Jason had been pondering Scarecrow's motives. Unlike a madman like Joker who simply sought fun, Scarecrow usually had clear objectives when committing crimes.
And there wasn't much time left until he announced the release of the new gas in Gotham.
But so far, Jason had only seen private soldiers on the streets injecting civilians with foolish methods.
He didn't believe Scarecrow intended to fulfill his declaration in such a way; that would be too stupid.
"He must have some method to widely disperse the gas throughout the entire city. I must find this method."
Coincidentally, Batman thought the same.
He also obtained samples of the new gas from those private soldiers and found Barbara, intending to use triangulation to find Scarecrow's true hiding place.
"The gas reaction will emit several unique radiation peaks. We can scan the city for characteristic energy signals, which will lead us to where Scarecrow is manufacturing the fear gas."
Jason, peeking at the screen, couldn't help but exclaim, "So clever."
Barbara agreed with the method but also raised a question:
"But the satellite will take several hours to get into position."
Batman replied, "We don't have that much time. I'll go reset the signal tower..."
Jason turned off the screen and issued an instruction to the AI to hijack the satellite signal. His method was much faster than Batman's.
Based on the data stolen from Barbara's computer, he quickly scanned and matched the characteristic energy signal's location.
It was at ACE Chemical Factory.
"Heh, why am I not surprised at all?"
While Batman was still toiling away with antennas, Jason had already rushed to the target location.
This time, he used a different infiltration method.
Before, he had been filled with resentment, so his infiltration method was to kill everyone. No witnesses meant perfect infiltration, no problem.
But now Scarecrow knew of his existence. Although he wasn't afraid, he wouldn't foolishly step into a trap.
Quietly infiltrating and figuring out what Scarecrow truly wanted to do was the proper course of action.
The night was his best camouflage, and Jason silently infiltrated.
With his combat suit, no other technological means could detect him.
The infiltration techniques he learned in the League of Assassins, combined with technology, allowed him to silently invade ACE Chemical Factory like a perfect ninja master.
Jason quickly infiltrated the factory's central computer and discovered the concentrated storage locations of several chemical materials used to synthesize the gas.
The bad news was that the computer showed these materials were almost depleted.
This meant Scarecrow might have already manufactured enough fear gas and was just missing the means of dissemination.
Jason continued to infiltrate the factory and cornered a worker who was about to leave in a workshop.
"Where is Scarecrow now?"
This worker didn't seem like one of Scarecrow's subordinates.
And indeed, he said somewhat flustered, "Scarecrow is making bombs! Do you know what this means? He's ready to release the gas!"
He intends to use the power of the explosion to spread the gas?
Jason frowned, feeling something was off, but this was definitely the gas manufacturing room.
"Tell me, where is he now?"
"He's in the central mixing room."
Jason left the worker and headed straight for the central mixing room. There, he indeed found Scarecrow.
"I didn't expect you to find me first. That's quite surprising."
Scarecrow seemed confident. The next second, he even directly revealed Jason's identity.
"I imagine Batman doesn't know his little sidekick miraculously survived, does he?"
"Jason Todd."
Jason lifted his electronic mask, and a large gun instantly appeared in his hand, pointing at Scarecrow's head.
"What is your objective?"
"I saw your fight with Batman, and I must say, you greatly surprised me, Jason."
"You're even better than before, and I believe you, like us, are fed up with that bat."
"Your target is Batman." Jason suddenly understood.
"Exactly, of course it's him, it's always been him. All of this is to destroy Batman."
"But doing these things isn't just about killing him."
"What we hope to kill is the spirit that the identity of 'Batman' symbolizes."
"We will not only kill him but also reveal his identity to everyone. Damn Bruce Wayne!"
"So join us, Jason."
Scarecrow spread his arms, making an inviting gesture.
"One more question, how did you discover my identity?"
Scarecrow patiently explained:
"Joker told us the truth in Arkham. He said you weren't dead."
"And Riddler figured out your identity. We all agreed that you should join us, after all, you also hate Batman, don't you?"
"Joker definitely didn't tell you the whole truth, did he?"
"What do you mean?" Scarecrow suddenly felt something was wrong.
"You actually believed Joker's words, how ridiculous!"
Jason suddenly fired, the bullet piercing Scarecrow's lung, and he fell backward to the ground.
Scarecrow's eyes widened as he looked at Jason, seemingly unable to believe that he would actually shoot and kill him!
Jason took two steps forward, his large gun once again aimed at Scarecrow's brow.
"Do you think I won't kill you?"
Hearing this, Scarecrow suddenly laughed:
"It seems Joker wasn't a complete failure; he created a work like you. Can you still call yourself Robin?"
"Do you think you've won just like this?"
"Hahahahaha... my gas will become this city's nightmare, hahahahaha!"
Bang—!
Jason cleanly blew Scarecrow's head off.
He rushed to the central computer and found that the bomb had already started its countdown. Fortunately, it was computer-controlled.
Jason once again used the smart AI on his battle suit, and in less than a few minutes, he hacked into the computer and disarmed the bomb. But would things be that simple?
Scarecrow's last words lingered in his mind.
Jason didn't understand Scarecrow's meaning, but Dane knew very well: his contingency was Barbara.
While Batman was searching the city for the gas manufacturing plant and Scarecrow, Scarecrow had already sent a group of people to the Clock Tower Base to capture Barbara.
But Scarecrow never knew, even to his Death, that Dane had already planted a chess piece in the Clock Tower.
Barbara had limited mobility. When she realized she was in danger, fully armed mercenaries had already broken through the door.
Just as she was feeling despair, Damian, dressed as a ninja, suddenly leaped out of the darkness.
He was like a Shadow, only the swirling blades of his twin swords visible as he leaped and danced.
It was the Flower of Death, the Dance of Slaughter.
In less than five minutes, an elite mercenary squad was completely wiped out by Damian.
Barbara quietly retreated, taking out the small pistol hidden under her wheelchair.
"Who are you?"
"The one saving you." Damian was as arrogant as ever.
For some reason, Barbara felt this tone was familiar.
And she realized this short person was a child.
"How... old are you?"
Damian's body stiffened, then he got a little angry: "That's none of your business!"
He tapped a touchscreen button on his arm and said:
"I've saved the person. It's no longer safe here."
"Take her to Wayne Manor. There's no safer place than that."
"Oh, and confiscate her communicator. Let your dad think she's gone missing!"
"You're quite the bastard, but I like the idea. But how do we get back? There are still many Soldiers on the street."
He himself didn't care, but what about Barbara?
"Remember how you and Jason came to Gotham? You have one of those bracelets too."
Hearing this, Damian quickly checked, and soon, a bracelet-style device was nano-assembled and fitted onto his hand.
He complained: "This is very scientific, but not magic!"
He was joking. Although Damian hadn't seen it, his horizons were not low, and he knew what the combination of technology and magic meant.
He knew there was a "holy relic" in the League of Assassins called the Lazarus Pit, which could grant immortality if one immersed themselves in it.
It was said that when the leader of the League of Assassins died in a duel with Batman, he relied on this Pit to resurrect.
But his maternal grandfather, Ra's al Ghul, had possessed this "holy relic" for hundreds of years and had yet to fully understand its mysteries, let alone utilize its power through technological means.
So, Damian didn't show it openly, but he was still very wary of Dane in his heart.
He confiscated Barbara's communication equipment as instructed, which made her very angry.
"Hey! You can't do that!"
Damian didn't care. He grabbed Barbara with one hand and activated the bracelet with the other.
With a "whoosh," the two disappeared from the spot.