There is no Batman in Gotham City comics.

Chapter 197, Section 94: The fuse is burning... The fuse is burning!

Chapter 197, Page 94: The fuse is burning... The fuse is burning! (As usual, an extra chapter of 2000 words at midnight)

"What I should and shouldn't have said, I've already let slip through my lips—you're trying to create some private space for just the two of us, are you trying to tell me you want to serve the court?"

"Yes."

Qin Wei's answer startled Thomas, and his previously dull eyes instantly lit up.

"real?"

"Fake."

Qin Wei knocked him back to square one with a single blow.

"Bruce Wayne!!! Do you find it amusing to humiliate me like this?"

The most despairing thing in the world is to give someone hope and then despair. Thomas gritted his teeth, and after being stripped naked by the Night Owl, Qin Wei once again stripped him bare on a spiritual level.

"Sorry, it seems you didn't like the little joke I prepared for you."

"Who would actually laugh at such a clumsy joke!"

"Alright, alright! Let's get back to the main topic. What I want to talk about is pretty much what you guessed, except the main points are reversed."

"What do you mean?"

"What I meant was, would you be interested in switching sides and working for me?"

Upon hearing this, Thomas's facial muscles began to twitch, and after a few brief seconds, he finally burst into a maniacal laugh.

"Bruce, I thought you had no sense of humor!!"

"I'm sorry to say I'm not kidding you. Your value has been completely drained by the court. Even if I let you go back, you'll just be swept away. So you might as well come and join me."

"I am one of the roundtable members, and I represent the court."

"The premise is that it's an authentic copy, but unfortunately, what you are now is nothing but a counterfeit."

Thomas frowned in displeasure. Qin Wei had accused him of being a clone on the battlefield before. At first, he thought the other party was just trying to confuse him, but now it seemed that the other party really had some inside information.

What evidence do you have?

Thomas didn't rush to refute; looking back, everything he had experienced seemed suspicious.

Thomas wasn't stupid; he could sense something was wrong with the "barn owl" that appeared out of nowhere and the attitude of the other Round Table members towards him.

"The evidence is that you don't know who Daniel Reed is. You think he's some kind of fake identity of yours, but he actually exists in this world."

Qin Wei recounted his experience of meeting Dr. Reed and subjecting him to torture to Thomas, whose expression grew increasingly stiff. If there exists a clone of you in this world that you are completely unaware of, be careful, because you are most likely a clone yourself.

Thomas understood that Qin Wei had no reason to fabricate a lie that was so easily exposed, but unwilling to face reality, he still insisted on making the other party prove it.

"I don't believe it—I want to see Reed!"

"Do you have the right to negotiate with me before a cooperation agreement is reached?"

Qin Wei sat down in the interrogator's chair, leaning back and crossing his legs. He wasn't in a hurry for answers; the other person also needed time to process and think. Silence filled the space between them.

When Thomas discovers that his life and memories may very well be false, his world collapses. In those few short minutes, he begins to ponder the classic philosophical question, "Who am I?" and his thoughts drift to the Great Desolation of the universe.

Even though he was just a fake, he perfectly inherited the original owner's values ​​and knowledge, which enabled him to quickly overcome his doubts about himself and the world.

Thomas realized that at this stage, his enemy was no longer Qin Wei, but the rightful owner of the title "Thomas Elliott".

And that guy is very likely the newly joined Round Table member, Kyou. Just thinking about his condescending and bossy manner makes the anger in his heart burn.

Then Thomas remembered Qin Wei.

The other party is also a clone, but because the original Bruce died, he is the only Bruce left in the world.

In other words, if Thomas can kill his original master, the owl, he will become the one and only Thomas.

At that time, no one will give him orders, and no one will point fingers and call him a clone.

Therefore, reading more books is always beneficial. Thomas did not wallow in self-doubt, but quickly devised a new plan called "Replacement".

As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, and the first step of the plan was to cooperate with Qin Wei.

"I promise you, if you can bring Dr. Reed to me, I will cooperate with you."

Since the kidnapping incident, Holly has moved into Dr. Reed's home under the pretext of taking care of him.

Due to the tremors in his hands caused by the forced water supply, Reed has been unable to undergo surgery recently, so he took a month's leave.

The young couple enjoyed a relatively sweet few days, but disaster soon struck again.

Holly woke up thirsty in the early hours of the morning, but as soon as she opened her eyes, she found that the bedroom window was half open.

Still half asleep, she thought she had forgotten to close the window last night. She walked to the window and saw fine winter rain falling on the waterlogged windowsill, splashing water onto her face.

The cold touch jolted Holly awake, and she was suddenly horrified to discover that the inside of the windowsill was dry.

In other words, the window has just been opened.

Holly turned around abruptly, only to have her mouth covered tightly by a large, dark hand.

"Don't be nervous, it's me!"

-

Holly tensed up even more upon hearing the voice. She immediately recognized its owner as the dangerous man named Will.

Tears welled up in the girl's eyes. She remembered slapping the other person in anger a few days ago. Was the other person here for revenge?

No, we must resist!

Thinking of this, Holly curled her fingers and pinched Qin Wei's crotch.

To her despair, the other man's groin was as firm as a rock, as if it were bound by a chastity belt.

If this were a comic strip, Qin Wei's forehead would be covered in black lines right now. He had originally intended to reason with her, but after experiencing Holly's overwhelming hostility, he changed his mind.

I took out an ether-soaked handkerchief and covered each of the two clowns with one, and the world quickly became quiet.

Then Qin Wei carried Holly with his left hand and Dr. Reed with his right hand downstairs.

Selena had been waiting for a long time in the dirty little van.

Qin Wei didn't want her to come, but because it involved her best friend, the girl insisted on coming along for a look.

Even if Selena was going to die, she wanted to die knowing why. After seeing Holly on Qin Wei's arm, she knew she would probably be drowned in her best friend's gossip.

"Poor girl, I swear I tried to persuade Wei, but he wouldn't listen!"

As Selena helped Qin Wei shove Holly into the car, she kept muttering to herself. She knew that she was doing this for Holly's own good. The real danger was Dr. Reed, who had been passively entangled with the court. Helping Holly see the truth sooner would also help her escape her suffering sooner.

But despite saying that, her current actions are undoubtedly a betrayal.

"Alright, alright! She can't hear you nagging here. Once this is over, I'll approve some funding for you to buy Holly some gifts as an apology."

"But Holly isn't that kind of person."

"She must feel the gift package isn't big enough. Does she have a car she likes, or a house she's eyeing?"

Qin Wei applied his traditional Chinese way of thinking to the upcoming battle between his best friends. In his mind, being polite is always a good thing, and if any brother was willing to free him from his suffering and bring him a big gift along the way, he would not hesitate to call him "godfather".

Selena rubbed her forehead and remained silent.

The kidnapping operation came to a brief end. Qin Wei stepped on the gas, and the van trembled with a panting sound as it swerved and twisted its way out of the block.

Meanwhile, a conspiracy theory controversy is rapidly brewing in Gotham City.

The hackers lived up to Qin Wei's expectations and successfully made the topic of "Venus Tower explosion" a hot topic. Now, three of the top ten most viewed videos on YouTube are live footage from the night of the Venn Tower explosion. One of them is a first-person perspective shot by Qin Wei, while the other two are long-distance shots taken by astronomy enthusiasts.

Although both the official body and Wayne Enterprises have issued statements strongly condemning internet users who spread rumors and fake videos, and even claiming that they will pursue their legal responsibilities, it is clear to anyone with eyes that if a video from one angle can be faked, then a video from multiple angles that is flawless must also be fake.

The fact that a short video could trigger such a strong reaction makes it hard not to speculate.

Taking advantage of the topic's popularity, Barbara created many aliases and left her mark on various related videos and forum comment sections.

This includes some thought-provoking points, such as the mysterious bus bombing on a snowy night. Although the GCPD pointed the finger at the gang of villains and the Judges, many citizens still witnessed corrupt police officers smashing police cars that night.

These people may not dare to speak in public, but that doesn't stop them from rambling on the internet.

Barbara then seized the opportunity to bring the Joker's live television broadcast back into the public eye. This time, the girl specifically pointed out a detail that many people had previously overlooked—the owl logo that the Joker showed to the camera at the end of the broadcast.

Never underestimate the investigative and reasoning abilities of internet users; soon someone discovered the same logo that flashed by inside the Wayne Tower building in Qin Wei's video.

From then on, the mysterious organization, the Court of Owls, was exposed and brought to the public's attention.

However, due to a lack of clues, most netizens still regard it as an organization similar to the Illuminati, secretly manipulating finance and world affairs.

Of course, some people believe that this is a complete cult, and even connect it to the bus explosion on a snowy night, imagining a terrifying story of human sacrifice.

As a result, the nursery rhymes that would send chills down your spine in the dark began to spread like wildfire online.

Beware of the Court of Owls, which is always watching your every move.

Peeping at Gotham City from the shadows, hidden among low walls and attics.

He is with you in your home, and with you in your bed.

Never mention his name, or his claws will come after your head.

Of course, the truth is often more terrifying than people suspect.

The owl is corrupting the world in accordance with God's will.

In the old stories of the Innsmouth people, they called the village of the madman the navel of the whole world; in other words, Gotham was a den of iniquity.

The magnetic field here is disordered, and the energy fluctuations are particularly abnormal. These anomalies are subtly eroding people's rationality and logic, but this will take a long time, perhaps decades, or perhaps several generations.

But the arrival of owls accelerated this process.

Thomas told Night Owl that they would grind the flesh of the "god"—that huge tumor—into powder and add it to the drugs and alcohol sold to the poor, thus accelerating people's addiction and madness.

When Owl asked the court why it did this, Thomas said something obscure and difficult to understand.

"Corruption is purification, destruction is survival. Countless dark multiverses slowly fade away in the fear of death, but without fear, the world would collapse."

Thomas didn't understand what those words meant either; it was all something his father had told him.

Regardless of the truth, the discontent of Gotham citizens with the government had reached its peak, leading to a strike. In the early hours of a Monday morning, the marchers gathered in Robinson Park and marched toward the city district.

They held up banners and posters protesting the Gotham Police Department, demanding a clear explanation for the snowy night bus bombing.

What's most interesting is that the crowd in this march was divided into two factions: one group consisted of young people who believed in online conspiracy theories and questioned the GCPD's support for the Knights of Justice; the other group consisted of middle-aged and elderly people who believed in the GCPD but questioned its efficiency in handling cases, wondering why the Knights of Justice had not been brought to justice for so long.

The conflict between the pro-Batman and anti-Batman factions was originally irreconcilable, but they stood together in this march and launched a frenzied attack on the common target, the GCPD.

After all, James Gordon, who was once deeply trusted by the citizens, is no longer here. Who can take up the mantle of the GCPD?

As a result, the state police department personally intervened, issuing announcements and holding press conferences in an attempt to appease the citizens of Gotham.

Will the state police's involvement really bring about change?

The answer is naturally no.

How could anyone harbor unrealistic fantasies about a law enforcement system that gathers the most vicious criminals and superhuman criminals in Blackgate Prison and treats Gotham like a dumping ground?

The conflicts between various parties have become almost irreconcilable, whether it is the conflict between owls and bats, the conflict between the government and the people, or the conflict between the upper class and the lower class.

Gotham City is now like a barrel stuffed with detonators; the fuse is lit, and no one can stop it.

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