Marvel: The Sole Player

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Sure enough, anyone who sits in the position of Director becomes a humanoid mission dispenser.

In just one night, Gordon had actually issued two consecutive missions to him.

Darian immediately straightened his back and spoke with a firm tone: "For the peace of Gotham, I will go through fire and water without hesitation!"

A flash of relief crossed Gordon’s face, and he patted him heavily on the shoulder: "Good man, Officer Darian, I knew I wasn’t wrong about you!"

Without further nonsense, he turned around to gather his men.

In a short while, a special task force was assembled. Every member was an elite handpicked from the department, and even Harvey was among them.

Gordon had prepared thoroughly, bringing in the architectural blueprints of Arkham Asylum in advance to deploy the battle plan on the spot.

The plan was divided into two steps.

Step one: fight their way in.

Step two: retake the control system.

The plan sounded simple, and in practice, it wasn’t complicated at all.

There was no other way; time was of the essence. Every minute of delay increased the risk of a large-scale prisoner escape.

The safest method currently was to strike directly at the control room at top speed, forcibly reboot the control system, and put the entire Arkham Asylum under total lockdown to stabilize the situation.

Moreover, their manpower was limited, while the number of criminals locked in Arkham Asylum was dozens of times their own. If they were bogged down halfway, the consequences would be unthinkable, so they had to act quickly.

No one had any objections to the plan, and they immediately set off to the equipment van to arm themselves.

As the universally recognized highest institution of learning in Gotham’s criminal circles, the prestige of Arkham Asylum went without saying.

Everyone inside was a talent. Setting aside the well-known supervillains, even the ordinary criminals who served as background noise were psychopathic killers who would strike fear into the outside world, each having several ’soul rings’ (kills) to their name.

To break into such a dangerous place, the equipment of ordinary officers was simply not enough.

Fortunately, Gordon was prepared. Considering the unique nature of Arkham Asylum, he had directly transferred the entire inventory of the department’s armory before setting out. There was plenty of ammunition, allowing everyone to configure their gear according to their needs.

Several elite officers moved efficiently, putting on tactical helmets and bulletproof vests in unison, holding automatic rifles, with magazines lining their waists and simple medical kits attached—a very standard tactical loadout.

Gordon’s own equipment was much more streamlined.

He only wore a form-fitting bulletproof vest and carried the sidearm he had used for years at his waist. Without any extra weight, he went into action light.

As Gotham’s king of one-on-ones, his skills were not bad. In an indoor environment like Arkham Asylum, a handgun was actually more flexible than a long gun and could better play to his strengths.

These few people still fit a normal aesthetic, but the styles of the other two were a completely different story.

First, there was Harvey.

This old fox had wrapped himself up tightly. Tactical helmet, bulletproof vest, thickened gloves, high-top military boots—not a single piece of bare skin could be found from head to toe.

Even more ridiculous, he wore a gas mask on his face, with a spare gas mask hanging at his waist, and a spare for the spare gas mask.

Gordon’s mouth twitched: "Is that really necessary?"

"It is."

Harvey said seriously: "You know, Arkham Asylum is the most dangerous place in Gotham. Who knows what weird things might pop up at any moment—Laughing Gas, Fear Gas, Freeze Spray, high-heat flames, plants... I naturally have to be fully prepared."

Gordon: "."

With such a cautious survival instinct, it was no wonder he had been able to be a police officer in a hellhole like Gotham for over a decade.

As for Darian, he was the complete opposite of Harvey.

If Harvey had maxed out his defense, then Darian had pushed his firepower output to the limit.

He wasn’t wearing any heavy armor, only a light tactical vest over his clothes.

However, this vest was covered in all sorts of ammunition: flashbangs, smoke grenades, fragmentation grenades, and so on.

In his hands, he held two automatic rifles; a short-barreled shotgun was slung across his back; two large-caliber pistols were tucked into quick-draw holsters under each arm; and a tactical knife was strapped to each thigh.

Even more exaggerated was his tactical belt, which was densely packed with magazines, one right next to the other, with almost no gaps. It was as if he wanted to fill every inch of space with ammo.

He looked like nothing less than a mobile mini-armory.

Seeing Darian’s flamboyant getup, everyone present was dumbfounded.

Even someone as cautious as Harvey was shocked: "Are you going to war?"

"You can never have too much firepower."

Darian said, seemingly still not quite satisfied, as he fished out two more grenades from the equipment stash and casually stuffed them into his crotch area.

Everyone: "....", doesn’t that feel uncomfortable?

Gordon was speechless regarding these two eccentric geniuses, but time waited for no one. Once everything was ready, he gave the order to move out in a low voice.

The special task force advanced rapidly along the front of the building, entering directly through the main entrance of Arkham Asylum.

At this moment, the interior of Arkham Asylum was already a mess.

Alarms screamed frantically in the corridors, and red warning lights flashed incessantly on the ceiling, painting everything in a piercing, blood-red hue.

The team advanced about thirty meters along the main corridor. Just as they turned the first corner, fallen figures began to appear on the floor.

They were all Arkham Asylum guards.

They were scattered haphazardly on both sides of the corridor, their equipment stripped clean, lying on the ground completely unconscious.

Gordon glanced at them, his face darkening: "Everyone be careful, the criminals inside have likely already obtained weapons."

Arkham Asylum held nothing but special criminals, so the guard configuration here was much higher than that of ordinary prisons, even exceeding most SWAT units.

Now that all this equipment had vanished, it was highly probable it had been taken by the criminals, meaning the danger level had instantly jumped up several notches.

The atmosphere around them tightened instantly, but no one backed down as they continued to push inward.

Before they had gone far, a group of figures appeared at the end of the corridor ahead.

Several criminals in patient uniforms rushed out from a side passage, clutching various firearms clearly seized from the guards.

Seeing the arrival of the Gotham police, they showed no fear; instead, their mouths twisted into distorted grins.

"It’s the pigs! Take them out!"

Before the words even finished, they unhesitatingly raised their muzzles and frantically pulled the triggers.

Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat—!

In an instant, dense gunfire exploded in the corridor.

Fortunately, the team consisted of police elites who reacted quickly, immediately finding cover and returning fire.

Darian held an automatic rifle in each hand, the stocks braced firmly against his shoulders. He switched to semi-auto mode, his muzzles shifting slightly.

With every pull of the trigger, a criminal fell. The bullets struck their foreheads with precision; not a single shot missed.

With Darian’s precise suppressive fire as a backbone, the pressure on the other officers plummeted, and they took the opportunity to sweep away the remaining criminals one by one.

Silence soon returned to the corridor, leaving only the smell of gunpowder mixed with the scent of blood, which lingered in the air for a long time.

"What incredible marksmanship."

Gordon looked at the criminals Darian had taken down, his eyes full of astonishment.

Although he had known early on that Darian’s strength was not weak, this was the first time he had personally witnessed Darian’s performance in actual combat.

This terrifying, never-missing marksmanship immediately reminded him of one person—Deadshot!

The supervillain famous for his shooting.

And Darian’s marksmanship, compared to the other’s, probably wasn’t far off.

A hint of regret surfaced in Gordon’s heart.

If he had known, he shouldn’t have sent Darian to be an undercover agent. How good it would have been to keep him in the Gotham City Police Department; it was simply a waste of talent.

But now was not the time to think about that.

After taking out this bothersome bunch of criminals, no one lingered. With a wave of Gordon’s hand, the group continued to push deeper.

Most of the cell doors on both sides of the corridor were wide open, and the prisoners inside had long since vanished.

Along the way, they encountered several more waves of criminal attacks.

Some criminals held firearms, while others clutched improvised weapons—iron pipes, fire extinguishers, sharpened toothbrushes, and there was even one who rushed forward howling while waving a mop covered in feces.

That thing had almost zero lethality, but the mental pollution was maxed out, forcing even Darian to back away several steps.

Except for that one criminal, the rest posed no threat to Darian at all, and were basically dealt with one shot at a time.

With a top-tier escort like Darian clearing the way, the special task force advanced very quickly.

They passed through one opened iron gate after another, stepped over the mess-strewn corridors, and finally reached the core control room of Arkham Asylum.

The control room was located at the core junction of Block C and Block D. The access control system was originally on an independent power supply, but the lock had been physically destroyed. The iron door was slightly ajar, with half of a bent, pried-open lock cylinder still hanging from the frame.

Gordon was the first to push the door open, his gaze quickly scanning the room.

The control room was a shambles. Several guards lay in pools of blood, having long since stopped breathing.

Two of the surveillance screens on the console were shattered, and the remaining screens were filled with red warning prompts.

"Virus."

Gordon looked at an officer; this was a computer expert he had specifically requested from the Technical Division.

The latter immediately understood, walking to the console without a word and typing rapidly on the keyboard.

Lines of code scrolled across the screen, and his brow furrowed tighter and tighter: "Someone used a Trojan horse program to hack the entire control system. Permissions are locked down, and the operation interface has been completely hijacked."

Gordon quickly followed up: "Can you handle it?"

Virus stared at the screen, a thin layer of sweat breaking out on his forehead: "I can, but it will take time. The opponent’s methods are very sophisticated. To reboot the control system, it will take at least several hours."

As soon as these words came out, the atmosphere in the control room instantly sank to rock bottom.

Several hours was such a long time; by the time he finished cracking it, the criminals in Arkham Asylum would probably have all escaped.

Just then, Darian suddenly took a step forward.

"Why don’t you let me try?"

Gordon was stunned for a moment and scanned him up and down: "You know computer technology too?"

"A little, a little."

Darian smiled confidently, walked to the console, and after a bit of operating, the screen in front of him instantly went black.

Gordon knew nothing about computer technology and asked tentatively: "Was the reboot successful?"

Darian nodded: "Successful. Successfully rebooted the computer."

Gordon: "...."

I freaking told you to reboot the control system, why the hell did you reboot the computer for me!?

Gordon’s heart skipped several beats, and his blood pressure instantly spiked.

But before he could speak, Virus’s eyes suddenly widened. He stared intently at the screen as it lit up again and blurted out an exclamation.

"What the f—? The control system actually rebooted!?"

Upon hearing this, Gordon immediately looked at the screen.

Sure enough, those red warning words had all disappeared, and the operation interface had returned to its normal blue tone. Everything was back in a controllable state.

Virus looked at Darian in disbelief: "How did you do it?"

Darian said cheerfully: "It’s simple, just reboot the computer. This trick can solve ninety-nine percent of computer problems."

In fact, he had just let Ultron hack into the backend and directly force a reboot of the entire control system.

To a super AI, this little Trojan horse program was nothing at all; it wasn’t even as thick as tissue paper in front of Ultron, broken with a light poke.

With the control system back to normal, Gordon was overjoyed. He didn’t bother asking Darian exactly how he had done it and immediately ordered Virus: "Lock down the entire Arkham Asylum immediately!"

Virus complied immediately, his fingers flying across the keyboard to bring up the access control interface and beginning to seal off each block one by one.

Soon, real-time footage was sent back to the surveillance screens.

At all the exits connecting Arkham Asylum to the outside world, heavy alloy iron gates slowly descended, completely locking all the criminals inside the asylum.

[Mission ’Retake Control’ has been settled and completed]

[Rewards obtained: Experience +1000, Gordon’s favorability +10, Anchor Shard *1, Item: Super Mega Death Rocket]

[Item: Super Mega Death Rocket (A super rocket researched by a certain crazy woman. It is more powerful than ordinary rockets and has a coverage range over the entire Earth. It can perform precision strikes on any location within range, and can also be ridden for flight)]

Good grief, the reward this time was actually a rocket, and one that could fly globally at that.

As someone suffering from ’insufficient firepower phobia,’ Darian had long wanted to stockpile some powerful weapons, such as missiles or nukes.

Unfortunately, those things were too large and didn’t fall under the category of game items, so they couldn’t be stuffed into the game warehouse.

And now, the game system had finally fulfilled this wish of his.

Seeing the total lockdown of Arkham Asylum, the several officers present instantly breathed a sigh of relief.

Officers who dared to break into such a place were all dedicated and responsible. No one wanted to see this bunch of lunatics escape to wreak havoc on Gotham.

Gordon, however, did not relax: "It’s not over yet. The riot inside Arkham Asylum hasn’t been quelled. Once those criminals realize they’re locked in, they’ll surely try everything to break the lockdown. This place might not be able to hold them forever."

Darian suddenly spoke: "Director Gordon, I have a way to end the riot early."

Hearing this, Gordon’s heart couldn’t help but skip a beat.

"Officer Darian, what are you planning to do now?"

Darian grinned, revealing a row of white teeth: "Instead of waiting passively, why not take the initiative to strike!"