Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics

Good news, it's Morbid, not the Agent.

Bad news, it's not the Agent, it's Morbid.

Batman walked in and feigned calm as he shook hands with the other person. Jason looked up and said, "Do you know him?"

"Yes, I've heard a lot about him."

"I apologize for my troublesome twin brother," Shiller said with a smile. "He was too young when he started working in law enforcement, inevitably lacking in tact. But he is also doing his duty, and I hope you don't mind."

Jason snorted, "He's a complete madman!"

Batman's lips moved slightly; it was clear he had to suppress a lot of effort to swallow the words he was about to say. He sat on the other side of the hospital bed and looked at Shiller, asking, "Sir, why are you here?"

"First, I came to apologize to Mr. Todd. After all, he was wounded, and I don't believe it was a fair bullet, so naturally, someone needs to take responsibility. Besides, I heard Chief Justice Harvey Dent met with misfortune. As a legal practitioner, I deeply regret the fall of another star."

"It's okay, I said, as long as you help me stabilize the defense group contracts, the next Chief Justice will be none other than you." Jason tilted his head slightly, "Maybe one day, you can personally judge your brother in court."

Batman's hand tightened for a moment. He struggled to suppress the impulse to slap this stubborn kid, and with a smile, he said, "I see. It's just that Wayne Enterprises has no intention of..."

"Gotham isn't only about Wayne Enterprises, and there are more presidential candidates besides Bruce Wayne." Shiller picked up the glass of water. His tone was always calm and slow, sounding very hypnotic. Jason clearly found it difficult, but he still tried to keep his eyes open to hear what Shiller would say next.

"Mr. Oswald Cobblepot approached me, hoping I could be a middleman to divert some orders originally meant for Wayne Enterprises from Mr. Todd's hands. He promised to use part of his arms procurement to continue maintaining Gotham's security. I think he is indeed a socially responsible entrepreneur, so I agreed to him. I also heard he is interested in running for mayor. If he becomes mayor, adjusting Gotham's defense plans would be even easier."

Seeing the look of admiration on Jason's face, Batman couldn't help but clench his fist. He comforted himself internally: The Jason Todd of this universe was never Robin, nor was he part of the Batman Family, so there's no reason he'd lean towards him.

But even so, Batman found his naivety amusing. Jason, as the CEO, based his opinions entirely on whoever spoke to him last.

Abandoning Wayne to support Cobblepot, the plan sounds appealing. If Cobblepot successfully runs for mayor, he can avoid the legal issues the Agent mentioned and then promote Shiller, the middleman, to Chief Justice. This way, everything remains unchanged, a perfect solution.

However, Batman knows, even apart from justice, Cobblepot definitely harbors ill intentions. This proposition is contradictory: if Cobblepot wants to run for mayor, he should first secure Wayne Enterprises' backing, not buy arms from some defense group. The path of regular politics and that of oligarch warlords like Elliott are completely different; if power could be seized with weapons, why would Elliott need the Assassin's Union?

But Jason believed it. He actually believed a political aspirant would choose the Red Line Defense Group instead of Wayne Enterprises and thought they could continue to control the city together.

Jason didn't even realize that even Elliott never truly ruled this city; at most, he maintained security in affluent areas with security personnel. The so-called Old Town is actually Gotham's downtown — if he can't fully control the downtown, what kind of rule is that?

Anyone who studied a bit of psychology could tell that this seemingly gentle and elegant man in front of him and the law have a mutually exclusive relationship, at best. If he becomes Gotham's Chief Justice, Batman would rather take the newly caught criminals to the church to offer incense to Jesus.

"Jason, I think you should consider more carefully..."

"What business do you have here?" Jason glared at him, "I have nothing to say to you, hurry up and get out!"

Batman wasn't angry, or rather, he chose not to argue with a dead man. He said, "I mean no offense, I just hope when you're choosing partners, you carefully investigate whether they have sufficient funds and qualifications. I believe Wayne Enterprises will always be your best choice."

"Now you're willing to talk to me?"

"I've always been willing. Otherwise, what were we discussing before?"

"But you didn't refute the Agent."

"He was right, Mr. Todd. Think about it carefully, what could I refute? Should I say that Wayne Enterprises can disregard federal law and oppress citizens? Or should I say that in order to buy arms, I can completely ignore Wayne Enterprises' business strategy?"

Jason remained silent. After a while, he squeezed out a sentence, "I will make that bastard regret it!"

Batman waited here for a long time, and Shiller showed no intention of leaving. Calls from Wayne Enterprises urging him to return kept coming, and Batman had no choice but to leave.

This was an unsolvable deadlock for Jason. Because the Agent acted too aggressively, Jason had completely become hostile towards him. He had determined that the Agent was the Shiller he wanted to kill.

Taken advantage of by the Agent, Jason was infuriated. Morbid appeared in the guise of the Agent's brother, apologizing, offering sympathy, and bringing benefits while suggesting his own requests, naturally taking a friendly stance.

Even though Jason knows some psychology and noticed something's amiss, he wouldn't give up his fallback plan of cooperating with Cobblepot. Little does he know, the seemingly dangerous adversary won't actually harm him; it's the gentle and amiable friend that will end up costing him his life.

However, Batman is somewhat puzzled by Morbid's intentions. If he's looking for Mad Laugh, Mad Laugh is reduced to just a head, and Batman was the one who chopped it off. If he wanted to do something, he would have already done it then, rather than leaving it and later coming back.

If his target is Jason, there's actually no need to fabricate reasons like Cobblepot and create an identity for a twin brother, he could just enter the ward and kill straightforwardly. Given Morbid's current speed, a night's time would be enough for Jason to drift into the Atlantic.

Neither is it for finding Mad Laugh's head, nor for killing Jason; then why did Morbid appear in the ward, created an identity for himself, and likely communicated with Cobblepot beforehand, what is he up to?

Batman thinks that Shiller's drug effect may have mostly worn off, and he's played Mad Laugh to near death, what reason does he have to stay here?

Batman always feels he's forgotten something. Just as he thinks of this, his hand flipping through the documents suddenly pauses — Clown Hero!

Batman immediately figured out the key: an insane Clown who becomes a vigilante would pique his interest, let alone Morbid's?

The key is Clown Hero isn't weak either. He's highly likely to trace some clues of Morbid, peeking at the bizarre forms beneath the perfect human disguise. And upon realizing such a formidable opponent, Morbid naturally wouldn't rush to leave, but would confront him in battle.

Batman puts down the file in his hand, takes out the morning's newspaper from the drawer beside him, glances at it briefly, then puts it on the desk, and calls the secretary to bring the newspapers from a few days ago.

The news at that time was about the death at Elliott's party: "A corpse dressed in outlandish attire fell from the sky, the murderer disappeared without a trace, and guests were full of opinions."

Batman recognizes the outfit on the corpse — it's the Assassin's Union's attire. So he picks up the phone at hand, connects the call, and says to the person at the other end: "Talya, come to my office, I've got something to discuss with you."

Talya soon comes over. Before Batman can say anything, she herself says: "The Court of Owls has been acting strange lately, they keep propping March to compete with us, but they've quieted down recently. I suspect they are up to some other conspiracy."

"What do you think it could be?"

"March is just too conspicuous, unlike the Court of Owls' style. I suspect he's merely a pawn they pushed forward as a scapegoat, and there's someone else they intend to support."

"Who might this be?"

"That's currently unclear, but should be soon found out. What did you want to discuss with me?"

Batman hands her the newspaper, saying: "Is the deceased one of your people?"

"Why are you fixated on this too?" Talya frowns, "It's just an assassin, not someone important, he was sent by me to protect Elliott. What happened to him?"

"He's not important, but the person who killed him very much is."

"You're not suspecting I did it, are you?"

"Is Elliott questioning that? Then he's quite foolish." Batman says, "Using a corpse to disrupt the party does your group no favors. Even for your competitor, the Court of Owls wouldn't risk global scrutiny to kill such a minor player. This indicates that the opposition might not be driven by profit but by a crime of passion."

"This case still hasn't been closed yet? I thought that bunch of useless cops would just conclude he committed suicide."

"Of course not. Gotham Police Department used to indeed have many incompetents, but the recent arrival is different. He's highly likely to delve fully into this."

"Who's the killer?"

"It's not yet certain, but he already has a suspect."

"I don't understand what's really happening here." Talya says, "A cop wants to investigate, a killer wants to escape, it's just between them, what has it to do with us?"

"Firstly, if the killer attempts to establish a serial murder case, people from the Assassin's Union are bound to further suffer. Not to mention an ordinary individual can't kill your kind, and the suspect is no ordinary person." Batman doesn't beat around the bush with her, directly saying, "If Elliott ruled Gotham for years without incident, and as soon as I return, rampant serial murders break out, how do you think the public would view me? Might they consider Elliott's regime better and thus opt to vote for my opponent instead?"

Talya's countenance becomes serious. Batman knows he's persuaded her. In reality, he hardly cares about any presidential election, his primary concern is the safety of ordinary citizens.

Morbid might engage in a bout with Clown Hero, Batman doesn't mind; but if they plan to treat human lives as toys, Batman won't stand for it. Even though assassins from the Assassin's Union may deserve their fate, such serial murder cases can lead to panic, fundamentally disrupting order. Batman cannot allow such things to happen.

Though internally suspecting Morbid is behind it, Batman still tells Talya: "Investigate who's truly responsible for killing this person, pull from police files and autopsy results. I'll go to the crime scene to take a look."