Chapter 293 Entrusting Great Responsibilities to This Person (Part 3) (Patreon)

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Early in the morning, in the office of Gotham University, Schiller was reading the newspaper with a cup of coffee. Victor had just arrived and he asked Schiller, "Have you read the report on the fire in the commercial street?"

"I'm just reading that part."

Schiller shook the newspaper and then his gaze fell on the headline of the Gotham Daily's front page. It occupied a whole page and reported the fire in the central commercial street. However, the accompanying picture was not of the affected commercial street but rather the silhouette of a man in black walking away.

The headline in bold letters read: "Is Batman the vigilante who saves Gotham or a hypocritical actor?"

Although the headline was a question, the text below had already provided an answer. It vividly described what a journalist, who arrived at the scene during the fire, saw. Batman merely stood on a rooftop, glanced at the scene of the fire, and hastily left.

According to the journalist's description, Batman appeared indifferent to the commercial street below that was ravaged by the fire. When he turned to leave, there was no hesitation. It seemed that he only briefly appeared without any intention of rescuing people.

The journalist's description, along with the picture of Batman walking away from the fire, was very persuasive. When Bruce put down the newspaper, he pressed his temples and let out a deep sigh.

When Aisha used the summoning spell on her father, Bruce happened to be wearing the Batman suit. Therefore, he appeared before the two children as Batman, and Dick came to know that Bruce was Batman.

Dick also saw the report in the newspaper and expressed his indignation, "You clearly saved so many people, and yet they say you are a coward who fears rescue and runs away? How could they..."

"Enough, Dick. Are you ready for school?"

"Uh... yeah," Dick responded with a nasal tone, sounding somewhat disheartened. He continued, "Batman, can't I join you in fighting for justice? I feel like you need an assistant. If I were there, I could stay at one location for rescue while you go to another fire. That way, they wouldn't misunderstand you..."

"I don't care if they misunderstand me."

Dick looked at Bruce's exhausted face. Previously, Bruce's overly youthful appearance made Dick uncomfortable, preventing him from seeing him as an elder. However, facing Bruce in his current state, Dick hesitated to voice any objections.

Bruce's complexion had worsened considerably. It seemed as if he had aged several years overnight. After all, the past couple of days had been indescribably arduous for him.

During the day, he had to deal with the chaos caused by the Joker, engaging in life-and-death games with him. He also had to compensate for the shortage of detectives in the Gotham Police Department and assist Gordon in investigating the series of murders related to the Twelve Apostles. Additionally, he had to track down the Twelve Families and the crime bosses. At night, as soon as he opened his eyes, he was faced with those four unfortunate individuals...

The busyness of day and night was different, but they intertwined with each other. The complexity of the daytime tasks left him with no time to carefully analyze the weaknesses of the four murderers in his dreams, and he couldn't formulate a plan to confront them.

At night, due to the lack of a plan, he found himself repeatedly in awkward situations of confrontation. Despite numerous attempts, there had been no progress. Currently, there was still no effective method to deal with the two most powerful murderers.

And with frequent failed attempts, it only drains all his energy, and then he falls unconscious before returning to the real world. Due to the excessive energy consumption, he feels dizzy and ineffective during the day, creating a vicious cycle.

Meanwhile, the public opinion surrounding Batman continues to escalate. Although it is unknown whether this is a deliberate act by the Joker, Bruce is indeed caught in a state of mental torment. Everything seems to be spiraling downward endlessly, moving in the opposite direction of his expectations, as if nothing will improve.

Both physically and mentally, Bruce's condition worsens over time. However, due to this relentless torment, a particular string in his mind becomes more resilient.

When a person is pushed to their limit, their potential begins to manifest at an accelerated pace. Within a year of Batman's debut, his growth trajectory resembled a gentle slope. However, starting from these past two days, the trajectory's line suddenly shot up vertically.

After three days had passed, Bruce visibly lost a significant amount of weight. Simultaneously, a resolute gleam started to shine in his eyes beneath his arched eyebrows.

During the day, he followed the clues to unravel the intricate connections between the Twelve Families. He investigated various murder scenes, deduced the modus operandi and motives of the killers. In the evening, he gathered the information with Gordon. At night, upon returning home, he began formulating a plan to take down the four murderers.

During his dream-filled nights, Batman gradually implemented his plan. With each repeated failure, Batman's threshold for endurance increased. He could now attempt the plan dozens of times consecutively without feeling dizziness or fatigue.

Through countless attempts, Batman discovered the optimal strategy to deal with these four killers.

He realized that although these murderers were ruthless, they lacked coordination amongst themselves. Each acted independently, and whenever conflicts arose, none would back down. This provided Batman with significant maneuverability.

Furthermore, he discovered that resisting attacks or materializing weapons using his willpower proved to be a futile endeavor. Schiller's will persistently interfered, causing the manifested weapons to either possess various flaws or be disposable and impractical.

However, Batman always had alternative solutions. He began attempting to use his willpower to create obstacles within this alley. Initially, he attempted to alter the structure of the walls, creating blind spots at the corners. However, he soon realized that this method depleted his energy too rapidly. He shifted his focus towards constructing smaller yet more efficient barriers.

He started with piles of debris made from construction waste. Although these piles couldn't completely obstruct the line of sight like walls, they provided opportunities to impede the opponents' movements. He also employed small traps like broken glass shards, floating newspapers, and distractions such as flashing lights and loudspeakers to divert attention.

Batman deeply comprehended the advantages of diversified and localized combat. Instead of solely relying on manifesting batarangs or knives to harm his adversaries, sometimes, these small objects' interference granted better tactical opportunities.

After countless attempts, Batman meticulously devised a trap.

He exploited the behavioral patterns of these four murderers. As soon as he appeared, they would relentlessly pursue and hunt him down until he was killed.

As he stood at the entrance of Wayne Manor, the order of the four assassins was as follows: the white-faced mask and the hockey mask were on the outermost perimeter, the chainsaw killer ranked third, and the iron claw monster positioned on the innermost wall.

When he stepped out of the door and entered the alley, four individuals began to move towards him simultaneously. Two tall assassins emerged first, followed by the Chainsaw Massacre, and finally the Iron Claw Monster.

At the entrance of the alley, Batman placed two garbage piles, occupying a significant portion of the alley. He sprinted towards them at full speed, utilizing his agility to maneuver past the two towering masked killers. This diversion would cause the pursuing murderer, who initially headed towards Wayne Manor, to change direction and chase after Batman.

Except for the Iron Claw Monster, who could traverse the top of the wall, the other three had to keep their feet on the ground. The tall white-faced killer and the hockey mask-wearing killer had nearly identical pursuit speeds, resulting in a momentary halt at the intersection of the two garbage piles.

By this time, Batman had already reached the center of the alley, directly confronting the Chainsaw Massacre.

However, Batman did not choose to incapacitate him with his combat skills, as it would serve no purpose. Even if Batman managed to seize the chainsaw, it would not be a highly effective weapon. Furthermore, it would not help him deal with the other three murderers.

Towards the right end of the alley, Batman strategically placed four oil barrels. He slowed down, attracting the attention of the Chainsaw Massacre, and gradually moved towards the direction of the barrels.

At this moment, the Steel Claw Monster, positioned at the far end of the alley, launched its attack. Batman swiftly rolled and took cover behind one of the oil barrels. While the monster's claws could effortlessly pierce through flesh, Batman focused his attention on reinforcing the defense of the oil barrel, resulting in the monster's claws leaving only a scratch on its surface.

This conclusion was reached by Batman after experiencing numerous failures. He firmly believed that the metallic exterior of the oil barrel was sufficiently sturdy to withstand the steel claws, a notion that was easier to accept than relying on his own body to withstand them.

If the initial strike missed, the Steel Claw Monster would attempt to circumvent the oil barrel and continue its assault on Batman. Simultaneously, the Chainsaw Massacre, holding a chainsaw, would arrive, followed closely by the white-faced killer wearing a mask and the hockey mask-wearing killer, based on their walking speeds.

The chainsaw sparks when it rubs against metal, so when it cuts through the oil drum, it explodes, creating an explosion that blows everyone away.

The key point of the whole plan is to calculate the speed of each assassin at each step. When the oil barrel explodes, the four assassins must be close enough. Another difficulty is that Batman will also be blown away at the same time. He must firmly believe that he is uninjured after being blown away.

When calculating the speed and positions, Batman made many mistakes. In fact, the first time, he had already calculated the complete process in his head. The difficulty lies in the fact that he must concentrate on materializing these props while moving precisely and controlling the speed of the killer.

After repeated failures dozens of times, Batman found that not only had his energy limit increased, but his ability to focus and control had also made a qualitative leap. In the end, he could even make the oil barrel levitate and collide with the chainsaw.

As his willpower continued to grow, his fault tolerance rate also increased. Finally, with the roaring chainsaw and the explosion of the oil barrel, the four killers and Batman were all blown away simultaneously.

At this moment, he should firmly believe that the killers will be eliminated, while he remains unharmed. After the thick smoke from the explosion dissipated, Batman stood up from the ground.

He didn't come out unscathed; on the contrary, the entire Batman armor was blown to pieces. At the critical moment, Batman decided to take a gamble and focus on enhancing the explosion's effectiveness and its impact on the opponents.

The consequence of weakening his defense was that he suffered serious injuries, but at the same time, he firmly believed that he would cause maximum damage to the opponents. The four killers on the other side were also heavily injured.

Among them, the hockey mask was the least injured. His clothes were slightly tattered from the explosion, and he was crawling up from the ground at this moment. The white-faced mask and the chainsaw murderer suffered considerable injuries. The monster with steel claws emitted black smoke all over its body, seemingly unable to control its direction.

Batman's goal was not to eliminate them, but to leave the alley as soon as possible. He looked up and saw the towering skyscraper in the city center still standing silently in the dark night sky. He knew that was his destination.

After leaving the alley, those terrifying eyes, which were once distant to him, became closer and closer. Countless monsters appeared in the streets and alleys of Gotham.

Facing them, Batman discovered that at this moment, the emotion surging within him was not the initial confusion and exhaustion, but an indescribable... excitement.

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Next Chapter>>Chapter 294 "Preaching and Teaching" (Part 1)