There is no Batman in Gotham City comics.

Chapter 16 Hope, Conspiracy, Betrayal

"Who saved us?"

Qin Wei asked the most crucial question.

As he spoke, he licked his dry lips, his eyes fixed on James Gordon. If what he had seen earlier wasn't an illusion, then Batman was hiding in this world in a more covert way.

"You don't know either? Brock and I fell into the sea and clung to a rock. Gradually, we both became exhausted and sank into the water. When we woke up, we were on the shore."

Gordon's answer was like a powerful reassurance.

Qin Weide left; he had to find Batman within an hour.

Before leaving, he borrowed some money from Gordon, and also asked for a flashlight and a piece of rope.

"What do you need these things for?"

"Don't worry, I won't do anything illegal. But I can't say it outright either, otherwise you'll definitely do what you did last time and threaten to send me to Arkham Asylum."

After saying goodbye to Gordon, Qin Wei hailed a taxi on the street.

When he told the driver he wanted to go to Wayne Manor, the driver cursed and tried to kick him out of the car. Wayne Manor has been rumored to be haunted for years, and apart from YouTubers who enjoy outdoor adventures, no one wants to go near that haunted place, especially since it was late at night.

Until he slapped three hundred dollars in the other person's face.

Are you in a hurry?

"The sooner the better!"

"Then you'd better fasten your seatbelt!"

The orange taxi sped along the empty streets of Gotham, crossed the Robert Kane Bridge, and arrived at Wayne Estate, located in the northeastern corner of Gotham's outskirts.

The car headlights illuminated the rusty fence, and the abandoned Wayne Manor resembled a rotting monster, exuding an unsettling aura.

"I'll be waiting for you in the car!"

The driver locked the car doors and pulled out a packet of macaroni from somewhere, then started munching on it.

After climbing over the railing, Qin Wei found the deep well that was locked with wooden planks.

It leads to the Batcave, it holds Bruce Wayne's fears, and it is the starting point of the hero's saga.

After smashing the wooden planks, Qin Wei tied one end of the rope to a dead old tree, and slowly descended into the cave with a flashlight in his mouth.

The slippery well walls were covered with moss, and the noises they made startled the bats sleeping inside the cave. The noisy flapping of their wings rolled in from the deep darkness.

Qin Wei thought he wasn't afraid of bats, but when countless small chiropterans fluttered past him, he still closed his eyes in fear.

He smelled an odor, a familiar stench often found in sewers, a smell of fear emanating from his pores.

The fear of these little creatures carrying viruses has long been written into human DNA.

No wonder Batman uses them as his symbol.

After descending to the bottom of the well, Qin Wei walked along the rugged stone cave for about five minutes.

The flashlight beam illuminated an underground cavern filled with stalactites and stalagmites.

He was destined to be disappointed.

There was no high-tech equipment, no Batmobile, and no transparent glass case storing the armor.

It still retains its original appearance, an abandoned underground mine, with rusty mine ladders lying dead at the bottom of the cave, like the stubborn corpse of a remnant of an old era guarding its headquarters.

Without Batman, Qin Wei knew he would definitely die at Maroney's hands.

The boring time-travel game should have ended long ago; he's already incredibly lucky to have survived this long.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" The driver continued rambling even after we got in the car.

"Don't worry! If the police question me, I won't say you've been here. Everyone has secrets in Gotham..."

Qin Wei ignored the other person, pressed his head against the car window, and let the desolate scenery recede into his pupils.

He didn't have much time left. In the end, he wanted to return to the Senate, the only familiar place in this cold world.

After getting off the bus, I gave all the money in my pocket to the driver.

"Sheriff Gordon, I can't pay you back now!" Qin Wei muttered to himself with a silly grin. As soon as he turned around, he saw a familiar face on the steps of the Senate.

Oswald?!

The two wounded men stared at each other.

"Damn it, Oswald! How did you escape?!"

After asking the question, Qin Wei felt he was being a bit foolish. Maronny had no need to restrict Oswald's actions; the entire city of Gotham was in his hands.

"I just slipped out of the hospital. That son of a bitch Maroni thought I was still unconscious, so he didn't send many people to watch me."

Oswald's jaw was in a cast, and his voice was muffled. After that incident, Maroni's standing in his eyes plummeted, and he was no longer addressed as "Dear Sir" but as "Don't eat the sour radish."

"You didn't get the money back, did you?"

Qin Wei shook his head.

Oswald wasn't annoyed: "That was an impossible task, but I still have to thank you for everything you did. It looks like you were badly injured."

"I stole two bottles of your wine, so we're even."

The two exchanged a smile and silently accepted this worst possible outcome.

With ten minutes to go before midnight, in the final moments of their lives, they sat on the steps of their apartment, chatting intermittently.

"You're from the Copport family, aren't you? How did the heir of one of the four great families end up working as Maroney's lackey?"

"This story isn't very pleasant to hear, I'll tell you it another time." Oswald touched his signature high nose bridge.

They kept saying "there will be another chance," but they knew they would never have that chance again.

The clock struck twelve, echoing through Gotham, and a flurry of footsteps sounded at the street corner.

Was it Maroni who sent assassins? Oswald brushed the dust off his backside and stood up, trying to face death with as much dignity as possible.

But when the person broke through the darkness and appeared under the streetlight, Qin Wei's heart began to pound.

Selena, what's she doing here!

"Finally found you! Why didn't you tell Sheriff Gordon where you were before you left? I've had to look for you so many times!"

"Come with me, I have something to tell you!" She glanced warily at Oswald, then grabbed Qin Wei's hand and ran into a side alley.

"I'm sorry, I might not survive tonight. Cooperation..."

Just as Qin Wei was about to apologize, a stack of checks was shoved into his hand. He turned on his flashlight and counted them; there were nine checks totaling five hundred thousand US dollars, plus the five hundred thousand US dollars that Hugo had returned to Maroney—it was all the stolen gambling money.

"Where did this come from!"

"I got it from Hugo Strange, I guess." Selena tilted her head and raised an eyebrow at Qin Wei with a smug look.

"But we haven't found Hugo's hiding place at all..."

"Are you an idiot? Use your brain and think it through! Bio-engineered humans are volatile. If Dr. Hugo didn't want his experimental equipment to be destroyed, he certainly wouldn't have set up his lab at the bottom of the sewers where bio-engineered humans frequently appear."

"The first and second floors are not safe either; they are easy for people to find."

"So his lab was on the third floor of the sewers! You found his lab and stole the money?"

Upon hearing the news, Qin Wei's breathing became rapid, and he clutched his chest for a long time before he could calm down.

Every time he prepared for the worst, death's scythe would just slip by, and after several such incidents, even a healthy heart would be terrified.

But Catwoman's answer was unexpected.

"No, no, no! I originally planned to steal it, but it seems Hugo already knew I was going and was waiting for me there."

"so……"

"To correct you, I was originally waiting for you, not this beautiful lady."

The familiar voice rang out from the shadows, and Qin Wei raised his flashlight to look in the direction of the sound.

Dr. Hugo's forced smile flickered eerily under the light.

Just as Qin Wei was surprised by the doctor's appearance, Selena suddenly turned against him and stabbed something into his neck.

I felt a needle-like sharp object pierce the skin of my neck, and an electric shock-like numbness instantly spread throughout my body.