The withered branches, resembling gray bones, crawled all over the courtyard walls. Eerie and horrifying screams occasionally echoed from within the building. The walls were eroded and peeling, presenting a strange appearance, like a devil’s painting. The entire building exuded a sinister and terrifying atmosphere.

This was Gotham’s oldest building, Arkham Asylum.

Resembling both a mental hospital and a prison, it housed many mentally ill patients with criminal tendencies.

For some reason, Gotham seemed to be a cursed place, where criminals with mental issues were as numerous as pickpockets who could be happy for a day after stealing a hundred dollars in other places.

Inside the asylum.

Batman hid in the shadows, crouching near the railing close to the roof, his cold gaze looking down.

He had come here to investigate a large batch of chemicals that had been transported to the dock.

He had expected someone to secretly produce a white powder capable of sending thousands of people to the gallows, but now it seemed that things were not as he had imagined.

Inside the storage room below, it was like a pharmaceutical factory.

Workers wearing pharmaceutical suits were manufacturing white powder by mixing it in barrels. Under the command of a man in a white coat, the powder was poured into the city’s water pipes that flowed through Arkham.

That man looked like a scarecrow in the field, thin and slightly hunched, with a pair of glasses and a gentle appearance. However, there was a hint of madness between his eyebrows. The nameplate on his chest read “Jonathan Crane,” and his position was chief physician.

“He is the chief physician of this asylum.”

Bruce frowned.

But obviously, this physician was not satisfied with his usual work of dealing with insane patients and had engaged in other activities.

His gaze swept over the thickness of the traces left by the spilled drugs near the pipeline.

“This work has been going on for at least a few days.”

“Is someone poisoning the people of Gotham?”

No, it wasn’t an ordinary toxin. He had been drinking Gotham’s water, but he hadn’t felt anything wrong.

Bruce took a step forward, about to fly down and use his fists to stop these people from their unknown criminal acts, and then interrogate the thin and weak physician by hanging him up with a grappling hook. Suddenly, a message came from his cowl.

“Alfred?”

“Master, someone has come to visit.

It seems that your Batman mask has been exposed. You should come back and take a look.”

After receiving Alfred’s quick and brief warning, Batman hesitated for a moment. Taking advantage of the rushing water in the pipeline to cover his movements, he quickly collected the traces of the spilled powder on the corner of the wall and disappeared into the shadows without a trace.

After his parents’ death, he was raised by the old butler. In Bruce’s heart, Alfred was the only family he had left. He rode the Batcycle and quickly returned home.

…

A few minutes ago, on the streets of Gotham.

Pedestrians coming and going were discussing a certain matter. One of Gotham’s biggest mafia bosses, Vulko, had been stripped down to his underwear and tied up in the shape of a cross, hanging from the Bat-Signal in the sky.

The terrifying silhouette of a bat could be seen when one looked up in Gotham.

As a notorious and respected figure in the underworld for many years, Vulko’s name and authority had been completely destroyed. The entire Gotham felt that something different might be happening.

This was an unprecedented event. Someone was challenging the dark and corrupt order of this city.

For a while, the thugs and criminals on the streets and alleys of Gotham, when extorting and robbing stores, finally began to act like real criminals, with a hint of panic and clumsiness in their crimes, fearing that at any moment, a bat-like figure would emerge from a high place and cast a shadow over them, devouring them!

“Batman?”

A newspaper, blown by the wind, slapped Clark’s face as he looked up at the tall buildings of Gotham.

Clark took off the newspaper and saw the bright red headline on it—Under the Bat-Signal, Roman Vulko was captured.

There was also a photo of the scene, as well as a sketch of Batman spreading his wings and flashing past the tall buildings.

He was stunned for a moment. Why did that silhouette look so familiar?

“Is this the person who knows the location of the Lazarus Pit?”

Clark turned around in confusion, only to see someone he didn’t recognize.

“Who are you? And why are you wearing David’s clothes?”

David had naturally regained his appearance when he returned to the small town, so he couldn’t reveal his true identity in Gotham.

“Where is your blue hood?”

He reminded him.

“David? How did you become like this? Is this also your ability?”

Upon hearing these words and recognizing the familiar height and build, Clark immediately realized that the person in front of him was his brother. He was greatly surprised and followed his brother’s suggestion to take out the blue hood and put it on.

“Where can we find this Batman now?”

“Bats are creatures that are active at night.”

Ignoring Clark’s curious gaze, David thought for a moment and said.

“Let’s go to his house and take a look.”

Batman also needed rest, and the night was when Gotham’s crime rate was high. He might be at home at this time.

The two of them traversed the city at supersonic speed and arrived at the outskirts of Gotham, in front of Wayne Manor.

Green grass, walls covered with climbing plants, a tall and black manor gate, a long corridor of statues, and a grand and tall castle behind a fountain.

“What a huge manor.

Lex’s manor is not as vast as this one.”Standing outside the mansion, Clark gazed in awe, feeling like a country boy stepping into the city for the first time.

“So, Batman lives here?

What are his abilities?”

The newspapers reported that Batman stood up to gangsters and criminals to save others and maintain the city’s order. It was impossible for him to face numerous armed criminals barehanded. He instinctively thought of the superhumans he had encountered before.

“You’ve already seen it.”

“Seen it?” Clark looked puzzled. All he saw was a vast, ancient mansion.

David chose not to barge in without notice and rang the doorbell.

On the palm-sized screen attached to the square stone pillar next to the door, the face of an elderly man with the demeanor of a British butler appeared.

“May I help you?”

“Is Bruce Wayne in?”

“I’m sorry, sir is not at home. Please come back another day. May I have your name so I can…”

“Is Batman in?”

Ignoring the butler’s formulaic response, David asked coldly.

Was Bruce Wayne, who was currently instilling fear into the hearts of all the criminals in Gotham, out even during the day, working overtime to fight crime?

“Batman?

Are you referring to the vigilante who flies around Gotham in a bat cloak?”

Alfred recognized David at a glance, but he didn’t show it.

Batman had once projected David’s face on the screen in the Batcave, wanting to gather information. He had also seen the astonishing video of David killing a robber with a beam of light shot from his finger.

“This is Wayne Manor, and the person you’re looking for is not here.”

Then, with an apologetic tone, he turned off the video.

“What do we do now?”

Clark scratched his face. They had been turned away at the door. The situation was urgent. Should they break in?

“It doesn’t matter. I’ve achieved my goal.

Right now, a certain bat should be rushing back to its nest.”

Not planning to stand outside like a fool, David pulled Clark past the gate and into the mansion.

…

Mounting the Batcycle, Batman sped back to his own mansion.

Like a thief, he used a grappling hook to sneak into the second floor of his own house. He peered through the window.

In the living room, two men were sitting on the sofa, being entertained by Alfred.

A familiar figure didn’t drink the coffee in front of him. His fingers were rapidly tapping on the armrest of the sofa, as if he was impatiently waiting for something.

“This predator hasn’t left Gotham yet? What could be making him so anxious?”