Last night, just as the darkness was falling, Batman stood on the rooftop of the Gotham Cathedral bell tower, gazing down at the pitch-black alleyways below.
Therain of Gotham, umbrellas from Vicki's Umbrella Shop, the Court of Owls, gunshots in the dark alleys, scattered pearl necklaces...
Batman closed his eyes. All the events started to form a line in his mind, but there were still many blurred details within, requiring his investigations and explorations.
Eventually, he focused on Louis, who had hired a hitman.
From the rooftop of the cathedral bell tower, a shadow leapt down just like a real bat. He passed through countless dark alleys and, amidst shifting light and shadow, landed on a window of a building's loft.
Looking through the window, the fading Louis was slumped in a chair. He was completely immobilized and could only barely live on by relying on the heaps of garbage piled beside him.
When Batman entered the room, he didn't react. His eyes were blind, his ears were deaf; he was completely unaware of the intruder's presence.
Regrettably, Batman found no clues on Louis. Louis was too old. Not only was he suffering from dementia, but his physical health was also deteriorating to an extreme extent. He probably wouldn't live more than a month. Batman couldn't possibly pry any information from such a person. The loft had long been turned into a dump by him, and no useful items could be found.
Batman could only switch targets and head for the old mansion of the Edward family.
The Edward family was once one of the four great families of the East District, on par with the Cobblepot family. However, they didn't decline like the Cobblepot family did, mainly because they had a dock under their control. With the dock as a safeguard, their ability to withstand risks was far superior to other families.
However, they still couldn't escape the godfather's chase. Old Edward was dead, and no one knew where Little Edward had been taken by the godfather. The old mansion had now been taken over by the Falcone family. Still, Falcone didn't pay much attention to this place. Therefore, Batman faced almost no obstacles entering the mansion.
The old Edward house was dark, without any lights, but this didn't stop Batman. After a thorough search, Batman finally found what he was looking for—a umbrella bearing the insignia of Vicki.
In the office of Arkham Psychiatric Hospital, Batman placed two parts on the desk and pointed at them, saying to Shiller, "Look here, the same burn marks, the damage to your umbrella was not accidental."
Shiller squinted his eyes, realizing that Batman was right. The way the two parts were damaged was identical, with the threads being burned out.
Normally, an umbrella is not a firearm or a bullet, and even in Gotham, where small-scale warfare is common, an umbrella getting onto a battlefield is all but impossible. Therefore, the most likely ways an umbrella would get damaged are fractures of the ribs, loosened or detached parts.
But it's absolutely impossible for one small part of the umbrella ribs to get burned and cause the entire umbrella to break.
Since Shiller was not too familiar with this area, when part of a rib broke off, he just thought it was a common umbrella break, with the connection part having issues.
But now that he thought about it, while it rained in Gotham every day, it wasn't often windy. The parts connecting the umbrella ribs weren't under that much stress, but they were thoroughly damaged.
Now, the truth was right before his eyes. Two identical umbrellas, produced by the same umbrella maker, had the same part damaged in the same way. This could only mean one thing—it was all premeditated.
"The Court of Owls is eviller than we thought," Batman's voice was very low. He said, "They didn't plan on leaving any survivors. Everyone in Gotham, whether they bought an umbrella or not, all ended up the same way..."
"And you probably have realized the truth," Shiller looked into Batman's eyes and said, "Old Edward's umbrella broke, causing them to go mad. No one can say that their hitman hiring spree wasn't triggered by their madness."
Batman remained silent. The moment he got a hold of this umbrella, he thought of this problem. Shiller continued to speak, "It seems that you have a new target, but this target is also about revenge, right?"
"If everyone involved could pay the price, then why focus on one person?" Batman murmured softly.
"So you plan to team up with Evans and Cobblepot to investigate?"
"It's them who want to team up with me."
"I can understand you and Cobblepot..." Gordon looked at Batman and said, "After all, both of you may have lost loved ones. What about Evans? What reason would young Falcone have to get involved in this?"
"According to him, the death of his biological brother, Alberto Falcone, is linked to the Court of Owls."
Upon hearing this, Gordon was taken aback. He recalled, saying, "Alberto Falcone? That name sounds familiar. I think Harvey mentioned it..."
He then shook his head and said, "It seems like everyone avoids mentioning the oldest son of the godfather, Brock only mentioned it to me once, and he would not answer when I asked him."
"Brock told me that it was a name the godfather did not want to mention. Perhaps that's why no one else dared to mention him."
"Thinking about it, it does seem strange," Gordon said with some confusion. "Ten years ago, the Falcone family was even more powerful than it is now. The heir back then should have been better protected, and no one would dare to harm him..."
"Except for the Court of Owls."
"What do you plan to do?"
"We've formed a temporary alliance, investigating this mysterious organization from different classes of Gotham."
Batman's tone has finally changed slightly, his helplessness could be heard, "When I started the investigation, I discovered that they're hiding so deep, even with my power, I've searched all over Gotham City and have found no useful clues."
Both Shiller and Gordon knew that he was talking about the power of Wayne Enterprises, showing just how deep the Court of Owls has managed to hide since even Wayne Enterprises, with its influence in Gotham, couldn't find them.
"So I had to rely on some other people's power," Batman explained, "Cobblepot is a criminal, but if he is killing the Court of Owls' people, then I'm willing to join forces with him temporarily. He knows the Gotham underworld very well, and some of the details could be hiding in these dark corners."
"The Falcone Family has ruled Gotham's underworld for so many years, every mob member is their informant. Evans might be able to dig up different leads."
"When we find our target through cooperation, the alliance will come to an end. I don't need anyone to help me with my revenge."
"So what do you plan to call this alliance? Even if it's temporary, it should have a name, shouldn't it?" Gordon asked Batman.
Batman was silent for a moment. Shiller suddenly had a bad feeling. Then he heard Batman say, "I plan to call it The Avengers…"
"Wait!" Shiller interrupted him, saying, "I advise you to reconsider; this name is not very auspicious…"
Batman looked at Shiller, and Shiller's expression was very strange. Batman paused and then said, "The name is just a code, I don't believe in superstitions…"
"But the last organization that took this name didn't last long before they split in half."
"We're not an organization to begin with, I have no intention to form any team. This is just a temporary alliance. As for the name…" Batman dragged his words and said, "Each of us has a score to settle with the Court of Owls, so we are all avengers. So, what's wrong with the name, The Avengers?"
Batman saw Shiller displaying a complicated expression that he had never seen before, then he heard Shiller muttering under his breath, "Those who do not listen to advice do not end well…"
At the same time, in the hospital room next to the office, Evans watched Cobblepot fiddle with an umbrella.
"What are you doing?" Evans asked curiously, stretching his neck from the bedside. Without lifting his head, Cobblepot casually replied, "I'm making a weapon."
"A weapon?" Evans was even more confused, he asked, "Making a weapon out of an umbrella? Can't you just grab a gun?"
Cobblepot didn't bother with him, he had had enough of Evans in the past few days.
If Cobblepot's experience in the past few days were to be written as an article, it would be titled "How to get along with someone I completely despise and find very annoying."
Cobblepot had already expressed to Shiller his disdain for the godfather's son, Little Falcone, considering him to be a complete fool. But when this fool was moved into the same room with him, he found out that Little Falcone was not only stupid but also annoying.
Unlike Batman, Evans's character is more lively, and he talks a lot. He isn't sick, just came here to take it easy. He's in good spirits as a patient and has no consciousness of being one. When he's free, he always chats with Cobblepot.
In the beginning, Cobblepot was willing to chat with him in order to get some information about the Falcone Family, but later, Cobblepot found out that Evans does everything except things related to his family's business.
Evans has a wide range of interests. He's proficient in the arts, can paint, sing, play music, with cello being his strength, and he's also good at violin. He loves opera, can sing, dance and act. When he's free, he'll practice in the ward.
But when it comes to the business dealings of his family, Cobblepot evaluates Evans as a complete idealistic fool.
After chatting with Evans for a few days, besides improving his knowledge of the completely useless music theory in Gotham, Cobblepot gained nothing. So he didn't bother to talk to Evans in the following days.
Evans got up and walked over to Cobblepot, watching him work. After watching him for a while, he raised a question: "It seems like you can't modify the umbrella, do you need any help?"
"No, I don't," Cobblepot muttered. He pulled hard at the umbrella ribs and a component flew out, hitting Evans in the face who shrieked loudly and protested, "Hey! You did that on purpose, be careful!"
"Damn it… " Cobblepot cursed, "There's something off about this umbrella."
He picked up the entire umbrella and inspected it, then said, "What material is this made of? Why has it been resistant to welding and cutting?"
Evans leaned in and touched the umbrella ribs, frowning, "This doesn't seem like steel... I have a faint recollection of it..."
"Familiar?" Cobblepot turned his head to look at him, "When have you seen this material?"
Evans rubbed his chin, musing as he spoke, "I can't remember clearly, but I think I've seen it somewhere. But if you can't process this metal, you probably can't make a weapon."
Cobblepot didn't answer, he stared silently at the umbrella, seemingly pondering something.