American comics: Starting in Arkham, a system-based Batman

Chapter 44 Fear is a good ingredient in interrogation.

Batman originally wanted to go directly to Zheng En to get to the bottom of things, but unfortunately he missed him.

After learning what had happened at the Siennis Investment Company, he knew he wouldn't be able to wait for Zheng En, but he didn't intend to go back empty-handed.

You can either take something back with you, leave something behind, or both.

Batman chose the middle one.

But he didn't expect that all the listening devices he left behind would be found.

According to his plan, seven or eight of the dozen or so listening devices were decoys, four or five were hidden quite well, and the rest were basically undetectable.

But the other party found them all without leaving a single one.

He knew he needed to make another trip.

into the night.

The apartment building complex at Sidaokou, Powell District.

A massive shadowy figure loomed over the adjacent apartment building, casting a bat-like reflection on the ground. The grappling hook was firmly anchored to the rooftop, allowing the shadowy figure to move through the building.

He was tall, but he landed very quietly, barely making a sound, not even as loud as a cat running.

It looks just like a real bat.

In apartment 404 of the red-tiled building, the living room light was on, and the TV was playing GG. Zheng En washed her hands and came out of the bathroom, hearing a noise coming from the direction of the bedroom.

He instinctively walked into the bedroom, opened the door, and found it pitch black inside, with only a few rays of moonlight filtering through the open window.

"Strange, didn't I close the window?"

Zheng En walked inside, and the corner behind the door was pitch black.

As he walked toward the window, the shadow behind the door gradually spread outwards, approaching him.

As the black-haired, black-eyed Asian youth closed the window, Batman stood behind him, waiting for him to turn around.

The other person will be startled when they turn around; fear is a good ingredient for interrogation.

He turned around, revealing his face.

The first thing that catches the eye is the pale flesh on the face, which looks like the top layer of skin of a bloated corpse, with fat and liquid mixed together.

Secondly, there are empty eye sockets, as if they were gouged out by someone, and you can vaguely see the veins and sticky, half-dried blood inside;

Only at the very end can one realize that the skin and features combined to form a distorted face, with features drooping like a burning wax figure, and a severely dislocated and deformed jaw, as if a whirlpool were about to suck the person in front of it into an abyss.

The intense impact sent a shiver down Batman's spine, but he quickly regained his senses and, upon closer inspection, realized it was a ghost mask.

"Jean".

Batman used the same throat cancer sound that Zheng En had initially heard. He looked at Zheng En and said with certainty, "You knew I would come."

"Of course."

Seeing that he hadn't scared the inexperienced local Batman, Zheng En sighed in disappointment and took off the mask. "Otherwise, why would I have deliberately scared you here?"

Although it didn't scare them.

Zheng En looked at the ghost mask in his hand, then at Batman in front of him, regretting that he hadn't managed to achieve the amazing feat of scaring Batman.

Even though the opponent is a newbie who has just started out, and I have the boost from the items, the opponent's willpower is truly amazing.

The Twisted Screaming Mask was the reward for the mission where he beat up Marshall and provided information about Arkham. According to its function description, "If life were a Clash of Clans tabletop role-playing game, this thing would give you +20 to your intimidation rating"—in some situations, it would be enough to scare people into a stupor.

Unfortunately, they were defeated in their debut battle.

Under Batman's disapproving gaze, Jung Eun whistled and pretended to nonchalantly put away the scream mask.

"What, aren't you trying to scare me too? It's a double standard, like the magistrate is allowed to set fires while the common people are forbidden to light lamps."

Seeing that he couldn't create the atmosphere he wanted, Batman had no choice but to give in; perhaps a more relaxed conversation wouldn't be so bad. After all, the person in front of him had never shown any hostility and had even helped him several times.

Why did you infiltrate Arkham?

Jung Eun ignored the guy who had turned a question into a statement. He walked straight out of the bedroom towards the refrigerator. "What would you like to drink? Sprite or Coke?"

Batman had no choice but to follow him out. "Why did you infiltrate Arkham?"

Jung Eun ignored the other person's question and asked, "Sprite or Coke?"

Batman is a stubborn guy, and so is he.

"……Cola."

Batman was at his wit's end. Zheng En had plenty of time to wear him down, but he still had important business to attend to.

After handing the drinks to the other person, Zheng En sat back on the sofa and truthfully explained his situation to Batman again, using the same old story he had given to Brock and the others. However, this time the setting was different, giving Batman more room to question him.

"You were responsible for the first bombing in Arkham? Where did you get the bomb? And how did you plant it?"

Jung Eun put her index finger to her lips. "Shh, it's a secret."

He lay on the sofa, with Batman standing beside him, neither sitting down nor drinking, his lips clenched tightly, looking very dissatisfied with his answer.

Batman then asked, "What else do you know about Falcone?"

"No, that's all. I've told you everything I know."

Batman is still fixated on Falcone, seemingly treating him as the first person he needs to deal with. Seeing him like this, Jung Eun couldn't help but remind him, "Don't forget the other person in this incident."

Now that Klein has revealed the name of the Scarecrow and escaped from the GCPD's manhunt, he's bound to be planning something big, maybe even a prelude to some major event.

Jung Eun had no intention of hiding his actions in Arkham that night; doing good deeds anonymously was not his style.

Anyway, Batman already knows there are suspicious things about him, so it doesn't matter if there are more suspicious things.

Upon hearing this, Batman gave Zheng En a deep look.

It's hard to say what his expression is like under the mask. Perhaps because he has spent so much time with his mentor Batman, Jung Eun can roughly judge the emotions of the Batman in front of him.

He was skeptical and inquisitive, but he still followed Zheng En's line of thought.

"You mean Klein?"

Batman instantly recalled the attack he had suffered that night, the gas emanating from the researcher's sleeve. "He was indeed dangerous."

If that gas were used illegally, it could harm countless people.

He certainly couldn't just focus on Falcone and ignore the other dangerous factors.

"But how did you know?" Batman asked himself, answering, "You were there that day too."

Batman closely observed Zheng En's expression. Although it was clearly him wearing the mask, their positions seemed to be reversed.

He could vaguely sense that Jung Eun was very familiar with him, but on the contrary, he knew nothing about Jung Eun's background and thoughts, as if he were in a fog and could not see inside.