Volume 1: Welcoming Gotham Chapter 25: Everything is caused by something that was ignored from the beginning
"Oh my god, it was a massacre."
Gordon, who received the news, rushed back to his home with a group of police officers. The chief had witnessed the destructive power of Mason when he was angry, but the other police officers were frightened when they first arrived at the street.
The power was cut off to the entire neighborhood.
Lying in the street in front of the house were a group of Penguin Gang thugs who had been knocked unconscious, three bodies with heads shot out, and three unlucky guys who had been hit and killed by cars.
The backyard is even more amazing.
The sight of more than twenty corpses of men in black with tragic deaths made several young police officers vomit. Even the veteran detectives who had been working in this hellhole of Gotham for many years couldn't stand it.
They gathered together and talked about the slaughterhouse-like theater massacre when the clown first showed his power.
Although Gotham's public security has been poor in recent years, such vicious shootings have not occurred for a long time since the number of residents in Arkham Asylum has increased and Batman has continued to conduct high-intensity night patrols.
"Chief, we found six strange headless stone sculptures in the alley across the street."
A pale-faced female police officer ran over and reported to Gordon, who was standing at the gate smoking silently. The chief waved his hand, rubbing his forehead with a tired look on his face, and said:
"Move it back to the evidence department. Maybe it's evidence. You guys keep busy here. I'll go check on my daughter. She must be terrified."
The other detectives nodded, looking at their chief with pity.
The detectives all knew about the tragedy that happened to Barbara Gordon in her early years, so no one stopped the chief's actions at this time.
Because there was a dead body in the house, Barbara and Mason were transferred to the neighbor's house next door in advance. That house was also the police station's backup safe house.
The kind that is uninhabited all year round.
When the director pushed the door open, he saw a strangely shaped stone sculpture placed in a dark living room. The guy was wearing a full bat suit, but his face was not the one Gordon was familiar with.
The director was even more tired.
He used a flashlight to identify it, blew a smoke ring, and said:
"Dick Grayson...you little brat stole my daughter's heart, and you have the guts to come back?"
"Dad, come help! We need light."
Barbara, who was sitting in a wheelchair, heard the noise, pushed the door open, and called her father to go into the kitchen. When Commissioner Gordon walked in, he smelled a very unpleasant odor.
When he swept the flashlight forward, he found that Mason Cooper, the little bastard who had just slaughtered more than thirty people, was standing in front of the dining table cutting something strange.
Next to him was a lit alcohol lamp and a strange liquid that was being roasted over the flame. The unpleasant smell came from the liquid.
"What is this doing?"
Commissioner Gordon said expressionlessly:
"Mason, are you going to cook to celebrate because we have successfully blown off thirty people's heads tonight?"
"Shh!"
Before Mason could say anything, Barbara, who was wearing black-framed glasses and watching Mason's busy work with curiosity, raised her finger to ask her disgruntled father to be quiet.
She explained quietly:
"Mason is preparing the antidote for the petrification potion. This is the alchemy he learned from the dark wizard who kidnapped him. This is also his first time trying to do this.
Dad, please don't make trouble."
"He also knows alchemy?"
Commissioner Gordon was originally looking for an explanation, but his eyes widened when he heard this.
Although he had been a policeman in Gotham for many years and had seen a lot, this thing that sounded like magic still made the old man a little curious.
He illuminated Mason with a flashlight and found that the young man was silently reciting a certain process. He cut up some shriveled ginseng-like paper in his hand with a kitchen knife and ground it into a bowl. When the strange-colored and unpleasant-smelling decoction boiled over the alcohol lamp, he sprinkled the powder in while stirring it with a crystal rod.
"boom"
A cloud of purple mist mixed with sparks burst out from the small bowl, startling Director Gordon and Barbara. The unpleasant smell in the kitchen suddenly changed into a smoke with a herbal aroma.
Gordon took a sniff and immediately felt his tired spirits lifted.
"Just another thirty seconds and it will be enough."
Mason stirred the liquid in the small bowl that was constantly being heated with a crystal rod used for alchemy, and said to Barbara:
"It's a pity that I don't have a special mithril crucible, otherwise it wouldn't have taken so long. Mandrake resurrection potion is one of the simplest alchemical items. As long as you have the raw materials, few people will fail to make it."
"It's amazing stuff, I haven't seen anything like it in the Batcave."
The former Batgirl pushed her glasses up excitedly and said:
"Besides being able to petrify and unpetrify people, what else can you do?"
"Well, I haven't learned much, but I have the old wizard's alchemy notes."
Mason blinked and took this opportunity to rationalize his alchemy skills. He said:
"I can try to prepare more potions when I have time. I remember there is a 'beauty potion' in the notebook. It is said that it can keep ladies young and make their skin as soft as water."
"Well, I like this."
Barbara's eyes lit up and she said:
“I want to order ten bottles!”
"I don't think you might need it."
Mason glanced at her and whispered:
"You are already beautiful enough."
"It's not necessary now, but it's hard to say in the future. You see, I've been in a wheelchair for many years and lack of exercise, so my skin will definitely deteriorate. I feel that my hair has lost its luster recently.
Hey, can you make some magic diet pills or something.
I feel like I have some belly fat and breast augmentation... ahem, we'll talk about this in private later."
No matter how experienced Barbara Gordon is, she is just a girl in her twenties, and the pursuit of beauty is her instinct.
But seeing that her father had frowned, she immediately stopped talking and urged Mason to take the prepared medicine to save her boyfriend who had fallen into a disaster.
"Successfully completed a standard alchemical craft, and the proficiency of alchemical skills increased."
Mason knew the potion was ready when he saw a prompt pop up on the screen in front of him.
He took the boiling hot bowl off with his grilling gloves, filtered out the medicine residue, and handed the strange-colored potion to Barbara, saying:
"Pour it on his head. Don't try to feed him. He'll choke to death if he drinks water while in petrified state."
"oh."
Barbara took the potion and pushed the wheelchair out of the kitchen, while Mason packed up the things on the spot. The residue of mandrake is harmful to the human body and must be professionally processed before being discarded.
Commissioner Gordon also stayed here.
After his daughter left, he lit a cigarette and said to Mason:
"You went a little too far tonight. I mean, you left my house covered in blood. Did you do it on purpose, Mason? You declined my invitation in this way?"
"I just wanted you to see how dangerous I am, Gordon. I swear I didn't mean any other thing."
Mason sealed the dregs of the medicine in a special jar and shook it in his hand, while turning back and saying:
"I appreciate your and Barbara's kindness, but you can see that I can't get close to those of you who are kind to me until this mess is over, and please don't let me bear the psychological burden.
I would go to my old friend and he would help me find a place to stay.
You've seen with your own eyes that I have demonstrated that I can protect myself in Gotham."
Director Gordon frowned and smoked in silence. Mason did not interrupt his thoughts. When the cigarette was finished, the director raised his head and said:
"Okay, I won't stop you. But you have to sign the guardianship document, come back at least once a week, even if it's just for show, and contact me immediately if you encounter any trouble.
can you do it?"
"I will sign it."
Mason glanced at Gordon. He did not refute or put forward any conditions. It was already a big victory if Gordon allowed him to move out. The next step was to contact Kite Man to find a place to stay.
Speaking of Kite Man…
"Um, Gordon, my friend is in some trouble now, and I want to consult you."
Mason threw the can, which he had shaken at least a hundred times, into the trash can and, while washing his hands, whispered:
"Do you know 'The Kite Man'?"
"Charles Brown?"
Gordon is worthy of being the police chief. He knows all the villains in the city. When Mason mentioned the nickname, he immediately reacted and said with a strange look in his eyes:
“That guy used to work for the Joker, but after the Joker’s gang collapsed, he had nowhere to go, so he robbed a bakery and was sent to jail by me.
Is he your friend ?
All right.
He's not a hopelessly bad guy, but Kite Man escaped from prison some time ago."
"He just wanted to see his son."
Mason explained:
"If Charles wants to end his lawsuit..."
"Just go to the police station and pay a deposit."
Gordon shook his head and said:
"He just robbed a bakery. How big a crime could that be? In fact, Charles could have been released from prison a long time ago. He just kept making small mistakes and stayed in Blackgate Prison to eat delicious prison meals. He was afraid that the Joker Gang would come after him if he got out, so he hid there.
He is a 'gang traitor' just like you.
You have to be careful with him. Although the Joker Gang has collapsed, that lunatic still has some diehard followers wandering around the city, and Kite Man is their target."
"Okay, I'll tell him, Gordon."
Mason finally felt relieved.
He walked out of the kitchen to check on Dick Grayson. Gordon was still there. After Mason left, Gordon lit another cigarette, took out his cell phone from his arms and dialed a number.
A few seconds later, the real master's hoarse voice sounded on the phone:
"Gordon, I'm busy."
"I'm just telling you that Mason killed another thirty assassins from the League of Assassins tonight and protected my daughter, but those Assassins are targeting him, so he has to move out."
Commissioner Gordon whispered:
"Also, your 'Retired Robin' was captured by him using a strange potion. He learned many strange skills from the dark wizard who kidnapped him."
"Let him be."
The master said briefly:
"I'll be back as soon as I'm done here. Gordon, you didn't tell Mason about that, did you?"
"not yet."
The director sighed, rubbed his face and said tiredly:
"But he'll find out sooner or later. The kid is very alert."
"I am speeding up my investigation into the hidden facts behind Mason's life."
The master said:
"Once I have some clues, I will choose a time to tell him. You must keep an eye on him and don't let him run away. This is very important."
——
"ah……"
The wizard's notes say that being petrified feels pretty bad.
It is said that it is like the body is dead and the soul is sealed inside. It can feel everything around it but cannot react.
A few seconds after Barbara Gordon poured the potion over Dick Grayson's head, the petrified state of the "retired Robin" quickly disappeared.
With stone chips flying all over the ground, the handsome and dashing guy fell to the ground in an embarrassed posture.
He gasped for air like a fish out of water and took a moment to calm himself down.
"That's great, Grayson."
Barbara cheered and reached out to pull her boyfriend up from the ground. Then, remembering Mason's previous complaints, she secretly glanced at her boyfriend's buttocks.
Eh~ It’s really perky!
No wonder Mason could tell at a glance that he was not Batman himself.
“You bastard…”
Dick Grayson, the first Robin nicknamed "Nightwing", immediately saw Mason leaning on the table next to him and staring at him.
Unhappily, he took the bat helmet handed to him by Barbara and put it on his head, then used the built-in bat voice to make his voice exactly as hoarse as the original master's.
To Mason:
"Shameless sneak attack!"
"Of course I have to attack by surprise! I am no match for you in a head-on attack, Mr. Nightwing."
Mason crossed his arms, with his low-profile but deadly explosive shotgun at his legs. Sujie's Eagle was thrown back into the bag around his waist. He looked at the somewhat annoyed Nightwing and said:
" So , Batman isn't looking for you to fill in for him in Gotham? What will happen to Blüdhaven, a place in dire straits, without a hero like you?"
"You're kidding, right?"
Grayson waved his hand unhappily.
But he has always been an open-minded and gentle person, and the resentment in his heart quickly dissipated under the gentle persuasion of his girlfriend Barbara.
While he was talking to Barbara, he turned back to look at Mason and said in a serious tone:
"I didn't come here just because I saw Barbara's distress signal tonight, Mason Cooper. There is something very important I want to confirm with you."
As he spoke, the "Bat Master" took out something that looked very familiar to Mason from his multi-purpose belt.
It was the sword-shaped hard drive that Catwoman had stolen from Penguin a week ago. Nightwing handed it to Mason and said very seriously:
"I'm asking you, in the short period between when you took it from Catwoman and before you gave it to Batman, you didn't try to copy the information on this hard drive, right?"
"I was driving and I was shooting."
Mason frowned and said:
"I only have two hands, so of course not. What happened to this hard drive?"
"The information inside was automatically destroyed."
Nightwing said in annoyance:
“Batman asked me to track this before he left, but as soon as I opened it on the Batcomputer, the information set off a security alarm.
This only happens when the information inside is copied or transferred, so I suspect the hard drive was programmed to self-destruct before it was delivered to Batman."
"Then you should go find Catwoman."
Mason narrowed his eyes and said:
"She is the most likely person to have done this. Where is she?"
"She slipped away."
Nightwing rubbed his forehead with a headache and did something that Batman would never do.
He said:
"She slipped away from the Batcave just thirty minutes after Batman left Gotham. I came here to ask, have you contacted Catwoman since you returned to Gotham?"
“I don’t even have a cell phone.”
The young man shook his head and gave an irrefutable reason.
Nightwing was silent for a moment.
A few seconds later, he handed the sword-shaped hard drive to his girlfriend and said:
"Then I'll have to rely on you, Barbara. Use your amazing hacking skills to try to check the remaining information on this hard drive.
As for you, Mason."
He said to the young man:
“We need to find Catwoman as soon as possible and confirm whether the information in the hard drive is in her hands.
I learned from other sources that the Assassin's League and the Penguin Gang are determined to capture you for the same reason.
The information that Catwoman may have taken contains secrets they don't want anyone to know, and more importantly, your attacker is also tracking her."
The young master paused and extended his hand toward Mason.
He whispered:
"Let's go find her together. You'll never be able to truly start a new life until this matter is resolved."
"OK."
Mason thought about it, then happily reached out and patted the young master's hand, saying:
"I just happen to want to see that big sister again."
