noveltune Chapter 98 Adventure Trial 1
Chapter 98 Adventure Trial 1
"Dude, things have been really weird lately."
Batman looked at Levi and Gordon, his voice low, revealing that he was not at peace.
"Tell me your thoughts, I think I need your help."
The things that have happened during this period have been really bizarre, but Batman always arrives at the scene as soon as possible.
But he was still completely helpless against the fearless Red Hood.
Even if they were captured alive, those guys would commit suicide at the first opportunity.
This sense of frustration was something he had never experienced since becoming Batman.
"Hmm... my thought is that they've been manipulated," Li Wei suddenly said, his voice unusually clear amidst the rain.
Gordon and Batman both paused for a moment, then turned to look at Levi.
"Control? How can you control them? So many people, scattered throughout the city, it's impossible to control them all at the same time."
"Some kind of strange method."
Li Wei carefully considered his words, trying to make the explanation sound reasonable.
"Perhaps it's some kind of signal, or some kind of drug, that can change a person's mind in a short period of time."
Furthermore, the controller's abilities are limited; they can only control thirteen people at a time.
This explanation was the only one that Levi could come up with that Gordon and the others could accept after much deliberation.
Li Wei couldn't tell him that these people might be "tools" controlled by other players, so he could only use this vague statement to cover up the truth.
Gordon frowned, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the roof of the car.
Batman, sitting in the back seat, also frowned in thought.
After a while, Gordon's eyes lit up, as if he had suddenly figured something out.
"Yes, that must be it!"
His voice was somewhat agitated.
"It's always thirteen people, which means the limit for the controller is thirteen people."
They did not commit the crime voluntarily; they were forced into it!
That's why they only steal a small amount of money, focusing instead on killing—that's the manipulator's goal!
Li Wei nodded and said nothing more.
Although Gordon's understanding deviated from the truth, it was on the right track.
These manipulated people are like domesticated hunting dogs.
They bite whoever their owner tells them to bite, without any chance of resistance.
"But what should we do?"
Gordon's excitement was quickly replaced by helplessness.
"We don't know who the manipulator is, what methods they used, or even where the next incident will take place."
Looking in the rearview mirror, Li Wei noticed that Batman was also frowning deeply.
The police sirens suddenly blared, their sharp sound piercing the rain.
A frantic shout came through Gordon's walkie-talkie, accompanied by a cacophony of voices.
The words "jewelry company," "red hood," and "large number of hostages" could be faintly heard.
"They're here."
Gordon's expression changed, and he fastened his seatbelt.
"The Tiffany jewelry store in the city center just received a report."
Thirteen Red Hood members are committing a robbery and have already injured several people.
Li Wei started the engine, and the pickup truck's tires splashed up two streams of water as they rolled over the puddle.
"Let's go to the scene together this time."
Looking at the rain-blurred street ahead, Li Wei said, "I need to talk to them."
Gordon was taken aback for a moment, and was about to dissuade him when Li Wei interrupted him.
"This is the only way."
Li Wei said.
"They didn't do it voluntarily, so perhaps there's still hope."
We need to find a breakthrough, to find the people controlling them.
The pickup truck sped towards the city center, the windshield wipers swung incessantly, but they could not completely dispel the blurry vision.
Li Wei gripped the steering wheel tightly, calculating the plan in his mind.
A direct assault is definitely not an option; there are thirteen of them, all armed and ruthless.
Li Wei needs to find a private opportunity to communicate with one of the members.
Through his observations over this period of time, he found that these people were becoming increasingly violent.
Come to think of it, anyone who spends their days walking on the edge of a knife will either die at the crime scene or at the hands of the mastermind behind it all.
It would be abnormal not to go crazy in a life like this.
The streets in the city center have been cordoned off by the police, and crowds of onlookers have gathered outside the police cordon.
The sounds of sirens, ambulance horns, and screams from the crowd mingled together, creating a chaotic noise.
Li Wei parked the car outside the police line, opened the car door, and rainwater immediately soaked his clothes.
"Mr. Levi, you can't go in!"
A policeman stopped Li Wei, his voice urgent.
"It's too dangerous inside. They've already killed three hostages."
Li Wei did not stop, but continued walking forward.
"I have a way," Li Wei said. "Let me in."
The police officer hesitated for a moment, glanced at Gordon behind him, and finally made way for him.
The glass facade of the jewelry store had been smashed to pieces, and the shards of glass, mixed with rainwater and bloodstains, reflected an eerie light on the ground.
Gunshots, screams, and the Red Hood members' maniacal laughter could be heard from inside.
"Remember us! We are the Red Hoods! You bastards!"
One member laughed wildly, then, amidst a woman's scream, blew the fat man next to her head off.
Li Wei moved slowly along the wall to the doorway and peeked out.
Thirteen Red Hood members were scattered throughout the jewelry store, each holding a gun and pointing it at the hostage huddled in a corner.
The counter was smashed to pieces, and jewelry was scattered on the ground, but no one picked it up.
Their attention was entirely focused on the hostages, and they wore cruel smiles.
He would occasionally shoot at the ceiling for amusement.
Judging from their arrogant demeanor, it seems they weren't really trying to rob anyone, but rather putting on a show.
Li Wei felt that these guys would have left long ago if they weren't trying to attract more people to watch.
Li Wei's gaze swept over them one by one, finally landing on a Red Hood member of medium build.
His movements were somewhat stiff, unlike the others who were as frantic.
A hint of hesitation flashed in his eyes when he fired the shot, and his body even trembled slightly when his teammates mocked the hostage.
That's him.
Li Wei took a deep breath and suddenly rushed out from the corner of the wall.
Holding an empty submachine gun, he ran towards the member.
"Don't move!" Li Wei shouted, his voice drowning out the chaos at the scene.
All the Red Hood members were stunned for a moment, and then turned to look at Li Wei.
The gun barrel instantly aimed at Li Wei, the bullet whizzing past Li Wei's ear and hitting the wall, scattering countless fragments.
As Li Wei activated his attack, Batman, who had been hiding in the shadows, suddenly burst into the hall.
As soon as the two of them entered, the entire hall erupted into chaos.
Taking advantage of the lull in Batman's fight with the others, Levi unleashed his full power, taking control of the target he had already chosen.
He was being held tightly, but the guy was still struggling desperately.
Just as the guy was about to break free, Li Wei quickly leaned close to his ear.
"I'm not here to arrest you!"
Li Wei whispered in his ear, "I know you didn't do this willingly! You've been manipulated!"
I can help you!
The member's body visibly stiffened, the muzzle of his gun drooped slightly, and his eyes were filled with confusion and struggle.
A burst of gunfire rang out, and Li Wei saw flames shooting from the muzzle of a gun held by a man in a red hood.
Li Wei rolled to his side and hid behind an overturned display case.
The bullets made a thud when they hit the cabinet.
"Your name is Marcus, right?"
Li Wei shouted at the target member, trying to keep his voice gentle.
"You are an engineer at a construction company, your wife is named Lillian, and you have a three-year-old son named Tommy."
A few days ago was Tommy's birthday, and you even bought him a Spider-Man cake.
This information was found by Li Wei in the case file; the engineer named Marcus was one of the people involved in the twentieth case.
Although he knew this guy was a player, Li Wei felt that the guy would be affected to some extent by the high frequency of identity switching.
Seeing the guy's hesitant expression, Li Wei knew he had made the right bet.
Marcus's body trembled violently, and his breathing became rapid beneath the red hood.
He suddenly raised his head and looked at Li Wei, his eyes filled with pain.
His fingers gripped the trigger tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force.
His gaze shifted back and forth between Levi and the other Red Hood members, his body swaying constantly, clearly indicating an intense internal struggle.
"You don't want to die, and you don't want to kill anyone anymore, right?"
Li Wei continued shouting.
"The person who controls you is just using you as a tool, and will abandon you when they're done with you."
Think of your wife and son; they're waiting for you to come home.
"Shut up!"
Marcus suddenly roared, his voice filled with endless pain.
"No, I know I'm right!"
Li Wei spoke softly, his voice full of seduction.
"Actually, you were already tired of this killing, but you were threatened by uncontrollable forces."
Actually, all you want is to live a peaceful life, right?
Marcus's shoulders slumped, and the muzzle of his gun dropped to the ground.
Without anyone noticing, he slumped to the ground in despair.
"Come with me!"
Li Wei pretended to kidnap him and pulled Marcus toward the office.
In the office, Marcus removed his red hood.
His face was streaked with tears, and his eyes were filled with despair and pleading.
"What should I do?"
His voice was hoarse, trembling with sobs.
"I don't want to do this, but I have no choice. If I don't, I'll die."
"I can help you."
Li Wei stopped, only a few steps away from him.
"I can help you escape this fate of being kept as a pet and return you to your family."
Marcus listened to the gunshots coming from downstairs, then looked at Levi, a resolute glint in his eyes.
"Okay, I believe you!"
He gritted his teeth and said, "I'm willing to be an inside man and help you take care of the person who orchestrated all of this!"
He figured it out: instead of this intense cycle of death, it would be better to just kill all these guys outright.
Levi pulled a small tracking chip from his pocket; it was the one Batman had given him earlier.
They are tiny in size and can emit weak signals, making them difficult to detect even when hidden inside the body.
"Keep this with you," Li Wei said quickly. "It's a tracker; it will help us find the person controlling you."
Marcus took the chip without hesitation and stuffed it into his collar.
Just then, a loud explosion was heard outside.
The ground trembled slightly, and thick smoke billowed in from the back door of the jewelry store.
"Hurry up!"
Levi grabbed Marcus and ran towards the back door amidst the chaos.
"Police backup has arrived, let's get out of here!"
Gunfire continued behind him, bullets hitting the wall beside him and leaving bullet holes.
They ran through the thick smoke, out of the jewelry store, and into the pickup truck parked in the back alley.
Li Wei started the engine, and the pickup truck sped away from the city center.
Marcus sat in the passenger seat, his body still trembling slightly, as if he had only just regained some of his senses.
He held his head in his hands, his face filled with pain and lingering fear.
"They won't let me go."
He muttered to himself, "If they knew I had betrayed them, they would have killed me."
No, I can't leave like this. Take me back!
"Quick, take me back! I'm going to die, I'm really going to die!"
He had indeed been prepared to fight to the death, but now he had calmed down.
The player gave up after realizing he could die in the real world.
Seeing this, Li Wei understood the man's concerns.
"I'll take you back first, then kill you in front of everyone to clear your name."
As Li Wei turned the car around, he said in a low voice, "This is a secret between us."
As for the mastermind behind it all, we will find other ways to locate them.
But if the mastermind behind this can be reborn, I hope you can help us next time.
Li Wei's words surprised the player who was disguised as Marcus; he hadn't expected Li Wei to have so much information.
Aside from not knowing the player's existence, his analysis was almost entirely correct!
Ignoring Marcus's shock, Levi continued to give his number.
"If, I mean if there is a next time, you can contact me through this number."
I believe that even if the mastermind behind this could be reborn, the number of times would be limited.
After casually recounting these words, Li Wei drove straight back to the scene of the crime.
When Levi arrived at the Tiffany jewelry store, he found that only six Red Hoods were still putting up a last-ditch resistance.
The hostages in the hall had been mostly killed, and Batman was delivering a powerful punch to a guy wearing a red hood.
After only a few punches, the guy's eyes rolled back and he passed out.
"I'm going to kill you, you bastard!"
Marcus suddenly burst in through the back door, brandishing a submachine gun, and opened fire on Batman.
Hearing the commotion, Batman immediately dodged, bullets hitting the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Quickly, get out of here! I've got a car waiting at the back door!"
Marcus shouted and continued firing, suppressing Batman's offensive momentum with firepower.
The remaining guys saw Batman take a step back and took the opportunity to run out the back door from behind Marcus.
After the guys left through the back door, Marcus fired another burst of bullets before turning and running away in a panic.
Just as Batman was about to give chase, Li Wei reached out and stopped him.
"Li Wei, let me through! Those bastards are about to get away!"
Batman spoke urgently, gesturing for Levi to get out of the way.
In the past, whenever he encountered this situation, he would simply arrest the person and hand them over to the police.
But what puzzled him was that it seemed like these 13 people could never be caught.
"Dude, calm down, I have something to tell you."
Levi stopped Batman and slowly spoke under the other's questioning gaze.
"Don't you ever wonder why there are always 13 of them? How can this problem be solved?"
Levi's words made Batman abruptly stop in his tracks and turn to look at him.
"Tell me directly how to solve this problem!"
"Every time you caught these guys before, they would commit suicide before they even got back to the police station."
I know this has been bothering you for a long time.
Perhaps we can solve this problem by trying a different approach.
After Batman calmed down, Levi spoke his mind directly.