Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics
Chapter 4745 - 3818: Deadly Pursuit (26)

Chapter 4745: Chapter 3818: Deadly Pursuit (26)

"Scarecrow?" Batman truly did not expect that there would still be a place for those classic villains in this universe. Unexpectedly, the one who opened Pandora’s box, throwing everything into chaos, turned out to be Scarecrow.

Could all of this be another of his conspiracies?

Batman couldn’t help but ponder his motives. The assassin from the Assassin’s Union was killed at the banquet site, striking Elliot first. Does Scarecrow have a grudge against Elliot?

Talya had mentioned that the deceased assassin was sent by her to protect Elliot. So, the person Scarecrow wanted to kill might not have been the assassin, but Elliot himself, only failing for some reason.

But Elliot is neither Batman nor a man of justice. If he knew of Jonathan Crane’s talents, he’s more likely to collaborate with him rather than suppress him or throw him in jail. There shouldn’t be any conflict between the two.

Or, perhaps Scarecrow is just a killer with someone else behind him. But Batman couldn’t figure out which faction he belongs to.

While Batman was contemplating, Talya suddenly spoke through his earpiece, "The Court of Owls has made a move; they’ve trapped two people on the bridge. I’m sending a helicopter to pick you up."

Talya’s helicopter soon arrived at the rooftop of the New Wayne Building. In the night, Batman looked towards the direction of the Gotham Bridge. The lights on the bridge’s cables remained bright, but the bridge deck was shrouded in darkness. As the helicopter flew closer, Batman saw a familiar vehicle — it was the Batmobile of the Arkham Batman.

Many people jumped onto the bridge, and from their uniforms, it was clear they were the Talons from the Court of Owls. Batman quickly stopped the helicopter pilot: "Stop, don’t get any closer, just stay here."

"We’re still a distance from the bridge, sir. If you go down from here, you might fall into the sea," the helicopter pilot kindly reminded.

"Who said I was going down?" Batman retorted, "I mean, we’ll just stop here and observe."

"Aren’t you planning to stop them?" Talya said, "We shouldn’t let the Court of Owls be so arrogant in the city."

"No," Batman said, "You’d better not get involved, or I won’t be able to save you."

"Evidently, you’re a coward," Talya said discontentedly, "Even if they have more people, we still have plenty. Or do you not trust the capabilities of the Assassin’s Union?"

"As your partner, I kindly advise you, don’t get involved," Batman issued a final ultimatum, "Otherwise, I won’t help you if anything happens."

"Bruce Wayne!" Talya shouted angrily, "You really think the Assassin’s Union can’t match the Court of Owls, right?! Then go ahead and cooperate with them!!!"

Talya terminated the communication. Batman shook his head: "Truly, harsh advice is hard to offer to a damned ghost."

With the sound of a gunshot, the battle on the bridge officially commenced. The Arkham Batman and another agent confronted at least a hundred Talons from the Court of Owls. As they drew closer, Batman saw that the leader was Dick.

Jason Todd had just escaped danger, and now Dick Grayson was about to embrace the Atlantic Ocean. Batman thought, it’s fortunate there’s no Batman in this universe, or he’d be exhausted and infuriated to death.

"Mr. Rodriguez, I hope you carefully consider that collaborating with us is all gain and no loss. Once this big case is solved, you’ll soon ascend to the upper echelons of the Federal Bureau of Investigation."

"Are you referring to ’eliminating clones’?" Shiller’s tone was colder than Gotham’s night wind. He snorted and said, "I’ve dealt with Bruce Wayne; he’s no clone. On the contrary, the real Bruce you mentioned, who hides in the shadows, is even more suspicious."

"You wouldn’t believe his legendary tales. If you were a reporter, you could make a fortune writing a biography about his life," Dick said, "Falsely accused and thrown into an insane asylum, acquiring high combat skills and detective abilities under the guidance of countless brutal criminals and masterminds, gradually taking revenge on past enemies..."

"Are you talking about Elliot, whom I shot dead?"

Dick’s expression darkened as he said, "Without you, this revenge show would have been extremely fascinating."

"Was the murder at the banquet your doing?" Shiller squinted, "You want to isolate Elliot from the Assassin’s Union, leaving him without assistance, just like how you did in the past."

Shiller wasn’t speaking to Dick; he glanced towards the top of the bridge’s arch — a silhouette with a strong and imposing figure, resembling Batman, wrapped in bandages, his eyes glowing with an eerie cold light, like a hobgoblin that had crawled up from hell.

"I never thought you’d choose to cooperate with the Court of Owls," Arkham Batman remarked to Silent Batman, "or are you foolishly unaware that the Wayne couple’s murder case was linked to them back then?"

"That case is long past," Dick said, "The court proceedings are over, it’s long been concluded. Is it not a little too late for you to think about overturning the verdict now?"

"Facts are facts, and the truth is the truth. No matter how much time passes, lies cannot replace them. You killed Mr. and Mrs. Wayne, then turned Elliot into a target, letting hatred blind Bruce Wayne to cast the city back into your shadow," Arkham Batman said.

"So you admit the person behind me is the real Bruce Wayne?" Dick scrutinized him and asked.

The night sky began to rain lightly again. The rain fell onto Arkham Batman’s gauntlet, making the smooth, metallic surface reflect even colder light. He slowly extended one hand and removed his own mask.

Seeing the face beneath the mask, which was almost identical to Bruce Wayne’s, Dick was stunned.

The agent laughed coldly and said, "If you want, I can find ten or eight Bruce Waynes for you. What do you think?"

"Bruce, no matter how much you want revenge, or to get back everything you lost, collaborating with the Court of Owls is the worst choice you’ve made."

"You have no right to accuse me," Silent Batman remained calm and said, "I know what’s going on with you. You are interlopers from other universes, here to complete the Battleworld mission. You shouldn’t meddle in my plans for revenge."

Dick looked at him with a suspicious gaze, not knowing what he was talking about. When Dick previously approached Silent Batman and mentioned that the returning Bruce might be a clone, Silent Batman had agreed and sought his cooperation. That’s why they cornered these two here.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation agent had a very special status. If Shiller was willing to side with them, exposing the impostor would be much easier. But this agent was obviously a hardliner, so Dick had called in reinforcements, planning to use force if persuasion failed.

But now, another Bruce Wayne appeared in front of him, and Silent Batman was not surprised at all. This proved that the opponent had anticipated this and knew much more than he did.

Shiller also figured out what was going on.

He knew long ago that the person at the party wasn’t killed by the Morbid—Morbid couldn’t even see him.

In the illusionary vision, the more mentally unstable a person was, the more vividly they stood out and the easier they were to notice; whereas ordinary people with no mental fluctuations might only appear as a very faint line, impossible to target with precision even if one tried intently.

The assassins from the Assassin’s Guild were even more special. They were even harder to find than ordinary people because they were specially trained, and in most cases, they showed no emotional fluctuations, with inner worlds completely blank. Such people barely existed in Shiller’s world of illusions.

Moreover, if Morbid were in his usual state, it wouldn’t matter since the normal vision could still detect some of it. But at that time, Morbid had injected the mad laugh’s stimulant bundle; from inside the High Tower, only illusionary visions remained, and the picture was thoroughly blurred, making it even harder to see the assassins.

From start to finish, Morbid hunted people like madmen, such as Mad Laugh and Joker, only causing them severe harm.

As for relatively normal and calm people like Batman and Clown Hero, at most, they got a scratch. It’s not that Shiller was restrained; rather, in the illusionary vision state, they were not distinct enough and were hard to attack at vital points.

Such anomalies not present in the original plot could only have been caused by interlopers from another world. So, if it wasn’t Shiller or possibly Mad Laugh, then it could only be that it was the Main Universe’s Joker and Clown Hero who arrived earlier. But these two had little probability.

Clown Hero could be ruled out, as he wouldn’t casually kill; the Main Universe’s Joker was more like Shiller in that he rarely took assassins as targets, and he possibly lacked the ability for a fatal confrontation with the assassins of the Assassin’s Guild.

Thus, having ruled out interlopers from other worlds, why would the original plot change? Why suddenly a storyline that never existed?

The answer is Silent Batman. There was speculation before that he might have participated in Battleworld, so the changes in the plot are highly likely due to him undergoing some psychological or ability transformation after participating in Battleworld, causing different actions when he returned to his universe.

In the original plot, hosting the party was merely the opening, and at that time, Silent Batman hadn’t shown up, and the party was smoothly concluded. However, this time a body suddenly dropped down, alienating Elliot from the Assassin’s Guild and causing Elliot to suspect the Court of Owls, thereby halting their private cooperation. This was as disadvantageous to Elliot as it was beneficial to Silent Batman.

It seems that upon returning from Battleworld, he chose to act earlier, swiftly resolving Elliot. Shiller believed he had no affection for the interlopers and wanted to resolve things by himself.

But unfortunately, he was a bit slow, as the two Jokers had already arrived here, and Mad Laugh too had targeted this place, bringing a whole lot of trouble to this universe.

This possibly completely disrupted Silent Batman’s revenge plan, which is why he turned his attention to these interlopers, sparing no effort to cooperate with the Court of Owls to trap them here.

"Stop your condescending charity. I don’t need anyone’s help; I’ll complete my revenge on my own," Silent Batman said. "If you leave now, I might spare you."

"Stubbornly unrepentant."

The moment Arkham Batman’s words fell, he was like a black lightning bolt, directly knocking Silent Batman flying. In mid-air, he kicked him down with a whip leg, followed by a right hook and a downward elbow strike, the sound of bone-cracking could not be masked by the rain beating against the suspension cables.

When Arkham Batman rushed out, Dick also dashed out, but the instant Arkham Batman glanced back, he abruptly halted, taking a fearful half-step back.

Every bend of the metal armor was like a gleaming, icy blade. With a "snap" sound, the visor locked into place. In the turning instant, the cape sliced through the rainwater.

"Bang!"

One punch, Dick was sent flying, crashing heavily on the bridge deck, spewing a mouthful of blood.

"Sss—sss—"

Amidst the curtain of rain, Shiller keenly caught a few soft sounds; he turned and saw a few grenades rolling over. The blue-green fog began to spread from the ground.

"Fear gas!"