"Sherlock???" Red Hood exclaimed in surprise, "What was his mother thinking? Sherlock Holmes?! Is she serious???"
"If I remember correctly, Hermes is the name of the god of wisdom, isn't it? The name Holmes sounds like some hero from Greek mythology, but to call him Sherlock? It sounds..."
Nightwing frowned deep in thought for a while, then finally commented, "... like sprinkling popping candy on a red wine steak."
"David would have been a better choice." Red Robin cut to the chase.
"John works too." Red Hood added.
Leading the way, Red Hood approached Batman, eager to see what made this detective named Sherlock Holmes worthy of the title "the greatest detective."
How great could he be? Greater than Batman?
Wait a minute, why was the esteemed Batman holed up in his study reading novels during this chaotic time in the world?
Red Hood swiftly turned his gaze to Batman's face, and the other two gathered around. It seemed like they were going to read the book, but their true intention was to find out why Batman was in this room.
So, why was Batman here?
His absence in New City was mainly for the sake of world peace, but he still had plenty of other things to do. He could combat crime in Gotham as usual, but he chose not to.
Batman had every reason not to go. Firstly, all the madmen in Arkham Asylum had jumped off the deep end.
If it weren't for the shield created by the Apocalypse Star Army, he would still be worried whether those lunatics would return by plane. But now the lockdown shield was in place, and they could not come back even if they wanted to.
No lunatics with bad brains in sight, and neither were there any in-town mobs on fire.
But speaking of combating mob crimes in Gotham City, it was necessary to mention Batman's glorious records of refusing to take vegetables from his dear mother or reject toasts from his dad.
The war that spread across three districts of Gotham brought the whole city back to the gang era overnight. The biggest winners in the gang war were the Wayne and Kane families.
Today, the gangs in Wayne City had either been organized by the Wayne and Kane families or were about to be. So, who else could Batman strike at?
Here came the problem again. Mr. and Mrs. Wayne could easily produce evidence proving Batman to be mentally ill. As his guardians, they had the right to commit Batman to a mental hospital.
Batman could previously argue that Arkham Mental Hospital was already at full capacity. But now, his adoring fans had even kindly vacated places for him.
Batman was no longer the only child of the Batman Family. Although Mr. and Mrs. Wayne were currently his biological parents, they could also be the biological parents of the other Batmans. After all, besides him, none of the other Batmans had parents.
Even if they did not find other Batmans, the Robins were also excellent training subjects. Even the older ones could have missed the golden age of education, the younger Robins were all endowed with great intelligence and talent. As could be seen from Dick.
Batman, having lost the status of being the only child, had to behave himself, because he knew that if Mr. and Mrs. Wayne proposed to send him to a mental hospital for treatment, the whole world would raise both hands in agreement, including his friends.
Batman also knew he was mentally ill. It's just that he didn't want to change his ways, so he wouldn't give his parents any chance to cure him.
It was not a problem to be placed in the psychiatric hospital, but what if they cured his insanity?
What if they cured his insanity while the Joker was still watching?
Batman and the Joker were dynamically bound. If the Joker found out that he had been cured together with Batman because Batman had slacked off, wouldn't the Joker fight him to death?
The best short-term solution was to act submissive first.
Although not going to stop the war was declared for maintaining world peace, Batman had previously made a huge fuss and needed to find something to keep busy, so it could explain why he didn't go.
Without the possibility of combating crimes in Gotham City and no clouds to thrash in this high place, Batman was left with only one option — fuss over the Robins.
"The first part of this detective novel is called 'A Study in Scarlet'. Do you know what this reminds me of? That's right, the Riddler leaving marks on the wall, his usual method of committing crimes…"
The three Robins immediately perked up. Their heads crowded together over the novel, eagerly wanting to see just how capable the criminal who had invoked thoughts of the Riddler in Batman was.
"Tell me where Batman is."
A person, wearing a steel helmet, a tight-fitting suit, and armed with a spiked mechanical spear, was pacing around a chair in the dimly lit room.
The man sitting on the chair was extremely thin with green hair. His head was hung low, but one could still vaguely make out the wide open smile on his face in the shadow.
"Ha ha...hahahahaha!"
He started laughing in a low voice, which then turned into wild laughter. A dagger was plunged into his shoulder, but it didn't deter his boisterous laughter from reaching farther into the distance.
"Tell me where Batman is!!"
The interrogator raised his voice. He reached out a hand and choked the Joker harshly, gazing into his eyes while saying, "Don't test my patience, lunatic. Your madness means nothing to me. I will extract every useful thing in your brain."