Chapter 65: The World's Number One Detective
According to archival records, there were no survivors from the bar that night—not even the owner.
Even those who managed to escape the bar were found dead later that day.
Despite being the notorious kingpin who held Riverton City's criminal underworld in a tight grip, the man who was whispered to control everything from drug trafficking to high-stakes gambling met his end with a single, unceremonious bullet. His life, like those of the countless others he had taken, was reduced to a fleeting moment of violence—a brief flash in the darkness.
The heavy wooden door of the bar creaked open one last time, revealing a figure drenched in blood. Ivon once feared and revered in equal measure, now appeared more like a vengeful ghost than a man. His clothes were soaked through, the dark fabric clinging to his skin, and his once-proud posture was marred by the weight of seven or eight bullets lodged deep in his flesh. Blood oozed from his wounds, forming a sticky trail behind him as he staggered forward. But Ivon seemed oblivious to the pain, his expression distant as if his mind had already left his battered body behind.
[TL note - who else is getting John Wick vibes]
He took a few uncertain steps, his movements slow and labored, like a marionette with its strings cut. The cold night air bit at his skin, yet he paid no mind. Instead, he simply lowered himself to the sidewalk outside the bar, his legs giving out beneath him as he sat down heavily. The world around him was quiet, save for the distant hum of traffic and the occasional rustle of wind through the deserted streets.
With trembling hands, Ivon reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled pack of cigarettes. He fumbled with it for a moment, finally managing to extract one and place it between his cracked lips. The flame from his lighter flickered briefly before catching the end of the cigarette, casting a warm glow over his bloodied face. He inhaled deeply, letting the smoke fill his lungs before exhaling slowly, watching the tendrils of smoke curl into the air and disappear into the night.
The files later indicated that Ivon had already been infected by the mysterious pathogen at that time, though the full extent of its effects on his mind and body was unclear. The report speculated that Ivon himself might have been unaware of the infection's grip on him. It was likely that he hadn't expected to walk out of that bar alive; perhaps he had even welcomed the idea of dying in a blaze of violence, finding some twisted solace in the notion of going out on his own terms.
This was reflected in his mental assessment, where the report further noted a distinct possibility of self-destructive tendencies. It was as if Ivon had reached a point where the only option that made sense to him was an end—an end as brutal and uncompromising as the life he had led.
But fate, it seemed, had other plans.
Later that same night, Ivon crossed paths with agents from the Special Service, an organization infamous in certain circles and internally referred to as the Madhouse. They found him slumped on the sidewalk, a blood-soaked specter who had somehow survived what should have been a fatal confrontation. Intrigued by his resilience and the odd circumstances surrounding him, the agents brought him in for evaluation.
After undergoing a series of rigorous tests—both physical and psychological—Ivon was deemed fit to join their ranks. However, the man who emerged from those evaluations was no longer Ivon Petrov, the feared enforcer of Riverton City's criminal empire. That identity, along with all the sins it carried, was buried that night. In its place, a new persona was forged: Ivan Petrov, an agent of the Ninth Division.
As Charlie delved deeper into the records, he noticed that this transformation was strikingly similar to the "witness protection plan" he had heard about in his previous life. The idea was simple yet powerful—erase every trace of the old life, give the individual a new name, a new face, and a new beginning in a place where their past could not follow.
In theory, it was an effective way to protect those who might be targeted for what they knew or what they had done. But in the cinematic universe of Hollywood, such plans rarely worked as intended. Characters placed under witness protection always seemed to be haunted by the ghosts of their pasts, with old enemies resurfacing at the worst possible times. It was as if the very act of trying to hide from one's past only made it more inevitable that it would come back to haunt them.
The witness protection plan, much like Iron Man's infamous anti-armor suits, often proved to be more of a façade than a true safeguard. Just as the anti-armor suits frequently failed to protect against the very threats they were designed to counter, the witness protection plan sometimes failed to shield those it was meant to protect. The past, it seemed, was a tenacious adversary, always finding a way to break through the flimsiest of defenses.
For Ivan, it was unclear whether his past had indeed caught up with him, but the events at the Fourth Precinct strongly suggested a connection. The footage Charlie had seen earlier showed Ivan reacting to something—or someone—at that location, which could very well be a remnant of his former life as Ivon Petrov.
Regardless of the specifics, one thing was clear: Charlie needed to find Ivan, and quickly.
After extracting the necessary information from the server, Charlie disconnected. But his mission wasn't over yet. There was another area he needed to investigate.
Earlier that day, Ivan had made a daring escape from the building. Charlie, using Batman's detective mode from the outside, had noticed a crack in the glass on the third floor. It was clear that Ivan had made his exit by jumping through that window.
Charlie waited patiently, biding his time until the security guards patrolling the third-floor window had moved on. Then, with the precision and stealth of a seasoned predator, he guided Batman to slip through the broken window.
The room inside had been cordoned off, and a perimeter was established around the scene of the escape. Shards of glass lay scattered across the floor tiles, glittering faintly in the dim light. The air inside was cool and slightly damp as if the very room had absorbed the tension and chaos of the earlier events.
Charlie's instincts kicked in. He activated Batman's first-person reconnaissance and scanning mode, his vision narrowing as he focused on the debris. With a deliberate, steady hand, he guided the scanning frame over the shards of glass, holding down the right mouse button to initiate the scan.
This was one of Batman's many specialized abilities—scene inspection.
This feature, which had made its debut in the Arkham series, was a testament to Batman's unparalleled detective skills. Unlike other heroes who relied on physical prowess or sensory enhancements, Batman's strength lay in his intellect and his ability to analyze even the most minute details. His "detective mode" was a tool that allowed him to see beyond the obvious, to uncover hidden truths that others might overlook.
Batman's origins in detective comics had long established him as the greatest detective in the DC universe. The detective elements in his stories were not just add-ons; they were central to his identity. While the Batman games were, at their core, action-packed superhero adventures with elements of fantasy, the inclusion of these detective features added a layer of depth and complexity, making the gameplay experience all the more immersive.
The detective elements in Batman's world were akin to the action scenes in detective-themed works like "Detective Conan"—a blend of logic, intuition, and a touch of the extraordinary.
However, unlike the leaps of logic often seen in Conan, Batman's deductions were grounded in a combination of Sherlock Holmes-style intellect and Tony Stark-level technology. This allowed Batman to approach each case with a near-divine perspective, as if he were piecing together the puzzle of a crime scene with the help of both his analytical mind and his high-tech gadgets.
Charlie watched as the scan of the glass shards quickly built a model of the room on Batman's helmet display. Within seconds, the scene before the glass had shattered was reconstructed in vivid detail. From Batman's perspective, Charlie could see a holographic model of Ivan bursting into the room, his movements quick and precise. Ivan fired two shots at the window, the bullets piercing the glass and leaving two jagged holes. Without hesitation, Ivan then charged forward, crashing through the glass with a powerful leap.
The entire sequence played out as if Charlie were witnessing it firsthand. The progress bar at the bottom of the screen allowed him to manipulate the scene, fast-forwarding, rewinding, or pausing at any moment to examine specific details.
This ability to reconstruct and replay crime scenes was something that had left Charlie in awe when he first encountered it in the Arkham games. It felt almost surreal, as if he were not merely playing a game, but rather stepping into the role of the Dark Knight himself, piecing together the clues that would lead to justice.
If this was truly how investigation and reasoning worked, it seemed almost beyond the realm of possibility—edging into the territory of supernatural abilities like the legendary "Sky Eye." Yet, within the context of Batman's world, it all made perfect sense.
[TL Note - not sure wtf sky eye is, but it is probably the heavenly eye from Chinese novels]
In Iron Man 3, Tony Stark used a similar method—scanning crime scenes and creating holographic models to conduct high-tech investigations. Sherlock Holmes, too, was famed for his ability to deduce an entire waterfall from a single drop of water. Given Batman's superhuman capabilities and advanced technology, it wasn't far-fetched for him to possess this ability.
The holographic replay of the crime scene that players experienced might not have been a purely technological marvel. Instead, it could have been a blend of Batman's mental reconstruction of the scene based on the evidence he gathered and his high-tech equipment. This combination allowed the game to present the intuitive "God's perspective
"in a way that was both accessible and believable for players.
This user-friendly interface enabled players to step into the shoes of the world's greatest detective, solving cases with the same precision and efficiency as Batman himself.
After replaying the scene, Batman followed the same path Ivan had taken, leaping out of the window with his cape unfurling behind him and landing near the point where Ivan had hit the ground.
The floor tiles showed subtle cracks where Ivan had landed, the force of his fall causing the stone to fracture slightly. Batman's first-person perspective also revealed traces of a blood reaction on the ground—a telltale sign of the injuries Ivan had sustained.
The luminol reaction, a common technique in crime scene investigations, allows even faint or cleaned bloodstains to glow with a blue luminescence under the right conditions. Typically, this reaction lasts only about 30 seconds and requires a dim environment for the glow to be visible. But in Batman's world, such limitations didn't apply.
When Batman activated his detective mode, the function in his helmet allowed him to see dried blood as if it were still fresh, tracing the path Ivan had taken from the scene of the escape to the parking lot.
Sometimes, Charlie couldn't help but wonder if the infrared imaging and night vision technologies in Batman's helmet were just the surface. Perhaps the real secret of Batman's helmet lay in something far more advanced—a visual sensor technology that was years, if not decades, ahead of anything else in existence.
According to Locard's exchange principle, any contact between two objects leaves a trace. Movies and TV shows often simplify this concept, focusing primarily on fingerprints or DNA. However, trace evidence goes much deeper, encompassing everything from hair and fibers to paint and body fluids, all of which can be left behind at a crime scene.
Batman's detective mode was built on this very principle, allowing him to detect even the faintest traces left behind by a suspect.
As Charlie followed the trail of blood leading to the parking lot, he noticed it grew fainter the farther it went. He guessed that by the time Ivan reached this point, his body had healed enough to nearly stop the bleeding—perhaps another sign of the infection's effects.
But Batman's detective mode managed to track the trail to an empty parking space, the likely spot where Ivan had parked the vehicle he used to escape.
When Charlie attempted to scan the parking space again using detective mode, he encountered an unexpected obstacle. Batman's seemingly all-seeing detective mode had reached its limit.
"Detective mode cannot scan tire marks," Batman's voice intoned, a reminder that even the Dark Knight had his limits.
This surprised Charlie. He had come to rely on Batman's almost omniscient perspective, but now, it seemed there were clues even Batman couldn't fully decipher.
But then, Batman added, "I need the Batmobile's scanners for further tracking."
Charlie's mind raced as he considered the implications. "but..."
Breaking into a high-security building and stealing information was one thing. But driving a tank-like Batmobile into a public parking lot? That might be pushing it a bit too far, even for Batman.
If no one noticed that, then Riverton City's security was no better than the infamously incompetent guards of Arkham.
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