Spade K

Seeing the huge question mark in the signature, anyone with half a brain could guess that Commissioner Gordon had been kidnapped by the Riddler. No wonder the guy had not shown up—he had been hiding in the shadows, plotting something else.

"What is as high as an elephant's eye?"

Jude sank into thought. Ants, flashlights, bread, and all sorts of vaguely related things flashed through his mind, but none of them fit, because they offered no way to continue the deduction.

Bruce also frowned in thought. Clearly, this riddle was not an easy one.

A full ten minutes passed. The surrounding police officers offered all kinds of guesses, but Bruce and Jude rejected every one of them.

Suddenly, Bruce's furrowed brow relaxed. With a smile at the corner of his mouth, he said, "Corn."

With Grandpa Rick's intelligence and his claim to be the smartest person in the universe, Jude felt insulted. He asked in confusion, "Why? Why corn? You have to give me a reasonable explanation."

"It's an old song, the kind from the fifties. I just happen to be rather nostalgic."

"Wow..."

Jude could only shrug helplessly. With the original host's memories so fragmented, asking a young Chinese man to guess an old American song was something even the highest intelligence could not manage.

He could only keep thinking, his mind breaking down the word "corn" as though replaying a film, analyzing it from its sounds, wording, intonation, and grammar. One place immediately came to mind.

"I know. Commissioner Gordon was kidnapped and taken to a maze. Where is Gotham's biggest maze?"

This time, Bruce did not catch on right away. He looked at him and asked, "Why a maze?"

"Simple. How do you say corn?"

"Corn!"

"That's one way. It has another name."

Bruce followed his train of thought. "Maize... Wait, I get it."

"That's right. A maze is 'maze.' Though they are spelled differently, their intonation and pronunciation are the same—both are [mez]. So Gordon must have been kidnapped into the maze."

Bruce flipped into the Batmobile. The engine roared to life, and the Batmobile shot toward the circus in the south of the city, trailing a long shower of sparks.

Gotham City had been designed after real-world New York. New York covered a full 789 square kilometers and was a world-class metropolis, not to mention that it was now nearing the morning rush hour.

Under normal circumstances, even with the Batmobile, it would take half an hour to cross Gotham. But Bruce could not worry about that now. Commissioner Gordon held a special meaning for him. He was a close comrade-in-arms, someone who also held hope for Gotham.

Today was a novel day for Gotham's residents. Although everyone knew Batman silently protected the city, few had actually seen him in person.

Yet early that morning, the Batmobile came charging through Gotham City at high speed. Its shrieking engine nearly shattered people's ears, and many children cried out in surprise to their parents, "Look, Dad! It's Batman!"

In just ten minutes, the Batmobile reached the circus entrance, smashing through the locked gates and barging inside.

"Whew... Is this really okay, Bruce? Destroying someone else's property whenever you like?"

Bruce spun the wheel, executing a perfect drift to stop at the maze entrance. As he opened the door, he said, "This is a Wayne Group property. We bought it three months ago and planned to develop affordable apartments here. Smashing it just counts as getting an early start on demolition."

"Uh... Damn capitalist!"

Jude first walked around to both sides to inspect the surroundings. "No traps found, but this maze is really huge."

"Of course. This was Gotham's first circus. To boost tourism, a fortune was spent on its construction. Nightwing and Killer Croc both performed here before, and Joker likes this place too."

Jude curled his lip. "Now we can add the Riddler to the list. What a place for outstanding talent."

The moment the two stepped into the maze entrance, a beam of white light struck the wall, projecting an enormous image of the Riddler's face.

"You're late, Batman. I thought you would only need half an hour, but you took forty-five minutes. You've wasted fifteen minutes of Gordon's life as well."

"What are you up to, Nygma?"

The Riddler chuckled. "Naturally, I'm playing a riddle game with you. It's my favorite, you know."

"Somewhere in this maze, I've tied up Gordon and set a mechanism. You originally had two hours to save him, but now you only have one hour and forty-five minutes. Make good use of your chance, hahaha..."

Bruce snorted and immediately moved to enter the maze, but Jude grabbed him. "Don't rush. There's an old saying in the ancient East: haste makes waste. I have something to ask him first."

Bruce stopped at that. He knew Jude was not a reckless man.

"Hey, Nygma. Do you remember me?"

In the projection, the Riddler first frowned, then a smile appeared on his lips. "A familiar voice. So it's you, Invisible Man. It seems this is your true face."

"That's right. Nice to see you for the second time."

The Riddler did not return his greeting. Instead, he said, "You actually got together with this bat. Does he know that you were the one who threw Arkham into chaos? That you were the one who released us?"

"Enough, Nygma. There's no need for such petty attempts at sowing discord. I just helped Batman deal with Clayface and Killer Croc. At least for now, we're partners."

The Riddler laughed. "Partners for now. In other words, that relationship could end at any time. Neither villain nor hero—your choice is quite unique, Invisible Man. Perhaps we'll work together someday as well."

"I look forward to it. Compared with those muscleheads, I prefer intelligent partners. But that's for later. Right now, I have a question for you."

After pondering for a moment, the Riddler nodded. "Go ahead. Consider it repayment for what you did for me."

"What are you plotting? Is there someone else behind you?"

"Those are two questions. You can only ask one. Choose quickly—Gordon won't last much longer."

Jude glanced at Bruce. "This is your city. You choose."

"The first one."

The Riddler paused, stroked his cane, and calmly spat out a single term. "Spade K!"

With that, his image vanished, and the maze gates before them opened with a snap.

"Spade K? What does that mean?"

"We don't have time for that. We need to save Commissioner Gordon first."

Bruce spoke as he ran into the maze, contacting the Batcave at the same time.

"Alfred, tell me the current situation."

"Master Bruce, good news. The situation at the Green Tree Hotel has been settled. Ventriloquist has been captured, Scarecrow is on the run, and Red Robin is pursuing him. Batgirl has returned. As for the bank, Mad Hatter has been located. Nightwing and the young master have already surrounded him."

"Good. Mr. Herbert and I are dealing with the Riddler, but that isn't the main point. Those guys have another plot. The Riddler mentioned Spade K. You need to decipher its meaning as soon as possible and stop them."

"Uh... But I'm not good at riddles."

"No, you have to be!"

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