"What reason?"
Silver Sable immediately perked up with interest. She couldn't imagine any motive that would convince her to take on such an unrewarding task as accusing Kingpin.
Batman stood by the window, the sunlight pouring in from behind him, casting his face in shadow and making it hard for Silver Sable to see clearly.
"Osborn has been rocked by a string of scandals, and its stock price has been in freefall.
But Kingpin hasn't sold off his shares—in fact, he's been snapping them up aggressively from other shareholders."
"If we let him keep going like this, he'll transform from a gang leader into a legitimate businessman... controlling both the entire underworld of Hell's Kitchen and a massive multinational conglomerate like the Osborn Group."
"Do you think Kingpin would give up his grip on the underworld?"
Silver Sable shook her head.
Though she was the CEO of Silver Sable Security, she knew next to nothing about corporate rivalries or gangs going legit.
What she excelled at was leading her private mercenaries—now rebranded as her security firm—to resolve issues through force.
"Exactly.
Even if Kingpin becomes a legitimate businessman, he won't abandon his gang influence... which means he'll need to set up a security company of his own."
"One that will expand right alongside his growing control over the Osborn Group, until eventually, there's no room left for Silver Sable Security to survive."
Silver Sable's heart sank.
She could almost picture the scenario Batman was describing.
Once Kingpin's gang successfully whitewashed itself along with him, they could seamlessly leverage the Osborn Group's subsidiaries scattered across the U.S. and even the world to expand at breakneck speed.
Faced with that kind of overwhelming market pressure, her own security company would be like a tiny boat in a tsunami, ready to flip over at any second.
Even if she tried to steer clear of Kingpin deliberately, he'd come looking for her.
And then, she'd be up against not just the low-level thugs from Hell's Kitchen, but gang forces spanning the entire globe.
No other reason was needed—this alone was enough to make Silver Sable willing to help Batman take down Kingpin.
She was about to nod in agreement when Batman spoke again.
"That's the downside covered. Now, let's talk about the upside."
Silver Sable was utterly baffled now. In her view, just halting Kingpin's rapid expansion was already a massive win for her security company.
"What upside?"
She pulled her feet off the desk and set them neatly on the floor, her voice losing its edge and taking on a subtle note of anticipation.
"Turning your Silver Sable Security into 'Silver Sable International.'"
Batman's voice rang out, flat and devoid of emotion, but to Silver Sable, it hit like a thunderbolt.
She couldn't help but leap to her feet.
"That would require massive funding and cutting-edge technology to pull off.
Are you sure?"
Silver Sable stared hard at Batman, not daring to look away for even a second.
If the earlier reasons had only pushed her into passively accusing Kingpin, this "upside" Batman was dangling now set her pulse racing, making her itch to go after Kingpin right away.
Batman said nothing more. At a moment like this, actions spoke louder than words.
He opened a panel on his arm armor, ejecting a portable mini-computer, and tapped away at it for a few seconds.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
"Alert! Unknown virus intrusion detected. Security system firewall breached!"
The computer screen on Silver Sable's desk suddenly sprang to life, with massive red exclamation points flashing wildly.
As a security company, critical data like personnel files and weapons specs had to be kept under lock and key, and Silver Sable had full confidence in her network firewall.
But Batman had just hacked right into the system by fiddling with that mini-computer right in front of her.
"How did you do that?" Silver Sable was completely sold.
Batman maintained his stoic demeanor.
"I'm rich."
Thud!
Silver Sable dropped back into her chair.
Now, she didn't need any more convincing from Batman—in fact, she was the one who needed to push him along.
"When do we make the accusation?"
Whoosh!
A communicator—about the size of a cigarette pack but flatter and heavier—flew from Batman's hand toward Silver Sable, who caught it deftly.
"Wait for my signal."
Silver Sable examined the Bat symbol etched on the communicator in her hand.
She was about to say something else, but Batman, who had been standing by the window just moments ago, had vanished without a trace.
"...Does this guy not have 'goodbye' in his vocabulary?"
Silver Sable pushed off from the desk with her palm, springing over to the window to look out. But outside, the sun shone brightly, and there was no sign of Batman anywhere, as if his visit had been nothing more than a hallucination...
"Dr. Octavius, your crimes are severe, but your talent is invaluable.
We all know your nuclear fusion energy research is just one step away from success."
"The resources from the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division can help you achieve your goals immediately—and on a grand scale."
In the holding cell at the Manhattan Police Station, Agent Phil was trying to recruit Dr. Otto.
"We'll provide you with the world's top labs, unlimited funding, and ensure your research gets rolled out globally."
"We can grant you immunity from prosecution, but only if you agree to provide ongoing support for certain special operations."
Dr. Otto's hair was even more disheveled now, his eyelids swollen and red, his eyes bloodshot, but he still clung to his sanity.
"No, I refuse to join you.
I'm willing to spend the rest of my life in prison."
The loss of control over his mechanical tentacles had filled Dr. Otto with dread toward the device that had fused with his body.
He just wanted to remove and destroy it, not use it for "special operations support."
Agent Phil sighed.
Fortunately, the director hadn't made recruiting Dr. Otto a do-or-die mission, or he'd have nothing to report back.
Leaving Dr. Otto's cell, Agent Phil headed back to Chief George Stacy's office.
The head of the Manhattan precinct was currently scowling, and he didn't even look up when he heard Agent Phil push the door open again.
"Unfortunately, I couldn't convince Dr. Otto to join us.
Now, I'll have to ask you to arrange surgery for him as soon as possible to remove the mechanical tentacles from his body. I need to take them with me."
Agent Phil rapped on Chief George's desk to get his attention before speaking.
"And then?" Chief George Stacy asked impatiently, looking a bit irritated.
"Then... you can release him.
Even if he doesn't join us, the immunity document from the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division still holds," Agent Phil replied.
"Understood, Agent."
George Stacy said, his focus shifting back to the files in his hand—reports on the gruesome incident in Osborn's third sub-basement level and the deaths of the Spencer family.
Dr. Otto had been arrested, but he wasn't the one behind these two cases. The real culprit was still out there, and the investigations had stalled completely.
Bang!
After poring over them for more than ten minutes, George Stacy slammed the files down on his desk.
He was about to call in his assistant, Ogg, when he looked up and saw that Agent Phil hadn't left.
"Agent, we don't serve dinner here," George Stacy said with a frown, subtly hinting for him to leave.
"I'm not planning to stick around for dinner.
Actually, there's one more thing I need to discuss... about this 'Batman' who's been making waves in New York lately," Agent Phil said with a smile.
"He's the real reason I came here."
Chief George Stacy shook his head vigorously.
"Batman? Don't make me laugh, Agent from whatever damn multinational outfit you're with."
"Right now, aside from knowing the name, we don't have a clue about anything else.
Even the name only came up in Dr. Otto's statement."
"Rumors say he can fly, turn invisible, transform into a bat, teleport... like some kind of vampire."
Agent Phil didn't take offense to Chief George's rough language; he kept smiling as he replied.
"Get me a spotlight, some garlic, a cross, and a bit of silver.
I'll handle it."
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