There is no Batman in Gotham City comics.

Chapter 235 A pitiful person driven mad

Chapter 235 A pitiful person driven mad

"It's you, Thomas Wayne II."

The robot spoke, its psychedelic yet cold electronic voice echoing throughout the room.

Thomas didn't answer, he just pursed his lips and looked at the other person. To be honest, being stared at by that face made him very uncomfortable.

Although the old butler said the other person was Bruce, he didn't feel like he was meeting family at all, at least not from the mechanical voice and the distant address.

Compared to it, even that guy who usually finds dogs annoying looks much better.

That's right, Qin Wei, the guy I'm talking about is you.

"Why aren't you saying anything? Did you come all this way just to enjoy seeing me make a fool of myself?"

Thomas Jr. smirked and flexed his right ankle. If the other party continued to speak with such veiled barbs, he wouldn't mind delivering a high-angle headshot.

"How is it, young master? Are you satisfied with the young master now?" The old butler's laughter rang out from behind him at just the right time. If he didn't know that Alfred wasn't that kind of person, Thomas would have thought that the other man was being sarcastic.

"Pennyworth, are you kidding me?! This is the Bruce Wayne you were talking about, my 'adorable' younger brother?"

While reprimanding him, Thomas Jr. kept his eyes fixed on the robot's face.

Perhaps it was just his imagination, but he could sense the killing intent.

This murderous intent extinguished the last vestiges of hope in Isaiah Thomas's heart.

"You're not Bruce at all. You're just a weirdo who wants to take Gotham from me."

"Come on! Try it, let me meet you in the dark, and then I'll break your neck with one foot."

After making those harsh remarks, Thomas turned and left.

He felt incredibly stupid for coming to see Alfred; he should have used that time to help the clone.

But just as he reached the door, a strange clattering sound rang out behind him.

Turning his head, he was met with a horrifying scene that made Thomas's right eyelid twitch.

Alfred, wielding a steel pipe, snapped the robot's neck with a single blow, then proceeded to strike and stomp on the fallen head.

"Afu—what are you doing—you have simulated sensory nerves—it hurts!"

The robot tried to resist, but its underlying code logic dictated that it would never attack its creator, Alfred. So, no matter how powerful it was, it could only be tormented by the emaciated old man.

Smoke billowed from the mechanical head, and the language module was completely destroyed by the violent beating.

Of course, the broken neck was still glowing red, which meant that the mechanical Bruce was not completely destroyed.

He simply stopped making a sound, and the pain from the simulated nerves would continue to stimulate his brain until the battery ran out.

Thomas Jr.'s Adam's apple bobbed: "Mr. Pennyworth, what are you doing?"

"As you can see, this is a failed project."

Ah Fu's body was no longer as strong as it had been in his youth, and he was panting heavily from the repeated beatings.

He rested for a while, supporting himself on his knees, then picked up the head from the ground and threw it into a dark corner.

Thomas looked along the parabola and then noticed an important detail he had overlooked—the corner was already piled high with the broken heads of robots.

"Are you crazy? You were calling him Bruce just a minute ago!"

"But without the family's approval—it's just a machine, and in fact, that's what I think too. The young master would never speak to you in such a sharp and sarcastic tone!"

With his graying temples tucked behind his ears, Alfred exuded a dignified and refined air, but Thomas could never forget his disheveled, crazed appearance.

When Bruce Wayne died on Dr. Strange's operating table, the clone "Wayne," a body devoid of consciousness and only capable of mechanically executing commands, became Alfred's last source of emotional support.

The old butler brought Wei home, where he practiced fighting the clone according to Lei Xiaogu's scroll (foreshadowing resolved in Volume 3:)

Chapter 102: Epilogue.

He knew this might not be of much use, but he hoped that once Bruce regained consciousness, he could adapt to this powerful and perfect new body as quickly as possible.

As it turned out, Afu's efforts were useful, but Qin Wei became the beneficiary.

After suffering the devastating blow of having his clone taken away and kept in captivity by Claw (detailed in Chapter 69 of Volume 5, where the court kidnaps and keeps the protagonist in captivity for the purpose of cultivating tumors, and he is later rescued by Night Owl and awakens his self-awareness), this strong butler eventually went mad.

It's a sad ending, isn't it?

Thinking about this, Thomas seemed to hate Alfred less, and even felt some sympathy for him.

"Alfred."

"I'm here! Young Master. You look terrible. Is something bothering you? Alfred would be happy to help you." Alfred was completely unaware that the problem lay with him.

"It's nothing—I—please take care."

Thomas's eyes were already red; if he didn't turn around and leave soon, his tears would be noticed.

The Night Owl is a predator of the night, a knight of judgment in Gotham.

The owl never sheds a tear.

Of course, Night Owl clearly underestimated the extent of the old butler's madness.

In reality, Alfred had already misunderstood and distorted Bruce's original intentions. He insisted that the young master would take revenge on the city and frantically downloaded Bruce's memories from the cloud to implant them into the robot's brain.

This was his opinion on the best way to revive Bruce.

As for his meeting with Wei six months ago, there were undercurrents beneath the calm surface.

Alfred repeatedly tried to elicit information from Qin Wei, wanting to know his true intentions. If Qin Wei had expressed his willingness to become Batman and fulfill Bruce's last wish at that time, the mad Alfred would have sent a robot to kill him without hesitation.

After all, in the old butler's mind, no one could replace Bruce Wayne, and no one could fulfill his long-cherished wish.

So to some extent, Wei wasn't wrong to think that the other party wasn't the real Afu.

"Young Master—I will definitely help you—stand up again!"

As he picked up the remaining parts from the ground, Alfred's eyes grew increasingly fierce.

After a restless night, the next morning, Wei, carrying his bow and arrow box, headed towards the slums below the factory area.

The sun rises in the east at eight o'clock in the morning, its brilliant light shining down on the earth.

The refracted light bounced and spun in the glass curtain walls and reflective screens that covered the city. After getting used to the rainy life in Gotham, Wei was blinded by the reflected light, which could be described as the ultimate light pollution, coming from all directions.

Now he finally understood why Oliver insisted on giving him a pair of sunglasses.

"This place is a hell for nocturnal animals!"

While complaining, Wei hailed a taxi on the 39th floor's ride-hailing platform.

The moment I saw the license plate, a sense of foreboding arose within me.

Sure enough, as soon as I got in the car, that familiar face appeared from the driver's seat.

"It's you?!?"

"Wow! What a coincidence to run into an old customer in Changsha! It must have been half a year since we last saw each other!"

Needless to say, Qin Wei hailed another taxi driven by the "fat driver who loves snacks" this time.

If what happened in Gotham before was just a coincidence, he now has reason to suspect that he is under a spell of being "inevitably picked up by the same driver".

"Damn it! Confess! Are you Mudface or Constantine?!"

The driver's enthusiastic greeting was met with Wei's frenzied attack. The two fought in the cramped car until Wei's face was swollen and torn, at which point Wei was convinced that the guy hadn't used any disguise.

"I already said it was a coincidence. How could I possibly be following you?"

"A coincidence, huh!"

Qin Wei angrily scattered a stack of banknotes all over the carriage, and slammed the door and drove off amidst the fat driver's profuse thanks.

Go back to Gotham!!!! Don't let me see you in Star City again.

After changing cars and getting through this little incident safely, Qin Wei arrived at the slum without incident.

Although he had visited once last night, his visit during the day gave him a completely different feeling.

The city layout of Star City resembles a giant vertical shaft. Although its area is similar to that of Gotham, if you include its depth, it is about four times the size of Gotham City.

The top-level producers comfortably enjoy the benefits of money and sunlight, while the poor at the bottom struggle to survive amidst a tangled web of wires and electronic waste. But unlike the lifeless East Side of Gotham City, the Star City slums are situated above the industrial zone, and the lower-class people are the best source of labor for the low-cost handicraft factories scattered throughout the industrial zone. Although the area is dilapidated, dirty, and dark, at least a basic order has been established.

People are busy making a living and have no energy left to cross legal boundaries.

Seeing this scene, Qin Wei became even more curious. Gotham's capital and government clearly had the ability to provide the poor with the most basic living conditions, yet they still chose to drive people to the brink of despair.

Does an excessively high crime rate have any special significance for them?

Banishing the fleeting doubt, Wei found a side alley, changed into his Green Arrow battle suit, fired his grappling hook, and climbed onto the roof.

He pushed aside the dense network of overhead wires and headed toward the address Oliver had provided.

Along the way, he discovered another interesting phenomenon.

Most people in the slums have mechanical modules implanted in their bodies; some have them on their limbs, some on their chests, and some even have half of their heads made of mechanical parts.

This is somewhat counterintuitive.

Normally, when technology advances to a certain level, the first batch of mechanical ascendants should be the wealthy, but for some reason, Shi Wei has never seen anyone install mechanical modules at the top of Star City.

Perhaps the technology behind these mechanical modules is not perfect, but where would the poor get the money to undergo modification surgery?

His doubts were quickly answered on a GG posted on the wall of a dark alley.

"Are you still suffering from lung cancer and tumors? Try mechanical prosthetic body transplantation surgery. The surgery is free, and the interest rate is as low as 3% per year!!" The GG logo features that classic recruitment image.

The white-bearded man with a goatee, wearing a top hat shaped like the American flag, pointed sharply beyond the canvas.

Lung cancer and tumors —

Wei muttered.

Recalling the life support pod he was in while being held at the state police station, he made a bold deduction.

Perhaps the rapid development of technology has made environmental problems more and more severe. Ordinary people exposed to such a terrible living environment have a much higher chance of developing cancer, and removing tumors and replacing the body with machines may be their only means of survival.

In fact, Wei's guess was almost correct, but he still overlooked a crucial point.

Why would capitalists kindly offer free surgeries to the poor?

The answer is organs.

The lower class needs prosthetic bodies to survive, while the upper class needs fresh organ replacements. This is a complete industrial chain that puts living people on the market.

They are clearly the same species with no reproductive isolation, and you can't find any difference even if you take off their skin. The only difference is their origin.

But it is this subtle difference that creates completely different situations for the two sides. One side becomes a picky buyer, while the other side has to be squeezed dry and then be chosen by others.

Never underestimate the indifference and malice of capital. The political and business circles in Star City are no more benevolent than those in Gotham. The only reason that motivates them to spare no effort in helping the lower classes is that "they still have value to be used."

Compared to Gotham Capital, which rivals the mafia, Star City Capital's brilliance perfectly illustrates the wise saying—money really can buy anything.

Naturally, the Star City gangs were also overwhelmed by this dazzling light and could only target the poor who also lived in the shadows.

Oliver's target is the Snake and Rat Gang, who are hiding in the slums. These guys have long occupied the settlement and charged each native a high rent. The Star City Police have tried to "communicate" with the Snake and Rat Gang leader, but the slum maze is as complicated as the Kowloon Walled City, and the criminals always manage to break through the police's encirclement and escape.

Even if the slum dwellers went to great lengths to get Oliver's attention, the elderly Green Arrow could hardly offer any real help. At most, he could only speak out publicly online in the name of the former mayor, condemning the Snake and Rat Gang's behavior.

However, the upper-class citizens were completely unable to empathize with or sympathize with the lower-class people. Oliver's voice quickly faded into the background and never made a ripple.

So this time, Oliver not only wants to use Qin Wei to clear his name, but also wants to use the hype surrounding the new Green Arrow to expose the lives of the lower classes to the public.

The plan he offered Wei was to do a live stream on TikTok, a large-scale live stream to destroy a gang.

Having located the Snake and Rat Gang's territory, Wei connected the live stream signal to the action camera.

His green Arrow outfit quickly attracted nearly a hundred young viewers.

"This old man is still out doing business at his age!" A viewer sent the first comment, clearly teasing Oliver with the word "old man".

"Wow, that uniform looks pretty realistic, and he's got a really muscular physique. I'd call him a born Green Arrow physique!"

"Cosplaying Green Arrow? What's so interesting about this 20-30 year old stuff? I suggest cosplaying the Judgement Knight instead; that would get way more views!"

"What did Green Arrow do to you! Want to see Judgment Rider go to Gotham? We have our own superheroes in Star City too!"

More and more comments appeared on the screen, followed by a flurry of gifts.

At first, netizens in Changsha regarded it as a cosplay event that had cost a fortune, but who could have predicted that a series of events would happen afterward that would shatter their worldview?

Of course, not everyone saw it as a show.

"I've located your address, I'll find you soon!"

A user with the ID Speedy replied as follows, but it was quickly drowned out by other users' comments.

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