Batman often heard pub owners describe Gotham's truck drivers as one bulldozer after another, causing havoc wherever they went. Having lived in the slums for a while, Batman knew they were spot on. It was unrealistic to expect these guys to be clean and tidy.
However, although there was a half-new pickup truck parked here, there were no signs of cargo handling, no footprints, no drunken vomit, no spat phlegm, and not even a cigarette butt. No matter how you looked at it, it was suspicious.
There was nowhere to hide in this alley, and the most conspicuous thing was the sewer manhole cover. Batman walked over and found that the moss around the cover had not been disturbed. But this did not mean that no one had touched it.
Even Batman knew of at least three ways to move bricks or manhole covers without causing any damage to the moss and weeds.
Noticing the possible problem with the cover, Batman didn't rush to lift it immediately. Instead, he put a night vision monitoring device tied with a wire into the air vent of the cover.
Extracting a screen from his belt, Batman saw that the situation in the sewer was as expected: it was filled with dense ice and there was no path for people to walk on.
Batman narrowed his eyes, swiveled the camera back and forth, and then spotted a tiny red dot concealed within the darkness and ice layers.
He used the camera to zoom in and then discovered that behind the ice layer there seemed to be a hidden power room. At that moment, some device was blinking a red light.
The sewer system of Gotham was extensive and intricate. Not every part had been immediately flooded when the floods occurred. Some later-built, better-quality utility rooms were only mildly leaking, with thin ice layers, making them habitable.
The only question was how they got in there? Batman frowned and started pondering.
The power room was separated from the sewer manhole by a thick, dense ice layer. Batman didn't think they could break this kind of ice, and even if they could, restoring it to its original state would be impossible.
Confirmed there was no danger underneath, Batman lifted the cover, packed up the surveillance equipment, and jumped in himself.
When the flood rushed in, the water that poured into this tunnel was wavy. The instant it froze, it left some space under the sewer cover, large enough for Batman to fit.
It was only after he jumped down did he realize that not only was there space above the ice layer, but there was also a very narrow crevice on the side, right next to the power room. As the water formed ice at the moment of rushing in, that place was void of water, hence without ice.
He slid over to the narrow crevice on the side and got to the bottom, where Batman found that a hole had been dug here.
The wall at the door seam of the power room was dug through. On the side of the wall was a sloping downward hole, about large enough for one person to pass through. Hidden behind the ice layer, this hole was not visible from near the sewer entrance.
Looking at the nearby supporting structures, Batman understood. This hole was not dug out in one or two days. Has the Federal Bureau of Investigation reached to this extent to control Gotham?
Batman turned on his flashlight and walked in. However, the further he walked, the more wrong it felt. In theory, Gotham's subsoil was not so sturdy. To dig such a long tunnel, wooden or metal structures for tunnel support would surely be needed.
Yet, this tunnel was very intact, without any support, but it was far from collapsing, and Batman, reaching out and touching the walls of this subterranean tunnel, found that they were extremely dry and completely non-seeping.
This was almost impossible in a city like Gotham, rich in underground water, with often raining weather and shoddy drainage facilities.
Batman immediately became more cautious because he knew, according to his current engineering knowledge, it was almost impossible to dig out such a long tunnel at that depth with no support structure and waterproof measures making it not collapsed or leaked. He couldn't do it. Naturally, neither could the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Continuing along the passage, he came to another junction in the sewer. An equally thick layer of ice covered this area, but there were cracks leading to another path that continued downward.
As Batman's figure disappeared into the dark tunnel, a bright light suddenly filled Shiller's view. Following twists and turns with the agent, he was finally led back to a well-lit room after what felt like ages.
He was seated in the middle of the room and lifted his head to address the agent, "When will my medicine arrive? I hope you guys can hurry. I mean, if I can recover soon, you can get me on a plane out of here, otherwise..."
Shiller shook his head and continued with a waning voice, "the reason why you guys created all these tunnels underneath Gotham is because you can't attack the city from the ground, indicating that you know how much danger there is here."
"I should remind you, if you want to get me out of this city, you're very likely to face extreme danger...cough, cough..." Shiller took a few more breaths before continuing, "Throughout our journey, I hope you can trust me. Only I can lead you out safely, otherwise... Cough, cough, cough…"
"Go and get his medication." the female agent responded, "He's starting to talk nonsense... Listen, Mr. Rodriguez, it's true we wish to get you out of here. This place is not suitable for interrogation."
"However, how we will leave and where we are going is only up to us to decide. For now, you are just a prisoner."
"You'd better take deep breaths and alleviate your symptoms. Your heart rate is veering into a dangerous zone." The female agent stepped forward, checked Shiller's pupils, glanced at the heart rate monitor on his wrist, and shook her head.
She backed off two steps and told two agents next to her, "Call and hurry up the agent who went to fetch the medication, tell them to rush. Also, prepare some antihypertensive and heart stabilizing drugs. We can't let him die here…"
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Continuous massive booms and shaking sounds came from somewhere very close to the room. Instantly, everyone was almost knocked off their feet; the chair Shiller was sitting on was knocked over.
"What's going on?! What's that noise?!" Lauren, the agent, looked around in panic. One agent announced loudly, "It sounds like the noises from construction blasting. Somebody's bombing the sewer!"
Shiller crawled back up from the ground, knelt down to gather energy, and through gritted teeth said, "Take me away quickly. If the structure collapses, we cannot escape. Don't tell me when you built this rat hole, you hadn't prepared an emergency exit..."
Like she was just jolted awake, Lauren said, "Oh, right, help him up. Let's go out through the backdoor. Quick!"
Just as the agents were supporting Shiller towards the backdoor, Shiller broke away from them. He leaned shakily against the wall and pointed towards the center of the room with his eyes shut, shouting, "Fire… Light a fire…quickly!!!"
"What are you doing? Get out of here now!" Lauren shouted anxiously. She looked up at the ceiling and said, "This place is going to collapse!"
"Light the fire quickly!!!!"
Lauren and several agents approached. Realizing they couldn't pry Shiller away, she had no choice but to tear apart a wooden chair and used fire starter to ignite it.
In the midst of the thick smoke, Shiller was coughing uncontrollably. Nonetheless, he quickly removed his raincoat and watch, as well as any additional accessories, except for his tie, threw them all in the fire.
By the time Batman reached this room via the newly exploded tunnel, he realized Shiller was no longer here and the signal indicating Shiller's location had completely disappeared.