Meanwhile, while Karl was busy tormenting the television moguls, the truck belonging to the meatpacking plant finally returned.
The disgruntled driver headed toward the rear of the truck, cursing under his breath.
"Those bastards at the processing plant have no idea what they're doing! They planted a pig in my truck, got me chewed out by one of my longtime customers, and made a complete fool of me! Absolutely disgusting!"
He opened the truck's rear doors.
Inside, the miraculous little pig was bouncing around restlessly, unable to sit still any longer.
The moment the doors opened, she immediately tried to squeeze through the gap and escape, only to be caught by the truck driver.
"Aha! I knew you'd try to make a run for it, you damned animal! Just wait until I get my hands on you. I'll make sure you never—"
The driver spoke triumphantly, but before he could finish his sentence, the little pig in his grasp suddenly seemed to lose her temper.
She violently twisted her body, turned around, and sank her teeth into his arm.
"Argh! You little bastard! How dare you! How dare you bite me!"
The truck driver screamed in pain and instinctively loosened his grip.
Seizing the opportunity, the miraculous little pig immediately kicked her four short legs into motion and bolted away like a streak of lightning.
However, although Gotham's meatpacking plant occupied an enormous area, it was also a place the criminal underworld used to carry out executions.
Consequently, security was extremely tight, and outsiders such as reporters had virtually no chance of entering without permission.
After looking around, the magical little pig discovered that there was no obvious way out.
Left with no alternative, she slipped deeper into the factory, hoping to find another route to freedom.
Before long, the sight of a plump little pig running around the nearly deserted factory, grunting and squealing, attracted the attention of the guards who had remained behind.
"Huh? What's that little pig doing running around out here?" asked a guard who had been reading a newspaper.
Meanwhile, the truck driver, who had immediately set off in pursuit, cursed through gritted teeth.
"Forget about that! Just help me catch the damned animal, and I'll give you three dollars!"
As he spoke, he shook his injured hand, clearly harboring an intense hatred for the pink pig.
Hearing that there was money to be made, the guards' expressions immediately changed.
Strange smiles appeared on their faces as they surrounded the little pig, gradually closing in on her while she darted aimlessly around the room.
"Seriously, you can't even catch a pig, and you still have the nerve to offer us money? How pathetic!"
The guards mocked the truck driver as they tightened their encirclement.
After all, catching an ordinary little pig shouldn't have been particularly difficult.
Unfortunately, there was one problem.
Although Wonder Woman had been transformed into a pig, her intelligence hadn't completely deteriorated.
More importantly, the combat experience she had accumulated over thousands of years was finally proving useful.
Seeing several burly men approaching her, the miraculous little pig stopped in place and pretended not to care.
She waited patiently for them to lower their guard.
Then, just as they were about to grab her, she suddenly accelerated, darting straight through a gap in their formation and trotting toward another part of the room.
Their first attempt ended in complete failure.
The guards lunged forward, missed their target, and collapsed directly onto the ground.
The filthy puddles and nauseating stench surrounding them made their situation even more miserable.
"My God! Has that pig turned into some kind of magical creature? How can it be so damn cunning?"
The guards climbed desperately back to their feet, glaring with resentment at the miraculous little pig, who was now searching for an escape route at the opposite end of the room.
"Now you understand just how hard it is to earn those three dollars!"
The truck driver burst into gloating laughter.
He clearly enjoyed watching his companions make fools of themselves.
Unfortunately, the guards weren't nearly as amused.
In fact, they were furious.
After all, they worked for Karl and had never encountered anything quite so humiliating before.
They had been through dangerous confrontations and even faced gunfire, yet now they were being ridiculed simply because they couldn't catch a pig?
People rarely thought rationally when they were angry.
In their fury, the guards reached for their pistols and declared in murderous voices:
"That's it! It's hunting season now!"
"Just watch! I'm going to turn that damned pig into bacon!"
As though she had heard the sound of the guns being cocked, the magical little pig immediately became alert.
She started running even faster.
However, firearms were extremely dangerous, and no matter how desperately she struggled, she couldn't seem to shake off her pursuers.
Before long, the guards managed to drive the miraculous little pig into a corner.
Seeing that she had nowhere left to run, sinister smiles appeared on their faces.
"Time to call it a day, pork chop!"
With those words, one of the guards raised his pistol and fired directly at the little pig, showing no intention of sparing her life.
Watching the bullet rapidly approaching, the already frightened Wonder Woman instinctively resorted to her favorite defensive technique.
She raised one of her tiny front hooves in front of herself.
Clang!
The silver bracelet around her foreleg suddenly erupted with a brilliant flash of golden light.
The incoming bullet struck the bracelet and was immediately deflected.
By an extraordinary coincidence, the ricocheting projectile flew straight toward an automatic fire sprinkler mounted on the ceiling.
Of course, the sprinkler system had originally been installed to extinguish fires.
Whenever smoke or flames triggered the system, water would automatically spray from the ceiling to suppress the fire.
But what would happen if a bullet struck one of the sprinkler heads directly?
The answer came almost immediately.
Every sprinkler in the room suddenly activated at once.
Water poured down from the ceiling like a torrential rainstorm sweeping across Gotham City.
Before the guards could even comprehend the fact that a pig had somehow deflected a bullet with a bracelet, they were completely drenched by the sudden downpour.
...
Meanwhile, Karl, who had been smoking nearby while waiting for the results of his arrangements, couldn't help but frown.
He instinctively turned his head toward the direction of the gunshot.
"Hmm? What's going on? Did someone actually fire a gun?"
"Don't tell me those television moguls managed to sneak some of their men in here?"
At that thought, a sinister smile appeared at the corners of Karl's mouth.
"Perfect timing!"
"I was practically dying of boredom sitting here all by myself. Since someone has come looking for trouble, I certainly wouldn't mind having a little fun!"
The truth was that ever since Karl had defeated Bane using magic, he had felt that his powers had grown even stronger.
Unfortunately, he hadn't been able to find an unfortunate victim on whom he could test his spells.
Now that someone had apparently come knocking on his door, Karl naturally had no intention of letting the opportunity go to waste.
However, who could have imagined what he would discover?
The moment Karl opened the door, he saw his guards rolling around in filthy water.
Every single one of them looked as though they had just been thoroughly beaten.
Meanwhile, the fire sprinklers covering the entire ceiling were inexplicably spraying water everywhere.
"You... What the hell are you doing?"
Karl stared at the scene in astonishment.
"All I wanted was to film a few scenes involving those unfortunate television moguls. Why are you making such a mess out here?"
The guards didn't immediately answer Karl's question.
Instead, they began shouting at the tops of their lungs, all trying to explain the situation at once.
This only made Karl even more confused.
He instinctively blurted out:
"A pig? What pig escaped?"
No sooner had those words left his mouth than a pink figure suddenly came charging straight toward him.
Karl froze for a moment.
The little creature squeezed between his feet and darted through the open doorway, finally escaping from the room.
Only then did Karl get a proper look at the mysterious intruder.
It was a tiny pink pig, scampering along while letting out an unmistakable fart.
The sight was so ridiculous that it almost defied belief.
"You guys really are something else, aren't you?"
Karl sighed helplessly.
"All this chaos over a single pig? Just look at yourselves!"
"Perhaps I've been paying you far too much..."
As Karl spoke, he casually snapped his fingers.
In the very next instant, a massive cage appeared out of thin air near the ceiling.
It dropped straight down, completely enveloping the miraculous little pig and trapping her securely inside.
(End of Chapter)
[100 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter]
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