"The thing about happiness is you only know you had it when it's gone. I mean you may think to yourself that you're happy. But you don't really believe it. You focus on the petty bullshit, or the next job, or whatever. It's only looking back, by comparison with what comes after, that you really understand that's what happiness felt like."
– Kellogg (Fallout 4)
...
"This is just too crazy!"
Robin exclaimed with shock, "Even in Gotham, this is somewhat unbelievable."
"A serum that can change human DNA into bat-like creatures? I'd rather believe it was created in LexCorp's chemical lab."
"Then how do you explain Kirk's ring being left behind in Robinson Park?"
Batman retorted.
"Why is the ring broken?"
Upon hearing this, Robin's mind was instantly struck by lightning.
A normal person wouldn't just randomly break a ring, and breaking a ring might even be more difficult than breaking a diamond.
After all, diamonds were incredibly hard but also weak.
But if Kirk Langstrom had drank the serum and turned into a bat monster, his body would have grown larger.
The diamond ring that used to fit perfectly would suddenly become too small.
It might even burst from his swollen finger!
Continuing to think about it, perhaps Kurt, who had physically transformed into a monster, still had some human emotions remaining.
He still loved his wife, so even though the ring was broken, he kept it with him until he accidentally dropped it in the woods when he killed someone for the first time.
All the claw marks the bat monster left on the trees could mean that he was really sad that he couldn't control his bloodthirsty instincts instead of just being excited or angry.
Hiss—
Robin had to admit that following this logic, it was much more likely that Kirk Langstrom would make the serum, but the side effect is that he would turn him into the Bat Monster.
He was now the prime suspect.
"Until we meet Langstrom, everything is still just speculation. The bat monster could be him, or it could be someone else."
Batman spoke slowly, with a tone that never changed, and was always very calm.
Shortly after Batman and Robin left, another shadow quietly approached the woods.
At first glance, this shadow was actually wearing a batsuit!
But upon closer inspection, it became clear that the batsuit was a bit temporary and that the person wearing it wasn't as muscular as the real Batman.
"I knew they would definitely come to the crime scene."
Dean's face showed the expression "I knew it" as he looked at one of the big trees in the area and thought with a hint of regret.
"Too bad, the mini bug can't be retrieved. I can only activate its self-destruct mode."
A mini-bug listening device, it was impossible to see it, especially with a magnifying glass.
What exactly is going on? Let's go back a few hours ago.
After leaving Gotham General Hospital, Dean saw Batman and Robin driving the Batmobile towards the Upper West Side.
The Batmobile was too fast, and Dean knew he would lose them if he just followed behind for even a minute.
But Dean was sure that Batman and Robin would come to the crime scene to investigate the Bat monster, no matter what.
They always went to every crime scene.
So he looked into the location of each Bat Monster attack and found that the two closest crime scenes to Gotham General Hospital were located in the harbor area and the suburban area of the Upper West Side.
These areas were more open and had fewer people.
The first body was found in Robinson Park, which was actually farther from Gotham General Hospital.
In order to speed up the investigation, Batman would most likely prioritize the closer locations. This allowed Dean to arrive at Robinson Park before Batman and Robin.
Besides, there was no such thing as a peaceful night in Gotham.
Dean didn't know how many robbers or even murderers he would encounter on the way to the Upper West Side. These encounters could delay Batman.
In short, Dean managed to arrive at Robinson Park before Batman did.
He did notice the existence of the ring, but he didn't touch it. Instead, he hid the mini-bug he bought from the system on a large tree.
His only goal was to eavesdrop on the details of Batman and Robin's investigation.
Of course, there was a possibility that Batman might find out where the Bat Monster was at another crime scene and go straight to confront it directly.
In that case, he wouldn't come to Robinson Park.
At that point, Dean would just have to accept his bad luck. There was nothing he could do.
He couldn't risk directly confronting Batman and waiting for luck to strike in another place.
Although he had thought about what excuse to use in such a situation, it would be best not to use it if possible.
He would use them only if absolutely necessary.
"Kirk Langstrom?"
Dean rubbed his chin and realized he had no impression of this name at all.
Fortunately, Dr. Langstrom had a reputation in the field of zoology, and a lot of public information could be easily found online.
"An expert in zoology with physical disabilities is seeking funding to find a way to cure his hearing by researching animal DNA. He was rejected by major corporations... Hmmm, something doesn't seem right with this background."
As the saying goes, the more you look, the more you're surprised.
After Dean finished reading Dr. Langstrom's public information, he immediately felt that something was off.
This is the usual storyline for a villain turning towards the dark side in a superhero story.
"Hmm... it doesn't seem like Dr. Kirk Langstrom's address is available online, but the location of his laboratory is."
After some thought, Dean left the scene.
...
After some time, in the northeast of the Upper West Side, this was the poorest area of the entire upper west district.
It was almost like the Gotham slums in the East End.
Of course, compared to the slums in the East End, the living environment was still much better here.
Batman and Robin came to a small house that looked like a warehouse from the outside but had no lights on and tightly closed windows.
There was no noise coming from inside, and it was unclear if anyone was home.
"This is Dr. Langstrom's home? I didn't expect a famous expert to live in this place."
Robin said it with pity as he looked at the broken-down house in front of him.
"His life used to be quite comfortable, but his stubborn research work consumed all of his savings. Nobody was willing to fund his serum, so he had to invest all of his money in the research himself."
Batman explained.
He checked the house and found that it was the only entrance that he could use to get inside.
Batman first knocked on the door, but there was no response.
So he gave Robin a signal, and Robin immediately followed Batman's lead, alert and on guard.
Batman stood at the door, lifted his shoulder, tensed his muscles, and then charged the door.
Bang!
Batman was able to quickly open the old door and see what was going on inside.
It was empty inside, with no furniture except for a large cage and a woman locked inside.
Judging by the woman's appearance, she was clearly Dr. Kirk Langstrom's wife, Francine Langstrom!
...
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