PFC Chapter 3831 The Nameless Bat (1)
Chapter 3831 The Nameless Bat (1)
Chapter 3831 The Nameless Bat (Part 1)
The Gotham night was vibrant with the arrival of summer. Palm trees along the beach swayed before the neon signs. With a "plop," a fingerless gloved hand opened a beer, white foam gushing out. The flowing beer carved a path across the can, like Moses parting the Sea, on the icy mist that had settled there, washing away the fine sand from the uneven wooden table. The sand, caught in the cracks of the wood, fell onto the sand and slid into the dents left by plastic flip-flops.
A foot in slippers tapped lightly on the ground. A hand wearing a tactical glove rested on the armrest of the chair. The Arkham Knight pulled up his chin mask and took a few gulps of liquor.
“Breaking news from Washington,” Robin, sitting across from him, put down his beer can and said. “The Justice League is building a new base. Right here in Gotham. See that stretch of ocean? There’ll soon be a new, ugly building there.”
“Don’t say that, Robin.” Barbara gently shook her head. Her golden-red hair fluttered in the evening breeze, and the shadows of palm leaves were faintly visible on her red and white polka-dot headband.
“Every building he’s built in Gotham since he became president has been ugly. Is that what you mean?” Nightwing interrupted Barbara. Barbara just gave him a helpless look.
“We’re not gathered here today to discuss these pointless questions.” The Arkham Knight put down his beer can with a dull thud, and said decisively, “The Justice League can’t continue like this.”
“What do you mean?” Barbara asked.
“They are not loyal enough,” said the Arkham Knight. “They want preferential treatment but are unwilling to pay the price; they fear power but are unwilling to take action. And Bruce chooses to let them run rampant. Do you really think this is the right thing to do?”
"You mean they want Bruce to give up the presidency? That's wishful thinking. The fifty states are united, and the Union is in a great position. The President would never give up now," Robin said.
“I’m usually reluctant to side with you, Jason,” Nightwing began. “But this time is different. I agree with you. The Justice League is meddling a bit too much. Why can’t Batman be president? He’s done his duty to Gotham. We’re helping him. He just wants to make this country a better place. Why do they think he can’t?”
“It’s obvious they want to get involved in Gotham again,” the Arkham Knight said. “Otherwise, they wouldn’t have chosen Gotham’s coastline as the location for their new base. This isn’t just about adding an ugly building.”
“I can understand them,” Barbara said. “After Bruce came to power, he took many radical measures. While his focus on industry and the restoration of industrialization benefited the working class, it posed a threat to those vampires on Diamond Street. They caused a lot of trouble, and people died. The Justice League can’t stand to see that.”
“Yes, in their eyes, everything could be resolved peacefully by simply talking to those old men at a leisurely pace. But I knew that was impossible from the moment our identities were exposed,” Robin said with a cold snort.
“They might not be bad, they’re just too naive,” Barbara said, shaking her head. “From the moment our identity as the Bat Family was exposed, we had no way out.”
"What do you plan to do?" Nightwing asked. His gaze swept around the room, finally settling on the face of the Arkham Knight.
“Do you know why they’re building a new base?” Arkham Knight asked, then shook his head slightly and said, “He told me part of his plan before. The Justice League will have some new members.”
“You mean he wants to use new members to balance the power? That’s not like him.” Barbara frowned slightly. “I’m more inclined to believe he’ll drive the Batmobile and ram anyone who opposes him.”
“That was a long time ago,” said the Knight of Arkham. “He’s president now, he can’t do that. Although I also don’t think the people he’s brought in are any good.”
“A humanoid Batmobile? That sounds pretty good.” Robin laughed. “I’d prefer to crash it into them and send them sprawling.”
“The base won’t be built anytime soon, but the new members will be arriving soon. We can contact them before they move in,” the Arkham Knight explained his plan. “Since they were recruited by Batman, they should be on Batman’s side. We need to make sure they aren’t brainwashed by those 'holier-than-thou' types in the Justice League.”
“You’re exaggerating,” Barbara said, disagreeing. “Their conflict hasn’t escalated to that point. Superman approves of most of Batman’s actions, and Wonder Woman only has some reservations about Batman’s diplomatic approach. We can’t let them become adversaries.”
Why do you think Batman is looking for a new actor?
Barbara looked at the Arkham Knight who had asked the question.
"Perhaps he felt that the conflict was about to escalate to another level. This meant that he had to take action."
The others tensed up. Nightwing placed both hands on the table and asked, "You got the news?"
The Knight of Arkham shook his head and said, "If there were any news, he should have told his assistant, wouldn't you say, Robin?"
Robin silently drank his wine without saying a word.
"What would he do to escalate the Justice League's conflicts to the point where a new external force would have to be introduced to balance them?" Barbara asked in a low voice, while also pondering the question.
“No one could guess his purpose until the moment he made his move, but I think his new recruits would at least know part of the plan. We need to get some information from them.”
“That’s not good,” Barbara said, shaking her head. “Jason, you’re still so reckless. Do you want to get beaten up so badly you can’t get out of bed for a month again?”
“Ha, not a month. At most 20 days, and I only lost to him by three moves,” said the Knight of Arkham.
“Jumping onto the president’s car in front of the world’s media and smashing the windshield. You deserved those three punches,” Robin couldn’t help but complain. “If we did that, we might be hanging on Capitol Hill.”
“Don’t test Batman,” Nightwing said. “After all these years, haven’t you learned it yet? There’s no way you could know anything he doesn’t want you to know beforehand. Even if you did, it would be false information. Are you sure what you’re getting from the new member isn’t just another trap?”
"So what if it is? At worst, I'll just lie in bed for another 20 days." The Arkham Knight seemed completely unconcerned.
Seeing his stubborn and unyielding attitude, the others shook their heads helplessly. Nightwing and Barbara exchanged a glance. Barbara asked, "Do you know who Batman is looking for?"
Arkham Knight shook his head and said, "Probably another superhero who crawled out of some ravine. This guy doesn't need to be too strong, just a little bit of cleverness is enough."
"Don't you guys think..." Robin hesitated, then stopped herself.
"What?" The Arkham Knight turned to look at him, but found Robin looking up at the sky.
The others also looked up, but after looking for a long time they couldn't see anything except for a bright moon hanging high in the sky.
"Wait, when will we be able to see the moon in Gotham?"
“This isn’t right,” said the Knight of Arkham, squinting. “The moonlight seems a little too bright tonight.”
Barbara turned to look at the beach. The waves appeared even whiter under the moonlight, and even the deep sea surface was transformed into a dazzling pale blue. It lacked the gloom that made one feel as if they were falling into an abyss, but instead displayed a colder, pallor.
They all looked towards the moon, but the bright moon did not respond. It simply hung alone in the night sky, shining quietly, adding an even colder and more desolate cloak to this dark city.
Suddenly, a voice came through Barbara's earpiece. She pressed a button on the earpiece and said, "An unusual energy fluctuation has been detected on the roof of Wayne Tower."
The Arkham Knight crushed the empty beer can. Robin donned his cloak. Nightwing drew his short staff. Several figures swiftly advanced into the city. Before long, they arrived near Wayne Tower.
While Wayne Tower was unique, it was far from standing out from the crowd. Standing atop the surrounding high-rises, the group didn't see anything particularly special about the rooftop of Wayne Tower.
"Where is he?" the Arkham Knight asked.
"The other side moved three minutes ago," Barbara's voice came through the earpiece. "They seem to be near the central square now."
The group chased after him again, but still saw nothing. Robin wanted to go down from the roof to get a closer look, but the Arkham Knight stretched out his arm to stop him and said, "Don't go down. Something's strange."
He looked up at the moon again. But that one glance seemed to dazzle his eyes with a bright flash, leaving him stunned for several seconds before he came to his senses. When he looked up again, the moon was the same as before, as if the bright light had been an illusion.
“Return to my base,” said the Arkham Knight.
Robin took one last look at the ground, but then followed the Arkham Knights away. They returned to the Arkham Knights' new base. Barbara had already sent over the surveillance footage.
Without exception, the areas where unusual energy fluctuations occurred were all brightly illuminated by moonlight. Although there were no people in sight, the unusual optical phenomena alone were enough to attract attention.
"What do you think caused this?" The Arkham Knight tapped his fingers lightly on the table.
"It's hard to say at the moment. But to call it a superpower is a bit too bizarre. What kind of superpower could affect the moon?"
“My judgment is exactly the opposite of yours. This should just be a trick played by a superhuman.” Arkham Knight narrowed his eyes and said, “It seems that this new member that Batman has recruited has quite a plan.”
"Is it possible to pinpoint his next location by monitoring changes in optical phenomena and analyzing their occurrence?" the Arkham Knight asked rapidly.
“I think it’s possible. Just a moment.” Barbara’s voice remained calm and collected. She quickly said, “I’ve calculated the route. The next stop is… the rooftop of your base.”
A strong figure leaped onto the rooftop. The moment he arrived, it was as if he had entered a paradise. The moonlight here was so bright that it blurred the outlines of everything, whether it was the nearby rooftop or the distant city, all melting into a cold white light.
A tall, slender figure stood in the moonlight, ethereal and forlorn. A long, silver-white robe woven from moonlight billowed without wind, and with a gentle wave of his staff, a bullet fired from an Arkham knight's lance fell to the ground after a crisp sound.
The Arkham Knight wasn't angry. He twirled the two pistols in his hands and put them back at his waist. He strode forward casually and said, "Stop playing games with me. Who are you?"
"Moon Knight".
As soon as the words were spoken, the scene before them vanished abruptly, leaving the rooftop completely empty. The distant city remained as usual, as if the scene and the people within it had never existed.
The Arkham Knight looked up again, but thick, dark clouds obscured the sky, making it impossible to see even a sliver of light. Where was the moon in the sky?
With a deafening roar, lightning ripped across the sky. It was raining again in Gotham.