Detective Batman

Detective Batman

The full moon hung high in the sky,

Christmas snowflakes drifted down, melting into the blood and freezing into beautiful crimson ice crystals.

Batman's cape fluttered in the wind as his eyes beneath the pitch-black cowl silently watched the massive creature lying in the pool of blood.

"Grrr..."

Blood seeped from Killer Croc's mouth in time with his snoring.

The powerful, terrifying Killer Croc had been beaten by Batman's barrage of fists until he was vomiting blood. Exhausted, he lay on the ground, too weak to struggle.

The bloodstained sole of Batman's black boot pressed against Killer Croc's chest, crushing his rib cage and forcing more blood from his mouth.

"Tell me where Black Mask is! Or I'll smash every tooth in your mouth!"

His raised fist proved he was not joking.

Killer Croc split his lips in a grin. The grayish scales at the corners of his mouth burst apart, blood spurting from the wounds and dripping into the pool below, quickly becoming another crimson ice crystal.

He refused to answer.

"You must be looking forward to me killing you. I promise I will!"

Without even the slightest pause, Batman drove a fist into Killer Croc's cheek.

The specialized metal on his forearm became the hardest, sharpest blade, punching through Killer Croc's cheek and pulverizing more than half his fangs!

When his fist left Killer Croc's face, Batman did not question him immediately. Instead, he swung again.

The second punch, the third, the fourth... He did not stop until every tooth in Killer Croc's mouth had been knocked out, until his mouth was truly full of blood!

"Now tell me where Black Mask is!"

Batman gripped Killer Croc's head. Intimidation through force was his most "proper" method of interrogation.

Under this interrogation, Killer Croc's gaze went unfocused, and he looked ready to pass out.

Killer Croc said nothing, but another voice came through Batman's earpiece. "I have already found Black Mask's detailed information and his residence."

"Alfred?"

Batman was about to ask more when he suddenly saw a group of heavily armed police officers rushing toward him.

He raised his arm and tapped several numbers on the control panel on his left forearm. A massive Batplane flew over and hovered above him.

Batman leaped lightly onto the Batplane and departed Blackgate Penitentiary amid the police officers' hail of gunfire, their "farewell" salute.

"You may not believe his true identity: Roman Sionis! He has also put out a bounty on you, offering two million in exchange for your head~" Alfred's voice over the phone was not only calm, but carried a hint of teasing.

"A bounty? We'll discuss that later."

After learning the general details, Batman altered his flight path and headed for Roman Sionis's residence. The Batplane streaked across the moonlit sky, racing beneath the enormous full moon.

Roman Sionis's home.

The front door stood open.

"This is..." Batman entered the room without obstruction.

His eyes merely swept over the room,

but several obvious signs of fighting immediately drew Batman's attention.

He crouched first, touching the two streaks of polish on the wooden floor.

"Shoe polish..."

Batman lowered his head and lightly touched the marks with his fingers. "Someone was knocked unconscious and dragged away."

"There may have been a body here. A fire..." Batman stood, then crouched before the carpet that had burned to ashes. "But there are no signs of struggle. It is also possible that no one was burned."

His gaze shifted to the final spot: an overturned table.

It was a complete mess.

"Someone fought here. Perhaps one person won, or perhaps they both lost..."

This scene was completely different from what Batman had imagined, and it was filled with doubts.

Black Mask would never allow someone to wreck his home, much less engage in a violent fight here.

"...Alfred, help me investigate the relevant information." In the end, he could only seek help from his old butler.

"I have already prepared a file for you in advance, sir~" Alfred's voice remained calm. "I'm sending it to your portable device now."

Batman took out the smart computer he carried with him.

The information Alfred sent contained many more clues, speeding up Batman's deductions.

"There is a corpse at the entrance, lying right by the door. It seems he was not the person who was dragged.

There is a corpse here. It is Roman Sionis's girlfriend. She was tied to the chandelier, like Jesus nailed to the cross... And there is a bullet wound on the body.

Judging by the angle, the shooter was a dwarf about three feet tall. He killed Roman Sionis's girlfriend, then... No."

Batman pondered. "The police records show that the bullet from this gun came from Roman Sionis's gun. He killed his own girlfriend?"

"Based on the current clues, there were four people: a mysterious person, Roman Sionis, Roman Sionis's girlfriend, and someone who was dragged away..."

"If the person knocked down after opening the door was Roman Sionis, then the one dragged away was another strange participant."

The more clues he found, the more confused Batman became.

He always felt that he had missed something.

Even his formidable deductive ability could not reconstruct the battle from this chaotic scene.

"Unless Penguin was involved in this too, there is no way to explain the dwarf..."

Batman walked around the room, doing his best to reconstruct the scene in his mind.

Again and again, he replayed the events in his head and tried to find information that could aid his deductions.

"This is..."

At last, a strip of woolen fabric caught his attention. It was hanging from the glass door to the balcony.

It was a strip torn from a suit.

"What about the communication records, Alfred?"

"Here is a message."

The information silently transferred to Batman's portable computer.

It was a message Roman Sionis's girlfriend had sent to Roman.

"Joker says he wants to settle accounts with you. He's coming!" Even without seeing the situation at the time, Batman could imagine the terror on Roman's girlfriend's face.

"Joker?" It was a name Batman had never heard before. "Who could frighten Black Mask this badly?"

The appearance of this message allowed Batman's deduction to proceed smoothly.

In Batman's eyes, everything began to reconstruct itself.

The incident returned to that day.

A mysterious man named Joker had a grudge against Roman Sionis and was terrifying enough to frighten Roman Sionis into placing his girlfriend in a house with the security level of a safehouse.

This house had everything except "safety."

The mysterious man invaded the home of Black Mask, Roman Sionis, captured his girlfriend, and perversely hung her overhead.

He sat on the table, waiting for Roman Sionis to arrive.

Roman Sionis also discovered that something was wrong here, so he sent a subordinate wearing a Black Mask to impersonate him and enter through the front door. Unfortunately, that mysterious man shot him dead.

While the mysterious man was distracted by the fake Roman Sionis, the real Roman Sionis had already slipped onto the balcony. He seized the chance to rush in and tackle the mysterious man.

The two grappled, and it appeared that the mysterious man had won.

Roman Sionis was dragged away, and the two shoe-polish streaks on the floor belonged to him.

"This happened two weeks ago... So Black Mask during this time has been an impersonation by that hidden mysterious man."

"Now there are only two questions. First, how did that man make Roman Sionis shoot and kill his own girlfriend?"

"Second, what does that fire have to do with all this?"

"If this mysterious man wants money, then he will definitely keep Roman Sionis alive... Gotham Merchants Bank!"

He had deduced the most likely location and immediately set off.

Gotham Merchants Bank,

Li Zu looked at the Black Mask before him and said, "I think we may have found the wrong person~"

"Hehehehe, hahahahaha!!" Black Mask threw back his head and laughed wildly.

He removed his helmet.

A conspicuous head of green hair and a bizarre, sinister grin.

It was Li Zu's former boss: Joker!

Thanks to "Bi Gei Ni_Ni Lai" for the 100 Qidian Coin donation, and thanks to "Mu Dongliu" for the 100 Qidian Coin donation.

(End of Chapter)