I'm doing bidirectional science popularization in American comics

"I'll find you sooner or later, and I'll tear you to pieces, but I'll still leave you alive!"

Bruce yelled at the empty end of the corridor.

His actions drew snickers from the Owl Court members watching the surveillance video.

"Who does this guy think he is? He actually wants to tear us to pieces!"

"It seems Batman is lost in the owl's nest; perhaps he needs some help."

"I have to say, I really want to taste those muscles on his body that look really hard!"

At the gathering place of the core members of the Court of Owls, on the huge surveillance projector screen, Bruce was still sitting by the pool with owl sculptures, struggling and howling incessantly.

Everything Bruce had just experienced seemed like a dream.

But Bruce's dream is still not over.

He continued to struggle by the pool, as if he had already reached his next destination.

In the dream, Bruce once again walked into the shadows of the maze, where a model of Gotham City stood in the center of the secret room.

The Wayne Tower and the Depp Tower are prominently featured, with a white stone slab standing next to the model.

The stone slab is inscribed with all the historical details of Gotham, as if telling the story of how the Court of Owls participated in all the changes in Gotham City and were the masterminds behind it all.

"Are you trying to flaunt your long history to show how insignificant I am?" Bruce said dismissively. "You'll understand soon enough that Gotham is not your property!"

Bruce strode into the next secret room: "Let me see what new tricks you have up your sleeve this time?"

Then he saw the claw symbol on the wall, and countless red coffins embedded in the white floor tiles.

Only the lids of these coffins were exposed. On each coffin was a photograph of a child and their basic information.

Seeing this, Bruce's anger burned even brighter.

"Is this how you raise these children to be those with claws?"

"A bunch of beasts!"

As Bruce walked among the blood-stained coffins, he seemed to discover something.

At the deepest part of the coffin array, there is a coffin with its lid open, containing nothing inside.

"Huh? What's with this empty coffin?"

Bruce squatted down next to the empty coffin and examined it carefully. The coffin seemed to be brand new, and there wasn't even a picture of claws on it.

Suddenly, a voice rang out around Bruce without warning.

"This is of course your coffin. It has always been yours..."

The mysterious voice made Bruce stand up immediately, his nerves on edge.

He looked around and the photo wall suddenly reappeared on the wall. However, unlike before, a brand new photo appeared at the end of the photo array on the wall.

It was a picture of Bruce, looking utterly devastated and on the verge of collapse, as if his fate was sealed.

"No!"

Bruce absolutely refused to believe he was going to die here!

He began to run tirelessly through the various secret rooms of the maze, but no matter how he ran, he was just going around in circles.

Just as Bruce was on the verge of collapse, two hunched old men appeared in the distance.

Although they were far apart and their appearances had changed drastically, Bruce immediately recognized them as his parents who had passed away many years ago!

"This...this can't be real, can it?"

Bruce approached the two and finally confirmed that they were indeed his father, Thomas Wayne, and his mother, Martha Wayne!

Bruce immediately hugged the two of them, bursting into tears of joy.

He cried like a child, "Is it really you! So you're still alive, just captured and brought here!"

The elderly Martha Wayne said in a trembling voice, "Look, Thomas, it really is Bruce, it really is Bruce!"

Then, the three, who had been separated for a long time, embraced each other tightly.

But the next moment, something terrifying happened!

Thomas and Martha suddenly turned deathly pale, their mouths agape to an inhuman degree.

Then, two blood-stained owls struggled out of their beaks and lunged at Bruce.

Still immersed in the joy of reuniting with his parents, Bruce had no time to react before his face was brutally scratched by two eerie and ferocious owls...

"Oh my God, die! You beasts!"

Bruce, who was suddenly awakened, cursed and opened his eyes wide.

When he saw his surroundings clearly, he suddenly felt like he had escaped a disaster.

Bruce, panting heavily, glanced at the clear water in the pool out of the corner of his eye and said:

"So I've been by this pool all along. It seems there are hallucinogens mixed in."

"What I just saw, heard, and touched was all an illusion!"

"These little tricks to create fear and pressure on the enemy are exactly what I'm good at..."

"Don't think you can defeat me with these tricks!"

Bruce tapped the white floor tiles around him, carefully discerning the subtle differences in the sounds.

After a moment, Bruce said, "Found it!"

Then, he forcefully moved the floor tile, and sure enough, there was a tunnel leading down below.

Without saying a word, Bruce jumped down.

But below, something even more terrifying seemed to be waiting for him.

-----

Gotham City has been making headlines non-stop lately.

In the wake of the Talon Night Attack, people have become increasingly distrustful of Batman and the Gotham Police Department.

Batman, seemingly sensibly, did not appear during this period.

This also reduced the pressure from the public on Gordon.

But Gordon's own pressure did not decrease at all.

Because Bruce has been out of contact for several days!

Neither the phone nor the bat light could reach him.

This has never happened before!

Harvey even suspected that Batman might be dead.

He died while searching for the claws!

On the rooftop of the Gotham Police Department, Gordon projected a giant bat cave into the sky.

The enormous shadow of a bat was reflected in the dark clouds on the horizon.

Harvey walked up and said, "Gordon, he might be dead. Batman has never gone this long without responding."

“But I can’t give up even the slightest hope, Harvey, we’re comrades!” Gordon said wearily.

During this period of time, whether it was the Claw incident, the Batman incident, or the mess at the Gotham Police Department, Gordon was somewhat exhausted.

Harvey said, "Think about your current situation! What would happen if people found out you had a Bat-light on the roof of the Gotham Police Department?"

"Can......"

Harvey interrupted Gordon before he could finish, saying, "At the very least, you should think about Barbara and Barbara Jr. I think you need this police chief job."

"If you think it's feasible, you can take the Bat-shaped lamp to my rooftop. At least I'm not bothered by public opinion right now, and I'm more suited to take over this meaningless job."

After saying that, Harvey adjusted his hat and left the rooftop.

Gordon was left standing silently in the cold wind.

Besides Gordon and Harvey, the others were also very worried about Bruce's disappearance during this period.

Wellen and Oswald mobilized all their men to conduct a full-scale search.

Ivy also uses her ability to control plants to help search for Bruce in her spare time.

Dick, the original Robin, also spent his days after school searching for any clues about Bruce's whereabouts.

The continuous all-nighters and hard work had taken a toll on Dick's mental health.

This made Victor Stone, who was on good terms with him, somewhat suspicious of what his good friend was doing at night.

Of course, while everyone was anxiously searching for Bruce, there was one exception.

That's Johnny Depp.

At this moment, he was carrying out his plan in full swing.

After killing many members of the inner circle of the Court of Owls, these family members successfully began to suspect each other.

For these individuals who are obsessed with power and the feeling of being in control, suspicion is simply in their nature.

What Depp did completely unleashed their innate evil talent.

A major battle seems poised to unfold among the core members of the Court of Owls.

As for why Depp wasn't worried about Bruce... it's because he had already discovered Bruce's whereabouts, but simply hadn't gone to rescue him.

After all, that's Batman!

If it weren't for the last minute, Depp wouldn't have wanted to interfere with Bruce's actions, which might have been related to Bruce's personal growth.

Depp is not prepared to take action unless absolutely necessary.

Of course, this doesn't mean he doesn't care at all; he hasn't even taught the students in Class 13 these past few days.

He kept the students studying on their own while he carried out his plan in Gotham, keeping an eye on Bruce's movements.

Now, Depp has laid out his plan. All he has to do is wait for those guys from the Court of Owls to get into a frenzy and start killing each other.

In the small town of Smallville, Clark and Lex's relationship is also gradually warming up.