PFC Chapter 3779 Rapid Pursuit (24)
Chapter 3779 Rapid Pursuit (24)
Chapter 3779 Rapid Pursuit (Twenty-Four)
The good news is that it's a morbid condition, not an agent.
The bad news isn't the agent, it's the pathology.
Batman walked in and shook hands with the man, feigning composure. Jason looked up at him and asked, "You know him?"
"Yes, I've heard so much about you."
“I apologize for my troublesome twin brother,” Schiller said with a smile. “He was too young when he started working in law enforcement, and he was inevitably not smooth enough. But he was just doing his job, and I hope you won’t mind.”
Jason snorted and said, "He's a complete lunatic!"
Batman's lips moved, but he clearly struggled to swallow the words that were about to come out. He sat down on the other side of the hospital bed and looked at Schiller, saying, "Sir, why are you here?"
"First, I apologize to Mr. Todd. After all, he was shot, and I don't believe it was a fair bullet; naturally, someone needs to be held accountable. Also, I heard that Justice Harvey Dent has suffered a sudden misfortune. As a legal professional, I am deeply saddened by the fall of yet another star."
“It’s alright. As I said, as long as you help me secure the defense group’s orders, you’ll be the next Supreme Court Justice.” Jason tilted his head slightly and said, “Maybe one day you’ll even be able to personally try your brother in court.”
Batman's hand tightened slightly for a moment. He struggled to suppress the urge to slap the brat, and said with a smile, "I see. However, Wayne Enterprises doesn't intend to..."
“Gotham isn’t just Wayne Enterprises, and Bruce Wayne isn’t the only presidential candidate.” Schiller picked up his water glass. His tone was always calm and slow, very soothing. Jason was clearly drowsy, but he still tried to keep his eyes open, wanting to hear what Schiller had to say next.
"Mr. Oswald Copperpot approached me, hoping I could act as an intermediary to take some of the orders that were originally going to Wayne Enterprises from Mr. Todd. He promised to use a portion of the arms he purchased to maintain security in Gotham. I thought he was indeed a very socially responsible businessman, so I agreed. I also heard that he aspires to run for mayor. If he becomes mayor, he will be even more adept at adjusting Gotham's defense plan."
Seeing Jason's longing expression, Batman finally clenched his fist. He comforted himself: This Jason Todd in this universe was never Robin, nor is he a member of the Bat-Family, so he wouldn't favor him without reason.
Even so, Batman couldn't help but laugh at his stupidity. Jason, as the president, completely depended on who was the last person to speak to him.
Abandoning Wayne and supporting Cobport in return sounds like a perfect plan. Cobport's successful mayoral campaign would avoid the legal issues the detectives mentioned, and then they could install Schiller, who acted as the middleman, as a Supreme Court Justice. Everything would remain the same, unchanged—a seemingly perfect solution.
But Batman knew that even setting aside any notion of justice, Cobblepot was definitely up to no good. This argument was inherently contradictory: if Cobblepot wanted to run for mayor, he should have sought the support of Wayne Enterprises, not been trying to buy weapons from some defense company. Entering politics through legitimate channels is completely different from the path of an oligarchic warlord like Elliott; if power could be secured through force, why would Elliott have bothered with the League of Assassins?
But Jason actually believed it. He actually believed that someone who wanted to go into politics would choose the Red Line Defense Group instead of the Wayne Group, and he also thought that the two of them working together could continue to control the city.
Jason didn't even realize that even Elliott had never truly ruled the city; at best, he'd deployed a bunch of security personnel to maintain order in the wealthy neighborhoods. The so-called Old Town was actually Gotham's downtown—what kind of rule was it if he couldn't even fully control the downtown area?
Furthermore, anyone with even a basic understanding of psychology can see that the relationship between this seemingly gentle and refined man and the law is not merely complementary, but rather one of eliminating all traces of evil. If he were to become Gotham's Supreme Court Justice, Batman would be more inclined to take the newly apprehended criminal to church to offer incense to Jesus.
“Jason, I think you should reconsider more carefully…”
“What business is it of yours?” Jason glared at him and said, “I have nothing to say to you, get out of here!”
Batman wasn't angry, or rather, he possessed a magnanimous quality of not holding grudges against the dead. He said, "I don't mean anything by it. I just hope that when you choose partners, you'll thoroughly investigate whether they have sufficient funds and qualifications. I believe Wayne Enterprises will always be your best choice."
"So now you're willing to talk to me?"
“I’ve always been willing, otherwise what were we talking about before?”
"But you didn't refute that agent."
“He’s right, Mr. Todd. Think about it carefully, what can I say to refute him? Am I supposed to say that Wayne Enterprises can disregard federal law and oppress citizens at will? Or am I supposed to say that I can completely disregard Wayne Enterprises’ business strategy in order to buy weapons?”
Jason remained silent. After a long pause, he managed to utter, "I'll make that bastard pay!"
Batman waited there for ages, but Schiller showed no sign of leaving. Wayne Enterprises kept calling him back, and Batman had no choice but to leave.
This was an intractable predicament for Jason. Because the agent had acted so aggressively, Jason had completely severed ties with him. He was convinced that the agent was the Schiller he wanted to kill.
Jason was already frustrated after being taken advantage of by the agent. The morbid character then appeared as the agent's brother, apologizing, offering words of comfort, and bringing benefits while simultaneously making his own demands, naturally placing himself on the side of the ally.
Even if Jason had some understanding of psychology and sensed something was amiss, he wouldn't be willing to give up the option of cooperating with Cobbler. Little did he know, the seemingly dangerous opponent wouldn't actually harm him; while the seemingly gentle and kind friend would be the one to truly kill him.
Batman's motives are somewhat unclear. If he wanted to find the Maniac, but the Maniac is just a head, and one that Batman himself cut off, he would have done it then, instead of abandoning it and then going back to look for it later.
If the target was Jason, there was absolutely no need to fabricate a reason like Cobblestone or the identity of his twin brother. They could have just gone into the hospital room and started killing him. At the current rate of their morbid activity, Jason would have drifted into the Atlantic Ocean in a single night.
If he wasn't looking for the Laughing Man's head, nor was he trying to kill Jason, then what was he up to by appearing in the hospital room, giving himself an identity, and possibly even communicating with Cobblestone beforehand?
Batman figured that Schiller's effects were probably wearing off by now, and the Laughing Maniac was half-dead from being played with by him, so what reason was there to keep him here?
Batman felt like he'd forgotten something. Just as he was thinking this, his hand, which was flipping through the documents, suddenly paused—Joker!
Batman immediately grasped the key point: even he would be interested in a Joker who became a vigilante, let alone a morbid one.
The key point is that the Joker is no pushover either. He's highly likely to be able to trace the pathological man's movements and glimpse the bizarre and grotesque nature beneath the perfect human skin. And when the pathological man discovers such an opponent, he naturally won't be in a hurry to leave; he'll definitely exchange blows with him.
Batman put down the documents in his hand, took out the newspaper from the drawer next to him, glanced at it a few times, put it on the table, and then called his secretary to ask for newspapers from a few days ago.
At that time, the news was about a death at Elliott's party: "A strangely dressed corpse fell from the sky, the murderer was nowhere to be found, and the guests had many different opinions."
Batman recognized the clothes the corpse was wearing—it was the League of Assassins' uniform. So he picked up the phone and said, "Talia, come to my office. I need to talk to you."
Talia arrived quickly. Before Batman could say anything, she said, "The Court of Owls has been acting strangely lately. They've been supporting March and using her to challenge us, but they've been unusually quiet these past few days. I have a feeling they're up to something."
What do you think it could be?
“March is too conspicuous; this is not like the Court of Owls’ style. I suspect he is a pawn they have put forward as a shield, and that they want to support someone else.”
"Who will it be?"
"It's not clear yet, but we should be able to find out soon. What do you need me for?"
Batman handed her the newspaper and said, "Were your men the ones who died?"
"Why are you getting hung up on this too?" Talia frowned. "He's just an assassin, not some big shot. I sent him to protect Elliott. What's wrong with him?"
"He is not important, but the person who killed him is important."
"You don't suspect me too, do you?"
“Elliott suspects that? Then he’s certainly being foolish,” Batman said. “Disrupting the party with a corpse does you absolutely no good. Even your rival Court of Owls wouldn’t risk being in the public eye by killing such a nobody. This proves that the other side might not be driven by profit, but rather by a crime of passion.”
"This case is still not closed? I thought those useless cops would just say it was suicide because they couldn't find anything out."
"Of course not. The Gotham Police Department has had a lot of useless people in the past, but the one who came recently is not. He is very likely to investigate thoroughly."
"Who is the murderer?"
"It's not certain yet, but he already has someone he suspects."
“I have absolutely no idea what’s going on here,” Talia said. “A policeman wants to investigate, a murderer wants to escape—that’s between the two of them. What does it have to do with us?”
"First of all, if the killer wanted to commit a series of murders, the League of Assassins would definitely be in trouble too. Don't think ordinary people can't kill you; the suspect isn't an ordinary person." Batman didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point. "If Elliott ruled Gotham for years without incident, and I just returned and a brutal series of murders broke out, how do you think the public would view me? Wouldn't they think Elliott's methods were better, and that I was useless, and thus choose to vote for my rival?"
Talia's expression turned serious. Batman knew he had fooled her. In reality, he didn't care about the presidential election at all; his concern was always the safety of ordinary people.
Batman has no problem with the morbid desire to deal with the Joker; but if they intend to treat human lives as toys, Batman will absolutely not allow it. Even if the League of Assassins' killers deserved to die, such a series of murders could cause panic and is itself a disruption of order. Batman cannot allow such a thing to happen.
Despite his own suspicions that it was a morbid act, Batman told Talia, "Go and find out who killed this person. Get the police files and the autopsy results. I'll go to the crime scene."
He ran, he chased x2