Chapter 183 Chapter 183 Absolute Refresh
After leaving the scene, Jason took off his animal mask and began to think about what to do next.
His original idea was the same as Li Hua's, intending to find his lost companions by using local Batman landmarks, but based on the situation of the Wayne family in this world...
The Batman in this universe might not be Bruce Wayne.
Firstly, since Martha in this universe is not dead, then Thomas may not be dead either, and the Bruce here may not have the opportunity to become Batman.
Secondly, this universe does not have the "Wayne family, the richest family in Gotham" and does not have a strong financial chain to support it. There would be no Batman's advanced equipment, and no way for him to travel around the world to learn from a master.
If Batman wasn't the newspaper celebrity Bruce Wayne, it would be difficult to determine his whereabouts. It would be better to stop by the Slush Shop and leave a message, since Slush Head Benjamin might spawn there.
.......
"Okay, you can call me Ben 10." Benjamin released Matchstick Malone, his transformation timer completely over. "What do you want me to investigate? Or, in other words, what exactly is this building?"
Matchstick Malone wisely did not ask why Benjamin had transformed from a moth into a human. He quickly accepted the transformation that had taken place before him and got down to business.
Aka M is a private black prison.
But the "M" here is just a number. There are several such black prisons around the world, numbered from Aka ABC... and so on.
The Acre prisons are controlled by a top multinational corporation, JK, whose primary business is operating private prisons. The investors in these Acre prisons are primarily biochemical, pharmaceutical, and genetic technology companies.
Benjamin's brows furrowed when he heard the name "JK" Holdings, and his expression became even more solemn when he heard the long list of investors from companies that were typical of those involved in biological experiments.
Please forgive his lack of knowledge, but when he heard the abbreviation "JK" related to Aka M, he could only think of JOKER.
Is this universe's Joker a billionaire? If so, that's a problem.
The Joker Benjamin knew was able to pull off deadly jokes like gas tank fireworks bombs that made everyone in Gotham panic even though he was short of funds. He couldn't even imagine what the Joker in this universe could do if he had more money and status.
Matchstick Malone: "I see you can pass through entities. Can you do that with people and things?"
Benjamin shook his head. “I can’t incarnate living things or anything too large, which means I can’t take you with me.”
"It's okay, that's enough." Matchstick Malone said, "We'll split up. I'll go to the file room and search for as much information as possible. If necessary, I'll draw attention to you. You just try to fly deeper into this building. Remember not to expose yourself..."
Benjamin interrupted: "This is not just playing with fire, you are courting death."
"I told you, I just love excitement." Match Malone smiled and said, "Besides, there's no turning back. I'll definitely be exposed for sneaking out of the cell and taking photos with my phone. But I was in prison for a minor crime, and they have to let me out alive. So don't worry."
Benjamin pointed out, “What happens after you get out of prison?”
Match Malone did not answer this question, but instead said: "Do you have anything that can be photographed? I'll tell you an address, which is one of my safe houses. You can find a new phone and SIM card in your locker..."
As a prisoner, Matchstick Malone had limited time to escape from his cell, and Benjamin knew this, so he did not interrupt him this time.
"If I don't make it out of this prison alive, try to find the SIM card I left behind. If you can't find the SIM card, you can leave a backup copy of what you collected in my safe house. In addition, you can take everything in the safe house, including the money, cell phone, and my fake ID card. What else is wrong now?"
"I won't ask you who you're working for, because you definitely won't tell me anyway," Benjamin said. "Did he let you risk your life to sneak in?"
"Of course not. He just asked me to check A-Ka M. I'm so well-informed after all," Matchstick Malone said with a smile. "But the best way to get A-Ka M is to enter A-Ka M. If he knew I was messing around like this, he'd definitely scold me to death."
But this is what I owe him, and this is the only way to repay it.
"...take care of yourself."
A green light flashed, and the Nakfuji spread its wings, transforming into a translucent ghost and diving into the ground.
At this time, Benjamin and Matchstick Malone had no idea what they would see in this prison that buried countless crimes.
.......
Maybe luck finally took care of Li Hua. When he entered the third slush shop and asked if he had seen a young man with brown hair and green eyes, wearing a bright green jacket and a cool green watch, the clerk stared at his face for a long moment and slapped his forehead. "Yes! He even asked me to mix him five flavors of slush. I'll never forget that! He's looking for you. Have you been missing each other for so long?"
Li Hua quickly asked, "When did he come?"
"It was a few days ago. There have been quite a few kids coming to the store looking for people lately. Before this brown-haired, green-eyed kid, there was also a boy with black hair and blue eyes who came looking...Is it the boy with the watch and you?"
Li Hua: "It should be me. The one with black hair and blue eyes is also my friend. When did he come?"
The clerk said, "Well... I can't remember exactly, but anyway, he came earlier than the brown-haired boy."
Li Huaren was confused. He didn't believe it was a coincidence.
If they were to be dispersed to different time points, wouldn't they have to "observe" and gather intelligence? Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to find the missing teammate.
Azmis’s move is so shady!
Li Hua: "Thank you. But you have a really good memory. You can remember things from such a long time ago."
"It's not just a memory issue. After all, he came during a weekday when there weren't many customers, and the gossip he brought up when he was trying to find someone was really exciting and dramatic."
"What's the big news?" Li Hua suddenly had a bad premonition in his heart.
"A 15-year-old who unexpectedly became a single mother and is raising a child with her two roommates is a 15-year-old who identifies as male." The clerk's serious face gleamed with gossip. "There's also a 16-year-old who identifies as male and is a biological male who's into cross-dressing BDSM and has become the daddy of countless people while wearing a magical girl costume."
This makes it hard to forget.
The clerk's eyes sparkled. "Since we're helping to handle the cross-time mailbox, could you please allow me to ask which of the two you are? I can buy you a slushie."
The boy with brown hair and green eyes ran away immediately after hearing the retelling, and disappeared around the corner with the answer to this question.
Li Hua:......
This is indeed something Jason can do.
But he still had to say - Jason Peter Todd, you wicked guy!
Li Hua, who was walking on the road with snow mud in his hand, cursed Jason in his heart for abandoning his teammates' integrity in order to achieve his goal.
In the fifth slush shop, there was a message wall with sticky notes on it. Li Hua saw sticky drawings of Red Hood and Omnitrix with time attached, and both had messages on them.
Next to a stick figure of the Red Hood was a message saying "Bats are beneficial animals," and next to the message was a small Omnitrix logo with a "1" written next to it.
This means that Benjamin has seen the message, but it is unknown whether he and Jason have met.
On the sticky note with the Omnitrix sketch, there were two messages: "Be careful with AKM, Big Teeth can go and have a look" and "Matches are good things."
Li Hua didn't know if the "matchstick" Benjamin was talking about was a person or something else. But now he knew at least that the Batman in this universe was a good person, unlike the Superman in the previous exam world who was completely mad and didn't know what the world was.
This is good news. Since Batman is on the side of good, there should be no problem for Li Hua to get closer when he uses the landmark to look for his friends.
Li Hua also took out a sticky note and a marker, and wrote "1" next to both sticky notes. After thinking for a while, he drew a small heart with wings as a symbol.
Compared with his teammates who had been waiting here for several days, Li Hua obviously didn't have much information to share, but since he had a pen and paper, it would be a shame not to write something.
So Li Hua wrote down the current time on a new sticky note and scribbled, "I met the local Dick at the Gotham Police Department."
Dick and Rick are nicknames of "Richard", just like Wang Hong's nicknames can be "Xiao Ming", "Lao Wang" and "Xiao Wang".
There are also people who are simply called Dick. In Europe and the United States where a lot of people share names, there is no risk of name leakage as long as the long legal name is not revealed.
This is a place where even "Josh Swain" can gather hundreds of people to hold an offline fight with people of the same name!
......Although his name is "Li Hua", he doesn't seem to have the right to complain about others having the same name.
Li Hua put the pen back and prepared to go to Arkham in this world to see what was going on.
Benjamin didn't have the big steel teeth in his watch, but Li Hua had the [Water] card. He mentioned this specifically to remind Li Hua that there was something under the water in Arkham, and asked Li Hua to use the [Water] card to check it out.
Li Hua looked at the sky and decided to take action after dark.
.......
The Gotham in this world is very different from the one Jason remembered.
He stayed here for a few days and found himself the most familiar stranger in this city. Although many people and things here were familiar to him and he could name them, they were completely different from what he had imagined.
Wayne Manor doesn't exist, Martha is not dead, and the Arkham talents he influenced are almost non-existent.
Apart from.......
Jason's gaze rested on "Victor Freese".
Victor Freese is a prominent scholar and pioneer in cryogenics, even running his own company, V-Core, in Gotham. He and his wife, Nora, have enjoyed a loving relationship for decades and have one son.
Compared to these, Jason is more familiar with his other nickname - "Mr. Freeze".
According to the information found on Google, Nora in this world does not have any disease, and Victor is already an elderly person. The two may be an old couple now.
Is this world better or worse?
Jason couldn't answer this question, but he planned to take a walk around V-Core Company later.
The weather forecast said there would be an abnormally large snowstorm today. Jason felt that this might have something to do with Victor, or his V-Core company.
Anyway, the test question this time is "observation", so it won't be a bad idea for him to take a closer look.
Due to the damage caused by the Party Animal gang, Gotham has been under martial law these days. Not only are there police patrolling the streets at night, but sometimes there are also armed helicopters flying across the sky.
The Gotham of this universe had this kind of police force, something Jason hadn't seen before when the Party Animals gang was rampant.
Coupled with what he saw online about the internal blame-shifting war in Gotham's political situation, and how the practical Sheriff Gordon was suddenly deserted by his friends, politically smeared, and assassinated with a bounty on the hands of the Party Animal Gang, but no police came to help, Jason knew that the upper echelons of Gotham were just like the Blüdhaven he knew, and it couldn't be any worse.
Just as Jason reached the bottom of the V Core Company building, the snowstorm suddenly stopped. Then he heard the sound of approaching helicopter propellers overhead and the sound of gunfire.
Under the illumination of the searchlights of several armed helicopters, Jason saw the dark figure wrapped in a cloak, falling vertically in the hail of bullets, throwing out something that exploded the three pursuing armed drones into fireworks.
Jason: ...
That's enough! How come there's another Batman around when he's on his own?
He didn't steal the tire this time?
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Author's Note: Li Hua: Where are you two? Where are you?! Why are you pushing the plot forward, refreshing key characters as soon as you land, and leaving me alone?
Jason: This is what I got for being pointed at a gun as soon as I landed!
Benjamin: This is what I got for being in jail the moment I was born!
[Uncensored and unedited]
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