Chapter 3299

Batman lowered his head and stared at the data the Penguin had sent over. This was the competitor he had promised the Penguin he would help deal with.

Batman looked at these few people for a long time, but didn't see anything special. They looked like nothing more than small-time thugs from the Penguin's rival factions. The only one among them with any real importance had recently had a conflict of interest with the faction the Penguin belonged to. It would be no problem at all for the Penguin to deal with them.

But Batman's intuition told him that something was wrong. The Penguin was "playing the sword dance, but his intent was on the Duke." Yet, what his true goal was, Batman had no clue.

Worried that the Penguin might have left some contingency plan regarding Jason, Batman couldn't just go back on his word. He could only hand the list to Fox, asking him to find a way to use Wei En Enterprises to cause some trouble for these people.

Fox investigated, but didn't find any issues. It looked like nothing more than political infighting between politicians. So, he went ahead and did it.

Batman was now even more worried about Jason's problem. But he didn't pin all his hopes on Shiler; instead, he continued to urge Dr. Thompkins, hoping she could provide a more reliable treatment plan.

The midnight miracle doctor, Piet, did not let Dr. Thompkins down. He went to the Upper East Side and caused some minor trouble for those rich people, fully accelerating the flow of the Upper East Side's sewer system, making them temporarily unable to concentrate on thinking up any bad ideas. Finally, Dr. Thompkins was able to free up her hands.

Dr. Thompkins arrived at Wei En Manor. Batman had been waiting for her there since early morning. As soon as she saw Batman, Dr. Thompkins said, "I don't think Jason's mental state is fit to face a crowd. So, before conducting a consultation, I need to perform a comprehensive examination on him. I only ask that you do not interfere with me. All right?"

Batman nodded, but in truth, it wasn't that he wanted to agree. It was because ever since Shiler's visit, the surveillance and wiretapping equipment in the room had all been dismantled, and reinstalling them didn't work well either. Batman didn't dare get too close to Jason, and now he was completely in the dark about Jason's situation.

Dr. Thompkins quickly went upstairs and arrived in Jason's room. But as soon as she walked in, she discovered the room was empty.

Her footsteps faltered instinctively. The next second, her neck was grabbed. But that arm quickly let her go. Dr. Thompkins turned her head and saw Jason's cold gaze.

It was completely different from the sluggish look she had seen before. Almost at a glance, Dr. Thompkins made a judgment—Jason Todd wasn't crazy at all; he had been faking it the whole time.

Although Jason let go of her hand, he didn't apologize. He tossed the red hood to the side and sat back down on the bed.

He was no longer wearing a hospital gown, so Dr. Thompkins could tell from the muscle definition under his tight clothing that he was definitely not the type of patient who had been bedridden for a long time. He must have been exercising the whole time.

"Jason?" Dr. Thompkins tried calling out.

Jason responded with a muffled sound. Dr. Thompkins breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's great. As long as you're okay."

Jason didn't respond to her, just fiddling with the parts of a handgun. Dr. Thompkins walked over to sit opposite him and then said, "It's really been a long time. The last time I saw you was at the dental clinic. You were making a fuss about not wanting to see the dentist..."

Jason's expression showed a rare flicker of emotion; he turned his head away and said in a low voice, "Don't talk about that."

Dr. Thompkins finally revealed the only genuine smile she had had in days. But soon, she became worried again, and she said, "Why did you do this? Jason?"

"What are you referring to?"

"Why pretend to be crazy? Why lie to Batman?"

Jason let out a long sigh and said, "Before you ask me these questions, I also have many questions to ask you, Doctor. What did Thomas say to you back then?"

Dr. Thompkins was stunned. She looked at Jason with some disbelief and said, "How do you know..."

"I found a cassette tape," Jason said, half-truthfully. "Thomas came to talk to you about some things, it seemed to be about his mental state, but I couldn't quite understand it. Can you tell me what that was?"

Dr. Thompkins instinctively glanced toward the door.

"Don't worry. He can't monitor this place," Jason said.

"It wasn't anything very special," Dr. Thompkins said. "Thomas's mental state wasn't very good. I diagnosed him. He was suffering from bipolar disorder. I suggested he go to a psychiatrist with prescription authority to get some medication."

"That's all?"

Dr. Thompkins's gaze gradually deepened. She stared into Jason's eyes and said, "You seem to know even more than I thought. What exactly are you trying to do? Jason?"

"The Wei En family suffers from a hereditary mental illness. Right?"

Dr. Thompkins's eyes widened sharply. She began to cough violently, as if she were trying to cough up her lungs.

Jason just kept staring at her.

Dr. Thompkins recovered after a while, bracing her hand on the back of the chair next to her, and after hesitating for a moment, said, "You have to promise me not to tell Batman... well, it seems you're the least likely person to tell him."

"I... have had this suspicion," Dr. Thompkins said. "You might not be clear on the history of the Wei En family. But Thomas told me some things."

"The Wei En family came from England. About 300 years ago, an ancestor named Edmund Wei En crossed the ocean, came to Cat Getan Valley, and became one of the first builders of modern-day Cat Getan."

"This ancestor defeated the cruel warlord who ruled Cat Getan Valley at the time, winning freedom for the people here. The Wei En family thus became the most prominent family in Cat Getan."

"But for some reason, the heads of the Wei En family throughout the generations never had a good end; they all died by assassination. Some rumored that this was because that warlord left a curse before he died, cursing all heirs of Cat Getan families to never have a good death."

"I don't believe in such rumors. Thomas's behavior made me more inclined to believe that the Wei En family might suffer from a peculiar hereditary disease."

"Then why were they assassinated?" Jason asked a key question.

"I discussed the connection with Thomas," Dr. Thompkins said. "Thomas believed this was a conspiracy. He felt that someone might have poisoned them, assassinating them while they were in a state of mental confusion. This way, rumors of a curse could be spread to overthrow the Wei En family."

"That doesn't hold water," Jason said. "If they could poison them, wouldn't it be better to just poison all the heirs to death?"

"So there is another possibility," Dr. Thompkins said, lowering her voice. "Someone wants the people of the Wei En family to go crazy, but doesn't want them to die. It's just that neither Thomas nor I could figure out what their purpose was in doing so."

Jason, however, fell into deep thought.

"You know Batman is being used by them. Right?" Jason asked after a long while.

Dr. Thompkins nodded with some difficulty.

"A paranoid madman is easier for people to use," Jason said, stating his own deduction. "He cannot fully control his own mind, so naturally, he is powerless to expose the conspiracy. He remains intoxicated in a fantasy hero dream, becoming a tool for some people to amass wealth."

Dr. Thompkins's fingertips trembled slightly. She bit her lip hard and then said, "But why Bruce?"

"Because Thomas noticed it," Jason said. "Think carefully about what Thomas said to you. Did he really not hint at anything?"

Dr. Thompkins's thoughts became chaotic. She struggled to recall the scene at the time, and many fragmented words and expressions gradually pieced together. Her fists clenched tighter and tighter.

"If that's really the case, he might have been asking for help at the time," Dr. Thompkins said. "He knew someone wanted to do this. He came to me also hoping I could help him get rid of the trouble of madness. That way, he could go deal with those people."

"But he failed," Jason said. "They found him difficult to control, so they killed him. This way, they could cultivate his child. Looking at the current situation, they succeeded."

"We have to help Batman," Dr. Thompkins said. "If he learns the truth one day, he will go crazy."

"You think he doesn't know the truth?" Jason shook his head and said, "If the illness he suffers from is the bipolar disorder you mentioned, then his IQ is normal. After experiencing so many things, would he not know he was wrong? He just isn't willing to admit his mistakes."

"He isn't that kind of person," Dr. Thompkins instinctively denied.

"He just hasn't realized the severity of the problem," Jason leaned forward, looking into Dr. Thompkins's eyes and said, "Alfred might not have died of natural causes."

Dr. Thompkins froze. She stared at Jason and said, "What evidence do you have?"

"It's precisely because I have no evidence that I have to go find it. You have to help me find it too," Jason said bluntly. "If we can really find clues, it proves our deduction is correct. They want to drive Batman crazy. To do this, they will eliminate the people close to him one by one, including you, me, and that new kid..."

Dr. Thompkins's hands were shaking more and more violently. She stood up and said, "What have you found out? What do you want me to do?"

Jason stroked the mask in his hand and said, "When Alfred's condition wasn't yet severe, he was receiving treatment at Wei En Hospital. Looking at the medical records, there were no problems. But I discovered he had undergone five X-ray-type examinations within a single week."

"Five times?!" Dr. Thompkins said, somewhat shocked. "Why would he need so many examinations? Alfred is old, but tumors don't develop that fast. There's no need for such frequent check-ups."

Jason shook his head and said, "That's outside my area of expertise, Dr. Thompkins. I know you have classmates and friends at Wei En Hospital. Perhaps you can find a way to investigate."

After Dr. Thompkins left, Jason took out a mobile phone; this was the one Shiler had left him earlier. There were some photos on his phone, all of which were Alfred's medical records.

He stared at these photos in silence, his mind filled with memories of the old butler. After a while, he seemed to have made a decision and sent all the photos to a certain number.

Nightwing, who was out on patrol, took out his phone, and after seeing those photos and that long string of text, his eyes widened in disbelief.

A few minutes later, the roar of a motorcycle sounded at the entrance of the GTO headquarters. Nightwing rushed into Batgirl's office like a madman, showing her the content he had received.

Batgirl felt equally incredulous; she immediately opened her computer and quickly accessed the internal system of Wei En Hospital.

After searching through the system for a long time, she slowly spoke, "Something's not right. Alfred hasn't been dead for long, so how come he can't be found in any of the surveillance footage?"

"Someone deleted the surveillance?!"

"I'm afraid so," Batgirl said, looking back at Nightwing. "This would cover up the fact that he was brought to the examination room for check-ups at an abnormal frequency."

Nightwing's hand gripping the back of the chair tightened instantly. Then, he suddenly seemed to remember something and said, "Check the doctors and nurses who passed by his ward. If they were really bought off, there would definitely be traces of abnormal activity."

Batgirl looked at the screen again.

(End of chapter)