svetikya Chapter 101 That Madman Who Ruined Our Plans
Chapter 101 That Madman Who Ruined Our Plans
Chapter 101 That Madman Who Ruined Our Plans
"This is just a new idea," Batman said in a deep voice.
The dull thud of a car approaching came from not far away, and the new Batmobile soon appeared before them.
The original Batmobile was strapped with claws, and the one Zheng En brought over later was neatly hung on the back seat. One was frozen solid, and the other three were twisted to varying degrees.
The one that was first knocked down by Jung Eun was the hardest to recognize as human. He was destroyed and reassembled by Crazy Diamond along with the tree behind him. Only a vague human face and twisted limbs could be seen on that section of the tree trunk.
The second one, without the intervention of external objects, is just a mess of its own form after the repair, giving people a kind of uncanny valley effect where the nose is not a nose and the eyes are not eyes.
The third one barely gained the right to have a human form thanks to the contributions of the first two.
Zheng En had developed a feel for them, and there was no need to forcibly twist their limbs just to stop them from making a comeback. The third claw only involved the nerves in the spine being mixed and reorganized, but even so, the opponent could no longer fight with its powerful regenerative abilities.
The three were hung in a row on the Batmobile according to the degree of their physical alterations, with the third one, whose claws were right next to the one frozen into an ice block.
Seeing the Batmobile start its engine and head towards Wayne Manor, Zheng En couldn't help but cross his arms and look at Batman.
"Where's my freeze gun?"
Batman calmly got into the new Batmobile. "I'll take it back and study it."
Jung Eun: "Remember to pay me back."
Although he felt it was very risky.
The two Batmobiles drove off in different directions at the same time; one carried the claws back to the Batcave, while the other carried Batman to continue his night patrol.
Zheng En watched the Batmobile disappear into the night, and the panel displayed that the mission was complete.
[Mission: The Flying Grayson Family]
[Task Status: Completed]
A pair of lovebirds fell to the ground, and their young in the nest were forced to receive the devastating news far too soon.
Before the downy feathers on his wings had fallen off, he had to learn to fly like an adult bird.
Young robins should be tucked into the wings of owls and become part of their claws; or, after witnessing the death of their parents, be taken under the wing of chiropterans.
But growth doesn't always require bloodshed.
A dull ache struck his heart from the helplessness of being unable to do anything; he spread his wings and tried to fly.
[Mission Objective: Change the fate of the Graysons' deaths]
[Task Reward: Settled]
[US$20,000, 20 simulation points, an alluring, shapely buttock, and the ultimate in reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance]
Therefore, this wave of claws is the final killer.
The Graysons escaped certain death, but Jung Eun's doubts only deepened.
Is it that the mastermind felt it wasn't worthwhile to deploy their claws for such a trivial matter, or has the other party already achieved their desired goal?
Forget it, I don't want to.
Unable to glean any new information from the limited clues, Zheng En remained calm. He knew that if the other side wanted to do something further, they would inevitably leave traces. Things would work themselves out; instead of worrying about baseless conspiracies, it was better to focus on completing missions and strengthening himself.
As long as he has enough skills and items, he's not afraid of anyone.
However, while the matter of Claws seems to have come to an end, there are still some things that need to be taken care of.
My gaze traveled through the trees through my monocle and landed on several caravans parked in the clearing.
The rear door of the car on the far side was mostly broken; it had been smashed open by Crazy Diamond. After Zheng En left with Claw and the circus owner, the others temporarily covered that area with a large curtain, so that at least the wind wouldn't blow through it when they slept at night.
This is the space that the Grayson family used after the renovation.
After what happened in the first half of the night, the Graysons were still quite frightened. They thought the gang incident was over, but they never expected that there would be another assassin attack after nightfall.
Mr. Grayson was particularly uneasy; he had only wanted to find the circus owner to ask about what had happened during the day, but he had almost been separated from his wife and children forever.
The curtain that originally separated Dick and the couple was damaged in the battle, and they had no intention of hanging it back up. As the two of them snuggled together, Dick thought of many other things.
That feeling of being unable to do anything — it's awful.
Rather than being as overjoyed as his parents, who were still basking in the relief of surviving the ordeal, he preferred to squat in a corner near the car door, letting the cold wind seeping in through the gaps in the curtains clear his head.
This is the second time.
This was the second time Dick had watched danger unfold, yet was powerless to do anything about it.
Looking out through the gaps in the curtains and carriages, all you could see was a pitch-black ground and a pitch-black sky.
Suddenly, a different color entered his field of vision.
The stage curtain is very thick, and when it is lifted, it forms beautiful folds. A hand reached in and made a knocking motion in mid-air.
Dick was startled and took a step back, an action that immediately caught the attention of the Graysons.
Mr. Grayson jumped up like a startled bird. "What's wrong, Dick? What did you see?"
Then he saw a large part of the curtain being lifted, and the young man who had saved his wife and children earlier seemed to have stepped in out of thin air.
"Sorry to bother you." The other person nodded slightly in a friendly manner. "I have something to tell you."
Zheng En did not reveal the whole story.
The Graysons were just ordinary people, with some talent but not much, and they didn't become candidates for Claw like Dick or Dick's great-grandfather.
For ordinary people, knowing too much will only bring disaster.
He gave a brief explanation, omitting the names of Claws and the Court of Owls, and only mentioned that the circus owner was secretly supplying talent to illegal organizations and that Dick was being targeted.
"—In other words, Dick was marked."
Mrs. Grayson's voice trembled as she hugged Dick tighter, her hands searching his body for the mark. "They want to take Dick away from us—"
"In the teeth, madam."
As Jung Eun spoke, the Crazy Diamond appeared behind her.
A fist the size of a clay pot landed on Dick's face, swelling his cheek, contorting his expression, and sending bloodied teeth flying to the side.
Crazy Diamond caught the flying tooth and handed it to Jung Eun.
The Grayson family are ordinary people; they can't see the Stands, only the effects of their attacks.
Crazy Diamond's destructive power and speed are both A-level. According to the settings in JOJ0, his punching speed can reach 300 kilometers per hour, which is about 83 meters per second or more.
In the original work, Josuke Higashikata once punched his mother through the abdomen to defeat an enemy, and the enemy didn't even have time to react.
The same effect occurred with Dick. The Graysons saw nothing, and Dick felt no pain. They only saw something fly out of Dick's mouth and then suddenly stop in mid-air.
It was as if someone had grabbed it and placed it in Jung Eun's outstretched palm.
Zheng En picked up the tooth and showed them the coin embedded inside. "This is their method."
The Grayson family was speechless with astonishment. Both Zheng En's abilities and the methods employed by the illegal forces were beyond the imagination of this ordinary couple.
If they had previously felt that these things were far removed from their lives, and even after experiencing them firsthand, it felt like a dream, then when Zheng En removed the tooth from Dick, a chilling feeling instantly ran down their spines.
"This, this—" Mr. Grayson was so shocked he couldn't speak, and Mrs. Grayson almost fainted.
The thought that an unknown evil force was watching their lives and subtly manipulating them sent chills down their spines.
Dick was the first to speak, "Will I be safe after this tooth is removed?"
"No, I'm not sure if they'll come after you again." Zheng En shook his head. Dick was a talented kid, a talent that could make him a famous aerial acrobat, an excellent policeman, or an outstanding masked vigilante and a top-notch assassin.
The Graysons escaped the Death Point, but that doesn't mean Dick escaped the watchful eyes of the Court of Owls.
Zheng En's answer only fueled the Graysons' panic. "Then, what should we do? I can't let Dick fall into their hands—"
"What should I do?" Dick's response was more organized.
His face still bore a hint of baby fat from being carefully raised by his parents, but his expression was more resolute and serious than that of the Graysons. "Since you were able to save me and my mother from them, doesn't that mean you have a way to deal with them?"
"A clever kid."
Zheng En patted Dick's head. He had developed a habit of patting children's heads, and he couldn't help but rub the heads of smart kids. "It's simple to escape their control. Just find a place where they can't reach."
"So, I have to separate from my mom and dad?" Dick astutely grasped the key point in Jung Eun's words, "Will you adopt me?"
"It's not me, and it's not adoption," Zheng En corrected him. "I will find someone trustworthy and wealthy enough to be your legal guardian."
The Graysons looked hesitant, and Jung Eun knew what they were thinking.
Even though he saved them, they had only known each other for one night and didn't have enough trust to build a foundation. They were afraid that Dick would fall into another trap.
"Your parents will not change, you can visit each other regularly, and you can contact each other by phone at any time."
Zheng En didn't say anything more, leaving them time to consider it themselves. "If you're willing, I'll find a way to resolve this."
He finished speaking and was about to leave when someone grabbed his clothes.
"Can I become someone who protects everyone, just like you?"
Dick's blue eyes shone brightly under the light, and for a moment, Jung Eun seemed to see a superhero from a comic book wearing a black bodysuit with a blue V-shaped bird pattern on his chest.
"Of course."
Jung Eun rarely makes promises he can't keep, but this is one of the few things he can be sure of.
The night seemed exceptionally long. Whether it was the circus members who had encountered the claws or Zheng En who had finally finished work and gone home after waiting for most of the day, things had come to an end for them. Whether they were tossing and turning in bed anxiously or sleeping soundly after exhausting themselves, they had all ended up in bed.
But in Batman's eyes, who had just finished his night patrol, the things he needed to do in the second half of the night were just beginning.
When he returned to the Batcave, Alfred had already settled the four Claws.
"If possible, I really hope you can bring back something that isn't so unsightly."
The hardworking old butler brought out fresh tea, knowing Bruce would definitely be staying up very late tonight. "So, were those people?"
Not entirely.
Batman, having removed his hood, rested his hands on the control panel in front of the screen, where preliminary analysis results had already been displayed.
"The living dead, amber gold —"
All of this matched what Zheng En had said, which ruled out the possibility that the other party had mistaken the claws. As for the other substance that makes up the coins, the unknown compound—
Batman wasn't sure if the other party was deliberately avoiding the topic or simply forgot to mention it.
He gained a lot of new information today, not only about the Owl Court and Claws, but also about the abilities Jung Eun-shin demonstrated.
He looked at the analysis results displayed on the screen: destruction, repair, and recombination—the destruction and reassembly of human and tree tissues and organs, the chaotic recombination of internal human tissues and organs, and the reorganization of nerves in the spinal cord—
In a sense, it is a rather terrifying ability.
When Batman saw Jung Eun combine the claws with the wood, he felt a strong sense of unease, but he knew that Jung Eun must have his reasons for doing so.
After sensing the powerful recovery of the claws, he understood Zheng En's actions.
But—I wonder if these people can be restored to their original state after being randomly combined.
The lights in the Batcave never went out, and in a room somewhere in Gotham, the bright white light illuminated the room as if it were daytime.
"The claws have defected."
"It was that madman who did it—"
At the long conference table, only the head seat was occupied. A person wearing a white mask rested their chin on their hands, while two rows of shadowy figures projected into the air whispered among themselves, all wearing identical white masks.
"That madman who ruined our plans—Claws couldn't take him down—"
"That's why we sent more people—"
Has anyone found out his background?
"Absolutely none—no matching DNA in the database, face, fingerprints, iris—it's a complete mystery—"
"How many of the Claws we sent back have returned?"
"Not a single one—at least not so far—"
"Should we send more Claws?"
"He seems to have other means of controlling the claws—"
The person in the main seat listened to the others' conversation in silence until everyone had finished exchanging information, at which point he finally spoke.
"Continue the investigation and send more people."
His gaze swept over the shadowy figures projected in mid-air. "The authority of the court is inviolable. Rats hiding in the shadows will only become victims of the owl's claws."
"As for those traitorous claws—bring them back and rebaptize them."