26 · Chapter 26

Batman knelt on one knee, reached into the mud on the ground with his black gloves, and picked up the dull pearl necklace from the mud.

He gently brushed off the stains on the pearl necklace, put the pearl necklace into his all-purpose belt, stood up again, and began his investigation.

There were messy footprints scattered on the ground of the alley, indicating that a conflict had taken place here.

Batman put the two empty bullet casings into the evidence bag and found a steel bar on the ground. There was some wear and tear on the steel bar, which showed that someone had used it as a weapon to attack others.

But there was no blood on the ground, nor any signs of a fight.

Batman looked at the familiar scene. He stretched out a finger and gently brushed across the ground, and as expected, he swept up another layer of dust.

When he followed the clues left by the gang to Crime Alley, he encountered an identical scene in an alley.

There was also no blood left, and the ground of the alley was covered with a layer of the same dust.

He took samples and analyzed the dust, and according to the results of the handheld computer, it was the most common soil that can be found everywhere.

But Batman knew that was not the case. He even had a vague guess about the composition of this layer of dust, and the scattered clothes and guns also confirmed his speculation.

Was there another death? Who was it? Did the pearl necklace belong to the victim? Who was the murderer? Were the two children who left the footprints victims or murderers?

Batman silently resumed his investigation.

On the other side, Jason happily returned home, carrying a cloth ball containing a suitcase in one hand and holding Messiah's hand in the other, but he didn't know that a big black bat was flapping its wings and getting closer and closer to them.

Jason thought happily that they were lucky today and did not encounter those scum who loved to rob children on the way home.

——The Messiah who deliberately controlled passersby to avoid them hid his merits and fame.

Messiah stepped into the tent cautiously. The large bag of bread in his arms almost buried him completely, leaving only his round head exposed.

Jason closed the tent door and happily pulled Messiah straight to the den.

"Messiah, we're rich now." Jason's voice was filled with suppressed excitement. "This much money will definitely be enough for you to go to school!"

Messiah's muffled voice came: "Hmm."

Jason heard Messiah's slightly muffled voice and suddenly jumped up from the ground. He hurriedly took the food from Messiah's arms and began to clumsily unwrap the scarf ball.

How could he forget to untie the Messiah.

Jason slapped his head in frustration and tried to quickly untie the scarf, but found that the scarf remained motionless.

"Hmm..." Jason tugged at the end of his scarf, confused. "It's not a knot, so why can't I untie it?"

Did he tie it so tightly?

"Messiah, wait a moment, I'll go find a pair of scissors..."

Messiah's eyes widened subconsciously. Jason wanted to untie his scarf?

He thought Jason wanted to check whether he had worn the scarf obediently, so he reinforced the scarf ball.

Jason is Jason, and Superman is Superman. Messiah told himself, you can no longer treat Jason as the Superman of the last world.

Messiah felt guilty and removed the power he was holding on the scarf ball. Without the support of the power, the scarf collapsed instantly and fell directly to the ground.

Jason looked at the scarf that suddenly collapsed, narrowed his eyes suspiciously, as if he had guessed something.

He walked near the suitcase and pretended to untie the cloth. Messiah hurriedly withdrew his strength, and the cloth loosely wrapped around the suitcase collapsed instantly.

Jason looked at the clothes and scarves scattered on the floor, then looked at Messiah, who lowered his head guiltily.

I think I've undermined my brother's self-confidence. Messiah thought distressedly, raising a younger brother is so difficult.

"Messiah..." Jason finally couldn't contain his confusion. "Why do you know all this?"

Messiah didn't say anything. He could only lower his head to observe the patterns on the ground, his fingers twirling around in his pants helplessly. He didn't know how to answer Jason.

Jason had many questions in his mind, about Messiah's special abilities and about Messiah's views on killing.

But looking at Messiah standing there at a loss, Jason couldn't even ask these questions.

Messiah inexplicably didn't want to answer Jason's question, but he didn't want to lie to Jason, so he had to stammer and remain silent.

He didn't know why he had become so cowardly, indecisive, timid and incompetent, which was something he didn't like.

Are you going to say goodbye and leave? Messiah thought, your mission is to bring liberation to this doomed world, you shouldn’t just stay here.

The atmosphere in the tent became stagnant. After a few seconds, Jason finally moved.

He took a step forward and hugged Messiah tightly, resting his chin on the top of Messiah's head, and said seriously: "We are brothers. I am your older brother, and you are my younger brother. We are each other's only family."

"No matter what you look like, a little fool or a little devil, or something else, I will always protect you."

Messiah shuddered silently, as some strange and unfamiliar existence passed through Jason's arms and reached him, leaving Messiah at a loss as he encountered this kind of thing for the first time.

He clenched his hands hanging at his sides in the air for a moment, and his tense body gradually softened.

Messiah lay drowsily in Jason's arms, that strange warm air climbing up his chest and sweeping over his heart.

It was itchy, but it made him feel comfortable.

Jason's chest was very weak, but his warm body temperature transmitted warmth to Messiah like a small sun, and an inexplicable and strange thing was born.

He had just destroyed a world, and his purpose in coming here was also to destroy the world.

Messiah felt strange, as if he had become a different person.

I'm going to tell Jason the truth.

Messiah thought, he would confess everything to Jason.

But at this moment, a sudden knock on the door interrupted Messiah's frankness and the warm atmosphere between Jason and Messiah.

Jason's expression changed instantly. He subconsciously blocked Messiah behind him and looked vigilantly at the source of the sound.

Messiah heard a familiar heartbeat, it was Batman!

How did Batman find him?

Messiah was confused. He had clearly erased Batman's memory and just stopped listening to the sounds around him for a short while. Why did Batman appear?

No one knew how Batman managed to knock on the tent and make a "dong dong dong" sound. The regular and rhythmic sound continued, announcing Batman's existence to the Messiah.

Messiah saw Batman through the tent. Batman was standing outside the tent with his cloak held up. He had a deep aura around him and a serious expression hidden under the bat cowl.

Seeing no response from inside the tent, Batman took the initiative to open the tent and made eye contact with Jason and Messiah.

The big black bat was so tall that the tent that was meant for a child looked extremely small in front of it. It blocked the open door of the tent tightly, not letting any light in.

The long bat shadows were cast into the tent, covering both Jason and Messiah in the bat shadows.

"Batman?!"

Jason didn't expect it to be Batman. He subconsciously pushed Messiah behind him again and stared at Batman nervously: "What are you doing here? Get out of my house! You are not welcome in Crime Alley!"

He hid one hand in the pocket of his sweatshirt and held the gun, while the other hand subconsciously picked up the crowbar on the ground, his face full of defiance and anger.

As long as Batman dares to move, Jason will dare to take action.

Messiah pulled Jason's hand and pulled him behind him with irresistible strength. Before Jason could get rid of his vigilance against Batman, he flew into the air in a daze, and the next second he was behind his brother.

ah?

Jason's anger was suddenly interrupted. He looked at his hands, then at the miniature body of the Messiah, and couldn't help but open his mouth.

Brother, are you so strong?

Imitating the way Jason protected him before, Messiah puffed out his chest and stood in front of Jason, trying to use his miniature body to block Jason, who was a lot bigger than him.

Batman looked at Jason and Messiah, the two little kids snuggling together to protect each other, and Batman had a vision of two shivering bird balls, and he was the big bad bat who came to bully the bird balls.

I don't think I threatened them.

Batman gathered his cape and silently stared at Messiah who was standing in front of Jason. He was about to ask something when he was interrupted by Messiah's werewolf self-explosion.

"Don't bully Jason." Messiah said with a stern face, "I killed them."

Batman's words were stuck in his mouth by Messiah's unusually frank attitude. He closed his mouth and was about to change his words when he was interrupted by Jason again.

"No, I killed him!"

Jason looked at Batman nervously and tried to pull Messiah up... but failed. He had no choice but to move in front of Messiah and open his arms to protect Messiah: "If you want to catch someone, just catch me. Don't touch my brother!"

Batman said: "I..."

Messiah ran quickly to Jason with his short legs and shouted, "I killed them. I made their bodies disappear. Jason is an ordinary person and definitely couldn't do that."

"No!"

"No……"

The two of them were blocking each other, and Batman was interrupted again and again. In the end, he just watched Jason and Messiah's performance in silence, and listened patiently to Messiah's werewolf self-destruction.

It wasn't until the two men moved closer and closer, and Messiah was about to hit Batman's chest armor with just one step forward, that Jason realized something was wrong.

He recovered from his feverish state, grabbed Messiah's hand and rushed to the corner of the tent, looking at Batman nervously.

Messiah's small head popped out from behind Jason, and Batman's dark figure was reflected in his bright golden eyes.

Batman calmly checked the mind control blocking device activated by the armor. This was a device he carried with him after realizing that the Messiah could modify other people's memories and manipulate other people's consciousness. It could protect against both magical and physical manipulation.

"You killed them." Batman's voice was hoarse. "Three hours, seven people, seven lives."

The atmosphere in the tent, which had been somewhat relaxed due to Jason and Messiah's interruption, became heavy again.

"Huh?" Messiah blinked. "So there are seven of them?"

【Author’s words】

[Melted] Ice cream is delicious, but it should be eaten in moderation (dying)