Chapter 599: Long Live the Cats! (Part 1)

On the edge of the battlefield, on the roof of another high building, a black cat and a white cat stood side by side. The black cat opened his mouth and said: "I said, when I was with Batman cat, I always smelled a strange scent, but I never raised any birds, so I didn't know that was the smell of bird droppings."

He turned to look at that white cat and said: "Gordon cat, you never told me that Batman cat was also faked by them."

And that white cat also revealed a shocked expression. He said: "No, Batman cat shouldn't be... My god! They actually even replaced him! The situation is worse than I imagined."

That's right, this white cat was actually the police chief of Cat City Gotham, Gordon cat. And Schiller's encounter with Gordon cat was earlier than anyone imagined.

Actually, it was easy to think that Schiller's Tower of Thought landed in the center of Gotham City, and the first to arrive must be the detectives from the police station. And Gordon cat was the cat most trusted by Batman cat, so he would naturally be fully responsible for investigating this strange building.

Schiller, who was thrown out by the Superego, first found a hiding place and then observed the situation nearby. After he determined that this cat should represent Gordon, he knew that this cat should be trustworthy.

In the vast majority of DC universes, Gordon was the representative of the light and hope in Gotham City. Perhaps he would be frustrated, lost, encounter difficulties, or be in danger, but in the end, he would definitely overcome various difficulties and become the last conscience of Gotham.

And what made Schiller decide to contact Gordon cat first was another important reason: Gordon cat's investigation actions looked a bit perfunctory. Many times, he tracked some scent information, but stopped halfway and didn't pursue it.

The command and dispatch were also arbitrary. He saw clues somewhere and pointed two people to go there, and after a while, he transferred them away. After watching for a long time, Schiller determined that this Gordon cat was either not skilled enough, or was doing it on purpose.

The first time Schiller saw Batman cat, he also saw him talking to Gordon cat. He discovered that Gordon cat clearly tracked many clues, but he only said a very small part, and what he said wasn't any important clue. Batman cat trusted him very much, so he didn't pursue it too much, which allowed Schiller, who was directly thrown out, not to be discovered.

Gordon and Batman weren't on the same side. This kind of situation wasn't common. Even in the Gotham influenced by Schiller, Gordon and Batman would make things convenient for each other. When Batman investigated at night and made any noise, the police would arrive at the first time. When the police performed dangerous missions, Batman would also protect them on the flank. They cooperated quite well. In the vast majority of universes, it should be like this.

If Schiller had to choose a reliable teammate between Batman and Gordon, he would definitely choose Gordon. Thus, he found Gordon and explained his intentions. Sure enough, Gordon cat never trusted Batman cat. He just kept lurking under his command, waiting for an opportunity.

"At the beginning, when Batman cat wanted to transform this city, I realized that no one could stop him. But I discovered that his inexplicable paranoia was very likely influenced by other things. Since it couldn't be stopped, it was better to adopt other methods to preserve important things."

Gordon cat's white fur shone brightly in the moonlight. His voice drifted in the night sky, disappearing into the dark night. He explained to Schiller:

"When I realized this couldn't be stopped, I became his first ally. I stood out and led the Gotham Police Station to help him push these transformations. At that time, there were still many voices of resistance, and I and my subordinates helped him settle many troubles, so he trusted me very much."

"However, I did this just to figure out what was influencing him, and I wanted to preserve the important evidence that might reveal the truth, so that I could stop him when he went completely crazy."

"To prove my sincerity, I handed over the Gotham Police Station to him to transform. He did thoroughly transform that place. But later, I secretly opened the basement he hadn't had time to transform yet and put the preserved documents inside."

"At that time, the whole city was very chaotic. He was busy maintaining order and also fighting those cats who resisted him, so he was busy enough. I took advantage of the chaos to do this."

"But later, when he reacted, he felt that the insurance measures he did before weren't enough, so he changed the original Gotham Police Station into a bank and sent a trusted general to guard that place, which was the bank president cat."

"When we met for the first time, you proposed that I go and kill the bank president cat. Did you discover any clues?" Schiller looked at Gordon cat and asked.

"That's right. After he moved into the original Gotham Police Station, his monitoring there was very strict. I had to ensure he wouldn't discover those documents, so I sent a few cats to be informants inside. But my subordinates reported back to me that this bank president cat's behavior was very strange. He didn't look like a cat at all, and there was always a strange smell on his body."

"In order to figure out what was going on, I sent subordinates to patrol that area. On the surface, it was to maintain street order, but actually, it was to stare at him. Finally, one night, when I was patrolling personally, I saw his shadow outside the window. That wasn't a cat, but... a bird."

"A bird, a distant biological species, once written in our recipe, and now, it has long been extinct. Now there are only cats in this world."

"Discovering the true identity of the bank president cat, I began to suspect that all the high-level officials who had contact with Batman cat had problems. Soon, as I expected, there were also birds lurking among the mayor's staff. Bank presidents, financial tycoons, cargo ship owners, gang bosses, all had the figures of these birds."

"I think they might have mastered some kind of technology, brainwashed Batman cat, and controlled him. I asked you to kill the bank president cat. The most important reason was that because I stared at him too closely, he had already started to suspect me. Once he went to report to Batman cat, or used some other means to brainwash Batman cat, then I would be dead."

"But I didn't expect..." Gordon stared at the battlefield not far away and said: "It wasn't them who controlled Batman cat. Batman cat wasn't a cat at all, but..."

"... is an owl." Schiller looked at the bird being pressed under the claws of the black cat and said: "Not a cat, but an owl."

Gordon cat sighed and said: "Actually, I should have discovered it earlier. I clearly knew that he imprisoned his butler, Alfred. If he were truly Batman cat, no matter what, he couldn't possibly torture the old butler who grew up with him like that. It seems Batman cat has already met with misfortune."

"No..." Schiller suddenly refuted, saying: "Since they didn't kill Alfred, then perhaps the real Batman cat is still alive."

Gordon's eyes suddenly lit up. He asked: "Really? But... but where is he? Could it be that he was also locked up by them?"

Schiller looked up at the moon and said: "Locked up? No... they can't lock up a bat."

Under the bright moonlight, the feathers scattered like curtains. The Batman cat pressed on the ground looked at the feathers on his body in shock. At this moment, he had shed the appearance of a cat and turned into a real owl, but he seemed to be completely unaware, shouting in shock:

"How is it possible! What did you do to me? How could I be... I should be Batman cat! The cat who rules this city! The richest cat! How could I be a bird?!"

"This is impossible!"

(Author's note:!)

"There's nothing impossible." Another voice sounded. The green Joker cat walked over. The crazy smile on his face gradually disappeared. He narrowed his eyes, stared at the owl lying on the ground, and said:

"Of course you would be a bird. Otherwise, how would those owls hiding in the dark dare to let their natural enemy, the feline, rule this city?"

Batman turned to look at his nemesis, Joker cat. Only then did he recall that in the past, when he encountered the Joker and heard that kind of crazy laughter, he would feel a dark emotion spreading in his heart

"Walking Alone to Immortality"

However, after arriving in Cat City, he had heard the laughter of this Joker cat more than once, yet he had never felt that emotion.

He recalled what Shiler had said to him when he first encountered Joker Jack; when that laughter did not ring out in his heart, it meant that the person opposite him was not his destined opponent.

In other words, the cat opposite him was not the Joker.

And the information Batman found in the Gotham Police Department confirmed exactly this point. The text in the documents there did not record much important information, but one of the documents recorded a terrifying nursery rhyme—that's right, the Court of Owls nursery rhyme: "The Court of Owls watches all the time, watching you from the shadows..."

Batman was all too familiar with the Court of Owls; he still had a vivid memory of that performance where the Joker executed the owls.

Batman also recalled the crazy ramblings the Joker cat had said when he first met him. During their first meeting, the Joker cat had warned Batman that he had once smelled bird droppings on the Bat-Cat. Combining this with the familiar nursery rhyme, Batman deduced that the Bat-Cat might not be a cat, but an owl.

In truth, the evidence was not sufficient, but even if the Bat-Cat was not an owl, there must be factors of the Court of Owls standing behind the scenes guiding Gotham to become what it was now. On the road to investigating the clues, Batman thought a lot: if no one was guiding him, would he really have turned Gotham into this?

And the result of his thinking was that he would not have done so, because his reason told him that this was not feasible.

There is no standard that can perfectly distinguish human nature; one cannot say that those who meet this standard are good people and those who do not are bad. Race, skin color, gender, and personality cannot be used as criteria for distinction.

A person's mindset and emotions are constantly changing and in motion. Using static standards to measure and distinguish, and then using coercive means to isolate people—a certain failed art student once tried to do this, and there is no need to mention his fate.

And as Batman expected, his first attack was successful; the one opposite him was indeed not a cat, but an owl. Since that was the case, only one question remained. Batman looked at the owl and asked:

"Where did you take the real Bat-Cat?"

The owl was still screaming frantically, shouting incessantly, "Impossible!" and "I am a cat! I am not an owl!".

But just then, a slightly aged figure slowly walked over. The moment Batman saw him, he was certain that it was Alfred.

Then, he saw the aged Alfred cat walk to the side of the Joker cat and rub against the Joker cat's chin.