Meanwhile, a few minutes later, near General Sam Lane's command vehicle,
nearly eighty ninjas surrounded him and his remaining sixteen soldiers, their gazes cold and unwavering.
Meeting their stares, General Lane gritted his teeth and pressed his hand against the red button on the side wall of the rear compartment.
"I don't care who you are. Take one more step, and I'll detonate this whole block—leaving you with nothing but ash!"
"Come on, you bastards—let's see who dares move first!"
"Damn it… I didn't even notice you sneaking up behind me. Someone betrayed me. Had to be."
His finger hovered over the detonator. One press—and the command vehicle, along with half the block, would vanish in a fireball.
He'd already lost everything that mattered. His daughter was gone. What was his life worth now?
Nearby, his soldiers exchanged uneasy glances.
If there was a traitor… they reasoned… he'd need to be alive to have passed intelligence. That meant one of them could be the leak.
General Lane snorted. "Stop eyeing each other, men. The rat who sold me out isn't one of you. He's either a political rival—or someone tied to LexCorp."
He tightened his grip on the button. "So if this goes south… you're dying with this old man."
His hand trembled—ready to end it all.
Then—
"Wait."
A deep voice cut through the tension from within the ninja ranks.
General Lane exhaled sharply. Negotiation. A chance.
Before him, a figure in silver-threaded robes stepped forward. The ninjas parted silently.
The man studied Lane and his troops for a long moment… then bowed.
Straightening, he sighed.
"I never expected to find such resolve in an American general—especially in a military I thought utterly corrupt."
His eyes locked onto Lane's.
"But tell me, General Sam Lane… when you're so willing to die for your principles—does your daughter share that readiness?"
At a gesture, two ninjas dragged forward an unconscious Louise Lane.
Sam's breath caught. His eyes widened. His throat tightened.
"Release her!" he growled, arm outstretched.
"Of course," the robed man said calmly. "But first—we talk."
"How?"
"Hand over the person. Hand over the goods."
"What goods?"
"Don't play dumb, General. Your command vehicle is linked to half the U.S. military network—including SkyEye. And I've heard you just took delivery of a new batch of… LexCorp 'toys.'"
He smiled faintly. "That's all I want. Surely not worth your daughter's life."
Sam's jaw clenched. "Impossible."
"Even I'm not worth that price. Your demands are absurd."
"Don't insult my intelligence. You're after LexCorp's prototype tech. Fine—I haven't signed the contract yet. Losing it just delays the deal."
He leaned forward, voice low and hard.
"But the SkyEye network? That's non-negotiable. You'll never touch it."
"And for what it's worth," he added, glancing skyward, "the nearest missile battery already has this vehicle locked on. The National Guard is five minutes out. You know that—which means you're running out of time too."
A long pause. Then, quietly:
"For my daughter… I'm no longer a general. Just a father."
On the other side, after hearing the general's words, the silver-robed figure paused—hooded, silent, radiating an unnerving calm.
"If the subnet won't work… what if we only need the access key?"
"No," General Lane snapped, his voice fraying at the edges. "The Watchtower's security protocols—Heaven's Eye—allow no errors. One false move, and the entire system purges. If you push this… I'll take my daughter and burn it all down. And I swear to God, you'll burn with us."
"Understood," the silver-robed operative said simply.
Seeing the general's composure crack, the figure gave a subtle signal. Shadows shifted. Figures in sleek, high-tech stealth gear—less ninja, more Checkmate Black or Talia al Ghul's elite—advanced with silent precision. They secured Louise Lane, then swiftly extracted a cache of LexCorp encryption devices hidden beneath false flooring.
General Lane exhaled as his daughter was placed gently in the armored transport. He placed a hand on its hull, then turned to the silver-clad leader.
"I hold a dead man's switch—enough to level this block and take us all with it. You could kill us now. But… we've both come this far. Does it have to end in blood?"
"We were hired to retrieve the data, not to spill yours," the figure replied, voice modulated, calm. "Contracts are sacred—even in shadows."
With that, he stepped back, cloak rippling like liquid mercury. One by one, his operatives vanished—not with mystical smoke, but with stealth tech, grapple lines, and urban camouflage—melting into the alleys of Metropolis' industrial district.
Meanwhile, south of Smallville, near the edge of Champs-Élysées Park—
Ra's al Ghul staggered through the trees, blood streaking his temple, his right leg bent at a sickening angle. He wasn't supposed to be here. Not after the ambush. Not after him.
Just as he limped onto the gravel path—
CRASH!
A LexCorp autonomous vehicle tire, torn clean from its axle, slammed into the earth where he'd stood seconds before—leaving a crater in the frozen soil.
Ra's al Ghul froze. Swallowed. Then pivoted on his good leg, balancing like a wounded heron, and faced the woods.
From the mist emerged Downton—broad-shouldered, eyes glinting with cold amusement.
"Old Downton," Ra's al Ghul rasped. "I told you once: you might win… but I never lose."
Downton—halted five meters away, arms crossed. His smirk was all arrogance, the kind Bruce Wayne might wear at a charity gala… if Bruce had no moral line.
"You miscalculated," Downton said. "Thought my growth was linear. But power doesn't scale—it explodes." He took a step forward. "And talent like mine? It doesn't serve strength. It transcends it."
Ra's al Ghul's jaw tightened. "You speak of freedom… but you're just another weapon in Luthor's cabinet."
"Wrong," Downton chuckled. "I don't serve Lex. I use him. Just like I'll use your body to send a message: in this new world, will is the only currency. And you? You're bankrupt."
In a blur, Downton lunged—hand outstretched to crush Ra's al Ghul's windpipe.
But Ra's al Ghul struck first: fingers like daggers, aimed at the eye—
CRACK!
Downton didn't flinch. His eyelids—reinforced with LexCorp nano-weave, or perhaps metahuman dermal plating—slammed shut. The impact shattered R
a's al Ghul's fingers like glass.
Bone splintered. Blood dripped.
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