Chapter 2029

The light from the computer screen shone on Batman's face, making his expression look exceptionally solemn. While browsing the records that Nightwing had sent over—which had previously existed in the Oracle system—he asked Peter without looking back, "You intercepted Penguin's communication?"

"No, I called the military and the FBI. I wanted to know what they were doing. The person who answered the FBI call was named Amanda Waller, but no one answered the military's phone."

"I found information identification equipment and unique military vehicle coding on that military vehicle. This means there is a military base in Cat Getan City. I thought perhaps their phone lines were cut, so I intended to enter their radio channel directly to contact them."

"Because I only intended to make a phone call, I didn't use a secret interception frequency. When I entered the channel, I heard a person named Oswald talking to a military officer named Vince."

"You were discovered by them," Batman said. "Remember next time, no matter who you contact via radio, you must encrypt it."

"I will," Peter nodded and said. "I still underestimated the severity of your universe. I didn't expect all the official agencies to be as leaky as a sieve."

"What did they say in their conversation?"

"That person named Oswald—oh, I later found his codename in the list of super-criminals you provided, which is Penguin—he exchanged certain things for a batch of military equipment and arms. They were discussing the storage location for the second delivery."

"That officer demanded that he must completely erase the paint and information identification on this batch of equipment before it could be used. Penguin didn't answer."

Batman frowned. If this was the case, it made sense.

An obvious clue was that from the moment Scarecrow and his group appeared until they were pursued, all their equipment was military-grade—whether it was the military vehicles, weapons, or communication equipment, they were all standard issue.

Not to mention whether Scarecrow, a chemist who had been in prison for years, could conjure military-grade equipment out of thin air; Arkham Asylum certainly didn't have enough materials and equipment for him to build these things.

But it was also unlikely that the military would blatantly provide this kind of equipment to a lunatic with a criminal record, especially a Cat Getan lunatic. Batman knew they didn't want to get involved in these messy affairs in Cat Getan.

But if there was a black-market boss like Penguin who had ties to both the underworld and the establishment acting as a go-between, then everything would be much easier.

As the person in control of Wei En Enterprises, Batman naturally knew that Oswald had ties to the military, the FBI, Cat Getan gangs, and various black-and-white forces. This was precisely one of the major reasons why Penguin could stand his ground in a city like Cat Getan, which was full of talented people; his connections were truly extensive.

It was likely that Penguin had bribed a certain quartermaster at the Cat Getan military base, privately obtaining a large batch of military equipment, and then provided it to Scarecrow.

It wasn't surprising that Penguin and Scarecrow were cooperating; after all, they had both been fellow patients at Arkham Asylum. But the biggest problem was that Scarecrow didn't seem to be able to provide Penguin with enough benefits.

Penguin was a businessman. Throwing Cat Getan into chaos did him no good. On the contrary, now that the vast majority of people in Cat Getan were unconscious, Penguin's business certainly couldn't be conducted either.

At this moment, Batman remembered an incident from a few weeks ago: the famous Cat Getan gang leader Black Mask was found dead in his home, and all the assets of the Sionis family had been looted.

Although the Sionis family couldn't compare to the Wei En family, they were also a famous, prominent family in Cat Getan. Even though they had already declined by Black Mask's generation, a camel that dies is still bigger than a horse.

And also as a gang leader, Black Mask had always been Penguin's rival in the underworld, and Oswald's family had declined even earlier than the Sionis family, so Black Mask had always been a big headache for Penguin.

Then it must be that Scarecrow found a way to kill Black Mask and looted his assets to give to Penguin, and Penguin helped him bribe the quartermaster, obtaining a large batch of military equipment.

The first batch of military equipment should have already been used in Scarecrow's first wave of attacks, which included the military vehicle that Batman had seized.

The second batch of equipment hadn't been transported yet. Peter accidentally overheard the conversation between Penguin and the bribed quartermaster, so Penguin sent people to kidnap Peter.

At the same time, the military discovered the theft of equipment, but this shouldn't have been enough to make them make any extreme decisions. But if one connected this to the FBI helicopters that appeared over Cat Getan, then everything made sense.

The FBI didn't come here without a reason. They likely obtained news through certain channels that the military was providing equipment to terrorists in Cat Getan, and they sent people over to collect evidence.

The FBI and the military had always been at odds, and one could even say they were both in a competitive relationship and had old grudges. Both sides were constantly tripping each other up and holding each other back, and they certainly wouldn't let go of any opportunity to catch the other side's pigtail.

The military wouldn't allow the FBI to obtain such powerful evidence; that would make them very passive in Congress. But the theft of the equipment was already a foregone conclusion. Simply blocking the FBI agents was useless; the pervasive agents would always have a way to obtain the evidence.

Then the best solution became destroying the evidence. As long as the location where the equipment was stored was bombed, the FBI would never be able to obtain the evidence.

And locating certain equipment wasn't difficult. Any standard-issue equipment of the U. S. military had identification on it, especially transport vehicles and combat vehicles, which had emergency signal-emitting devices. As long as one located this type of signal, it was easy to lock onto the location.

"Did you see Penguin?" Batman asked.

Peter nodded and tilted his head slightly to one side. Batman saw the faint scar on his jaw.

"Although it might be a bit offensive to say so, he asked me if you had any special fetishes, saying that your assistant shouldn't appear in the Batcave but was more suited for his strip club."

The veins on the back of Batman's hand bulged.

Watching Batman's back as he strode away, Peter touched his tragus lightly and said to the air, "Hello? Doctor, are you still there? This isn't very good, is it? I always feel we shouldn't provoke him like this..."

"Relax, Peter." The voice of Schiller coming to Peter's ear was lower and slower, very much like the thunder on a rainy night in Cat Getan.

Peter realized this wasn't that doctor, and then he heard him say, "This sentence wasn't meant to provoke Batman."

"You first told him that brain waves between people might influence each other, and fear gas would influence brain waves."

"He had already been infected with fear gas when he was injured earlier. He will certainly suspect that his own brain waves were also influenced. But why, after being influenced, did he have a dream about Jason?"

"Was that a dream, or reality seen after the brain waves connected? Batman cannot be sure, but he can suspect it. He is very good at suspecting."

"If the scene in the dream could possibly be reality, then perhaps his former missing assistant was kidnapped. But ordinary people wouldn't kidnap his assistant. In other words, kidnapping rather than killing someone always has some purpose."

"During the process of Jason's disappearance, no one used this to threaten Batman. Then what is Jason's value to the kidnapper?"

Peter's eyes widened slowly. He opened his mouth slightly, then closed it, covered his mouth with his fingers, and said, "So that sentence was actually implying that it was Penguin who... God, Batman wouldn't kill him, would he?!"

"Batman doesn't kill." Schiller's tone was tinged with a hint of a smile. He continued, "This originally united family is always having heavy conflicts because of this matter."

"However, Peter, you must always remember that death is never the best retribution. You have more ways to turn it into a gift."

"When things start to develop in a mundane and boring direction, perhaps, you should be bolder."

"Bolder..." Peter said in a low voice.

Suddenly, there were light footsteps coming from behind. Peter turned his head and discovered it was Poison Ivy, who was standing at the corner, peeking. Discovering Peter turned to look at her, she raised an eyebrow and said, "Batman left?"

"Yes." Peter nodded, still lost in his own thoughts, and then asked, "Do you think I should be bolder?"

Poison Ivy revealed an expression of disbelief and said, "Bolder?! You mean your actions just now weren't bold enough?!"

Poison Ivy raised her hands high, then swung them down forcefully and said, "You destroyed Cat Getan an hour ago! Twice! All the super-criminals in Arkham Asylum combined don't have as brilliant a record as you!"

"And Batman is still worried about you now. He just called Alfred, asking this old butler to watch you and not let you go out. God, this is the only correct decision he has made! Can't you just honestly stay put for a while?!"

Peter shook his head and said, "This is my first exam. Although my mentor is a bit biased toward me, there are other examining professors on-site, and one of them is exceptionally strict."

"I think I learned quite well, especially in terms of basic knowledge, which is considered solid. There are also one or two small highlights in the topic selection, but after all, I skipped undergraduate studies and went straight to the graduate defense. Without a complete achievement that is sufficiently brilliant..."

Peter shook his head, seemingly dissatisfied with his own performance. Suddenly, his inspiration stirred, and Peter raised his head slightly, seemingly having an idea.

And in the theater of Schiller's Tower of Thought, it was also bustling at this time. Greed had already stood up from his seat, slapped the table, and said:

"Spider-Man has the most basic moral bottom line. First, he doesn't kill. Second, he also hates extreme violence. This means his topic selection inevitably has great limitations; it can't be that grand, and it's not like only creating big scenes has meaning. 'Exhaust the subtle to reach the vast'—do you understand?"

"How old is he?! He just graduated from graduate school. On one hand, he has to balance experiments, and on the other, he has to learn to be a superhero. When he was under my command, he didn't have that many opportunities to participate in formal topics. Daring to choose Arkham Knight for the first exam topic fully proves his academic spirit!"

"Also, didn't a certain excellent graduate also have no way to deal with father-son conflicts? Has the industry given any real solution to the patriarchal proposition now? This is an unsolvable proposition, and we need students who are brave enough to explore difficult propositions like this!"

Arrogance reached out and rubbed his brow, sighed, and said, "Can you calm down? I just wanted him to elaborate on his train of thought in responding to Batman's reaction just now..."

"What is there to elaborate on?! Would you stand up and read the answer halfway through an exam? Oh, you might actually do that. After all, when you were taking university exams, the teachers were all paralyzed in the office, unconscious!"

"Greed," the Morbid one next to him called out.

"Also, don't suddenly give hints during the defense process. You call it a hint, but what if it's interference?" Greed slapped the table hard again and said, "No one is allowed to make a sound suddenly! Otherwise, I'll pull the network cable!"