Only at the very tip was there a small, damaged spot—a bullet hole left from when the wing was pierced by gunfire.
The feather had fallen at that moment.
Batman quickly started extracting DNA from the feather and analyzed the genetic sequence.
The genes were very similar to human DNA but had subtle differences.
It seemed like human DNA, but it was altered and upgraded to be more precise, balanced, and organized.
There were also extra segments that were not found in normal human DNA.
At first, Batman thought it might be mutant DNA.
He sent the report to an expert geneticist he knew—Professor X, the famous leader of the mutants—to see if it belonged to one of them.
But Professor X's response was clear: this was definitely not mutant DNA.
While the sequence was a variation of human genes, it contained far more extra DNA segments than a normal mutant's genes.
He hadn't fully figured out what those extra segments were for.
Professor X was very interested in this new evolutionary gene and asked where Batman had gotten the DNA sample.
Batman didn't give him any more details.
Since the DNA didn't provide further answers, Batman turned to another lead.
The captured criminal.
This person had been taken by the creature from Gotham City back to New York.
Batman hacked into the NYPD system and found the criminal's interview records.
The criminal claimed he was beaten and mentally tormented by a mysterious creature.
The New York police believed he was imagining things out of fear.
The creature called him "guilty," accusing him of a crime—hitting and killing a young boy with his car.
Using this clue, Batman easily tracked down the boy's identity and his family, the Hargreaves family.
After the tragic accident, the Hargreaves couple had kept a low profile, rarely appearing in public.
There was little information available about them.
However, Batman still found a few surprising pieces of information buried deep in the government records.
A few years after the accident, the Hargreaves couple rarely appeared in public.
There was very little information about them, but Batman still managed to find some unusual data hidden within the government's bloated systems.
The Hargreaves had adopted a boy from a New York City orphanage, but strangely, this boy's DNA information wasn't recorded in the welfare system's DNA database.
This was clearly unusual.
Normally, every child adopted from a New York City orphanage has their DNA collected and stored in the system's database to help match them with biological relatives.
However, this boy's DNA record was completely blank.
The only thing in the system was a legal document confirming the Hargreaves' adoption of him—nothing else.
Batman decided to go undercover and investigate at the orphanage.
When he subtly asked the staff about the boy who had been adopted by such a wealthy family, something even stranger happened.
None of the staff remembered the boy.
They couldn't recall his name and firmly insisted that the orphanage had never handled his adoption.
It was as if all memories of this boy had disappeared from their minds—or maybe, the boy had simply appeared out of nowhere.
So, who exactly had the Hargreaves couple adopted?
Batman finally shifted his focus entirely to this mysterious boy.
He had waited a long time to find this opportunity.
The Hargreaves couple was hosting a birthday party for their adopted son, inviting quite a few people, and rumors were circulating throughout the social circles of the East Coast.
Since the Wayne family didn't have close ties with the Hargreaves family, Bruce Wayne wasn't invited.
But he still found a way to attend the party.
He knew his friend, surgeon Thomas Elliot, had a good relationship with the Hargreaves, so he arranged for a critically ill patient to be transferred from Metropolis to Thomas, leaving him no choice but to skip the party that night.
Thomas Elliot had no choice but to ask Bruce to attend the event in his place.
Everything was going according to plan.
Sometimes, what Batman couldn't achieve, Bruce Wayne could easily accomplish.
Wearing Bruce Wayne's mask occasionally provided him with small conveniences.
When he arrived at the party in a perfectly tailored handmade suit, stepping out of the Aston Martin, all the cameras at the mansion's entrance flashed toward him.
Reporters swarmed, eager to snap photos of Gotham City's most eligible bachelor.
He put on his flawless social smile, mingling effortlessly with the elite trying to network with him.
Every now and then, he wrapped his arm around a glamorous woman who sidled up to him, his fingers teasingly brushing the edge of her ear, accompanied by a low, playful laugh.
The woman leaning against his chest was instantly overwhelmed by his masculine charm, blushing deeply and nearly melting into his arms.
Bruce Wayne chuckled softly, his voice deep like a cello, "Sorry, darling, I need to visit the restroom. Wait for me."
The woman nodded her head dreamily, her lips parting as she was about to tell him her name, but in the next second, the handsome billionaire Bruce Wayne had already disappeared from her sight.
She didn't notice that a tiny camera had been silently placed on her back.
When Bruce Wayne wanted to vanish at a party, no one could track his disappearance.
He attached a sonar device to the ground floor of the Hargreaves mansion.
Soon, the signal from the device was transmitted back to the Batcave, where the main screen began to display the building's layout.
His butler, Alfred, was looking at the 3D blueprint, assisting him via a miniature wireless earpiece, "Move to your left, sir. There's a servant staircase there. Go up to the third floor, take the second room on the right down the servants' hallway."
"Got it," Bruce replied, following Alfred's directions. "Have you seen Soren yet?"
Alfred answered, "The camera you placed on that young lady is working perfectly, sir. I see the guest of honor, Soren, just entered the restroom. You can safely search his room now."