Chapter 23 A Brilliant Soul and a Bright Future: Mud Face: Guess why I didn't...
Fortunately, the narrow passage widened as they walked, and upon reaching their destination, the space suddenly became spacious and expansive, with a massive, ancient stone gate coming into view in the distance. Undeniably, the air was thick with the stench of blood, the light was extremely dim, and strange rustling sounds emanated from the shadows.
"Did the owl hollow out Gotham's underground?" Harley's glow stick couldn't illuminate such a deep and boundless dark space. If a sudden earthquake were to strike, it would be strange if the city's buildings on the surface didn't collapse, and the lives of Gotham's citizens would be in grave danger.
"How many people did this kill? I feel like I'm soaking in blood." Killer Crocodile rubbed his non-existent goosebumps.
"This place makes me feel very uncomfortable." The restless vines transformed into menacing thorns, and Poison Ivy lowered her eyes and moved gently, patiently soothing the mutated plant wrapped around her arm.
Wen Yue fiddled with the air quality testing device. Since the game panel was gone, she had to use the testing device instead. The screen showed that the index of unknown energy substances here exceeded the standard.
“Mudface, you’re acting strange today. Why haven’t you said a word the whole way?” Harley, who was walking at the front, suddenly asked.
After unexpectedly discovering Red Robin's secret identity, the mud-faced man, who had always acted like a quail, froze. Faced with his teammate's sudden concern, he was neither moved nor dared to move. His gaze fell on Red Robin's seemingly kind but actually ruthless smile right next to him, and he tried hard to control his reaction: "N-nothing... I just don't want to talk."
"Everyone has their moments of emo, so don't worry about it too much." Wen Yue pulled out a high-powered portable solar spotlight the size of a washbasin from behind her back. Amid her teammates' questions of "Where did you get that from?", she continued without changing her expression, "Scientific research shows that dark environments can trigger people's emo feelings. If we dispel the darkness, Mr. Mudface should be more cheerful!"
A blinding flashlight suddenly shone, dazzling everyone's eyes. The high-powered flashlight was indeed powerful, its overwhelming force illuminating every corner, instantly revealing the entire cave. The traces of the intruder who had been silently approaching from the shadows were completely exposed. The claws that had been lurking in the blind spot silently lowered their hands from climbing the wall, becoming silent murals.
The team members were stunned for a moment, then immediately grabbed their weapons and went into a defensive stance.
Wen Yue silently lowered the searchlight. This was a complete surprise; the player hadn't noticed the enemy's arrival at all. "Claw, you're launching a sneak attack?"
"Welcome, you've arrived at the headquarters of the Court of Owls." The enemy, whose equipment and attire were far superior to those of ordinary Claws, possessed exceptional composure. He remained unfazed, seemingly oblivious to the awkward moment just moments before, and landed gracefully before introducing himself: "I am William Cobb, the leader of the Claws."
Ignoring the team members' guarded stance, William revealed his empty hands. "There's no need to be so tense. I mean you no harm, and I know why you've come here. You've infiltrated the courthouse to rescue Claw, who was captured earlier. You can take him away now; I won't stop you, and I can forgive your intrusion. How about it?"
“Okay, where is he?” Wen Yue said decisively first. At this moment, Dick’s safety was the most important thing. They had to get their hands on Dick first.
"Come with me."
Following William, the villainous squad guarded against enemy traps, proving that the enemy was sincere. Wading through a blood-stained underground river, the group arrived at a massive stone gate inscribed with spells. Against a backdrop of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, Wen Yue discovered Dick, unharmed, lying on an old stone slab, unconscious but with intact vital signs.
"Are these all members of the Court of Owls?" Wen Yue's gaze fell on the pile of corpses, which were covered in blood.
"yes."
"Why did you kill them?" Wen Yue couldn't understand. William couldn't have betrayed them for Dick's sake. If he really cared that much about his family, he wouldn't have so readily eliminated Dick's parents in the first place.
“Of course I can tell you, but I'll only answer you.” William’s gaze swept over the other members of the squad. “Make them leave.”
After a moment's thought, Wen Yue entrusted Dick, whom she was holding, to Poison Ivy and Harley. As long as the plants weren't harmed, Poison Ivy was trustworthy. Harley could also be trusted, provided the Joker wasn't involved. The team's mission ended there; everyone except the players evacuated in an orderly fashion.
"I've done as you said," Wen Yue said to William, crossing her arms after everyone had left.
"Gotham belongs to the Court of Owls, not to the Dark Bat God (Barbatos). But the council members have been corrupted by the evil god and have strayed from the original purpose of the court. They intend to sacrifice Gotham to a god they have worshipped for some unknown time, attempting to drag the entire city into darkness. The court is no longer the court it once was. The owls have always been there to rule Gotham, not to destroy it."
William's hand traced the magnificent, ancient, and intricately patterned mysterious incantations engraved on the massive stone gate, his gaze seemingly piercing through the barrier to gaze upon the abyss-like world beyond. "Therefore, I choose to clean house and restore the glory of the court."
Under the strict control of the world's consciousness, Barbatos could not interfere much, and the establishment of the Court of Owls was unrelated to him. William, as the first Claw, had always been loyal to the Court, which was initially untouched by the Old Gods. The sudden betrayal of this strongest Claw caught Barbatos off guard.
"Do courts still exist?" The premise for restoring the glory of the courts is that they still exist. Wen Yue glanced at the pile of corpses of the congressmen wearing white masks.
“Owls are everywhere.” William left with these meaningful words, telling the player before he left, “Behind the door lies the dark side of Gotham, a dark city completely plunged into chaos and madness. Batman is in the world behind this door, and if you want to save him, you have to go behind the door.”
...
"Bang bang bang—" Several gunshots rang out, breaking the silence of the night.
Jason, who was taking a spin in the Batmobile 2, was drawn by the chaotic sounds of pleas for mercy and gunfire in the distance, and couldn't resist going closer to see what was going on. "What's this all about? Let me see!"
A phone call interrupted his actions, and Jason answered impatiently, "What is it?"
The voice of Henchman Number One came from the other end of the phone: "Boss, are you asleep? I can't sleep."
Henchman Number Two snatched the phone, shouting, "Boss Wanla, Batman's got a gun!"
Henchman #3 chimed in, "He doesn't send people to Arkham anymore; he goes straight to Hell!"
"Isn't Batman's principle to not use guns?" Henchman Number 4 asked, hardly believing his eyes. What he didn't know was that Batman indeed didn't use guns, but Deathstroke's Batman might not.
When the drama hit him, Jason, who had just been baring his teeth, slowly calmed down: Has the old man gone mad?
The closer they got to the scene, the clearer the heart-wrenching cries of the henchmen became, but these weren't from the phone; they were coming from the scene itself. In a corner of an alley, the Red Hood gang members huddled around a phone, each sobbing and lamenting—the scene was surreal, like a cult gathering.
"Boss, we really can't take this anymore. We're probably going to die here tonight."
"Boss, please do something about this Batman, waaaaah..." Henchman Number 5 was overcome with grief.
“How come I didn’t know I could control Batman?” Jason kicked his cowardly underling who was squatting on the ground wiping away tears, and began to doubt the future of his gang.
"Boss!" The underlings all beamed with joy, their eyes brimming with tears: they knew their boss would come to their rescue! *Sigh*
“Where’s Scarlet?” Scarlet is Jason’s assistant; she’s in charge of transactions in this area.
"Boss Bloodstain went to deal with the goods in the south; there's been a problem with the transaction there..."
The bigger the operation, the harder it is to manage. There are still too few management talents in the gang, so Jason had no choice but to investigate and question. He said with a dark face, "Now explain everything that happened."
The henchmen were extremely cooperative: "We were conducting an arms deal when the Batmobile passed by us twice."
"I know Batman didn't hit us because of you, Boss, so we're going to call it quits and go home."
"But then some idiot fired a rocket at the Batmobile!" Little Brother No. 2 was indignant at his teammate.
"Then Batman got out of the car, knocked the young lad flying with a stick, picked up a submachine gun from the ground, and started firing."
"We struggled to survive amidst his hail of bullets!" said Brother No. 3, a survivor of the ordeal.
"Maybe Batman's aim isn't very good," Brother No. 4 reasonably speculated.
"We breathed a sigh of relief after the submachine gun was fired, but the next second Batman pulled a gun out of his belt."
"He actually carries a gun with him!" Little Brother No. 1 never expected.
"Then one shot at a time, hitting every single one!"
"Maybe he's just more comfortable with his own gun." This is a reasonable guess from henchman number 4.
"Everyone else fell down, only a few of us escaped..." The underlings explained the whole story in a flurry of voices.
Jason rested his chin on his hand, listening intently and lost in thought.
Some genius suddenly suggested, "Boss, why don't you put on the Batsuit again and kick that bootleg Batman out of Gotham?" "?"
When Jason typed that question mark, it didn't mean he had a problem; it meant you had a problem. "Do you want to hear what you're saying?"
“Boss, actually, all the brothers know that you drive the Batmobile around every day.” Henchman No. 1 said earnestly.
“Seriously, boss, your car is way more high-class than that fake Batman’s.” Henchman #2 added another point.
"And boss, the logo on your shirt is a red bat..." Henchman #3 continued to add fuel to the fire.
"Nothing like that, don't overthink it." Jason's eyes darted around. Although he always stole the Batmobile, and specifically drove the newest Batmobile No. 2, and wore a suit with the bat symbol, he was not Batman.
The underlings all glanced at the Batmobile Number Two parked at the alley entrance, then silently looked back at their boss's uniform emblazoned with red bats. Silence spoke volumes.
"..."
"Alright, alright, I understand the general situation. I'm going to meet that Batman." Jason dismissed his henchmen and headed to the scene to investigate.
A large group of people lay sprawled on the ground, and Batman, without using his fists, had them all put into a deep, infantile sleep. Jason checked them one by one and found that the criminals were truly asleep. The tranquilizer gun had a remarkable effect; the combination of physical force and chemical methods had corrected the unhealthy sleep-deprivation habits of Gotham's criminals.
Batman has disappeared, and this is indeed the time when Batman usually gets off work. Jason goes to Wayne Manor to look for him.
"Bruce?" Jason strolled back to the Batcave, still unaware of the gravity of the situation. He looked around; the place was deserted. Wayne Manor was empty and desolate, and the Batcave was equally lifeless. Had they gone on a team-building trip behind his back?
The search yielded nothing, only a note that read, "Go to sleep now, I'll be back later," written in hasty, messy handwriting by Bruce. Jason was left with a long night filled with questions.
——
“This child seems to be Wayne’s new adopted son.” Harley removed Dick’s claw mask and pinched Dick’s chubby cheek with her fingers.
Since Bruce Wayne appeared in the media, he has been all over Gotham, and news of his latest event and the adoption of two sons has been thoroughly investigated. Photos of the two adopted sons have surfaced, and their strikingly similar good looks have led to speculation about whether this reflects the wealthy man's darker tastes. Many even wish they could replace the two adopted sons as heirs to the Wayne family.
“So he’s the Wayne family’s adopted son. No wonder he’s so generous.” Poison Ivy stood in the dawn light, waving her hand to manipulate the vines to lift the still unconscious Dick. “It’s already daylight. I don’t think he can get out. Let’s leave too.”
The two figures, along with Dick, left the rooftop near the Goston Building, their voices fading into the distance.
A note from the author:
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