American comics: Starting in Arkham, a system-based Batman

Chapter 107 The Next Target

"you're right."

Zheng En raised his drink and clinked glasses with Dick. The freshly opened can of cola was bubbling away, and he took a big gulp.

Whether it's Dick, Jason, Tim, Stephanie, Damian, or Cassandra in the original comics—every member of the Bat-Family is like Batman; they don't have any superpowers, but rely solely on their trained bodies and learned skills to engage in nocturnal activities.

To be honest, rather than calling them superheroes who sound like they have all sorts of extraordinary abilities, Jung Eun prefers to call them masked vigilantes.

Not far away, the old butler carrying a plate came in from the doorway.

"It's a pleasure to have you as a guest, Master Zheng En." Alfred placed a plate full of cookies on the table. "This is the first time Master Bruce has brought a friend back to the manor, especially under his other identity."

The fragrant cookies were steaming on the plate. The old butler with a small mustache bowed politely. "These are freshly baked cookies. Please enjoy them, Master Zheng En, Master Dick."

"Thanks, Alfred."

The two, one big and one small, thanked him in unison. Dick eagerly grabbed one and started munching on it. "Alfred is a great cookie maker. You have to try it."

"Ah, Bruce!" He caught a glimpse of someone coming down from upstairs out of the corner of his eye and waved excitedly at them. "6"

You've come at the perfect time, the cookies are fresh out of the oven!

Bruce, now dressed in a silk robe, looked every bit the young master. He raised an eyebrow and said, "You two get along well."

He hadn't originally planned to bring Zheng En back. Cooperation was one thing, but having her come back to Wayne Manor was another.

But he couldn't shake him off.

"Cooperation doesn't mean we have to act together." Batman glanced indifferently at Zheng En, who was sitting cross-legged outside the car window. The night patrol had ended, and the Batmobile was driving back to Wayne Manor.

"But working together will increase our communication efficiency." Zheng En looked back confidently, while Batman remained silent, only accelerating.

The sudden increase in speed caused Zheng En to fall behind for a moment, but he was not annoyed and instead sat on the top of the Batmobile.

The roof rattled slightly as a heavy object suddenly appeared, and Batman, who had just looked out the window, instantly knew where Jung Eun had gone.

The other person refused to communicate with him and sat down on his head.

Batman: "————"

Batman could only drive back to the Batcave as usual.

A new heat source suddenly appeared on the vehicle model on the screen, with a red humanoid figure sitting cross-legged on the roof. Alfred, who had listened to the entire conversation through his headset, immediately realized where the heat source came from.

His tone was tinged with amusement, "Cheer up, young master. It's rare to have friends visiting; perhaps you should be more welcoming."

.

"Alfred!"

Zheng En was completely unaware of the commotion he had caused. By the time he sat down in the main living room of Wayne Manor, Bruce had already recovered.

"You can stay at Wayne Manor for a while, but you have to listen to me."

He slowly ate the biscuit, with Alfred's hot cocoa beside him. "The Owl Court might intervene again at any time, and the mayor's autopsy report hasn't come out yet."

"I need time to investigate, but the recent escalation of conflicts between gangs and the numerous shootings have seriously affected ordinary citizens."

Gang fights aren't necessarily a bad thing. He used this opportunity to send many gang members to the Gotham Police Department, and Harvey, who successfully became a prosecutor, filed charges against them one by one.

At first, nobody took it seriously. In Gotham, no gang member who'd been around for a long time hadn't been in jail. Every gang leader had their own cronies, one or more, and the larger the gang, the more lenient the police were with them.

Members of small gangs are not treated harshly, and members of large families like Falcone are even less likely to suffer; they will even curse back with a dark face when pushed by police officers.

Nobody wants to mess with them. Even if you go to great lengths to sabotage their deal and arrest someone, they'll be released on bail in less than two days.

During the height of Roman power, it didn't matter if his family members killed people; with a certificate of mental illness issued by Arkham, they would at most be sent to an asylum.

But not anymore.

The days of gangsters being leniently dealt with and quickly released on parole are over.

It doesn't matter how hard the police officers work; Batman will deal with them and then call the police to come over, or he'll simply kidnap them and send them to the door. He'd rather have free credit than let them go to waste. Even Rob, the police chief, can't just let them out without a reason.

A bribed prosecutor won't seriously pursue the gang members' responsibilities, but Harvey Dent is someone no one can bribe.

Dean Klein, who is willing to issue a certificate of mental illness, is still in Arkham, but as a mental patient.

Everyone is aware that Gotham is changing, and no one knows whether the changes are good or bad, but Batman doesn't want such turmoil to affect ordinary citizens.

Zheng En understood what he meant, "You can leave it to me with peace of mind."

He's not good at detective work, but he's perfect for helping Bruce maintain night patrols and raid gangs.

"I can help too!" Dick, who had overheard their conversation, eagerly raised his hand to volunteer.

Bruce gave him a disapproving look: "No, you can't."

Jung Eun, who was eating cookies with a carefree attitude, said, "It's not impossible."

As they spoke at the same time, Zheng En looked up and met Bruce's disapproving gaze. He couldn't help but give an awkward grin, then looked down at Dick beside him with an expectant expression. "Really?"

Jung Eun furtively glanced up at Bruce.

The other person stood up. "It's fake."

"Oh, please, Bruce," Dick wailed, "I've trained long enough, I can help."

"That's out of the question." Bruce turned around. "Besides, it's late enough already; you should go back to sleep."

Dick: "But tomorrow's the weekend!"

Bruce: "Otherwise you should have been asleep."

While they were talking, Zheng En slipped away, but soon encountered a new problem.

"Um, where is my room?"

Alfred, who was waiting outside, nodded slightly. "Please follow me."

The day after they checked into Wayne Manor, Gordon sent over new intelligence.

Bruce had only ever contacted Gordon when he needed him, but after Barbara's disappearance, he realized that this one-way communication was too fragile.

"The full autopsy report won't be available for a while, but we found this in the mayor's chest cavity."

Gordon handed the evidence bag to Batman. Through the transparent bag, he could clearly see the bloodstains on the playing cards and the laughing Joker on the cards. Tape was wrapped around the playing cards; turning them over revealed a torn piece of newspaper.

The newspaper featured a middle-aged man with thinning hair, his large belly stretching his police uniform to the point of tearing.

That's Gillian Rob, the current police chief.

"This is the Joker's next target." Batman immediately realized, and Zheng En muttered, "It's like ridding the world of a scourge."

Upon hearing this, the other two couldn't help but glance at him.

Jung Eun remained defiant: "I'm telling the truth."

"Are there any other clues besides this?"

Batman ignored him and focused on asking Gordon about the progress of the case.

"The forensic team has made their initial assessment. The killer is extremely skilled and experienced."

The room also displayed freshly produced autopsy photos. Gordon sighed, "The skinning technique was extremely skillful, separating along the fascia layer cleanly and efficiently, without any unnecessary tearing. It's clear the person who did it had solid anatomical knowledge, and their knife work was steady and precise."

Deeply experienced, this wasn't the first time handling human tissue. The sutures weren't haphazard either; the force and spacing were consistently maintained.

These things were not unexpected for him; when he looked at the scene, he could tell that the murderer was quite serious when he committed the crime.

"The scene was spotless, and the traces were handled flawlessly, demonstrating a strong counter-surveillance awareness. This was not an impulsive crime or a madman's indiscriminate killing; it was the work of a planned, skilled, and patient individual."

"He could also be a patient madman."

Now everything looks like a clown to Jung Eun, let alone a case that is obviously his doing. Finding the answer to the question is not a pleasant thing, especially when you find the answer but can't bring the other party to justice.

The time was too short for the forensic pathologist to find any further clues; a formal autopsy usually takes about a month to complete.

The biggest takeaway from this trip was identifying the Joker's next target. Although Gordon had already sent the photo to Bruce via email, he still made a special trip to the Gotham Police Department to prevent any clues from being overlooked.

Zheng En went over with the same thought in mind, but unfortunately, the Joker didn't leave any more information. It seemed that this was just a pure provocation, an attempt to attract more of Batman's attention.

But the one who reacted the most to this was not Batman, nor Jung Eun, but Gillian Rob, who was the target.

"That damned bastard! That wretched bat freak!"

Rob was enraged after the forensic doctor removed photos and playing cards from the mayor's body.

Just as Brock had imagined, he connected the information about the corpse being manipulated into the shape of a bat with Batman, and the victim was Mayor Aubrey James, who had a long-standing connection with Falcone.

"I told you, people like that can't be trusted!" he declared to Gordon, spitting as he spoke. "Using some so-called sense of justice to commit violence at night, whether the targets are gangsters, thugs, or some other criminals, it's all just a pretext!"

"Fighting crime is just a fig leaf for his use of violence; he just wants to beat people and see blood! If we don't arrest him soon, who knows what else might happen?"

Rob paced back and forth in the room, while Gordon wiped the spittle off his face. "Is it possible that this has nothing to do with Batman at all, and that the murderer just happens to be a bat?"

"and----"

"What a coincidence!"

Rob interrupted Gordon sharply, "Nothing happened before Batman showed up! Think about it yourself, he first targeted gangsters, then mob bosses and mental patients. When the thrill of beating these people no longer satisfied him, what else would Batman do?"

Cold sweat beaded on his forehead; he had done his fair share of sabotage when Batman and Falcone were at odds.

Rob was afraid that this man would bring down Falcone and then force him to step down. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been so eager to help Falcone.

No matter how much money Falcone gave him, it was what he deserved. Even without Falcone, a new gang leader would continue to send him money.

But if you lose your life, then you lose everything.

Batman can show up at a heavily guarded Roman party to intimidate them, and he can also tie up Romans resting in their rooms. Rob doesn't think the security around him is any better than that of this mob boss who fought his way up in a hail of bullets.

He knew Gordon was an exceptionally good detective and that the man might have connections to Batman behind the scenes, but he knew Gordon was a good man, and good men wouldn't tolerate such cruelty.

"Your resume is outstanding, and it's time for you to get a promotion." Rob gripped Gordon's shoulder, appealing to his emotions and offering incentives. "If you can prove yourself and catch Batman, I'll recommend you."

Gordon pried his hand off. "We caught the killer." He was exasperated by Rob's idea. "The killer left not only bats, but also the Joker on playing cards, and even more Joker elements."

"As I told you before, my daughter was kidnapped on Halloween, and the kidnapper left behind a Joker card. I suspect it was the same person who did all of this—"

"But your daughter wasn't hurt at all." Rob scoffed at Gordon's idea. He didn't think the killer who murdered the mayor would let a little girl go. Even if he did, the chances of the killer being Batman were even higher.

But he still needed Gordon and had to appease him. "Alright, whether it's Batman or whatever, go and bring the killer back. I believe you and Brock can do it. If you need to transfer people, just tell Captain Eisen. Report anything you need anytime."

"Yes, sir."

As Gordon left, his footsteps faded into the distance, and the door slammed shut. Rob began pacing back and forth in the room, muttering to himself as he walked.

"Let's pull a few people from the Major Crimes Unit, plus SWAT officers and patrol officers—we need the best ones with the best skills."

In his blind spot, the listening device under the table was transmitting the audio in real time.

Hahahaha.

Zheng En listened to the whole thing through his earphones and laughed heartily with Dick. "He actually asked Gordon to arrest Bruce? Gordon even helped install the listening devices in the director's office!"