Chapter 195: Purpose

"The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones."

— Confucius

...

"What!"

The Phantom Thief's pupils shrank, and he quickly twisted his body to the side to avoid the massive shadow.

This sudden turn completely disrupted Phantom Thief's upward flight.

He had to temporarily disable the thruster at the rear of his glider wing and retract the glider wing itself. He gracefully landed on the top of a tree at the edge.

They were now at the outside part of Robinson Park, and if he went moved, he would go to the Robinson Park fence, which connected to a block outside.

After the chase, the Phantom Thief and Batman's positions had long changed from their original location.

In the beginning, when Black Mask and his gang entered Robinson Park, they came along the southern Finger River.

However, there was no sign of any river; they had likely reached the northern part of the park.

This area was neighboring Gotham's East End and Coventry. The view of the street outside the fence had clear East End features.

But Phantom Thief didn't have much time to figure out where they were exactly because a strange and familiar roar immediately captured his attention.

Roar!

A gigantic humanoid bat-like creature appeared right in front of the Phantom Thief. It stood over two meters tall, had arms even thicker than Batman's, and sharp claws that glistened in the moonlight.

Its massive wings spread out and looked like they blocked out the sky from a close distance.

"This is... Man-Bat!"

The Phantom Thief looked at the bat creature in front of him and couldn't help but be surprised.

It had been locked up in Arkham Asylum, right?

It was only Blackgate Prison that was attacked today; he hadn't heard anything about Arkham being blown up!

And if he remembered correctly, Man-Bat had already regained his human form during his court's verdict. Then how did he become what he is now?

Roar!!!!

At that moment, the Man-Bat before him let out another roar and jumped at the Phantom Thief, who had just passed by.

Its crimson eyes were filled with murderous intent.

"My luck is really good. I was chased by two bats one after another."

Phantom Thief pushed his feet and jumped from the top of the trees while avoiding the Man-Bat's attack.

Crack!

When the Man-Bat rushed over, the thick tree trunk, which three people could hug at once, was instantly smashed by a huge impact.

From then on, this tree was at least two meters shorter than trees of the same age.

Roar!!!!

This attack failed to hit its prey, which seemed to make Man-Bat very upset. It roared very loudly, and its face was totally furious.

"The destructive power is incredible. Is Man-Bat really this strong?"

Looking at the tree trunk violently destroyed by Man-Bat, the Phantom Thief's face suddenly became serious.

If he was hit by that, he would probably be seriously injured, if not killed instantly.

When they met in Man-Bat's lab before, he didn't think Man-Bat was that strong. He had knocked him out with a single blow.

Although he knew that at that time, Man-Bat had already fought Batman in a weakened state, he didn't have enough understanding about his combat abilities during his prime.

In the next moment, Man-Bat charged toward the Phantom Thief, opening his large mouth with terrifyingly sharp fangs.

"I wonder if it's just my imagination, but Man-Bat's body seems even more massive than last time..."

The Phantom Thief continued to dodge.

While Man-Bat was large and had fast flying speed, its movements weren't agile.

With the Phantom Thief's reflexes, avoiding its attacks was pretty easy—at least easier than fleeing Batman's pursuit.

Whoosh!

At this moment, a jet-black batarang suddenly flew out and headed straight for Man-Bat.

This batarang looked different from the ones Batman had used before. It was slightly larger and emitted a strange light. It even moved faster.

Boom!

When the batarang was about to hit Man-Bat, it suddenly exploded, followed by blue electricity surging from the batarang.

Zzzt zzzt zzzt!

In an instant, these strong electric currents swept over Man-Bat's body, causing him immense pain and forcing him to roar in agony.

Roarrrrr!

The electrical shock from the batarang was strong. An extremely strong creature like Man-Bat was stunned and convulsing right there.

Watching this, the Phantom Thief's mouth twitched. This wasn't an ordinary batarang; it was clearly an electric shock!

At the same time, Batman landed in front of Man-Bat and ignored the crackling electric currents on his body. He punched Man-Batin in the face with a heavy thud sound.

Batman's punch was equally powerful. It immediately knocked down Man-Bat's massive body, almost causing it to fall from the tree.

Luckily, Batman grabbed it in time... by the long chest fur. It didn't let him fall.

Batman forcefully pulled Man-Bat's chest fur while bringing its head closer and began asking, "Kirk Langstrom! Why have you turned into Man-Bat again? Did you escape? What's happening in Arkham?"

His expression was extremely grim. If Arkham Asylum had suffered an attack similar to Blackgate Prison's, leading to the escape of its inmates... the consequences would be unimaginable!

Growl!

Man-Bat appeared to have reached a new level of rage following his encounter with the electric batarang and Batman's punch.

It struggled, twisted its head, and continuously tried to bite Batman with its sharp teeth.

The questions from Batman did not sway the Man-Bat, who acted like a wild beast driven by instinct.

Batman's face darkened. He swiftly retrieved a sturdy rope from his utility belt and bound Man-Bat's arms and legs. He then violently kicked the Man-Bat to the ground.

Following that, Batman jumped down from the tree and stepped a foot on Man-Bat's belly.

"This guy seems completely irrational and impossible to communicate with."

Just then, the voice of the Phantom Thief rang out.

Batman tilted his head slightly and saw that the Phantom Thief had also landed on the ground at some point.

He had his hands crossed and leaned against a large tree while looking casually calm.

"You didn't take this opportunity to escape?"

Batman asked.

"Heh, you're underestimating me."

The Phantom Thief chuckled.

At that moment, he suddenly threw an object towards Batman.

"Take this; you'll need it."

Batman easily caught the object, which was a syringe filled with some kind of serum.

"This is a serum that can reverse the effects of the Man-Bat serum."

Phantom Thief explained.

"How do you have this... so, you took the Man-Bat serum that day to research a cure?"

Batman's words suddenly stopped halfway as he realized.

"Why..."

"Why did I do this?"

Phantom Thief smiled faintly and countered, "Why do you wear that suit?"

...

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