hotmtlnovel Chapter 3842 The Nameless Bat (2)
Chapter 3842 The Nameless Bat (2)
Chapter 3842 The Nameless Bat (Part Twelve)
In the interrogation room, Natasha sat opposite Green Arrow, looking at him and saying, "...That's how it is. Someone tried to frame the president and even shot me. Given the current situation in the office and within the Justice League, only you know about my special relationship with the president. Don't you have anything to say?"
"Why would you think I'm trying to assassinate you?" Green Arrow said, as if he had heard something utterly absurd. "You're not the president's mistress, so I won't kill you. If you were, I certainly wouldn't."
"But I caused an accident involving the CEO of Quinn Group."
Green Arrow shook his head and said, "Then I won't seek revenge on you. I know you're just following orders. Attributing a murder to a single person is the greatest disrespect to the deceased."
What do you think is going on?
“They’re after the president, no doubt about it.” Green Arrow put his arms on the table and said, “The key is why they’re including you. They seem to think you can have a big impact on the president. For example, if you die, he’ll rush back. Only then would it make sense to take action against you.”
Natasha frowned slightly and said, "I'm just his mistress, not his wife. I'm not that important."
"Then the problem lies with you. They felt that as long as you stayed by the president's side, he would have a very capable assistant. If they wanted to get rid of the president, they would have to get rid of you first. That's why they tried to assassinate you."
“That makes some sense,” Natasha said, “but you also know that I’m not irreplaceable…”
"Really? Given Batman's paranoia, would he really allow a foreign agent to be parachuted into a special team, give her such great power, and even let her contact the core members of the Justice League? That's abnormal in itself. Unless, you can bring him value and cure his paranoia."
Natasha remained silent, not following up on the conversation. Of course she was valuable. She was Black Widow, a powerful genetically modified human. But these things shouldn't be known to people from this universe.
Natasha truly arrived from nowhere; Batman didn't bother to fabricate an identity for her. Her file in this universe is completely blank. Even the most powerful mastermind behind her attack couldn't possibly cross cosmic boundaries and trace her identity.
If that's the case, how could the other party be so certain of her strength, regarding her as a thorn in their side, and determined to eliminate her?
Or perhaps, Natasha thought—the other party wasn't from this universe either. They might have fought before, or heard of Black Widow's formidable reputation, which was why they wanted to take advantage of Batman's absence to defeat this helper he had recruited from another world.
"Who could it be?" Natasha pondered.
"Boss, we have news." An agent came over and knocked on the door. Natasha stood up and went out. The agent handed her two stacks of files, saying, "This is the file on the woman who shot you, and the file on the person who attacked you on the way."
"Has the person been caught yet?"
"Yes, they are both at the police station. But they are both ordinary civilians; one is a victim's family member, and the other is a street thug. The behavioral analysis department has concluded that they are unlikely to be professional killers."
"I understand." Natasha said as she looked at the documents and walked toward her office.
Just as her subordinates reported, the two women were incredibly unskilled. The first woman who fired was completely inaccurate, missing the torso within two meters; the second one wasn't much better, firing one shot and running away in a panic, making no attempt to conceal her tracks.
If the person who instructed them was also from another world, why would they use such clumsy methods?
Just as I returned to my office, another female subordinate came to me and said, "We've received word from the police that the person who killed Fred Arbidonis was his wife, the same woman who shot you."
"Where's the motive?"
"Infidelity. Mrs. Abedonis claims that she recently discovered her husband's infidelity and killed him in a fit of rage."
"What was your motive for attacking me?"
"She said her husband's mistress also had red hair, and she mistook her eyes in the heat of the moment. According to our investigation, what she said is true. Her husband's mistress is somewhat similar to you in height, weight, and hair color."
"What about the second attacker?"
"I'm paid to do this, but not against you. I'm asking him to fire a shot at a certain car."
Natasha was having a headache. The testimony and the case were riddled with inconsistencies. But unfortunately for her, she wasn't a detective.
Although Natasha is an agent, she is a field agent, not a technician. Even though she frequently engages in espionage, she is more adept at infiltration and assassination than at clerical work such as deduction.
Natasha decided to take the report to Schiller. Although Schiller seemed more like a field agent than she was, the two of them together might actually offer some insights.
Natasha arrived at Schiller's office, where he was searching for something on his computer. This time, Natasha didn't go over to look at his screen; instead, she sat down beside him and waited for him to finish.
After a moment, Schiller turned to look at her. Natasha handed him the documents and then briefly explained what she knew.
“It is indeed a bit strange,” Schiller said. “If that woman mistook you for her husband’s mistress, she should have yelled at you the moment she saw you, instead of not reacting when she saw you and then suddenly shooting you when she got close.”
"That man was the same. I was driving an FBI vehicle, and the lettering on the side where the bullet hit was big enough that anyone who wasn't blind could see it. Even if there was money involved, ordinary people wouldn't dare to risk their lives attacking an FBI vehicle; it just doesn't make sense."
“They’re definitely not telling the truth.” Schiller turned to make a phone call. During the pause between calls, he said, “We all advocate for civilized law enforcement, but it’s normal for the local police department to use some less civilized methods in order to improve efficiency. This is Gotham, after all; it would be abnormal if it weren’t violent.”
Natasha watched as he expertly made a phone call to the local police chief, his tone dripping with pressure. Less than ten minutes later, the other end gave a response—the woman had spoken first.
Schiller hung up the phone and said to Natasha, "Just as I expected. That woman was caught red-handed; she was the one who cheated. She said someone sent her intimate photos with her lover via email and then forced her to kill her husband and a female agent who was present—that's you."
"That's even stranger. How did they know I would go?"
"Of course it's because he deliberately framed your special team for that murder. You'll go check it out no matter what."
"It seems to be a conspiracy specifically set up for me."
"That man too. Someone emailed him evidence that he had betrayed his gang by smuggling contraband, so he had no choice but to shoot at the car."
"This guy's pretty resourceful," Natasha said, squinting. "Could we trace his identity through his email address?"
“The tech team is trying, but I doubt it will come to anything. He only dares to do this because he’s not afraid of the tech teams from both departments,” Schiller said, shaking his head.
"What were you looking up just now?" Natasha asked.
"Of course, it's the new policies implemented after Batman took office. By examining these policies, we can determine who he has offended and who is most likely to target him. Currently, there are many potential targets, but the most likely are the Diamond Street gang."
“Those people in finance? That makes sense.” Natasha nodded and said, “If you push them too far, they’ll do anything. But they probably don’t have any way of finding out who I am.”
"You suspect they are visitors from another world?"
"It's not impossible. This Batman in the universe is quite famous among Batmen, so if someone wants to cause trouble, it's not out of the question that they could find their way here."
"I agree that someone is trying to cause trouble while Batman is away, but we still need to wait and see if it is an alien visitor and which alien visitor it is."
"You're saying there will be more victims? Aren't you going to stop it?"
"Do you think Batman wouldn't protect the people who are truly important before he leaves? Those who were killed probably didn't need to live in the first place."
"Is there a problem with that department head?"
“This is a big problem.” Schiller looked back at the computer screen and said, “When Batman first took over, Wayne Enterprises suffered a very serious data breach. This is not the kind of mistake Batman would make.”
"It seems his path to becoming president wasn't easy," Natasha sighed, shaking her head. "Even now, with his complete victory, aren't there still people trying to exploit loopholes?"
"You sound like you feel sorry for him."
“Ha, I’m just gloating,” Natasha said. “So many people were chasing him, but they didn’t do as much damage as my single strike. Isn’t that something to be happy about?”
Schiller pursed his lips, turned away, and remained silent. Natasha continued to look down at the documents, seemingly trying to find some clues. Suddenly, she said:
"If the mastermind behind this is truly an otherworldly visitor, he should know that hiring two amateurs like these wouldn't kill me. So why would he waste his energy?"
Just then, there was another knock on the office door. A female agent poked her head in and said, "Excuse me, but this time it's really troublesome."
A minute later, everyone gathered in Natasha's office. The room was dimly lit, making the photo on the projector appear even brighter—it was a "close-up" photo of Batman Arkham and Natasha.
The president faced the camera, while Natasha had her back to it, but her profile was slightly visible. Perhaps due to the camera angle, they appeared to be close together. Batman from Arkham even had his hand outstretched, seemingly trying to put his arm around Natasha's waist.
Although it's not a truly intimate photo, the poses have clearly crossed the line of normal social interaction. Unfortunately, this photo has made headlines on major social media platforms.
“We tracked down the social media account that initially posted the photo, but were unable to find the account holder. The angle of the shot suggests that it was captured by CCTV camera number 14 in the banquet hall on the top floor of Wayne Building. This means that someone has hacked into the Wayne Building's security cameras.”
Another agent spoke up: "We currently believe that the other side released this photo to confirm that the president killed someone to cover it up. The consensus now is that the chief of information security in the Wayne Department took this photo through a camera, and in order to prevent the photo from being leaked, the president organized a covert arrest and then took the opportunity to hire someone to kill him."
“I have a question,” Natasha said. “The president is single, and I am single, so what is there about this photo that would warrant murder to cover it up?”
“Uh…” the agent who spoke first said somewhat awkwardly, “The problem is that the account that leaked the photos also leaked your name. Boss, the name 'Natasha Romanov' is just too geographically suggestive.”
Natasha slapped herself on the forehead.
It's getting later and later