Whoosh!
An arrow shot like lightning, accurately piercing the chest of the Court of Owls man, and electricity instantly enveloped his body.
Bang!
The Court of Owls man fell heavily to the ground.
Jason, Tim, and Oliver arrived in time.
"Who is this guy?"
Tim said, helping Dick up.
"I don't know. The three people who appeared from the manor were also killed by him. The trail is broken."
Dick's face was grim, his brows tightly furrowed.
"That's not necessarily true. We can ask this guy. He must know something."
Jason said, coming to the fallen Court of Owls man and pulling off his mask.
It was a face seven-tenths similar to Dick's.
"How is that possible?"
Dick's eyes widened.
"Calm down. This doesn't prove anything. It's not uncommon to have very similar people."
Oliver offered comfort.
"…Right."
Dick took a deep breath, comforting himself in the same way.
But it was too much of a coincidence. What did he mean just now? Am I also one of them?
Dick suddenly thought of something, walked quickly to the fitting room, pulled open the door, and a trembling figure came into view.
"Little Joker Girl, why are you here?"
Harley didn't hear his voice at all, her eyes full of fear, muttering to herself.
"The Court of Owls is here. No one can escape."
Beep, beep, beep, beep!
A series of urgent sounds rang out, particularly jarring in the small space.
"Dick, run!"
Jason's anxious shouts came from behind.
Dick didn't have time to think, pulled the Little Joker Girl, and turned to run out.
The second before they ran out of the store, there was a loud bang from behind.
Boom—
A powerful Heat Wave instantly surged out, directly knocking Dick and the others away.
The huge impact made them roll several meters on the ground, with only a buzzing roar left in their ears.
The surrounding Gotham citizens heard the loud bang, and the street instantly descended into chaos.
Screaming, they looked for safe places to hide, such as nearby buildings, Underground Rooms, or alleys.
— — —
Returning to the previous apartment, Dick pushed open the door. The room was empty, only the open window swaying in the wind, making a "creaking" sound.
"Barbara!"
Dick called out. He rushed to the window, his eyes fixed on the subtle marks left on the windowsill, trying to find clues from them.
"The time is between two hours and one and a half hours. They probably kidnapped Barbara right after we left."
Dick said with a gloomy expression. Oliver and Tim's faces were grim, their fists clenched.
"Damn it, damn it! Tell me everything you know!" Jason roughly threw Harley to the ground, pulled out his pistol, pointed it at Harley's head, his finger already on the trigger.
"It's the little birds, and a hunter. Are you hunting? Hahaha…"
After so long, Harley was back to her previous manic state.
"Fuck!"
Jason was not in the mood to listen to her jokes and raised his pistol to smash her head.
Bang!
Jason looked at the person in front of him, his body stiff.
Tim wiped the blood dripping from his forehead.
"Jason, I know you're anxious, but Batman said that the more anxious you are, the calmer you need to be. Can you let me handle this?"
"…"
Jason silently put away his pistol, found a chair, sat down, and crossed his arms.
"Little Joker Girl, can you tell us what you know? We really need it."
Tim looked at Harley, with a hint of earnestness in his eyes.
Bruce's disappearance, the appearance of a hundred Batmen, their belief in the Death of the Black Hand, and his friend Barbara also missing—all of this plunged his mind into a maze.
Harley also put away her playful expression.
"Alright, little bird, for you blocking that for me.
I don't know much. I was shopping for clothes when those three people suddenly came in, and Xiao Hong and I had a great chat.
Suddenly, a person wearing a Court of Owls mask appeared. He called himself Talon and said he would kill every member of the Wayne Family."
"We don't know that man at all. He can't be a member of the Wayne Family."
Dick asked, puzzled, his brows tightly furrowed.
"Hahaha, really? But when he chatted with me, he called himself Qinuo Wayne."
Harley laughed loudly, but a hint of cunning flashed in her eyes.
"Qinuo!"
Tim and Dick shouted the name in unison, their faces full of surprise.
"You know him?"
Oliver frowned, asking in confusion.
"No, but a few months ago, Bruce Wayne transferred shares of Wayne Group to a person named Qinuo, but this Qinuo never appeared, and he died as soon as he appeared today."
Dick rubbed his Sun temple, feeling that the events were becoming more convoluted.
The Black Hand he had originally identified as the mastermind was dead, the true identities of the hundred Batmen who had appeared before remained unknown, and there was also the Talon who looked very much like him today.
"We might have made a mistake. That Qinuo might not be an enemy."
Tim said after a moment of contemplation, his expression solemn.
Qinuo Wayne?
Regardless of whether it was true or false.
"Who killed him?"
Tim asked eagerly.
Hearing this, Harley showed a look of fear, her body trembling uncontrollably.
"The Court of Owls is here. No one can escape…"
The Court of Owls?
Tim looked out the window. On a nearby branch, a Court of Owls stood.
It stood there quietly, its round eyes gleaming with a strange light in the darkness.
"Beware the Court of Owls, that watches all the time, ruling Gotham from a Shadow perch, behind granite and lime. They watch you at your windows, they watch you in your bed, they don't care what you say or do, the Talon will take your head.
This is a nursery rhyme that has been circulating in Gotham for a long time, used by adults to scare children. Perhaps this is not a legend."
Jason said slowly, his voice low and suppressed.
"We need to go to the Batcave. There might be the answers we need there."
Dick said with a serious expression.
The few people quickly decided on their next course of action.
Seeing the few people leave, Harley's lips curved into a cunning smile, and she looked to the side, saying.
"How was my acting, Xiao Hong?"
Qinuo, Venom, and Pamela's figures slowly appeared from the air, like ghosts.
"It was great! You could totally win an Oscar."
Pamela praised with a smile.
"Let's go! The next act is about to begin."
Qinuo said, walking ahead first, followed closely by the others, their figures quickly disappearing into the darkness.
Dick quickly arrived at the manor and opened a secret elevator in a hidden corner.
As the elevator rapidly descended, when it finally stopped, the few people saw dozens of Batmen standing like sculptures in the dim Batcave, silently watching them.
Faint light intertwined on their bodies, outlining eerie and sinister silhouettes, sending shivers down one's spine.