Chapter 67 The reputation of those who were harmed was as numerous as hemp.
Gotham has recently reached a peak of chaos.
The gangs had long been suppressed by Owl and Thomas. Only Penguin, who was still somewhat law-abiding, still held power. But the mentally ill were clearly full of life and energy, stubbornly crawling out of dark crevices or sewers like American cockroaches.
Yesterday someone released poison gas, and today someone threw a bomb in a public place. The Assassin Brotherhood is watching closely, and there's also the Joker, who hasn't been heard from lately. Knowing Thomas as he does, he's probably planning something big.
Batman is visibly busier than before. He recently sent Holiday Killer to prison. Amidst various disputes involving the GCPD, Gotham courts, and the Vitty family, the matter is a complete mess (even the Penguin has added fuel to the fire; he does dislike Falcone, but the Chicagoans' attempt to take over Gotham is clearly something that should be resisted by the people of Gotham).
What followed was a bizarre mass poisoning incident that broke out in a square. The victims all went berserk, some pulling out guns and firing wildly, others kneeling and wailing... Just getting this group of madmen with their varied behaviors to the hospital and then restraining them properly consumed a lot of energy and time for the GCPD and Batman.
This incident caused a huge uproar, and the heated discussion it sparked lasted for quite some time.
"So are you going to do anything about it or not?" The penguin looked at the wretched owl with dissatisfaction. The owl's willful behavior was causing his partner a lot of pain.
He would suddenly disappear from time to time, and during those times he could not be contacted at all. When he suddenly reappeared, he would not know where he was. He said he wanted to oppose Wayne, but he did nothing... A few years ago, he still knew to put on an act and show some politeness, but now he doesn't even bother to put on an act and just barged into his study!
“Of course,” Night Owl said without hesitation, “it is clear that this poison gas is a weapon of mass destruction.”
What's more, that damned Scarecrow prevented him from discovering the lost miniature quantum starter immediately, and even exposed his fears to Batman.
With both old and new grudges combined, Night Owl even considered throwing the scarecrow headfirst off the Tower of Wayne.
"Is there anything else?" the penguin asked in an unfriendly tone.
“Yes,” Night Owl stood up, “In fact, I’m considering whether our cooperation should continue.”
“I think our collaboration is obviously perfect, mutually beneficial, and complementary,” the Penguin immediately remembered that the person standing opposite him was a psychopath in heavy armor. “How could you think that?”
“I thought you didn’t need me as an ally anymore, Oswald,” Night Owl replied. “You seem to be looking for new partners, even spreading rumors about me to try and get others to attack me.”
Yes, Bruce took time out of his busy schedule yesterday to have a heart-to-heart talk with Thomas, mainly to analyze in detail how dangerous Night Owl is and that everyone should stay away from this supervillain.
Bruce's logic chain is very complete, from the various dangerous behaviors of Owl when he first started out, the curfew range he set at his own discretion, Owl's covetousness and harassment of Dick, to the threat from Owl that his partner Penguin said himself... and even a bit of Batman's own experience.
“…I even suspect he has a mental illness and is not young,” Bruce said with unusual seriousness. “He said he has known me for more than forty years (that’s right, Thomas thought, I hugged you more than forty years ago). I checked all kinds of information about Gotham more than forty years ago. There was obviously no ‘Batman’ back then, and you can probably tell from my naked/exposed face that I was not yet forty years old.”
“That makes a lot of sense, Bruce.” Thomas slumped on the sofa, looking at him with a puzzled expression. “But why are you telling me this? Haven’t I always been enemies with Night Owl? No one in this world understands Night Owl’s evil and the crimes he has committed better than I do.”
You two really should be enemies.
The two talked for a long time, their conversation a jumble of unrelated ideas. In the end, Bruce decided to intensify his investigation into the Night Owl, while Thomas decided to cause trouble for the Penguin.
"How could that be? Our cooperation is flawless. If there's even the slightest crack, it will be detrimental to us. Who would do something so foolish?" The Penguin tried to calm the Night Owl while pondering who had leaked his information.
“It seems you’ve been preoccupied with too many important and troublesome matters, Oswald, which has made your memory a little fuzzy… Would you like me to help you recall them?” Night Owl took a step closer. “Batman.”
Damn it.
Batman, you betrayed me! I thought that even though you always cut off my smuggling routes, stopped me from collecting protection money, and put my henchmen in jail, and I always tried to blow you into a little bat ash, or crush you into a bat pancake with a truck... I thought that at least when it came to dealing with Night Owl, you would stand firmly with me.
But he still has to get past the Night Owl, otherwise he really will, and he really has the ability to, turn Oswald into a penguin pancake.
“That’s Batman trying to sow discord,” the Penguin racked his brains. “He’s wanted to put me in jail for a long time, and breaking up our alliance is obviously in his best interest…”
"Haven't you figured out the point yet, Oswald?" Night Owl interrupted him. "I don't care much about your underhanded tactics, but I won't accept you using such ridiculous methods to ruin my reputation."
"...You still have a reputation?"
“I don’t want people to think I’m a fool who can’t see the capabilities of my partners, given my reputation for intelligence and judgment. So I hope you stay away from Batman,” Owl said with dissatisfaction. “A competent and self-aware supervillain won’t team up with Batman. We’ll become Batman’s primary targets sooner or later.”
"You're wary of Batman?" The Penguin looked at Owl in surprise. "Besides being a skilled masked psychopath, what else is special about him?"
The owl looked at him.
"Sorry, but I didn't mean you were a masked psychopath," the Penguin quickly added, though in his eyes, Night Owl was clearly even crazier than Batman.
“He ruined my carefully laid plans that I’ve been working on for years,” Night Owl didn’t bother arguing with the Penguin; he didn’t have that much time, “especially with equipment that was far inferior to mine.”
Why didn't you kill him?
Penguin really wanted to know why. Night Owl was definitely not a good-tempered person. In Penguin's memory, anyone who dared to offend Night Owl usually died a terrible death.
Batman is clearly not familiar with Night Owl either.
“I killed him the first time he dared to defy me,” Night Owl said calmly. “But unfortunately, I don’t think I was able to eliminate him completely.”
It seems that Owl isn't planning to reveal his relationship with Batman, Penguin thought.
He wasn't even willing to put his mind to it and come up with a more plausible reason.
Batman is clearly a living person, that's absolutely beyond doubt.
“I knew you wouldn’t believe me,” Night Owl said, “but I don’t care about these things… If I find out again that you’re secretly working with Batman, whether it’s an alliance or an enemy, I won’t let you off the hook.”
Damn it, can't I just be invisible to Batman? My process of creating the quantum bomb has already been so complicated, why do they have to drag Batman into this?
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“These victims inhaled a new type of poison gas,” Batman analyzed in front of his Batcomputer. “This poison gas acts on the victims’ brains, inducing fear, stimulating hallucinations, and may cause permanent brain damage or even death.”
"Is there a way, Batman?" Robin also looked at the computer.
“Lucius and I have some ideas and the chemical formula. He will probably be able to develop a drug to neutralize this gas and eliminate the hallucinations of the victims soon. After that, Wayne Enterprises will focus on producing the antidote. However, the damage to the nervous system caused by the gas seems to be irreversible. For the sake of efficiency, we should also find the criminal as soon as possible and get the antidote from him. Thank you, Alfred.”
Batman took the black coffee from Alfred to stay awake and drank it all in one gulp.
“A similar case occurred a few months ago,” Batman continued, manipulating the Batcomputer. “Someone was blackmailed a few months ago, and the blackmailer seemed to have used similar things to induce fear and hallucinations.”
"So we can go and catch this despicable criminal?"
“I,” Batman emphasized, “am the one who’s going to catch him, Robin.”
"Hey! You promised me."
“Clearly, ‘a contract without a sword is nothing but a piece of paper (1)’.”
"Am I not flashy enough (2)?" Robin performed a perfect backflip.
“I think I smell corn (3),” Alfred said. “It’s almost Halloween, would you like some corn candy?”
“Hey! Is this pun really that boring?” Robin protested loudly, then took the corn candy Alfred gave him.
"By the way, if young master Thomas asks you for candy, please refuse him directly, young master Dick."
“Anyway, Robin,” Batman raised his voice, “this case isn’t as simple as taking down a few protection rackets. I hope you can stay in the Batcave with Alfred… Thank you for the candy, Alfred.”
"Hmm—" Robin responded listlessly.
Thomas mysteriously disappeared a few days ago, coinciding with the outbreak of the terrifying gas attack.
Robin donned the uniform and did quite a bit with Batman during that rather chaotic day. Eventually, Robin proved his skills and abilities, which convinced Batman to reluctantly agree to take him on night patrols.
Staying obediently in the bat cave? No way!
He wanted to prove himself to Batman.
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The author has something to say: (1) Hobbes’ words.
(2) Steel is a homophone of steal, and steal means to show off.
(3) Corny joke, an old joke, corny means grain.
The corn candy mentioned here is a type of candy that doesn't taste like corn; it just looks like corn kernels.
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The author isn't a cloud; they know Holiday Killer isn't just Alberto, but also Greta and possibly Harvey Dent. However, since The Owl wiped out the Gotham Cult, the latter two have no reason to do so...òvó would really kill all the leaders and leave only a puppet, although this plot isn't in Crisis on Two Earths ().
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By the way, I impulsively watched the long Halloween animation, and it almost made me want to die... Long Halloween was the first American comic book I ever bought in physical form, and I have absolutely no idea how an animation with such a great comic book story could turn out like this. It completely baffled me. What is this? What were they thinking? Good heavens, does anyone even remember the Batman concept?
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