Chapter 1 A Black River

Gotham River, a black river.

Before Gotham became a commercial city, it was a typical industrial city. Years of pollution had permanently changed the color of this river that spanned both ends of the city. Even with all the funds spent on treatment today, its original appearance could never be restored.

Many things in this world are like this. It is easy to go from clear to turbid, but difficult to go from turbid to clear. It is easy to go from white to black, but from black to white… it requires a high price.

Glugluglu—

The sound of a propeller turning underwater, carrying wisps of bubbles, floated to the surface of the river.

In this dark night, no one would notice what was quietly happening in this wide, murky river.

At this moment, a "Bat-Submarine"... if you'd like to call it that... was slowly moving along the riverbed.

And the person driving it, of course, was Batman.

About an hour ago, after transforming into a taxi driver and ambushing Feng Bujue, Wayne entered an underground passage not far from Pioneer Bridge.

These city-wide "passages" took him many years to slowly develop (the slow progress was not due to technical reasons, but simply because he had to find ways to avoid places that might become subway lines in future years). Their entrances were distributed in every corner of Gotham and required a scan of Wayne's own iris to open.

The passages contained simple tracks and small maglev mobile cabins that could help Wayne travel quickly around the city; in addition, some locations in the passages also hid some "Bat-Equipment" for emergencies.

Of course, these spare "equipment" did not include big things like "submarines."

Therefore, Wayne still had to return to his Batcave first, start the submarine, and then enter the Gotham River along the river's tributaries to reach the location where his fake taxi sank.

This process undoubtedly took him a lot of time.

If he could successfully find "Jack's" body in the wreckage of the destroyed car, then this time would be well spent, but…

"This kid... actually escaped?" Looking at the image on the scanner, Wayne was surprised and doubtful, and then fell into deep thought. "How did he do it… From the surveillance footage at Arkham, other than a slightly stronger-than-average physique, he didn't show any other special abilities… Could it be that his strange partner rescued him?" He quickly rejected this conjecture, "No… that's not possible. To do that, he would have to have his partner pre-positioned underwater with a full set of diving equipment and pull him out of the car within a second of the car entering the water… Unless he knew the exact point of the crash in advance, with no more than a meter of error, he couldn't have made such an arrangement; but the specific point of impact… even I, the driver, couldn't control it…"

So-called "reasoning" is like walking through a maze, with the exit of the maze being the "truth." In this maze, when you enter a dead end, you often have to take a few steps back and find another path to continue. You must never get stuck in that dead end—wasting time is a small matter, but being trapped there forever would be terrible.

"Then… he broke the car window at the last moment and escaped from the car?" Wayne was obviously a veteran of the reasoning maze, and he immediately retreated from the dead end, seeking another way. "My timing of the explosion was undoubtedly perfect. Any earlier, and the sound of the explosion couldn't be covered by the river water… Any later, and it would give him more time to react and act… Within those few seconds near the limit, the rushing water would severely hinder his movements. Even if he really broke the car window, he wouldn't have had time to escape the car… At the moment the car exploded, he would have barely gotten half his body out…"

Thinking of this, Wayne's gaze moved away from the scanning device, and he immediately turned the submarine's direction by dozens of degrees, aiming it downstream.

"So… perhaps the shockwave of the explosion pushed his body out. I should search downstream a bit more, maybe I can find…" Wayne thought, and he began to accelerate the submarine.

"Wait!" But in that second, a flash of inspiration passed through his mind.

Inspiration was like a heatwave, pouring a series of thoughts into his mind.

Feng Bujue's gesture at the surveillance footage, and every word he said before falling into the water… all reappeared before Wayne's eyes.

"He wanted to invite me into the game from the beginning… and also anticipated that I would inevitably join." Wayne couldn't help but mutter to himself. At this moment, he had to say these words to help himself think more clearly. "When he got into my car, he had already seen through my identity… He could have pretended not to know, ambushed me from behind without talking to me, or… simply jumped out of the car and ran away." He paused for half a second, and then continued, "Even in that last moment, he still had a chance to escape… He even specifically pointed out that there was a button behind my steering wheel, which indicates that he had anticipated the danger to come."

Thinking of this, under Wayne's mask, cold sweat had already soaked his resolute and handsome face.

"Think about it carefully… this 'Jack' was always one step ahead of me in everything, but he didn't take advantage of that 'one step'… Why?" Wayne felt afraid. In "this world," he had never been so afraid.

"Time!" Perhaps fear had stimulated his brain in some way, Wayne's thinking became more acute, and two seconds later, he discovered the correct answer. "He was 'hiding his abilities' from the beginning! He guessed what I was going to do before I drove the car into the river… or at least he had considered that possibility, but he didn't care… because he was prepared for every possibility."

"He not only has some special ability that I don't yet know… but… it's very strong."

"If he wanted to kill me, I would have died long ago, but for some reason… he wanted me to live, and at the same time he didn't want me to hinder his actions, so he jumped into my trap… to buy himself… 'time'!"

After Wayne solved the puzzle, he quickly operated on the panel in front of him, allowing his communicator to start receiving police communication signals.

In less than thirty seconds, he learned about the incident at the Twin Towers from the police frequency.

"Damn it!" Wayne could no longer remain calm, and he couldn't help but curse. Then he stood up and ran to the rear of the submarine.

Due to the Arkham jailbreak in the afternoon, more than half of the city's police force was still in the suburbs, and this half was the elite who usually handled major cases. Right now, the police officers in Gotham City could barely maintain basic law and order, and expecting them to save the mayor… was nothing more than a pipe dream.

Therefore, the only person the mayor and others could count on now… was Batman.

"Prepare to activate the 'Three-Point Shot' program." Wayne, who had entered the rear of the submarine, fastened himself securely into a reclining seat with very skillful movements and gave a voice command to the computer.

[Sir, according to the results of the last test, the safety of this program…] The computer did not immediately execute his command, but instead tried to inform him of the risks involved.

Wayne didn't let the computer finish speaking and interrupted directly, "Activate the program, target the 'Twin Towers' in the city center, quickly!"

[Yes, sir.]

["Three-Point Shot" program activated, target point calibrating—]

Along with the computer's emotionless voice, a layer of translucent light film was projected from under the metal hatch, wrapping the seat Wayne was lying on and turning it into an oval-shaped capsule device.

[Calculating the probability of obstacles, adjusting the optimal parabola—]

[Entering the projection process in five seconds, five, four, three, two, one…]

When the countdown ended, this ultra-long-distance "three-point shot" shot out of a duct above the submarine, broke through the waters of the Gotham River, and flew diagonally into the sky…

…………

At the same time, in the banquet hall on the top floor of the Twin Towers.

"Gentlemen, I know you're confused right now, let me help you clear your minds." As Feng Bujue spoke, he continued to approach, "If any of you shoot at me, there's a very high probability that all five of us will die together, and if I shoot at you…"

Bang—

As he said this, he actually fired a shot.

However, his shot wasn't aimed at anyone, he simply blew out the glass of the building behind the mayor and the others.

Before the shock brought by the gunshot had subsided, a gust of "high-rise wind" blew in from the large hole in the glass. The four people closest to the opening almost instinctively knelt on the ground and lowered their center of gravity… afraid that a stumble would carry them out of the building.

"Heh… it won't necessarily bring worse results, will it?" Looking at the reactions of the people in front of him, Feng Bujue opened his arms, facing the cold wind in front of him, and laughed wildly.

"You're crazy!" Dent pressed his hand on his wind-blown hair and shouted over the wind, "What exactly do you want?"

"I just want… to ask you and the mayor… a question…" At this time, Feng Bujue no longer approached the other party, because he knew that if he continued to approach, the two bodyguards would have a certain chance of directly shooting him in the head without triggering the bomb, "As long as you answer me truthfully… I don't need you to invite me, I'll leave on my own."

After saying that, Jue Ge flicked his arm and carried the gun on his shoulder, then staggered like a drunkard towards a nearby dining table, picked up a glass of champagne from the table, and drained it in one gulp.

His actions looked crazy, but in fact every step had a deeper meaning—the barrel of the gun on his shoulder, the unpredictable movements, the exaggerated style when drinking champagne… all were measures to prevent others from aiming at his head; coupled with the interference of the strong wind… even though the other guests in the banquet hall had already left, the two bodyguards still couldn't shoot at this madman strapped with explosives.

"What do you want to know?" Two seconds later, Mayor Cobblepot also spoke, of course, he was also shouting at the top of his lungs.

"It's very simple…" Feng Bujue glanced at the two of them and replied, "Please… clearly… state your full names."

This request was a bit strange, but in the eyes of the four people by the window—it didn't matter whether the request made by a madman had any logic or not. Since he was now in control of the situation, such a request… should be satisfied.

"I am Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot." Mayor Cobblepot waited for a second and then stated his name.

"I am Harvey 'Apollo' Dent…" Dent also followed closely behind.

[Mission progress has been updated]

After they spoke their names, the system voice sounded in Feng Bujue's ears.

At this point, his hidden mission progress had reached 9/10. The nine "supervillains" whose whereabouts he already knew were:

Harley Quinn - now a psychotherapist, married to Bruce Wayne.

Killer Croc - imprisoned in a secret room in the sewers and already dead.

Mr. Freeze - now an ordinary researcher.

Poison Ivy - now an ordinary college student.

Scarecrow - now a psychology professor at Gotham University.

Riddler - now a bartender with a brain disease.

Zasz - now a parolee with a lifelong disability.

Penguin - currently the mayor of Gotham City.

Two-Face - currently a local prosecutor in Gotham City.

If he could find the whereabouts of one more villain, Feng Bujue would be able to complete the hidden mission. At that time, he would probably uncover some kind of truth hidden beneath the surface of this "world without villains"...

Crash...

Just as Jue Ge got the answer he wanted, the glass of the building at the other end of the banquet hall also shattered.

But this glass was not shattered by a gunshot, but by an oval-shaped capsule crashing in from the outside.

Chī—

Before the capsule that broke through the window had completely stopped sliding, the sound of gas being ejected announced that it had been opened.

Immediately afterwards, in a cloud of white smoke, a black figure wearing a cape slowly emerged…

"You know what annoys me the most?" The voice like late-stage throat cancer arrived as expected, "It's that you can clearly be three steps ahead of me, but you always wait until I'm only one step behind before you go…"

"Ha!" Feng Bujue looked at the person who came, smiled and threw away the gun in his hand, and quickly took off the fake bomb vest from the inside of his clothes and threw it on the ground, "Do you think you're only three steps away from me?"

Wayne ignored his provocation and continued, "I can feel… you enjoy this process. 'Losing' or 'winning'… doesn't matter to you."

"But… it's important to you." Feng Bujue continued.

"Sigh…" Wayne sighed, he turned his gaze to the mayor's two bodyguards, and raised his voice slightly, "Why aren't you shooting?"

The two of them were stunned by his question.

Wayne's question did hit the point—it was said that Feng Bujue had already thrown away the "bomb" and was facing away from them. They could completely shoot him in the back. At this distance, if not perfectly accurate, the hit rate on the torso should be at least 80%.

"He has disarmed, we should arrest him according to procedure!" After a few seconds, Dent was the first to react and gave such a serious answer.

"Humph…" Wayne snorted coldly and said to Jue Ge again, "I think… you should understand? Why… I want to win, why… I must win."

"I understand." Feng Bujue said, "But I don't agree."

"Oh?" Wayne asked doubtfully, "Are you saying that I'm wrong?"

"Of course it's wrong." Jue Ge replied.

"Absurd." Wayne commented in a cold tone, he was obviously not shaken in the slightest by Jue Ge's denial.

"I don't expect you to understand right away." Feng Bujue said, "But I'll put it here—if a person's principles transcend everything, then it's a kind of extreme selfishness."

"Oh?" Wayne heard something from the other party's words, "Sounds like you think you can still leave here?"

"I've achieved my goal, why would I stay here?" Feng Bujue spread his hands and replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Goal?" Wayne's gaze moved again, looking at Cobblepot and Dent, "What did he do?"

"He…" Cobblepot hesitated for a second and replied, "Just asked for our names."

"Names…" Wayne said as he took a step forward; at this moment, his whole body was ready. He had more than a dozen kinds of equipment under his cloak that could help him subdue the man in front of him. Even without those equipment, he himself was one of the most outstanding martial arts masters in the world. In a one-on-one fight, at least in terms of technique, he would never be at a disadvantage, "Speaking of which… I seem to have forgotten something very important…" He walked straight towards Jue Ge, "'Jack' isn't your real name, is it?" He paused, "...What is your name?"

Feng Bujue did not respond to the other party, because when Wayne started walking, Jue Ge had already turned around… and ran.

His goal was obvious, which was the gap he had just opened with his gun.

In terms of speed, Bruce Wayne could be compared to a world sprint champion, but Feng Bujue's pace was at a level that broke through the limits of ordinary people, so… he was bound to be faster.

In an instant, Jue Ge ran past the mayor and the others, so fast that the two bodyguards didn't have time to react.

At the same moment, two batarangs also flew out of Wayne's hand, drawing two arcs, bypassing Cobblepot and the others, and heading straight for Feng Bujue's back.

"I'll be waiting for you 'there', Batman!"

No sooner said than done, just as Jue Ge shouted these words, he flipped around, leaped out of the building, and after turning around… with only one hand, he steadily caught the two attacking batarangs.

And his other hand took out something from his arms—a flashlight.

In the split second before gravity pulled him down, Feng Bujue turned on the switch of this flashlight and threw it into the building from the hole he jumped out of.

Then, he fell.

"Ha… hahaha… hahahaha…"

His body was falling, but the crazy laughter was rising.

The figure quickly disappeared into the night, but the laughter echoed between the buildings for a long time…