Rachel gasped, her regained composure vanishing in an instant.
What was placed on her lap was a bomb...
A bomb!
Bai Ye took out wires from the cake box, looped them around Rachel's neck, and then connected them. Next, he pulled out two more and wrapped them around Rachel's wrists, carefully connecting the wires.
"Miss Rachel, I don't actually mean any harm," Bai Ye said with a smile. "I just want to use this to help you test how much your boyfriend loves you."
Rachel's face turned pale. "What do you mean?"
Bai Ye smiled, took Rachel's bag, opened it, took out her phone, quickly found the number she wanted in the contact list, and dialed it.
"Hello? Rachel, why are you calling me at this hour?"
A deep voice sounded, completely different from the hoarse one he had heard last night. As expected, that voice had been processed by a machine within the Bat-suit.
"Mr. Bruce Wayne?" Bai Ye said with a smile. "I am Bai Ye, you should be familiar with me, right?"
On the other end of the line, Batman was instantly shocked. He almost blurted out a question to Bai Ye about why he had Rachel's phone, but his reason prevailed, and he swallowed the words.
"Bai Ye?" Batman said. "I'm sorry, but I don't think we're familiar at all. I don't seem to know you?"
"You don't know me? That's fine too," Bai Ye said. "Because I didn't sleep well last night, I'm very angry. When I'm angry, I like to give gifts to people, for example, our beautiful and lovely Miss Rachel. Oh, by the way, do you know it's her birthday today?"
Rachel looked up and said, "My birthday two months ago, I spent it with him."
"It doesn't matter, we'll celebrate it again," Bai Ye shrugged at Rachel, then continued, "Mr. Bruce, can you guess what my gift is? Here's a hint, it's the same type as the one I gave Commissioner Gordon before."
Batman clenched his fist, knowing Bai Ye was deliberately provoking him. He took a deep breath and said, "Sir, this joke is not funny."
Bai Ye smiled. "Of course, you can consider this a joke."
As Bai Ye spoke, he connected the last wire. Immediately, the bomb's electronic timer began to tick.
Bai Ye continued, "Did you hear that sound? It's started timing now. The bomb will explode in an hour and a half."
Batman appeared extremely agitated and stood up. "Sir, do you know you're committing a crime?"
Bai Ye nodded. "I know."
This statement left Batman speechless. He had encountered many criminals, but never one so brazen. Even the Joker liked to embellish his crimes with madness.
Bai Ye said, "I've installed a leveler on the bomb, so under normal circumstances, Miss Rachel cannot move away from the bomb. To disarm it, it must be done while Miss Rachel is holding it. If it fails, can you guess the outcome? Of course, there's a more secure, 100% effective way to disarm the bomb."
Batman said, "What do you want? You want me to stop pursuing you?"
"So you admit you're the guy in the tight suit, flexing your muscles wildly last night?"
Bai Ye burst into laughter and then said, "I saw the Joker declaring war on you, and I found it very interesting. If you're willing to take off your mask and declare to the world that you are Batman, I promise that bomb won't explode. Of course, the Dark Knight is called the Dark Knight precisely because he can only operate at night. If you appear in broad daylight, you'll be challenging the order. What will happen then, you should know very well. So, take your time to consider, you have another hour and a half."
After speaking, Bai Ye hung up the phone without waiting for Batman's reply.
"Miss Rachel," Bai Ye leaned down. "If you don't want the bomb to explode, remember not to stand up or move around carelessly. Do you see the transparent tubes on both sides? The ones with the small balls inside. Try your best to keep the balls in the center, because if they touch the sides, it will..."
But at that moment...
The woman suddenly opened her mouth, her tongue flicked out, and a blade appeared, held in her mouth. With a violent shake of her head, the woman flung it forward.
Bai Ye instinctively dodged his head. With a clatter, the blade grazed his cheek and flew out, hitting the elevator door with a crisp sound.
Bai Ye grinned. "You've got a lot of tricks up your sleeve."
Bai Ye grabbed the woman's arm, lifted her up, and then smashed her towards the side.
...