Chapter 1430: New Arkham (Middle)_1

Colorado State, Denver, Florence ADX Supermax Prison, 7:00PM.

The bright headlights of the prison van carved a luminous arc on the dark highway. As the glow slowed and gradually halted, armed security guards streamed out of the prison, aiming their weapons at the vehicle.

The highly proficient extraction process moved steadily forward until a robustly built convict in a restraining suit was pushed out of the van. Amanda Waller opened the prison gates, stepping behind the guards to sign the confirmation documents.

"Keep a close eye on him," Amanda said coldly. "As far as I know, this Thomas Elliott doesn't possess any extraordinary abilities, but don't let your guard down. Remember the number of people he has killed."

Amanda pursed her lips, real anger and sadness tingeing her tone. She swallowed slightly before continuing, "The incompetent fools at the Federal Bureau of Investigation allowed him to escape during the investigation, resulting in seventeen more victims at his hands."

"The Bandaged Murder Demon, quite the formidable reputation." Amanda closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, "When he was apprehended, he had just murdered a farming family in the southern part of Kansas State. The surviving little girl was only eleven, forever stripped off her parents, grandparents, and uncle, left to be an orphan."

The atmosphere was tense, as if frozen. The captain of the guard, a middle-aged Caucasian male, approached and reassuringly patted her shoulder, "Our job is to make them pay the price. Come on, there's one final review process before we put him in the cell."

The van carrying the convict and fully armed security personnel proceeded to enter the prison in an imposing procession. From the main gate inward, the prison was no longer quiet and dim, with most of the cells being lit.

Amanda had conceded to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Congress to salvage years of her effort from being destroyed. The Florence ADX Supermax Prison would now admit common heavy offenders who are serial killers, instead of only admitting those with special abilities as before.

This turned the prison more into a typical high-risk prison. Although still stringent, it no longer lacked humanity. Inmates would be confined for a maximum of twenty hours a day, with one hour of relaxation time and three hours for personal needs and grooming.

Thanks to Amanda's previous plans, this prison was designed to incarcerate criminals with superpowers. So, its security measures were much stronger than other high-risk prisons. The Federal Bureau of Investigation knew this and had thrown all the difficult convicts in here.

In fact, up until now, the imprisonment results have been satisfactory. After all, if your aim is to confine a monstrous creature with invincible strength and flying ability, dealing with ordinary humans bound by Earth's gravity shouldn't be too difficult.

In her office, Amanda stared into the eyes of Captain of the Guard Hoggis and said, "I tell you, he must be put in maximum security confinement, with security level A, plus round-the-clock surveillance!"

Hoggis sighed and looked at Amanda, "Madam, you can't let personal biases..."

"He's a Gothamite!" Amanda stepped forward and stared intently at Hoggis, "Isn't that enough?"

Hoggis's face showed hesitation. After a few seconds, he nodded and said, "Alright, as you wish, Madam. But we must try to avoid excessive surveillance, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is waiting for us to make mistakes."

Amanda rubbed her brow and said, "I understand that better than you. They have been throwing one difficult convict after another in here to create trouble. Believe me, I will not make mistakes."

Hoggis didn't say anything else and after he left, Amanda went back behind her desk, picked up the telephone and dialed a number.

"Hello? Professor, have you heard about the capture of Thomas Elliott? Yes, the Federal Bureau of Investigation dumped him here."

"As always, I need all his information - character, psychology and behavioral patterns, so that I can devise an effective containment strategy."

Amanda listened as the voice of Shiller at the other end of the line thinned due to static on the phone.

"Amanda, do you think this can last? Accepting those violent and troublesome murderers, hoping they were in my contacts, and then getting their weaknesses from me to devise containment strategies around them?"

"That's all I can do now!" Amanda's voice was filled with deep exhaustion. "This prison is my only hope of holding my ground. If these brutal murderers are destined to have a tomb, I want it to be this prison."

"Well, good luck then." Shiller did not try to dissuade her further and just hung up the phone. Amanda supported herself on the table with one hand, her hand covering her eyes as she lowered her head.

Since the number of prisoners increased, the Florence ADX Supermax Prison no longer had the luxury of single cells. Even the maximum-security cells housed four people. However, because the prison had high ceilings, two beds were on the ground and two were fixed midway up the room. The ladders were completely separated to minimize the possibility of conflicts.

A heavily bandaged hulking man was led into the cell; his entire face was obscured by bandages except for his left eye. His eye was full of cruelty and madness. But then, who in such a prison wasn't cruel and mad?

Just as the Bandaged Murder Demon stepped in, a bald man in a sleeveless shirt with a bright dahlia tattoo on his left arm stood up. He gave the Bandaged Murder Demon a quick up-and-down look, let out a cold laugh, and said, "How could that bitch Amanda let you in here with those laughable bandages on your head? She originally stripped me down to my underwear!"

The other two people, one was curled up on his bed, and the other stood behind the bald man. The Bandaged Murder Demon lowered his head and walked towards his bed. Suddenly, someone grabbed him by the shoulder, and instantly, the world spun around him.

He was thrown to the ground, a strong bald man stepping on his chest, looking at him and saying, "I heard you're a crazy fan of Bruce Wayne, even had plastic surgery to look like him. He's quite a looker, I once got a couple of tabloids with his picture from the prison guards and had some fun with it. How about we have some fun?"

Just as the bald man leaned down with a sarcastic smile, he suddenly felt a sharp pain at his ankle. Underneath the bandages, a single eye stared coldly at him. A hard grip digging into the soft spot of his ankle. The bald man yelped in pain, his leg forcefully yanked forwards. He lost balance and fell to the ground with a 'thump'.

"Bang, bang, bang!"

The prison guard pounded on the bars. The Bandaged Murder Demon let go, the bald man rose to his feet, covering one arm, swearing profusely and shooting the guard menacing glances.

The man with his face fully wrapped in bandages said nothing. He climbed silently onto the bed and leaned against the wall, lost in his thoughts. The evil, lascivious gaze of the bald man never left him.

During the evening wash time, the bald man and his crew were taken out first. Another smaller, always silent man moved next to the Bandaged Murder Demon and asked, "Do you really, I mean really, look like Bruce Wayne?"

The Bandaged Murder Demon glanced at him, reached out a hand to pull down a piece of bandage from the right side of his face. Beneath it was not smooth and fair skin, but a hideous wound.

The smaller man jumped in surprise. A deep, hoarse voice that was almost inaudible articulated, "The newspaper did not mention that I was trying to have surgery to look like Wayne, but the surgery was interrupted."

The smaller man closed his mouth. Hearing footsteps from the end of the corridor, he lowered his voice and whispered into the Bandaged Murder Demon's ears. "You better not let 'Big Dog' know you're disfigured, or he might go from wanting to fuck you to wanting to kill you."

A little later, the burly bald man known as 'Big Dog' violently swung open the door, casting a cold glance at the Bandaged Murder Demon seated by the door. A prison guard tapped on the bars, signaling the other two to put on cuffs and go wash.

The Bandaged Murder Demon, with only one eye to see, looked at him and then shook his head. The prison guard frowned with dissatisfaction but said nothing. He waved his cudgel for the small man to go out alone.

Without the guard, Big Dog and his comrades stood up, approaching the spot where the Bandaged Murder Demon sat.

Inside the office of Shiller at Arkham Mental Hospital, Jonathan, bored, rested his elbow on the table, hand propping his cheek saying, "Must I really share a lab with that pigheaded person? His hygiene observance is shit! Leaving things all over the place, he's so annoying."

Shiller, seated opposite across the table was busy with some files. Without raising his head, he responded, "Or you could go next door and work with the Puppet Master, the one who likes to play around with corpses."

Jonathan instantly shrank his shoulders saying, "No way, only that skin-flaying woman could stand him, they are a perfect match."

Jonathan drummed his fingers on the tabletop. After a while, he began, "That girl named Zatanna came looking for me. She asked me to analyze a formula for a so-called magic potion."

Shiller raised an eyebrow, to which Jonathan wondered, "What do you make of her?"

Without moving his head, Shiller raised his eyes to meet Jonathan's, "In which aspect? Ask Brand for her professional competence, I don't know magic. As for the personality… she's a spitting image of Bruce a few years ago."

"You know what?" Jonathan switched hands to prop up his face,"I quite regret missing Bruce. He was a good research subject, valuable and irreplicable. I think Zatanna has the same quality. Moreover, she's in a very gullible phase, just like Bruce originally was."

"If you are suggesting that she should go through the four years of torment like between me and Bruce, then there's no need." Shiller continues to focus on his data.

Regardless, Jonathan still gave a nonchalant sneer. Obviously, he was not here to seek approval from Shiller. In his mind, he already had a plan. As he was leaving, Shiller went back to writing and said.

"That careless girl might need some changes, but she is backed by the mystic world. With an ancient lineage and a noble status. If you mess up, don't blame me for throwing you out of Arkham."

Jonathan let out a chuckle, "Ancient lineage, noble status, wasn't Bruce the same?"

"What about me?"

A voice came from behind the office door, Shiller looked up. Jonathan turned around. Both of them set their sights on Bruce, both frowned.

Bruce seemed a bit bewildered, his arm muscles tensed for a moment and then relaxed. He strode over to Shiller's desk and placed a document in front of him.

Shiller picked up the document, took a glance at it.

"Do you want to transfer back to the Department of Psychology?"