amaotonovel Chapter 3874 The Nameless Bat (44)
Chapter 3874 The Nameless Bat (44)
Chapter 3874 The Nameless Bat (Forty-Four)
Batman Arkham stood in a dimly lit underground parking garage. His mask's scanner highlighted three nearby security cameras in red. The cameras looked unremarkable, even a bit old. But he could almost see the open eyes on them.
“I need to cut off contact for a while,” he said to Barbara, pressing the earpiece on his mask.
“No, Batman,” Barbara’s voice was full of worry. “That guy is amazing, the best agent I’ve ever seen. You might get hurt if we don’t use technology.”
“It’s pointless, Barbara.” Arkham Batman didn’t choose to call out Barbara’s codename. He said, “No one on the internet is his match. It can manipulate all information. We can’t find Schiller using any modern technology.”
"What? You mean that cyber life form? He's in cahoots with Schiller?!"
“It might not have been before, but it has been since I started hunting Schiller.” With that, Arkham Batman hung up the phone. Just as he was about to head towards the only exit of the underground parking lot, a violent explosion and flames erupted behind him.
Schiller's new Ford was much better than his old black Chevrolet, with an advanced intelligent control system. He drove it to the old town, found a place to park, but didn't get out immediately. Instead, while organizing the equipment in the box, he muttered to himself, "You lured Batman there? If I'm not mistaken, you led him to a nearby parking lot. You're not planning to kill him with a car explosion, are you? You're underestimating Batman."
After saying this, without waiting for anyone's response, Schiller picked up his suitcase and got out of the car. He looked around and started walking in one direction.
There aren't many tall buildings in the old town, so the view is excellent. Schiller went to the rooftop of the tallest building nearby, assembled the sniper rifle from the box, and after more than ten minutes of calibration and test firing, aimed the muzzle at the street corner where the car was parked.
The familiar roar grew louder as it approached. The instant the Batmobile appeared in the scope's view—bang!
A large-caliber sniper bullet punctured the Batmobile's tires. The car veered out of control and slid to one side. To prevent the Batmobile from crashing into an occupied shop, Arkham Batman inside chose the most dangerous move: swerving the steering wheel in the opposite direction.
This method clearly failed to control the Batmobile, instead sending it spinning and flying away. Unsurprisingly, the instant the vehicle went out of control, a burst of magical light erupted, and the Batmobile was lifted into the air.
But those few seconds of being out of control, and that instant needed to activate the magic core, meant that when the Batmobile flew to the top of the building, there was no one there.
Arkham Batman stood on the empty rooftop and picked up his phone to dial a number.
Schiller, inside the car, put his phone to his ear.
"Do you remember who you work for, Agent Rodriguez?"
“Of course, Mr. President. The salary you pay me becomes the bullets I fire at your dear adopted son. Don’t you think I’m far more efficient than the Joker?”
"Stay where you are and wait for my men to come find you. If you don't want to end up like the criminals before, with your legs broken by the Batmobile."
"I believe you won't have that opportunity. But you can try to prove it to me. I'll be waiting."
Schiller hung up the phone, tossed it onto the passenger seat, and drove toward the Gotham Bridge.
Standing on the rooftop, Batman from Arkham seemed to suddenly remember something. He dialed a number on his cell phone and said, "Commander Gordon, drop everything and have your men blockade the Gotham Bridge."
Almost simultaneously, the Ford's intelligent navigation system changed the original route. The blue arrow changed from left to right, and the original direction of the Gotham Bridge was marked as congested in red.
Schiller didn't change course, turning left at the next intersection and continuing towards the Gotham Bridge. Before he reached the bridge, the navigation route changed several times, all guiding him to avoid it.
Just as Schiller was less than 200 meters from the bridge, and could even see the badges of the police officers on duty at the bridgehead, the car's navigation system beeped an alarm. As the distance closed, the alarm became louder and more urgent... Suddenly, Schiller felt the steering wheel slip from his hands.
As the police drew their pistols, the car made a sharp 180-degree turn in front of them, veering into the oncoming lane and heading back the way it came.
Gordon, who was guarding the bridge, cursed and got into his car with his officers, chasing after the white Ford. The white Ford drove ahead, followed by a dozen police cars, and a helicopter was overhead.
"It's alright, he won't go far," the policeman in the car said. "The city is very congested right now; he'll get stuck after just a few blocks. We can't get onto the intercity highway from this direction either. We'll be off work soon."
But Gordon felt it wasn't that simple. He tried to use the radio, but for some reason, he couldn't get through to the police frequency. Other frequencies were all electronic noise. He slammed his fist on the steering wheel in frustration and could only continue accelerating, chasing the white Ford into the city.
But this Ford seemed to have a premonition of the future, not only bypassing all the congested roads, but also circling most of the city, and was about to enter the intercity highway.
At that moment, the Batmobile came from the opposite lane again, heading straight for Schiller's car. Schiller neither braked nor turned the steering wheel, and proceeded to drive straight into the Batmobile without dodging or avoiding it.
The Ford swerved sharply, narrowly avoiding the Batmobile, but due to the limited space left for maneuvering, it flipped off the road. The car rolled down the hillside, and when Schiller opened the door and climbed out, blood streamed down his forehead.
He let out a soft sigh, turned around, bent down and pulled the briefcase out of the car again, but threw the briefcase aside, took out a cigarette from his coat pocket, lit it, and then looked up at Arkham Batman who was walking down the hillside.
Batman's towering figure and the way his cape fluttered in the night wind made him look like the Grim Reaper. The intense aura of anger emanating from him resonated with the rumbling thunder on the horizon. The glow of the cigarette in Schiller's hand flickered faintly in the layers of rain.
"Why shoot Jason?" Arkham Batman asked.
"You don't actually think you can hire a Schiller without any side effects, do you?" Schiller's slightly mocking voice cut through the rain. "I'm an agent. I'll do anything to get my mission done. Violence is my specialty, and I do it to anyone."
“You shouldn’t have touched Jason.” Arkham Batman’s voice grew increasingly deep.
“There’s no right or wrong, only whether or not you can. It’s obvious that when you were hiding in your safe little paradise, you didn’t think about how dangerous it would be to leave your adopted son alone outside.”
"I really shouldn't have left you out alone."
The instant Arkham Batman finished speaking, he punched Schiller in the cheekbone. Bang! Blood trickled down Schiller's lip, his body swaying to the right, but he managed to raise his gun in the instant Arkham Batman recovered his stance. Arkham Batman, with lightning speed, grabbed his wrist. Bang!
The muzzle flash briefly illuminated the night sky. The shot was off-target, so it missed. Arkham Batman tried to seize the opportunity to disarm, but the headlights of the car behind Schiller suddenly illuminated. The sudden light caused Arkham Batman to lose his vision for a few seconds. He reached out to grab Schiller's neck, but Schiller nimbly dodged. He felt Schiller break free, and when his vision returned, Schiller had vanished.
Gordon led the police down the hillside. Arkham Batman stood there, staring at the Gotham River behind the vehicle. Raindrops created a thick white mist on the river's surface. The moonlight was faint, and the shadows of the trees were heavy, making it impossible to see anything clearly.
"Take the car back for inspection," Arkham Batman told Gordon before turning and leaving.
Downstream on the Gotham River, about a mile from the scene of the incident, Schiller grabbed onto the reeds by the water's edge, climbed ashore, shook the water off his suitcase, and wrung out his coat.
Suddenly, the flashlight beam shone. A dozen agents sprang from behind the trees and bushes, each brandishing a pistol. The beam of the tactical flashlight lingered on Schiller's face, making his gray eyes almost colorless, leaving only the darkest pupil in the center visible.
"Put down what you're holding!" Schiller heard a familiar voice. Schiller didn't move.
"Put down what you're holding!" (Russian) A head of red hair was illuminated by the flickering light of a flashlight, making it look like a flame burning through the night.
Schiller slowly bent down and put down the suitcase.
"Hands up, let me see your hands!" (Russian)
Schiller slowly raised his hands and saw Natasha finally walk up to him with her gun in hand.
“You’ve actually come back,” Schiller said.
“I knew something was wrong after that phone call with you. You’ve definitely caused quite a stir.” Natasha held up her pistol, squinted at Schiller, and said, “Don’t blame me for not giving you face. The president has specifically ordered your arrest, so you’ll probably have to come back with us.”
"What if I say no?"
“You can’t escape,” Natasha said. “Or do you insist on exchanging blows with me before you leave?”
Before he could finish speaking, Schiller bent down, picked up the briefcase, and blocked one of Natasha's bullets. Bang.
He then threw the briefcase, hitting Natasha squarely on the right shoulder. Natasha staggered, and Schiller seized the gun, pulling the trigger. Bang!
Because of the struggle between the two, they couldn't aim, and the gun went astray again. Natasha broke free of one hand, and the Widow's Sting on her wrist aimed and fired. The tranquilizer dart struck Schiller squarely in the abdomen.
But Natasha knew Schiller's special constitution, and the moment she broke free, she fired again, emptying all the tranquilizer darts from the widow's sting, injecting a dose that could almost poison an elephant, before Schiller finally collapsed.
The agents rushed forward. Natasha waved them back, then said, "Be careful, don't go near him. The president will send someone to take him away later."
The lights in the room flickered, then illuminated the entire room. Schiller slumped to his right as he woke up, muttering under his breath, "That was pretty intense."
Batman from Arkham walked in first, arms crossed, looking at him. Natasha followed closely behind, her brows furrowed.
"What exactly happened?" asked Batman Arkham.
Schiller didn't answer. He looked around the room; it didn't look like an FBI base, but rather like the Justice League's new Gotham headquarters. He smiled and said, "Looks like you haven't been blinded by old nightmares. Very good, Batman. Excellent..."
He then slumped to one side, his head drooping as if about to roll off. Arkham Batman stepped forward and lifted his eyelids, seeing the dilated pupils. Arkham Batman then turned to look at Natasha.
Natasha hesitated, opened her mouth, paused, and then said, "You know, he has a special constitution. I didn't know what dosage would be enough to take him down, so I had to use the maximum dose."
“I suggest you ask him that,” Natasha said. “Although drugging is unethical, you probably won’t get a single word out of him if he’s sober.”
Arkham Batman turned to the door and said, "Go get the antidote."