บท 2940: Chapter 2107: The Knight's Terrifying Night (49)_1
In a makeshift office converted from a guest room, Amanda Waller hastily hung up the surveillance headset and turned to scold her subordinate behind her, "Inform the Emergency Department immediately and have them suppress this! Hurry up!"
The subordinate she shouted at looked bewildered, not understanding Amanda's command, and instinctively repeated, "Suppress what?"
"Of course it's the matter of Bruce Wayne and his peculiar little habits! Notify all major newspapers immediately and have their chief editors shut up!"
"But..."
Amanda seemed unable to bear it any longer, slamming the headset on the table and turning to another agent, "Where is the Director? I need to speak to him personally!"
Before she could finish, the door was suddenly kicked open and a burly black agent walked in, supporting the limping Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Amanda wore a surprised expression, quickly approached and the Director collapsed onto the sofa, cursing through gritted teeth, "That damn Bruce Wayne, what does he think he's doing? I'll make him understand how far he's overstepped and what price he will pay for his reckless behavior!"
"Amanda, our old friend, editor-in-chief Solvo should still be in charge of the political section of the Washington Post, call him right away. For the next three days, the Washington Post will go all out to report on Bruce Wayne's abuse and sexual assault of his adopted son."
Amanda didn't say anything, she just sighed deeply, walked over to the table, picked up the headset, and the Director turned to look at her, not pleased with what he saw.
Amanda brought the recording device over, placing it on the table with a thud. The Director stared at the headset in her hand in amazement, rolling his eyes before begrudgingly taking it and putting it on.
The sound that came from the headset was a loud recording from a hotel room, sounding quite volatile. Even through the headset, everyone could vaguely hear the last sentence echoing in the room.
"Trust me, by then, I'll absolutely use everything I've witnessed in the lower echelons of Gotham, to make everyone in this country lose face…"
The Director's expression shifted from initial anger to confusion, then to shock, and finally a hint of panic.
He flinched as if electrocuted, swiftly removing the headset. His bulging eyes looked as if they were about to fly out of their sockets, he coughed twice, covering his mouth with a clenched fist.
"Is that Jason Todd? I mean the boy who looks a little younger."
Amanda sat across from the Director and crossed her legs. She nodded and said, "Yes, Jason Todd was born in Gotham's poorest district. He lost both his parents around the age of three and became a Gotham street urchin, until he was taken in by Batman at about the age of 10."
The Director's eyes widened even further. He stared at Amanda, seeking confirmation. "He lost his parents when he was four and grew up alone in the Gotham slums until he was adopted at the age of 10?"
Amanda rolled her eyes and nodded.
"Hmm…" The Director dragged out a long tone, flipping his hands in front of him, pursing his lips, covering his mouth with his hand, lowering his head and then looking up at Amanda again.
"I mean, could we possibly just have the other orphan participate in the interview? I'm talking about the boy named Richard Grayson, I assume his parents died a bit later?"
"Heh." Amanda gave a cold chuckle. "Then how do you intend to explain to the judge and jury why only one of the two victims in the photo appears and where did the other one go?"
"Perhaps... perhaps... he is seriously ill and doctors believe that his physical condition is not suitable to appear in court..."
Amanda threw her head back in a 'now I get it' expression, then slowly spread her fingers, "Then could you tell me which hospital can ensure that Batman's assistant lays obediently in bed, and which court can stop the young hero fighting crime in Gotham, and ensure they won't break in during the trial?"
The Director stood up, flicked the back of his suit, and began pacing beside the sofa with his hands on his hips. He said, "Perhaps we could apply for a psychiatric assessment for him. As long as we prove that his mental state is unstable, maybe he could be prevented from…"
"You know, we don't have a psychiatrist who dares to conduct a psychiatric test on any Gotham resident," Amanda shook her head and said, "We tried this trick 12 years ago to make Wayne Enterprises compromise over the Gotham Bridge project. We sent a team of psychological experts to investigate the management of Arkham Mental Hospital to ensure there was no patient abuse."
"After they returned, the experts all praised the place unanimously because soon after they were admitted to the hospital themselves, and we never heard from them again."
The Director clutched his temples with both hands and said, "Gotham has a welfare institution, right? Even if Jason Todd was not adopted by Bruce Wayne from a welfare institution, the boy must have been there at least once. The illicit dealings between the welfare institution and Wayne Enterprises…"
"Tried that trick 8 years ago," Amanda sighed and picked up a water glass to pour herself some water, "A detective squad entered the Gotham welfare institution to gather evidence. Five people were killed in gang warfare, three were killed in explosions, two had their bodies destroyed and discarded, with only some tissue samples found in the sewers, and one was caught by the children, who sawed off his head…"
The Director stopped in his tracks, thought carefully, then waved a finger and said, "Then the employees of Wayne Enterprises…"
"They're in cahoots with Bruce Wayne, as are the shareholders."
"The manor's butler or home tutor…"
"There is no home tutor, Bruce Wayne has an old butler." Amanda gestured to her subordinate, and the young agent came over and passed Amanda a document.
Narrowing her eyes, Amanda flicked through the document and said, "He used to be the personal butler of Bruce Wayne's father, Thomas Wayne, and has served the Wayne family for over 40 years..."
The Director's eyes lit up all of a sudden.
"That's him. A butler like that definitely has a lot of Wayne's secrets. All we need is for him to testify in court... It's not hard, right? We can pay any price."
But then, what Amanda said next was like a bucket of cold water extinguishing his burning enthusiasm.
"Alfred Pennyworth, served in the British Military Intelligence Section 5 during World War II..."
"You mean to say he's a spy?"
"Then he was transferred to MI6..."
"Alright, a Soviet spy."
Amanda closed the file and turned to the director, saying, "You know, now is not the time to consider personal grudges. If you want to stir up trouble about Bruce Wayne and his adopted son, the microphone will inevitably be handed to Jason Todd, and Gothamites say anything."
The director gritted his teeth, limping back to the couch to sit down, leaning his hands on his knees and saying, "Yes, we all know there's a sewer full of filth there, reeking and foul, but just because no one knows about it doesn't mean we should lift the lid and let everyone smell the stench."
Amanda snorted coldly and said, "Be realistic. If we choose to let things go, the hyenas from the major newspapers will swarm in and fill every space around Jason Todd and Richard Grayson with microphones."
"If these two crazy Gotham teenagers say something they shouldn't, New Jersey State will explode with deep blue votes, and you'll be kicked into the Atlantic by a donkey."
The director put his hands on his forehead.
"Go..." he said breathlessly, "Notify the media not to report recklessly. We need to talk to Bruce Wayne."
"Don't you have a clue about the current situation?" Amanda sighed deeply, put the cup back on the table, and said, "Wayne is threatening us. He's accurately targeting our weaknesses."
She glanced to one side and recalled, "As you said, everyone knows there's a cesspit in New Jersey, but the last fig leaf on this cesspit is the economic development of Gotham."
"Over the years, whether us, the military, or Congress, we've compromised with Wayne Enterprises countless times because only Bruce Wayne has the guts to mess with shit and the ability to cover the cesspit, so it won't stink up the entire five continents."
"When people criticize Gotham, we would say, Gotham is not poor, they are rich, so they just chose their own lifestyle, it's their freedom, but we all know, that's fucking bullshit!"
"All the brilliant politicians in the entire U.S. don't have a clue how to shovel the shit out, so we can only hope that Wayne can cover it up."
"Wayne uses Gotham's criminals to threaten the members of Congress. It seems a bit radical, but we all know he's just setting up a high initial negotiation position to gain more initiative."
"We all know he won't actually throw those criminals out, because if he wanted to, he would have done it a long time ago, but no one knows if he truly doesn't want to cover up that mess anymore."
"If he bids Gotham adieu, he could achieve a lot more on a wider stage. If Bruce Wayne decides to take it a step further, nobody can stop him."
"So, we'd better not take him lightly by thinking he'll back off if we grant him a little favor." Amanda stood up, crossed her arms and asked, "Don't you think it looks like a trap?"
The director looked up at her, paused and then his eyes widened. He asked, "You're not suggesting that this is all part of Bruce Wayne's strategy, are you?"
"Deliberately leaving that photo there, revealing his identity and his relationship with his adopted son. He knows that plenty of people are waiting to grab his weak point, whether it's us or the military will take the opportunity to kick a man when he's down."
"We'll help him stir things up, furiously promoting public opinion, allowing the world to get a glimpse of Wayne's tail."
"After the world's attention is focused here, he lets his adopted son reveal the dark side and injustice of Gotham during interviews with the media, ripping off the faces of us military and congressional old folks."
The director's tone grew more and more panic-stricken. At the end, he was almost screaming. He suddenly stood up, then asked somewhat confusedly, "But why would he do that? Offending everyone, what good does it do him?"
"He is offending everyone, but he will also become immensely famous, and can greatly improve his public reputation."
"Gotham is rotten, but it was Wayne Enterprises that kept Gotham from being poor and rotten. When his adopted son from the bottom of Gotham talks about how much effort Wayne Enterprises has made to save the city, and then shares a heartwarming father-son tale, how many people do you think would not buy into it?"
"But not all media will..."
The director couldn't continue. They could control the media because Wayne didn't want to control it. But if Wayne wanted to, nobody else could even think about it.
Again, there aren't many people in this world who wouldn't be moved by Wayne Enterprises.
The director raked his hair and asked, "What the hell is he thinking about? He wouldn't be like the lunatics from Gotham, would he... "
The director's movement suddenly froze, he slowly looked at Amanda, and Amanda also looked up at him, both realizing they had inferred the same possibility.
Wayne isn't thinking about running for president, is he?!
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