Chapter 34 Information Gap Always Exists
"This kind Mr. Batman wants to help you find Master Dick. May I give him your contact information?"
It must have been really tough on you, Alfred. How did you even manage to type this?
“Sure, I’d love to thank the person who found Bruce in person. Could he come directly to Wayne Tower? I’ll wait for him here,” Night Owl texted Alfred. “I’ve checked the security footage for ages but haven’t found out when or who kidnapped Bruce.”
“That’s something Batman himself will have to explain to you, young Thomas,” Alfred replied.
Alfred refused to be a screenwriter, so it seems the story of Batman rescuing Bruce will have to be written by Batman himself.
Soon, just as Owl boarded the stealth plane, Batman's message arrived.
"You are not in your office."
This was the first message Batman sent.
Well, going against Batman is this troublesome; you have to constantly deal with an absolutely brilliant mind and all sorts of unexpected tests.
“You don’t need to test me like this, Mr. Batman.” Night Owl boarded the plane, activated autopilot, removed his armor, and sped toward Wayne Tower. “Wayne Tower isn’t just about my office, and I have the key to go anywhere, plus I happen to have two legs.”
"Are you sure you want me to go to Wayne Tower too? If you can tell me more, I can probably find him directly." Batman continued, "Are you sure he'll honor your deal and bring Dick to Wayne Tower?"
“I’m sure,” the owl replied, “if the other party is a rational animal.”
"good."
Then Batman stopped sending messages; only the small dots on the tracker, turning left and right, could reassure Owl.
That's the downside of driving; you have to carefully avoid buildings.
Night Owl changed into a suit, hastily tied his tie, jumped onto the roof of the Wayne Tower, piloted the plane away, and after identity verification, the door to the office opened.
Okay, he'll be busy tonight too.
Thomas shook the mouse, and the snow-like screensaver that had been flooding the screen immediately disappeared.
He had to forge a credible surveillance record before Batman allowed Alfred to monitor him; that was the safest course of action.
Although he couldn't possibly suspect his own brother first, what if he wanted to review what exactly happened tonight?
The office landline rang.
Thomas had no choice but to put down the mouse.
"I'm downstairs," Batman's voice came through the microphone.
...The Batmobile's horsepower is still too good.
Thomas reluctantly opened the door for Batman and manually deactivated the security alarm.
-
Tonight, the danger level of Night Owl in Batman's mind continues to rise.
Today, Batman was investigating Zuk's whereabouts, and he was quite certain that Zuk had gone to see the Penguin. This wasn't surprising; Thomas was using his influence and public opinion to pressure the mayor of Gotham City. If Zuk didn't want to leave Gotham, he had no choice but to seek help from the Penguin and Nite Owl.
Everything was going smoothly until he even discovered a clue about the bomb, but all of that was interrupted by the devastating news of Dick's disappearance.
He arrived at the Iceberg Club when he received news of Dick's disappearance, just in time to witness Penguin yelling at someone.
“…What are you up to now!” Penguin paced back and forth in his office, waving his umbrella every now and then. “He’s acting like a lunatic, suddenly asking me to find someone to make him an onboarding cake, and he even took that Zuk with him… Doesn’t he know how useful Zuk is now? I was even thinking of using him to make a deal with Wayne Enterprises.”
The Penguin seems to have some important information, but Wayne Manor is more urgent. Batman drops a listening device, gets back into the Batmobile, and speeds off to Wayne Manor.
Alfred, of course, couldn't just sit idly by. After Thomas left, Alfred retrieved the spare detective equipment from the Batcave and thoroughly scanned Dick's bedroom, but found no useful clues.
This is a dangerous sign.
This means that regardless of the criminal's true identity, this person is clearly very familiar with the terrain and defense system of Wayne Manor, and even knows the technological means Batman uses to investigate cases.
He was then drawn to Richard Grayson's Penguin.
"That madman Night Owl, could he really be having an affair with that Thomas Wayne?" the Penguin said angrily. "The Wayne family adopted a clown..."
"The aerial acrobat, Mr. Corbett."
"It's all pretty much the same, don't interrupt me! That damn Wayne adopted a flying clown, and why did Night Owl come to order a cake to welcome Richard Grayson? My chef is being tortured by him. Who makes such a huge three-tiered cake with animal cream? He even stole my refrigerated truck!"
Batman made a sharp turn, leaving four tire tracks on Gotham's asphalt road.
Based on various pieces of information, it is possible that the person who kidnapped Dick was the Night Owl.
Thomas went to Wayne Enterprises, and Batman warned him to be careful, but the office landline was unreachable.
“I learned from inside sources that Night Owl was going to take Richard away and was planning to recruit him as a Claw.”
"Interesting. So all of this was told to you by your former subordinates?"
“A friend told me, Mr. Cobblestone, but in fact every member of the Claws knows him. Mr. Grayson’s grandfather was very… loyal to it. I must excuse myself. Although they seem to have relaxed their surveillance of Gotham recently, it would be unwise to linger on Gotham’s grounds for too long while the current Supreme Court Justice’s attitude remains unclear.”
(Rusting sound, as if someone is organizing papers).
“Of course, sir, thank you for the news. But does Thomas Wayne know about these things?”
“I haven’t said anything else yet, but for the sake of Gotham City and my own safety, I plan to tell him some of it now. In fact, Mr. Wayne seems to be furious. He just sent me a message wanting me to mediate as a middleman (what era are we in, still using this kidnapping middleman tactic, the Penguin grumbles),” the mysterious man said. “But I’m not ready to risk my life to test the current Supreme Court Justice’s attitude towards me, so I refused.”
“You’ve got guts. Thomas Wayne is notoriously petty in Gotham City; he doesn’t spare anyone who gets in his way, and those who don’t go out of his way to get in his way are hardly left,” the Penguin said. “So you’re using this information to exchange for his forgiveness?”
"Although I don't think I did anything wrong, that's just how it is. Goodbye, Mr. Cobblestone."
(Sound of door closing).
There seems to be a lot of information here, but apart from Dick's safety, the most important thing is the word "Grand Justice".
Everyone knows that Gotham City does not have a federal Supreme Court Justice, so this Justice title is probably self-proclaimed.
If they have connections to the judge and the members are dressed as owls, then there's only one possibility.
Owl Court.
This thing actually exists?
Thomas, he clearly knew about the existence of the Court of Owls, but he didn't tell me!
Bruce captured the Penguin, but considering that the two had exchanged a few pieces of information amicably before, he didn't attack immediately. The situation was urgent, and he didn't waste time asking the Penguin about the Court of Owls. Instead, he asked him about the identity and whereabouts of the mysterious man from earlier, trying to get clues about Dick from him.
“Why should I tell you, Mr. Bat?” the Penguin said arrogantly. “It would be better if that circus kid died. It would only benefit me if Nite Owl and Thomas Wayne really fought each other.”
"Do I look like someone you know?" Batman asked the Penguin.
"who?"
“Night Owl.” Batman grabbed the Penguin by the collar and lifted him up easily. “Want to try and provoke me?”
The Penguin was indeed flexible and adaptable. He seemed to have found some similarities between Batman and Night Owl (maybe similar chins). This sense of déjà vu terrified him, reminding him of Night Owl's expressionless face when he was skinning his enemies alive. In this way, the Penguin revealed quite a lot of things.
It seems that Night Owl hasn't yet told the Penguin about Batman's no-kill policy.
"Don't you want to know the consequences of lying to me? Is that all?"
That's all.
Batman placed the Penguin back in the chair and said, very seriously but politely, "Thank you."
Sebastian Clark, a former member of the Court of Owls, returns to Gotham disguised as a man.
Just as he was about to go and investigate Sebastian, he received a communication from Alfred.
Thomas found Dick and claimed that the kidnappers were on the Penguin's side.
...
Are they still hiding it at this point?
I'm just waiting to see when you'll tell the truth.
But it's too late to track down Sebastian Clark now. Due to a severe lack of information, he chose to cooperate with Thomas's actions to prevent interference and a tragedy.
-
Thomas's office was very old-fashioned, perfectly matching the stereotypes people had of him.
Even the wine cabinet has been removed. If it were someone else, they would definitely think that the owner of this office is a rigid workaholic.
But it was Batman who came in, and Batman wouldn't be fooled by appearances.
He had also been filtered before, but now he vaguely sensed Thomas's true face.
Why did I think Tommy was a model younger brother when I was a child... He was clearly a problem child.
“Hello, Batman.” Thomas greeted him perfunctorily from behind his computer. “Sorry I don’t have a hand free right now to shake your hand. Let’s skip the formalities and get straight to the point.”
"What do you know about the Court of Owls?" Batman said.
“There are many, but I hope you can promise to keep this a secret from my family, Batman.” Thomas cursed the Penguin in his mind, but his expression remained unchanged. “My brother has always suspected that our parents’ deaths were related to the Court of Owls, and I’m worried that he might rashly confront these dangerous enemies.”
“I promise,” Batman replied without batting an eye, “I won’t tell your family about this.”
He didn't turn off his communication with Alfred when he came up.
What follows is entirely your own words.
It has nothing to do with me.
-----------------------
Author's note: When playing Arkham Knight, Cup Noodles will say thank you after interrogating someone and then knock them unconscious (so cute).
The Arkham series is so addictive, it's incredibly stress-relieving (except for The Riddler), and it's also extremely entertaining. I highly recommend it.
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