Chapter 35 Chapter 35 Who is the employer?

The robber shouted at his subordinates to be alert, at least in pairs, to watch each other's backs, and announced loudly that if he saw even the corner of the cloak, he would immediately kill a hostage.

There was no response in the air. The hostages huddled in a corner, making the entire banquet hall seem empty. It was pitch black outside the window, and when he glanced over, he could see his own reflection...something about it gave the robber a chilling premonition.

Commissioner Gordon was right; he was a professional. But he wasn't a professional robber; he was a professional mercenary. He knew how to extort money from his clients and how to kill for them. He had taken on many strange orders, but none as large as this one.

His employer told him to kill so many people at once, and to make it look as if he was motivated by money. A deposit was required upfront, and the balance depended on his ability—a strange request from a strange employer. If it weren't for the fact that he could retire immediately after completing this job, he wouldn't have played house with the little girl.

Gotham is a weird place.

As far as he knew, this place was rife with crime and dollars, but only the most exceptional could make it and escape Batman's clutches unscathed. In the past, he certainly wouldn't have foolishly come here and bet on becoming the next Wilson—just kidding, that guy wasn't a normal person either; he was a one-eyed ruthless survivor of human experimentation!

But the employer gave too much.

"You're not afraid to take this job, are you?" she said briskly. "Okay, I understand. It's nothing. I just didn't think the famous 'Baba Yego' would be such a coward..."

The young girl paused meaningfully, and then there was a soft "pop" sound from the other side of the microphone, as if something had broken.

"Damn it," Babayego couldn't help but curse, "I did it."

Now he felt a little regretful. He shouldn't have come to Gotham. He should have, like his friends had advised, made his money step by step, instead of coming to Gotham to pursue a slim chance of retirement...

Like a ghost story, his subordinates were becoming fewer and fewer. No matter how nervously they watched each other's backs, in the blink of an eye, someone would disappear. Someone would be hanging on the gargoyle in the room.

What kind of place would have gargoyles on interior walls?

"Boss!"

Babayego turned around suddenly and almost shot his subordinate. His tense look obviously scared the unfortunate guy. He took two steps back and reported tremblingly, "We found another one under the gargoyle..."

Another unlucky guy being hung upside down.

He didn't need to listen any further; he knew what his younger brother was going to say. Finally, a nerve in the poor foreign mercenary's head snapped. He suddenly burst into laughter, pushed aside the subordinates who were blocking his way, and strode towards the group of hostages, gun raised.

"I know you're watching!" he yelled. "Now stand up, or I'm going to start killing people!"

The robber stretched out his hand toward the hostages, aiming for a thin target, but somehow, a dark-skinned woman behind her seemed startled, twisted her foot, and threw herself on top of the hostage, blocking the robber's outstretched hand.

Without even thinking about whether this person was on his employer's murder list, the robber grabbed the woman with his trembling hands and held her in front of him.

"I'll count to ten!" he shouted.

The banquet hall was silent. The vigilantes must be watching.

"ten!"

His subordinates gathered around him.

"Nine!"

The robber broke out in a cold sweat.

"eight!"

He knew what this premonition meant.

"seven!"

Every time danger was about to strike, it felt as if a cold breath of death was brushing across the back of his neck.

"six!"

But he always escaped, and this time was no exception. It had to be the same.

"five!"

Damn, how come there are only five people left around him?!

"Four!"

Why haven't the vigilantes shown up yet? Do they really want this woman to survive?

"three!"

He could no longer hide the trembling in his voice.

"two!"

The robber waved his submachine gun, aiming it at any corner where a vigilante might appear. Wherever he went, the hostages cried out in surprise.

"one!"

With a click, the power went out again. The robber's pupils dilated in terror—he saw the glass shatter and the sniper bullet silently shot towards him, but he seemed to hear the roar of thunder and the piercing lightning flashing into his pupils!

In extreme panic, he unconsciously pulled the trigger, and what was worse was that he was still waving his gun around randomly -

At the critical moment, the held hostage Cassandra slapped the robber to the ground with her backhand; the bullets from the submachine gun were about to hit the hostages in front of their eyes. They had no time to react and could only close their eyes reflexively - but the miraculous thing was that they were not hurt at all.

A shadow leaped out of the darkness, blocking their path. Wonder Woman, moving at high speed, crossed her arms, her bracelets chasing the clanking bullets. Sparks flew through the darkness, exploding into dangerous yet beautiful fireworks. Vigilantes catapulted from gargoyles and ventilation ducts, striking the few remaining robbers with precision.

All this happened in three seconds.

The light flickered back on. The ground was a mess, but thankfully there was no blood; this should have been a satisfying outcome, but there were still some details that went beyond their expectations.

"There's a sniper!"

As Red Robin's voice fell, a figure darted to the window. Broken glass creaked as it was stepped on, and the assassin leaped from the edge of the air, over two hundred feet high.

The vigilantes in the banquet hall exchanged glances and quickly decided on a division of labor. Commissioner Gordon, having received the summons downstairs, breathed a sigh of relief and quickly dispatched on-call officers to calm the hostages and remove the scattered robbers. "Baba Yego" was spun up by a golden rope and thrown onto the rooftop. Wonder Woman and the Falconer, flanking him, began the interrogation.

"Are you a Templar?" Wonder Woman asked.

"No!" the robber leader denied absurdly. "This isn't the Middle Ages anymore, ma'am!"

The falconer asked, "A member of the Cult of Kosmos?"

"What the hell is that?"

They looked at each other in confusion, and Wonder Woman continued, "You can't be just an ordinary robber."

"Of course not," the robber leader struggled, "I am the mercenary 'Baba Yego', but this is just a pseudonym I promoted. No one ever knew that my real name is - what the hell am I saying - Jack Thompson!"

He fought hard, even his face flushed and veins popped out, but he finally revealed his real name. Jack stared at the two of them in disbelief, then seemed to realize something and lowered his head to stare at the glowing rope.

"What the hell is this?" he cried. "Magic?"

"Let's get this straight, Jack," said the falconer. "We ask the questions, and you answer them. Got it?"

She lifted Jack's collar with one hand, and Wonder Woman certainly didn't stop her. Jack was dragged to the edge of the rooftop and instinctively struggled, but soon broke out in a cold sweat and became motionless.

The reason was simple: Jack knew how heavy he was. A tall, muscular mercenary, weighing over two hundred pounds with all his gear, was effortlessly lifted by this terrifying woman with one hand, as if she were carrying a kitten with its fur standing on end.

Faced with the muscles flexed by Cassandra, Jack quickly submitted at an astonishing speed.

"Okay, okay," he said flexibly, "I'm willing to answer all your questions—" After seeing Cassandra's dissatisfied look, he immediately added, "And I'll be as obedient as a little bird in your hands!"

"You?" Cassandra looked him up and down critically. "You are nowhere near my Ikaros."

Wonder Woman couldn't help but laugh. The falconer laughed too, and easily lifted Jack back. Jack's feet touched the solid lime and he fell to the ground, almost kissing it.

"Why kidnap us?" Wonder Woman asked, crossing her arms.

"I didn't mean to kidnap you," Jack answered obediently. "You weren't on the list at all." Before they could ask what list it was, he immediately and consciously told them everything. "My employer gave me a list and told me that the people on it would appear at the party tonight. I was to pretend to kidnap everyone and demand a ransom from the Gotham Police Department—whatever money I got would be mine—and then kill them."

“Who is the employer?”

"We've never met," Jack breathed, "but I could tell it was a young girl, not even twenty—unless he or she was using a voice changer."

A young girl in a baseball cap was sprinting through the streets of Gotham. She was carrying a hard instrument bag, but the weight seemed to have no effect on her at all; like a cat scurrying across walls, she deftly scaled short walls, scrambled up and down floors, and quickly fled the scene in the simplest of straight lines.

Normally, no one could catch up with her. Normally.

The residents of Gotham, who lived in the streets and alleys, gradually closed their windows. Some of them noticed the movement on the rooftop, but wisely chose to ignore it.

The assassin sprinted, chasing the sniper closely. Just as he was about to catch up, the slender sniper suddenly turned around and produced a flying knife from thin air, reflecting the dangerous moonlight.

Elio quickly rolled sideways, dodging the danger. With a series of thuds, the line of cold light bit the assassin's figure and pierced the ground as he passed.

"Get out of here," the sniper growled. "Assassin!"

This was a common expulsion, one Elio had heard many times. But this was the first time he was stunned. When he got up from the ground, the sniper had already climbed over the railing, arms outstretched—

"etc!"

Elio rushed forward, desperately reaching out to grab even the slightest bit of the sniper's clothing. But in an instant, the sniper had already leaped down. Without hesitation, the assassin followed her.

The night wind from Gotham gently brushed their robes. One after another, the short strait between Gotham and Blüdhaven once again splashed with falling water.

Crash!

In the darkness, the blue-tailed tuxedo guppy jumped back into the tank.

Leopold returned to the hotel and flipped on the light. It was already early morning, and he had no time to think about what had happened during this turbulent night. He just wanted to get back to bed. But after taking two steps inside, Leopold stopped.

He frowned, his nose twitching as he caught a whiff of moisture. The Templar's gaze shifted, noticing the water stains on the carpet, and he quickly deduced the intruder's route.

The window to the balcony was wide open. A trail of wet water came in from there, splashing across the carpet and onto...

Behind him.