The light from the computer screen shone on Batman's face, giving his expression an extra solemnity. While he scanned the records that Nightwing had previously sent from the Oracle System, he asked Peter without looking back, "Did you intercept Penguin's communications?"
"No, I called the military and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I wanted to know what they were doing. The person who answered the FBI phone was Amanda Waller, but no one answered the military line."
"I found an information identification device and unique military vehicle code on that military truck. This means there's a military base in Gotham City. I think their phone lines might be down, so my plan was to directly contact them through their radio channel."
"I just brought myself into a conversation that Oswald, found in your list of super villains as the Penguin, was having with an officer named Binn. I only wanted to make a phone call, so I didn't use a concealed listening frequency."
"You've been discovered." Batman said, "Next time, remember to encrypt the channel, no matter who you're contacting via radio."
"I will." Peter nodded, "I underestimated the hostile surroundings of your universe. I didn't expect all official agencies to be as leaky as a sieve."
"What did they say in the conversation?"
"That chap called Oswald - oh, I later found his codename from the list of super villains you provided, the Penguin. He had swapped something for military equipment and ammunition. They were discussing a location for the second supply of goods."
"The officer asked him to completely wipe the paint and information tags from the equipment before using it. Penguin didn't respond."
Batman furrowed his brow. If that was the case, it made sense.
An obvious clue was that from Scarecrow's initial appearance to being pursued, all of his equipment was military-grade, whether it was vehicles, weapons, or communication equipment.
Scarecrow, a chemist who been behind bars for many years, couldn't have cobbled together the military-grade equipment. Arkham Asylum definitely wouldn't have had adequate materials and equipment to manufacture them either.
The military wouldn't blatantly provide this kind of equipment to a mentally ill criminal, especially one from Gotham. Batman knew they wouldn't want to get involved in any of Gotham's problems.
But if there was the Black Boss, the Penguin who was a significant figure in both the black and white paths, it would ease the route a lot.
As the master of Wayne Enterprises, Batman of course knew that Oswald was involved with the military, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Gotham gangs, and a variety of black and white forces. This was a major reason why the Penguin could hold his ground in the competitive city of Gotham. He had widespread connections.
The Penguin probably bribed a military officer in Gotham's military base, getting his hands on a large amount of military equipment, then gave it to Scarecrow.
Penguin and Scarecrow cooperating wasn't surprising, given that both of them were once inmates at Arkham Asylum. But the biggest question was that Scarecrow doesn't seem to provide the Penguin with sufficient Benefit.
Penguin was a businessman. Messing up Gotham would give him no benefits. On the contrary, with most of Gotham now unconscious, Penguin's businesses surely would be unable to operate.
At this point, Batman was reminded of an event that took place a few weeks back. Black Mask, a famous mob boss of Gotham, was found dead in his own house, and all the wealth of the Sionis family was stolen.
While the Sionis family could not match up to the Wayne family, they were nevertheless a well-known family of Gotham. Although they had been in decline by the time of Black Mask, they were still wealthy.
Similar to being the boss of a mob, Black Mask had long been a rival to Penguin in the underworld. The Oswald family had been declining even earlier than the Sionis family, therefore, the Black Mask had always been a thorn in Penguin's side.
It could be that Scarecrow had figured out a way to kill Black Mask, and by looting his wealth, handed it to Penguin. Penguin then, helped him by bribing the military officers and obtaining a large amount of military equipment.
The first batch of military equipment should have been used in Scarecrow's initial onslaught, including that military truck Batman had confiscated.
The second batch of equipment hadn't arrived yet, and Peter had accidentally overheard a conversation between Penguin and the bribed military officer, so Penguin sent someone to kidnap Peter.
At the same time, the military found out their equipment had been stolen, but this probably wasn't enough for them to resort to drastic measures. But if the FBI helicopter appearing over Gotham was taken into account, everything made sense.
The FBI hadn't come here randomly. They had likely received news through some channel about the military supplying equipment to the terrorists in Gotham, and had sent people to gather evidence.
The relationship between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the military was not only competitive but also full of old grievances. Since they both constantly tried to trip each other up and expose their faults, neither would be willing to miss the chance to pull at the other's threads.
The military wouldn't allow the Federal Bureau of Investigation to obtain such compelling evidence, as it would put them at a great disadvantage in Congress. However, with the equipment theft having already happened, simply preventing the FBI agents would be useless, as the pervasive agents would eventually obtain evidence.
The best solution, then, became to destroy all traces. As long as the stockpile of equipment was destroyed, the Federal Bureau of Investigation could never obtain the evidence.
It's quite easy to locate certain equipment. All of the American military's standard equipment is tagged, in particular the transportation and combat vehicles come with emergency signal transmitting devices. Locating such signals would make it easy to lock onto the location.
"Have you seen Penguin?" Batman asked.
Peter nodded, slightly tilting his head to the side. Batman noticed a shallow scar on his jawline.
"Although this might sound a little offensive, he asked me whether you have any peculiar inclinations. He thought that your assistant shouldn't appear in the Batcave, but rather in his strip club."
The veins burst on the back of Batman's hand.
Watching Batman's departing figure, Peter gently touched his own earpiece and said into the air, "Hello? Doctor, are you there? This isn't good, right? I feel like we shouldn't provoke him like this..."
"Relax, Peter." Shiller's voice, even more smooth, came from Peter's earpiece, resembling the thunder of a Gotham rainy night.
Peter realized this wasn't the doctor and then listened to him say, "This statement isn't made to provoke Batman."
"You should first tell him that brainwaves between individuals can influence each other, and the fear gas also affects brainwaves."
"He was already infected with fear gas when he was previously injured. He will definitely suspect that his brainwaves have been affected too. But why, after being affected, did he have a dream about Jason?"
"Was it just a dream, or was it reality seen after the brainwaves connected? Batman can't confirm, but he can suspect it, he's very good at suspecting."
"If the scene in the dream could potentially be reality, then perhaps his missing assistant was kidnapped. But ordinary people wouldn't kidnap his assistant. In other words, there has to be a reason if someone kidnaps instead of kills."
"No one has used Jason's disappearance to threaten Batman, so what is Jason's worth to the kidnapper?"
Peter's eyes widened slowly, he slightly opened his mouth but then closed it, covering his lips with his finger and said: "So that statement is actually hinting that Penguin Man has taken Jason… God, Batman won't kill him, will he?!"
"Batman doesn't kill." Shiller's tone carried a hint of a smile, he continued, "This original united family always had severe conflicts over this."
"But, Peter, you always have to remember, death is never the best revenge. You have many other methods to turn it into a gift."
"When things seem to be developing in a mundane and uninteresting direction, perhaps, you should be more daring."
"More daring…" Peter murmured.
Suddenly, soft footsteps came from behind. Peter turned his head to find Poison Ivy peeking around the corner. Seeing Peter looking at her, she raised an eyebrow and asked, "Did Batman leave?"
"Yes." Peter nodded, still lost in thought, then asked, "Do you think I should be more daring?"
Poison Ivy looked incredulous, "More daring?! You mean your actions just now weren't daring enough?!"
Poison Ivy raised her hands high and then slammed them down, "You destroyed Gotham an hour ago! Twice! All the supervillains combined in Arkham Asylum haven't achieved what you have!"
"And Batman is still worried about you - he just called Alfred and asked him to watch you, to make sure you don't go out. God, that's the only right decision he's made! Can't you just stay put?!"
Peter shook his head and said, "This is my first exam, although my mentor leans in favor of me, there are other professors reviewing my conducts for the test. One particular professor is extraordinarily strict."
"I think I learned pretty well, especially in the field of basic knowledge, I'm quite solid. There are one or two distinctive points in my topic of choice, but after all, I skipped the Bachelor's program and dived headfirst into a Master's thesis argument...without an eye-catching, complete result…"
Peter shook his head, seeming unsatisfied with his own performance, suddenly, inspiration struck, Peter slightly raised his head, as if he had an idea.
Meanwhile, at Shiller's Tower of Thought, the atmosphere was lively. Greed got up from his seat, he slapped the table and said, "
Spider Man has the most basic moral bottom line. First, he does not kill. Second, he also dislikes extreme violence. This means that his topic decision will inevitably have great limitations, it can't be too grand, and grand gestures don't always mean value. Something 'small' can lead to greater things. Do you understand?"
"How old is he?! He's just graduated from his Master's program. He has to focus on the experiment on one hand while learning how to be a superhero on the other. When he was under my supervision, he didn't have many opportunities to participate in official programs. He dared to choose Arkham Knight as his first exam topic, which fully demonstrates his academic spirit!"
"Also, didn't some outstanding graduate also struggle with the father-son conflict? Has there been a real solution given for the fatherhood problem in the field? This is an unsolvable topic, and we need students who dare to explore such complex topics!"
Arrogant rubbed his forehead and sighed, "Can you calm down? I just wanted him to elaborate on his thoughts in response to Batman's reaction…"
"What's there to elaborate on?! Would you stand up in the middle of an exam and recite the answers? Oh, you might actually do that, considering all the teachers were unconscious in the office during university exams!"
"Greed." Morbid called from the side.
"Also, don't suddenly hint during the process of answering, what if it's a distraction and not a hint?" Greed hit the table again and said: "No one's allowed to make a sudden sound! Otherwise, I'll unplug the network cable!"