in both mobility and combat effectiveness!

Moreover, once Tony transformed into Iron Man, the combination of his wealth and intelligence created a synergy where one plus one far exceeded two.

His speed in developing new suits was exponentially faster than Anton ability to either unlock heroes or exchange for armor upgrades.

Anton pondered for a moment and checked his system interface for Justice Points.

Balance: 13 million.

Then, he scanned the lineup of Batman-themed specialty armor available in the system.

Gritting his teeth, he realized that the Justice Points he'd accumulated in recent days could afford him a pretty solid suit.

One that would certainly outclass the Rabbit Armor.

To be honest, if he didn't buy one now, it would mean falling behind the times.

For the moment, having Cyborg potential as a fallback was a relief.

The problem was that Cyborg wouldn't debut for another week, and gathering the 20 million Fans Points required for him would be a process that wouldn't be quick.

During this period, Anton couldn't guarantee that the Green Goblin or The Foot Clan wouldn't cause further trouble.

If something did happen and Anton had to appear as Batman using the Rabbit Armor, it would be challenging to turn the tide of the battle.

If he couldn't play a decisive role, then there would be no point in Batman showing up at all.

Furthermore, based on the timeline of future events, the world would face even greater threats.

Like the Hulk incident that directly followed Iron Man!

The battle between the Hulk and Abomination!

That was a showdown between true monsters.

Whether now or in the future, if Batman persona needed to participate—especially in a leadership role—raw power was the first and foremost requirement.

Power meant fists.

When your fists are strong enough, people will listen to what you have to say.

Because when your fists are strong enough, even if people don't want to listen, they have to.

"Arkham Knight Armor, 10 million Justice Points!"

Anton reviewed the system interface.

The Arkham Knight Armor was the most expensive suit among the ones he could currently afford.

After purchasing it, he'd still have 3 million Justice Points left.

Suddenly, he felt tempted.

Of course, what attracted him the most wasn't even the price or the armor stats, but its appearance.

It looked so much better than those silly rabbit ears!

"Let buy it!"

Clenching his teeth, Anton confirmed the purchase, and a brand-new suit materialized around his body, its cape fluttering behind him.

The Arkham Knight Armor was primarily composed of black and gray tones.

The most striking feature was the golden utility belt around the waist.

Additionally, the Arkham Armor boasted a triple-layered protective design, with an inner liquid protection layer covered by a titanium-infused outer shell.

The liquid system, primarily made of Wayne Tech MR fluid, reacted upon impact, becoming harder and absorbing shocks. This allowed more force to be redirected into counterattacks, creating more opportunities to strike enemies effectively.

In terms of reducing vibrations, this reflected primarily in its defensive capabilities.

At the same time, for the mobility that Anton desperately needed, the liquid armor enhanced flexibility through ceramic or fiber components, granting the user greater agility and control.

The Arkham Knight Armor could even integrate with the Batmobile, fully compatible with its electromagnetic ejection system.

With this, Batman could make dramatic entrances like a bullet fired from a railgun, soaring into action.

The armor also came equipped with jump airbags and an arm-mounted grappling hook launcher, making aerial combat a viable option.

Standing in front of the mirror, Anton struck a few poses, grinning ear to ear.

All the earlier stinginess evaporated in an instant.

It was worth it!