Amanda Waller received a message from Martian Manhunter.
The message was very brief and only one word:
"Run!"
Even though this woman was somewhat unpleasant in many ways, Amanda was actually very good at assessing situations.
Having already monitored everything happening at the battlefield through Martian Manhunter, she immediately ordered all personnel at the A.R.G.U.S. headquarters to evacuate as quickly as possible.
Afterward, Amanda led several people around her and quickly slipped through a concealed electronic door into an emergency route.
A.R.G.U.S., established under orders from the U.S. government specifically to guard against metahuman threats, had naturally considered the possibility that one day a powerful metahuman might come right to their doorstep.
It wasn't until Amanda got into a very low-profile black van that she turned to Steve Trevor, who was wearing silver-gray armor beside her, and asked:
"Commander Steve, how many combat personnel are left in the base?"
Steve brought his legs together and replied in a loud, firm voice.
"Most combat personnel have been dispatched. Only Black Siren and Chronos remain, along with a dozen agents."
Amanda didn't hesitate and directly gave an order to Steve.
"Notify Black Siren and Chronos to have them stay in this headquarter and meet the incoming enemy!"
Steve froze.
He was just in the command room and naturally observed that brutal alien's battle through Martian Manhunter.
"With just Black Siren and Chronos, I'm afraid they're no match for him..."
"I'm not asking them to defeat the enemy."
Amanda turned her heavy face slightly and cast a cold, sharp sideways glance at Steve with her eyes.
"I'm only asking them to be able to delay some time for A.R.G.U.S. If they can collect some of the opponent's combat data, that would be even better."
Steve's pupils trembled violently, and he instinctively wanted to disobey Amanda's order.
After all, Steve once fought side by side with Wonder Woman, Diana, and naturally felt a sense of goodwill toward superheroes.
Steve transferred from an air force officer to a commander of A.R.G.U.S. precisely because he wanted to become a bridge between the government and the Justice League.
Even though the Wonder Woman he secretly admired had already left the Justice League, Steve's sense of conscience hadn't faded.
"Commander Steve Trevor, do you want to disobey orders?"
Seeing Steve fall into silence, Amanda grew irritated and threatened him in an angry tone.
Steve avoided Amanda's gaze, lowered his head, and gritted his teeth.
"This is a completely meaningless sacrifice!"
"Following my orders is their duty—"
"What do you take human lives for? Expendables?"
Amanda narrowed her eyes and suddenly pulled out a handgun from out of nowhere, quietly aiming it at Steve's chest.
Even though she knew Steve had a personal friendship with Wonder Woman, this was a hidden evacuation point anyway.
She could silently eliminate Steve here and then pin his death on the alien who was about to invade A.R.G.U.S.
That would conveniently redirect Wonder Woman's anger and let her fight that damned alien instead.
But just as Amanda's index finger began to pull the trigger, an invisible force, accompanied by a sharp whistling sound, suddenly struck the inside of her wrist.
The tremendous force knocked the gun out of Amanda's hand.
The small, delicate silver pistol slammed into the edge of the car door and shot with a loud bang.
The gunshot snapped Steve out of his daze, who was still processing disobeying a superior's order for the first time.
He stared at Amanda in disbelief, unable to believe that she had actually intended to kill him.
A cold figure kicked open the ventilation duct, jumped down from the top of the hidden tunnel, and landed in front of the black van.
It's actually Black Siren, whom Amanda originally planned to abandon.
Looking at the seemingly low-profile vehicle, Black Siren shook her blonde hair and curled her lips into a faint smile.
"Sorry, but why didn't you take Chronos and me along during the emergency evacuation?"
Amanda gritted her teeth and clutched her wrist, ignoring Steve's questioning beside her as her mind began racing.
The other person is a metahuman.
No matter how she had discovered the hidden evacuation point, calming her down was the top priority.
"Really? I thought Commander Steve dispatched you all out."
Amanda skillfully turned the blame onto Steve, trying to redirect Black Siren's anger over being abandoned.
Then she pointed at herself with her remaining hand.
"To completely leave the evacuation point, the exit at the end of the tunnel still required my identity verification. I appreciate you very much, but if you take out Commander Steve, I would take you out with me."
Steve, whose mind was already shocked, widened his eyes as if meeting this woman for the first time.
He nervously looked at Black Siren as well, raising his hand to defend himself.
But Black Siren suddenly laughed softly and lifted her hand to remove the mask from her face.
"Black Canary?"
Steve's attempted defense seamlessly turned into a shocked exclamation.
"Sorry, he's a friend of my best friend. I don't think I can do that."
After being thwarted several times, Amanda's face turned as dark, and she couldn't immediately figure out a way out for herself.
But just as Black Canary stepped forward two steps, preparing to subdue Amanda, a violent tremor suddenly erupted.
Steve was thrown off his feet by the shaking ground, while Amanda clung tightly to her seat to steady herself.
She glanced ahead and saw Black Canary also struggling to stabilize her body in the tremor.
Suddenly, Amanda exerted the most flexible effort of her life.
She jumped from the back seat straight into the driver's seat.
Ignoring the swelling bump on her head from hitting the glass, Amanda started the engine and immediately slammed down on the accelerator.
Black Canary, unable to keep her footing, watched as the van sped straight toward her.
She had no choice but to roll to the side to dodge it.
As the tremors gradually subsided, Black Canary turned her head to see the van about to disappear into the distance.
She opened her mouth to unleash a sonic cry to flip it over... but Steve, who had just gotten up from the ground, suddenly lunged forward and covered her mouth.
"No—don't scream. We can't draw attention!"
Even though Steve also wanted nothing more than to put her down, the earlier tremor was enough to show that the terrifying alien had already arrived at A.R.G.U.S.
If Black Canary released her super sonic cry, this once-hidden underground might no longer remain hidden.
Just as the two watched the black van about to vanish at the end of the tunnel, a strange ripple suddenly flashed...
The black van that was about to reach the tunnel exit actually pulled backward.
Black Canary and Steve were both stunned.
Inside the car, Amanda was also confused and hurriedly slammed the accelerator all the way down.
The black van's engine roared deeply as it surged forward toward the tunnel exit at an even greater speed.
This time, she successfully reached the end of the tunnel.
The surrounding cameras directly recognized Amanda's identity, and the door opened silently.
Just as she was about to escape, that strange fluctuation flashed again.
In the blink of an eye, Amanda found herself back several hundred meters earlier, while the door, which had just opened a crack, was now tightly closed in the distance.
Black Canary couldn't hold it in anymore, turning her head and shaking off Steve's hand.
"Hahaha! It serves you right! It's Chronos's time reversal device... mmm~"
Steve looked at his own hand, which had somehow ended up covering Black Canary's mouth again, his face full of annoyance.
Meanwhile, inside the A.R.G.U.S. base, Green Arrow, who was crouching and running madly while searching for his fiancée, helplessly watched himself once again return to the place he had just run past.
Even though Black Canary seemed to have entered an area where the signal was blocked, based on her previous location, Green Arrow could still roughly estimate her position.
But after being pulled back like this several times, who knew where his fiancée would end up next?
He finally couldn't hold back and cursed.
"What kind of ability is this…?"
...
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