Chapter 3: Actions

The top floor of the police station was in ruins, looking as if it had been through a war. Smoke still remained in the air.

Although Commissioner Gordon couldn't hear the conversation between Batman and Mason, he smiled when he saw what was happening. He took the sword-shaped hard drive out of his pocket and handed it to Batman, just as Mason had given it to him.

Batman frowned when he saw the shape of the hard drive, seemingly unhappy with it.

Batman looked up and saw Catwoman being carried out by police officers, waving to him. He sighed in relief, then walked over to his lover and lifted her up, heading towards the wall.

The black Bat-jet was already approaching, and the cockpit slid open. Batman was going to send the seriously injured Selina to safety and then chase after the Penguin, who had already started to run away.

But the next second, Batman's black cape was grabbed by Mason.

'I detected a special material tailor-made Bat-suit cape. The basic blueprint is being analyzed. The tailoring skill branch is opening, and currently at level 0,' a line of text appeared on the screen just as Mason grabbed Batman's cape, making him raise his eyebrows.

Batman then turned and looked at him, and the emotionless look in his eyes made Mason feel immense pressure.

"I want to go too and go with you," Mason said calmly as he looked at the progress bar on the screen, constantly advancing.

"I don't want to work for the gangsters anymore. It's a dead end. I want to resign from Oswald and be a good person starting tonight," Mason continued.

"You've done enough tonight," Batman replied calmly, unmoved by Mason's sincerity.

"This place needs you more, and we'll talk after I return," he added.

Batman pointed around and below them to the chaotic battlefield and said, "This is not something a 17-year-old boy can do, so if you plan to lie to me about your background, you'd better spend some time coming up with a good reason."

"I just want to help!" Mason was startled by the sudden outburst. He pretended to be angry and grabbed Batman's wrist.

As soon as they made contact, another message popped up.

'Special material engineering/forging creation - Bat suit combat arm armor, basic blueprint analysis in progress. Forging skill branch unlocked, currently at level 0.'

The young man's eyes sparkled with excitement. He glared at Batman with a fierce determination and yelled out like an impulsive and misunderstood young man.

"It was me who saved Catwoman! You can ask her yourself. I had to go through a lot to make that decision. My father, who was arrested by you three times, died last month during the gunfight between the Penguin and Falcone over the docks. I know my background isn't great, but that doesn't mean I can't turn over a new leaf."

Batman remained unmoved and turned his wrist to break free from Mason's grip.

Mason took a step back, and then as if enraged, he grabbed Batman's battle armor and multi-functional combat belt with both hands, shouting angrily, "I used to admire you so much! I never thought you were just like others, judging people by their appearance."

In that instant of his outburst, three messages appeared again in Mason's eyes.

'Special material engineering/tailor-made Bat suit main body armor, basic blueprint analysis in progress.'

'Special material engineering/ Bat grapple gun, basic blueprint analysis in progress.'

'Special structural engineering/ multi-functional combat belt, basic blueprint analysis in progress.'

'Special material forging creation/Bat dart, basic blueprint analysis in progress.'

The Batman, who was being confronted, completely failed to see through Mason's attempt at "free-loading." He simply looked the angry young man up and down, who was frustrated by his ideas not being accepted.

After a few seconds, Batman reached out, removed Mason's hand from his suit, and coldly said, "Who you are and who you want to become doesn't depend on how I see you. Actual actions are more important than words; a good person would never sit idly by and let others suffer."

With that, Batman took an emergency syringe to stop the bleeding from his belt and threw it to Gordon. Then he jumped into his Batplane, disappearing like a ghost into the sky as the hatch closed.

Mason stood there feeling "disappointed," watching Batman leave. Gordon, who had regained some of his hearing, patted the young man on the shoulder and quietly said

"Don't mind him. That's just how he is. But he's a good person. And so are you, kid. You helped us a lot tonight. Maybe you need some rest now. Your head is still bleeding. Here, take this."

Mason nodded and took the emergency hemostatic injection from Gordon. As he injected the therapeutic drug into his bloodstream, another message flashed before his eyes on the screen:

"Special compound detected: Batman's personal fast-acting hemostatic syringe. Basic blueprint analysis in progress. Alchemy branch activated. Current level: 0."

He looked at the seven special equipment blueprint analysis progress bars that were slowly advancing under the character card screen. He had a gut feeling that Batman was indeed a generous billionaire.

Batman gave him seven advanced blueprints from different specialties the first time they met.

Look at his generosity. What could Penguin, the stingy miser, compare with him. Of course, he still had to show a disappointed look after not being recognized. He then turned to help the injured officers evacuate from the building.

The hospital ambulance had received the news and rushed to the police station building. Things became busy again.

"Commissioner, we found this downstairs," said a limping officer, walking up with a tablet-like device and handing it over to Commissioner Gordon. "It was confiscated from the Penguin, who was knocked out by Batman and tied up. He refused to tell us what it was, but the knowledgeable ones among us said it was probably a tracking device."

Gordon frowned and took the device, looking at the red dot moving on the shrunken map. He felt the thing was very important, but the Gotham Police Department could not dispatch police officers to track it, so he casually placed it on his desk.

"It's that hard drive!"

Mason, who was helping out on the side, squinted and glanced at the tablet beside Commissioner Gordon.

He thought, 'Catwoman told me that the Penguin put a tracking device on his treasure, and that hard drive is now in Batman's hands. So as long as we follow that location, we can find Batman and the Penguin.'

'My goal of clearing my name has been achieved, and I'm now fighting alongside Gotham's police. No one can accuse me of being a villain anymore, and a new career plan can be put on the agenda.'

'Tonight has been truly exciting.'

'But now it's the boss battle between Batman and the Penguin. Should I go and observe up close?'

After more than ten minutes, Commissioner Gordon, who finally breathed a sigh of relief as the last injured person was taken away in an ambulance, sat in a chair and let the medical staff stitch up his wounds.

However, the commissioner soon realized late, "Huh? Where's the tablet that was used for tracking? Who took it? Damn it, that's important evidence!"

.....

"Oswald is on the car below."

The black Batwing swiftly flew through the dark night, gliding around the border of the DC area. Batman had locked onto the Penguin's location through Alfred's signal.

As he left the pilot's seat and prepared to parachute down, he said to Catwoman, who was lying on the co-pilot's seat, "Alfred will pick you up and take you back to the mansion, where the healing chamber is prepared."

"This doesn't feel right, Bruce."

Catwoman, who had been injected with a sedative and was weak and tired, whispered, "You need to be careful. Oswald attacked the police station like a madman, which means there must be something important in that hard drive that's enough to drive him insane."

"As for that kid, Mason. I saw the way you looked at him earlier. He reminded you of Jason, right? Are you planning to make him your next Robin?" she added.

The old man paused for a moment and said, "I don't plan on training another Robin. I don't want to see those kids bleed for my cause again. One death of Jason was enough. But Mason...the abilities he displayed tonight are indeed unique. I think I may need to keep an eye on him for a while. That's enough, you need to rest."

With that, the Batwing opened a drop door, and the old man, wrapped in his cape, jumped out.

Batman's loyal butler, Alfred, took over the ghostly aircraft, and guided it in an elegant arc towards Wayne Manor outside the city.

Batman fell headfirst through the air, opening his cape at a safe height. The black, soft fabric stiffened instantly into a glider-like structure, allowing the Dark Knight to fly like a hunting bat and land precisely on top of the speeding, elongated Lincoln below.

The impact immediately alerted the Penguin and his subordinates in the car, but before they could react, a black Batarang flipped and entered itself on the hood of the car.

The mini EMP bomb detonated, instantly disabling all electronic devices in the car.

The Lincoln car careened out of control, tumbling twice on the street like a drunken snake before crashing headfirst into a fire hydrant on the curb.

"Boom!"

The car door was rudely kicked open, and four or five thugs holding submachine guns jumped out, dizzy, shooting at Batman. But the old man swung in from a nearby utility pole, launching a terrifying surprise attack with close combat punches, knocking them down one after another.

The Penguin, a black market boss who looked like a king penguin with his black tailcoat, high hat, monocle, sharp and odd nose, and carrying a black gentleman's umbrella, slipped out of the car on the other side in the chaos, carrying a briefcase and umbrella, and fled.

Batman was beating up his subordinates behind him, but the Penguin didn't even look back.

However, this guy wasn't just running away. When Batman had dealt with all his men and threw two batarangs at him, the short Penguin turned around and opened his Bulgarian umbrella.

There were two clanging sounds, and the seemingly thin but tough umbrella surface actually bounced the batarangs off.

Then the Penguin pulled the curved umbrella handle and held the open umbrella like a machine gun, shooting at the charging Batman several times.

But the old man had also been through many battles, and when he turned his body, he used his cape to defend and accelerate towards the Penguin.

"Swish"

A snow-white blade popped out from the umbrella head that the Penguin had put away, and the short black gang boss surged with a fierce force as if holding a short spear and stabbed at the charging Batman three times.

After Batman blocked the blade with his combat gauntlets, he twisted the umbrella handle switch again and let the umbrella head spray out raging flames, finally forcing Batman to retreat.

"That thing is on you! They won't let you go!" The sweating Penguin opened the distance and continuously shot with the umbrella, shouting to Batman

"But if you let me go here, Batman, I can pretend this never happened. Over there, I can also deceive my way out. My territory is the most orderly place in Gotham, and I only want to make money without messing around. Haven't we all lived peacefully for the past few years?"

The Dark Knight did not answer. The cold-blooded Batman was not a superhero who liked to talk during battles, which was also part of his purposely maintained spooky style.

The Penguin saw Batman step back and disappear into the shadows, so he grabbed his umbrella and retreated cautiously.

Almost all of their attention was attracted by the Batman hiding in the shadows, ignoring the thin figure hiding in the flower bed on the other side of the street behind them.

Mason, who was lying in the grass, squinted his eyes and quietly raised the engineering gun in his hand. The extra aiming frame of the combat system had locked onto the small penguin man. The trajectory had drawn a red dotted line in front of him, just like a straight line falling between him and the penguin man.

In fact, this was the first time Mason had seen his boss in the true sense of the word, and the previous encounters didn't count.

"Batman! Don't hide, come out!"

Forced to the brink, the Penguin shouted again.

"The other lunatics in this city don't understand your ideas, but I do! I know you drew a line for us. As long as we don't cross it, you can tolerate us living in the gray area."

"I promise you, tonight is just a little accident. I stabbed your little lover, but it was just a misunderstanding. You don't even know what's in that hard drive, right? You better see it with your own eyes. Then you will understand that we can actually work together. Our city is on the verge of collapse!" he added.

"Swish"

A thrown Batarang from another corner interrupted the Penguin's rambling, and Oswald hurriedly turned his umbrella to fire back in that direction.

And in the instant he turned his back to the street, Mason also decisively pulled the trigger.

"That shot was my resignation to the Penguin. You said actions speak louder than words."

The young man looked at Batman, and Batman looked back at him.

At the moment of their gaze, Mason stood up from the bushes, holding his gun in his left hand and raising his right hand. He walked towards the old man and said, "You said actions speak louder than words."

Then, Mason dropped his gun on the ground and waited for Batman's response.

"With the whole city knowing you don't kill, I had no intention of killing in front of you either. I just wanted to let you know that Mason Cooper, who served the Penguin, is already dead. From now on, I only want to live a peaceful life."

Batman didn't reply.

He injected a sedative into the howling and pig-like Penguin and glanced at the two bloody severed fingers at his feet.

In the dimly lit street, he spoke hoarsely to Mason.

"No, this shot means you'll never live a peaceful life again. If you knew how the city's gangs deal with traitors."

.....

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