Talia sneered, "I don't need to explain myself to you."
Bane stared back at her without backing down. "Now is not the time."
Their gazes clashed in the air, and finally, Talia waved her hand, and over a hundred men in black simultaneously lowered their bows. "I won't participate in today's fight. Have fun by yourself."
After saying this, Talia even blew a kiss to Thea before leaving with her entourage.
"Do you want to incur the wrath of the League?" Thea glared fiercely at Bane. It had to be said that she was really getting into character.
Truth be told, Bane was not keen on antagonizing Ra's al Ghul. Even many notorious villains who were as wicked as they came harbored a distant respect for Ra's al Ghul. Because one never knew how many tricks he had up his sleeve after eight hundred years. So Bane didn't dare confront him face-to-face.
Yet, with so many witnesses, he couldn't afford to back down either. If he ran without fighting at all, it would be too shameful. After all the money he had taken from the Court of Owls to keep the Penguin alive, he had to at least put up a fight.
"I have no intention of opposing Ra's al Ghul, and I also respect the rules of the League, but this man cannot die today." Bane's words could be described as humble and non-threatening. He had never felt so low since he became famous. He also secretly resented the Penguin for meddling. Why did he have to meddle and cause chaos?
If Thea had behaved according to her usual personality, she would have stepped down without hesitation. She didn't want to fight Bane. He was the type of boss with immense strength, and she was more of an agile fighter.
However, Ra's al Ghul's rules also restricted her actions. If she had answered, "Okay, let's leave it at that. Let's each go our own way," it would contradict her earlier persona, raising suspicions in anyone.
The role-playing game had to continue, so Thea said coldly, "Then come and try."
After speaking, she quickly drew an arrow and shot it at the unconscious Penguin, not aiming with her eyes but relying on her powerful perception.
Bane had been paying attention to prevent her from taking action, but he had never seen Thea shoot arrows before. He only heard from Talia that she wasn't as good as her. At this moment, facing Thea's arrow, which was at her highest level, he underestimated it. By the time he wanted to rush over, it was already too late.
The Penguin had the most henchmen present at the scene, and the Court of Owls had paid a large sum of money to ensure he wouldn't die today, so Bane had to give it his all. The green canisters behind him were boiling violently, and large amounts of Venom flowed into Bane's body through the pipes.
"Ah—!" His arm visibly thickened by a whole circle. He instinctively grabbed a nearby gang member and hurled him toward Selina's arrow.
If Thea's arrow still had a visible trajectory, the human sandbag he threw had exceeded the limits of the retina's signal reception. The unfortunate guy met the arrow head-on, and without even a grunt, he was instantly taken out.
So fierce! The people on the scene might only think it was amazing without a concrete concept, but as someone close to human physical limits, Thea knew too well the huge gap between them.
Her arrow probably traveled at about 330 feet per second, which was equivalent to 90 meters. If the arrow maintained a constant speed, that translated to slightly above 360 kilometers per hour.
But Bane's hasty throw, even conservatively estimated, would exceed 500 kilometers per hour. If you also consider the weight of both and the resistance of the air, this value would be even greater.
Indeed, brute strength could work wonders. For a moment, Thea was stunned by Bane's amazing feat.
Bane's hasty use of Venom to strengthen himself was not pleasant either. At this moment, with the Venom attacking his brain, he also threw off all his reservations about the League and glared fiercely at Thea. "Typical of the League's style: a bunch of cowards who only know how to ambush. Do you dare to fight me one-on-one?"
How could Thea possibly take him on alone with over 500 underlings? Especially someone so formidable. She decided to spare his life this time, but she planned to bring a Glider next time to thrash him. "Layla, are your snipers ready?"
"Let's start with shots first to test this guy's defense," she said.
What Thea referred to as "two shots" was just a figure of speech. The A.R.G.U.S. operatives understood it perfectly: snipers from three directions opened fire relentlessly, each unloading five bullets in rapid succession.
The sound of gunshots echoed around, but Bane, experienced as he was and perhaps not very agile, made no attempt to dodge. He shielded his face and heart with his hands, taking fifteen bullets head-on.
These bullets were capable of piercing 4mm-thick steel plates from a distance of 1200 meters, but such an impressive result was completely ineffective against Bane's powerful body. The bullets got stuck in his muscle layers, and a few poorly angled shots merely grazed his skin.
As his powerful regenerative ability kicked in, bullets were continuously squeezed out of his muscles and fell to the ground.
Thea, despite her confidence, knew her arrows couldn't match sniper rifles. As for using a sword to confront Bane head-on, it wasn't even in her plan. This guy was clearly meant to be dealt with by Bruce, not her.
However, if she wanted to retreat, she needed to ask Bane if he would agree. He was itching to scold Thea for not following the rules of combat. What happened to the agreed-upon melee combat? Despite squeezing out bullets and looking unperturbed, how could getting shot not hurt? Although the Venom accelerated his body's healing, it did not come without a cost. The Venom constantly eroded his brain, and he needed a long recovery period after each use to maintain his lucidity.
Without wasting any more words and intending to end things quickly, Bane charged toward Thea like a raging bull.
"So you're deadset on me, huh?" Thea's temper flared. "I'm just trying to avoid fighting you; it's not because I'm afraid of you!"
Pulling out two Entangling Arrows and placing them on the bow. Calculating the distance in advance, she shot the arrows. The arrows flew straight into the ground, just a step ahead of Bane.
The white substance, chemically engineered Spider Silk, instantly filled Bane's field of vision. What is this stuff? Instinctively, he tried to push away the substance in front of him, but his hand got stuck when he touched the spider silk-like material. Exerting his two-ton strength, he attempted to tear it apart.
But Thea had already anticipated his actions. As he pulled, the remaining silk snapped, splattering his face and body.
As he continued to struggle to break free, the area of skin stuck to the silk grew larger. Remember, he had jumped out bare-chested. In less than ten seconds, he no longer looked human. From a distance, he resembled a large white cocoon.
"Don't just stand there; organize the attack!" Thea felt that her teammates on this side might have been too engrossed in watching the spectacle and had forgotten why they were there, so she kindly reminded them.