bookbashuk Chapter 10 Gotham's Must-Eat List, But Take One Punch from Him
Chapter 10 Gotham's Must-Eat List, But Take One Punch from Him
"detective?"
Barbara's eyes lit up as if she had made a connection: "Could it be that you're here because of the Batman murder case?"
"I suppose so." Jaeger was somewhat surprised by her reaction. "You're very interested in this case?"
"Come on, I don't know any teenagers who can resist talking about this! I mean... do you really think the murderer could be Batman?" Barbara leaned closer and asked.
Before Jaeger could answer, Barbara muttered to herself, "Anyway, I don't think so... Many of my classmates say that if that bat monster were to kill someone, it would be perfectly normal, since it's hard to say whether that thing is even human—but I think there's definitely something more to this case."
"Excellent, Officer Barbara." Jaeger leaned down. "I'm sorry I can't reveal too much about this case, but frankly..."
Jaeger lowered his voice: "I think you're right."
Upon hearing this, Barbara seemed to be encouraged by something and couldn't help but smile.
"Thank you, Detective."
Barbara winked quickly with her left eye at Jaeger, giving him a quick salute in response to his address of "Officer Barbara": "I have to get back to my homework, so I won't stay any longer—goodbye! Good luck solving the case!"
"Goodbye." Jaeger waved and watched the other person happily get on the elevator and leave.
With Barbara gone, the empty corridor fell silent. Jaeger took out the Subway Barbara had given him, touched the box, and found it was still warm.
"Wow, teriyaki chicken and ham combo." Jaeger glanced at the note on the box, sincerely thanked Barbara Gordon for her generous gift of food before he realized he was starving, then unwrapped the sandwich and happily took his first bite—
"Clatter".
Almost the instant Jaeger took a bite of his sandwich, all the lights in the corridor suddenly went out.
Jaeger: ?
He held the sandwich in his mouth and looked it over, unsure whether to open his mouth or take a bite... He even suspected that there was a power switch installed on the sandwich.
However, suddenly plunged into this pitch-black darkness, before Jaeger could do anything, a muffled, strange sound came from behind him.
Jaeger turned around almost instinctively at the sound, only to be caught off guard by something that had been completely absent from the corridor just moments before—
The figure was dark and tall, almost blending into the shadows around it, with only the white goggles gleaming coldly in the darkness.
In this situation, those eyes were like the pupils of a wild beast staring at you in the dark.
"Jaeger Winchester."
The other person spoke, his voice low and hoarse, instantly making it clear why some Gotham citizens called him a demon crawling out of hell.
Although to Jaeger, the voice sounded more like that of someone with late-stage throat cancer.
"Batman...?"
Jaeger struggled to swallow the sandwich that had nearly made him choke to death from the shock, and looked at the figure in front of him with some suspicion.
"Wayne sent me to find you," the other person said bluntly.
This also indirectly confirms his identity—the imposter couldn't possibly know about the collaboration between Wayne and Batman, let alone what Bruce said to Jaeger downstairs. Therefore, this person is undoubtedly the real Batman.
Moreover, even if Jaeger wanted to doubt it, his achievements wouldn't allow it:
[A new achievement has been unlocked!]
[Achievement Completed - "Top of Gotham City's Must-Eat List"]
[Unlock condition: First encounter with Batman.]
[PS: I meant taking a punch from him.]
Jaeger: "..."
Thanks for the invitation, but I won't eat it.
I mean, look at the muscles Batman has under that bodysuit! — I bet one punch from him and Batman would be begging Jaeger not to die.
"Well, no wonder Wayne acted so strangely before he left," Jaeger muttered. "So that's what happened. Did you turn off the lights?"
"To avoid revealing that I've been here."
"And the other patients on this floor...?"
"Gordon's ward was specially arranged by Wayne; there won't be any other patients on this floor besides him. As for the nurses and doctors, they left this floor half an hour ago for some reason."
"But what if someone else wants to come to this floor?"
"The elevator isn't going to the fourth floor right now," Batman said. "I've done something to it, and it'll be back up in half an hour, including the security cameras and the power—so we need to hurry."
"Understood." Jaeger admired Batman's meticulousness and extraordinary efficiency, so he quickly swallowed the sandwich in a few bites while following behind him.
"Where did you get your sandwich?" Batman noticed this and suddenly asked.
"Ah, this was from Chief Gordon's daughter." Jaeger crumpled up the empty bag and stuffed it into the nearby trash can. "Barbara Gordon—I guess she came to visit her father after school."
"Do you know Gordon's daughter?"
"No, it's just a coincidence..."
Just then, Batman pushed open a door, and Jaeger, at his signal, stepped into the room first, his eyes meeting a cold glint of moonlight reflected on the hospital bed.
That's a reflection from James Gordon's glasses.
The middle-aged man with a small mustache and a serious face tensed up instinctively and adjusted his glasses as the person entered, before relaxing: "...So it's you."
"Hmm," Batman replied.
"And this is...?" Gordon looked at Jaeger with some surprise.
"Jaeger Winchester, let's just call him a detective," Jaeger said.
"That's surprising, I rarely see—" Gordon's gaze swept clearly over Batman, who was almost blending into the shadows behind Jaeger, "He's with other people."
"..." For some reason, Jaeger suddenly thought of Wayne's words in the car earlier: "I prefer to work alone."
"But in any case, since you've come to me, you most likely want to ask about the case," Gordon said. "Is there anything I can do to help? Although—given the current situation, I can't offer you overt assistance, I can certainly provide covert support."
"Thank you. Now, Commissioner Gordon, do you remember the specifics of your car accident?" Jaeger and Batman exchanged a glance, and after the other nodded, Jaeger chose to ask about this first.
"Is this...related to the case?" Gordon asked.
"I just want to confirm one thing. Did you feel anything was wrong with the car accident at the time? Were there any signs of foul play?"
"Now that you mention it, it does seem a bit strange."
Gordon recalled, "Although no one deliberately drove into me that day, my car's brakes suddenly failed. I can guarantee that the brakes were perfectly fine less than 48 hours before the accident."
"Looks like my guess was right," Batman said at this moment. "The timing is too coincidental. There must have been someone who has been observing me for a long time... They even observed the cooperative relationship between Gordon and me."
"Someone is trying to use me to target you." Gordon frowned. "Add to that the counterfeit thing, and whoever it is, their malice towards you is immense."
"There are plenty of people who are hostile to me in Gotham, and the imposter and the guy behind him don't even come close," Batman said in a deep voice. "But I'll take them down—before more people die."