Chapter 960: Shiler's

In the pitch-black passage, two pairs of glowing eyes suddenly lit up. Batman was the first to walk out of the darkness, looking through the smoke and dust of the explosion toward the passage ahead. Following behind him was a very tall figure who had to bend over to move forward in the passage about two meters high.

The first thing to appear in the light was a crocodile's mouth, followed by limbs that looked like a crocodile's yet like a human's, and a huge tail. Batman turned his head and asked him, "Wei Lun, can you still smell the scent?"

The huge crocodile man lowered his head, sniffed gently, and then said in an extremely low voice, "They left along this passage. My sense of smell won't be wrong..."

Subsequently, his face, covered in bumps, wrinkled, appearing even more ferocious. He said, "It's too dry here. I really don't like it."

"Dry?" Batman said with some doubt, "Are you sure? This is the location under Cat Getan's underground water vein. There is extremely abundant groundwater stored above. No matter what, it shouldn't be considered dry, right?"

"That's exactly what's strange." As the crocodile man stepped forward, the passage shook a little. He said, "I once lived in Cat Getan's sewer. It was very damp and dark, and I liked it very much. But here, it's the exact opposite. I feel like I'm about to be dried to death."

Batman narrowed his eyes. He walked forward with the crocodile man and said, "Thanks to you, Wei Lun; otherwise, in such a dark and narrow environment, I really wouldn't know how to locate the other party."

"You're welcome, Batman. Back at the warehouse fire, you saved me. If it weren't for you, I might have been crushed to death long ago." The crocodile man glanced at his waist and abdomen. Because of his powerful recovery ability, no scars were left there, but the feeling of being pressed under heavy objects and burned by flames was still fresh in his memory.

Back then, when Bruce visited the slums and became a warehouse manager, he had worked in the warehouse with Killer Croc. At that time, the warehouse suddenly caught fire, and it was he who saved Killer Croc. Later, he even went to find Killer Croc once and heard his story.

Killer Croc was born with atavistic genes, so he was mocked by classmates and friends around him since childhood. Later, because he really couldn't survive in normal society, he had no choice but to come to Cat Getan.

Originally, he lived well in the sewer. However, the Cat Getan ice-sealing incident almost trapped him in the sewer. He couldn't live in the sewer anymore, so he had to go to land to find a house. But to find a house, he had to find a job first.

The vast majority of jobs couldn't hire such a strange-looking employee. Only real manual laborers didn't care about appearance. Therefore, Killer Croc obtained a stable job and a fairly good reward, and even had some savings, allowing him to get through the period of recuperating at home.

"We have to hurry." Killer Croc said, "I only asked for half a day off. If I go back late, I might miss dinner. The boss said he would save a live chicken for me tonight..."

The sound of him swallowing his saliva echoed in the dark passage. Batman quickened his pace and continued forward along the direction pointed out by Killer Croc.

On the other side, Shiler was brought to the larger stronghold mentioned by the agents. He sat on a chair again.

Seeing Laurena take out the rope, he shook his head and said, "I advise you not to do such useless work. Otherwise, when you transfer me later, it will delay time again."

"We won't be transferring you anymore." Scott, standing to the side, said, "We will guard here until the boss brings people to pick you up. Soon, you will board a plane to Washington. Professor, you'd better pray that the people in Washington have as good a temper as I do; otherwise..."

He snorted coldly, his threat overflowing in his words. But Shiler's attention wasn't on him. He sized up the structure of the entire stronghold and found that it was indeed a larger and more perfect stronghold.

Specifically, there were seven large passages here leading in different directions, with sufficient lighting equipment, making the light here much brighter than in other small rooms. More importantly, there were defensive fortifications at every intersection, and quite a few ammunition boxes were piled in the deepest part of the room.

The agents who had just arrived here were changing equipment. Originally, they only carried a pistol for escort missions and put two long guns in the car. But here, not only were there various models of rifles, but there were also rocket launchers and hand grenades. Such a sufficient amount of ammunition was enough to fight a small war.

However, Shiler's gaze was still fixed on the three passages in front of him. He hesitated for a moment and then said, "Don't tell me that the few roadblocks you put in front of the passages are the so-called defensive fortifications?"

Following Shiler's gaze, the three passages in front of him were the three largest passages. In front of each passage, there were explosion-proof roadblocks and coils. Scott shook his head and said, "You don't have to use this method to strike at our confidence, Professor. We all know that you are a famous psychologist and have a thorough understanding of various psychological tactics."

"In the initial attack, you deliberately reminded us to escape in advance, and even formulated a rear-guard plan for us, showing an attitude that you are on our side to relax our vigilance."

"You constantly emphasized your weakness, and even didn't hesitate to let me inject you with twice the sedative medication. You are implanting an illusion in us that you are unable to resist with force and have no strength to escape."

"But in reality, I have seen the reactions of those who overdose on sedative medication. They lose almost all logical thinking and are almost unable to act in sleepiness and sluggishness, unlike you now, who still have time to mock us."

"After creating the illusion that you are on our side and that you are very weak, you began to use various kinds of rhetoric to construct an image of a powerful enemy, as if he is the hunter and we are the prey, attempting to put pressure on us."

Scott shook his head and said, "But obviously, the situation is exactly the opposite. His first two sneak attacks not only didn't hurt any of us, but also exposed his own position and way of thinking."

"The strategic transfer we initially carried out wasn't an escape either. In fact, if it weren't for the need to ensure your safety, we wouldn't have needed to run at all."

"After the so-called survival after a disaster, you began to point fingers at more things. If it were an ordinary person, they would have fallen into your trap by now, feeling that you are just a harmless strategist who can solve the current crisis, feeling that only by relying on and trusting you can we escape from here."

"But in reality, all the illusions and assumptions are just traps you created. Among the prisoners we have arrested, this trick has been used countless times."

Scott walked in front of Shiler and said, "I really don't like dealing with certain high-IQ criminals because every action they take and every word they say is to set a trap for me..."

But unexpectedly, Shiler skillfully picked up his words, using a voice that sounded like sleep-talking: "And you know, the best way to deal with them, besides ignoring them, is to use violence to make them shut up."

Scott's fist, which had been swung into mid-air, stopped. Shiler raised his head and lowered his eyelids, looking at him only through the gaps between his interlaced eyelashes, then revealed a triumphant smile, saying:

"How do you know that the purpose of the series of traps I set is to escape, rather than to die here?"

Shiler closed his eyes, his voice becoming lower: "You know I am a famous psychologist. Even if you use a sufficient amount of sedative medication on me, I have a way to lower my heart rate to an extreme state by hypnotizing myself."

"And at this time, if I am subjected to violent stimulation, I am very likely to go directly into shock. I am sure you have no conditions to rescue me." Shiler let out a low laugh on the edge of half-dream and half-wakefulness, then said:

"Do you want to try continuing to swing your fist? Give me a punch, make me scream, and then gamble on whether the heart rate monitor worn on my wrist will forgive your rude behavior?"

Scott hammered his eyes. His fist in mid-air clenched and then relaxed. Finally, he waved his hand and lowered his arm.

He bent down, supported his knees with both hands, brought his head close to Shiler's eyes, looked into his eyes, and said:

"Professor, even among the vicious and cunning criminals I have seen, you are the one who surprises me the most."

"But I must remind you that such rhetoric will lose its effect when you reach Washington, where medical conditions are perfect."

"Thank you for your reminder, Agent." Shiler lowered his head again, as if he had fallen asleep, and muttered: "I also want to remind you that your fist will lose its effect sooner than my rhetoric."

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

!"

"Someone is invading! Someone is invading!

!"

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh! Bang bang! Boom!"

"Oh! What is that?! My God! A monster! There's a monster!

Help!

! A crocodile monster has rushed in!

!"

Scott turned his head instantly. He saw a huge figure jump out from the passage in the very center of the three passages. The roadblocks and coils placed in the center of the passage didn't play any role and were flattened almost instantly.

Through the indoor light, Scott saw that it was a huge half-human, half-crocodile monster. Ordinary pistol bullets hitting its crocodile-like armor could only leave a series of sparks. The female agent Laurena, who just wanted to raise her gun to shoot, was swept away directly by that huge tail.

And following closely behind was a black shadow. Although he wasn't as strong and tall as this crocodile monster, he was even more lethal.

Any agent who came face-to-face with him would be knocked down within almost one round. Scott saw a series of electric sparks erupting from his pitch-black armor. All the agents who came into contact with the electric sparks were stunned in an instant.

The two's momentum of charging was so fast that the remaining agents didn't have time to equip powerful automatic weapons. Watching them charge straight toward Shiler, Scott subconsciously pulled out his military knife from his waist and pressed it against Shiler's throat.

Instantly, the black shadow stopped moving. Scott narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "Regardless of who you are, I know what your goal is. Put down your gun and make your companion stop; otherwise, I will kill him immediately."

Scott's hand gripped Shiler's neck, and the tip of the knife was pressing against his Adam's apple. But precisely because of this, he could feel a weak voice coming from Shiler's vocal cords: "He doesn't have a gun, so he has no way to put it down."

"Shut up!" Scott gritted his teeth and said in a low voice.

"Take the knife away." Batman's face was as calm as water. Shiler, who was being gripped by the neck by Scott, was disheveled beyond his imagination.

The buttons of his suit had completely burst open, and the knot of his tie had also come undone, just hanging around his neck. One lens of his glasses was full of mud, but judging from the pupil state of the other exposed eye, he should have been injected with an overdose of sedative medication.

"You have violated the Geneva Convention. Let him go immediately." Batman walked forward with firm steps, which put great pressure on Scott.

Scott really hesitated for a moment. He didn't expect this weirdo on the opposite side to point directly to the vital point as soon as he came up. If Shiler accused them of abusing prisoners in court, that might be another lawsuit.

Who knew if there was recording equipment on the opposite side? If this weirdo and Shiler were in the same group, then, in court, taking out this recording to say they extracted a confession by torture would definitely cause resistance to the trial.

But at this moment, Shiler's weak voice came again: "Ask him, in what capacity is he stopping the FBI's regular law enforcement?"

Scott was stunned for a moment. He opened his mouth and almost blurted out Shiler's question, but then he reacted and didn't know what to say.

He thought about it left and right and didn't feel there was any problem with Shiler's sentence because it indeed pointed directly to the vital point.

If Batman wanted to supervise the FBI's law enforcement, he had to do this in an open, legal citizen capacity. And obviously, regardless of whether it was him or the crocodile man beside him, they were not in this capacity at the moment, so questioning the identity was the best choice.

"The FBI's law enforcement this time is completely reasonable and compliant, with formal approval documents and arrest warrants. We fully accept reasonable supervision from any American citizen, but are you an official American citizen?"

Batman paused, then narrowed his eyes. He thought, it seems that this time, he has encountered a tough nut to crack.

"You should have discovered that the terrifying monster chasing you isn't something I fabricated." Shiler kept his head lowered, so Batman didn't notice at all that even though his whole body wasn't moving, his mouth was still moving.

Scott was hesitant, but he did indeed discover that the situation Shiler said was true. The opposite side didn't look like ordinary people at all, and it wasn't something that these few escort agents who weren't specialized in combat could deal with.

"Don't try to use rhetoric to defeat him, and don't think you can force him to prepare escape tools for you. The only way now is to stall him for a few seconds, and then you take me away directly."

Watching that terrifying crocodile monster grinning at the agent who had fallen to the ground, Scott's hand trembled, and then he asked in a low voice, "How to stall him?"

Shiler replied, "I see that besides hand grenades, there are also smoke grenades in the place where you piled ammunition behind you. That is your only hope to take me away from here."

"Now I'm going to teach you how to make the opposite side not attack you. This can buy us at least 30 seconds, enough for you to retrieve the smoke grenades and create enough smoke for us to leave."

Scott gripped Shiler's neck, gritted his teeth, and said, "You'd better have this method. You should know that if the escort mission has a possibility of complete failure, we have the right to directly execute the escort object."

And at this time, Batman had almost walked in front of the two. He knew that as long as he took two more steps, he would reach the appropriate position for a violent rescue.

And at this time, Shiler, who was lowering his head, still muttered in that vague way:

"I know, I know... you always want to find a weakness of mine, but you haven't succeeded yet, so before this, I didn't use such despicable means..."

"This is what you asked for, Batman."

Then, Shiler tilted his head slightly, revealing the side of his neck. A whisper like a devil's, carrying a triumphant smile, sounded in Scott's ear:

"See that scar on the side of my neck? Aim there and give me a knife."

"The further the blood splashes, the safer you are." ===== CHAPTER 961 =====

"The further the blood splatters, the safer you are."