"Skip those headache-inducing technical terms and just tell me your findings," Shiller said, staring intently at Barbara's face.
"You won't believe it," Barbara said, "I have absolutely no reason to hide anything for the murderer, especially since he might have kidnapped me. But I really have my own reasons for doing this. I..."
"Relax, miss," Shiller said, having his subordinate pour Barbara a glass of water. But it was clear this didn't help her relax. Her fingers kept tapping on the glass, showing her extreme anxiety.
"In fact, during that time, my worldview was completely shattered. I didn't even know there were people in this world with such technology. It's truly unbelievable..."
Barbara's language logic was somewhat fragmented, but Shiller still understood her meaning and thus pressed further, "Are you saying you traced the emails back to a very skilled hacker?"
"Maybe," Barbara's tone was filled with uncertainty, "I don't even know if he truly exists because I couldn't find any real evidence. Even if you locked me up for another year, I wouldn't be able to produce anything. But I just have a gut feeling. I didn't tell you because it sounded so ridiculous..."
"It's okay, miss, just speak of your feelings. Whether it's true or not, I'll make my own judgment."
"Alright. Just as you know, not long ago, specifically after the scandal photos of Mr. President and Mrs. Romanoff were exposed, I wanted to find out who leaked the photos. It was at that time that I received an email in my inbox, asking me not to investigate further."
"I've received many such threatening emails before, so I didn't pay much attention. But considering I might track down the behind-the-scenes manipulator through this email, I still tried to investigate the email's origin, but found nothing."
"That's not surprising. After all, if someone dares to expose dirt on Mr. President, they must have some skills, right? But precisely because I found this person's technology impressive, it stirred my competitive spirit. I thought, I have to see how capable this guy is. So I began to search extensively."
"Did you find anything?"
"It's precisely because I couldn't find anything that's strange," Barbara said, "Although human internet history isn't long, the information in it is vast as the sea, covering extremely broad areas, and can extend to all electronic communication devices. It's rare for me to be unable to find any trace at all, and this person who sent me the email is one of them."
"That's what I told you, I can't even be sure if he truly exists because there's absolutely no trace of him on the internet. He is like a ghost, you can't find a shadow of him in the real world."
"I understand," Shiller nodded and said, "then why exactly have you been hiding this matter?"
Barbara pursed her lips, her expression somewhat unnatural, then looked at Shiller and said, "You have to promise that you won't take what I'm about to say as testimony."
"You know that's not likely, miss. I hope you'll consider your situation; everyone still out there can do much more than you. Instead of worrying about them, worry about yourself."
"Alright." Barbara sighed deeply and said, "If you really want me to name someone capable of doing such a thing, I'd say it's Batman."
Shiller raised an eyebrow. Barbara continued, "I learned part of my computer skills from Batman. He said I have more talent in this area than he does, but obviously, his knowledge reserve in mechanical engineering is much stronger than mine, and also electronic communication, signal studies, etc. These areas are all related to network technology engineering. So I think his hacking skills are above mine."
"This may sound a bit absurd, but the endpoint of cyber-invasion is physical invasion. Batman is obviously good at this, and I'm not. So if there's anyone who could leave no trace like the email sender did, it would be Batman."
"Have you considered 'non-human'?"
"Non-human? You mean someone like Superman or Wonder Woman? But there's also a problem with that; most non-humans don't understand the human internet either. Maybe they can use magic to erase some traces, but they would always leave others, and might not even be as meticulous as an ordinary hacker because the internet, this purely logical thing, inherently conflicts with magic. I don't think they could do it."
"Have you looked into electronic life?"
"Artificial Intelligence?" Barbara slightly frowned and said, "Pardon me for being frank, but the AI promotions you've seen in the Diamond Street financial reports are all fraudulent. Given the current level of human AI, it's impossible for a true strong AI to appear within the next 200 years."
"What if it's not something humans invented, but from aliens?"
"Then it should go to Metropolis, not Gotham."
Shiller looked at her without speaking. Barbara also seemed to feel her statement was ludicrous and had to explain, "Though I don't know why, aliens don't particularly favor Gotham. Precisely speaking, Gotham is their black box, or you could say it's a Pandora's Box, not easily opened. Plus, because of Superman's presence, Metropolis is more likely to attract aliens."
"Do you know what role the Luthor siblings played in this entire incident?"
"I can roughly imagine," Barbara said, "because Superman came to Gotham, so they came too. The aliens chasing them might have come as well."
"Do you think Batman or aliens are more likely?"
"Honestly, I can't see the necessity for either Batman or aliens to do this. If he has such technology, why just choose to expose the president's scandal? Can't he directly invade Earth?"
"Because Superman can't handle this type of alien," Shiller shook his head and said, "If it really is an electronic life form from aliens, then its ultimate opponent would certainly be Batman. Isn't it logical for him to choose to weaken Batman first?"
```
"No wonder," Barbara said. "It seems this guy is pretty cunning, understanding the wisdom of capturing the leader first. He'll keep himself hidden until Batman is weakened to a certain extent."
"Not necessarily," Shiller chuckled. "Just now, I forced him to slip up. I took a shot at Lex Luthor with a sniper rifle, and he controlled Luthor's car to honk and save his life. This should make Luthor aware of his existence."
Barbara widened her eyes and raised her voice, "You took a shot at Luthor?! Aren't you afraid of actually killing him?!"
"If I really killed him, I'd have another six months of administrative leave plus a special bonus from the President," Shiller said.
"Oh my god, what I can't stand about you agents is your disregard for human life!" Barbara said, pulling at her hair in exasperation. But she knew her position wasn't good, so with little interest in arguing, she thought for a moment and said, "You said the car honked to save him, did you find anything on the car?"
"This is precisely what I wanted to show you." Shiller had his subordinate hand over the data previously shown to Luthor to Barbara, then said, "With our technological methods, we can't really find anything. Luthor might have no way either, so we probably need your help."
Barbara took the data, looked through it carefully, then shook her head and said, "Just looking at this is useless, I need to check the scene, preferably accessing local cameras or shop networks."
"We will fulfill all your needs, miss. But for safety reasons, until this matter is concluded, you'll have to stay here."
"No way," Barbara said. "I need to get back to the Clock Tower Base and I have to say hi to James. My dad would be very worried about me!"
"You can rest assured about this; everything from your Clock Tower Base has been moved here. And I will inform Director Gordon that you have been found but are participating in a witness protection program, so cannot show up temporarily. You can call your dad under the agents' watch."
"Can I just say, you are among the more humane of agents," Barbara said a bit helplessly.
"Thanks for the compliment," Shiller smiled at her and said, "But I have to correct you, miss. It's not being humane; it's my experience telling me that coercing your helper often backfires, genuinely supporting you is what truly leads to efficiency."
As he spoke, Shiller walked over, personally unlocked Barbara's handcuffs, and opened the safety chair, gently assisting her out of the interrogation room. Barbara shook her head saying, "If you hadn't told me earlier that you directly took a shot at Luthor, maybe I'd believe what you said."
"Different people require different methods, flexibility is a fundamental agent quality." Shiller handed Barbara over to the subordinates waiting outside, instructing them, "Ensure Miss Gordon's safety and high-quality living standards, and don't put too much pressure on her."
Standing in the hallway, Shiller looked at Barbara and said, "Of course, the mastermind has been quiet for a few days and won't take long before making their move again, and likely not with gentle methods like diplomatic sabotage or exposing photos. How long it takes to find clues is all up to you, dear miss."
Barbara left, even walking ahead of the agents, almost sprinting to the tech department. Shiller took out his phone, dialed a number, and said, "How's it going over at the Justice League? The base is built? Good, I know now."
Shiller quickly entered the office, waving his hand, "All field agents, come with me."
They took the elevator downstairs at the fastest speed, getting into five cars, driving toward the Justice League's new base in Gotham, then dispersed one to two miles away from the base.
Sitting in the car, Shiller picked up the walkie-talkie and said, "Keep an eye on all the nearby delivery shops, find the rider with a 6-7 person order heading to the new Justice League base, knock him out, lock him in the car, then inform me."
A few minutes later, a voice with static came through the walkie-talkie, "Boss, we found him, Morgan Time Pizza Shop. I've marked it for you."
Shiller turned the steering wheel and drove out of the parking spot, heading toward the marked red dot on his phone. It was a pizza shop about a mile southwest of the new base. The agents' car was already parked under the shade of a tree.
Shiller stopped the car, got out, and switched to another vehicle. Looking back, he saw the already unconscious delivery man.
"A small dose of anesthetic, won't affect his health, but it'll take about five hours for him to fully wake up," the female agent driving said, "Can extend the time if necessary."
"No need for now." Shiller inspected the delivery man. Delivery workers here don't wear uniforms, typically drive cars for delivery, don't have any special marks of exposure to the elements, and because the new base is near a beach resort, away from Black and Mexican Descendant communities, the delivery workers are mostly white. The one lying in the back seat was just an ordinary-looking white man.
"The pizza?" Shiller asked.
"It's in the trunk of his car, hasn't been taken out yet," the female agent pointed to the car beside them.
"The car keys?"
"Also in the car."
Shiller nodded, got out of the car, and from his original car retrieved a long brown curly wig, put a baseball cap on it, then wore a graffiti-decorated mask, removed his original jacket, swapped it for a jacket and zipped it up all the way.
Then he got into the delivery man's car, turned the key to start it. The car quickly arrived at the gate of the new base.