The situation in the North District is exactly as Deathstroke described. It's swarming with mob members, modern weapons everywhere, and the firepower is intense. The Robins were completely stunned when they got in.
"This is what you call easy?!" Red Hood bellowed from the alley corner, "Where the hell did they get rocket cars???"
"For him, it actually is easy." Red Robin was also fleeing in panic, "Deathstroke is an Undead. Even if he's blasted to bits, he can put himself back together and survive. I've really bought into his insanity!"
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" The mob members didn't care about anything else and continued with the saturation bombardment.
Fortunately, Deathstroke wasn't a pushover either. He executed a flanking attack, directly taking out the gunner, and then proceeded to wreck the rocket car.
"Ah, wait!" Red Robin screamed, "Don't wreck it! We could still use it!"
Deathstroke sneered, "If it could be used, would I have wrecked it? Equipment that isn't dropped can't be used."
"Brainiac." Harley complained somewhat dissatisfied, "Why won't you let us use it? Weren't we promised in this simulated game there'd be no restrictions on abilities?"
"Actually, it can be used," Brainiac explained, "but it requires weapon authorization. You guys don't do those investigation missions, where would you get the authorization codes?"
Everyone was speechless. Pamela looked at the agent and asked, "Didn't you do the missions?"
"I did, but the rewards weren't authorization codes," the agent said, "Did you really expect my luck to be so good that after doing just a few missions, I'd snag the codes to control the city's rocket cars?"
The others were at a loss for words as well. In this game, there's nobody who isn't unlucky. There's no way anyone could do just a few missions and suddenly find an extremely crucial item. Such fantasies are completely unrealistic.
They all made their way to the Lighthouse. Even Polaris couldn't help but exclaim, "Your base is even smaller than ours."
"But it's easy to defend and hard to attack," the agent said, "When we defended against the second wave, it wasn't too difficult because the monsters only came from one direction and only in groups, which made them easy to kill."
Arkham Knight glanced at the sea behind the Lighthouse. He always felt things weren't that simple. In Gotham, being close to the sea never bodes well. Rather than mermaids, it's more likely Godzilla will pop up.
However, thinking of these two hacking masters, rampaging through areas with this level of firepower, and even completing numerous missions, even if a few giant octopuses emerged, they'd likely hack off a few tentacles.
The Lighthouse was indeed quite small. After walking in and forming a circle, there wasn't much room left to stand. Luckily, they didn't plan on staying here long. Deathstroke projected the map onto the wall, then said, "Clearing our way through would expend too much strength, so although doable, it's not the best strategy. I'm inclined to find a high-speed vehicle to rush through the monsters directly to the destination."
"Besides needing to be fast, it also needs to be tough," the agent said, "Able to withstand bombardment and not get snagged by land mines or anything."
"Are you guys serious?" Nightwing said, "Even acquiring a tank wouldn't achieve that."
"I could put a shield on the vehicle," Polaris thought for a moment and said, "This way it won't be afraid of explosions, but for speed, there might not be a great solution. I'm capable of taking a vehicle airborne, but controlling it precisely is challenging; ordinary people might get dizzy."
"Better not," Red Robin refused outright. During a trip to Marvel, he learned what these mutants are like. Relying on their own and their companions' robustness, they barely consider safety. Flying a spaceship along the road and not hitting brakes even upon sighting a Black Hole; traveling with them is like tossing oneself into a cement mixer.
Polaris could control precisely; she just isn't fond of doing so. If she's driving, she'd likely use a magnetic slingshot, catapulting the vehicle straight from start to finish since it's quickest and simplest. If everyone else were mutants, it would be manageable; they'd just emerge looking a bit disheveled. The problem is, besides her and Deathstroke, no one else could handle such an ordeal. Even Deathstroke would need a couple of seconds to recover; they'll need a method tolerable for ordinary people.
"During a mission, I noticed a truck in the East District," Arkham Knight, being reliable, said, "I'm not sure about its relation to the East District's chief, but the truck seemed great."
Upon mention of a truck, Tim realized something, he said, "Uncle Jack's livelihood tool — it's definitely a good vehicle. If we could acquire it, we'd have the best transportation tool."
"But it won't be easy," Nightwing frowned, saying, "Competing with the Joker for his livelihood tool is even harder than fighting through to take down the boss."
"Stop being too afraid of the Joker," Dick waved his hand, "The more you're afraid of him, the more he intimidates you. I assure you, if you invite him over for a BBQ at his place someday, he wouldn't dare do anything to you."
"Invite him to a barbecue?" Red Hood snorted, "Who's the main dish? Me?"
Tim nudged Dick with his elbow, signaling him to end this somewhat hellish topic. They chatted with Arkham Knight about the previous mission, then realized that the truck and Joker's boss might not actually be together.
But that's normal. If following the game's storyline, Joker has some connection to the Outer God, then if you pair him with a truck, it becomes unplayable. So, the truck is likely abandoned, and their chance of successfully getting it is high.
Tim thought for a moment and said, "Although the clues don't specify, I know a few places with higher possibilities. Let's go to the truck guild first, then the dock parking lot, and finally the chemical plant..."
"Wait, shouldn't we go to the chemical plant first?" asked Red Robin. He still had some preconceived notions about Joker; whenever Joker was mentioned, he thought of the chemical plant.
Tim shook his head and said, "Brainiac moved many heavily polluted chemical plants off Earth. The original ACE Chemical Factory doesn't produce much now; Jack hardly takes any work from them. However, the truck guild is a leisure and entertainment gathering place for drivers; Jack often goes there to play cards. There's a newly opened large supermarket near the dock, and there's more work there..."
Although this information is advantageous to them, Robin from the Prime Universe listened to them talk about Joker's life so thoroughly, feeling odd no matter how they listened. Why does it seem like, compared to Batman, the Robins in this universe are closer to Joker?
But then again, Bruce is always causing trouble in the Multiverse, and whenever something happens, the Robins go to Joker. Of course, they become Joker's Robin.
Meanwhile, a strange thought popped into Nightwing's mind. Joker is indeed very interested in Robins, but only if the Robin belongs to Batman. If these Robins plan to be Joker's Robin, Joker would undoubtedly kick them into the sea to avoid involvement.
From a practical standpoint, Joker couldn't possibly support them. Although Robins appear to have their own jobs, their main source of income is still Batman's allowance. If they went to seek refuge with Joker, the first issue they'd face is eating. Joker's salary isn't enough to support them. As the saying goes, a growing boy eats his father into poverty. If they actually team up to compete for food with Joker, Joker might be too hungry to bother Batman.
So, the way to make Joker disinterested in them is to have them take an interest in Joker. Unfortunately, in most universes, Robins have too severe a psychological shadow of Joker. Forget seeking food; just looking at him could make yesterday's meal come up. Nightwing felt a sense of regret for missing out on a good strategy.
"I'll go find the vehicle." Arkham Knight said. Polaris followed him. In fact, their combat strength was fully sufficient, but out of concern for finding the wrong location, they still needed a local. Ultimately, Harley went with them.
The rest chose to go out and clear mobs because their weapons were really too few. Dropping guns and bullets from mob members would be good too. With Deathstroke leading, they could joyfully clear mobs without pressure.
As they fought, the mindset of Robins from the Prime Universe became somewhat peculiar. You wonder who studied Deathstroke; it's no wonder Batman likes using him. As long as that great sword's not pointed at you, Uncle Zhong really is strong and handsome, belonging to violent aesthetics.
Deathstroke was seen jumping straight from the rooftop, wielding the great sword with impenetrable density, like a meat grinder, swiftly passing through the alley. No mere mortal could approach him; any who got close were chopped to bits, leaving only a trail of shimmering equipment behind.
Nightwing and Red Hood, who had set up for battle, barely had room to shine. Their hard effort paled next to Deathstroke's single Tornado Slash. Damian and Red Robin had already started happily gathering loot.
The agent wasn't to be underestimated either. Robins couldn't fathom how Diana came up with such a weapon. Wonder Woman usually seems gentle; it's hard to imagine what mental state she was in to create such a miniature tank main gun and gift it to Shiller. Even Batman agreed.
More terrifying was the wielder of this weapon. Typically, firing one shot would result in losing half one's mobility. But the agent grew stronger the more he shot; initially, his speed was slow, after a few shots, he was on par with Deathstroke, and after more shots, even faster than Deathstroke.
However, these two had hardly any coordination. The agent frequently collided with Deathstroke, and Deathstroke could never evade the agent's gun line. In open areas, it was a bit better, but once they entered alley battle mode, the greatest damage they sustained was caused by each other.
"Why did I even think about teaming up with you?" Deathstroke said, swinging his sword to strike before being knocked aside by the agent again. It wasn't just knocking him down this time; any more force and he'd land in the water.
"Why did I agree to team up with you?" The agent sighed. That N Metal greatsword was only five centimeters from his scalp. Though he indeed grew stronger when injured, his head must remain atop his neck; being a headless knight wouldn't work.
"No wonder Batman never sends them out together for missions." Nightwing said, as Robins chatted while picking up equipment.
"The good news is they can't team up against Batman either." Red Robin picked up a helmet, analyzed it, and said, "Perhaps that's why Batman leverages them both."
"Honestly, I'd love to train with Deathstroke." Damian said, rubbing his hands eagerly.
"Forget it." Red Hood vehemently opposed, "Do you want Batman to hire him to beat us up? It's okay when there's no money involved, but once money's on the table, he'd go all out. I don't want to spend two months stuck in bed."
"Exactly." Red Robin agreed, "We can take a beating, Batman can spend money, but never spend money to take a beating."