hotmtlnovel Chapter 3871 The Nameless Bat (41)
Chapter 3871 The Nameless Bat (41)
Chapter 3871 The Nameless Bat (Forty-One)
Gordon picked up the compiled data and found that, just as Natasha and Nimosini had said, all those suspected of dying at the hands of copycats were connected to the nature reserve development bill that had been implemented six months ago—either the drafter or the implementer of the bill.
Gordon glanced at the bill and knew it was just another trick to encroach on nature reserves. Gotham's land development was already saturated; even in the suburbs, all the good commercial land had been taken. In order to acquire more land, developers had no choice but to target nature reserves.
This nature reserve is located on an island, and because it's not within the city, the climate is quite pleasant. It also boasts a fantastic herringbone-shaped beach and was developed into a tourist area many years ago. This new bill aims to establish villa resorts and hotels along the coastline.
In fact, building houses wouldn't damage the natural environment too much. However, in order to make the seawater meet the water quality requirements of a beach resort and then use these water quality conditions to attract more wealthy people to invest or buy houses, they released a poison into the water, killing all aquatic life in the nearshore area and almost all plants near the coastline.
The effect was quite good: the absence of aquatic life and microorganisms made the seawater very clean, making it seem perfect for swimming; the death of the plants also reduced the difficulty of construction and expanded the beach area. It was a win-win situation.
Most of the first few victims were investors in the project, while the mayor actively pushed for the bill's passage in order to raise more political donations; the judges also played a significant role; Antonio felt that the protesters were affecting his daily life, so he ridiculed them extensively on the show.
For an ordinary person, there would be no way to deal with such collusion. However, Gotham has a true plant goddess, Pamela Poison Ivy.
In the past, many people in Gotham destroyed plants, but because of its high level of urbanization, most of the destroyed plants were actually cultivated horticultural varieties or green belts. Since there weren't many natural plants, there wasn't much to destroy.
This time, however, was different. The nature reserve on that small island was one of the few places around Gotham with a reasonably good environment; the closest other place was Brodhaven. Gordon suspected that Poison Ivy's actions were likely driven by the brutal methods used to destroy the plants. But the only question remained: why would she imitate the Eden Killer?
“Thank goodness, Ms. Aisley is one of the more communicative women out of all the lunatics in Gotham.” Gordon led Natasha toward the interrogation room. “She’s usually quite quiet as long as you don’t kill a flower in front of her. Her best friend, Harley Quinn, is a different story. If you run into that crazy woman, you’d better steer clear.”
Natasha walked silently into the interrogation room. When she saw the red-haired woman sitting inside, she instinctively felt something was amiss. Fragments of inspiration flashed through her mind, but quickly vanished without a trace.
“Hello, Ms. Aisley,” Natasha said, sitting down opposite her. “Don’t worry, we just need to ask you some routine questions.”
“I did it,” Poison Ivy said bluntly. “The people you think I killed, I did. I strangled them with my vines, then stabbed them, pretending it was the Eden Killer, so they’d go to hell with their damned laws. Anything else you want to ask?”
Natasha was somewhat taken aback by her bluntness and honesty, but she still said, "I believe you have room for explanation."
“There’s no need,” Poison Ivy said. “I’m mentally ill, no one can sentence me to detention. I’ll just be sent to Arkham Asylum. But the doctors and nurses there can’t stop me.”
Natasha slowly frowned. Just as she was about to say something, she saw a vine reaching in through the interrogation room window—and this was the eighth floor.
A police officer waiting nearby was caught in the crossfire. The seemingly soft vine suddenly snapped open the moment it approached him, gripping his neck and yanking him into the air.
“Alright,” Natasha said. “I’ve seen your abilities, madam.”
Then Poison Ivy released the officer. The vine vanished in a flash. Natasha sighed and said, "How exactly does Batman, as an ordinary human, deal with you superpowered criminals?"
“He doesn’t need to deal with me,” Poison Ivy said. “As long as no one is harming the plants, I don’t want to deal with anyone. I have my own experiments to do, and I wish I could stay in the lab forever. If these bugs hadn’t asked for it, I wouldn’t have bothered killing them.”
"Alright, since you have no scruples, there's no need for us to continue talking. I only have one last question: Why did you imitate the Eden Killer?"
"Because I want to go to court—I mean, I hope there will be more reporters and spectators. I want to expose those people's shameless behavior. Imitating a killer who makes a big fuss is the best way."
"You think the Eden Killer is famous?"
"Not as famous as the Joker. It's a pity Batman isn't in Gotham, and I don't know where the Joker has gone, otherwise imitating him would be the best choice. But this Eden Killer is not bad either, he's been quite popular lately. If you treat me as him and try me, that stupid bill they passed will probably be seen by half of America, and their fate will be the same—everyone will have to think twice before encroaching on nature reserves and harming plants."
An impeccable reason, Natasha thought. If the other party was truly such a fervent plant conservationist, then it wouldn't be surprising that they would do this. But Natasha still felt that something was amiss.
The details of the case lingered in Natasha's mind, but she wasn't exactly a brilliant detective, and these jumbled, fragmented clues failed to form any useful information. Natasha felt her brain was overloaded.
“You…” Natasha uttered a syllable, but after a long pause, she fell silent again. She stared into Poison Ivy’s eyes, wishing she had mind-reading abilities, or perhaps a psychoanalytic talent like Schiller. But clearly, she didn’t possess such a gift; after staring for a long time, her mind remained blank.
The thought of mind reading brought Schiller to mind, and the thought of Schiller brought back the words Schiller had said that day. Natasha felt an even bigger headache coming on, but those words echoed in her mind like a demonic whisper.
She had a grand tombstone in her heart—not for any specific person, not even for any specific country. It wasn't so clear before, but after receiving her first payment from the American intelligence agency, she engraved her name on the tombstone and then let 80% of her heart go down with it.
Even if she gave the remaining 20% wholeheartedly to someone, it wouldn't really be considered a very presentable gift. She could no longer love someone unconditionally like she did when she was 20, and her suitors were like walking into a magnificent trap built from the tragedy within her soul. And the way she pushed these good people with a sense of mission out of the trap was to use her beauty to seduce them, and then keep everything at the level of physical desire.
For Natasha, it wasn't a pleasant experience, because she could always read a deeper longing in their eyes, which were already burning with lust. Sometimes she felt genuine anger and despair—"Why can't you be a little more shallow?!"
Natasha snapped out of her reverie, recalling the case and her current predicament. She suddenly realized that Pamela Eisley and she were the same kind of people—neither loved themselves most, nor loved others most, but rather loved something abstract and untouchable, perhaps the protection of plants?
Although it's unclear how this concept came about, Natasha respects people of faith. The difference between her and Poison Ivy is that Natasha's ideals have become a tombstone, while Poison Ivy is still in a state of fanaticism.
In her fervent youth, she killed more than one person for her ideals. Therefore, Poison Ivy's actions are entirely plausible. Considering her extreme beliefs, it's understandable that she might want to use killing to publicize her beliefs and prevent potential plant-related incidents. So where exactly does the problem lie?
Natasha stared at Poison Ivy's face. Just as her gaze shifted to the tips of Poison Ivy's red hair, her eyes suddenly widened.
“Red hair…” Natasha uttered a single word, “Red hair!”
Why red hair? Natasha finally grasped that fleeting fragment of inspiration. Why is it all red hair?!
She herself is red-haired, Lena Luther is red-haired, Barbara Gordon is red-haired, Nimosini is red-haired, and Pamela Eisley is also red-haired.
Why are all the female characters involved in this case red-haired?
It's important to know that brown and black hair are the dominant hair colors in the United States, with blonde and red hair being relatively rare. Red hair makes up only about 2% of the total population, mostly from early European immigrants of Celtic descent or mixed-race heritage. Mixed-race individuals tend to have less pronounced red hair, mostly displaying a reddish-brown hue.
The red-haired women currently involved in the case all have very pure red hair: her own hair was originally red, but after genetic modification, it has a slightly purplish tint, leading many to believe that she dyed her hair, but it is not; Barbara Gordon and Lena Luthor have standard Celtic red hair; Nimosini has a lighter orange-red hair; Poison Ivy's hair also looks like it's dyed, as it's a true red that can't be any redder.
Natasha felt she was close to grasping the key, but a crucial element was missing: what was so special about the red hair?
Aside from their red hair, they have almost nothing in common—they are completely different in age, background, personality, and current situation. What's going on?
Natasha looked at Schiller's name in the communications directory. She wanted to tell him about her discovery, but then she felt it was absurd. After all, having the same hair color wasn't really anything special, and perhaps her reasoning was completely wrong.
Natasha canceled the text message she had already typed. She figured Schiller must be busy right now and wouldn't have time to chat with her, so it was best not to bother him at this time.