Chapter 164

Last night, just as the sky had turned dark, Batman was standing on the roof of the Cat Getan Cathedral clock tower, watching the pitch-black alleyway beneath his feet.

Cat Getan's rain, the umbrellas from Wigin's Umbrella Shop, the Court of Owls, the sound of gunfire in the dark alley, the scattered pearl necklace...

Batman closed his eyes, and all the events began to form a line in his mind, but there were still many blurry details that required him to investigate and explore.

In the end, he still focused his attention on Louis, who had hired the hitman.

On the roof of the cathedral clock tower, a black shadow leaped down like a real bat. He passed through countless dark alleys and, amidst the flickering light and shadow, landed on the window of a building's attic.

Looking down from the skylight, the elderly Louis was slumped in a chair. He was completely unable to move and could only barely get by on the trash piled up around him.

When Batman entered the room, he didn't react at all. His eyes were already blind, and his ears were deaf; he had no idea that an uninvited guest had broken in.

Unfortunately, Batman didn't get any clues from him. Louis was already too old; not only did he suffer from senile dementia, but his body was also terminally ill, and he likely wouldn't live for another month. Batman couldn't possibly ask anything from such a person, and this attic had long since been turned into a junkyard by him, with nothing useful to be found.

Batman had no choice but to change his target; he arrived at the old mansion of the Edward family.

The Edward family was once one of the four major families of the East End, on par with the Cobblepot family. However, their family hadn't declined like the Cobblepot family, mainly because they held the docks. With the docks as a guarantee, their ability to resist risk was far higher than the other families.

However, they still couldn't escape the Godfather's accountability. Old Edward was already dead, and young Edward didn't know where the Godfather had sent him. Now, the entire old mansion had been taken over by the Falcone family. However, Falcone didn't value this place, so Batman entered the interior of the mansion with almost no resistance.

The old Edward mansion was pitch black, without any lights, but this didn't stump Batman. After a careful search, Batman finally found what he wanted: an umbrella bearing the Wigin emblem.

In the office at Arkham Asylum, Batman placed both parts on the table and pointed at them, saying to Schiller, "Look here. The same burn marks. The damage to your umbrella wasn't an accident."

Schiller squinted his eyes. He discovered that Batman was right; the way the two parts were damaged was identical—the threads had been burned away.

Logically speaking, umbrellas aren't firearms or artillery shells. Even if Cat Getan fights small-scale wars every day, the chance of an umbrella going to the battlefield is effectively zero. Therefore, the most likely way for an umbrella to be damaged is for the ribs to break, or for parts to loosen or fall off.

But it is absolutely impossible for a small part of an umbrella rib to be burned, causing the entire umbrella to break.

Because Schiller didn't know much about this, when the back half of one of the umbrella ribs broke, he also thought it was just like a normal umbrella breaking, where the connection part had a problem.

But thinking about it now, although it rains every day in Cat Getan, it actually isn't windy very often. The parts at the connection of the umbrella ribs don't bear that much force, yet it still broke very thoroughly.

Now, the truth was laid out before him. The same type of umbrella produced by the same umbrella maker had the same part with the same type of damage. This could only mean one thing—everything was premeditated.

"The Court of Owls is more evil than we imagined." Batman's voice was very low. He said, "They never intended to leave any survivors. Everyone in Cat Getan, whether they didn't buy an umbrella or did buy one, ultimately has only one fate..."

"And you should have also thought of a fact." Schiller looked into Batman's eyes and said, "Old Edward's umbrella broke, and that's why they went crazy. No one can say that their hiring of a hitman wasn't caused by their madness."

Batman was silent. From the moment he got this umbrella, he had thought of this question. Schiller continued to say to him, "Clearly, you have a new target, but this target is also about revenge, right?"

"If I can make them all pay the price, then why focus on just one?" Batman muttered to himself in a low voice.

"So you intend to join forces with Evans and Cobblepot to investigate?"

"It was they who wanted to join forces with me."

"I can understand you and Cobblepot..." Gordon looked at Batman and said, "After all, you two might have had family members harmed. But what about Evans? What reason does young Falcone have to participate in this kind of thing?"

"According to him, the death of his older brother, Alberto Falcone, is inseparable from the Court of Owls."

Hearing this, Gordon was stunned. He recalled for a moment and said, "Alberto Falcone? The name sounds familiar. I think I've heard Harvey mention it..."

Then he shook his head and said, "It seems everyone is tight-lipped about the old Godfather's eldest son. Bullock only mentioned it to me once, and when I pressed him, he wouldn't answer."

"Bullock told me that this is a name the old Godfather doesn't like to mention. Perhaps for that reason, no one else dares to mention him either."

"Thinking about it this way, it is indeed a bit strange." Gordon said quite puzzledly, "Ten years ago, the Falcone family's influence was even greater than it is now. The heir at the time should have been better protected; no one would have dared to touch him..."

"Except for the Court of Owls."

"What do you intend to do?"

"We have formed a temporary alliance to investigate this mysterious organization from different social classes in Cat Getan."

Batman's tone finally changed slightly, and one could hear his helplessness: "When I started to investigate, I realized that they were hidden far too deeply. Even with my power, after searching the entire city of Cat Getan, I didn't find any useful clues."

Schiller and Gordon both knew he was referring to the power of Wei En Enterprises. With the scale of Wei En Enterprises in Cat Getan, if they couldn't find an organization even after searching with all their might, it shows how deeply the Court of Owls is hidden.

"So I must borrow the power of some others." Batman explained, "Cobblepot is a criminal, but if he is killing members of the Court of Owls, then I am willing to temporarily join forces with him. He knows the bottom layer of Cat Getan very well, or perhaps some details are hidden in these dark corners."

"The Falcone family has ruled Cat Getan's underworld for so many years; every gang member is their eyes and ears. Evans might also be able to dig up different clues."

"When we cooperate and find the target, the alliance will end there. I don't need anyone to help me take revenge."

"Then what do you intend to call this alliance? Even if it's temporary, it should have a name, right?" Gordon asked Batman.

Batman was silent for a moment. Schiller suddenly had a bad premonition, and then he heard Batman say, "I intend to call it the Avengers..."

"Wait!" Schiller interrupted him and said, "I advise you to reconsider. This name is not very auspicious..."

Batman looked at Schiller. Schiller's expression was very strange. Batman paused for a moment, then continued, "A name is just a code name. I've never been superstitious about anything..."

"But the last organization that used this name split into two right where they stood before they had been active for very long."

"We aren't a group to begin with. I have no intention of forming any kind of team with them; this is just a temporary alliance. As for the name..." Batman rarely dragged out his tone, saying, "We all have a grudge against the Court of Owls, so we are all avengers. So, this name is the Avengers Alliance. Is there a problem?"

Batman saw Schiller reveal a complex expression he had never seen before, and then he heard Schiller mutter in a low voice, "People who don't listen to advice don't have a good ending..."

At the same time, in the ward next to the office, Evans watched as Cobblepot fiddled with an umbrella.

"What are you doing?" Evans was a bit curious. He sat on the edge of the bed and leaned over to ask. Cobblepot didn't even lift his head, just perfunctorily replied with a few words: "I'm going to make a weapon."

"A weapon?" Evans was even more puzzled. He asked, "Using an umbrella as a weapon? Can't you just take a gun?"

Cobblepot didn't want to pay any attention to him at all. He had had enough of Evans these past few days.

If one were to write an article about Cobblepot's experiences over these past few days, the title should be "How to Get Along with Someone I Completely Look Down On and Who Is Quite Annoying."

Cobblepot had long since expressed to Schiller that he looked down on the Godfather's son, that is, young Falcone, feeling that he was a complete idiot. But when this idiot was moved into the same ward as him, he discovered that young Falcone was not only stupid but also very annoying.

Unlike Batman, Evans had a more lively personality and talked a lot. He wasn't actually sick; he had just come over to hide and relax. He was in great spirits while hospitalized and had absolutely no self-awareness of being a patient, grabbing Cobblepot to chat with him whenever he had nothing to do.

At first, Cobblepot was willing to chat with him in order to extract some intelligence on the Falcone family, but later, Cobblepot discovered that Evans did everything except actual work.

Evans had a wide range of hobbies. He was proficient in art, could paint, sing, and play quite a few musical instruments. Among them, he was best at the violin; his cello level was very high, and he played the violin well too. Moreover, he loved opera, could sing, dance, and act, and would practice his vocals in the ward when he had nothing to do.

But if it came to matters related to family management, according to Cobblepot's assessment, Evans was a complete idiot who championed idealism.

After chatting with Evans for a few days, Cobblepot had gained nothing except for improving his knowledge of music theory, which was completely useless in Cat Getan. So, for the last few days, he couldn't be bothered to talk to Evans anymore.

Evans stood up, walked over to Cobblepot, and watched him work. After watching for a while, he raised a question: "It looks like you can't seem to modify this umbrella. Do you need any help?"

"No, I don't." Cobblepot pulled hard on an umbrella rib, and a part flew out with a "whoosh." Evans covered his face and let out an "ow" of pain. He said loudly, "Hey! You did that on purpose, right? Be careful!"

"Damn it..." Cobblepot cursed and said, "There's something wrong with this umbrella."

He picked up the whole umbrella to look at it and then said, "What material is this thing made of? Why are electric welding and cutting ineffective against it?"

Evans leaned in and touched the umbrella rib. He frowned and said, "This doesn't seem to be something like steel. I always feel like it looks a bit familiar..."

"Familiar?" Cobblepot turned his head to look at him and asked, "Where have you seen this kind of thing?"

Evans rubbed his chin, thinking as he said, "I can't remember clearly, but I definitely should have seen it. However, if you can't modify this metal, then you probably won't be able to make it into a weapon."

Cobblepot didn't reply. He stared silently at the umbrella, seemingly thinking about something.