American comics: Starting in Arkham, a system-based Batman

Chapter 89 The Scarecrow Gets Huge Misfortune

Chapter 89 The Scarecrow Gets Huge Misfortune

The elegantly dressed customers couldn't help but show expressions of fear. Some of those who were close by couldn't help but scream, while those who reacted quickly got off their chairs and ran towards the door with their legs spread wide.

The scarecrow didn't care; the colorless and odorless gas churned from the canister and spread into the air through the nozzles held by its subordinates.

A person who fell to the ground in a panic tried to get up and run away, but as soon as they looked up, they saw a twisted ghost; a girl huddled in a corner buried her head in her knees and pretended to be a motionless mushroom; a burly man who was forced onto the dining table by insects in his sight hugged himself tightly and hoarsely cried for help.

The scarecrow's gaze swept across the restaurant before it couldn't help but look away.

It hurts your eyes.

The scarecrow and his henchmen stepped over the men and women lying on the ground, one of the underlings asking while spitting out insults, "Boss, what do we do next?"

By doing this to Mario, they have thoroughly offended the Falcone family. The original cooperation is no longer an option, and they will naturally have to find another way out.

"Find a new base."

Scarecrow walked forward unhurriedly. Although the Gotham Police Department was very close to the Diamond District, the chaos he had created tonight was enough to keep them busy. The police department was simply not enough manpower, and even if they sent some officers to deal with them, they would be no match for the fear gas.

Even before leaving Gotham, Scarecrow had already found a new factory. Just as the Romans distrusted him, he had no intention of working for the Falcone family indefinitely.

Those mediocre people only know how to chase money and fame, but he is different.

"With this money, I can manufacture more and more useful fear gas."

His fight with Batman that day gave him inspiration. Simple fear only makes people cowardly, but adding something else can create greater chaos.

A group of cowards who only know how to run away with their tails between their legs will naturally cause less damage than a group of furious brutes.

"This is just the beginning."

Even with a hood on, the Scarecrow couldn't hide his joy. "From today onward, the name Scarecrow will be deeply etched in everyone's minds. I will become a part of their nightmares."

39

He sneered, "They will never, ever forget it—"

"Click."

A swift black shadow swept past overhead. The scarecrow reacted quickly and looked up to see a batarang stuck inside a light bulb, likely affecting the wiring. The light above them was flickering on and off.

"It's Batman!"

Scarecrow, who had dealt with Batman before, was the first to react. He looked around warily, but didn't notice that in the instant their attention was diverted, a smoke bomb was thrown right after the batarang and rolled to their feet.

A cloud of white smoke instantly rose up, filling the entire restaurant.

Everything in sight was shrouded in white mist. Scarecrow gritted his teeth in hatred, yet he knew that even he and his entire crew combined might not be a match for Batman. All he could do was cough and shout at his men, "Use Fear II!"

Disregarding the possibility of being accidentally injured by ordinary people, as long as he could delay the opponent, he would have time to escape.

The scarecrow groped its way out along the edges, comforting itself that this was a tactical retreat, while wondering how the other party had found it.

The whole of Gotham is filled with bizarrely dressed monsters and ghosts, and there are quite a few dressed as scarecrows.

He anticipated that the other party would come knocking on his door, but not now.

When he met Mario, he only brought eight or nine men with him; the rest of his men were scattered throughout Gotham.

In Scarecrow's plan, Batman will be busy running around, expending most of his energy in the process of stopping the chaos. At that time, he will deliberately leak clues to lure Batman to his door, and then, surrounded by his many henchmen, he will stomp Batman's face hard on the ground, so that he will know who is the king of fear who will bring nightmares to the whole of Gotham.

Instead of what we're doing now, walking along the wall while listening to screams from who-knows-who.

The scarecrow was very annoyed, but he could only follow his memory toward the back door. When he finally saw the exit, he tried to pull the doorknob down, but he couldn't open it no matter what he did.

"You give it a try."

He turned around and gave orders to his subordinates who were following behind him, only to find that there was only one person left.

The trusted confidant who was carrying the box had collapsed at some point, and only a guy wearing a scarecrow headdress asked in a low voice.

"Boss, where do you want to go?"

That voice—it's the same guy who asked the question earlier!

"You're one of Batman's men!" Scarecrow glared at Jung Eun, his eyes blazing with fury. "When did you sneak in?!"

Jung Eun: "Guess."

Actually, when Scarecrow and the others left the private room, the unlucky guy who was left behind was knocked unconscious and had his hood stolen.

He wore [Shinpachi's original body] inside the hood, which covered his glasses, effectively reducing his presence and preventing those around him from noticing anything unusual.

Zheng En and Batman arrived just minutes before the shooting. He had originally planned to sneak in as a Scarecrow to find out something, but since the Scarecrow wasn't human, they were left with only the option of coercion.

Without another word, the scarecrow pulled out a spray can from his waist and aimed it at Jung Eun.

Dark green gas billowed into the air, and he chuckled sinisterly.

"Don't think you'll be safe just because you stole the scarecrow's headgear and put it on. This is a new type of fear gas that's still under development, and only this specially made mask on my face can protect against it."

The Scarecrow is paranoid and neurotic; how could he not have a backup plan? He needs his men to create chaos, but he also guards against others using masks against him.

In response, Jung Eun simply turned on the vacuum cleaner silently.

A buzzing sound filled the air between the two people as dark green gas was visibly sucked into the vacuum cleaner.

Although the "negative state vacuum cleaner" is mostly used to remove negative states from patients, don't forget that it is essentially a vacuum cleaner!

The scarecrow found it laughable. "You don't think you can beat me with something like this, do you?"

The childish blue jar looked like a kid's toy. The scarecrow didn't even think it was a vacuum cleaner. And even if it were, so what? "Nobody really thinks a vacuum cleaner can suck up fear gas, right?"

Even if some of the gas is sucked away, the poison gas will still dissipate in the air. Unless the other party can create a vacuum around them, how could they possibly escape this calamity?

He was prepared to see Zheng En make a fool of himself, and his previous sense of apprehension was replaced by mockery.

"Who knows?" Jung Eun shrugged, unconcerned by the scarecrow's mockery. "Maybe it's just a kid."

As a prop in children's works, that's enough.

Seeing that Zheng En was not affected by the fear gas for a long time, the scarecrow refused to believe it and sprayed several times with the spray can in its hand.

Overwhelmed by anger at the gas's failure to take effect and the thought, "How could this even work?", he abandoned any thought of running away and became completely absorbed in his struggle against Jung Eun.

"That shouldn't be the case."

"How could that be?"

"How is this possible?"

He muttered to himself, clearly lost in his own world. Zheng En didn't have time to argue with him and simply pointed behind him.

"Look! Batman!"

The Scarecrow reacted faster than anyone else upon hearing the word Batman. He turned around sharply, saw Batman, and had his hood removed.

He instinctively turned his head again, and just as he met the grinning scarecrow head, he was sprayed in the face with dark green gas.

Countless black dots transformed into countless crows in his eyes, their scarlet eyes and sharp beaks rushing towards him.

He was swallowed and torn apart by a flock of dark birds.

This was Klein's first and deepest fear.

"No, no, stay away from me!"

The scarecrow frantically waved its arms, trying to scare away a non-existent flock of birds. "Damn crows, get away from me!" it cried, scratching its shoulders and back frantically. "Don't peck me, don't peck me, get away! Get away from me!"

Batman, standing behind him, glanced at the Scarecrow, then at Jung Eun wearing the Scarecrow's hood, and gave him a disapproving look.

Zheng En shrugged. "An eye for an eye."

"We also need to get Barbara's whereabouts out of him," Batman reminded him. Jung Eun raised his suction cup. "That's easy."

The green suction head was aimed at the scarecrow, and the creature instantly woke up, as if it had suddenly woken up from a nightmare. Its eyes were blankly staring at a point in the air, and it was panting heavily.

"Where is the girl you kidnapped?"

Zheng En kicked the scarecrow that was slumped on the ground. The scarecrow looked up blankly, its eyes still unfocused.

Zheng En kicked him again and asked him the same question once more.

He snapped out of his daze. "A girl?" The scarecrow frowned, full of confusion. "What girl?"

Zheng En could tell that his doubts were genuine, and her heart sank instantly. Her radar, which was focused on the supervillain, went off.

If it's not a scarecrow, then who is causing trouble?

"The policeman who was tracking you before, his daughter has gone missing."

Batman spoke while keeping a close eye on Scarecrow, intently watching his expression. After Gordon recounted the clues surrounding his daughter's disappearance, anyone would assume Scarecrow was responsible.

The children traveling with him had all been poisoned with fear gas, and Gordon, who was in charge of the Arkham bombing and constantly searching for Scarecrow, had ample motive and time to retaliate against him.

But the scarecrow truly didn't know.

His mind had just broken free from the illusion of the crow, and his lingering fear was undeniable. "What does that have to do with me?"

"I didn't catch it."

"So you don't know anything, right?"

Zheng En raised the inhaler again, preparing to release a trinity of Fear Gas Type 1, Fear Gas Type 2, and the latest type of Fear Gas.

The scarecrow no longer dared to underestimate this toy-like vacuum cleaner; he was terrified whenever he saw it.

He originally chose to become a scarecrow because of the abuse he suffered in his childhood and his strong desire for revenge. Now, Jung Eun is using a vacuum cleaner to repay him in kind. After feeling fear for the first time in a long time, his psychological pressure has increased exponentially.

The small green suction cup was even more terrifying to him than the pitch-black muzzle of a gun. "I... I might still know something."

.

He gasped for breath, "There's a madman—a madman stole my fear gas, it might have been him."

"madman?"

"Yes, a laughing madman."

Zheng En caught the key words: madman, laughter.

He glanced at Batman instinctively, who looked back at him with a probing expression.

"What do you know?"

Zheng En understood what he was trying to say, but the scarecrow was still awake, and there were some things that couldn't be said directly. Moreover, they could faintly hear police sirens outside, so they couldn't stay any longer.

The scarecrow also heard the sound, and he was even somewhat moved.

Zheng En, who was about to leave, stopped in her tracks when she saw his expression.

Noticing Jung Eun looking at her scarecrow:

'

For some reason, he suddenly felt uneasy. He avoided the other person's gaze and suddenly saw Zheng En's hand on the suction cup.

"Wait! I've already said everything I can say, you can't do this to me!"

Jung Eun retorted confidently, "When did I ever say I was going to let you go?"

That damn scarecrow! After causing such a mess last night, he still has the nerve to say he can't treat me like this.

Zheng En immediately sprayed him with a spittle, sending him to have nightmares.

Having watched the whole thing, Batman acted as if he hadn't seen anything, saying, "—Let's go."

"7

On the other side of the city, at the southwestern tip of the promontory.

This is a sparsely populated suburb. Because the housing prices are relatively low and it is relatively close to the city center, with the Gotham Police Department just across the bridge, Gordon bought a house here.

He and his family share a wooden cabin with a yard. During the day, his wife, Barbara Keane, waters the lawn, and hydrangeas and roses grow in one corner of the yard.

His youngest daughter would carefully touch the flower petals; her bright orange curls were more beautiful than the flowers, and her smile was like that of an angel.

Now, he can't find their angels anymore.

Gordon walked into the house, looking dejected. The TV was playing loudly, and Barbara was still sitting in the living room.

She stood up as soon as she heard the door open, her eyes constantly searching behind Gordon.

"I'm sorry, Barbara, I couldn't find her—"

Gordon took off his glasses and wearily pressed the bridge of his nose. The police who reported the incident had long since left. Brock had helped him search for a while, but it was too late, and he had to leave as well.

He searched far and wide after that, but found nothing.

"—My little Barbara." Barbara clutched the fabric of her chest, feeling a sharp pain in her heart. "My little Barbara—"

Gordon hugged her, and the two remained silent for a long time.

"I have to go make Barbara's bed now." Barbara got out of Gordon's arms. "If she suddenly comes back, she can get a good night's sleep right away."

Gordon could only watch in silence as she walked up the stairs toward Barbara's room.

Barbara pushed open the door, but didn't turn on the light. She just looked inside using the light from the hallway.

She didn't make the bed again.

Barbara went inside. The blankets on the bed were crumpled up, as if someone was sleeping inside.

She carefully lifted the blanket, revealing a chubby, sweet sleeping face.

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