Chapter 20: Court of Owls

 Deathstroke is not who I am. It's my job and I love it. Viewed from a certain angle, I can come off looking like quite the bad egg. A real villain. A mass-murdering psychopathic killer, even. But that depends on who's describing me. Dead men don't talk. They sure as hell don't gossip. I think I'm a heck of a good guy, actually. My name is Slade Wilson. And I love adventure.

 — Deathstroke

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"Are you going to insert this thing into my body?"

"Of course, but don't be nervous, Ivy; I will come gently."

"You know I've been afraid of this since I was a kid."

"The best way to overcome fear is to face it with a smile. Besides, without your blood, how can I conduct research?"

Regarding the fact that Jude Herbert turned out to be a scientist and the fact that he is a very awesome scientist, Ivy is very surprised, but at this time, she has already adapted to it a little.

The needle was inserted into her body inch by inch and the blood was drawn out a little bit, but the color of the blood was a bit strange, with a little green in the red.

"Is this my blood? Why is it green?"

"Green is alright; otherwise, how can you manipulate plants? But the medicine that Arkham gives you should be semi-finished products. What I have to do now is optimize your genes so that you can achieve complete manipulation."

"Of course, this will take a while; the next thing you have to do now is to wait and be at ease."

The equipment and blood were in place, and Jude fell into crazy scientific research again. After observing through a microscope for a long time, he extracted the gene fragments from Ivy's body.

Then the gene stripping was performed. This process requires extreme caution and it is a very long process. 

After the genes were stripped off, Jude discovered that as expected in the normal human genes there was also a layer of genes that were similar to those extracted from plants.

Moreover, the genetic makeup of this layer of plants is very complicated. Through comparison dozens of species such as cactus, lilies, morning glory, ginkgo trees, and creepers can be found, not to mention that there are still no comparisons.

And these plant genes are slowly eroding Ivy's human genes, so her skin is turning green. According to this momentum, Ivy should be completely converted into a plant in less than half a year.

When he told Ivy about this discovery, it was no surprise that the girl was terrified, swallowed, and asked, "What would happen if I became a plant?"

"You will be miserable. Your feet will become roots and plunge into the ground. From then on, you can no longer move. You can't eat; you can only absorb the nutrients from the ground, but those things may be made of shit."

Jude briefly described a few words, making Ivy almost spit it out. She cried out in horror with her hands on her head, "No, I don't want to absorb shit; Herbert, you must save me."

"I'm saving you; as long as I can make a medicine that changes the structure of your genes, you'll not only be fine, but you will also become extremely perfect."

The research time this time is longer than that of the penguin. After all, one is just a genetic mutation, which is relatively simple, while Ivy is mixed with too many, possibly as many as a thousand, even with Grandpa Rick's brain and talent. This process is still long.

After spending half a month in the laboratory, Jude finally figured out the entangled plant genes in Ivy—as many as 3543 species.

At this moment, he also had to praise them. It seems that the Arkham Gang still has some abilities. The fusion of so many genes did not result in rejection. Based on this, it's not an exaggeration to express admiration.

But Jude didn't know that the plant medicines that penetrated Ivy's body had been studied for decades in the depths of Arkham and the manpower, material, and financial resources invested were countless. Before Hugo Strange accepted it, this research had gone through several generations.

It only took him half a month to crack the genes, and even he was confident that he could produce a perfect version within seven days.

At the end of the first stage, Jude walked out of the laboratory, yawning. At this moment, he was unkempt and looked very embarrassed and he was still exuding a bad smell.

Ignoring the white coats that swarmed in, Jude left on his own, taking a hot bath first and then eating a big meal while Ivy sat opposite and looked a little nervous.

"What's wrong with you, Ivy? Didn't I tell you, the research has progressed, and you will be fine very soon?"

Ivy hesitated for a moment and said, "No, I am not worried about this. Bridgit was attacked two days ago."

"Attacked? Didn't she stay in the Iceberg restaurant?"

"She was indeed at the Iceberg Restaurant but she felt bored so she went out, but was attacked that night. She was injured in her right arm and it was fractured."

Jude frowned. "Who was the one who attacked her? Don't tell me it's Batman."

It has been half a month since Arkham was breached. Jude knew very well that, let alone Batman, the people in Arkham's depths and Bigfoot might have locked in.

It's just that the current Gotham is too chaotic. The Clayface, Two-face, kite man, ventriloquist, Mad Hatter, and other villains have collectively dispatched to cause trouble, restraining the energies of the Bat-family and Arkham, so he can live in peace for a while, but this period will never be very long.

"It was not Batman. it's the person we met in the depths of Arkham."

"The one with super self-healing ability?"

"Yes, Bridgit escaped to a bar and was reluctantly left by the crowd."

Jude seriously considered the identity of the self-healing man. Although there are many people with self-healing abilities in the comics, such as the most famous Captain America, Deathstroke, Deadpool, etc., these people are not related to Gotham City. 

While meeting this characteristic, it is possible to squat in the role of Arkham. The most likely one is Talon, who is the thug of the Court of Owls, the villain behind Gotham who manipulates Gotham.

The person in charge in the depths of Arkham is Hugo Strange. This guy can't afford such a big person alone. Who is behind him?

Falcone and Maroni those crime families? This is possible, but these crime families are more keen on making money and grabbing territory and are not interested in human testing.

The Court of Owls is different. To control Gotham for a long time they even radiate the surrounding area and to control the entire United States and the world, they need superpower thugs who can deal with Batman, and even deal with other superheroes. To do this, only the Talons are not enough; they should have made it deep into Arkham.

Just then, the phone rang, and Jude looked around and found that it was the Penguin.

"Hello, Mr. Oswald."

The Penguin didn't say anything, and he said straightforwardly, "Mr. Herbert, it seems that you have messed with someone you shouldn't mess with, and now they want me to hand you over."

Jude took a big gulp of vodka and exhaled a breath of enthusiasm: "Let me guess who it is, are they from the Court of Owls?"

The Penguin was silent for a while and then whispered, "You know them."

"Of course, I know everything; your Cobblepot family didn't join the court, did they?"

The Penguin fell silent again. He has been abandoned since he was a child. Although he is now recognized to rejoin the family, he does not know much about many things, and Jude knows more than him, which makes him very uncomfortable.

"That's good, so I didn't have to hand you over for the first time, but I have this feeling; after all, the price they gave is very attractive."

"Mr. Oswald, you can't be ungrateful; otherwise, you will have no friends."

The Penguin laughed and said, "But friends can't help me run for mayor, can they?"

This time, it was Jude's turn to fall into silence. After a while, he said, "Three days; give me three days, and I will be able to finish the work at hand, and we will be clean up. Then you can sell us.."

"Very good, deal."

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Talon is a name used by several different characters in Batman mythology. The mysterious Court of Owls have a legion of highly-trained undead assassins called Talons to control their interests, with their most prominent and recurring member being William Cobb, Dick Grayson's great-grandfather. Another prominent Talon is Calvin Rose, a defector from the Court who uses the mantle to strike back at them.

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Updated some starting chapters