Chapter 4 4 Considering that We Are All Orphans

Chapter 4 4. For the sake of everyone being orphans.

In the dim streets of Gotham's East End, the Penguin who had received an injection no longer howled.

Batman injected a hemostatic agent into the wound and used a special spray to prevent the severed finger injury from worsening, and then used his Bat communicator to send a signal to Commissioner Gordon.

The Penguin broke some kind of "tacit agreement" and attacked the police station. Naturally, it was up to the Gotham Police Department to end the matter.

The VIP ticket to Blackgate Prison has been personally delivered to Oswald by the master. This can be regarded as a kind of faith that a superhero should keep his word.

However, this is not over yet today.

The young man Mason knew that he couldn't leave just like that, because the Batman in front of him was staring at him with a pair of eyes that were so cold and almost emotionless.

Even through the goggles of the Bat helmet, Mason could feel the cold scrutiny.

Obviously, the master was very dissatisfied with his "shameless sneak attack" just now.

"A dropout from Gotham High School, a 17-year-old young man who was previously featureless and mediocre was raised by a gang veteran with serious violent tendencies."

Batman said dumbly:

"Your performance tonight is inconsistent with your past experience, Mason Cooper. Perhaps you should explain?"

"I guess you don't understand how tragic it is to have a father who goes crazy when he's drunk. What's even more regrettable is that that man is drunk every day."

Under the gaze of the master, the young man knelt down, picked up the black umbrella that the Penguin "dropped" and held the exquisite and deadly weapon in his hand.

He didn't look into Batman's eyes, lowered his head, and said in a calm but bitter tone:

"You personally arrested my father and sent him to prison three times. I think you know that man better than I do. In my childhood memory, he smiled only a handful of times. After my mother died, he brought various women home to hang out with. , I was more of a burden than a gift to him.

Did you ever have a childhood like this? Batman. "

Mason raised his head, glanced at the master, and said:

"I guess you haven't. If you have, you should know that I have been hiding and training secretly, and practicing my marksmanship is not to hurt others.

I'm just trying to protect myself!

Especially after I secretly called the police and begged the police to take me away when I was seven years old, and the man almost beat me to death after he found out, I knew that no one could protect me in those damn days.

Not even you who can make Gotham tremble!

Batman wasn't going to show up in that nightmare and take me away like in the comic books. "

These words instantly stabbed the master's heart as hard as steel like a knife.

Of course it won't break the defense all at once.

But anyone familiar with Batman's origin story knows that when faced with Batman's questioning, it is obviously easier to gain some sympathy by turning the topic to the parents' level.

What's more, Mason isn't talking nonsense.

Judging from the memories he got after possessing this body, this young man's short life in the past was really painful. His father being hacked to death in a gang fight did not seem like a curse to the young man.

Even more akin to relief.

Of course, this kind of thing cannot be said right now.

"The people I hurt tonight are all members of the Penguin Gang. They are bad people!"

When Mason saw the master's silence, he knew that his words were working. He stroked the penguin umbrella in his hand, took a step back and stepped on a fallen batarang with his foot.

He said loudly:

"The Penguin and his gang have been like a lock on everything since I was a kid, and I went to high school thinking I could get away from them.

But after my father died, they came to me immediately and asked me to drop out of school and join them.

That bastard at your feet buys insurance for all his subordinates.

He calls himself the most benevolent boss in the city, but to this day, he has not given me my father’s share of the insurance money. I hate them, is there a problem with that?

Only when they are all gone can I get rid of the past, overcome fear, and embrace a new life. Batman! You are a powerful person and you are not afraid of these guys.

They can't hurt you with their guns.

But I can't.

I'm just an ordinary person with good marksmanship. If I get hit, I'll die. I also helped your friend. Is it wrong for me to pursue a new life?

Do you want me to apologize to them? "

After repeated questioning, the analysis progress bar of the special engineering creation "Penguin's Armed Umbrella" appeared on the light screen in front of Mason.

Compared with Batman's high-tech equipment, which often takes hundreds of hours to analyze, the analysis speed of this thing is much faster.

It only takes a few minutes to complete the drawing collection.

But there is a high probability that the umbrella will be taken away by the master. Mason just wants to get the "trophy" he deserves after this conversation is over.

After an excruciating ten seconds of confrontation, he spread his hands and said to Batman:

“That’s where I all come from.

Believe it or not, this is the story of a young man who finally found a chance to escape from hell after enduring it for 17 years! But I'm not here to provoke you, in fact I'm here to thank you.

Without your intervention, my feud with the Penguin Gang would not have ended so easily. "

"Finish?"

The master finally spoke.

His cloak covered his body and the low black armor, and he maintained his always indifferent posture and said in a mute voice:

"This isn't the end at all, it's just the beginning.

What you did tonight cannot be concealed, and Penguin's gang will not disband just because he and his core members are in jail. Oswald has a group of killers in the city specifically to deal with similar matters for him.

I won’t comment on the feud between you and the Penguin Gang.

I have no intention of criticizing your opinion of your father. But Mason, you've put yourself in a terrible situation, and you may not even survive tomorrow night. "

"That's my business. The path I choose is my own."

Mason felt a little guilty.

But he still acted like a young man who didn't bow his head. He picked up his gun and carried it behind his back. He glanced at the master and whispered:

"Can I leave now? Batman, I have to go back and pack up and start my escape."

"Stay here and wait for Gordon to come. He will protect you."

The master said briefly, and Mason's eyes widened, and he whispered:

"There are gangsters in the police station! If you hadn't shown up tonight, those gangsters would have sold Commissioner Gordon to Penguin as soon as possible. You couldn't have known that, right?

You want me to jump into the tiger's mouth? "

"Gordon has several trusted safe houses."

The master didn't explain much.

When police sirens rang in the streets in the distance, he waved his hand, raised his grapple gun, and drove the flying claw into a high place. The moment he flew up, Batman warned:

"You said you wanted a quiet life, Mason, and you better keep your word. I'll be keeping an eye on you."

"Whoosh"

The man's figure disappeared into the night, blending into the darkness. Mason stood there and watched him leave, then glanced at the Penguin's armed umbrella in his hand.

The master didn't take this away?

Is this acknowledgment that he holds this weapon?

Maybe he feels that he needs this thing to protect himself in the next situation?

The young man blinked and breathed a sigh of relief.

In any case, it seems that the words he carefully prepared along the way really moved the master. Of course, it is most likely that there is some kind of "resonance" between the two orphans?

"lay down your weapon!"

As the police car swerved to a stop, Commissioner Gordon's angry shouts rang out in the dark night. Mason had no intention of showing off his bravery.

He raised his hands and allowed the police to take away his weapons.

Old Gordon walked over expressionlessly, took the tracker out of Mason's arms, and pretended to beat the unruly child, but in the end he just reached out and patted him on the shoulder, and ran to check on the unconscious Penguin. He personally put the handcuffs on Penguin's wrists.

At a certain corner of the street, Batman stood alone on the roof like a statue watching the police cars leave. After the flashing lights completely disappeared, the master activated the communication and said to the other end:

"Alfred, enter the Gotham City resident database with the keyword 'Mason Cooper' and check all his information. Focus on whether he had a record of calling the police when he was seven years old, and whether he had a record of being abused by his father. "

"Wait a moment, Master."

Ah Fu's steady voice sounded from the communicator hidden in the bat ear decoration of the helmet. After a few seconds, the old housekeeper sighed and replied:

"Yes, the information matches your description very well. This child was sent to the hospital three times when he was six, ten, and thirteen years old.

The most minor one was a broken rib.

He himself is very peaceful.

Although he has a father who is a gangster, he does not even have a criminal record for petty theft. Although his grades in school were not excellent, judging from his graduation records, all his teachers evaluated him very positively.

Nothing wrong except being a little lonely.

Oh, by the way, this kid is a rabid Bat fan. He was part of a clique that worshiped you in high school and was a core member. "

After saying that, Ah Fu hesitated and asked again:

"Master, are you going to train a new Robin again? Do you need me to prepare adoption documents and call that person? This child no longer has any relatives."

"No."

Batman decisively refused and said to Alfred as he turned to leave:

“I saw Jason in him.

Maybe he will live safer if he doesn't come into contact with me. Keep an eye on him. Ah Fu, he has been suppressed by the darkness for too long. Tonight's explosion may be just the beginning.

But no one knows whether it will return to peace or become distorted.

As for me.

I just don't want to see another resident of Arkham Asylum, the city has enough troubles already. "

——

In the early hours of the morning, Director Gordon personally drove Mason to a safe house in an apartment in the Odsburg district. The director was vigilant and there was no one accompanying him except him.

Obviously, he also knew that his police station was not that clean.

"You will stay here for the next few days, waiting for follow-up arrangements."

The director threw a large bag of temporarily purchased daily necessities on the bed of this small apartment, and then said to Mason, who had changed his clothes and wore a baseball cap to cover his body, and looked around:

"Don't go out. There's an ordering phone on the table over there, and an emergency communicator by the bedside. Let me ask again, are you really willing to serve as a witness against Oswald in court?"

"I've been offended to this extent, and they won't let me go if I don't serve as a witness."

The young man didn't feel any pressure. He walked to the window and raised the blinds slightly, and he could overlook Miller Harbor in the dark night and the Gotham River flowing through the city.

He looked back at Commissioner Gordon and asked:

"How long will Penguin be sent in?"

"Based on all the dirt on him, at least two hundred and thirty-five years."

The chief shrugged and added:

"Of course, if he is not jailbroken."

This made Mason lose his temper. He grinned and said:

"So as a police chief, you have already tacitly accepted that the bad guys you personally arrested and put in prison will definitely escape?"

"This is Gotham, where everything is possible."

The chief laughed dryly twice.

He looked at the time on his watch and was about to leave. Mason stopped him and said:

"Leave me a weapon in case of emergency. Where is the gun I assembled myself?"

"Leave it in the evidence department."

Gordon pushed his black-framed glasses and glanced at Mason.

Perhaps because he felt that this young man's situation was indeed special, he hesitated for a few seconds and took out his spare pistol from his arms and placed it on the table, leaving an extra magazine.

He said:

"Be careful."

"Yeah."

Mason watched the chief leave, and then played with the pistol by the window and watched the car drive away.

He went forward, locked the door, took a nice bath, and then returned to the room to pick up the umbrella he had been carrying, and took out the two bat darts he had picked up from his shoes.

He put this thing on the table, and the light screen in front of him immediately gave the information label:

Penguin's Armed Umbrella

Quality: Special Engineering Items·Excellent Craftsmanship

Status: Complete Accessories (Semi-automatic Rapid-Fire Gun·Combat Spear·Stave Sword·Micro Flamethrower·Micro Gas Sprayer·Umbrella Bulletproof Shield·Ejection Knife)

Manufacturer: "Penguin" Oswald Cobblepot

Item Description: We generally call this ingenious multi-purpose self-defense weapon "3000 Lifesavers".

Tip: The drawings have been included, and deep transformation can be carried out after the engineering skills are improved.

"Click"

Mason twisted the curved umbrella handle, making the umbrella make a slight sound like a gear returning to its position. As he watched, a white sharp blade popped out from the tip of the umbrella.

Turning the umbrella handle slightly again, the umbrella tip was replaced with a delicate nozzle.

As he turned the umbrella handle to the bottom, the sharp tip of the umbrella shot out with a whiz sound and stabbed into the wall fiercely. The hollow spike as long as the pinky finger was completely immersed in the concrete, and the tail end was still shaking at high speed.

Mason grinned, retracted the tip of the umbrella, and pulled open the umbrella handle to expose the loading port, and loaded the bullets from Director Gordon's gun into it one by one.

This thing has fifteen rounds of ammunition, but loading is a waste of time. Obviously, shooting is only its most insignificant function.

Those dazzling small accessories are hidden in a ring-shaped mechanical box at the top of the umbrella body, just like a music box, which looks very delicate.

With Mason's current Lv0 engineering level, he can be sure that if he dismantles this thing, he will definitely not be able to assemble it by himself.

He played with the umbrella for a while, then picked up two tough and exaggerated bat darts and placed them in front of him. The information label popped up again:

Basic bat fighting dart

Quality: Well-forged/engineering items·Excellent craftsmanship

Status: No components are installed. Seven weapon slots of different specifications are reserved in the center of the fighting dart to meet different needs including blasting, electromagnetic shock, blinding, toxins and monitoring.

After pulling the dart back, it can be used for close combat.

Producer: Wayne Industrial Technology R&D Department

Item Description: You know that the cost of this small piece of iron lump is enough for you to buy a new car with a little loan, right? Do you have the heart to throw it out and hit people?

Tip: Physical samples have been collected and the drawings have been included.

"Who can afford this thing except Bruce Wayne?"

Mason sighed and said:

"So those villains who were knocked down by batarangs were actually hit by a luxury car? This is the power of money, tsk, I'm so envious."

But the young man's envy, like eating a lemon, has not ended yet, and a prompt popped up on the light screen in front of him: Enter combat mode.

"?"

Mason blinked in surprise.

The next second, something heavy hit the wall of this "safe house", and then there was a violent explosion that shook the entire apartment.

The young man was blown away and hit the wall on the other side. He climbed up and spit out blood.

But he reacted quickly, and in the chaos, he grabbed the Penguin's umbrella and opened it like a shield in front of him.

The impact hit the umbrella, and the flying bullets pulled the young man back to the crazy gunfight a few hours ago.

The collapsed wall was filled with black smoke, and several masked men rushed in with automatic weapons. They hadn't seen the target yet, but the aiming frame in front of Mason had already locked them.

The young man held the trigger of the umbrella handle while holding the umbrella, and fired decisively the moment the preset trajectory was corrected.

He shot down two assassins who broke in with three consecutive shots. He picked up the rifle that fell nearest, put the gun left by Gordon in his arms, put the bat dart on his belt, staggered and covered his mouth, and rushed out of the door with the gunshot behind him.

The safe house of the Gotham Police Department is indeed safe enough.

Well, at least it is true for the assassins.