Again?
I, Zane, would rather die outside and jump down from here today than accept another private detective commission!
"Thanks for the offer, but I've already retired." Zane crossed his arms and said bluntly.
Nightwing and Robin exchanged a glance, and the former silently held up three fingers.
"Is this... three million?" Zane narrowed his eyes. "That's it?"
However, Nightwing shook his head.
"Could it be thirty million?" To be honest, Zane was a little swayed.
Although he said he would take responsibility for his words, but... but this was a whole thirty million dollars after all!
This was Gotham. If he wanted to develop his own forces in this cursed city, then besides his own powerful strength, the power of money was also indispensable.
Otherwise, why did the Bat always act as the leader in the Justice League? Wasn't it because he paid the salaries of the other six core members?
If you want the horse to run, you have to feed it grass. Relying solely on hardline methods to intimidate subordinates won't last long, otherwise the Dark Lord Darkseid wouldn't have so many rebellious underlings.
Zane knew this principle. With this thirty million dollars in his hands, it could exert a massive effect.
Of course, nodding in agreement immediately was definitely impossible. He was a reserved person; he wouldn't just...
"It's three hundred million," Nightwing's tone was very calm.
"H-h-h-how much?"
"Three hundred million," Nightwing repeated again in a very calm tone.
Zane was silent for two seconds, then let out a heavy breath. Immediately after, he walked over to Nightwing and Robin.
He put his right arm around Nightwing's shoulders and his left arm around Robin's... Too short, couldn't reach... He switched to resting his fingers against Robin's shoulder.
The morning sun of Gotham shone on the three of them. Zane looked at this city reborn in the bright sunlight, his eyes full of determination and conviction:
"Nightwing, Robin, do you know why my eyes are always filled with tears?"
"Why?" Nightwing and Robin were a bit bewildered.
"Because I love Gotham deeply..." Zane had a look of profound affection. "It's a pity this city is cursed. Sin has become her symbol, pain has become her impression, and chaos has become her synonym..."
"This beautiful city is sick, very sick. And the worst part is, the only Dark Knight who could save her has also gone missing."
"There are lunatics everywhere on the streets. These damn guys are the cancer cells of this city! Tell me, can I tolerate this current situation?"
"No?" Nightwing and Robin, being held by Zane, asked hesitantly.
"Exactly!" Zane was entirely filled with justice. "So, we must bring that Dark Knight back!"
Letting go, he looked at Nightwing and Robin. "Just as you guessed earlier, I do know a bit about the Court of Owls."
"I already have a general plan for the whole thing. The specific operation will start early tomorrow morning. We'll meet up at Walton Street then."
"But before that, I still have some personal matters to handle."
Hearing this, both Nightwing and Robin nodded without objection.
Finally, after discussing some matters regarding the money transfer and exchanging contact information, Zane walked over to the window.
He pressed the Omnitrix button and transformed into Diamondhead.
"Zane, you..." Nightwing over there suddenly spoke up, but was interrupted by Zane: "When I am in this form, please call me Diamondhead!"
What a chuunibyou name! Aren't you embarrassed?
Nightwing couldn't help but complain internally, not even able to voice the question he originally wanted to ask.
"So chuunibyou," Robin beside him curled his lips and said directly.
However, in this teenager's heart, he couldn't help but stare deeply at Diamondhead's incredibly dazzling and gorgeous body... So handsome, so cool.
If only I could fight alongside someone this explosively cool, it would definitely feel amazing.
A teenage boy was completely unable to resist Diamondhead's charm.
"See you two tomorrow morning! The meeting place is Walton Street." After Zane finished speaking, he signaled the undead Talon to follow, while he himself leaped down.
The fierce wind surged like flowing water, the air howling incessantly. After falling midway, he pressed the transformation button again.
Transforming into Diamondhead at first wasn't completely unnecessary. Zane had never performed a secondary transformation while already transformed, so he intended to test it out now.
Diamondhead's crystalline body rapidly receded, replaced by pure plasma radiating extreme heat, looking like a humanoid creature composed of fire.
And covering this fire were brownish-red rocks that looked like volcanic rock.
The raging fire on his head drifted about like hair... Heatblast, a Pyronite.
Boom!
A ball of fire materialized beneath his feet. The massive propulsive force caused Zane's falling body to rise again, heading toward the outskirts of Gotham at an extremely fast speed, leaving a dark red trail of fire behind him.
...
After Zane left, Nightwing and Robin took Gene to the Gotham City Police Department for protection.
On the way, the two contacted Alfred, asking him to use the Batcomputer to thoroughly investigate Zane's identity and see what exactly his background was.
As members of the Bat-Family who had hung around Batman for too long, Nightwing and Robin had also started suspecting this and doubting that all day long, becoming extremely cautious.
If Zane had no bad record, then the cooperation would continue.
If Zane had a bad record... well, Nightwing and Robin would grit their teeth, prepare ten thousand backup plans, and still continue the cooperation.
The reason for this was very simple: they desperately wanted to find Bruce, and their previous investigations had yielded no useful progress.
And Zane gave them hope.
Even if they were uncertain about the authenticity of this hope, they had to try.
Bruce must be brought back! No matter what...
...
Gotham, a remote suburban area.
The early autumn sky had cleared up. The morning sun shone on the verdant trees that hadn't yet begun to shed their leaves. Amidst the shade of the green trees, a wooden cabin stood quietly.
Activating the Dark Armor magic, a layer of incredibly hard Dark Elements attached to the surface of Zane's body.
Under his intentional control, these originally invisible Dark Elements dissipated outward, forming a purplish-black mist.
The occasionally exposed silhouette carried a terrifying, evil, and unholy infectiousness. Zane's current appearance was completely that of a supervillain.
After all, the person he was meeting was also a supervillain.
Walking up to the wooden cabin next to the trees, Zane knocked on the door.
The door opened. The person who opened the door wasn't surprised at all upon seeing Zane's terrifying appearance. He merely smiled sinisterly and stepped aside to let the guest in.
The furnishings in the house were very bizarre, like the cluttered room of a mad scientist from a movie.
"So, have you prepared everything I need?" Zane asked straight to the point.
"Hehehe." The owner of the room wore a bizarre hood woven from straw on his head. He rubbed his hands together. "Of course... of course I've prepared it."
<><><><><<><><><><<><><><><<><><><><
Read advaned Chapters on : patreon.com/Kaizo247
~ Evey 150 PS = Bonus Chapter
~ ush the Story forward with your [Power Stones]