Chapter 101 Arkham Knight

It was past midnight, and heavy clouds still hung over the city. The originally fine and soft raindrops gradually turned into heavy raindrops, which were enveloped by red and blue neon lights, painting a colorful picture on the windshield of the Batmobile.

The road ahead was also refracted and distorted in a weird way, as if it was a starry night painted by Van Gogh, with the swirling and restless rain curtain swallowing up the entire world.

Moses' foot was on the gas.

A Whisperer's subordinate in front of him, who was emitting a striking green light, had no time to dodge and was violently pushed away by the Batmobile's electrostatic device. He fell heavily to the ground and lost consciousness.

But this guy won't die.

Batman doesn't kill people, but the fact is that only those who are good at this know how to inflict heavy damage on their enemies without killing them, just like only those who know all the answers can avoid all the correct answers and get a zero on a multiple-choice test.

He knew how to break the bones of criminals so that they could only kneel down and scream out the truth, and he also knew how to drive a vehicle so that the tires were only a hair's breadth away from crushing a human head.

Often it's just that little bit off.

Pull the hemp ropes on the heads of those who deserve to be hanged and drag the criminals to the judgement platform.

He was tried with them.

Dick's voice rang out from the radio channel in the Batmobile: "...Batman? Are you listening? I know you are. Scarecrow has captured the CEO of Stagg Group. The terrifying gas explosion in the ACE factory was designed to kill you. In addition, they used a new technology called cloud explosion, which can not only cover the entire city with gas, but also make any electrical facilities, including the Batmobile, ineffective. Then Gotham will become a dead city completely."

"I found the kidnapped Simon Stagg, but the technology in his hands has been taken away by Scarecrow. The first stage of the cloud explosion may be released at any time. We need your help..."

"It seems your first bird isn't very well behaved. Why isn't he staying in Bludhaven?"

Xiao Chou's figure disappeared, and the voice appeared in Moses' mind again, as if it was a bad omen.

"So, he wants you to help. You have to go, right? What if Bluebird dies in the gas?"

“Oh, you don’t have to go.”

"This might be an illusion, like one of those murder scenes in the circus made out of blood bags and plastic limbs. And Miss Gordon, is she dead or not? It looks like you can only choose one of the two."

“…”

"Robinson said Barbara was fine, but he looked unreliable. And Alfred, what did that old man say? Even I couldn't listen to him. Why did he say he never taught you?"

“…”

"Bruce, hahahaha, Bruce Wayne, are you real? Did Clown see Batman, or did Batman see Clown?"

Moses slammed on the brakes.

Xiao Chou and his voice rolled out of his mind together.

The man's eyes in the rearview mirror briefly returned to steel blue.

The neon lights and heavy rain disappeared, the car windows became transparent again, the orange street lights illuminated the asphalt road, and the black debris left by the burning of debris on the street danced softly and slowly in front of the Batmobile. The Arkham Knight stood at the corner covered by the light, looking up at the moths flying in the rain under the lights, and he didn't know how long he had been waiting.

They stared at each other through the car window in silence, and then Moses opened the door and jumped out.

Arkham Knight turned and looked at him. "Four of the ugly toxin patients you held at Panesha Studios have committed suicide."

Little Chou jumped over and said in surprise: "When did this happen? Harley must be very sad."

Arkham Knight: "Don't know how the hell this works, but Robin says they're trying to purify the gene pool, and now you're the last one left, Bruce."

"Oh!" Xiao Chou suddenly realized, "That's right, they did a good job, but I'm on your side, Bat. They want to kill you, so I'll let these rubbish stop causing you trouble. So, am I the most worry-free partner you've ever met?"

"Who are you?"

The Arkham Knight observed him carefully: "You really don't remember anything, Bruce."

The young man took off the mask on his head.

An indescribable shudder crept up Batman's spine.

Confusion. Fear.

He almost backed away.

"Jason? But aren't you... dead?"

"I lied." Xiao Chou whispered in my ear, "Guess what happened?"

Another hallucination.

He fell into black space.

The child was hanging from the ceiling.

Beaten. Begged.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Beating with sticks is like washing clothes by people in ancient times.

“…”

"I'm not dead, Bruce!" The Arkham Knight approached him, "Think about how we got here! Wake up!"

Xiao Chou said: "Have some humanity, Batman, look at this kid, look at the J-shaped scar on his face, and he's trying to save you."

"...I saw him kill you," Moses said unconsciously, "In the Middle East, we were investigating Xiao Chou and looking for your mother."

"I knew it." Tim's anxious voice came from Jason's earphones, "It seems that in Bruce's cognition, Chou has already killed you. But Chou is lying. Not only are you alive, but he has also brainwashed you to fight against Batman. This madman has only a few ways to control people. Think about Harley Quinn."

Jason didn't want to hear his name being compared with the ugly girl at all. He was very sure and certain that at least he would not fall in love with the ugly girl.

Tsk.

What a devilish assumption by a malicious person.

"That's fake." He slowed his voice, trying to recall another memory of Batman. "I did go to the Middle East, but I was with the Armory and Starfire, and nothing happened. After I came back, I went to the Owl Court. Do you remember Nightwing's harsh words? And the incident where Damian saved people wearing your neckless armor?"

In fact, that might not be easy for Batman either, but it would be much simpler than what he is facing now.

Jason tried to sound casual.

He now knew why he was feeling the pain in the cracks between his bones.

But so what?

Is this Batman's fault? Is this just another one of Chou's sins?

'I'm not going to interfere with you in anything unless it's necessary.'

These are the words Batman said to Jason when they first met.

——It’s my fault.

The elder was politely apologizing to the boy who had escaped from his ordeal.

——I didn't want to be alone, so I involved young and innocent children in a crazy game.

Batman refused to allow anyone to become Robin for a long time.

—I must be crazy.

He is questioning himself.

But any intelligent life instinctively pursues light. While the batlight brings light to the city at night, no one can illuminate Batman's black cape.

“…”

Xiao Chou: "Wrong, wrong, Batman! You have to face the reality! Shake your waterlogged brain, would I deceive you? Well, even if I have told a little lie before, you should now find out who is on your side. Why not ask him what his purpose is, Bruce?"

Moses: “Why are you telling me this?”

"I'm fine, and neither is the Prophet," Jason stressed. "Everyone is alive and well, and you don't need to go - drive a tank and fight a scarecrow to the death. You never kill anyone, so you've forgotten this, haven't you?"

Yes, after reasonable deduction, people feel that Batman's target is undoubtedly Scarecrow.

The question is, with Chou's gene pool cleansed and refined, can Batman still control himself?

Is he going to catch criminals or kill his enemies?

If Bruce took action, he might completely lose control.

No one dared to take the risk.

"Hahaha!" Xiao Chou laughed uncontrollably, "The news is out of date, kid! Tell him quickly, Bruce, tell him how you killed Xiao Chou!"

"Chou died," Moses said abruptly. "I destroyed Chou's treatment barn, and then he died."

Jason was stunned.

Thinking about Batman's words, he suddenly shuddered.

An inexplicable impulse made him ask: "Then why did you...when you thought he had killed me, why was Xiao Chou still alive?"

"I wanted to take action." The man's voice was so cold that it was almost cruel. "Superman received an order from the government to stop me, and then Xiao Chou disappeared in the explosion. After I calmed down, I realized that I couldn't kill anyone, otherwise order would no longer exist."

The above does not refer to Gotham's order.

But his own.

He said this not to defend himself, but continued, "Now you are so stupid, you are trying to stop me from looking for the scarecrow."

Jason understood his subtitles.

Batman doesn't even deny that he wants to kill Jonathan Cline.

...This is the cruelest joke of the evening.

"You won't." Jason raised his pistol and aimed as the red helmet covered his face again. "Think about why you have persisted until today, Batman. I'll let you talk to the Prophet. Calm down for a moment."

However, he spent half a second looking down at the communicator.

When I raised my head again, there was no one in front of me.

"You need to get out of there, Jason," Nightwing said. "The cloudbursts are being deployed."

"Damn it! I finally found his location!"

"We still have a chance. Bruce knows about the cloud explosion. He will try to avoid it."

**

James Gordon's biggest gain today was picking up Batman at the door of the police station.

That sounds outrageous.

The reality is also outrageous.

The yellow poisonous gas smoke from the air was floating between the high-rise buildings, like a sandstorm that would never dissipate, turning the once prosperous city into a hell on earth. The cloud explosion blocked the communication facilities, and everyone was trapped in the room with no way out, almost giving up hope of survival. At this time, Commissioner Gordon picked up Batman.

The reason why the director used the word "pick up" is because when he saw him, the man was soaking wet and curled up on the beam outside the window, wrapped in a hood. At first glance, he looked like a large garbage bag. When the "garbage bag" spoke, his voice was hoarse and dark: "In the trunk of the Batmobile are the police officers who were rescued from the ACE factory."

"..." Gordon trembled as he opened the window to let him in. "How come your car was still able to move when the electrical equipment was disabled? Why didn't you come through the police station's driveway?"

"I got some cloudburst reliever." Batman explained briefly, not saying how he managed to cross the poisonous fog to do this. "If I go through the driveway, I will be discovered by other police officers. I don't want Robin Nightwing and the others to know I'm here."

Gordon surmised: "You don't want to put young people in danger."

"...That's one thing." Batman answered, standing up straight with difficulty. "There are two things in total. I need to see Poison Ivy. Now only she can alleviate the poison gas in the city. In addition, I want to talk to you, Jim."

"What?"

"The world you came from. I need to know more."

It was another exchange of less than ten minutes.

Batman looked lost in thought. He was savoring two sentences from two relatives and friends he valued.

Alfred said: I never had the chance to see you grow up.

Commissioner Gordon said: Gotham doesn't have Wayne's history.

"Sounds good."

He asked a final question.

"Suppose, Jim, that Barbara Gordon . . . was caught by the Scarecrow, and that she died—"

The old director looked at him sharply: "Is this a hypothesis?"

"I think so."

"That's probably because she's working for you, Batman. I can't help but beat you up."

This is a joke.

But it doesn't seem like a joke.

Batman said, "I know, I won't let that happen."

At any cost.

——He gradually realized the path he wanted to take.