The bandaged man was seen jumping down from the fire escape on the side of the building. He seemed to have anticipated that he would be followed, so after landing, he did not stop and quickly got on a black motorcycle parked at the entrance of the alley.
The motorcycle's taillights drew two red arcs in the dim alley, rushing straight into Wang Baixi's field of vision and heading straight towards the auxiliary road leading to the industrial area.
He ran and he chased, but he couldn't escape.
"That's him! Follow him!"
Lac floored the accelerator.
At that moment, the limousine, like an enraged black beast, rampaged through the narrow streets of Gotham. Wang Baixi thought Lark would be perfect for racing; even though she drove so fast, his stomach could handle it.
The motorcyclist in front clearly knew every corner of the neighborhood by heart. He deliberately chose alleyways that were just wide enough for one motorcycle to pass through, trying to use his motorcycle's advantage to shake off his pursuers.
A short while later, the motorcycle rushed into an underpass beneath a main road.
Despite the narrow passage, the car showed no sign of slowing down. It jerked the steering wheel, the left side of the car scraping against the wall of the passage, sending sparks flying, and managed to squeeze the car into the narrow alleyway that was almost impossible to pass through.
After exiting the passage, the motorcycle sped along the abandoned railway tracks of the old industrial area. Rusty containers were piled up on both sides of the tracks. The motorcycle turned left and right in the gaps between the rows of containers, and each turn it just grazed the edge of the container wall without any loss of speed.
Lack had to brake and slow down to navigate the corner; the extended wheelbase of the sedan was a significant disadvantage in this terrain.
After three consecutive bends, they found themselves nearly thirty meters behind.
“He wants to shake us off,” Kelvin said.
“As long as he’s still in our sight, he can’t shake us off.” Wang Baixi stared at the faintly visible red taillight ahead.
The motorcycle turned into the gate of an abandoned chemical plant. The two iron gates, which were already half-open, were smashed open by the motorcycle, and when the iron gates bounced back, they almost hit the windshield of the motorcycle.
Lack stepped on the brake, then turned the steering wheel to the right, and the car slid sideways into the factory area.
The factory area is filled with abandoned pipes and liquid storage tanks.
The motorcycle came to a sudden stop beneath a partially collapsed concrete platform. The bandaged man scrambled off and dashed into a factory building with black mold covering its exterior walls.
Lak parked the car at the factory gate. Wang Baixi opened the car door and stepped onto the cement ground covered with broken glass and rusty bolts.
The air in the factory area still carries the pungent smell of chemical solvents. Even though it has been abandoned for at least ten years, that smell still stubbornly clings to every wall and every inch of soil.
The mention of chemical plants immediately brings to mind the most famous origin story of the Joker.
It's not like they've been tracking the Joker instead of Two-Face!
“Kelvin, Cassandra, come inside with me.”
The interior of the factory was more spacious than it appeared from the outside. Most of the skylight glass in the ceiling was broken, allowing the afternoon sun to shine obliquely on the reaction vessel in the center of the factory.
The man stood with his back to them on the steps of the reactor base, waiting quietly. The creaking sound of Wang Baixi pushing open the iron gate didn't make him turn around; he simply tossed and caught what he was holding.
"I didn't expect you guys to catch me after all."
“Take off your disguise,” Wang Baixi said coldly, “Harvey Dent.”
The other person was silent for two seconds, then let out a breath that was hard to tell whether it was a bitter laugh or a cold laugh.
"Oh, you actually know who I am?"
“Of course I know, your coin was too conspicuous. There’s only one man in all of Gotham who would toss a coin at someone from the rooftop, and that’s you, Two-Face Harvey Dent.”
Then, the person actually turned around, raised his hand to grab the knot of the bandage at the back of his head, and untied the white fabric wrapped around his head one loop at a time.
The bandages lay on the ground, like strips of shed snakeskin.
At that moment, Wang Baixi stopped breathing.
The person standing in front of him was indeed Harvey Dent, but not the two-faced man he had expected.
That face didn't have gruesome burn scars or exposed, rotting tissue and bones; it lacked the kind of contrast that would give you nightmares at first glance.
Both faces are intact. The burned side has been repaired with skin grafts, although the new skin is lighter in color than normal skin, and there are still a few suture marks at the edges.
But undeniably, it was already a normal human face!
The only odd thing was that he was bald, just like Lex Luthor.
This detail made Wang Baixi pause for half a second. Harvey Dent used to have hair, but now, his head was completely bald.
Cancer? Or is it plastic surgery that requires shaving the head?
"Don't rush, put down your weapons first, I'm here to help you." Harvey didn't realize Wang Baixi's confusion.
"Get us to believe you? Sorry, that's not easy right now."
Although being "two-faced" is Harvey Dent's mental illness, he was mentally sound and even righteous before he was disfigured, but that doesn't mean Harvey is completely safe.
Harvey wasn't angry at Wang Baixi's words. "I can understand you, 'Mr. Wang,' but fate brought me to you, so I feel it's my duty to help you. I know who you're looking for."
He paused.
"You are looking for the riddle solver."
"How did you know?" Wang Baixi asked in surprise.
“Because I’m looking for him too,” Harvey said, “but I know where he is.”
The coin fell back into his palm, and he glanced down at it.
"middle East."
……
middle East.
Bruce Wayne stood on a desolate plain somewhere in the Middle East.
The scorching sun baked the sand beneath his feet until it was burning hot; he could feel the rising heat even through the soles of his boots.
After Jason Todd's death, Bruce buried Jason in the Middle East, while also setting up a cenotaph for him in Gotham. This was his own decision, and a reason he couldn't easily explain to others.
He had considered bringing Jason back to Gotham, but for some reason, he always felt that Jason should stay here. Alfred once jokingly asked, "Is it because someone was resurrected there, sir?"
After that, Alfred tried his best not to tell those jokes.
Bruce's original plan was to find Jason's grave, retrieve the remains, and then return to Gotham as soon as possible. Wang Baixi would handle the rest, just like resurrecting Nora; he only needed to bring Jason back, nothing more. However, when he reached the back of another hill, at the bottom of a sunken valley, he stopped.
The location didn't match his memory at all. Bruce checked the coordinates again; logically, his memory shouldn't be wrong. After all, he was the one who buried Jason, he was the one who piled the stones, and he was the one who carved the marks on the stones.
But now he stands there, gazing at the open sand, and can't find a single intact stone. Jason's grave is gone.
The wind whistled through the hills like a long, drawn-out sigh. Bruce Wayne stood up straight, gazing at the empty sand, motionless for a long time.
Chapter 110 is not a two-faced man, but Harvey Dent.
Harvey Dent stood still, the coin rolling in his hand before he firmly held it on his thumb.
“I think you can listen to what I have to say before asking me what riddles people in the Middle East have to say.”
He spoke these words to Wang Baixi, but his gaze swept over Kelvin and Cassandra. Kelvin instinctively took a half-step in front of Wang Baixi, while Cassandra's eyes remained fixed on Harvey's shoulders and knees, ready to anticipate any aggressive move.
Harvey knew that Wang Baixi was unfathomable, but in terms of raw strength, those two guys of unknown origin were the most terrifying. They were probably thugs. Although Harvey himself was not bad in terms of combat skills, two fists could not fight four hands.
Wang Baixi gestured to Kelvin and Cassandra not to act rashly, then said to Harvey, "I would like to hear the details."
Hopefully, it's a story worth wasting his time on.
Let Harvey speak.
“Ever since Bane died in the stadium, I’ve been tracking down the Riddler.” Harvey switched the coin to his left hand. “You think he’s just a crazy guy who likes to create riddles, but I can say with certainty that Edward Nigma’s role in this war is far more complex than you imagine.”
"How complicated is it?" Wang Baixi deliberately dragged out the middle character.
"Long before Batman and Bane's showdown at Cavaliers Stadium, the Riddler had already been making contact with various factions. However, at that time, he was simply predicting whether Batman or Bane would win."
“That sounds like his style,” Wang Baixi said softly.
"Yes, he even included you as an intermediate variable."
Wang Baixi felt a chill run down his spine. It seemed that he had been noticed by the Riddler quite early on. In that case, it wouldn't be long before everyone knew that there was a mysterious Eastern sorcerer in Gotham.
"And then?" Wang Baixi asked again, "What role did you play in all of this?"
“I’m about to get to this point.” Harvey paused. “After the betting he’d arranged ended, he came to me and said someone could heal my face. As you can see, he succeeded.”
“That’s true.” Wang Baixi narrowed his eyes.
Harvey pointed to his repaired face. "Skin grafts, nerve reconstruction, bone plate replacement—the whole procedure will cost at least seven figures in US dollars, and the Riddler arranged all of that. Their reason for paying for me is simple: he wants me back in my position as Gotham's District Attorney, to work with him to deal with Batman."
So your choice is...
“The man standing here is Harvey Dent, without Two-Face, without burns, without the coin toss trick.” He stuffed the coin back into his jacket pocket. “And Harvey Dent doesn’t like being used as a pawn. I can sense that the Riddler is playing a much bigger game, like how he made money through gambling and then went to jail without any resistance…”
From the day his stitches were removed, Harvey Dent began a reverse investigation. He didn't investigate Batman, but only the Riddler and everyone connected to him.
"So what did you find out?" Wang Baixi asked Harvey.
Harvey smiled calmly. "First, there's Poison Ivy. I know the Riddler used her to control Killer Croc and kidnap the only son of the Raymond family. I tracked her down to the Metropolitan Botanical Garden, almost forty-eight hours before you."
"Then came the Scarecrow, the Killer Croc..."
“Look,” Harvey glanced at the concrete rubble at his feet, “this chemical plant was one of the workshops the Raymond family used to test new types of ethylene. The Raymond Corporation abandoned the project at Luther’s behest. But the Riddler didn’t give up. He got his hands on Raymond’s remaining ethylene stockpile to accelerate the growth of a batch of plants cultivated by Poison Ivy.”
He pulled a small sealed bag from his jacket pocket, which contained a few dried purple leaves.
"I personally conducted a control experiment in this workshop. Once this plant is fully matured by ethylene, its pollen has a neuro-hallucinogenic effect, and when the concentration is sufficient, it can directly exert mind control on people."
"Those dried-out ferns you see in the Metropolis are sacrifices made by Poison Ivy to provide nutrients for these plants."
"However, the spread of this pollen is difficult to control, and almost no one is immune except for Poison Ivy. For this reason, Riddler and I consulted Scarecrow, after all, he is a true expert in poison gas."
Wang Baixi didn't look at the sealed bag. He calmly looked into Harvey's eyes, at the former Knight of Light.
"So, it seems you've become a champion of justice again?"
"I just want to figure out what the riddle-maker is doing."
"What about that ribbon-cutting ceremony just now? You were watching me from the rooftop, was that also part of the experiment?" Wang Baixi smiled and asked again.
“That wasn’t an experiment, it was an investigation.” Harvey put the sealed bag back into his pocket. “The Riddler has set up such a grand scheme, and there are only a handful of people who can play against him head-on in this game. I know you’re unique and deeply trusted by Batman, but I have to see for myself what kind of person you really are.”
What did you see?
“I saw a…big idiot.” Harvey’s tone was completely unvarnished.
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