章 205: Chapter 205: Mastermind
"The most difficult road lead to the most beautiful destinations."
- Unknown
...
The Phantom Thief crouched between the two Man-Bats in the corridor and examined them closely.
After making sure they wouldn't wake up for a while, he put away the high-voltage electric shockers he held in his hands.
Besides the original white gloves, he also wore a pair of red gloves with suction cup-like objects all over them.
Just a while ago, Phantom Thief used these suction cup gloves to attach himself to the ceiling and set up an ambush for the Man-Bats.
As for the Phantom Thief running ahead, it was actually just a dummy used as bait to attract the Man-Bat.
It is well known that bats have dull vision and a sense of smell, and some species are practically blind.
While most bats' eyes can technically see objects, they don't rely on vision much. However, when bat DNA mixes with human DNA, the strengths and weaknesses of both species are heightened.
Kirk Langstrom's humanity retains his sanity and memory, and his senses become more similar to a human's. On the other hand, the current Man-Bat virus mutation is the opposite.
The infected mutants were more bloodthirsty and posed a more significant threat to humans, but they lacked rationality. Their sense of hearing was good, but their other senses were lacking.
Phantom Thief called the second group "Mutant Man-Bats" to distinguish them from one another.
In terms of vision and smell, mutated Man-Bats infected with the Man-Bat virus are not much different from short-sighted humans with a cold.
It's almost impossible for them to perceive the presence of others through sight or smell.
For this reason, Phantom Thief came up with the bait plan he had just completed.
The steel wire that the two Man-Bats nearly hit with when they turned the corner was never meant to be used to deal with the enemies.
The real goal was to get the Man-Bats to lower their flight altitude.
Phantom Thief had already attached himself to the ceiling with the suction cup gloves. If the Man-Bats flew too high, they would hit him directly, and the ambush would be meaningless.
While attached to the ceiling, Phantom Thief also wrapped his figure in a cloak.
Even if the Man-Bat used echolocation to scan the ceiling, they would only detect a strange-shaped object and wouldn't know it was a person.
In addition, there was a "person" running ahead, and the concept of thinking didn't exist in the minds of the Man-Bat.
They wouldn't think that a person was hiding above the ceiling.
In fact, there was a high probability that the Mutant Man-Bat wouldn't notice the Phantom Thief staying silently on the ceiling even without the steel wire.
However, he had installed the wire just to be safe.
To avoid attracting other Man-Bats in Wayne Tower, Phantom Thief used ropes to tie up the two Man-Bats and threw them into the office at the end of the corridor before leaving as quickly as possible.
He headed straight to the control room in Wayne Tower.
Along the way, Phantom Thief encountered three more Man-Bats, each time in different locations.
But unlike the previous encounter, where there was only one path to follow, there were different ways to avoid them this time, and Phantom Thief didn't hesitate to take those paths.
It's unclear if it's because Batman often uses ventilation ducts and is aware of the risks involved, but the ventilation openings in Wayne Tower are tiny.
It would be hard for even babies to crawl through them.
This also meant that Phantom Thief had one less shortcut to take.
While Phantom Thief rushed to the control room of Wayne Tower.
On the other side, Batman, who was flying the Batwing to divert countless Man-Bats, detected an unusual feeling.
'During this time, Phantom Thief should have already met up with Lucius.'
Batman thought, 'But Lucius hasn't sent any signals to me...'
A sense of suspicion crept over Batman.
'It's possible that Phantom Thief deceived me, or did something happen to Lucius?'
Batman tried to contact Lucas through his communication device but received no response.
'This doesn't make sense... I instructed Lucius to notify me immediately if he saw Phantom Thief, and I didn't tell Phantom Thief where Lucius was located. Wayne Manor's surveillance system can monitor every corner, so Lucas should have spotted Phantom Thief before he was found, unless... Phantom Thief hacked into Wayne Tower's surveillance system. But he has no reason to do that.'
Batman furrowed his brow, his suspicions growing deeper.
'Is it possible that many Man-Bats have infiltrated Wayne Tower? There are no breaches caused by Man-Bats outside the building, and all the company employees have already evacuated. There shouldn't be anyone inside other than Lucas.'
"What could have happened at Wayne Tower?"
Despite his big concern, Batman couldn't go to Wayne Tower to investigate at this moment.
There were too many Man-Bats that his ultrasonic wave had attracted. There was no way to get out of this swarm of bats, not even with the Batwing's power.
The hard outer armor of the Batwing was already covered in scratches.
The Batwing couldn't do much damage right now, but the attacks from the thousands of Man-Bats would be too much for it to handle in the long run.
Suddenly, a communication signal reached the Batwing.
The signal was from Batgirl!
Batman immediately received the signal.
"Batman, Francine Langstrom is missing!"
Batgirl's urgent voice echoed through the communication device.
"When did this happen?"
Batman asked promptly.
"About a month ago!"
"A month! And no one discovered anything during such a long time? What about her neighbors? Isn't Francine working at a subsidiary of Wayne Enterprises? An employee has been missing for a whole month, and her colleagues and supervisors didn't find it strange?"
Upon hearing this, Batman's expression darkened.
"I've already contacted the manager of Wayne Biomedical Lab. He said Francine called him a month ago to take a long leave due to her husband's situation. He thought it was a good idea to let Francine rest for a while considering her husband's situation, so he didn't think much of it and agreed."
Batgirl replied.
"As for Francine's neighbors, I've visited each of their doors and asked. They only know that nobody has entered or left her house for a long time, and they don't know when she disappeared. Five out of ten surveillance cameras nearby are broken, so we can't determine how she disappeared. However, she definitely didn't leave willingly."
"Because there were signs of her door being forced open, but nothing was missing from her home. In addition, there are no records of her booking flights, ferries, or train tickets in the past month. I'm sure she was kidnapped before she even entered her house."
Batman thought for a moment and then said, "The only reason Francine could have been kidnapped is because of the Man-Bat serum, but she doesn't know anything about the serum. So, the kidnappers must have a different motive..."
"To use her as leverage against Kirk Langstrom!"
Batgirl continued Batman's thoughts.
"We're now waiting for updates from Robin. Hopefully, he can find some clues at Arkham Asylum."
Batgirl added.
It didn't take long for the communication receiver of the Batwing to ring again, and this time it was Robin calling.
"Batman, Francine Langstrom has been kidnapped!"
As soon as the call connected, Robin's anxious voice came through.
"Yes, can you tell us something we don't know?"
Batgirl sounded in.
Robin was surprised to hear her voice on the communication channel and was taken aback.
"Batgirl? Did you get any results from your investigation?"
"That's right."
"Which means you've already figured out the general details of Francine's kidnapping. So, let me give you a short summary."
After getting confirmation, Robin continued.
"A month ago, someone visited Kirk Langstrom pretending to be a prison visitor and showed him a photo of Francine being kidnapped. They used this to obtain the formula for the Man-Bat serum from him."
"Kirk had anticipated that something like this might happen before he completed his research on the serum. He had hidden backup research data elsewhere long before. He told the kidnappers the location of the backup in exchange for Francine."
"From the information I gathered from Arkham's gatekeeper, I discovered that the person who visited Kirk was a low-level Penguin gang member. Obviously, he received instructions from higher-ups to threaten Kirk Langstrom."
Robin quickly revealed all the information he had gathered during his investigations.
"The Penguin's Gang..."
Batman's eyes gradually became sharper.
'Is it possible that the Penguin is behind everything.?'
After a few hours of fighting the False Face Society, it seemed like the Penguin and his men were fighting for the good of Gotham and against evil.
Now it has been revealed that the Man-Bat virus might have something to do with the Penguin's gang.
But the question is, what would be the Penguin's motive for spreading the Man-Bat virus?
He doesn't seem to have any reason to do so!
The situation was becoming more and more mysterious.
...
Wayne Tower.
The Phantom Thief had endured countless troubles and finally arrived outside the control room.
As soon as he got there, he was drawn to a long streak of gruesome bloodstains on the floor.
From the traces, it seemed that someone had been dragging their bleeding body towards the control room not long ago.
Next to the door of the control room, a mutated Man-Bat lay on the ground; its body burned black and dead.
There were more than a dozen damaged holes in the ceiling, and a thick electric wire hung down from one of them.
This wire had been cut, and it happened to be in touch with the Man-Bat's body.
Now, the cut end of the wire was still flickering with blinding electric sparks. It was easy for anyone to see that the voltage was very high.
Swoosh!
The Phantom Thief pulled out his Card Gun and fired a sharp playing card at the electric wire on the ceiling while instantly cutting off the hanging wire and extinguishing the electric light.
After all, the blood on the ground could conduct electricity, and Phantom Thief did not want to be hit by the high-voltage electric current.
"Just a short while ago, someone definitely entered the control room."
Phantom Thief muttered to himself as he kneeled down and touched the blood on the ground with his glove-covered hand.
He walked straight over and opened the door of the control room. As expected, it was locked.
The control room door was also an electronic door and could not be picked.
But this didn't baffle the Phantom Thief. He casually flicked his hand, and an ID card appeared in his hand.
This ID card was found in the office where he had entered through the window. It should be a spare card.
He swiped the card at the sensor, and sure enough, the control room door opened.
The Phantom Thief pushed open the door and walked in.
Immediately, he saw a middle-aged man lying on the ground inside the control room, just two meters away from the door, and the bloodstains extending from under him.
Clearly, this person was the source of the bloodstains outside.
When the Phantom Thief turned this man over, he was shocked to discover that he was none other than the person he was looking for, Lucius Fox!
He had come to the control room to locate Lucius through the cameras, and now he had coincidentally found Lucius in the control room.
It was truly a twist of fate, an extreme coincidence.
After some time...
"Hey! Hey! Mr. Fox, we're running out of time. Wake up quickly!"
What was that sound?
In the depths of his unconsciousness, Lucius faintly heard someone's voice.
Is someone calling him?
It couldn't be.
I'm already dead...
"Mr. Fox?"
Suddenly, Lucius opened his eyes and woke up from his daze.
Immediately, he saw a figure wearing a white top hat and monocle, whose face he couldn't see clearly.
"Phantom Thief?"
Lucius whispered.
He sat up and realized that his whole body was wrapped in bandages, and the bleeding from his wounds had stopped.
"Do you feel alright? I'm no medical expert, but I managed to stop the bleeding for now."
Phantom Thief asked.
'I feel great!'
That was Lucius' true thought.
Although he still had quite a few injuries, he was no longer in immediate danger, and he could hardly feel any pain.
It wasn't as simple as Phantom Thief said, just "stopping the bleeding."
In fact, when Phantom Thief arrived, Lucius was in a critical condition, with a massive loss of blood.
He might have died if the Phantom Thief had been two or three minutes later.
Waking up Lucius in such a state was almost like racing against death itself. How could it be as simple as just stopping the bleeding?
Phantom Thief had bought a recovery potion from his system.
While it was nowhere near as powerful as the Lazarus Pit, it was enough to restore some color to Lucius' body, which had lost too much blood.
"Mr. Fox, I know you're in a critical condition right now, but I have a more pressing mission here, so I had to wake you up."
Phantom Thief said solemnly.
...
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