I, V, Gotham Legend

Barbara sighed again. She wanted to turn around to get a glass of water, but she saw someone standing very close behind her.

"!" Barbara was so frightened that she almost screamed.

"Don't be nervous, I need to access the national database." Batman comforted.

Barbara realized who he was and stood up, crossing her arms playfully.

"It's right here." Barbara pointed to the computer host beside her. It was her treasure.

Batman was a little surprised. He just asked tentatively, but he got the result.

He squatted in front of the host computer and inserted the gadget in his hand into the server.

"Amazing, you bypassed the security system." Barbara's eyes lit up with excitement, "But if you want to transmit remotely, you still need to physically connect to the server host. They are underground in this police building, I don't think you can..."

"That's my business." Batman interrupted her and stood up to leave.

"Wait." Barbara called out to Batman, "Why are you doing this?"

"..." Batman was silent for a moment, "I made a promise."

There are figures gathering outside the window; someone is coming.

"Get out." Batman noticed someone threw a smoke bomb into the house and quickly pushed Barbara.

Barbara stumbled forward and looked back, but Batman had disappeared from her sight...

……

After sitting in hesitation for a while, Valerie finally waited for the assassin other than herself.

A sturdy man nearly 1.9 meters tall, with a horrific wound on his face and metal gloves on his hands.

Seeing Valerie, he whistled excitedly: "Girl, you're so young and you want to be an assassin?"

Valerie frowned in disgust. This guy was obviously a hired assassin, but he gave people the feeling that he was no different from a street fry.

When Valerie thought about doing the same mission as this guy, she felt a little cheap.

The sturdy man didn't seem to sense Valerie's disdain. He excitedly sat down next to Valerie and said, "I'm Lester Buchinski, the Electrocutioner. You must have heard of me, right? Do you want to sleep with me for one night? I can share some of the bounty with you."

Valerie rolled her eyes. Not only did this guy look like a nobody, but his lines were also like those of a nobody.

Just when Valerie was about to hit him, she suddenly felt the floor shaking.

She looked up and saw a man who was about two meters tall, wearing a cloth mask and a tight windbreaker, slowly walking towards her.

"V, I've heard of you." Bane didn't look for a seat, but walked straight to Valerie.

"What do you mean? This is the girl I fell in love with first!" Lester howled at Bane in a very shameless manner.

Bane didn't even look at him, he just held Lester's shoulders and pushed him back into his seat.

Lester felt like a child being easily pushed away by Bane. The terrible force made him silent for a moment.

"I heard that you want to become a legendary mercenary. Would you like to join me?" Bain invited Valerie.

Valerie was a little surprised. It was fine if it was a gang like the Romans, but why did the Assassin's League and this stranger want to recruit her? Am I so popular?

But Valerie still refused: "No need, I still like to work alone."

Again, Valerie didn't like the feeling of being inferior to others, especially to such a strange organization.

"You want to become a legend, right? Everyone knows that I, Bane, am a legend among mercenaries." Bane didn't care about Valerie's refusal. He said with his arms folded across his chest.

Bane...

Valerie had heard of him. He was one of the few villains in the Batman movies she had seen. She kept seeing familiar faces in him recently, which was quite touching.

But her attitude of refusal was still firm: "Forget it, mercenaries like you don't have any dreams at all."

NO28. Phantom

"Dream... hehe..." Bane seemed to have heard something very funny and laughed out loud.

"My men and I have been born with original sin. We have done our best to survive. We chose to become mercenaries only because of the pressure of life." Bain turned around and pulled a chair to sit next to Valerie. "The so-called dream is just a child's game."

It was the same greasy argument of "You're arguing about your ideals for work while I'm just living so you're childish" that Valerie had seen a lot on the Internet in her previous life.

But Valerie suddenly realized that she was forced to do this job by life. She couldn't do a proper job without an identity, and she didn't want to join the gang. She couldn't sell the arms, so she had no choice but to accept Malone's kindness and become a mercenary.

As for enjoying the life of a mercenary and pursuing the ideal of becoming a legend, that was only after that.

From memory, super criminals like Bane seemed to have goals they wanted to achieve. From this perspective, Valerie herself and Bane were essentially the same kind of people.

But, I have already told Bain that before. If I agree with him now, wouldn’t I lose face?

Valerie said stubbornly, "So all you'll ever find in this job is pain."

"..." Bane was unexpectedly silent, as if lost in memory, "Maybe, but I have no other choice."

Valerie remembered saying something similar not long ago.

Silence filled the entire conference hall. No one had anything to say. Lester even played with his phone out of boredom.

"Boom!" The roar of the engine sounded, and a man wearing a green fire-resistant suit and a fly-like helmet suddenly flew in from the window.

The wings behind him were even breathing fire.

The high-profile appearance attracted the attention of everyone present, and Lester even shouted "Cool!"

Valerie knew him, not because she had seen the movie this time. After Valerie came here, she often saw reports about this guy on TV.

[Firefly] Garfield Linn, Gotham's most rampant arsonist, has not taken action for two months. Valerie even thought he accidentally burned himself to death.

"Oh! I know you! Burning Angel!" Firefly seemed to have known Valerie on TV, and this nickname should have been given by him.

It must be that Valerie used a lot of fire in the battle with Clayface, which impressed this madman obsessed with burning.

Valerie had no interest in him and just continued to rest her chin on her hand and stare blankly. Firefly seemed to realize that he was boring himself and also found a random seat to sit down.

……

Deep underground in the Gotham Police Department, Batman was standing among the unconscious black-masked thugs, installing the transmitter in his hand into the server of the national database.

He ran here through the sewer, but to his surprise, this place was clearly the sphere of influence of the Gotham Police Department, but it was full of people wearing black masks.

They seem to have placed a large amount of explosives under the Gotham Police Department, enough to destroy this building that represents order.

What is Black Mask planning?

Or is someone forcing Black Mask to plan something?

After connecting to the national database, Batman immediately retrieved the data he wanted to see.

In addition to detailed information about the case, Batman also determined through DNA comparison that the male victim was not Sionis himself.

The whole case has become roughly clear.

About a week ago, a mysterious man named Joker sent a threatening letter to Black Mask's lover Tiffany. In order to protect his girlfriend, Sionis arranged for Tiffany to take refuge in the Reciqun Tower.

But he didn't expect that this was a trap. The Joker had been lying in ambush here. He kidnapped Tiffany when she let her guard down and hung her on the chandelier.

The Joker then threatens Black Mask.

However, Black Mask was also a cunning man. He sent his men to disguise themselves as himself, while he himself sneaked in from the balcony and ambushed behind the window.

The Joker shot and killed the double without hesitation, and Sionis took the opportunity to attack from behind and wrestled with the Joker.

No matter what the process was, in the end, Black Mask was defeated by the Joker. This crazy madman grabbed Black Mask's hand on the ground and made him shoot his lover with his own hands.

The Joker then dragged Black Mask away and threw Molotov cocktails, trying to burn the scene.

But just a few hours after the incident, the Penguin arrived at the Resiqun Tower, only to find his substitute dead on the ground.

He thought Theonis was dead, but the Black Mask was still active in Gotham, so the Penguin began to monitor the Black Mask through drones.

The process of the case is clear, but new problems arise one after another.

Who was the one who attacked Blackgate Prison earlier? Was it Theonis himself, under duress... or someone else disguised as Black Mask?

The Joker is the phantom behind this incident. As long as we find him, all problems will be solved.

Fortunately, Batman already knows the destination of his next plan.

Black Mask's bank access record has just been refreshed, and now he has to rush to Gotham City Bank immediately.

Batman was about to take action immediately, but a sudden idea made him stop.

He tried searching the database for "V".

However, the results of the national database were not surprising and contained no new information.

Batman frowned.

Where did this mysterious woman come from?

……

Gotham Bank is located in the north of the old city. To get there from the police station, you have to cross the entire Gotham. When Batman arrived by plane, it had been bombed.

The roof of the entire building collapsed, and the black scorched earth was still steaming. This building that protected the sacred property of Gotham citizens is no longer recognizable.

Batman tried his best but only found the bodies of some bank employees.

All of these corpses had livid faces and their eyeballs turned outward, and they looked like they died from lack of oxygen. Normally, this way of death should be quite painful, but they had exaggerated smiles on their faces.

This bizarre death made Batman feel overwhelmed with self-blame. If he had come sooner, perhaps these people would not have died.

He stood on the ruins of the bank, the strong wind carrying the midnight bell echoing in his ears, and he knew that Christmas had come.

Batman closed his eyes and tried to think, if Black Mask... or the Joker took the money, where should he go.

Spend it? Pay loan bills? Set it on fire? Or bribe officials and police?

Batman suddenly thought of the police.

He remembered that there were a large number of Black Mask men in the basement of the Gotham Police Department, and he sneaked into the basement by avoiding the police patrols.

He also remembered that when he sneaked into the police station, he passed by Sheriff Brandon's conference room. The corrupt police officer was meeting with his officers to discuss arresting him in exchange for a reward.

If Sheriff Brandon is really making peace with Black Mask...

Batman took out his PDA. Different police teams in Gotham have different radio electronic channels. He began to collect the police radio signals under the name of Sheriff Brandon.

Find a place where Brandon's troops gather in large numbers and communicate frequently via radio. They are likely to be mixed with Black Mask's men.

Soon, Batman located the target through electromagnetic waves...

Gotham Royale Hotel.

……

It seemed that a blizzard had started outside the window again, and even the melodious sound of the clock tower in the distance was hidden by the strong wind.

"Merry Christmas." Lester said to Valerie in a servile manner.

Valerie didn't bother to pay attention to him, she held her chin and looked away.

Lester was bored and had to continue playing with his phone.

"Boom!"

The door of the presidential suite was suddenly pushed open, and a man wearing a black mask strode into the room.

"Let me see, it seems someone is late." The man seemed to be trying hard to hold back his laughter as he glanced at everyone present.

NO29. Choice

Roman Sionis is a famous gangster in Gotham, not only because he controls a huge gang, but his family - the Sionis itself is also a prominent family in Gotham.

This is very similar to another Gotham gang leader, Oswald Cobblepot, the Penguin. They also come from prominent backgrounds, but the difference is that Cobblepot's family fell into decline during his childhood.

However, the Black Mask who walked into the room did not look like a nobleman at all. His steps were frivolous, as if he was pretending, or rather, he was deliberately pretending.

Unlike the white suit worn by Sionis in his memory, this man wore a purple suit that looked cheap. If he wasn't standing among a group of minions, perhaps no one would have thought he was the famous Black Mask.