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After a full minute of intense gunfire, the Riddler finally stopped the barrage.
"Gone?"
The Batman who had stood at the entrance was nowhere to be seen.
The Riddler certainly did not believe Batman had been killed by the gunfire. There had been no blood, and he had not heard the sound of bullets striking a body.
"Batman definitely wouldn't die from that."
He thought cautiously.
"In the past, Batman would probably have tried to circle around and launch a surprise attack from behind. But today, he can't use that trick."
Inside the confined space of the container, there was no possible route that would allow Batman to get behind him.
So Batman had to be outside.
"You think I won't know what you're doing just because you're hiding out there? Batman, you've gotten naive."
The Riddler took a few steps back and stomped on another pedal.
A display screen descended, showing a real time, three hundred and sixty degree view of the area around the container.
"What? How can he not be there?"
The Riddler stared at the surveillance feed in disbelief. There was no sign of Batman anywhere.
Batman was not near the container at all.
"Impossible. I clearly saw Batman just now."
The Riddler was certain that the one who opened the container door a moment ago was Batman. The wide open iron door was proof that it had not been his imagination.
So… did Batman just leave?
That made no sense.
Batman could only have come here for one reason, the Riddler. He had even seen the moment when the Riddler was about to remove Robin's mask. With all that, how could Batman simply take a look and walk away?
Could it be that he had been scared off by those four machine guns just now?
If someone said that out loud, the Riddler would not believe it even if he were beaten to death.
"Wait. Where's Robin? Did Batman take Robin away?"
Only then did the Riddler remember there was supposed to be someone else here.
He hurriedly turned to look at the spot where Robin had been lying.
The result, of course, was that Robin was still lying there, completely motionless.
"Not rescued? So Batman just abandoned Robin? This pair really isn't reliable at all."
The Riddler found himself forming a new opinion of Batman and Robin.
"Strange. This is too strange. If Batman didn't come to catch me, and he didn't come to save Robin either, then why did he come here at all? It feels like he just wanted to scare me. Batman has never acted like this before…"
Batman's abnormal behavior kept the Riddler unsettled for a long time. He looked at the monitor again, then around the container, constantly forming theories about Batman's purpose, only to overturn each one himself.
"No, no, no. The Batman I know isn't like this. How could he just leave? The Batman from before would have appeared like a ghost in the place I least expected after the gunfire ended, right when I was smugly thinking I'd finished him off.
While I was still shocked that he hadn't been shot to death, he'd say, 'Because I'm Batman,' in that low, raspy voice, then knock me out with a punch like a sandbag, tie me up, and haul me off to Arkham. That's Batman."
At that moment, the Riddler felt an indescribable sense of disappointment.
"Forget it. I'd better finish what I started. Batman may have changed, but no matter what he becomes, there will always be people in this city who want his life. And the identities of Robin and Batman will still be worth a fortune."
After confirming that Batman had truly left, the Riddler returned to Robin, his interest noticeably diminished.
But the moment the Riddler bent down to lift the mask, he froze, his outstretched hand hanging in midair.
A second later, his body began to tremble slightly.
Not from fear, but from rage.
The Robin in front of him was a fake.
The texture of the skin was close enough to human to fool someone at a glance, but up close it was obvious. This was nothing more than a lifelike doll.
Because Batman had appeared so suddenly earlier, the Riddler had retreated to the far end of the container and never got a clear look at Robin's condition.
Now he finally understood.
Robin had been swapped out long ago.
In an instant, everything became clear.
The Batman he saw earlier must have been a fake too.
So who exactly had he been outwitting this whole time?
"Kaitou Kid. It's you, isn't it? Who else would use tricks like lifelike dolls?"
The Riddler spoke through clenched teeth.
"The timing of the swap was most likely in that second or two before the machine guns opened fire. To drag the real Robin away in such a short moment and replace him with a fake to mislead me is no simple feat."
"But you're despicable, Kaitou Kid. You clearly announced you'd act at midnight, yet here you are before six in the evening. You lying cheat."
After a long while, the Riddler finally calmed himself and began to rethink his next move.
He had two core goals in kidnapping that girl. One was to prove that he was superior to Kaitou Kid when it came to riddles. The other was to lure Kaitou Kid out and eliminate him.
Gotham did not need two Riddlers.
But the current situation had completely diverged from his original plan.
First, Robin had triggered the trap meant for Kaitou Kid. At the time, that had not been too serious.
There was still plenty of time before midnight, and the Riddler could have set another trap. But Kaitou Kid's early arrival made that impossible.
"In this situation, eliminating Kaitou Kid in the short term is no longer realistic. Then I'll make his declaration fail instead. Since you broke your own notice and appeared early, the three day deadline I gave will have to be moved up as well…"
A murderous glint flashed in the Riddler's eyes.
...
Meanwhile, in a warehouse near the port.
Darren placed Robin gently on the ground.
"Whew. Good thing I wasn't late. You almost got unmasked, Tim. Skipping classes for a whole day without a word, I knew you were going to get yourself into trouble."
He let out a quiet sigh, looking at Robin as he muttered to himself.
Then Darren took off the badly fitting imitation Batsuit and changed back into his own Kaitou outfit.
"This feels much better."
Kaitou Kid made his grand appearance.
"Judging by the timing, the Riddler should be discovering the fake Robin by now. Once he loses his temper, he might even move the execution time forward."
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