Nobody can stop me from drawing cards in Gotham!

Chapter 54 The End of the Swarm

"Damn it! Why is that big guy attacking indiscriminately?! Have he forgotten we have teammates here?!"

Seeing the oncoming icy gale, Tony immediately raised his arms, and the two energy shields that popped out from his arm armor merged and instantly formed a giant energy shield that could withstand his entire body, narrowly blocking the fierce attack of the icy wind.

The mist on the poisonous fog surged and billowed out, becoming so thick that it almost solidified, and stood in front of them, protecting them from this unexpected attack.

But compared to the quick-reacting poisonous fog and Iron Man, the energy-devouring worms, which were after the energy source, were not so lucky.

The leading swarm of energy-devouring insects was the first to be attacked by the icy wind.

The extreme cold caused the energy-devouring insect swarm, which was actually quite resistant to freezing and otherwise wouldn't be able to fly freely at such a high altitude without any protection, to visibly slow down its movements, and tiny ice particles began to form on its wings, pincers, and other parts.

But that wasn't enough. On the other side, Clark, who was creating this cryogenic storm using frozen breathing, wanted more than just to slow down his movements.

He clenched his fists, his chest heaving again—

"call--!"

The icy wind, growing stronger and colder, swept in. This time, instead of slowing down, the leading group of energy-devouring insects were instantly frozen solid and immobilized in the icy wind!

The moment they freeze, these ice blocks lose their upward momentum and naturally fall downwards.

"Do it!" Clark shouted as he witnessed the scene.

Meanwhile, Jaeger and Tony, who heard the voice, instantly understood Clark's intention.

So that's how it is. What had been troubling them all along was that the energy-devouring swarm would keep splitting due to the existence of special individuals, so that if they weren't wiped out in one go, they would just keep regenerating.

But now, Clark seems to have taken advantage of the unique nature of his own energy, luring the swarm of energy-devouring insects away from the cruise ship that might affect the surrounding crowds and to an empty high altitude before he began to use his freezing breath.

That's right, freezing respiration, a very clever trick—although special individuals can split, what if they are frozen?

Yes, their division cannot occur while frozen, making this the best time to eliminate them all at once!

"Not bad, looks like Big Guy's actually pretty smart, and he even found me a good spot." Tony smiled beneath his mask, while the armor on his shoulders and arms began to flip up, revealing dark holes. "Finally, I don't have to put up with these bugs anymore!"

Previously, they were forced to fight in a small, enclosed space to prevent the energy-devouring insects from escaping, and were unable to use powerful artillery-type weapons.

But now, the situation is different.

"boom--"

The quality of missiles produced by Stark Industries needs no introduction. After the group's transformation, it further consolidated its industrial lines and improved the quality of existing missile products, raising their destructive power to a level comparable to Iron Man.

So the moment the missile struck the giant energy-devouring insect ice sculpture, a deafening explosion erupted, sending up golden-red flames that instantly shattered it!

This pulverization was truly literal; it blasted the ice and the energy-devouring insects together until not a single fragment remained.

"We've got it!" Tony shouted. "If we can freeze all the energy-devouring worms at once, we can wipe them all out!"

"But it's a bit difficult!" Clark said. "The energy-devouring worms are too scattered, limiting the coverage of my Freeze Breath. Besides, these worms are currently consuming my energy, so I can't further enhance the power of Freeze Breath by sunbathing for the time being—"

"Honestly, if the sun hadn't been right behind me, I would have fallen off by now!"

Upon hearing this, Jaeger finally understood: if Clark's abilities and energy all originated from the sun, and the energy-devouring worms were constantly consuming his energy...

So, Clark is like a phone that can play games while charging, maintaining a delicate balance by taking in and taking out at the same time.

Now I finally understand where those bizarre swimming pools with water filling and draining simultaneously in elementary school math problems came from—of course, this is just a joke, but Jaeger has already figured out what to do.

"I have a way to gather them together," Jaeger said. "Poisonous fog! Can your fog spread enough to envelop these energy-devouring insects?"

"I understand!" Poison Mist and Jaeger's understanding had become better and better. Almost the instant Jaeger said those words, he understood Jaeger's thoughts.

In an instant, the poisonous mist opened its mouth wide, and its long, snake-like tongue was also exposed. With this action, black and white mist surged out of its body in a continuous and frantic manner, and soon spread out in an overwhelming manner, like a large net that enveloped the energy-devouring insect swarm!

While the toxic fog may appear to be mist at first glance, it is essentially a liquid organism that follows the characteristics of the symbiotic species.

In other words, this mist can also transform into a real entity when needed, just like the tentacles from before.

Just like now, after using the amorphous nature of the fog to envelop the energy-devouring swarm, the fog began to shrink inwards, forcibly confining the swarm, which was still splitting and increasing in number, into a small area!

The only pity is that these energy-devouring worms would be better off if they needed to breathe, or if they didn't have these densely packed carapaces or exoskeletons.

Otherwise, let alone the current state of being completely enveloped by the poisonous fog, the poisonous fog would have already killed these insects with inhaled or contact toxins in that room before, and none of this would have happened.

Ugh, those troublesome bugs.

"Is this okay?" Jaeger asked.

"Okay!" Clark was ready. "Count to three, then you retract that mist, and I'll freeze it all!"

Jaeger nodded upon hearing this.

"3..."

"2..."

"1...!"

The moment the countdown ended, the poisonous fog quickly receded, and Clark precisely timed it, instantly using Ice Breath!

In an instant, the dark mass of energy-devouring insects transformed into an unprecedentedly gigantic ice ball amidst a series of cracking sounds.

When Tony saw his turn to perform, he immediately whistled: "Sorry, I'm in a hurry, so I won't be appreciating this kind of stuff!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the bullet was fired.

The massive ice block formed by the energy-devouring swarm was thus reduced to nothingness amidst the towering flames of the cannonballs, completely swallowed by the merciless fire.

Only the flashes of the explosion illuminated the eyes of the three present, signaling the end of a troublesome battle.