Chapter 24 Chapter 24 At least, the assassin will never go...
"…I still don't quite understand the agreement between the assassins and Batman." Tim's voice was low, not alerting Batman. The little creatures lazily slumped against the wall, oblivious to the vigilantes' entrance. Under the towering dinosaur passed the two brothers walking together. "I'm not saying this to mean they're bad guys. But, Jason, you know how Batman reacts when other organizations try to enter Gotham."
He said it delicately, but Jason understood what Red Robin was saying. He believed Bruce was being too lenient with the assassins, unbecoming of Batman. Any organization that tried to take control of the city would be expelled by Batman, especially if they had ulterior motives.
Sometimes, Batman would work with them, but everyone knew that Batman was always watching their every move. Under the silent watchful eye of the Caped Crusader, they would wisely flee as soon as the cooperation ended.
But the assassins were different. Red Robin, after poring over every file on the assassins in the Batcave, was surprised to discover that Batman had once housed quite a few of them. The assassins had also once had a base in Gotham, and had freely disclosed their location and how to enter it to Batman.
This is really rare in Batman's interpersonal relationships - of course, there are many superheroes who trust Batman like this, but they don't kill people!
"Are you wondering why Batman is so lenient with them?" Jason pointed out.
"A little bit," Tim admitted.
Jason laughed. "I knew you weren't too busy playing Assassin's Creed," he said meaningfully. "You've always been the one most like Bruce among us."
The most Bruce-like "detective" aspect of him. Suspicious, cautious, sharp, and never able to get out of bed during the day unless fueled by excessive amounts of energy drinks and coffee. This kid's brilliant mind needs far more rest than he actually gives himself.
"Really?" Tim raised his eyebrows. "I'm not sure if you're praising me or insulting me."
Jason's laughter intensified. He startled the bats, sending them flying. Amidst the rustling of wings, Tim activated the Batcomputer. A cold light shone on his profile as Tim expertly opened the files on the assassin.
This was their internal, public file. Batman had never said they couldn't access it, and he'd even sometimes offered to introduce them to assassins. But Tim clicked on the file path so quickly, as if he'd opened it countless times before, that Jason couldn't help but stare sideways.
"Tell me, Xiaohong," Jason crossed his arms, "how many secret files on assassins do you have on your terminal?"
Tim smiled at him.
"Don't tell me you don't have it in your terminal, Dahong." He said briskly in the dim cold light, "We are birds raised in the same nest, so don't tell anyone else."
"evil!"
It was Tim's turn to laugh. "Okay, let's see if Elio's file has been updated." He glanced over the pages. "He's been incredibly busy lately. I can't believe he'd even find the time to come to Gotham."
"He has a personal vendetta against little Quinn," Jason said. "It's understandable."
"Do you know him?" Tim asked.
"I haven't seen it, but I can guess." Jason crossed his arms. "That bastard smuggler has his friends among his people. It's hard to say whether they are still alive..."
Tim flipped the file to the bottom, and they fell silent. There, Batman's updated profile had a note: "This poor young man from Gotham has lost almost everything he has. If the assassin hadn't found him, I can't imagine what his fate would have been."
"While I wouldn't agree with him taking the path of 'revenge' and 'justice,' I have to admit that this city is already filled with criminals born of tragedy, who unscrupulously unleash the flames of hatred, causing more tragedy. At least, the assassin would never take that path.
"Which direction will Elio take under Alvin's guidance? I haven't expressed an opinion, but that doesn't mean I haven't been paying attention. I hope things won't come to a point where I need to intervene—though that's always the case with things in Gotham—but maybe, I can still have faith in that glimmer of hope in their souls.
"I await the answer to this question, and the outcome it will lead to, with trepidation."
Elio knew nothing of these concerns, whether well-intentioned or neutral. He had sorted out the intelligence in his safe house in Gotham, encrypted the information about the human experiments and sent it to Leopold's email, then checked and compiled more clues, keeping the Templar's inquiries locked in his phone.
There was another culprit hiding behind the scenes. Elio deduced from clues that Dr. Blackwood, now engulfed by the explosion and the sea, was not the sole operator; his stance was more aligned with Hydra, and after Elio killed him, Templar biologists took over the transferred subjects and completely completed the Assassin transformation project.
Completed successfully.
Elio stared at the words, his face dark. Willow was still alive, perhaps a blessing in disguise. But they had completely transformed her, armed her with technology, guided by their ideals, turning her into the Templars' most powerful human weapon.
What on earth were they planning? Elio struggled to think through his suppressed rage. If they wanted a thug, why did it have to be her? Why did it have to be someone with a high concentration of Isu blood?
Before their transformation, the Templars had attempted to capture the Assassins of Isu descent directly. Of course, they failed. Clearly, their purpose was far greater than simply having Willow fight for them.
But what exactly is their purpose?
Elio's thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. He looked up and saw two golden targets standing in the doorway. The assassin opened the door with a puzzled look (he had assumed it was just a decoration), and then fell into even more confusion.
"Hey, Assassin."
A young man wearing a red hood casually raised his hand in a familiar greeting. Elio raised an eyebrow and studied him for a moment. The vigilante, with his wolf-like green eyes hidden within his black domino mask, was also blatantly studying him, letting the assassin's gaze drift from the hard-lined red mask on his cheekbone to the red spray-painted bat bulging from his chest muscles.
"Are you going to leave us standing here like idiots?" said Red Hood.
He was patted on the shoulder. Red Hood tutted and reluctantly stepped aside. Behind him, another figure in red and black appeared and smiled at the assassin.
"Hi, I'm Red Robin," he introduced. "He's the Red Hood. We're both Nightwing's brothers." Red Hood snorted, but didn't deny it. The boy who called himself Red Robin kept smiling, nudged him with his elbow, and casually stated his purpose. "We heard you were back in Gotham, and it just so happens that we seem to be investigating the same thing. So we came directly to your door. I hope we didn't disturb you."
Under a similar domino mask, eyes covered in white film looked at him politely. Elio's eyes flickered between the two of them and made way for the door. "Come in."
Alvin had told him that Batman had a clear path to the safe house. But Elio hadn't expected a vigilante to actually show up. After a brief moment of doubt, the assassin gave up the question—honestly, few Gothamites would doubt a vigilante with a bat symbol painted on his chest.
"Are you also investigating human experiments involving Isu bloodlines?" Elio said. "I've dealt with most of the people involved, but I suspect I've missed a few."
Only Red Hood was actually investigating the matter. But before he could speak, Red Robin had already quite naturally taken over the topic, encouraging the assassin, "Tell me more?"
"I thought Nightwing already told you." Elio gave him a confused look.
On the sofa, Red Hood, who had already sat down, made a suspicious huffing sound. Under Elio's gaze, he casually shifted one leg and placed it on the other.
"Why are you looking at me?" Red Hood turned his head away. "Look at my brother. He's the one who has a better relationship with the Golden Boy."
"...I just thought maybe we needed to reconfirm our shared intelligence," Red Robin said with a smile. "You've already destroyed the Bludhaven lab, haven't you? And the director of Abstergo Hospital, the one named Neumann."
"And little Quinn," Red Hood said, "you killed him too, right?"
"Yes," Elio was surprised, "you know quite a lot."
He turned around, made an excuse to look for information, went into the room and sent a tentative text message to Nightwing.
[From Elio at 15:32 PM]: Your brothers are very helpful
[From Nightwing 3:32 PM]: You finally met them!
[From Nightwing 3:32 PM]: Yes, they are really sweet and cute XD
In the living room, Red Hood gave Red Robin a thumbs-up, then turned ninety degrees and pointed suggestively in Elio's direction.
"You've been following him for a long time," he hinted.
Red Robin said nothing, just smiled mysteriously.
Not getting a response, Red Hood decisively turned his thumb upside down and gestured at him in contempt. This time, Red Robin made a face at him, but immediately regained his composure after the assassin walked out of the room.
"Is there anything we can do to help?" he asked.
"Really?" Elio smiled. "I can't find the message board. Let's just discuss this, okay?"
The assassin found some white paper and markers, and the vigilantes gathered around him to listen to him talk about the current progress of the investigation.
"Gotham has their people," Elio concluded. "Little Quinn is responsible for transporting people and escorting transactions, the labs in Blüdhaven are responsible for research and output, and someone in Gotham is testing their products and modifying and correcting them in his own way."
"So that's the origin of the 'artificial assassin' we saw." Red Hood said, "Do you have any suspects?"
"Yes," Elio confirmed. "I saw little Quinn call him 'Doctor Langstrom.'"
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[Templar's bounty][Hydra's bounty][Batman's attention][Red Robin's attention][???'s attention]...
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