"Can't we buy it with money?" Li Wei couldn't help asking. It sounded like a troublesome matter.
To him now, anything that could be solved with money was a minor issue.
Besides, he had the Court of Owls as a sucker. If necessary, he could just charge it to the research budget!
"Of course not!" Dr. Hugo rolled his eyes and complained, "No one in the underground world knows the person distributing the Viper Potion. He has never shown his face there, and nobody knows where to find him."
Li Wei could only shrug at that.
"Alright, Dr. Hugo, I'll find a way to get you enough Viper Potion."
"Fine, then I'll head back first. I need to study the Viper Potion's exact composition..."
Dr. Hugo did not stand on ceremony and simply turned to leave.
What he was more curious about now was how the Viper Potion could use scientific means to achieve magical effects!
After Dr. Hugo left.
Li Wei stood up, walked to the window, and stared out at Gotham City in thought.
How was he supposed to find the person distributing the Viper Potion?
The police?
Definitely not. If the police could find that person, Gordon would have arrested him long ago.
The underground world?
That would not work either. Dr. Hugo had just said that even the people there could not find him.
It was a real headache.
This was the first difficult problem Li Wei had encountered since coming to the DC Universe that could not be bulldozed through with force.
He had also discovered his own weakness—his intelligence-gathering ability.
But there was no helping it. The Viper Potion in that man's possession was a necessary ingredient for synthesizing the Rage Potion, and the Rage Potion was necessary for the werewolf experiment.
Li Wei glanced at the werewolf Hero Template in the system shop.
Zaun's Fury—Warwick.
Price: 1350 Soul Essence.
Balance: 1358 Soul Essence.
He had just enough. The werewolf's price and value for money were both extremely tempting.
After thinking it over, Li Wei ultimately decided to go out and try his luck using Khada Jhin's abilities.
There was nothing to hesitate over. While it was still early, Li Wei left Arkham Asylum.
This time, however, he did not take a taxi. Instead, he wandered aimlessly through the streets.
Like an ordinary pedestrian out for a walk.
The difference was that, unlike the pedestrians on the streets, Li Wei deliberately slipped into dark alleys and hidden corners.
Even if passersby noticed him, they merely gave him a glance before looking away.
Gotham had all kinds of weirdos. Li Wei was nothing unusual...
As Li Wei walked, he continuously scattered Invisible Flowers from Mass Infatuation in secluded corners.
The Invisible Flowers could provide Li Wei with vision of the surrounding area.
It was worth mentioning that the abilities brought by the Hero Template differed slightly from their in-game versions.
Mass Infatuation no longer had a duration.
As long as no one triggered them and Li Wei did not actively dismiss them, these invisible petals would remain forever, with no limit on their number!
They could be considered another kind of vision ward.
Li Wei could also take this opportunity to make up for his lack of intelligence-gathering capabilities.
Just like the bat statues Bruce Wayne would scatter throughout Gotham after becoming Batman.
The bat statues contained sonic detectors and, like Li Wei's Invisible Flowers, could become his eyes!
They allowed him to know everything happening in Gotham so he could quickly arrive at the scene and fight crime.
Li Wei's Invisible Flowers were simply more concealed. No one would know that an invisible flower in some corner was quietly watching every move they made.
Li Wei spent two days covering Gotham with Invisible Flowers. The workload was truly immense, and even with the combined physical abilities of Khada Jhin and Singed, Li Wei was exhausted.
But the results were also extremely significant.
On the third day, Li Wei found his target.
A completely ordinary-looking middle-aged man dressed like a typical office worker silently placed a green Viper Potion into the instrument case of a street singer by the roadside, then turned and vanished into the crowd.
"Finally found you..."
Gotham Tragedy
After discovering his target's trail, Li Wei immediately headed out.
As he used the Invisible Flowers from Mass Infatuation along the way to monitor the target's movements, he rushed toward the target's location at high speed.
In the end, Li Wei caught up with the target in an alley not far from Gotham University.
"Hey! Sir, please wait!" Li Wei shouted at the figure ahead.
The man's body immediately trembled, freezing in place.
Only after a moment did he turn around.
He was a middle-aged man wearing a long brownish-yellow trench coat, with a receding hairline. He looked like most ordinary middle-aged men in Gotham City.
Faced with a stranger, his expression was filled with wariness and timidity.
It was hard to imagine that someone who looked so ordinary could be connected to the Viper Potion sweeping through Gotham's underground world!
"Sir, what is it?" the man asked warily, keeping one hand in his pocket.
Although Li Wei looked very friendly, the man did not let down his guard in the slightest.
Only he himself knew what he had been doing recently.
Over the past two days, the Viper Potions he had distributed for free had not only introduced a new kind of DP into Gotham's underground black market, but had also caused quite a few users to wreak havoc across Gotham by relying on the immense power the Viper Potion gave them.
By now, not only the police but also the gangs were probably looking for him...
But what he wanted to do was not yet complete. He had to be careful, more careful, and even more careful!
If Li Wei made any unusual move, he would swallow the Viper Potion in his pocket and flee.
Li Wei smiled kindly. Noticing the man's tense expression, he stopped walking. "My name is Li Wei. Sir, what should I call you?"
"Stan Pototsky." Out of habitual politeness, the man still gave his name. "Mr. Li Wei, what exactly do you want? If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving first."
Stan made as if to turn and leave.
Before completing his plan, he did not want any unnecessary complications.
"Stan! Wait a moment." With no other choice, Li Wei could only lay his cards on the table. "I came for your Viper Potion! I want to buy more from you!"
Upon hearing that, Stan, who had been turning away, reacted as if struck by lightning and instantly jumped back. He pulled the Viper Potion from his pocket and held it in his hand, ready to consume it at any moment to gain power!
"Who exactly are you? What do you want the Viper Potion for?"
Seeing Stan's hostile expression, Li Wei felt helpless.
He could only take several steps back immediately to show that he had no hostile intentions.
There was no helping it. This was the importance of highly skilled specialists.
The Viper Potion currently circulating on the market was nowhere near enough for Dr. Hugo to synthesize the Rage Potion.
At present, only Stan knew the formula. Not only could no one else kill him, but even he himself could not be allowed to die.
"Oh, Stan, don't get worked up. I mean you no harm. I just want to buy more Viper Potion. I'm not a bad person..."
Li Wei tried to ease the atmosphere, constantly soothing Stan.
Unfortunately, it seemed useless.
Stan remained tense, looking as though he was ready to die together with Li Wei at any moment...
Helpless, Li Wei could only manifest Khada Jhin's appearance.
"Alright, buddy, I'm not a good person either. We're both bad people. Now, we're on the same side..."
As Stan watched the exceedingly friendly-looking Li Wei twist before him into The Caster, Khada Jhin, in a posture that defied scientific common sense, the shock in his eyes was impossible to hide!
No wonder the Gotham police could not catch Khada Jhin!
But what Li Wei had not expected was this.
Once he took on Khada Jhin's appearance, the wariness and caution on Stan's face quickly disappeared!
In their place was the fervor of a fan seeing his idol.
"Oh, my God, you're Mr. Khada Jhin! No! Mr. Khada Jhin, you're a good person! You're my idol!"
Li Wei: ???
You were afraid of a good person, but not a bad person?
You called me a good person?
Did you have some kind of misunderstanding about the phrase "good person"?
He had never imagined Khada Jhin could ever be called a good person!
"Uh..." Li Wei was speechless for a long while. "Then, Stan, can we have a proper talk now?"
"Of course! Mr. Khada Jhin, please follow me!" Stan displayed enthusiasm completely unlike before.
Under his guidance, the two entered Gotham University by way of a small path.
After winding around the campus, they entered a secluded office.
"Mr. Khada Jhin, would it be alright if I gave you the Viper Potion formula? I do not have much Viper Potion left myself, and my plan also requires these remaining supplies..."
Once inside the office, Stan took the initiative to speak.
He then pulled a wooden box from beneath the desk and showed Li Wei the half-box of Viper Potion remaining inside.
The formula?
Li Wei was somewhat surprised. Although he had initially only wanted enough Viper Potion to give Dr. Hugo for synthesis experiments, getting the formula would be even better!
There was absolutely no reason to refuse!
"Sure! Stan, how much should I pay you?" Li Wei gladly accepted Stan's offer.
"No money is necessary, Mr. Khada Jhin." Stan said excitedly, "Our goals are the same! We both want to make this world a better place. It is my honor to give you the formula! Besides, I may not need money much longer..."
Make the world a better place? Khada Jhin?
Li Wei simply could not imagine how Stan had connected those two things.
Although Li Wei was happy to obtain the Viper Potion formula for free, he was now even more curious about the story behind this and why Stan believed Khada Jhin was a good person.
"Stan, what exactly is going on? And would it be convenient for you to tell me about your plan?"
"It would be my honor, Mr. Khada Jhin." As Stan searched for paper and a pen, he spoke softly. "My name is Stan Pototsky. I was originally just a researcher at Weizhan Pharmaceuticals..."
This was a tragic story.
A tragic story connected to Bruce Wayne.
Stan had originally been nothing more than a biochemist at Weizhan Pharmaceuticals.
Weizhan Pharmaceuticals belonged to Wayne Enterprises. Officially, it researched and manufactured everyday chemical products such as shampoo, but its actual business was developing pharmaceutical weapons for certain special forces...
The Viper Potion was a drug project developed by Stan.
Before you continue