"You can't break a man the way you break a dog or a horse. The harder you beat a man, the taller he stands."
-Jackal (Far Cry 2)
...
'Originally, I came to the hospital with the intention of asking about the 'Bat Monster.' After all, Barbara's sudden injury coincided with the time when the legend of the 'Bat Monster' began to spread...'
Watching the Batmobile fade into the distance, Dean stood on the rooftop lost in thought.
But it turned out that both Batman and Dick were at the hospital. This made it difficult for Dean to ask Barbara about this information.
After all, Barbara wasn't aware that Dean knew his identity as a Batgirl, and Dean couldn't possibly ask if Barbara had been to the Upper West District, where the Bat Monster was rumored to appear.
Naturally, there's no reason to ask Barbara about these things, even if he were pretending that he was only interested in urban legends and wanted to share this story with others, it would be too hard to believe.
Besides, Dick knew Dean wasn't that kind of person.
Perhaps Dean's deep interest in the 'Bat Monster' legend seemed strange, as it had nothing to do with him.
He was the Phantom Thief, and the possibility of him conflicting with these monsters wasn't very high. So, why should he care so much?
Oh, thinking like that would be wrong.
Dean lived in an incredibly dangerous and bizarre world where the two most important and main elements were superheroes and supervillains.
Everything else, including people, things, and even thoughts, were just small side characters.
There's no way around it; this is the harsh reality of the fictional world, and there's nothing anyone or anything can change about it.
If Dean didn't have enough knowledge about the supervillains, then it would definitely be a bad situation for him.
While he might not have any reasons to confront most supervillains, it doesn't mean that supervillains wouldn't hire someone like him!
After years of madness in Gotham, Penguin, as the underground kingpin, still stood strong. His reign over the underworld was on the brink of surpassing Falcone's.
Did you really think he relied only on ordinary gangsters and bribing the government?
Don't be naive; it's not the old days when Falcone was in charge.
Now it's a world of superheroes and supervillains!
Among the many heads serving under the Penguin, there are several extraordinary individuals like the Imperceptible Man, the Hypnotic, Mr. Toxic, and Mr. Combustible.
Although Penguin himself doesn't have superpowers, he is good at recruiting and managing these people and make them work for him.
That's what makes Penguin so terrifying.
Many people think that Gotham doesn't have many superpowered individuals, and Dean also thought so when he first came here.
Later, he found out that there are actually quite a few superpowered individuals here. Still, compared to cities like Coast City or Central City, the level of their abilities wasn't that strong.
Their impact on the overall population of Gotham is relatively weak.
In short, since Dean couldn't change the fact that he lived in a messed-up world, he had to accept it.
Just as a certain savior once said, when you can't change the limitations of things, the only thing you can change is yourself.
Dean has been in Gotham for many years and has never missed even a single report on supervillains because it is closely related to his life.
In fact, every Gothamite is quite similar because their lives are deeply connected.
Now that Gotham seems to have a human resembling a bat, how could Dean not be concerned?
And this time, he wants to try to get information directly instead of waiting for news reports. This is because no one can be sure that the news reports will be detailed enough.
'However, on the other side, since Bruce and Dick both appeared at the hospital, it's a hundred percent sure that the 'Bat Monster' is real.'
Dean thought to himself.
'Now that it's night, it should be time for Batman and Robin to investigate, but they appeared in the Gotham General Hospital. Why? Besides coming to find Barbara to learn more details about the 'Bat Monster,' I can't think of any other reason,'
Dean continued to think.
'Just now, the direction of the Batmobile was indeed towards the Upper West Side. It's likely they were going to find the 'Bat Monster'.'
Dean concluded.
The Batmobile's speed far exceeded that of a normal car, and it was impossible for Dean to catch up with his glider wings.
However, he didn't need to chase the Batmobile and shouldn't have.
Dean didn't believe that Batman's anti-surveillance could detect that someone was following him.
If he wanted to get information about the 'Bat Monster', he had to take a different strategy.
So, Dean took out his fake Batman suit and put it on.
Tonight, he will play the role of a fanatical young man imitating Batman!
He wanted to be a partner in justice—
...
After a while, in the Upper West Side
Due to the recent shocking stories about the Bat Monster murder incidents, no one dared to go out at night here, although there were only a few brave people who dared to do so in the first place.
This quiet and deserted road is perfect for the Batmobile to drive on.
Suddenly, a sleek vehicle whizzed past the street, and the noise it made lasted for a long time before it disappeared.
Batman dares to drive like this not because he's rich and not afraid of accidents but because the braking ability of the Batmobile surpasses what normal technology can achieve.
Even when driving at full speed, it can come to a sudden stop in fractions of a second.
Of course, this would result in the Batmobile flipping over a hundred percent of the time, but the unique features of the Batmobile allow Batman to control the direction of the flip to ensure that no one gets hurt.
As for situations where there are people all around...
Is there a possibility that, in such situations, Batman wouldn't drive so fast or use a different mode of transportation?
Squeak!
The Batmobile stopped in front of a forest.
This is the boundary between the Upper West Side and Robinson Park, and it's also the first crime scene for the Bat Monster murder cases.
The first corpse with an unusual cause of death was discovered around this area.
Robinson Park is a large forest park located between the Upper West Side and the East Side, almost the size of a whole district.
The Finger River, which is the longest river in Gotham, flows through Robinson Park. The biggest pond in the city is also in the middle of the park.
Batman and Robin arrived at the initial crime scene, and there was no one else there, only a police cordon.
"The body here has been sent to the GCPD morgue. Otherwise, we might have been able to gather more information."
In the woods, Robin looked at a tree with dozens of strange claw marks.
"Batman, do you think these marks on the tree could have been caused by the 'Bat Monster'?"
...
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