darknovel Chapter 254 Touching and Touching
Chapter 254 Touching and Touching
Chapter 254 Touching and Touching (Incorrect)
Chen Tao turned his face away expressionlessly.
"Uh, he's Alfred."
Diana moved a little closer, tilting her head to look at him with her lake-blue eyes.
"uh-huh?"
Uh, that movement is really intimidating. Her approach visually restricts my movement; it's a negotiation tactic—using close physical contact to encroach on someone's territory. She wants to… uh…
Chen Tao subconsciously wanted to start speculating on the other party's logic, just as he had done countless times before. Following clues and deducing results should have been his forte.
However, when he met those sea-blue eyes, he couldn't deduce anything further.
He maintained his expressionless demeanor. It was a form of disguise; never let others know what you're really thinking. If you can't be sure you won't give yourself away on your face, then it's best to keep your expression fixed.
—That's how it should be.
"Take off your hood," he then heard Diana say.
"No."
"Take it off."
"All right."
Chen Tao removed his half-face bat mask, revealing his true face to the air, which made him feel somewhat uncomfortable.
He didn't ask Diana why she made him do it, and she didn't mention it either.
For some time now, he's been wearing the hood constantly, either doing different things as Batman in different locations, or syncing with other Batmen, like the "Bat Wizard," and then spending time in the lab doing experiments with the exhausted Flash and Lucius, who's starting to show signs of baldness.
"That's Alfred, old butler Alfred. Hmm."
Chen Tao began unconsciously rubbing his hood, but he quickly realized it, then tucked the hood into his belt and said:
"He's quite old, so sometimes he makes mistakes."
"Hmm." Wonder Woman nodded.
However, just when Chen Tao thought he had gotten away with it, he suddenly heard the Amazon warrior ask a direct and abrupt question.
"So you're saying you didn't use my photo as your computer wallpaper?"
Chen Tao almost lost control of his expression.
"I...I took photos of everyone in the Justice League so that I could make their passes and record their information."
"Oh, I see." Wonder Woman nodded.
"He must have seen me touch up the photos, that's why he made the mistake—"
"You were touching things?"
"...You're thinking the wrong thing."
Then Diana started giggling first, followed closely by Chen Tao, who smiled slightly.
This little joke seemed to have been catalyzed, instantly making the atmosphere between the two more harmonious.
"So... you're leaving for Atlantis tomorrow?"
"We should be able to find someone by 10 a.m. tomorrow, around noon."
"Yes, you need to be careful. I have some connections in the government. They've told me that the government's attitude towards Atlantis is rather...unfriendly."
I suspect the Atlanteans weren't exactly friendly either; they used to fight against Themyscira (the island inhabited by the Amazons, the people Wonder Woman comes from).
"Um."
"Um."
Then they found they had nothing to say.
"So... is there anything else you'd like to talk to me about?" Diana asked.
She turned slightly to the side, as if she were about to walk away naturally.
She waited.
"No?"
Batman didn't react. That familiar, common, and consistent expressionless face that Diana knew so well began to appear on his face again.
In Diana's eyes, Batman seemed to only have two emotions: a maniacal laugh used to intimidate enemies and a pensive, expressionless face.
The faint smile I just saw seemed like an illusion.
"Are you really done talking? Then I'm leaving."
Batman still didn't say anything, and Diana felt somewhat disappointed.
She turned half her body to the side and lifted her foot slightly: "Well then, see you next time—"
"Uh, of course, uh."
Diana jerked her head back, blinking her blue eyes. "You need something else? What is it?"
Then there was a pause that lasted for more than 10 seconds.
"Whether you want to or not, I don't know..."
I'm really rambling.
Chen Tao thought to himself.
He said, "I don't know either, I mean. We can... we can do something else, I mean, or..."
"Isn't this for business discussions?"
"What? No, of course not. It's not a negotiation, nor is it part of any plan."
Just...do something else.
Ah, I know you'll be very busy with the Justice League's formation, and sometimes the government will ask you for favors. If you don't have time, then never mind—"
"OK."
Chen Tao and she met eyes.
"So, you agree."
"Yeah, I'll do anything."
"Oh, uh, um. Okay," Chen Tao said.
"But not now, it's not convenient now," he stammered, but even at this moment, his serious expression seemed frozen on his face. He subconsciously turned his head away: "I still have to deal with the Atlantis matter."
"Yes," Diana said. She suddenly realized something and quickly turned her head to the side, just like Batman.
The two people looked to the left and right in different places, then exchanged glances out of the corner of their eyes.
"Oh yes, I'm very busy right now."
"I know, I have things to do too."
"But perhaps..."
"Yes, you see..."
"In a couple of days?"
"In a couple of days, okay."
"OK."
"goodbye."
"goodbye."
……
……
……
"We are looking for a robust white man, approximately 28 years old, with blond hair and blond eyes. If he has a beard, it will also be blond. Name: Arthur Curry, codename: Aquaman."
Chen Tao, along with Supergirl Kara Kent and Superboy Conor Luther, sat in a hidden tactical van.
This van looks like an ordinary car on the outside, but its interior is decorated in a completely different way, almost like a small bat cave.
Early in his Batman career, Bruce Wayne lived directly in this vehicle, monitoring the Falcone family (the criminal organization of DC villains, the Romans) on a weekly basis to gather evidence that could legally put them in prison.
At this moment, the three of them were sitting in a row in the carriage, and on the screen in front of them, Amanda Waller was introducing the information the government had.
"His height is approximately between 1.9 and 2 meters. Although the fishermen say he is over 2.5 meters tall, after verification from multiple sources, we believe this is a false rumor."
"Arthur Curry is 1.93 meters tall," Chen Tao said.
Then he saw Amanda Waller glaring at him with a look that said, "Why didn't you say so sooner?"
"You continue."
"He is extremely dangerous. The highest level of strength we have observed him using is lifting a 16-ton cruise ship with his bare hands while being battered by tidal waves. Although this known upper limit of strength is not as high as Superman as we know him, it is in no way inferior to Wonder Woman Diana Prince."
Of the three people present, Supergirl listened attentively, Chen Tao already knew the information, but Superboy Connor was distracted.
Chen Tao stretched out a hand, syncing his fingers all the way to his shoulder into a high-speed bullet, and then gave Connor a sharp tap on the head from behind.
"Aww!"
"concentrate."
Superboy Conor covered his forehead: "Why did you hit me so hard?"
He glanced at the seat beneath him: "And I didn't even break the seat!"
This was, of course, because Chen Tao used a force from back to front, not from top to bottom. He hadn't planned to dismantle the car he was in yet.
Amanda on the screen continued speaking: "Dr. Stephen Shen was commissioned by Arthur Curry's father, Tom Curry, to conduct research on the Atlanteans when Arthur Curry was a child."
"However, Stephen Shen later attempted to make this research public. He intended to obtain the blood of the young Aquaman, Arthur, to prove to the world that he had discovered the existence of the Atlanteans."
"Therefore, the two families broke up, and Aquaman Arthur's father, Tom Curry, would never allow such research, which put his son in danger, to be made public. Because of some reasons why Dr. Shen kept his mouth shut and refused to share even at the cost of his life, Arthur's father, Tom Curry, died, and he never saw Arthur again."
"Dr. Shen's reluctance to share is quite simple," Chen Tao said. "He hired a mercenary named Black Manta to steal Aquaman Arthur's blood, but accidentally killed Arthur's father. Enraged, Aquaman went to Black Manta's salvage ship to seek revenge, but accidentally killed Black Manta's father as well. They killed each other's fathers, thus creating a deep-seated hatred."
He shrugged: "In short, it's about killing each other's fathers to show friendship."
Amanda Waller rolled his eyes. How do you know everything? If you know so much, why am I pretending to explain information you already know?
"You continue."
Hearing Batman's words, Amanda Waller could only sigh, and then continued, "Therefore, Dr. Shen could only provide us with some outdated information to help us speculate on Aquaman Arthur's current state."
As he spoke, he pondered Aquaman Arthur's question. Unlike Wonder Woman Diana, based on their information and Batman's account, the other person seemed to be... somewhat impulsive, reckless, and aggressive?
However, according to the timeline provided by Dr. Shen, it was only a profile of the person during his adolescence and cannot represent their current state. Amanda continued:
"Time has passed, and his appearance is probably quite different from that of his teenage years. As a result, we made a lot of mistakes in our initial preparations and found many incorrect descriptions of 'Sea King Arthur.' Moreover, due to inappropriate communication by our personnel, we even caused some panic within the fishermen's community, which made Sea King Arthur hide himself even more, indirectly increasing the difficulty of the mission."
"Fortunately, after a long period of effort and subsequent investment, we have finally pinpointed the possible location of Aquaman Arthur. No, or rather, if Aquaman Arthur is not here, it means that we will basically never be able to find him again."
On the screen, Amanda Waller tapped the table with her pen, and then the camera cut to the front of a small seaside pub.
"We finally settled on this place, Derry, Maine, the 'Yellow Boy' beer hall," Amanda Waller said. "Derry experienced a small boom due to the 1990 movie 'It,' and even though the benefits are almost gone now, it has internet access, allows people to connect with the outside world, and is one of the more populated coastal towns."
If Aquaman Arthur needs to gather information about the outside world, this would be a suitable location. However, what ultimately led us to this conclusion was another reason.
Amanda Waller displays a photo of a person on the screen.
He was a strong man, noticeably taller than the others, with shoulder-length golden hair and a lion-like golden beard. Most striking of all were his eyes:
It's a really golden yellow color, almost unreal, like wearing colored contact lenses.
"This man calls himself Arthur Morgan. He is currently a security guard at the Yellow Boys Tavern. He works part-time, on two days a week and five days a week, only on weekends, because weekends are when people relax and are also when the most security incidents are likely to occur in the tavern."
People around us told us he appeared in Derry two months ago. We couldn't find any train or plane tickets for him to Maine, nor could we find his name within Maine; it's highly likely a pseudonym.
How tall is he?
"According to the professional agents' calculations, he is 1.98 meters tall. This matches what the fishermen said; a height of around two meters could indeed be mistaken for around 2.5 meters. However, this is different from your information, Batman. We are not sure if it is him, so we reported an estimate of around 1.8 to 2 meters."
Chen Tao gestured for Amanda Waller to continue.
"We discovered that he was operating his own intelligence network locally and was deliberately avoiding our people while simultaneously gathering intelligence on government movements."
"Of course, it's not just us locals who suspect he's the Sea King that's been talked about among the fishermen, but no one dares to go up and ask him. Our agents once tested him, but he acted just like an ordinary person. It's hard to say whether his acting was too good or we were wrong."
Amanda Waller said:
"The name Arthur is far too common; there are people with that name everywhere. We dare not make any more drastic attempts, lest we mistake a fake Arthur again, which could have nearly resulted in the deaths of civilians."
"But no matter what, according to the probabilistic analysis of experts, Aquaman Arthur must have his own intelligence channels, otherwise there's no way to explain how he could hide from us for so long, you know? The submarines and fleets searching for him, even under deliberate searching conditions, have never encountered a single Atlantean. Even if we deliberately sent people to pose as fishermen to lure him out, he wouldn't fall for it."
"This would be almost impossible without any knowledge of the outside world."
Amanda Waller concluded, "Therefore, Aquaman Arthur Curry must be hiding among us. Even if he's not the long-haired blond target, he must be in Derry, because it's the easiest place to gather intelligence among coastal towns."
"I'm done talking," she said.
Chen Tao touched his chin.
"Alright, since that's the case, what are we waiting for? Let's go and try him out for ourselves."
(End of this chapter)