The Depths of Arkham

"Mr. Invisible Man, are you there?"

"Of course. I'm right beside you."

"All right, but honestly, it's pretty unsettling to have someone I can't detect following me around all the time."

The Riddler casually led the way while Jude dealt with every guard along the route. Arkham quickly became a world of ice and snow, and eventually, the two arrived before a wall.

"Mr. Invisible Man, as you can see, this is the entrance to the depths of Arkham."

"Looks like there's something strange about this wall. Show me."

The Riddler knocked three times on the wall. The wall immediately parted like waves, revealing a door with a keypad lock.

"So there really is something hidden here. Do you know the password?"

The Riddler pointed at his head. "Are you insulting my intelligence, Mr. Invisible Man? Any password, as long as I encounter it once, no matter how, can't escape this."

As he spoke, he entered a string of numbers, and the door opened at once. Behind it was a complete room, and a fairly large one at that.

"No need to be surprised. It's actually an elevator, the kind that goes straight underground. The so-called depths of Arkham are hidden beneath the earth."

The two took the elevator down, and it took a full thirty seconds to reach the bottom. Thirty meters underground—calling it the depths was no exaggeration.

After leaving the elevator, the Riddler lowered his head slightly. "The laboratory is ahead, but I can't accompany you any farther. I need to leave this place as soon as possible."

Jude ignored him and strode forward. After passing through a long corridor, he came upon a fork in the path.

Picking a route at random, Jude walked for a while before reaching a laboratory. He gently pushed open the door. The researchers were so engrossed in their experiments that none of them noticed him.

Petri dishes and nutrient tanks were arranged throughout the room, most containing various creatures—even humans—soaking inside. Three researchers in protective suits were fiddling with something at an experiment table.

Only when he drew closer did Jude see clearly. They were injecting red liquid into a cat's body.

As the liquid entered the cat, the previously calm kitten suddenly began struggling violently, hissing through its mouth.

Then, suddenly, the kitten stopped struggling. After lying still for a moment, it stopped breathing. It was clearly dead.

"Looks like the formula is still wrong. Pierce, prepare it again according to 6:7:9. Add another milligram of fusion agent and get ready for the next round of experiments."

Just as Pierce was about to move, a Freezing Ray struck him.

In an instant, two of the three were frozen, leaving only the one who had been giving orders.

The man turned to run, but Jude's icy voice sounded behind him. "I suggest you stand still, unless your legs are faster than a gun."

The man immediately stopped and raised his hands in surrender. "Don't kill me. I'm just an ordinary researcher. Everything I did was under orders."

"Shut up! I ask, you answer!"

The man hurriedly nodded like a pecking chicken.

"Who's in charge here?"

"Dr. Hugo Strange."

At the name, Jude frowned. Another veteran Batman villain.

If it was this guy, conducting human experiments was perfectly normal. After all, that was how he had made his name in the original story.

As an ordinary villain without any superpowers, Dr. Hugo Strange's greatest ability was scientific research.

He was a mad scientist proficient in psychology, psychiatry, chemistry, anatomy, and more. If he had been willing to put his talents to proper use, he could have been a contributor capable of advancing human civilization. Unfortunately, he had been born in Gotham.

"Is Strange here?"

The other man hurriedly shook his head.

"Have any newcomers been brought in over the past few days? Was one of them named Ivy?"

This time, the man nodded.

Jude's eyes lit up. He had finally found a lead.

"Where is she? Take me to her!"

A troubled expression appeared on the researcher's face, but then he saw one of his frozen colleagues get punched apart, turning into a pile of icy fragments without spilling a single drop of blood.

Swallowing hard, the man chose to lead the way.

Since Jude was invisible, it looked as though the man was simply wandering around. He was a regular staff member here, so walking about was perfectly normal.

"Good. Relax. Act like you normally would."

Even if the man wanted to die right now, he could only pretend to remain calm.

After walking for nearly ten minutes, the man brought Jude to a door.

"It's here. All the surviving test subjects are being held inside."

"Open the door. Go in!"

The man shook his head like a rattle drum. "No, no, no. They hate me. They'll tear me apart."

Jude frowned. "Aren't these test subjects locked up?"

"They are, but they're still dangerous."

"Then you should understand that if you don't go in, you'll be torn apart right now."

The man gave a dry laugh and could only open the door. But the moment it opened, he ran backward. Jude promptly shot him.

Inside was a layout similar to Arkham Prison: glass rooms holding all kinds of people, some of whom had clearly become monstrous.

The instant the door opened, many of the test subjects looked over, only to find no one there. They could not help feeling confused.

Jude's gaze swept over them one by one. There was a fat man weighing four or five hundred pounds, a giant monster over two meters tall, a child with birdlike wings growing from his back, and a woman with rat claws and a tail.

"Who are you looking for?"

As his gaze passed over someone completely wrapped in black clothes, a woman's voice came from within the black-clothed figure.

Jude stared at her in shock. "You can see me?"

The woman snorted. "They burned me, but they also gave me a special ability. I have Heat Vision. In my eyes, you have nowhere to hide."

"Heat Vision? I see. Looks like the Invisibility Belt still needs improvement."

"Tell me, who are you looking for? Maybe I can help. I can tell you're not one of them, and I know everyone here well."

"Ivy Pepper. A blonde girl around twenty years old. She hasn't been here long, probably less than a week. Have you seen her?"

The woman thought for a moment. "That green-skinned chick?"

"Green skin?"

"Sorry, that should be what she looked like after being modified. Maybe she used to be white, but it's still better than being covered in festering wounds like me."

"Where is she?"

The woman gestured with her lips toward the right. "Newcomers are all locked up in the innermost area. Turn right at the first corner, then the third room on the left. I heard she was the only one in this batch who survived. Pretty lucky."

"But you'd better be careful. People who have just finished undergoing experiments usually aren't in a good mood."

"Thanks!"

Jude quickly headed over. Through the glass, he indeed found a woman with green skin lying on the floor. Though her hair had changed from blonde to red, her face was unmistakably Ivy Pepper's.

He pulled the trigger, and the Freezing Ray covered the glass wall. The ultra-low temperature instantly reduced the speed of electron movement to an extremely low level. Jude kicked out, and the specially made glass wall immediately shattered.

This instantly stirred the other test subjects into an uproar. Huge roars rang out. No one wanted to remain here, trapped in this inhuman prison.

"Shut up, all of you! Do you want to draw the guards here?"

The Black-Clothed Woman hurriedly shouted. It seemed she held some status in this prison, and the other test subjects quickly fell silent.

Only then did Jude let out a breath. He walked up to the unconscious Ivy, patted her face, and called, "Ivy, Ivy, wake up."

But no matter how long he called, Ivy showed no response.

"She was injected with a large amount of sedative. She won't wake up anytime soon. You can let me out, and I'll help you carry her," said a man with a tiger tail in the next cell.

Jude ignored him and returned to the Black-Clothed Woman. If he was going to negotiate, he would negotiate with the one in charge.

Seeing him, the woman smiled. "I knew you'd come back. How about making a deal?"