There is no Batman in Gotham City comics.

Chapter 215, Section 112: Pre-Battle Preparations

Chapter 215, Section 112: Pre-Battle Preparations

As the curtain rises and the Court of Owls collapses, the three factions confront each other across the giant's corpse.

First up is the Bat Family, led by Qin Wei and aided by the top-tier combat power "Revenge Demon" Chato Santana.

They are numerous and have a clear division of labor, but their weakness is that their combat strength is uneven. In fact, apart from Chato, V-Bat and Nite Owl, these two second-tier combatants, are not quite up to par right now.

Secondly, there's Joseph Cole's side. His trump card is Bane, who's already in manic mode. His advantage is his extremely low demands. Joseph Cole is preoccupied with how to cause trouble for V, a goal that can be achieved with just a flick of his finger.

Finally, there's Thomas Elliott, whose direct goal is to use Qin Wei to destroy the Court of Owls, but his ultimate aim is to establish an organization completely under his control.

Currently, the Bat Family is in the open, while the other forces are in the shadows.

The air after the rain carried the earthy smell of soil mixed with the scent of conspiracy.

Qin Wei also sensed this trend. After assigning Tim a task, he immediately approached Lucius and inquired about the progress of the exoskeleton armor modifications.

"Young Master Wayne, I just entered your data into the computer. Modification and debugging will take a long time, and only a few hours have passed."

"But Bain won't give me much time!"

Qin Wei sighed. "Beibei Jia" was like a thorn in his heart. Ever since he learned that the Joker was involved with Bane, the sorrow of being gay had lingered in his heart.

Of course, violently resurrecting him with Amber Gold is also an option, but he absolutely does not want to experience the distorted hallucinations he felt during his fight with William Cobb again.

"Are you so sure Bane will definitely target you?" Thomas asked from the side.

Qin Wei nodded silently. He had been hoping for the best, but just now he had been looking through his tattered suit jacket and found the comic book that the Joker had "mailed" to him.

The story of Bain's homosexuality is prominently featured.

Comics seem to embody the will of the entire world. Although the time and process may differ from the original story, the results are always exactly as predicted.

From casino massacres to bank robberies, from the deaths of Dick's parents to Jason stealing a car, and of course, the plot of Owl Night that Qin Wei refused to watch.

Therefore, the Joker had to go to great lengths to kidnap Barbara to personally guide his actions.

Qin Wei understood that the Joker had been precisely controlling his movements from beginning to end. If he wanted to win this match, he had to do something unexpected.

He looked at the night owl, a far-fetched idea popping into his head.

"Are you closer to Bain?"

He was once my friend and teacher.

Under Qin Wei's persistent questioning, Thomas revealed everything he knew about Bane.

In his memory, Bain was taciturn, scheming, and had an almost pathological obsession with improving his strength.

Bain was born in a religiously controlled underground prison in the Middle East, where people were labeled as heretics by the religious organization. The prison had no guards, only occasional, delayed rations of food. Most people were thrown in and soon starved to death, and their bodies were eaten.

To survive, one must climb step by step to the highest position and become the king of the prison.

That's exactly what the ruthless Bane did: he devoured corpses, trained relentlessly, and often cultivated relationships with new inmates to learn about the outside world. By the age of sixteen, he had already gained the strength and power to rival another human trafficker in the prison.

However, he was defeated in the final battle against the snakehead.

To humiliate him, the smuggler locked him in the water dungeon at the bottom of the prison, which was the prison's sewage disposal area.

Bain spent two whole years in a stinking water dungeon.

Until the League of Assassins destroyed this small Middle Eastern country controlled by religion and liberated the prison.

Lei Xiaogu rescued the emaciated and dying Bane from the water prison.

The inhuman torture he endured for two years did not break his spirit; instead, it filled Bain's eyes with sharp barbs.

Lei Xiaogu recognized that look; it was the look of someone who wished they could skin their enemy alive and tear them apart, the look of someone yearning for revenge.

So Lei Xiaogu gave him a chance to fight the snakehead again.

On one side was the strong snake head, and on the other side was the thin, dying Bane.

But the result of the duel was beyond everyone's expectations.

Bain endured beating after beating with his strong willpower, and finally, taking advantage of the snake's moment of weakness, he jumped onto the snake's shoulder and tore its throat apart with his teeth.

His ruthless nature and tenacious willpower also won the appreciation of Lei Xiaogu. However, the latter was worried that Bane would develop a strong obsession and go astray after experiencing inhuman torture, so he chose to erase Bane's memories of being tortured in the water dungeon.

"Tsk tsk tsk! Lei Xiaogu is playing with fire."

Upon hearing this, Qin Wei clicked his tongue repeatedly.

It's obvious that Bane's mind is twisted, yet Lei Xiaogu covets his power and still tries to absorb him. Isn't that courting death?

And just as Qin Wei had thought, twenty years ago on the Night of the Owl, Bane was seriously injured by Claws, which unexpectedly unlocked his long-buried memories. So he betrayed the League of Assassins without hesitation and embarked on the path of pursuing power.

"If Bane isn't lying to you, then Rayshor is in danger."

After hearing the story, Qin Wei shared his opinion.

"Why? Because Lei Xiaogu was his savior."

"You can't look at a pervert with normal eyes. It's obvious that Bane has an unusual obsession with power. The first lesson he learned from the day he was born is that weakness leads to death."

"Don't underestimate the desire of living beings to survive; they will do anything to live."

"And how does one test their progress after constantly becoming stronger? Of course, by finding a powerful opponent to challenge. Before defeating a formidable foe to prove their strength, a strong sense of unease will linger in Bane's mind."

"And who is the strongest? I think it's probably Lei Xiaogu, who pulled him out of the abyss when he was in despair."

66 "5

So I think the reason Bain didn't come to us tonight is most likely because he went to see his good mentor.

"The reasoning is somewhat far-fetched and lacks supporting evidence," Thomas Jr. commented after careful consideration.

"No evidence is needed; we'll see the results soon."

Qin Wei answered.

He had his own thoughts. The Joker valued Bane so much because he was impressed by the latter's strength. If Bane was a fully powered version of Poison, then at this stage, no one in Gotham except Chato should be his match.

This also includes Lei Xiaogu and the half-dead assassin alliance.

If nothing unexpected happens, the remnants of the defeated Assassin's Guild will soon come to join us, but it will be too late to prepare by then.

Thomas nodded as if he understood, then asked another question.

"From what you're saying, it seems like you know a lot about these psychologically twisted guys."

"That's right, there aren't many normal people around here, they're all problem youths, problem middle-aged people, and problem elderly people!" Finally, someone brought up this topic, and Qin Wei couldn't help but pour out his grievances.

From Dick, who almost lost himself in revenge, to Jason, who has a complicated love for the East Side.

From a catwoman who joined the group with the sole purpose of killing her father, to a dead shooter who witnessed her family being murdered.

From Harvey, who wavers between absolute justice and personal revenge, to Chato, who is trapped in a demonic curse.

Even Isaiah Thomas and Qin Wei are no exception; who in their right mind would wander around at night in tight-fitting clothes?

However, rather than saying there are many weirdos in the team, it's more accurate to say that Gotham's twisted environment created everything.

That's why Qin Wei wanted to solve the problem at its source; otherwise, his life would never be peaceful again.

After gaining a general understanding of Bane, the Joker needs to focus on specific tactics. If he wants to sow discord between the two sides, he needs to exaggerate Bane's abilities to the extreme, thus successfully arousing Bane's fighting spirit.

Perhaps we could focus our efforts on this aspect.

"I remember there was a small nuclear warhead on the jet plane, right?" Qin Wei turned to look at Lucius.

"Yes, Master Wayne, but it uses a fixed-point delivery mode and has no automatic launch system. That means you can't lure Bane to a no-man's-land and then blast a nuclear bomb right in his face."

Lucius's single sentence completely shut down Qin Wei's room for maneuver.

Yes, if you can defeat the final boss using such a clever trick, then what's the appeal of fighting games?

But the stubborn Qin Wei just didn't want to follow the path given by the game. He believed that there must be some kind of trick to cheating in this deadly situation, but he just hadn't discovered it yet.

"Why don't you consider amber gold?"

Thomas Jr. offered a suggestion from the side.

In fact, Night Owl was well aware of the addictive nature of Amber Gold and the potential for mental breakdown after taking it, since he had recovered from a serious illness thanks to this stuff.

He also saw the moon, which looked like an eyeball in the sky, with his own eyes.

But these are extraordinary times; going crazy is better than dying.

"No, no, this thing—wait!"

Just as Qin Wei was about to deny it, a crazy idea suddenly popped into his head.

He had actually already considered another method, and if his calculations were correct, the probability of Bain falling for the trap was extremely high. But this move was a suicidal, mutually destructive one; if he wanted to survive, he had to—

The owl's words, "amber gold," undoubtedly became the key to reviving the entire plan.

"I have to go out!"

"Where are you going! This is a critical juncture; the enemy could attack at any moment!"

"East District! I need to go back to the Senate!"

Before leaving the bat cave, Qin Wei glanced back at Chato, who was resting in a corner of the cave after using demonic power continuously.

Diablo's flames of vengeance are extremely corrosive to mental energy. If he fires again tonight, Chato could very well be completely consumed by the power of vengeance. At that point, Bane might not be dealt with, and another bombshell might explode behind their own lines.

"Chato, don't take action unless absolutely necessary," Qin Wei specifically instructed.

Chato didn't open his eyes, he just nodded wearily.

As the jet took off, Wayne Manor welcomed two new guests.

Just as Qin Wei had guessed, the remnants of the Assassin's Alliance had arrived.

After bidding farewell to Deathstroke, Dick and Talia arrived at the manor. The Assassin Guild was a potential partner, and Qin Wei informed Lei Xiaogu of the address of the temporary base as soon as the supercomputer was completed.

His original intention was to receive rapid support from the Assassin's Guild in the event of a surprise attack, but it seems that the guild has benefited instead.

Upon seeing the yard full of claw-like corpses, Talia raised an eyebrow, but when she realized that none of the key members of the opposing force were missing, she frowned and bit her lip.

Both are targets of the court, so why are you two getting away with it?

However, Talia is discerning and knows when to act. It is not the right time for her to be jealous and resentful. Her immediate priority is to send out the message about Bane and seek the protection of the Bat-Family.

"Where is Wei? I have some information about Bane to share with him."

"I'm sorry, ma'am, I think I've already told him most of what you wanted to tell him. Apart from being a hindrance and creating the monster Bane, your League of Assassins seems to have made no contribution to this war."

Thomas Jr., with a stern face, raised his chin with a disdainful smile.

He had heard Qin Wei mention the "Assassin Alliance's refusal to cooperate." As for this kind of pitiful little assassin who was always on the sidelines, always trying to pick up the scraps but ended up getting caught in the area-of-effect skills, Thomas never wanted to give him a good look.

Night Owl's statement was largely true. If we disregard the fact that he was passively drawing fire, then the League of Assassins provided almost no help to the war other than the clue that "Thomas Elliott is a core member of the Court of Justice."

Talia took a deep breath with a stern face, hugging her wet body with both arms.

If she had known that no one could extricate themselves from this vortex, she should have persuaded her father to join the battle, instead of ending up like this, with her entire family wiped out by the enemy's top combat force and now being ridiculed by her allies.

She glanced at Dick, who was chatting and laughing with Jason to the side.

Forget it, I'll just swallow this for the sake of the students.

In a daze, a towel was handed to her. Talia looked up and saw that it was Selena, whom she had met once at the bar.

"Please don't mind, Mr. Thomas Wayne has a sharp tongue, but he's actually a pretty nice person. You'll get used to him after spending time with him."

Talia nodded, but something about what the other person said still sounded strange.

Upon closer examination, she discovered the root of the problem: she had come to join forces with the Bat Family to fight the enemy, but in Selena's words, she seemed to have come knocking on her door as the male head of the household's secret lover, eager to join the new family.

Talia shook her head, clearing the strange thoughts from her mind, and then rubbed her hair with a towel.

Then the woman drew her long knife and began wiping the blade in front of everyone.

The rustling conversations in the castle hall suddenly ceased as the blade rang out from its sheath.

Everyone seemed to be struck by a sudden chill, and they all turned to look at the culprit.

Talia rotated her wrist, carefully wiping away every drop of water from the blade. Her movements were as gentle and elegant as playing a violin, yet even Tim, who knew nothing about swordsmanship, could see her extraordinary skill.

In an instant, Tim seemed to have found his direction in his studies.

"He's coming."

Talia's hand suddenly hovered in mid-air, and as her gaze turned to the gate, the castle floor began to tremble slightly.