It was another rainy night, with puddles all over the road. As the headlights flashed by, Gordon, wearing rain boots, hurried down the staircase and shook hands with Schiller, who was on his way up. He exclaimed dramatically, "Thank heavens, Professor, your arrival is just in time!"
Gordon pushed open the door of the police station, and before he could lead Schiller to the office, a young officer approached and said, "Boss, all the interrogation rooms on the second floor are full. The drunk and the scar-faced man got into a fight, and it took three people to separate them. The black man with the band tattoo is acting crazy, and we don't have enough staff to watch all these criminals..."
Gordon sighed and said, "If we catch more people later, don't bother interrogating them. Just lock them up first."
Gordon led Schiller up the staircase, walking quickly ahead without looking back, saying, "These people have gone mad lately. Today, Gotham's crime rate has increased 12 times, and there's no room left in the interrogation rooms and cells."
"I don't know what's going on, but everyone seems to be on edge." After reaching the corridor, Gordon pointed to the end of the hallway and said, "Those two people in that interrogation room got into a fight over a pack of cigarettes, and there's a couple in the room on the left who started using weapons during an argument..."
"I thought this was just a typical day in Gotham," Schiller said, quickly following Gordon up the staircase.
"It used to be like that, but ever since the logistics system started running, there have been fewer idle people. I didn't expect this to happen again."
He sighed and said, "But it's not surprising, given the severe flooding on the city's roads, which has basically halted the logistics system, leaving everyone idle at home."
"Exactly. Even if Gotham was rotten to the core before, there shouldn't be so many mentally ill people appearing overnight."
"Now, in the office on the third floor, there are two people convulsing, one foaming at the mouth, and another talking nonsense."
"Our officers tested them for alcohol and drugs, but the results showed no issues. They just suddenly fell ill."
Standing at the office door with his hands on his hips, Gordon said to Schiller, "If it weren't for that Copperpot kid getting sick last time, I wouldn't have been able to tell. But their symptoms are similar, so I had to call you over to see what's going on."
Schiller frowned as he pushed open the door to his office, seeing several people huddled in the corner, just like Copperpot at the time, soaked and shivering uncontrollably, mumbling to themselves.
Schiller shook his head and said, "I had anticipated this; it's the after-effects of being caught in the rain."
Gordon didn't quite catch what he said, and just as he was about to ask again, Schiller interrupted him, saying, "Don't worry about that for now. Transfer them to Arkham, just as you suspected, this isn't normal. I need to conduct further examinations."
When Schiller arrived at the Arkham Mental Hospital office, it was raining heavily outside the window, and this downpour was less than four hours after the last one.
Schiller walked to the window, watching the raindrops hit the railing outside the glass, reflecting a faint shimmer. He silently calculated in his mind that thunderstorms were becoming more frequent, changing from once every two days to once a day since two weeks ago, and today there had already been three heavy rains.
He stepped out of the office and knocked on the door of the neighboring hospital room. Batman's voice came from inside, "Come in."
Schiller entered and saw Batman and Copperpot standing on opposite sides of a table, with a map of Gotham City spread out on it. Schiller went in and said directly, "It seems that plan indeed made them quite sick."
Copperpot let out a sinister laugh, and Batman's mouth twitched. He said, "You've given me a new understanding of the despicable extent of human tactical planning."
"If we didn't use this method, even if you caught their tail, they would only hide deeper and not come out on their own."
Batman sighed, his thoughts going back to a few days ago.
Evans, Batman, and Copperpot deduced that the Court of Owls used wells to monitor Living Hell, but this was still just a guess and needed further verification.
Batman planned to infiltrate Living Hell himself, but Copperpot refused, believing that Living Hell was his territory and Batman didn't need to interfere.
Batman, true to his usual suspicious nature, didn't trust Copperpot and still planned to take matters into his own hands.
Unable to reach an agreement, the two, with Evans' mediation, decided to split up. Copperpot investigated the north area, while Batman investigated the south area, each working independently without interference.
During the reform of Living Hell, all six wells in the north and south areas were filled in. However, they were not completely sealed off to avoid disrupting the underground water structure. Instead, support structures were built about three meters below the surface, and the area above was turned into the ground, while the area below remained as wells.
Batman methodically found an entrance to a sewer and planned to create a passage to the bottom of the well from underground.
Copperpot, with his unconventional background, had a broader approach. He gathered a team consisting of people like Tire, Red Truck, and Rocket, planning to investigate using special methods.
These individuals didn't have the same resources as the wealthy Batman, lacking even night vision goggles. It was unrealistic for them to navigate the complex sewer system to uncover the original structure of Living Hell. However, they had their own unconventional methods.
This started with the old drug dealer who provided them with a map.
Gotham was full of misguided geniuses, and among them were drug dealers who operated like moles. In Gotham, there were no police to stop the sale of contraband, but the greatest danger came from competitors.
These goods needed to be stored and transported, and once storage locations and transportation routes were discovered by other gangs, valuable goods would vanish.
To avoid this, most drug dealers operating in Living Hell had their own transportation routes.
The old drug dealer was no exception. He and several other big players joined forces, controlling most of the underground passages within Living Hell.
They didn't use the surface but transported goods directly through underground passages, avoiding detection by Living Hell's gangs and reducing the likelihood of being robbed.
During the reform of Living Hell, most underground passages were destroyed by the foundation supports, but a few remained usable. Copperpot obtained these materials and found the secret at the bottom of the well faster than Batman.
Their guess was correct. Among the five wells in the north area, three were connected to a secret room at the bottom, and these rooms were interconnected and led to a larger meeting room.
When Copperpot discovered this, he didn't enter recklessly but informed Batman instead.
Batman, more adept at infiltration, reached the perimeter of these rooms and found recent signs of activity, unlike the previously discovered large meeting room.
Batman thought their suspicions were correct. If the Court of Owls had been operating in Gotham for decades, they wouldn't completely abandon their territory. Even if they had to evacuate due to unforeseen circumstances, they would leave guards at other strongholds.
After several days of surveillance, Batman discovered that the underground of Living Hell seemed to have become a new base for the Court of Owls members.
Following the principle of sharing information among Gotham's secret meeting members, Batman informed Schiller of the situation. However, Schiller, as if prepared, presented a plan that was both frustrating and potentially highly effective.
As Schiller said, it's not difficult to catch the tail of the Court of Owls, and even breaking into their stronghold isn't hard. However, if they can't succeed in one attempt, the Court of Owls will surely slip away and hide even deeper, turning the situation into an endless game of hide-and-seek.
Therefore, a plan is needed to force them out and expose their weaknesses, creating an opportunity for success.
The specific plan is as follows: Schiller speculated that even if the Court of Owls is hidden underground, they must rely on energy for lighting and communication.
So where does this energy come from?
Although it's not impossible that they have their own independent energy facilities, according to Schiller's understanding of the Court of Owls, they are more like a tumor growing on a normal organization. They are more likely to have infiltrated their own people during the transformation of Living Hell and then tapped into Living Hell's energy system to power themselves.
So Schiller asked Gordon to bring in a skilled infiltrator, and then had Copperpot take the infiltrator on a tour of Living Hell.
Sure enough, the infiltrator quickly discovered that the direction of one power line was off. Following this line, Copperpot found the energy pipeline of the Court of Owls' stronghold.
In addition to the power supply, there were other hidden pipelines, unguarded and concealed above ground.
Schiller's ultimate plan was to flood their base with sewage.
By connecting Living Hell's sewage treatment pipeline to the Court of Owls' energy pipeline, the entire sewage system of Living Hell would be connected to the Court of Owls' pipeline.
The result, of course, goes without saying. In Gotham, there is no place with a higher population density than Living Hell, and its sewage production capacity is naturally top-notch.
"The waste flooded their base, turning it into a massive swamp of methane," Batman said, struggling to maintain his composure. "And from the looks of it, some people didn't manage to escape in time when the sewage was released..."
Batman fell silent for a moment, seemingly suppressing the nausea brought on by his imagination. Afterward, he said quite fairly, "Although disgusting, it was effective."
"You mentioned before that they've trained many assassins. If I were to go in alone, I wouldn't be confident in defeating all of them."
"Even if I could defeat them, if they managed to stall me and release their assassins, the residents of Living Hell would suffer."
"Living Hell is the most densely populated area in Gotham. No matter what the Court of Owls does there, it will cause a large number of casualties. To prevent this, we must force them out of there. Although using... their escape will surely prevent them from killing."
Schiller looked at Batman, his mouth still downturned, appearing solemn and serious.
Schiller thought that perhaps this was what set Batman apart from other superheroes. Although he still couldn't avoid individual heroism, he was willing to sacrifice his own advantage for tactical victory, rather than seeking glory and showcasing his strength.
Faced with a despicable tactic, he didn't stand on a moral high ground to condemn it but instead analyzed and judged it rationally. Perhaps this was the basic quality of a true tactical master.