Chapter 5 Chapter 5 I will find a way to find him in St.

The Brotherhood of Assassins was very surprised to receive Batman's active contact. They were aware of each other's existence and would cooperate when necessary, but most of the time they left each other alone. This also meant that if there were no assassin-related incidents in Gotham, Batman would not have contacted the Brotherhood.

Because this lone hero in the darkness always works alone.

"I'm investigating the source of that drug," Batman said, "but there's nothing worth discussing at this time."

"It's okay. My intuition tells me..." The assassin suddenly paused, "Wait, are you alone?"

There was a sudden sound, like a baby bird lightly flipping onto the roof. The assassin turned his head and saw Robin, who had just reached Batman's waist, emerge from behind his mentor.

"So, you're the assassin?" he asked, crossing his arms. His active eyes, covered by the domino patch, rolled from top to bottom, sizing up the assassin before he critically commented, "You're a little shorter than I thought."

"You seem a little shorter than the last Robin, kid," the assassin remarked. Robin nearly jumped at him for that, but Batman grabbed his cape and hood in time, preventing him from doing so. He kicked his legs in anger.

The allies' meeting suddenly became a family comedy. The assassin was used to this. He reached behind his waist and pulled out some small toys, then a handkerchief. With a few deft movements of his fingers, he wrapped a small, presentable gift.

"It's only for the first time we meet. I won't give it to you next time." He handed the bag of toys to Robin. "Don't worry, they are not very lethal." The second half of the sentence was said to Batman.

"Thank you," Batman said.

Robin stopped struggling. He took the handkerchief and looked doubtfully at Batman, who had loosened his cape. "Is this customary?"

"I told you to stay home." Batman asked instead, "Have you finished your homework?"

"That little elementary school homework is no way difficult for me." Robin regained his arrogant expression. "You need Robin, Batman. Don't try to throw me aside."

The assassin assessed Robin's height but said nothing. He coughed, and the two standing before him, one large and one small, looked over. "I need some clues. Batman, what's the story behind that drug you mentioned that allows people to temporarily possess abilities reminiscent of an assassin's?"

"They can hide in the shadows, like ninjas," Robin replied. "They've also suddenly become skilled in combat and the use of hidden weapons. They can 'see' their enemies approaching through some special sensory ability - it's called Eagle Vision, right?"

"Yes." The assassin glanced at Batman, "That sounds terrible."

This reminded him of something he had experienced before. Hydra had once been lurking among the Templars to study the Assassins they had captured. When the Templars discovered this, they were furious and fought Hydra for a while, but soon they reached a cooperation and continued their human experiments on the Assassins.

That's bad enough.

But what's worse is that they seem to have achieved some initial success.

Robin was unaware of this past, but was acutely aware of the eye contact between the two adults and glanced suspiciously between them.

"I know what you're thinking, but their research is unstable," Batman added. "Everyone who has developed this ability has died tragically."

"How did he die?"

"Some died in street fights, died of cold and hunger, died in Gotham." Batman paused, "and some died from falling from great heights."

The assassin said nothing, seemingly in deep thought.

"It looks like they don't have the ability to make a leap of faith," Robin commented.

From beneath his hood, the assassin glanced at him.

"It's called a 'Leap of Faith' for a reason," the assassin said calmly. "Even an assassin trained from childhood can't guarantee survival from such a high-altitude fall every time... I have a general understanding of the situation, Batman. We will investigate this matter from the perspectives of Abstergo and Hydra. Is there anything else you would like to remind me of?"

"Yes, but it has nothing to do with this matter." Batman raised his arm armor and pointed at the projection. "Have you been following the news about Blüdhaven?"

The assassin neither denied nor admitted, "Uh... about which part?"

A few days ago, Blüdhaven's social news reported the follow-up to a case of assault by a mentally ill person. The incident took place at an Abstergo hospital. The suspect, Elliot Smith, a student at Blüdhaven University, was spotted by police officers jumping into a river while fleeing and has not been seen since. Blüdhaven police suspect he has...

"Wait, rewind a bit." The assassin leaned over and tapped the screen. "The part where he dives."

Batman cooperated and rewound the progress bar. To see this part more clearly, the assassin pinched his hood and pulled it up, revealing a pair of dark green eyes. Robin's height allowed him to catch a glimpse of the assassin's red curls beneath his hood.

They actually sent a red-haired, green-eyed assassin! Robin suddenly realized that this must be a conspiracy of the Brotherhood.

The figure in the video jumped down from the rooftop in a gorgeous and smooth manner, as if he was a natural-born hawk.

The assassin murmured, "…I'll go."

"He's one of you." Batman got the answer he wanted from the assassin's reaction.

"Where is he?" the assassin asked. "Is he still in Blüdhaven?"

"Nightwing is still searching for him, but has found no trace," Batman said. "He's most likely back in Gotham."

"I'll find him," the assassin's eyes gleamed, "before the Templars do."

The Templars were indeed searching for this new Assassin. Realizing that this Elliot Smith might not even be aware of his identity, they decisively removed his portrait from the wanted poster, lowered the online buzz, and conducted a covert search. This not only lowered Elliot's vigilance but also prevented the Brotherhood from gaining online clues and finding the newcomer before them.

But what they never expected was that Batman had connections in the Blüdhaven Police Station. And Batman having connections there was roughly equivalent to the assassin having connections there.

By some strange coincidence, the assassins were one step ahead of the Templars.

Elio, however, was completely oblivious to the race to find him. After the Templars' search for him went underground, he assumed the Blüdhaven Police Department was just sitting there doing nothing and abandoned the search. Admittedly, this lowered his guard, leading him to believe the rumors had blown over and even take a part-time day job.

Graham didn't think Elio needed to do this. His arrival had already relieved Graham of some of the burdens he had to deal with, like preparing meals and picking up his sister, Willow, from boarding school on weekends. Not to mention the good salary he earned from his night job. But at Elio's insistence, he gave in.

He understood the anxiety of having nothing in his hands, because Graham, who had just left the orphanage and was penniless, had also kept himself busy like this, doing all kinds of work and trying to earn money from all kinds of work.

But this does not include human experiments.

"Someone's looking for drug testing again recently," Graham warned, "no matter how much money you're offered, don't go."

"again?"

"Again." Graham shrugged as he pulled his leather jacket on. "This is Gotham. What else do you expect? There are only so many ways to get rich."

"There are only a few ways to seek death." Elio nodded. "Don't worry, I didn't grow up in Gotham for nothing."

"I was just worried you'd forget."

"How could I forget?"

In Gotham, making a quick buck means getting killed. Every child who grew up in Gotham, if they made it to adulthood, knew that.

More than ten years ago, when staff from the Martha Foundation came to the orphanage to investigate the "poisoning incident", they found not a madman seeking revenge on society, but a businessman seeking personal gain.

They sold healthy children, tempting them with high salaries to work as screwdrivers in factories, but in reality they were nourishing the darkness that had taken root in the city. All the children, believing they had a bright future, longed to leave the orphanage, and Elio was no exception.

If this incident hadn't accidentally alarmed Wayne, perhaps Elio would have been sold to a black gang, or an evil organization that brainwashed and trained young killers...

Then, one day, he died alone on the streets of Gotham without remembering anything.

"Wake up, kid. What are you thinking about?"

Elio shuddered and came to his senses. The customer standing in front of him snapped his fingers and looked at him with his head tilted.

"Sorry," Elio apologized reflexively, "You wanted an order of fries, a McNuggets, and..."

"An original Xindi, thank you."

"Okay, please wait."

The customer didn't argue, and Elio breathed a sigh of relief. He turned back to scooping up the fries. He packed the hot fries and chicken nuggets into a cardboard box and bag. He tucked in a few more packets of ketchup and went back to pick up the new order. All the while, the customer stood there, his fingers drumming silently on the counter, his eyes behind his sunglasses seemingly following the movement of the food.

"Are you alone?" he asked casually.

"Yes," Elio wrapped Xindi in a tissue and handed it to him. "Our store is located in a remote area, so not many people come here usually."

The customer took the new land from him. Elio glanced at the customer a few more times, thinking it was a little strange for him to wear sunglasses indoors, but he said nothing. Even though they were indeed a pair of exaggerated sunglasses, hanging on his high nose bridge like two huge dark green stars, with transparent temples hidden in the red hair covering his ears, and thin chains hanging down.

"Do you like my sunglasses?"

Elio was stunned for a moment, then realized that he had stayed staring for too long, and his cheeks immediately became hot.

"I, uh..." Elio nodded stiffly, "Yes, I appreciate it."

The customers stared at him.

"...It's pretty cool, really." Elio tried to look as sincere as possible.

The customer still stared at him.

"It's a very unusual shape," Elio racked his brains, "but it suits you very well."

"real?"

"real."

The customer stared at him for a moment longer, and just when Elio was about to break out in a sweat, he suddenly laughed.

"You're so funny, kid," he said cheerfully. "Don't be so nervous. I know what it looks like."

Before Elio could react, the customer had already grabbed the paper bag with one hand, pinched the new land with the other, spun his windbreaker in the air, and walked out of McDonald's.

'What a strange man,' thought Elio.

But when he noticed customers were leaving large tips, he stopped thinking so.

'What a strangely nice guy!' Elio thought, 'I'll have to give him some fries next time.'

No one can resist fries. Not even Alvin, the assassin with a heavy responsibility, who has only just arrived in Gotham.

"Black curly hair, green eyes..." He held a French fry in his mouth and opened the ID photo and sketch that Nightwing had just sent him, "Wait?"

The author has something to say:

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Alvin: So that golden interactive target wasn't because he's a businessman?!

P.S. I saw that some readers are more concerned about the CP issue. It's just like the previous book. There is no CP ending in the main text, and the extra story adds assassins and templars. I changed the copywriting when I woke up... (Why can't I delete the character card on my phone?)