Godhood Unlocked: I Chose Sci-Magic Dual Cultivation

Batman clicked his tongue almost imperceptibly. Catwoman, standing closest to him, heard it and watched him with shrewd, darting eyes.

Poison Ivy obediently walked up to Dane and lowered her head. "What would you like me to do?"

Seeing her coy, half-refusing demeanor, Catwoman secretly spat in disdain.

How is that refusing at all?!

But Dane's expression remained unmoved as he said lazily,

"From now on, you'll help Clark with desensitization training. When he can completely break free of your control, you'll earn your freedom."

Poison Ivy slumped as though her whole life had gone dark.

Dane ignored her feelings, grabbed her by the scruff, gave Batman a brief greeting, and stepped through the circle.

Once he left, the circle automatically contracted and closed.

"Are all the friends you've made lately this unusual?" Catwoman asked blankly as she watched Dane swagger away.

Batman merely said coldly, "We aren't friends!"

With that, he turned and left. Catwoman hurried after him.

"Where are you going?"

"We've questioned Killer Croc and Poison Ivy. The only remaining lead is Deathstroke."

"But he's a mercenary. You can't catch him," Catwoman said.

"For Batman, that's true."

As Batman spoke, he activated the communicator on his arm. "But for Bruce, it's easy."

The call connected, and Alfred answered. "Master Wayne."

"Alfred, immediately transfer ten million dollars into Deathstroke's account."

"Tell him that if he's willing to meet at the bell tower beside Gotham Cathedral, he'll receive another ten million."

"Very good, Master Wayne."

Catwoman stared at Batman's maneuver, nearly dumbfounded. Was this the world of the rich?

She couldn't help muttering a curse under her breath. "Damn rich people!"

Selina still didn't know that Bruce had once bought every piece of jewelry and antique in Gotham just to steer her away from crime.

Everything she stole each night had actually been something he gave her...

Five minutes later, Alfred sent word that the transfer had been completed.

They did not care about the money at all, not merely because they had too much wealth to worry about it.

It was also because Deathstroke's bank account had been opened at a bank under Wayne Enterprises. They had simply moved the twenty million from one pocket to the other, without suffering any real loss.

After waiting another ten minutes or so, Alfred sent another message.

Deathstroke had accepted the deal and would head to the agreed location.

However, he would only wait for five minutes. No extensions.

Deathstroke had not said when he would arrive.

But Batman understood him. When it came to making money, Deathstroke had always been serious and professional.

If Batman's guess was correct, Deathstroke was already on his way.

Without hesitation, Batman led Catwoman through Gotham City once more.

Meanwhile, on the rooftop of a high-rise roughly two kilometers from the botanical garden they had left, a man with his head wrapped in bandages watched them depart through binoculars.

"Batman..."

He muttered the name under his breath, his tone shifting between hatred, coldness, and a deeply buried jealousy.

"Just wait. Just wait. We'll meet again very soon... Bruce..."

Batman suddenly felt a chill crawl down his back. He sharply turned his head.

There seemed to be a shadow atop a distant building—or perhaps there was nothing there at all.

He activated his long-range lenses, but found nothing.

"What is it?"

Seeing the odd look on his face, Catwoman asked with concern.

He slowly shook his head. "Nothing. Maybe I'm overthinking it..."

Justice League Tower.

Dane set Poison Ivy down, changed into a casual outfit, then folded his arms and stared at her.

"Tell me. What was this about?"

Poison Ivy did not dare lie to Dane, and recounted everything from beginning to end.

A month earlier, when Poison Ivy and Barbara had returned to Gotham to prepare to form the Birds of Prey,

she had suddenly received a threatening letter from a stranger, claiming that one of her closest friends in Gotham had been kidnapped.

Before becoming Poison Ivy, she had only been an ordinary person. Naturally, ordinary people had friends.

And her closest friend had been Harlene Quinzel, a female college student majoring in psychology at Gotham University.

After becoming Poison Ivy, she had cut off contact with most of her former friends, but she had maintained her precious friendship with Harlene.

Because Harlene studied psychology, she had not distanced herself from Poison Ivy due to her changed appearance...

Instead, she thought Poison Ivy was better and more interesting than before.

That had made the newly transformed Poison Ivy into someone confident and courageous...

At this point, Dane's expression turned a little strange.

Harlene Quinzel?

He knew exactly who that was—the infamous Harley Quinn!

But Joker was dead. Every cell in his body had been reduced to ash by lightning. Harley Quinn should not have appeared anymore.

Poison Ivy continued,

"To make sure he wasn't lying to me, I demanded to meet Harlene. He agreed."

"You met him?"

"Yes, I did."

"But he didn't reveal his true face. His entire head was wrapped in bandages."

"I could only tell that he was a man."

Dane looked at her strangely. "Your powers didn't work on him?"

"That's right. I don't understand it either, but I did try. It didn't work." Poison Ivy shook her head.

Even Superman had fallen victim to her hormonal control, yet Hush could resist it?

What kind of willpower did that take?

Poison Ivy looked deeply troubled.

"And I saw poor Harlene too. Her mind seemed to be becoming unstable. She looked completely unhinged."

"But when I spoke with her, her logic still seemed perfectly normal. I don't know how to describe the feeling."

"Like a little psycho?"

"Hey, don't call her that!" Poison Ivy protested unhappily, but immediately changed her tone.

"Still, that's exactly the feeling. She was like a little psycho—on the verge of going crazy, but not completely there yet."

Harley Quinn had still been born? No, she should still be in the process of transforming.

Dane quickly organized the information he knew.

The bandaged man sounded familiar. He was a villain who appeared in Batman: Hush.

But in the real world, there were two versions of that story.

One was the comic version, where Hush himself was Thomas Elliot, Bruce's best childhood friend.

He possessed an extraordinarily brilliant criminal mind, and with his understanding of Bruce and Gotham's villains, he played Batman in the palm of his hand.

Even Joker had been manipulated by him.

The other was the animated film version, where Hush was actually the Riddler.

Dying from a brain tumor, he used the Lazarus Pit to gain a new life.

He devised a great many intricate plans, only for his ultimate goal to be fighting Batman one-on-one...

And even more absurdly, the Batman here could not even beat the Riddler.

Chapter 55: Harlene Quinzel

"What did that bandaged man ask you to do?" Dane asked.

"He asked me to control Catwoman and steal the ten million dollars Killer Croc got from kidnapping and extortion."

"Then put the money in a designated location. Finally, he wanted me to control Superman and use him against Batman."

Dane tapped the table and thought in silence.

Poison Ivy did not dare disturb him, though her eyes kept darting around as she wondered about something.

"How did you contact each other?"

"He contacted me unilaterally. I can't find him."

Finding Hush would not actually be difficult. Dane only needed to keep an eye on Thomas Elliot or dig up the Riddler's grave.

But Dane did not intend to do that.

Clark had not yet fully appeared before the public, yet Hush had been able to make use of him. Clearly, he knew a great deal about him.

And at present, there was only one person in this world who understood Clark's personality and could devise a plan specifically targeting him.

That was Batman. Only he would do something like this.

But Batman was not Hush. Hush must have somehow stolen this plan from the Batcomputer and applied it to Superman.

So Dane called Cortana.

"Cortana."

"I'm here, Dane."

"Cortana, check Batman's computer for me. See whether anyone has tampered with it."

Ever since Dane had easily breached the Batcomputer's firewall that day, Bruce had clearly given it a major upgrade.

But it was still useless.

In less than three seconds, Cortana broke through the firewall that Batman and Barbara had set up together, and quickly found the problem with the Batcomputer.

"This computer has a monitoring device installed, sir."

Dane nodded. Now it all made sense.

Hush had seen every step of Batman's plans, so it was no wonder Batman had been constrained at every turn.

But Bruce would soon discover the issue in his computer and quickly identify the suspect.

Batman's personal computer consultant, Harold.

Dane recalled that inconspicuous little figure.

Harold was deaf and mute, but he possessed exceptional talent in computers and mechanics.

Batman had discovered him by chance and placed him in the Batcave.

He allowed Harold to focus on his work there, giving him the chance to display his talents.