Chapter 296 Bat Maze (1)
Gotham.
It was night when Bruce returned to the city.
As soon as he landed, he immediately felt uncomfortable.
The city was filled with fog, but the air was stuffy, and the sea breeze that was common in Gotham Harbor was replaced by an indescribable sticky feeling.
"What happened?"
Katum looked around and saw some homeless people huddled on the roadside, but no other pedestrians.
Bruce couldn't understand this situation either.
Although an accident in Gotham is nothing to be surprised about, the current situation is so strange that it is unbelievable.
There are no pedestrians on the street, only homeless people?
Bruce walked over and came to a homeless man, who was curled up with his eyes closed, and his body was shaking.
"Wake up, wake up!"
Bruce didn't mind the unpleasant smell on the homeless man and tried to wake him up.
However, no matter how hard he tried, the other person's eyes never opened, and he just kept mumbling some completely incomprehensible nonsense.
Bruce placed the back of his hand on the other's forehead. His temperature was a little high, but within the normal range, not to the point of losing consciousness.
The same situation happened to other homeless people around.
"problem occurs."
Bruce stood up, and the nanoparticles instantly covered his entire body, completing the suit.
"Do a full scan on me."
He gave instructions to the auxiliary control intelligence of the battle suit.
After a scan, the results came out quickly.
"how come!"
Bruce's eyes suddenly widened. It showed that his immune cells had begun to proliferate in large numbers. The meaning of this was self-evident.
“There’s something wrong with the air!”
Bruce said, "Something like bacteria and viruses entered my body!"
Otherwise, his body's immune system wouldn't start responding.
and--
The reaction speed was too fast, which was extremely abnormal.
Could it be the fog around us?
Fortunately, Bruce had just arrived here and had not been inhaling the air for a long time, so his condition was not as serious as that of a homeless person.
Katum was standing on Bruce's shoulder. When he heard this, he didn't say much. He immediately took out an owl-style gas mask from the feathers and put it on his head.
Bruce didn't know when he prepared this thing.
The situation in Gotham is now clear, although there is no direct evidence that it is all related to Batwoman.
But considering her previous confidence in fighting against the Martians, it was hard for Bruce not to worry.
"To the Batcave!"
Bruce said, "I need to see what's going on with Batwoman!"
……
When Bruce arrived at Wayne Manor, the surrounding environment was as dilapidated and gloomy as ever.
He pushed the door open and walked in.
"Batwoman? Cousin Kate!"
Bruce yelled, but no one responded.
This is getting weirder.
He walked into the study room with ease, and in the center of the room was a black piano.
Bruce lifted the piano cover and his powerful fingers fell on three keys.
In an instant, the bookshelves on the wall began to vibrate, and a dark crack gradually expanded. Along with the sound of mechanical operation, the mysterious entrance to the Batcave appeared in front of Bruce.
Bruce walked down. The tunnel of the Batcave was very dark. Katum had to turn on a small flashlight to barely see the road ahead.
He finally reached the bottom level and entered the Batcave.
The Bat Cave is dark and damp, with huge stalactites hanging from the ceiling.
Various high-tech equipment in the cave flickered with cold lights, and bat fighters and bat motorcycles were parked quietly.
Various types of information about Gotham kept jumping on the computer screen, and the sound of countless bats flapping their wings could be heard faintly in the shadows.
However, Batwoman is not here.
"strangeness."
Bruce came to a monitor, which showed the interface of the last operation.
That is a comprehensive surveillance picture of Gotham City. This surveillance system was built by Batman and later inherited by Batwoman.
Bruce mobilized all the cameras but couldn't find Kate.
Not only that, he could clearly see that all the streets in Gotham City were shrouded in thick fog. No pedestrians could be seen, only scattered homeless people huddled in inconspicuous places on the streets.
Perhaps right now, Gotham’s crime rate is at its lowest point in history.
"Could it be..."
Bruce had a guess.
Batwoman may have released the chemical gas against the Martians, but what she didn't expect was that almost all of Gotham had been replaced by Martians.
This resulted in everyone in the city of Gotham, except for the lower-class homeless people, disappearing in an instant.
But is this possible?
Even Bruce felt that his guess was too ridiculous.
He told Katoum his guess. Katoum thought about it and said, "I think the more outrageous the idea, the more likely it is to be close to the facts. Otherwise, you can't explain the fog in Gotham City."
"Gotham is often foggy."
Bruce is a Gotham native, so of course he knows his hometown very well. It's a port city, so it's bound to be foggy.
"If it was really Cousin Kate who released the gas in Gotham, then I can guess where she went."
Bruce said, "Nail Island controls the sewer pipes of the entire city. There is a huge purifier inside. As long as the wind direction is right and the purifier is turned on, the gas can be easily released to the entire city of Gotham!"
That's the only place Batwoman is most likely to be.
Bruce thought of this and said no more. He Apparated with Katum and headed to Naihe Island.
……
When Bruce appeared on Nahe Island, the fog had become thicker.
The thick fog swallowed up the entire city like a giant beast, and the darkness pressed down on our heads like a heavy lead sheet.
In the fog, the dim street lights could only emit a faint halo, like the last gasp of a dying person.
Bruce tried to use magic to blow away the fog, but it was of no use. The fog automatically filled the blown area.
There was no choice but to walk in the fog.
"Here, take this!"
Katoom handed over a lantern.
"Where did you get these?" Bruce asked.
"Don't worry about it, just take it, it will add more atmosphere this way."
Bruce reluctantly took the lantern, raised it above his head, and walked forward.
The fog was thick and visibility was extremely low. Every step Bruce took seemed like stepping into an unknown abyss.
The mist swirled and twisted around him, as if countless invisible hands were pulling at the corners of his clothes.
The surroundings were terribly silent, with only the sound of his footsteps echoing in the fog, but it seemed as if something had swallowed most of it, making it seem hollow and eerie. From time to time, strange sounds came from the surroundings, like painful groans, and under the cover of fog and darkness, they drilled into Bruce's ears.
"What's that noise? It's disturbing."
Katum hugged Bruce's head and said dissatisfiedly.
"Are you afraid?"
"How is that possible?" Katum shook his head. "Even if you are afraid, I won't be afraid!"
"You can be as stubborn as you want."
Bruce continued walking forward, lantern in hand.
etc--
Bruce's steps suddenly stopped, and a heavy breathing sound came from the fog.
The breathing sound was turbid and heavy, as if it was the breath of a demon gushing out from the depths of hell.
There's something in the fog!
Bruce kept his eyes fixed on the thick fog ahead, ready for battle.
A huge figure gradually emerged in the fog. It was a hunchbacked monster.
Its skin was like burnt leather, covered with hideous cracks, emitting a foul smell, and its eyes were filled with cruelty and bloodthirstiness.
Martians!
Bruce recognized the monster, but why did it become like this?
The previous Martians, although ugly in appearance, were at least not disgusting.
But now——
The other party's bumpy skin was covered with foul-smelling pustules. Where the pustules burst, yellow-green mucus flowed out and slid down slowly like sticky little snakes.
Disgusting, really disgusting!
At this moment, the Martian in front of him had lost his mind, gasping violently like a wild beast, with strands of mucus hanging from his jagged fangs.
Bruce could feel a stench coming towards him.
"Roar!!!"
The mist rolled violently as it roared, and the Martian suddenly pounced on him at an astonishing speed, its huge claws leaving deep marks on the ground.
Bruce dodged sideways, and when the monster missed his attack, he kicked it in the waist.
This kick was like kicking a piece of sticky rotten meat.
Bruce felt a sticky and rotten smell going straight into his nose through the soles of his shoes, and his stomach churned.
The Martian seemed to feel no pain. After being kicked, he turned around quickly and let out an even more angry roar. The sound made Bruce's ears buzz in the thick fog.
It pounced on Bruce again, this time even faster. Bruce could even see the hot air coming out of its bloody mouth that exuded a foul smell.
"The flames are blazing." Bruce said softly.
The next second, a fierce flame erupted in the palm of his hand.
The flames wrapped around Bruce's arm like a nimble snake, instantly illuminating a small area of thick fog around him.
Bruce's entire arm was burning, and without hesitation, he punched the monster that was rushing towards him.
The punch hit the Martian's skin solidly and sank deeply into his skin.
The part of the Martian that was touched by the flame made a sizzling sound, as if a wet rag was burning.
Bruce's mind moved, and the flames on his arm spread to the Martian's entire body.
Soon, the Martian was completely engulfed by the flames, and the raging fire wrapped its ugly and disgusting body tightly.
The flames licked every inch of the Martian's skin madly, and it let out a few final howls of pain. The sound gradually faded in the fog and was finally replaced by the crackling sound of burning flames.
"call--"
Bruce retracted his fist and used flames to clean the rotten flesh on it.
"This is not a pleasant battle at all."
Katoom flew to the ground and looked at the charred body of the Martian, which still had the embers burning.
"I think I know what's going on," said the Owl.
"I know that too," Bruce said.
They guessed what happened almost at the same time.
There is no need to think too much now, Batwoman must have released the chemical gas and achieved 'amazing' results.
The ugly appearance of Martians today is the best evidence.
"I clearly told her to wait until I come back before releasing her. Why can't she wait even a little longer?" Bruce sighed.
"Don't blame your cousin," Katum said. "Maybe she has her own reasons."
For example, if Martians come to your door, you will have to release chemical gases to save your life.
"But this is also..."
Forget it, Bruce won’t say anymore.
In fact, Batwoman's chemical gas was successful. She developed it based on the genes of Martians, and now it has become a special weapon against Martians.
Apart from anything else, the two abilities that Bruce originally thought were most worthy of attention from the Martians - Martian physique and telepathy - have now completely lost their threat.
The Martian physique that could transform, dematerialize, and regenerate at will had already become a pile of rotten flesh.
The ability to read people's minds and connect to the giant network of the mind became useless as the Martians lost their minds.
This is really Batwoman's credit.
Now that Gotham has become half an empty city, it is definitely not Batwoman's fault.
If most of Gotham's residents were turned into crazy Martians by the gas, it only means that they were already Martians.
however--
Bruce still thinks what Batwoman did was wrong.
Her mistake was that since the gas could not kill the Martians immediately but would only turn them into crazy monsters, she should not have released it in a hurry.
Either improve the gas to the point where it can kill Martians in an instant, or make a plan and figure out how to deal with the crazy monsters in the city.
Instead of turning Gotham into a ghost town like it is now.
What's more, this gas seems to have negative effects on humans.
"Bruce, doesn't that seem weird to you?"
Katoom flew to Bruce's shoulder and asked, "If there are monsters like this wandering in the fog now, how come those homeless people we met on the street are okay?"
This is indeed a point worth thinking about.
Bruce thought about it and felt that there was only one explanation.
"The tramps also inhaled the gas, which caused the Martians to instinctively resist."
He said, "You and I only inhaled a little bit, and then took protective measures, so we were attacked by them."
This statement does make some sense, and Katum agrees.
"It's also possible that this thick fog obscured their vision."
Katum said, "We can't just see those homeless people. There must be a lot of survivors in Gotham, they are just hiding."
As for where he hid, they can't find it yet.
"really."
Bruce also felt that the situation was urgent. Although the folks of Gotham City were used to being in dire straits, such a situation was still relatively rare.
Now that Batwoman is missing, Bruce has no idea what will become of Gotham without the Bat.
The most urgent task is to find Batwoman back.
"Let's go. Time waits for no one. Let's go find Cousin Kate."
Bruce took a step forward, ignoring the charred corpse on the ground, and strode towards the purifier on Naihe Island.
(End of this chapter)
