Night, in the rainforest of the island.
The Captain, a Black man, and the man in red, who had just launched a fierce attack, along with the young man whose strange glowing spots had disappeared, all put down their firearms and raised their hands towards the seemingly harmless Black Cat, a mixture of helplessness and fear.
This scene was undoubtedly somewhat comical and bizarre.
Perhaps the current members of the team never expected that they, who were usually fearless and even dared to confront the most cunning prison guards, would surrender to a Black Cat barely larger than a palm while fully equipped.
The Black Cat suddenly made a nimble leap, landing on the young woman's shoulder, its beastly eyes glowing with a faint green light as it surveyed them.
Under its gaze, none of the team members dared to move or even breathe.
In the young woman's arms, a black-furred rat, which had been trembling all along, finally seemed to give up, its eyes rolling back, its limbs splayed, and its tiny body stiffening as it completely fainted.
Rustle!
In the bushes of the nearby rainforest, at the end of a huge furrow.
The shark monster, which had been lying on the ground in a head-down posture, struggled to its feet. It clutched its pointed, fat head and shook it vigorously a few times, shedding a lot of mud from its body, which was only wearing a pair of shorts. A bloody, fleshy cat paw print was left on its face.
The shark-shaped monster quickly looked towards the Black Cat, and its strong, rather broad limbs immediately charged forward!
"Hey, hey, this isn't good…"
Just as the other members' eyes twitched, thinking King Shark still wanted to attack, King Shark suddenly slid on the ground, and called out to the Black Cat in a fawning tone: "Cat Boss!"
Everyone on the scene nearly fainted.
They were dumbfounded, looking at the fawning King Shark, unable to speak.
So, this is the kind of shark you are!
But then again.
There aren't many beings that can make King Shark lower his stance. He has thick skin and flesh, and even close-range barrages from large-caliber bullets only cause him pain, unable to penetrate his shark skin. Yet now, he was taken down by a single paw swipe from the Black Cat.
Moreover, sharks are fish, so it's unavoidable that they would be restrained by the strongest cat in history.
Looking at the team members who had completely given up their intention to fight, the mysterious existence of the Black Cat, also known as Xi Nian of Three-in-one, calmed down slightly, restraining the surging violence and killing intent in his heart.
To find Starro, Xi Nian needed to know the situation on this island.
Clearly, it seemed that not only was this island his target, but other forces also wanted to intervene.
Just now.
Xi Nian had woken up a drowning humanoid weasel creature on the coastal beach, originally intending to understand the situation.
Who knew, that weasel couldn't speak human language, stammering incoherently.
So, Xi Nian threw the weasel back into the ocean, sensed movement from living beings nearby, and upon arriving here, encountered this strange team… Xi Nian spoke in a hoarse, sharp voice: "Identity, purpose…"
Everyone on the scene was completely stunned—a cat—was actually speaking?!
Although their team also had a shark, it walked on two limbs, and aside from its appearance, it was really no different from a human.
Thousands of miles away, at a U.S. high-level Base.
Amanda Waller was also stunned. Her hands rapidly typed on the keyboard, adding a new entry to the computer's intelligence file: "Black Flash, possesses high intelligence, capable of conversing with humans…"
"Waller, what should we do?" the Captain, a Black man, whispered into his miniature communicator.
"Do as it says. Tell it whatever it wants to know," Amanda Waller said in a deep voice. "Right now, your mission is to fully appease it. Its existence is more significant than the Starfish Project…"
Amanda Waller's words were not yet finished.
On the scene.
The Black Cat suddenly raised a paw, and several long, thin black tentacles, like solidified liquid, rapidly extended, piercing the air and almost simultaneously bursting the miniature instruments on the group of people!
"Damn it, damn it!!"
Watching all the surveillance and communications lose signal, Amanda Waller slammed her hands on the table in anger.
A subordinate stepped forward, asking worriedly: "Officer, since the situation is out of control, what should we do next? Should we cancel the mission, or remotely activate the explosive devices on the heavily-sentenced members?"
"No need."
Amanda Waller took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down, and looked at the Black Cat's intelligence file, saying: "Black Flash once appeared in New York City, hunting down beings suspected to be alien. It's possible it's here for the Starfish Project now, and it might even help us clear out that project!"
...In the rainforest.
First, having received approval from Amanda Waller upstairs, and with remote monitoring and communicators destroyed, the Captain, a Black man, in the team had nothing to worry about. He immediately explained to Xi Nian, in the form of the Black Cat: "My name is Robert DuBois. We are all heavily-sentenced criminals serving life sentences from Belle Reve Prison. Due to a special requisition by U.S. high-level official Amanda Waller, a suicidal, desperate team was formed—euphemistically named the 'X Task Force.'"
He didn't try to deceive or hide anything from the highly intelligent Black Cat.
After all, disobeying Amanda Waller's orders might not lead to death, but disobeying the Black Cat certainly would.
Moreover, they had no loyalty whatsoever to the so-called U.S. high-level personnel or to this mission.
Robert, very sensibly, revealed the identities of the group and the purpose of their trip, which Xi Nian wanted to know.
A short while later.
Xi Nian had a general understanding of the team's situation.
This infiltration team encountered in the rainforest, named the "X Task Force," currently had five members, mostly special, heavily-sentenced criminals from Gotham City.
The Captain, a Black man, Robert DuBois, codenamed "Bloodsport."
He is a former professional assassin, trained since childhood, skilled in using various weapons, almost always hitting his target with firearms, and once sent Superman to intensive care with Kryptonite bullets?
The man in red, Christopher Smith, codenamed "Peacemaker."
A former professional assassin, skilled in various modern weapons, adept at close-quarters combat, and a fanatical patriot.
The young woman, Cleo Cazo, codenamed "Second-generation Ratcatcher."
She can use special equipment to communicate with rats and was arrested for using rats to rob banks.
The spotted young man, Abner Krill, codenamed "Polka-Dot Man."
Due to a failed experiment, he was infected with a high-dimensional virus and can use the polka dots within his body to kill… The four of them were clearly not normal people, all involved in some form of the superhuman, or had one foot in the superhuman realm.
Among them, the non-human shark monster, Nanaue, was suspected to be a descendant of an ancient King Shark?
Xi Nian's gaze fell on King Shark, wondering if this so-called King Shark had any connection to Atlantis, which his aunt had once mentioned had sunk to the bottom of the sea.
However, he could withstand a blow from Three-in-one, carrying some power. Not dying meant his strength was already quite good.
Also:
The target of this X Task Force was the secret research facility on this island nation—Jotunheim, to eliminate the Starfish Project being conducted there.
Xi Nian instinctively felt that this Starfish Project was very likely related to Starro, whom Little Emperor was looking for!