PFC Chapter 4757 Murderous Intent on a Rainy Night (3)
Chapter 4757 Murderous Intent on a Rainy Night (3)
Chapter 4757 Murderous Intent on a Rainy Night (Part 3)
With a single slash, the expected blood did not splatter; instead, a sudden burst of firelight illuminated the rainy night. Constantine slowly turned into ashes, which were then beaten into the soil by raindrops and vanished without a trace.
Constantine emerged from the bushes again, pale and panting heavily. The bone he had been holding had turned into grayish-white powder. He cursed through gritted teeth, then pulled a small paper figure from his pocket.
He looked left and right, considering leaving the thing there, but seemed unsure if it was safe. So, he hurried towards the large tree in the garden. On the way, he suddenly saw a bright reflection in the flash of lightning. Constantine looked around carefully, then cautiously approached and found the mirror on the swing.
He picked up a mirror and looked at himself; the blood had coalesced into the number "1".
"Oh shit!"
A bird startled by Constantine's shout landed in Spider-Man's eyes on the rooftop. Rainwater washed over his uniform, reflecting a dim light. He stared intently at a corner of the garden.
There stood a figure dressed in black, soaked even more by the rain, looking like a pale, gaunt ghost. The long, sharp knife he held gleamed with a chilling white light under every flash of lightning.
Spider-Man observed for a while, and when his skills were off cooldown, he silently climbed down the wall like a spider, slowly made his way to the first-floor balcony, then went around to the side door and went inside.
The castle wasn't brightly lit; only a few candles flickered in the howling wind. The howling wind brought a ghostly wailing noise, making the entire castle dark and terrifying, even more so than the stormy night outside, making one want to escape.
Spider-Man walked in silently. He didn't attract Arkham Batman's attention until he was behind him by the spiral staircase. He just stood there quietly, watching Arkham Batman, until he turned around.
Arkham Batman was genuinely startled, then sighed softly, "Why do you walk so quietly?"
"Skills," Spider-Man said succinctly.
Arkham Batman narrowed his eyes; he only knew Spider-Man as a chatterbox. Why was this Spider-Man so silent?
Before, I was too far away to see the uniform clearly. Now, although it's still a bit dark, you can see that this Spider-Man uniform is almost entirely red.
“Scarlet Spider-Man,” he introduced himself.
Arkham Batman nodded. Even among Batmen, there's a lively one like Lego Batman; it's normal for Spider-Men to have a few taciturn ones. This Scarlet Spider seems more reliable than most Spider-Men, which is great.
"What number are you?" Arkham Batman asked in a low voice.
The other person shook their head. Arkham Batman had no choice but to say, "Use your wall-climbing ability to go upstairs and find a mirror. Those small mirrors can show you your number. If you're number 1, you'd better hide first."
The other person nodded again, then silently and quietly left. Batman Arkham watched his retreating figure with a sigh; a person who walks silently is more like a ghost.
Arkham Batman stayed at the bottom of the stairs mainly because there was a cabinet there. His Clue Master ability indicated there were clues there, but because the cabinet was locked, the clues couldn't fly out, so he could only try to unlock it.
This lock has a puzzle, which is basically just addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, but it requires a lot of repetition. It's better that Schiller isn't in the castle now; if he were chasing someone while trying to solve the puzzle, this lock might never be opened.
Just then, he suddenly heard the sound of a grappling hook. Because he often used this equipment himself, he recognized the sound very well; it meant the grappling hook was slowly descending.
He turned around, and a bolt of lightning illuminated the other person's red hair. Arkham Batman sighed; encountering Black Widow in this place was hardly a good thing.
"What number are you, Mr. Batman?"
The moment Black Widow spoke, Arkham Batman knew she wasn't the one he knew. He asked, "Are you from the main universe?"
“Yes, our Avengers sent me over to check on things,” Black Widow sighed. “Did you run into that masked guy?”
"Wearing a mask?"
"Yes, he said his name was Rorschach. He was dressed like a Western gunslinger, wearing a black and white mask, though I couldn't quite make out the pattern. He said he was going downstairs, didn't you see him?"
"No." Arkham Batman counted in his mind; his teammates should all be here. Clearly, none of them were easy to deal with.
Batman Arkham had heard of Rorschach because they had investigated the Watchmen. However, their investigation focused on Doctor Manhattan, and they only knew that Rorschach was a masked hero whose methods were somewhat extreme.
Batman's vision for him in Arkham is probably similar to Captain America, embodying the classic American dream; otherwise, he wouldn't be dressed like a Western outlaw. However, precisely because Doctor Manhattan is in this team, their whereabouts are quite secretive, and Batman can't find out much, so he can only speculate.
"Is he easy to talk to?" Arkham Batman asked.
“Can I say?” Black Widow paused for a moment before saying, “He seems a bit mentally unstable, muttering to himself and I can’t understand what he’s saying. I feel like I can’t communicate with him normally.”
Do you know your serial number?
Black Widow nodded: "There happened to be a mirror in the room where I was born. I am number 4."
“That’s great,” said Batman Arkham. “Do you have many survival skills?”
“I have an invisibility ability,” Black Widow said. “As long as I stand in one place for a period of time and remain still, I can block all detection abilities, including those of the enemy and those of our own.”
Batman Arkham immediately came up with some tactics. He said, "It's a pity you're not Number One, otherwise we could have dragged this out for a long time."
"Just as I thought, we need to kill them in order?"
Arkham Batman nodded and said, "We're both a bit late in the sequence, and I'm looking for something to switch the numbers. I think there must be something like that."
“I’ll go look for it too,” Black Widow said. “No one has been to that side of the hall yet, I’ll go check it out.”
Batman from Arkham briefly described Schiller's abilities, then added, "Be careful. If he locks onto you completely, your invisibility ability might also become ineffective."
Black Widow nodded and left. Batman from Arkham could tell that her grappling hook was likely a skill, and one with a short cooldown. Other skills she likely possessed included Widow's Sting, but it was uncertain whether it could harm Schiller.
Batman from Arkham went through all the possible abilities his teammates might have. The best-case scenario is him or Black Widow as the lead, which would stall for a long time. Spider-Man is also an option, but his wall-climbing ability makes him a sitting duck once he's stuck to a wall, and if Schiller has ranged attacks, he'll definitely get hit. Schiller might even be able to get onto the roof. As for Constantine, he's completely unreliable.
Arkham Batman sped up, working on the addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division problems. After doing about twenty or thirty, he finally opened the lock. Sure enough, a clue lit up inside the cabinet. Arkham Batman picked it up and saw it was an old photograph taken with one of those vintage cameras. A noblewoman with her hair in an updo was standing in front of a stained-glass window, gazing into the distance.
Batman from Arkham frowned. This clue could be related to the plot, or it could point to a location; the latter is more likely, otherwise, they wouldn't have given such a uniquely patterned window. This place should be left for Spider-Man to find.
Arkham Batman immediately picked up the photo. Then he noticed something else under the cabinet, which looked like a camera. However, it didn't seem to be the camera that took the photo, as it was a bit too advanced.
He picked up the camera and gestured with it. As soon as he put his eye close, he saw a skill icon on the camera's screen that read: "Help you glimpse the true face of the devil."
I've learned a bit about Arkham Batman; it seems like you can take a picture of the devil to get some information. This information might be quite direct, like skills or identity details, which could be helpful for sealing the demon.
Batman from Arkham immediately knew what to do next. Since he wasn't Number One, he would use the time the Devil was chasing Number One to gather as many clues as possible. First, he would take a picture of the Devil, and if he ran into Spider-Man on the way, he would give him the picture and have him look for that window to see if there were any clues.
Batman from Arkham grabbed his camera and headed out. But before he even reached the lobby, he heard heavy footsteps coming from upstairs. It definitely wasn't Schiller, because those footsteps could only be made by boots.
Arkham Batman, camera in hand, turned around and saw a figure wearing a hat descending the spiral staircase. The man wasn't particularly muscular, but he was very tall. He wore a tightly wrapped brown trench coat, the straps fastened securely. He also wore a small brown top hat and a mask covered in ink stains.
Arkham Batman's hand paused. With just that one glance, he immediately realized that his previous understanding of Rorschach was completely wrong—this guy was a madman, and seriously ill at that.
Captain America was indeed a representative of the American spirit at a certain time, but America at that time was relatively normal, so Captain America could be considered reliable. The guy standing in front of him, even if he also represented a certain period of American life, that period was probably not so healthy. Arkham Batman couldn't even immediately tell whether this guy or Constantine was more unreliable.
Arkham Batman isn't capable of psychoanalysis, but this guy's abnormality transcends the need for such analysis. He'd been muttering to himself as he came downstairs. Upon seeing Arkham Batman, he stopped. Although the mask concealed his eyes, that single tilt of his head and raised hand gesture was something Arkham Batman had only ever seen on the Joker. This proved that Rorschach's mental state was indeed not good.
Considering this was, after all, his teammate, Arkham Batman spoke first, asking, "Do you know your serial number?"
The other person didn't answer. Arkham Batman, not intending to waste any more time on him, turned and walked towards the door. But the person behind him caught up, and their pace quickened; Arkham Batman worried they might strike him.
He had to turn back again. Rorschach slammed on the brakes and stopped abruptly, saying in a somewhat hoarse voice, "...Are you the Batman who became president?"
“Yes, it’s me,” Arkham Batman said patiently, “but obviously the president can’t command this place…”
“I want to talk to you.” Rorschach’s tone was urgent, clearly excited. “I think we can talk about some very meaningful things, like immigration. What are your thoughts on immigrants?”
A big question mark appeared above Arkham Batman's head.
This is the Rorschach comic book. The original comic book is actually a satirical superhero story similar to Black Robe, so the comic book Rorschach is far right and not very mentally sound. I'll write about the Rorschach movie separately later.