Chapter 928: Amidst the Rain of Mist (Part Three) (Patreon)

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Wayne Hospital, located in the South District of Gotham, was a top-tier private hospital funded by the Wayne Family, well-renowned on the East Coast. Many wealthy individuals from out of town came to Gotham solely to seek treatment here.

However, Bruce Wayne himself rarely visited this hospital. Even when he operated as Batman, including his previous rescue missions involving children, he preferred Gotham Central Hospital over this one. The reason being that the hospital's esteemed Director, still known as Thomas Wayne, had been established by the Wayne couple before their passing.

But today, it was unusually bustling. Stretcher after stretcher was wheeled into the operating room, with the smell of blood permeating the corridors. What added to the puzzlement and fear was the constant wails and screams emanating from the operating room.

A gust of cold wind blew through the hallway as a window was pushed open. Inside the operating room, surgical beds and equipment lay strewn on the floor. Bruce, gripping the throat of a bloodied patient, suffocated him until he gradually lost consciousness.

Bruce released his grip, stood up, and exhaled deeply. He glanced at the nurses huddled in the corner, then said, "Has Doctor Brand arrived? Where are the other psychiatrists and nurses? Get them here, prepare sedatives."

At that moment, the door to the operating room swung open, and the head nurse from the psychiatric department burst in, paying no mind to the chaos in the room. She expertly gestured, "Restraints on, prepare the sedatives!"

Several male nurses approached, restraining the patient, fitting him into a straitjacket, and securing him to a stretcher. As they carried him away, Bruce, his eyes misty, turned to the nurses and said, "Do not speak of today's events to anyone. Transfer all other patients to the critical care rooms temporarily, and postpone surgeries."

"But... but..." one nurse stepped forward hesitantly. "Many patients are critically injured and bleeding profusely. If we don't stop the bleeding immediately..."

Bruce sighed. "Is it possible to perform surgery on them without direct contact?"

The nurses exchanged glances. "It's difficult, sir. Without restraining them, it's impossible to suture their wounds."

"Then send them to the psychiatric department, administer sedatives, and proceed with treatment afterward," Bruce said, stepping over the debris on the operating room floor as he left.

Unnoticed by him, among the nurses huddled in the hallway, a young nurse with a baby face clutched her arm. Blood seeped through her fingers, a fresh wound on her arm, as if she had just been scratched.

In the corridor, he encountered another doctor and asked, "Has Doctor Brand arrived? Have you called Professor Schiller?"

The doctor nodded. "Doctor Brand is already in the consultation room. Professor Schiller's butler said they couldn't reach him temporarily. If there's any update, I'll inform you immediately."

Bruce nodded and quickly headed towards the consultation room. As soon as he entered, he saw Brand and several other psychiatrists frowning as they examined the cases. Bruce overheard Brand saying, "This is highly unusual. It's not a typical state of mania. We've already administered the maximum dose of the medication we used on the previous patient, but their physiological data remains abnormal."

One of the doctors suggested, "Could it be a stress response to pain? They have varying degrees of injuries on their limbs and torso. Some psychiatric disorders can make individuals more sensitive to pain."

"But many of them have lost too much blood. Is it normal for them to jump more than a meter despite the pain? It's beyond the range of a stress response. Do they not realize that engaging in such frenzied activities could cost them their lives?" questioned a younger doctor.

"Could it be a unique manifestation of neurogenic seizures?" a senior doctor mused, stroking his chin. "Have we examined them for symptoms of epilepsy?"

"No, I don't think it's epilepsy. I encountered a similar case last month..."

Bruce approached and asked, "Gentlemen, do we have any findings? The patient we just sent to the operating room has gone berserk again."

"Again? This is the fourth one, isn't it?" exclaimed one doctor. "Even if it's a manic expression of schizophrenia, could it be contagious? Or is there a familial relationship among them that we're unaware of?"

"I always thought it's unlikely to be schizophrenia. Dissociative identity disorder, perhaps? But... it's impossible for so many people to develop the condition simultaneously," another doctor reasoned.

Brand, silent until now, stared at the analysis report, seemingly deep in thought. Just as Bruce was about to approach him with questions, a commotion from the corridor interrupted them:

"Oh God! Stop her! Nina! Nina! Where are you going?... Damn it, she scratched me! It hurts!"

"Nina, are you crazy? Come back! That's a window! If you fall, you'll turn into mush!!!"

Bruce immediately rushed towards the door. With a loud crash, a medical cart meant for storage slammed against the opposite wall as he pushed it open. His hand instinctively reached for his bat dart on his waist.

He looked down the corridor's end, where a figure in a nurse's uniform was running upstairs. Bruce began chasing after her, with Brand following closely behind.

"Stop her!" Brand shouted. "This is not as simple as it seems. It's not an innocent psychiatric episode! We can't let her harm anyone else!"

Bruce sprinted, calling out, "What's going on? Why are they all suddenly going insane?"

"The wounds! Something's wrong with the wounds!" Brand matched Bruce's pace effortlessly. "Anyone who's been scratched is going berserk. Stop her!"

Bruce continued his pursuit, glancing up as he ran. From this angle, he could just make out the nurse's shoes before she disappeared overhead.

Bruce furrowed his brow and quickened his pace. He noticed that the young nurse was still wearing high heels, and her skirt was entirely unsuitable for running. Yet, this deranged nurse was somehow running faster than him, which was highly abnormal.

Realizing that he might not catch up in time, Bruce tossed out two bat darts. A moment later, there was a scream from upstairs, followed by the sound of a heavy object hitting the floor. Bruce and Brand rushed up the hospital to the top floor.

One of the bat darts had struck the nurse's leg, but the nurse, who had fallen to the ground, got up instantly as if she couldn't feel any pain. She forcefully pushed open the door to the rooftop and ran outside.

Bruce and Brand followed closely behind. The nurse turned around, her nurse's cap fell off, her long hair covering her grotesque face. She emitted short, erratic breaths from her throat. Bruce had his bat darts in hand, and he turned slightly to ask, "Are you sure this isn't a mental illness?"

"I'm absolutely certain!" Brand tossed aside the analysis report in his hand and said, "Whatever you can do right now, use your full strength to subdue her. Believe me, it's for her own good!"

As he spoke, Bruce rolled to the side to evade the charging, frenzied nurse. He saw that the nurse's eyes had turned into a chaotic gray beneath her dark hair.

That gray gaze momentarily bewildered Bruce. But in the next second, claw swiped by his ear, and just as it was about to make contact with his shoulder, there was a muffled bang, and the nurse was sent flying.

Bruce took a step back, turned his head, and saw a scorched mark behind the nurse who was lying on the ground. Scattered embers that had yet to extinguish fell from her back to the ground, disappearing into puddles.

Bruce quickly turned his head and looked at Brand. Brand withdrew his hand and said, "I told you, this is a new kind of firearm. Would you believe it?"

"Sorcerer?" Bruce squinted his eyes and looked at Brand. Brand turned away and said, "You should know by now that those who come to Gotham to hide from their enemies aren't ordinary people."

Bruce knew that now was not the time for questions. He had initially intended to return to the building. However, when he approached the edge of the rooftop, he saw something through the windows of another building.

Several nurses were screaming, wielding chairs to fend off a patient. The patient kept lunging at them, and a few seconds later, one of the nurses had a new wound on her back.

She lay on the ground, screaming and gasping for breath, her face growing pale. At this moment, Bruce looked up at the sky, feeling the damp chill on his arm. Gotham was raining once again.

"I told you, this isn't a mental illness, and there's no mental illness in the world that spreads in this manner," Brand walked over, flipped the nurse he had knocked down onto her back, and pointed at her arm. He said to Bruce, "Do you see this wound? If you have any medical knowledge, you should know that a normal surface wound shouldn't look like this."

"What on earth is happening? Is it... a virus?" Bruce immediately thought of one possibility, but Brand shook his head and said, "I suspect it might be a curse. A curse that drives people insane, bloodthirsty, and fearless of pain."

Just as he said this, there was a loud bang, and the other half of the rooftop door was also pushed open. Two figures rushed towards Bruce and Brand.

Bruce agilely evaded the attack, while Brand waved his hand, and a burst of light appeared several meters away. He Blink'd to that spot.

Bruce carefully observed the two figures charging at him again. They were a man and a woman, and the man was wearing a white coat, appearing to be a doctor from the hospital. He had an injury on his lower leg, but it didn't seem to affect his movements.

Since the male doctor didn't have long hair, Bruce could clearly see his gray eyes as well.

Bruce hesitated for a moment, but the subsequent attack forced him to focus on the immediate danger. He threw three bat darts, which caused the male doctor to step back a few paces. However, the additional wounds didn't make him retreat; instead, they made him even more frenzied.

Bruce wasn't wearing the Bat suit, and he felt that his current attire wouldn't withstand their attacks. He needed to ensure he didn't get scratched, so he found it challenging to defend himself.

"Bang!!!"

Suddenly, the male doctor in front of him paused for a moment, then slowly fell to the ground. What Bruce saw next was a pitch-black umbrella handle, and behind it was Schiller's face.

Brand, who was dealing with another nurse, shouted loudly, "Is this your backup?"

"I believe this is your backup," Bruce retracted his bat darts and looked at Schiller.

But Schiller turned his head and gazed down at the hospital below. At this moment, dark clouds over Gotham grew denser, and the last rays of sunlight vanished into the shadows.

Thick fog rolled between the streets, and elusive shadows swayed, resembling unsteady figures. They seemed to sway out of the misty rain, creating a terrifying sight.

[Read at www.patreon.com/shanefreak, and thanks for the invaluable support!]

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Next Chapter>>Chapter 929: Amidst the Misty Rain (Part Four)