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Chapter 28: The Antagonist is Utterly Clueless

Victor and the President of Gotham University pondered how to deal with Bruce, but Batman was equally contemplating how to handle them.

After days of self-reflection, Batman had sorted out many things. For instance, Schiller had posed every question to him, and he had found answers to all of them.

Now, he acknowledged that he was not like the police. He wasn't an embodiment of absolute justice. In fact, he was no different from those criminals, as neither of them adhered to the law. Batman had firmly resolved to uphold his own brand of justice, disregarding the conventional judicial system.

So, his methods in investigating Christine's disappearance were no longer awkward or reckless.

Once Batman had clarity, his intellect and execution were unmatched.

He began by targeting the President of Gotham University. Compared to Victor, a seasoned cop who had spent years in the field, the President, while cautious, lacked formal police training. Physically, he was just an ordinary man and easier to deal with.

One night, Batman stealthily infiltrated the President's home. Although he didn't find the exact location where Christine was held captive, he did discover some inconspicuous call records on the President's landline phone.

He speculated that the President himself wasn't the one behind Christine's abduction. He likely had accomplices or subordinates. Contacting them through the landline was the safest option, as not just anyone could access the call records of such an old-fashioned phone, making it nearly impossible to trace past dialed numbers.

Bruce had resumed his student identity and paid a visit to the President's office. He had a legitimate reason: he had submitted an assignment, but Schiller had unfairly marked it down. Bruce intended to file a complaint with the President.

During his conversation with the President, Batman used specialized equipment to capture the President's voice samples. He then used a voice modulator to dial the unknown number.

Batman's words were skillful. He didn't ask any direct questions but rather ambiguously inquired, "How is the person now?"

The person on the other end didn't seem cautious. Without hesitation, they replied, "Sir, as per your request, we haven't harmed her. However, she's such a beautiful girl; my men are finding it hard to control themselves..."

"If anything happens to her, you'll regret it," Batman warned.

"Of course, of course. We'll keep them in check."

As soon as the person on the other end spoke, Batman knew they were just a group of gang members. Batman was well-acquainted with the gangs of Gotham; they all had a similar style.

Having traced their location, Batman, though lacking perfect equipment, had access to the numerous Wayne Family satellites in the sky. Tracking a mobile phone signal was a trivial task.

Upon locating their hideout, Batman found that Christine was indeed not in immediate danger. The President's intention wasn't to harm her to threaten Wayne but to make her an informant. Naturally, they couldn't harm her, or how could she continue to date Bruce?

Batman rescued Christine, who, while physically unharmed, was greatly traumatized emotionally. After taking her to the hospital, Christine expressed her willingness to testify against the President for kidnapping her.

On the other side, Victor faced difficulties too. In front of Victor, an old pro, Gordon, the straightforward advocate for justice, was the hardest to deal with. After all, Victor couldn't simply shout in the police station that Gordon's approach to justice was wrong. He had to maintain an appearance of righteousness.

Gordon knew what kind of person Victor was but had to play along, delaying his time so that he wouldn't have the opportunity to help Jonathan destroy evidence or tamper with files.

Gordon scrutinized everything related to Jonathan, the case being one he had cracked. Victor couldn't guarantee that even after he destroyed the evidence in the police station, Gordon hadn't kept a backup. This rookie, despite being impulsive and difficult, indeed had some skills.

As for Maroni, he was even more unfortunate. To increase Maroni's sunk costs, Schiller frequently sabotaged the chemical factory. He didn't do anything significant; today, he would remove a couple of parts from the machines, and tomorrow, he would clog the drainage pipes. These minor issues would be seen as accidental, but they caused significant delays.

Some of the machine parts could only be purchased from the original manufacturers, and Maroni had to exert considerable effort to obtain them. Some parts weren't even available from the manufacturers, and he had to pay a hefty price to acquire them from others.

All these issues led to Maroni spending nearly a million dollars without any significant results.

Maroni believed that all these problems arose because Jonathan was taking too long to get released. He thought the workers were unprofessional, and only Jonathan could handle it. So, he pressured Victor.

With Victor feeling the heat, he had to approach the President again. However, the President realized that Christine, whom he had kidnapped, had disappeared. Their plan had not even begun, and it was already a failure.

Unfortunately, Victor was desperate to carry out the plan. With both the police station head and the President facing immense pressure due to the disappearance of their key player, they had no choice but to take a huge risk and directly kidnap Bruce.

On the day when Schiller accepted Bruce's invitation to dine at Wayne Manor, Bruce finished his class and went straight to find Schiller. Together, they got into a car, planning to head back to Wayne Manor directly.

Gotham University was still a considerable distance away from Wayne Manor, although not as far as the East District on the diagonal axis, it would still take at least half an hour by car.

If there was one advantage to Gotham, it was that it wasn't as congested as New York. The roads in this place were straight as an arrow and wide, allowing for carefree acceleration.

To demonstrate his sincerity, Bruce didn't have a driver pick them up; he drove himself. Perhaps with a subtle hint of showing off, he wasn't driving a bulky security vehicle but a beautiful Lamborghini in bright blue, exuding an air of extravagance.

Just as Bruce was pushing the speedometer to 140 miles per hour, a group of masked individuals suddenly emerged from a corner, their gun barrels pointed at the car. Bruce's immediate reaction was to swerve the steering wheel.

He wasn't afraid, but the professor sitting in the passenger seat hadn't undergone any training. He shouted, "Professor, get down!"

Schiller, unruffled, said, "I'm quite certain that the car your butler ordered for you comes equipped with bulletproof glass and tires."

Then he added, "If you want to find out who's behind this attack, you could pretend the vehicle lost control, knock yourself out, and perhaps gain some clues later."

Bruce could tell that these individuals were likely after him for a kidnapping, or else they wouldn't be firing all their bullets at the car's undercarriage.

Bruce hesitated; if he were alone, he would definitely go through with it, but he regarded Schiller as an ordinary person. If he were kidnapped, the captors might not hesitate, but it might be different for Schiller.

Schiller said, "I believe you don't need to worry about me. I won't joke with my own life."

In the end, Bruce stopped the car. He forcefully turned the steering wheel, causing the car to spin a few times on the road before the rear end collided with a lamppost, as if the brakes had failed. Then he slumped his head onto the steering wheel, and Schiller also pretended to faint.

The kidnappers, demonstrating a modicum of restraint, didn't immediately resort to violence upon seeing that there was more than just Bruce in the car. Instead, they proceeded to abduct both Bruce and Schiller, securing them with hoods and handcuffs.

After a while, the car arrived at what seemed to be a slum area. Bruce and Schiller were brought into a room.

Their hoods were removed, and both Schiller and Bruce pretended to display shocked expressions. However, Schiller was genuinely taken aback when the school principal walked in.

He hadn't anticipated that the mastermind would dare to stroll in so boldly, without a mask, even wearing his work suit. Schiller was truly speechless.

Even if you didn't know that Bruce was Batman, you had successfully covered up ninety-nine steps of your wrongdoing. All that was left was to not tremble like this?

If someone were to pick Bruce up right now and shake him, they might discover miniature cameras hidden all over his body, proving he had let his guard down!

Of course, just like in the movies, this portly school principal began to boast about his wicked plan.

He claimed to have prepared a stand-in for Bruce long ago. After kidnapping Bruce, he could immediately replace him. He had also intended to achieve Christine's kidnapping through Bruce's abduction, but he hadn't expected Bruce to be so vulnerable and that just a few gunmen would suffice.

After his lengthy monologue, he confessed to all his crimes.

In short, after committing every mistake that movie villains could make, Schiller had lost his patience with him. He directly said, "Bruce, go for it."

Bruce leaped up immediately, and the handcuffs posed no challenge. The principal was standing too close, and within seconds, Bruce had him pinned down, handcuffing him with his own restraints.

Gunmen waiting outside rushed in but were subdued one by one by Bruce. When Gordon arrived, the principal tried to rely on Victor to overpower him, but Gordon said, "Sorry, but the commissioner was arrested just last night while trying to destroy evidence in the archive room secretly. Although he tampered with the surveillance cameras, Harvey used the pretext of tidying up to install another camera there. The evidence is irrefutable, pal."

Bruce said, "Looks like they've run out of options. Now we have one more person to deal with."

Schiller pulled out a dossier from his briefcase and said, "Just as we planned earlier, I managed to obtain detailed maps and personnel records for that chemical factory. I think it's time for a certain caped crusader to spring into action."

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