Chapter 4881

The cold on Tim's body hit him in the face. Shiler looked him over, not sure if it was an illusion, but Tim seemed to have grown a little taller. The bright Italian sunshine had given him some freckles, and his skin had darkened a little, making him look more like an English boy.

He had very sharp brow arches and drooping eye corners, which gave him an air of pure sharpness. When the police lights swept across his face, that contradictory feeling was especially strong, as if, when Holmes and Moriarty embraced and jumped off the cliff, it was Tim Drake who crawled out from the deep ravine of the canyon.

The overcoat carried the chill of the rainy night, and for a moment it made people feel a little dazed, recalling several rainy nights in the dark ages, and the people of Gotham were always very good at dealing with such situations.

"Keep your manners, Mr. Drake." Alberto reminded him, "For the professor's sake, don't strike that breaking-and-entering pose; there's no criminal you're looking for here."

"Godfather Mr." Tim's tone didn't change, "Besides, I'm only acting in the position, I have no qualifications to take anyone away. I think the people of Gotham will, as always, thank you for your departure."

The atmosphere between the two became somewhat confrontational. At this moment, Cobblepot walked out from the shadows of the wall, the gloom between his brows and eyes so thick it couldn't be dispelled: "This is not the attitude you should have when coming here to look for anyone. Tim, Commissioner Gordon wouldn't do this either."

"It was Brainiac who sent me here." Tim gave a cold smile, "This matter is either something you did, or it has something to do with one of you. Taking the initiative cannot change this."

Cobblepot wanted to say something more, but Alberto stopped him: "I know this is not the past anymore, the police should vent their past grievances, to prove that you have indeed changed something. If you've had enough of showing off your might, then just leave."

"I'm only following Brainiac's orders to investigate the case." Tim emphasized again, neither side wanting to give in.

"Are you speaking up for Evans?" Alberto said, "I know you met and chatted happily at that art exhibition, but you are no more qualified than I am to decide what my brother should do."

Cobblepot glanced quickly at Alberto, as if he hadn't expected things to involve personal matters so soon. But then he looked at Tim, as if he realized this guy was intentionally looking for trouble, that is, taking private revenge.

"Where is your brother?" Tim looked at Alberto's eyes and asked, "How come I've never seen him, nor have I seen you two together?"

The atmosphere in the room fell silent for a moment. For everyone who had come through the dark ages, this was a topic that could not be mentioned, a pain of two generations of godfathers. Shiler spoke up: "Tell me how it happened, Tim."

Cobblepot seemed to wonder why Shiler hadn't interrupted them. But thinking about it, it was just a few sentences of verbal sparring, no police and gangster firefight, already a rather peaceful way to solve the problem.

"A murder case occurred at Arkham Asylum, someone died." Tim put the gun in his hand back on his waist, Alberto stared at him for a while, then turned sideways to make way, letting him walk into the manor.

The crisis seemed to be over, but the atmosphere remained oppressive. The increasing rain and constant lightning flashes made the night's atmosphere more restless. That red-and-blue interlocking light also made people more uneasy.

"Where is the body?" Shiler asked.

"It can't be fished out." Tim shook his head and said, "The island where Arkham Asylum is located is too low-lying, the storm surge caused seawater to backflow, the ground level and the first floor have already been flooded, the body is soaked in seawater, and now it cannot be fished out."

"What is the identity of the deceased?"

"Still unknown. Brainiac is trying to conduct genetic comparison through sampling to investigate the identity of the deceased."

"I have a question," Victor spoke up, "If there's no contact with the body and we don't know who the deceased is, how do you know someone died?"

"Someone called the police." Tim said, "But the people living in Arkham Asylum are all mental patients, they cannot clearly state the situation. Brainiac sent drones to check, and indeed, through the water surface, they saw a body in the underwater second-floor room, but they couldn't see who it was. The seawater in the storm was too turbid, the drones were working with difficulty, and now they have already withdrawn."

Afterwards he scanned the surroundings and said: "Someone among you went to Arkham Asylum last night."

Everyone had different expressions. Ethan thought for a moment and said: "Last night it was also raining heavily, who would run to the mental hospital?"

"You also don't know who it is?" Alberto said, "If there was a specific name, you wouldn't waste so much time talking nonsense at the door."

"Not just one," Tim added.

Everyone fell silent. Cobblepot lowered his eyelids and said in a deep voice: "Are you planning to interrogate us here? Sheriff?"

"It's not an interrogation, just asking about the situation." Tim's attitude suddenly softened, "And then reason it out, what exactly is going on."

Ethan was about to speak when Tim, as if he knew what he was going to say, said: "The other people on the island have all been evacuated, the southeast side of the island has already been flooded by seawater, the situation is very dangerous. Brainiac has already sealed off the passage, not allowing anyone to go up. So what we can do is only sit in the armchairs and reason."

"You're so full of momentum, I thought you were here to catch people." Victor shook his head and said, "Besides not knowing who the killer is, we don't even know who the body is, how can we reason?"

"Why do you say the killer is among us?" Alberto asked.

"I didn't say the killer is among you." Tim didn't even look at him, "I said that someone among you went to Arkham Asylum Hospital, and it was just last night."

"How do you know that?" Victor asked again.

Tim remained silent. Alberto looked at him and said: "So you're just here to bluff us, right?"

"Not just you." Tim said, "Brainiac is assigning refuge residences according to the likelihood of suspicion. Before coming to you, I had already gone to knock on the doors of three families in this way, and most people provided reasonable alibis."

This answer completely exceeded Victor's expectations, indeed worthy of artificial intelligence, investigating cases and catching criminals can be done by brute force. But some people were obviously curious about another matter.

"Are we ranked third?" Shiler asked.

"No, you are first. The most important will be left for last." Tim lightly pressed the earpiece on his ear, he suddenly looked out the window, as if receiving some kind of information, extremely likely Brainiac was saying something to him.

A hint of annoyance appeared in Ethan's eyes. He had always disliked Brainiac, and by extension, disliked Tim who obeyed his orders, making him feel that some kind of evil artificial intelligence was manipulating humans, guiding them to kill each other.

"Mr. Drake, right?" Ethan's wording was still cautious, "No body, no evidence, only a phone call coming from inside the mental hospital. I think you should more carefully consider whether it is reasonable to treat so many people as criminals for interrogation, or whether this is just a trick to deceive people's eyes and ears, with some things wanting to take advantage of the chaos during the natural disaster."

Everyone looked at him, but it was not shock or dissatisfaction, but rather a hint of appreciation. Ethan was vigilant enough, such a person can always live long enough, even in Gotham.

And this made Shiler realize that Ethan's death might have some other hidden circumstances. Even if it was to save Iron Man, he might not necessarily die so hastily, more likely there was some other reason.

"The power is going to go out." Tim's tone sank slightly, this sounded a bit unlike him. Even though he had already acted very mature, he was still after all a youth, living in the most vibrant period of life, his voice different from those who have experienced vicissitudes. No matter how solemn the beginning, the rising inflection always carries a few traces of high spirits, as if, when stating facts, he unintentionally shows off his sharpness.

But this time his tone sank all the way down. At the moment of landing, the entire manor fell into complete darkness.

Someone cursed loudly, the voice was Ethan's. Immediately followed by a muffled grunt, a gunshot, and a storm broke out in the hall.

"Stop it! Ethan!" Shiler raised his voice.

The knocked-down Tim quickly stood up and cursed. He was about to move when the outside of the window suddenly brightened, the flash of lightning illuminating Alberto who was holding his gun and aiming at Tim.

"Not me!" Tim gritted his teeth and said, "That outsider is also a lunatic!"

"Victor." Shiler shouted again.

With a light bang, the dense ice icicle struck the Ethan holding the police pistol, temporarily freezing him in place. Cobblepot, borrowing the faint light from outside the window, looked at Tim and said: "You've regressed a lot."

Tim had nothing to say, he just looked at the ice sculpture of Ethan and said: "He really is crazy enough! What's he doing grabbing my gun?"

Others also had their doubts, only Shiler knew, Ethan was not targeting Tim, he was targeting Brainiac. He was just, in the first moment of an accident, instinctively stopping the most likely culprit to take advantage of the chaos. And in his eyes, Tim, the running dog of the evil artificial intelligence, naturally needed to be dealt with first.

But the remaining people all knew Tim well enough, so they were somewhat puzzled by Ethan's choice to strike at him first. But they soon figured it out, if Ethan hadn't knocked Tim down, Alberto might have shot Tim, because the manor had lost power.

Gotham people are like they have some disease, as soon as they fall into darkness, they default to entering the law of the dark forest, thinking not about why it turned dark, or where to hide, but about first eliminating the most threatening target.

Tim, carrying Brainiac's order, broke into the Falcone Manor, and then announced that the power was out here, which really looked too much like a provocation. Even if it was to give him a lesson, Alberto would make a move. In the end, Gotham people are all tough nuts, compared to scattering and fleeing, police and gangster firefights suit them better.

"Alright," Shiler said, "To create an atmosphere suitable for reasoning, Brainiac has gone to great lengths, let's begin."

So they all came to sit in front of the sofa, including Ethan who was sealed in ice. He could only not move, but he could still think and speak.

Everyone accepted this very calmly, feeling nothing wrong. Because at the very beginning when darkness fell, the conflict did not spread, that wildness would soon dissipate, replaced by the same literary and philosophical thought nurtured from the darkness. This is the two sides of Gotham people, from contradiction showing God's exquisite craftsmanship, naturally formed.