## Chapter 1: The Batman’s Identity Exposed (Please Collect)
2024-04-15
## Chapter 1: The Batman’s Identity Exposed (Please Collect)
Gotham… is a sheet of black paper.
It’s the white words you write on that black paper, the path you desperately chase, the path of constant decline.
It’s like the first sentence of the last story of your life.
—*Batman: Gotham Impression*
…
“Sizzle… Gotham Gazette brings you the latest news… The Ventriloquist is in a tense standoff with the Gotham Police Department, the evidence bureau, for three hours now. Experts believe…”
“…it’s simply a case of freaks attracting each other… The Arkham Asylum breakout a few days ago… because of Batman, you know, he attracts those…”
“So far, Batman hasn’t arrived at the scene. We can’t help but wonder if the rumors of Batman’s death are true? Is the Gotham City Police Department incompetent to the point of… wait, there’s new information. It’s Batman! He’s here!”
June in Gotham City was a season of endless rain, but the square in front of the Gotham evidence bureau was even more boisterous than usual.
Chen Tao’s Batmobile hadn’t even come to a stop when a swarm of reporters swarmed around him like flies attracted to rotting flesh.
They braved the drizzle, pushing past protesters holding signs that read “We Don’t Want Batman”, and the police officers using batons to maintain order.
Flashbulbs from cameras flickered incessantly.
“Batman, what’s your opinion on the recent rumors that you were killed by Bane…”
“…What are your thoughts on the Ventriloquist’s challenge?”
“…Batman, why are you openly…”
“You freak! It’s all your fault! That maniac inside, you understand, you attract…”
“…Catch him! Catch him!”
The protesters attempting to attack the Batmobile were quickly subdued, but Chen Tao paid no attention to them.
Amidst the chaos, he opened the Batmobile’s sliding roof, breathing in the first damp air of the rainy night, facing those who looked at him with admiration, indifference, or disgust.
Hiss—
He was inexplicably nervous, something he hadn’t felt in a long time.
In his previous life as an actor, he should have been used to being in the spotlight.
But… today was different.
Chen Tao sighed. Being transported to the DC Universe was one thing, but he, as a huge comic book fan, was confident he could still live well. He never expected, however, that he would be inhabiting the body of the legendary Batman, Bruce Wayne himself…
What about the promised “hanging onto his coattails?” What happened to that? How come he became the coattail himself?
As everyone knows, Batman, the only member of the Justice League Seven without superpowers, is arguably the most powerful human on Earth.
He’s incredibly wealthy, brilliant, unbelievably smart, a master of combat, with a will as strong as steel. He punches Darkseid and kicks the Justice League; he’s just too awesome to describe with words!
But – how is this related to Chen Tao, the transmigrator?
Oh, right, Batman is an orphan, and he was an orphan in his previous life. Perhaps this is their only common ground. The original owner who lost both parents plus the transmigrator who lost both parents. This double-orphan combo is just insanely cool.
Even more infuriatingly, being transmigrated into Batman was already hell mode, but his time travel trajectory was the *Batman: Knightfall* era. The Dark Knight was about to face one of his very few total defeats – being broken by **Bane**!!!
This wasn’t even hell mode anymore.
Chen Tao also considered leaving Gotham behind, but he quickly abandoned this foolish notion.
Bane knew Batman’s true identity. Fleeing without a fight was practically suicide.
Once Bane had crushed him and completely taken control of the city, perhaps… no, without a doubt, it would be the end of him. Even if he survived by some miracle, he would be confined to a wheelchair for life…
His gaze drifted to the bottom left corner, where a row of silver-white letters appeared, visible only to him.
[Alfred Protocol is active]
[Warning! You need at least one anchoring artifact to synchronize Batman’s memories!]
Damn, other people arrive at the Batcave, sign in, get Kryptonite, swallow it, and become Superman instantly. And here he was, not even getting the basic benefit of “original owner’s memories”!
Three days after arriving, he’d even tried the toilet paper in the Batcave, but there was no response at all.
Chen Tao knew about the Alfred Protocol, but in the comics, this was supposed to be a physical, mechanical device Batman used to prevent memory tampering, not something that appeared on his retina like this!
“Batman!”
A call interrupted Chen Tao’s thoughts. He turned to see Gotham City Police Commissioner James Gordon rushing towards him.
He had big, dark circles under his eyes, with his brown hair, streaked with gray, damp and messy, clinging to his forehead, making him look both haggard and neurotic, like a groundhog that had been raped until it was mentally weakened.
“Oh my God! Batman! You’re here. I can’t believe you’re still alive. I saw Bane break your neck with my own eyes. Are you really Batman, or is it just the Joker wearing your clothes and cowl after finding your corpse, playing a role-playing game with me?”
“Stop the pointless probing.” Chen Tao replied, “Don’t be fooled by the rumors.”
He immediately recognized the probing beneath Gordon’s joking words and interrupted him directly. It was true that his physical body was real, but his soul was fake. So please, don’t discover the truth, astute detective.
Chen Tao sighed silently. It was hard dealing with Gotham’s elite. Without Batman’s memories, he had to rely on himself.
He cast his gaze upon the silent Gotham evidence bureau in the rain.
This was the plan.
As a huge comic book fan, he knew the Batman comics by heart, and he was intimately familiar with the villains in the comics.
Combining his skills as an actor and his past experience as a psychiatrist in controlling and understanding other people’s minds, he could try to control and manipulate some of the weaker or less-stable villains psychologically, then use them to fight Bane…
Chen Tao looked at Gordon and got to the point.
“Did you bring what I asked for?”
“Oh, oh, of course.”
Gordon’s eyes flicked away from his face and he raised the evidence bag in his hand. Inside was a grotesque wooden puppet with a scar on its face.
Scarface, the Ventriloquist’s beloved puppet.
“Alright, give it to me.”
Gordon clearly hesitated, but he still handed the evidence bag to Chen Tao, which relieved him.
After a moment’s thought, he explained,
“The source of the rumors, the ‘Batman’ that Bane killed wasn’t me. It was my disciple, Deathwing.”
“Yes, yes, yes.”
Gordon, very intelligently, did not pursue that topic.
Chen Tao looked at him intently.
“We’ll talk about this later.”
He then retrieved a large duffel bag from the back of the Batmobile, holding the Scarface puppet in his hand, and walked towards the evidence bureau’s gate, right in front of everyone.
“Hiss…”
He whispered inaudibly,
Ladies and gentlemen,
The props are ready, the actors are in place.
Please allow me the honor of announcing that the performance…
Begins.
This book has been signed for internal publication! You can invest with confidence!
(End of Chapter)
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