Absolute King Chapter 22.

Chapter 22: The Children Of Steel.

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Santa Prisca was a heavily fortified island, with guards patrolling at every corner and watchtower, their eyes scanning for the slightest disturbance.

Mark moved silently through the shadows alongside Zatanna, who, with her refined magic, had cast an invisibility spell that cloaked them from sight, allowing the pair to navigate the island undetected.

On the other end of the comm line, Batman’s voice came through, calm but authoritative, asking for a status update from each team.

Batgirl, seated behind the computer, swiftly responded, assuring him that every team was in position and operating without complications. So far, everything was unfolding exactly as planned, the mission progressing smoothly and seemingly in their favor.

But then, as fate would have it, Mark and Zatanna stumbled upon an airfield where a large aircraft was being prepared for departure.

Several crates were being loaded into its hold, and standing near the cargo were none other than Bane and Lady Shiva. The two were engaged in tense negotiations with agents of Cobra, their men overseeing the process while ensuring every container was secured.

Through the use of the advanced contact-lens technology designed by Batgirl—something she had been immensely proud to develop—the entire team was able to see what Mark and Zatanna were witnessing.

The feed was transmitted directly into their vision, providing the League with real-time eyes on the ground.

“Batman, are you seeing this?” Zatanna whispered, her tone sharp with unease.

“Yes,” Batman answered almost instantly, his deep voice steady.

“They’re loading cargo filled with unidentified goods. We need to know exactly what’s inside those containers. Get closer, identify what you can, and report back.” His order left no room for hesitation.

“Yes,” Mark and Zatanna replied in unison, their resolve firm as they began closing the distance.

“Batgirl, which wing is this?” Batman asked.

Batgirl’s fingers tapped swiftly across the keyboard, her screens lighting up as she pulled satellite data and tactical overlays. Within moments she expanded the map to highlight Mark and Zatanna’s exact position.

“The east wing,” she confirmed crisply. “Roughly three minutes away from your current location.”

“Got it,” Batman acknowledged before turning his attention to the other team. “Constantine, Katana—did you catch that?”

“Yeah, mate, loud and clear,” Constantine replied, his usual flippant tone present even in the middle of a mission. “We’ll be there in a jiffy.”

With that, both his team and Batman’s own unit, partnered with Robin, shifted direction and began moving toward the east side of Santa Prisca.

Meanwhile, Mark and Zatanna infiltrated the building from which the cargo was being transported. The sight that greeted them left them stunned into silence.

Mark’s instincts had been gnawing at him, whispering a dreadful suspicion, but even he did not want to believe what was laid bare before them.

They pried open one of the massive containers. Inside, suspended in a liquid-filled chamber, was a young cyborg—its body grotesquely altered.

Biomechatronic parts had replaced vast portions of flesh, and at the center of its chest pulsed a Father Box, fused directly into its form. Metal had overtaken the majority of its body, with only fragments of organic humanity remaining.

The sight filled Mark with a grim certainty, for he immediately understood that his father’s presence was connected to this atrocity, and for the first time in a long while, a fragile spark of hope ignited within him.

“Oh my God…” Zatanna gasped in horror, covering her mouth. “How could anyone be so heartless—turning innocent teenagers into machines without mercy?”

One by one, they examined more containers. The results were the same, and the scale of the project became horrifyingly clear. There were not just a few of them—there were hundreds, possibly thousands, all young lives stolen and remade into weapons.

“I’ve run a cross-check through the database,” Batgirl’s shaken voice came over the comms. “Their identities are confirmed. These are kids who went missing around the world in recent months.”

“Then we don’t have a second to waste,” Batman cut in sharply. “The key is Doctor Flinch. If we capture him, this project ends. Stay focused on the mission. Don’t lose sight of the objective.”

At those words, Mark closed his eyes and shifted into a state of intense concentration. Zatanna instinctively stayed quiet, recognizing the determined focus in his expression.

Over time, Mark had developed a unique technique—by releasing a portion of his mana into the surrounding area, he could read and map the terrain as though the land itself whispered its secrets to him. The ability’s range was limited, extending no more than half a kilometer, but it was enough.

Within moments he sensed a faint but familiar presence beneath the very floor on which they stood. His heart clenched. His father was down there.

Mark gestured downward to Zatanna, silently conveying what he had discovered. Just then, the wall to their right shifted open, and a hulking figure emerged.

The two quickly concealed themselves with the aid of Zatanna’s magic as the imposing man stepped forward. It was Blockbuster, assigned as the guardian of the level above Mark’s father’s chamber. He scanned the area suspiciously, eyes narrowing, before retreating into the elevator. When he vanished back below, Mark and Zatanna wasted no time, using a levitation spell to silently follow him down.

At the same time, the other teams had reached the warehouse perimeter. From their vantage point, they could see the containers for themselves.

Robin’s eyes darkened as memories of Cadmus resurfaced—the failure of his team to save other children in the past weighed heavily on him. The thought of yet more teenagers transformed into mechanical monstrosities made his stomach churn with rage and disgust. He forced himself to keep it under control, though Batman, ever observant, noticed the tension but chose not to comment. Instead, he murmured quietly to himself, “We have to put an end to this.”

Elsewhere Constantine and Katana girl were approaching the main location instructed by batman.

“Damn, that’s a lot of kids, don’t you think, luv?” Constantine muttered, his casual tone failing to mask the horror beneath his words. Katana, unfazed, remained silent, her expression unreadable.

“Cold treatment, huh?” Constantine added under his breath, before falling silent and keeping his eyes on the enemy. The security was tight, too many guards for them to slip in unnoticed, so for the moment all they could do was watch, assess, and wait.

“Zatanna, Mark—status?” Batman’s voice cut back in.

“We haven’t located the doctor yet,” Zatanna replied, her voice steady. “But the kid can sense his presence.”

“If the situation escalates, get out immediately,” Batman ordered without hesitation.

“Understood,” Zatanna confirmed.

They pressed deeper into the lower levels, weaving between patrols as Zatanna’s cloaking spell kept them concealed. Mark’s heart leapt when he finally caught sight of his father, isolated in a glass-enclosed lab, working methodically on the horrific cyborg project. Overcome with emotion, Mark drifted closer, raising a hand to the glass barrier as though he could reach his father through sheer will.

But his longing made him careless. A security alarm blared suddenly, shattering the silence. Blockbuster, stationed just outside the lab, whipped around instantly.

Though he still could not see them through Zatanna’s spell, the alarm made it clear that intruders were present. With a roar of fury, Blockbuster lunged forward, his massive form tearing through the space as he launched his attack.