Bane Strikes

Pfft!

Bane withdrew his hand, which was covered in brain matter and blood, as gently as if he had crushed a bladder of horse piss.

He disgustedly shook the white mucus from his hand, letting the headless corpse spurt blood as it collapsed onto the floor. "Trash from the gutters. You were actually stupid enough to try to spy on me."

He kicked the corpse into a corner. "Even more stupidly, you didn't run the moment I discovered you."

"We're sorry, Bane! This guy was an undead zombie. We clearly ambushed him and pierced—"

"Ah—ah, no need to continue, my friends."

Bane ignored his panting subordinate and quickly put the Talons of the Court of Owls out of his mind. He relaxed his muscles, his broad chest rising and falling with each deep breath.

"Relax. Feel it with me."

Bane's three subordinates exchanged glances. They felt nothing except the corpse's heavy stench of blood.

"Feel what, Bane?"

"Look out at the street... What do you see?"

"Empty," Cave Dweller and Zombie Man answered one after the other. "Lifeless."

"A city so accustomed to its own horrors that it has tasted fear," Birdman said.

"Yes, exactly. This is your power, Bane. You made them feel fear."

"They intend to mobilize the army against you, but they have no idea what they're facing."

They flattered him cautiously. "They're only fit to tremble beneath your feet."

My master.

His subordinates did not say it aloud. They silently repeated the words in their hearts.

"No."

Bane's answer took the two by surprise.

"That's not it!" Bane suddenly growled in a low voice. "You haven't felt it at all."

"Batman has hung over this city for far too long. Gotham City was once the largest center of drug production and trade in the entire United States! The biggest human-trafficking market! The most prosperous gambling city!"

He spread his arms, as if embracing the darkness invisible to the naked eye.

"Gotham is a paradise for criminals! For so many years, the U.S. government kept stuffing every criminal in the country into Blackgate Penitentiary.

"Then they would quickly be bailed out, released for medical treatment, or break out of prison, before transforming into Gotham City residents.

"Gotham was a super-prison from the very beginning. They wished for all the scum to butcher one another to death, until someone came along to stop them from continuing to use Gotham as a garbage dump!"

He laughed with biting sarcasm. "Before Batman was born, law and order across the United States was ten times better than it is now!"

"You say Gotham fears me? What a joke."

"Gotham doesn't fear me at all. She's excited! How vicious—she's actually excited!"

"Someone is finally going to defeat the Bat. Someone is finally going to kill the Bat. Those lowlifes, gangsters, and villains can finally return to the unfettered criminal lives they used to lead."

"The silence in the streets isn't because of fear. It's anticipation! They're cheering and waiting eagerly. Everyone hates Batman. They want Batman dead! The lowlifes hate the Bat, the powerful hate the Bat, and even the old men and women working in the white-powder factories hate the Bat!"

"Batman is trying to save Gotham? Don't spout that crap. Gotham doesn't want to be saved at all. This bitch only wants to keep sinking forever!"

Bane felt it. He could feel it.

Gotham was like a cruel mother, whispering encouragement into his ear, urging him to murder her only son—that battered warrior.

That vicious bitch flaunted herself before him, striking a queenly, arrogant pose and demanding that he pass the filthy trials of those ignorant fools, proving his greatness and strength to her, and then...

Go pluck the crown that no one had ever touched—

Murder Batman!!!

This truly was...

An incomparable honor.

He sat back down on the sofa. His body unconsciously tensed and leaned forward, causing him to hunch slightly. Yet this did nothing to diminish his dignity. Instead, he looked like a beast ready to pounce.

"You three, leave this building as soon as possible. Surrender directly to the army. I'll come for you later. With you here, I can't fight freely."

Bane's voice was deep, yet strangely carried a high, resonant quality, like magma surging and roaring beneath the earth.

Light passed through the curtains and fell across his bulging biceps, making him look like a true iron man.

His three subordinates hurried away. They had no doubts about Bane's decision, nor did they dare question it.

Bane sat on his sofa, tilting his head back as he gazed upward and waited in silence.

The long street was deathly still, devoid of human presence.

"Bzzzt... The M1A2 Abrams main battle tanks and M2A3 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles are ready..."

"Received."

"M109A6 Self-propelled Howitzers and M777 Howitzers are in position."

"Received."

Somewhere in Gotham, this was the National Guard's field command center.

Mayor Carlo turned to look at Jim Gordon, who seemed sullen beside him. "Hey, Jim, stop looking so tense all the time. You don't really take me for an idiot, do you? How does that saying go again?"

"Despise the enemy strategically, but take them seriously tactically."

"We've mobilized nearly forty thousand National Guard troops, along with tanks, machine guns, heavy machine guns, armored vehicles, and even semi-automatic missiles."

Mayor Carlo could not resist complaining.

"With this kind of military deployment, we could conquer some small African country. Gordon, you've been a police officer in Gotham City all this time. Have you really forgotten how terrifying modern weapons are?"

"We've seen those so-called extraordinary people before. But in the face of genuine modern firepower, they're all trash."

Mayor Carlo spoke smugly. "We have Gordon to thank for providing the exact location. In my view, all we need to do is evacuate the surrounding residents, then flatten the place with missiles. Forget Bane—even a man made of iron would melt into water. We wouldn't need to trouble Batman to make an appearance."

"So that's why you disparaged Batman so much on television?"

"Oh, come on, Gordon!" Mayor Carlo casually hooked an arm around Gordon's neck. "It was only a way to lure Bane out. Wasn't it you who personally adjusted the television signal to make sure Bane's attention would be caught by the program?"

"It was also a way to attract voters—the strongest campaign tactic for showing everyone how tough you are." Gordon pushed away the arm around his neck, exposing Mayor Carlo's words without mercy.

"Tsk—people need some kind of spiritual support. But Gordon, do you really think it's psychologically healthy for people to place all their hopes in a masked vigilante?"

Carlo did not care and sank back into his chair.

"No matter how strong Batman is, he's still only one man. I don't deny what he's done for Gotham over the years, and I have no ill will toward him personally. But you have to understand that before the violent machinery of the state, an individual's strength is insignificant. Human beings are fundamentally collective creatures."

Mayor Carlo spread his arms and made a grasping motion in the air.

"More people means greater strength."

He continued, "The people should regain their faith in the government instead of placing their hopes in individual heroes. Don't you think the public's current fanatical worship of Batman is a dangerous sign? They don't believe in the police. They only believe in Batman."

"No matter how much we smear Batman on television, we have to admit that his influence among the public has already surpassed what's normal."

"Do you remember the old Harvey Dent? The Dent Act—ha-ha, famous as could be, huh! Then Dent turned bad, and the act ended too."

Mayor Carlo said, "Only a stable organization like the government can guarantee a city's security over the long term. Even if I died today, this tightly fitted machine would continue operating normally."

"The government's authority must be rebuilt. We'll start today by arresting all these supervillains and bringing them to justice."