Chapter 66: Aftermath Of Batman's Visit

This infected person had the ability to turn invisible. Although his strength had increased, he didn't have much in the way of combat skills. He'd learned some basic moves, but nothing impressive. Without the advantage of invisibility, he was just a tougher-than-average bad guy to superheroes who knew how to fight.

Once he lost his ax, it was game over. Daredevil quickly broke both his arms and used his alloy short stick to tie him up. The infected man was left hanging upside down from a tree by the lake.

His invisibility was completely gone now. He was a scruffy man with long, messy hair, wearing a big black robe with a withered flower emblem on the chest. Hanging upside down, his robe flopped down, making him look pretty ridiculous.

Daredevil leaped up and kicked the infected man in the head, sending him swinging like a pendulum under the tree. Daredevil grabbed his head as he swung back.

"Who are you? Who do you work for?" Daredevil demanded in a low voice.

But the infected man just mumbled, "This is impossible," over and over again, not making any sense.

Chu Cheng, watching through his screen, clicked his mouse, making Daredevil punch the guy again. But he soon realized that punching didn't really hurt this guy—it just wasn't effective.

However, the punch seemed to get the infected man's attention. He glanced at Daredevil through swollen eyes and finally spoke.

"You've got an organization, too, don't you?"

"What organization?" Chu Cheng asked through Daredevil.

"Surrender? No, we don't work for anyone," the infected man said. "We just gather for a common goal. Your ability... I guess it's some kind of enhanced perception?

Originally, my mission was just to follow the laughing infected and take notes. I just happened to run into you. I wanted to test the abilities of the legendary Batman, but I didn't expect...

To be honest, I always thought my invisibility was unbeatable. It suited me—a nobody that no one noticed, a transparent guy ignored by the world. Maybe that's why I got this power.

But I didn't expect someone with your abilities could see right through me... What an irony. The one time I didn't want to be noticed."

Chu Cheng wasn't interested in the guy's life story. But he caught a few important details.

"What do you know about that laughing, infected guy?" he asked.

When he was ambushed earlier, Chu Cheng thought this must be another victim of that laughing infection. But he quickly realized this guy wasn't laughing.

The infected man didn't answer.

"It doesn't matter," he said calmly. "I'm just a nobody, whether human or not. But tell the organization behind you, this is a challenge. Your opponent's name is...

...The Dead."

As soon as he finished speaking, his upside-down head exploded with a bang, sending blood and brain matter spraying out from his severed neck.

Chu Cheng frowned. What? The Dead?

The infected man had shared a few useful bits of information before he blew himself up—apparently, there was some kind of organization, probably made up of infected people.

From Chu Cheng's perspective, it sounded like a big group of enemies to be defeated.

Another takeaway was that this guy was interested in the laughing infection source but didn't seem to be working with him. Maybe the two weren't connected.

Well, that was a waste of time.

After dealing with the infected man, Chu Cheng switched Daredevil out for Batman and called the Batmobile to continue the unfinished mission.

Before returning to the battle scene to pick up the trail, he sent the lake's coordinates to Secret Service Nine.

Of course, the message wasn't from him; it was from Batman.

Batman's suit has a built-in computer that can send encrypted messages, so no one could trace them back to Chu Cheng.

If Luo Yajun really had turned into an infected person, he needed to be dealt with quickly. If not, he needed to be rescued. Either way, they had to find him first.

And the scene needed to be cleaned up by the special service team. Maybe they could find some clues about "The Dead" from the corpse of the invisible infected man, and then Batman could "invite" them to share information.

After sending the coordinates, Batman got back into the car and continued the pursuit.

...

Within an hour, Secret Service Nine had found the spot where Luo Yajun's car had overturned and the lake where it sank. They also found the headless body of the infected person under the tree.

Heavy equipment was brought in to the lake for salvage operations, and they quickly pulled out the wreckage of the SUV.

Bai Haozhe, head of the Jiangdu branch of Secret Service Nine, was there to oversee the operation. His brow was deeply furrowed.

Just moments ago, they'd received an anonymous message with a set of coordinates, leading them to the lake.

The message wasn't signed, and its origin was untraceable. The encryption alone was enough to prove the sender was no amateur and deserved attention.

They found battle traces at the first location, the upside-down corpse at the second, and the SUV in the lake that they'd been searching for.

Shortly after, Minister Bai Haozhe received news that their base had been breached.

It was Wan Guangyun, the head of security, who reported to him. The security team had just found staff unconscious near the server room and in the underground parking lot.

One of them said that just before he passed out, he vaguely saw something bat-like flying at his face, then heard a buzzing in his head before blacking out.

At the same time, the leader of the investigation team tracking Luo Yajun arrived. He confirmed that the SUV pulled from the lake was the one Luo Yajun had driven. They speculated that Luo Yajun had escaped pursuers, fought someone, and then sunk his vehicle in the lake.

Hearing this, Minister Bai Haozhe's expression darkened.

"Let me get this straight," he said, clearing his throat. "You're telling me that Batman, all alone, broke into our base, hacked our computer system, wandered around our building like he was window-shopping, took a quick stop in the underground parking lot, and after all that, killed an infected person at the scene, leaving us a message to let us know he'd been here?"

Security Director Wan Guangyun hesitated, then nervously added, "Sir, we also found some fresh tire tracks near the parking lot exit.

They were only on a short stretch of dirt, and we couldn't follow them onto the main road.

But the tracks were fresh and didn't match any of the cars in our garage. Based on the width and depth, it looks like they came from a tank-level vehicle, weighing over a ton."

Minister Bai Haozhe's eyes widened, staring at him like he'd seen a ghost.

"So, not only did Batman break in and take a tour, but he also drove a one-ton tank around, and your security team didn't notice a thing?"

Wan Guangyun couldn't meet the minister's gaze, as the minister's expression seemed to ask, "Are you even awake?"

Xiang Xuantong from the investigation team remained silent, his head down as if he were trying to disappear. But it didn't work; the minister's eyes quickly landed on him.

"And our elite agents, the cream of the crop, have been busy all this time and found nothing?" Bai Haozhe glanced at the SUV being pulled from the water nearby.

"So, Batman, alone, using the information he stole from us, did all of this in about twenty minutes?" Bai Haozhe asked, turning his cold gaze back to Xiang Xuantong.

"Do you have anything to say on behalf of the investigation team?"

"We're sorry, sir," Xiang Xuantong said, raising his head with a helpless expression. "But he's Batman."