Chapter 1148

"It's like this, after graduation, I found a job, you know, as an intern reporter at the Metropolis Daily."

"This is a good job. People in town all envy me especially. After all, the Metropolis Daily is a famous newspaper, the benefits and treatment are especially good, and for fresh graduates, it's the best choice."

When saying this, Clark also revealed a trace of a proud expression. His various emotions were always written on his face, making people able to see his current mood at a glance.

But very quickly, Clark revealed a very awkward expression again. He looked at Bruce and said: "But you also know, wanting to achieve some results in this kind of big newspaper isn't easy."

"That day, my editor-in-chief asked me to write a report about the broccoli disaster that broke out in Cat Getan. But when the disaster broke out, I wasn't in the country at all, and there really wasn't any material to write about, so I could only casually write about what I had seen and heard in Cat Getan before."

"But unexpectedly, this report suddenly became popular. At that time, I knew that there were so many people interested in the city of Cat Getan."

Clark sighed and said: "But then again, my parents are both very interested in this magical city. They are very curious about how you all survived, and why it's so chaotic here, yet the economy is still so good, and there's mysterious gangsta rap, street graffiti societies, ghost-fire youth groups, etc..."

"However, for ordinary people, fear is still greater than curiosity here. Almost no one dares to come and see for themselves. Even if someone dares to come, they don't know how to come. I heard that booking a hotel here requires finding a gang. Most people don't have such courage."

Clark shook his head and then continued: "However, I've been here several times, and I feel that Cat Getan isn't as scary as they say. Even if public security in most areas isn't very good, there are also some safe places."

"For example, the downtown commercial street, the West Side Cat Getan University and the manor area, the North Side Lakeside Mountain Park and the Beast Garden, the East Side Living Hell and Graffiti Street, etc. The scenery and culture of these places are all not bad."

"So, I wrote what I saw and heard into a guide and serialized it in the newspaper. At first, it was just a marginal layout used to fill the blank space of the layout. But unexpectedly, the report had a good response, so it was moved to the main layout. As a result, now, they actually said they wanted to issue a main issue for me."

When saying this, not only was there no happy emotion on Clark's face, but a trace of worry climbed up instead. He looked at Bruce with a very apologetic gaze and said:

"In the guide, I focused on mentioning you, that is, Batman. I called you the great Cat Getan vigilante, focused on introducing your heroic deeds and your philosophy of fighting for the people at the bottom."

"At that time, in order to increase the authenticity of the report, I attached a photo of you standing on top of the Wei En Tower." Clark shrugged his shoulders and said: "Do you remember? It was the one I pestered you to take last time."

Bruce recalled slightly and remembered. At that time, Superman flew around him hundreds of times just to make him pose in a handsome posture for a photo. Batman was annoyed by him, but in the end, he still cooperated with him to take a photo.

The general content of the photo was that on a rainy night in Cat Getan, Batman stood on top of the Wei En Tower, the background behind him was the halo of various neon lights, his cape fluttered in the wind and rain, his figure was tall and straight, and his gaze was firm.

Clark rubbed under his nose and then said: "Not many people read the content of this report, but the photo was snatched up like crazy."

"Your fans bought the newspaper and cut out your photo to make collages, causing that issue of the newspaper to be reprinted twice, which still wasn't enough. And quite a few people wrote letters to the Metropolis Daily, saying they wanted more photos."

"After that guide came out, quite a few people tried to come to Cat Getan to find out the truth. One of them, who was bolder and luckier, followed the guide I gave him and traveled around Cat Getan. Not only did he not encounter any problems, but he also managed to get a photo with the hottest rapper on the East Coast recently. He came with high spirits and returned with satisfaction. His classmates were almost dying of envy."

"Then, the Cat Getan travel route became popular among college students. If anyone can come to Cat Getan for a trip, it proves that you are the most dazzling and cool fashionista, the most gangsta rapper, the little brat with the most street temperament..."

A difficult expression appeared on Clark's face, and then he said: "You also know, college students are all like this, trying their best to prove that they are rebellious enough, punk enough..."

"Immediately, quite a few people came to Cat Getan in groups. Other attractions were all fine. Some bolder ones even wanted photos with those gangsta rap members. There was only one problem, and that is... you."

Bruce suddenly had a bad premonition. Immediately after, Clark looked at him with an expectant gaze and said: "Quite a few of your fans wrote letters to the newspaper expressing dissatisfaction, saying that they came to Cat Getan and booked a hotel according to my guide, but didn't see your figure, which was really very disappointing."

"That... I know, you're quite busy, but spending ten minutes every day to stand on the roof shouldn't be difficult, right?"

Looking at Clark's clear eyes, Bruce felt his head buzzing.

He took a deep breath, stared into Clark's eyes, and then said: "You wrote me into your travel guide without my consent, and now you're actually blaming me for why I didn't appear in the place your guide indicated?"

"I'm not blaming you!" Clark emphasized. Following that, he flipped out a letter from his bag, handed it to Bruce, and said: "Look, this is a letter written by your mayor. Because he also doesn't know who Batman is, he specially asked me to bring it to Batman."

Bruce unfolded the letter and looked. It really was Mayor Roy's note. The general content was thanking Batman for his contribution to Cat Getan's tourism industry and earnestly requesting Batman to make more contributions to Cat Getan's tourism industry.

Although the wording was quite polite, if translated into the tone of a Gothamite, it would be "Stop thinking about your damn vigilante career, hurry up and go to the tourist spot to stand guard!"

If it were in the past, Bruce might have been full of anger by now. But now, he only had a feeling of not knowing whether to laugh or cry, and even felt that accidentally developing the tourism industry wasn't a bad way out for the identity of Batman.

"You don't know how popular you are!" Clark looked at Bruce very sincerely and emphasized: "Metropolis people just like this kind of dark hero, even more than they like me!"

Bruce thought about it and felt that this wasn't impossible. In psychology, a compensation effect had been mentioned before, that is, the more comfortable people's lives are, the more they like to consume goods with violent and stimulating elements.

Theoretically speaking, this might be the instinct of humans surviving in the wilderness, making them want to constantly and actively stimulate the violent factors in their bodies to prevent being naturally eliminated.

People living in Cat Getan don't like the violent culture here. On the contrary, what's popular in the upper circles are some dramas depicting beautiful love or the extravagant lives of nobles, as if they were still living in the Middle Ages.

And in the eyes of Metropolis people, Cat Getan's chaos, violence, and bizarre aesthetics carry a different kind of charm, which just happens to cater to the trend of young people's decadent punk. This land of sin, instead, became a pilgrimage site for the punk generation.

Thinking through this point, Bruce felt that if he could develop the tourism industry because of this, it would also be a good thing. So, he looked at Clark and said: "I did encounter a bit of trouble, and I might need your help, or rather, the help of the cat you're holding."

"As a price, I can go to the roof of the Wei En Tower every night to stand for a while, but I don't guarantee that everyone can see me, and I absolutely won't pose in a stupid posture like last time to let them take photos."

"You just need to go and stand for a while! They will definitely take photos of you looking very handsome!" Clark immediately became happy. He revealed a brilliant smile and then said: "Don't ever try to cater to them. That group of people just likes you looking cool and arrogant!"

Bruce rolled his eyes and shook his head. And the Bat-Cat, who had been listening on the side, looked at Bruce and said: "Tell me, what trouble did you encounter? I guess it should be related to dreams, right?"

Bruce nodded and briefly introduced the situation he encountered. The Bat-Cat licked its paws and then said: "A very common dream infection, which you humans call hypnosis."

"According to the situation you described, it should be that the murderer sneaked into your adopted son's dream world and adopted a deceptive way to make him believe that he really has a pair of pig ears. And this image of pig ears represents certain commands, controlling him to make various extreme behaviors."

"And his action of running away when he saw you should be a safety command implanted by the murderer. You can understand it as the firewall of this hypnosis system, used to prevent others from lifting the hypnosis."

"And wanting to lift the hypnosis is also very simple, just make this child no longer believe that he has a pair of pig ears."

"Can you do it?" Bruce asked.

A cold light flashed in the Bat-Cat's eyes. He said: "Don't forget, I am a part of the Dream of a Thousand Cats. Dreams are my home field... Where is he?"

Bruce sent the Bat-Cat into the room where Dick was. He and Clark stayed outside. Looking at Bruce's somewhat worried gaze, Clark kept comforting him, but as time passed, Bruce became more and more anxious.

After about half an hour, the Bat-Cat scratched the door open with its paws, looked at Bruce and said: "Good news, the hypnosis is lifted."

Bruce stared at him. The Bat-Cat jumped onto Clark's shoulder, sighed gently and said: "The bad news is, your adopted son is relatively young, his personality is also unstable, and the murderer adopted some violent means when taking action, which inevitably caused him some mental trauma..."

"The problem isn't too serious, but he also needs to recuperate. And in the recent period of time, he might have nightmares or panic attacks, and needs someone to accompany him by his side."

"What exactly happened?" Bruce asked coldly.

The Bat-Cat sighed deeply again and said: "Simply put, the murderer cut off Dick's ears in the dream, and then sewed a pair of pig ears onto him. You should also know that in dreams, one can also feel pain."

Clark clearly saw the boundless anger rising in Bruce's eyes. He hurriedly pressed down on Bruce's shoulder and comforted him: "Calm down, Bruce, don't lose your head! We will definitely bring this damn murderer to justice!"

And Bruce, standing where he was, felt for the first time that the phrase "bring to justice" sounded a bit grating.

He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. But at this time, Alfred walked over and said: "A call from Commissioner Gordon. His tone is very anxious. Please go over and answer the phone immediately."

Bruce walked quickly to the phone and picked it up. Gordon's slightly anxious voice sounded on the other side: "Bruce! A murder case happened inside the Cat Getan Police Department, you have to come over quickly!"

And when Bruce and Clark arrived at the Cat Getan Police Department, Gordon greeted them. While leading them into the police station, he said:

"The one who died is our Deputy Commissioner Freeman, and the reason I have to ask you to come over is because his state of death is somewhat..." Gordon shook his head and didn't continue speaking.

When arriving in front of the door of an office, he waved his hand, letting the police officers next to him leave first. And when the office door was pushed open, Bruce was stunned.

Sitting behind the office desk was a figure, or rather, a corpse. And what made Bruce unable to react for a while was that this middle-aged male's ears had been cut off, and two handguns were inserted into his ear holes.

The more Bruce looked at this scene, the more familiar it seemed. But following that, his eyes became brighter and brighter, even carrying a trace of excitement that made Gordon and Clark behind him feel their hair stand on end.

Gordon swallowed his saliva and unconsciously moved a step to the side, asking cautiously: "Bruce... are, are you alright?"

Bruce, while staring fixedly at the corpse, took a step back and asked Gordon without turning his head: "... Is there a phone?"

Gordon pointed to the public phone in the corridor. Bruce walked toward the public phone, looking back every three steps.

After picking up the receiver, Bruce dialed a number extremely skillfully. After the other party answered, Bruce shouted:

"Hello? Professor! Someone plagiarized your academic achievements!"