161-165

Chapter 161: I Said Getting Caught Was a Conclusion 

In front of the massive glass curtain wall, you could see the brilliant, colorful, twinkling city lights. 

It’s rare to see such a clear and bright night sky over Gotham City. The starlight and moonlight in the sky shone down, reflecting off the city below, and their pure white glow streamed through the glass exterior into the building, illuminating the office desk and the visitor’s chair. 

Also illuminated were Riddler lying on the ground, and the blood reflecting a dark red glow in the moonlight, flowing more and more, faster and faster. 

"Ngh..." He pressed down hard on his wound, his eyes fixed on the night sky outside the glass curtain wall. 

Sure enough, a moment later, a dark shadow of a bat swept across the face of the moon. 

He silently spread his wings, and the huge shadow covered the moonlight, enveloping Riddler by the glass curtain wall. 

Smash! The crisp sound of breaking glass echoed, and tiny fragments splattered under the moonlight, shimmering with a strange glint. 

He squatted beside Riddler, looking down at the hand covering his stomach, instantly assessing the extent of the injury. 

Joker 's usual revolver is a .45 caliber; there seems to be ash and gunpowder residue mixed in with the blood, but not on the clothes, so it was a contact shot (gun barrel pressed against the body); this rate of bleeding indicates a large wound, and even emergency hemostasis won't save him... He's not going to make it. 

Batman quickly made a judgment in his mind and soon thought of a second question – where did the person who shot him run off to? 

"He has... he took... my bomb." 

Riddler curled up in extreme pain, his eyes wide, his voice weak and intermittent, gasping occasionally: "Joker ran off... ran off with the bomb." 

Should I go after Joker right now? 

Batman immediately made a judgment in his mind. This was the highly rational choice. Riddler was beyond saving, but right now he might still be able to stop Joker with the bomb, which could save more people. 

Riddler tightened his grip on his wound. He saw Batman stand up, his eyes lowered, concealing his smile. At the same time, he pressed down harder on his wound, letting the blood flow out in torrents. 

Smart people can often see the distant future, but they often fail to see what's right in front of them, a phenomenon known as "darkness under the lamp." Batman was extremely experienced and could judge the severity of the injury from the rate of bleeding at a glance. However, he didn't have much time to think right now, nor did he consider that someone shot at close range with a large-caliber revolver would actively bleed themselves. 

So he misjudged Riddler’s injury and wound status, and therefore decided to go directly after Joker . 

Watching the departing Batman, Riddler started genuinely pressing hard on his wound to stop the bleeding. After Batman left, he could get up and escape directly in the opposite direction. 

However, just then, heavy footsteps suddenly echoed in the dark space. 

"Huff, huff, pant... Gotham PD! Nobody move!" 

Bang! 

The large door was suddenly pushed open, and a guy covered in sweat rushed in, holding a fake gun. 

Riddler saw that familiar face and froze instantly. 

Batman looked at the guy who suddenly burst into the room, examining his clothes, his posture, and the calluses on his hands. The guy seemed to have some traits of a police officer about him, but it looked like they were deliberately imitated – though this wasn't strange, as rookies who weren't trained properly often acted like that. 

At this point, he also pulled up police records from the Gotham PD via facial recognition – sure enough, this was a rookie who had only been in Gotham for a couple of days. Otherwise, Batman wouldn't have failed to recognize him, as he had memorized every officer in the Gotham City Police Department. 

At this moment, Cody looked at Riddler on the ground, then at Batman standing beside him, and breathed a sigh of relief, putting his gun away. 

"Sorry, sir, I didn't recognize you at first – Commissioner Gordon mentioned you're an ally." 

"Call an ambulance." After confirming Cody's friendly status, Batman immediately rushed into the darkness. "Then tell Commissioner Gordon, Joker is nearby." 

Cody nodded. 

At this moment, Riddler, lying on the ground, was furious beyond belief. He never in his wildest dreams imagined that he had clearly found a way out of a desperate situation through his genius quick wit, and was just about to gain freedom, only for this guy to show up out of nowhere. 

No! How the heck did you manage to track me here?! Your brain can figure out answers?! Your gun is even fake as hell! 

No, impossible! How could an idiot mess up my plans twice?! No, this guy must be really smart. He must have seen through my escape plan, and figured out the truth about Joker , or maybe he's got an expert guiding him! 

After turning this over in his mind, Riddler finally felt... relief? No, scratch that. He absolutely could not accept the fact that an ordinary person had messed up his genius plans twice. 

But you can't keep lying to yourself forever. He knew himself that his assumptions were full of holes. If his plan had really been seen through early, the prison guards would have been replaced long ago. 

"Whoa, you're bleeding a lot!" 

Cody's words interrupted his thoughts. He squatted down beside Riddler. "You're not faking it, are you? Can you actually still move right now? I suggest you keep that wound covered properly, or you might die before the ambulance gets here." 

"Speaking of which, who shot you? Was it Joker ? Why'd he shoot you?" 

"Can you... shut up?" Riddler gritted his teeth, replying with difficulty, coughing up blood occasionally. "I'm dying, and you're still, with me, cough – playing games? Can't you see how much blood I'm losing?" 

"Playing games? What do you mean?" Cody looked at the blood on the ground. "Oh, yeah, there's a good amount of blood, but you can still talk, right? So it's probably not that serious." 

"You— cough, cough, cough..." 

Riddler opened his mouth to curse out loud, but the slightest movement in his lungs triggered a sharp pain, making him unable to get the words out. 

"I told you, keep that wound covered properly. You keep trying to curse people out. See? More blood." 

Cody pointed the fake gun at Riddler on the ground. "Don't move around! I still got a gun, you know. Don't even think about ambushing me." 

"Downstairs... from the model shop, cough, cough, mass-produced stuff – did you, cough, cough, spend a hundred bucks on this... gun?" 

"Is this gun really that fake? cough, cough..." 

Cody wore an awkward but polite smile. He put the fake gun back on his waist, casually covering up his embarrassment. "Heh, yeah, I could tell you were smart way back when you were in prison. See? My judgment is spot-on." 

Riddler's eyes were practically burning holes through him. He kept repeating to himself that the guy in front of him was definitely a very smart person, but every word Cody said shattered his illusion, and every action seemed like that of an ordinary idiot. 

"Let's... make a fair deal." He struggled to catch his breath and said to Cody, "You answer my questions, I'll answer yours – I'll go first." 

Cody blinked. "Okay." 

Riddler took a deep breath, finally asking the question that had been baffling him. 

"How did you track me here?" 

Chapter 162: The Damn Jinx Passes Out from Anger 

"Oh, you wanna know about that, huh?" 

Cody shrugged. "After you bolted, Chief Gordon told me to go home and take some paid leave, but you know, I'm new in Gotham, don't really have anywhere to go yet. So I just wandered around the city. It wasn't just about finding a place to crash, though – mainly I wanted to see if Riddler would go back near the crime scene." 

"But that guy's too shifty. I couldn't nab him, and I didn't have any leads. Finally, when the news said he was missing, it was already getting pretty late." 

"Then I remembered you pointed at something on the map in the interrogation room earlier – figured a smart guy's choices gotta be right. So I hailed a cab and headed that way. But halfway there, I heard this huge crash, like a car wreck." 

Cody wasn't lying. Besides the system, which he had to lie to cover up, everything else was the truth. He really did manage to pinpoint Riddler's location right away because of Riddler's car crash. 

But hearing that was way too insulting for Riddler lying there. At this point, he even closed his eyes in despair. 

Again, it was like this again – why did that lunatic Joker have to deliberately flip his car? And this idiot in front of him was supposed to be heading straight for the Monarch Theater! 

He gritted his teeth, absolutely fed up with the humiliation of today. Every time it was an accident, every time it was this idiot's random stroke of luck. 

If Riddler had just gotten to his destination normally, if he hadn't pointed at the Monarch Theater on the map, if this idiot hadn't been off duty today because of the prison thing, if he'd had a place to go home to... 

"Then I followed and checked it out. Yep, saw you walk into the building, so I followed you up." 

"But you shouldn't have known the floor, you scrub!" 

Riddler twisted his face away in agony. He suddenly understood how the other guy cracked the riddle about the floor – he didn't crack squat, he saw which floor his elevator went to! 

"Crud! Crud! Crud!" He closed his eyes in despair because he thought of something even deeper – he realized why this guy showed up at just the right time. 

Dang it, he was the one who pressed all the elevator buttons, making them unusable for a short time. So this guy came up the stairs – at least the first part was up the stairs. 

If this guy had shown up a little earlier, Riddler could have taken care of him too. If he'd shown up a little later, he could have escaped right after Batman left. But he showed up at just the perfect time, right after Batman arrived and was about to leave but hadn't yet. At this point, he'd lost too much blood and had no ability to fight back. Even if Batman left, he couldn't handle an unarmed Cody. 

And all of this was caused by Riddler's own plan. 

In Nygma's past life, there had never been a moment as desperate as this. For the first time in his life, he truly understood what "malice from fate" felt like. 

"That damn lunatic, that damn idiot!" He cursed everything from today fiercely in his heart: the prison guard who left the keys outside the door; the unpredictable Joker, who like a psycho caused a car crash and then suddenly shot him; and this idiot in front of him, new to the police department, who dared to track him with a fake gun. 

The stupidity of ordinary people was already enough to make Nygma disgusted, but ordinary people causing his plans to fail because of their stupidity – it practically made him want to kill himself right then and there. Riddler, who prided himself on being a genius, had never been so humiliated in his life. 

Why? My plan clearly had a high tolerance for error, so why do these mediocre people always mess things up at the most crucial moment? Don't they know the consequences of doing the wrong thing? 

At this moment, the siren of an ambulance sounded on the street. 

"Oh, the ambulance is here. It's my turn to ask you a question." Cody rubbed his hands together expectantly. "I've been wanting to ask, what's up with your hand? Why does it look like a chicken foot?" 

Hearing this question, Riddler's vision went dark, and he just passed out. 

Cody was about to walk to the window to take in the Gotham nightscape, but suddenly he cocked his ear and listened intently. With his hearing, he could make out a faint, light footstep on the floor above. 

That was Riddler, he thought. Batman was a master of stealth, his footsteps were almost nonexistent. And after the gunshot, there wouldn't be anyone else left in this building now. 

Cody glanced at the system panel again. The "I Didn't Kill Anyone" skill now had two charges. The cooldown for each charge was originally twelve hours, but after upgrading, it was reduced to six hours. Both charges were now off cooldown. 

"Better put a buff on you first..." 

[Prompt: Skill usage range is limited to within ten meters of your location. Use immediately?] 

"Use one." 

Meanwhile, Riddler, sneaking through the building like a ghost, was completely unaware, still focused on playing hide-and-seek with Batman. 

When Riddler was taken to the hospital, the doctors said he still had vital signs and might make it – Cody wasn't too concerned about that. If Riddler actually died, it wasn't his fault. 

However, just to be safe, he used the "I Didn't Kill Anyone" skill on Riddler again, then followed the police back to the Gotham City Police Department, gave his statement, and finally found a motel. 

As for where his money came from... 

At the hospital, the police officers were searching Riddler's personal belongings. 

"Weird, why isn't there any money in this guy's wallet?" 

"Does it matter? This scumbag killed a lieutenant just this morning. Forget getting his money stolen by a pickpocket, even if a mugger just outright robbed him, I'd say he deserved it." 

"Yeah, guess so..." 

Riddler was loaded. Cody roughly estimated that the money on him was enough for him to stay in a motel for a week – to prevent issues with different currency between universes, he'd also bought some gold bars to keep on him, but he didn't have time to sell them today. So, he'd just borrow Nygma's money for now and pay him back next time. 

Naturally, there were cheaper places to rent in the East End, but it was really late today, and he didn't have anyone to introduce him around. So, he could only look for rental places in the East End tomorrow. 

The next day, morning in Gotham City. 

Cody stood on the side of Murdoch Street and waved, flagging down a yellow cab and settling into the back seat. 

"Hey, I wanna head to the Gotham East End." 

"Hahaha, what a coincidence, haha, the last customer went to the Northeast area of Gotham, hehe, you guys are pretty close, hahahaha—" 

"Uh-huh." Cody shrugged. "Even though it's a nice day today, I don't often see people laughing that hard. Something good happen?" 

"Haha, hahaha, what'd you say?" 

Cody's face suddenly changed because the driver's laughter wouldn't stop. 

"Hahaha, haha, hehehoohoohoo hahahaha..." 

This laughter sounded pretty familiar. In fact, Cody had personally seen two people laugh like this before. 

One was Riddler, and the second... 

Was Solomon Grundy after being gassed with laughing gas. 

Chapter 163: Lunatics Don't Have Normal Logic 

This driver wasn't Joker, of course. 

Cody had taken a look when he got in the car. The guy's skin color, height, build, smell, accent, and even his dressing habits were completely different from Joker's. Not to mention the possibility of Joker disguising himself like this, there was no reason for him to do it, especially not for Cody. 

Just from meeting Joker yesterday, it was clear that Joker in this world was also a highly intelligent criminal who paid attention to his appearance and demeanor. Cody could hardly imagine him deliberately changing into cheap, wrinkled, and greasy clothes and shaving his head into a receding hairline. 

Maybe dealing with Batman would be worth sacrificing his image, but definitely not for dealing with himself. 

So, the answer was naturally the second one – this driver, like Grundy before him, had been hit with Joker's laughing gas. 

The reason he'd held on until now was that "I Didn't Kill Anyone" skill buff Cody had given Joker last night. Otherwise, he'd probably be dead on this street from the laughing gas by now. 

Cody watched the driver, who was laughing uncontrollably. He seemed to be on the verge of losing consciousness. In just a few sentences, he couldn't even form a complete word, only letting out eerie bursts of hysterical laughter. 

"Eat my milk!" 

When Cody took out his water gun and squirted some MC milk into his mouth, after a few seconds, the driver finally slowly calmed down and regained some clarity. It wasn't that he didn't want to give him milk candy, but he was afraid he'd choke on it while laughing hysterically. Then Joker's laughing gas wouldn't kill him, but Cody's milk candy would. 

"Cough, cough, oh god, oh god." He coughed dryly, clutching his throat. The desperate laughter just now had put a huge strain on his throat and lungs. He was even coughing up streaks of blood. Joker's laughing gas was truly lethal. 

"I finally don't have to laugh anymore, oh god, I felt like I was practically dying just now." 

You were about to die, Cody thought to himself. If he hadn't run into this cab driver, the guy might have been taken back to the Gotham City Police Department for a double inspection by Gordon and Batman. 

Of course, even then, he'd still have a chance. After all, the all-capable Lucius could probably figure out an antidote in time. 

"Sir, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to laugh. I just suddenly, I don't know why – wait, why is there a sweet taste in my mouth? What happened? Did you give me something?" 

"Nah, I didn't. You just suddenly started laughing really loud and kept going for a while before you calmed down," Cody replied. "As you can see, I'm an officer of Gotham City Police Department. You seemed like you'd been hit with Joker's laughing gas just now. I need to report this to the Chief. Someone might come find you later to take your statement, but it won't be me – I need to head to your last passenger's destination and check out the situation there. If I'm lucky, nobody got hurt over there, but I'm not holding my breath." 

"Uh... I remember, I was driving on Oatesburg Road. It was early morning, hardly anyone around. When I passed by a small alley, a really pale guy walked out and flagged me down. He took my cab..." 

"Darrel Campbell," Cody said into the phone. "That's the cab driver's name. The yellow cab is his too." 

"Campbell's an old pro, he's been driving a cab for fourteen years. He ran into Joker flagging him down on the road. Regular folks... they don't all recognize Joker. He thought it was just a normal passenger." 

"He was wrong." Chief Gordon's sigh came over the phone. "Good thing he's alive, though. But why didn't Joker's laughing gas kill him?" 

"I dunno, maybe he didn't inhale a big dose?" Cody shrugged. "Anyway, at least he's not laughing anymore. Getting back to it, he was telling Joker about his two kids. This guy's something else, he put two kids through college with just tips. He still owes student loans, but he covered all the tuition and living expenses himself." 

"...Thank God he's alive," Chief Gordon breathed out. "Otherwise, his two kids would have lost their dad. But where did Joker get off?" 

"Oh, that's the key part. According to Campbell, he took Joker to 69 Dick Sprang Street." Cody shook his head. "The poor guy told Joker a dirty joke." 

Chief Gordon was silent for a moment. "Dick? Sixty-nine?" 

"Uh-huh – I guess Joker maybe doesn't appreciate that kind of humor," Cody responded. "Anyway, Joker got to 69 Dick Sprang Street about half an hour ago. I'm on my way there by cab right now. Campbell went to Gotham Hospital, you should be able to find him there." 

"Be careful, Cody," Chief Gordon cautioned. "You're alone, no weapon on you. If you run into someone dangerous like Joker, prioritize your own safety. Wait for backup if you can. Stall if you can, run if you can't." 

"Got it." 

Cody answered casually but didn't hang up the phone. After getting his identity in this world, his original phone card, driver's license, and other IDs worked in both universes, which was convenient. 

He kept the call connected and took a cab to Sprang Street. As soon as he got out of the car, Chief Gordon's voice came over the phone again. 

"Cody, where are you?" 

"Chief Gordon, I just got off at number sixty-nine on the street. There's a house here, looks like a regular residence." 

Cody reported the situation into the phone while approaching the house. Using his enhanced hearing, he detected that there seemed to be no human sounds inside the house, as if Joker had already left. 

So, he walked step by step towards the door and took a lock pick from his pocket – one produced by the system. 

Meanwhile, Chief Gordon was in his car, also rushing to Sprang Street. He looked at the file in his hand and continued talking to Cody. 

"We've found the file on that house. The owners are a couple, Kim Templeton and Tony Templeton. They moved in a year ago." 

"I know, Chief, I know..." 

Cody's voice came over the phone, and he sighed. 

"They're a family of five, right?" 

Chapter 164: Not a Hero 

"You went inside?" 

"Commissioner Gordon, the door wasn't locked." 

Cody looked at the five bodies lying in pools of blood in the bedroom, took out a fruit candy from his pocket, and felt incredibly grateful that he had upheld his principle of "I didn't kill anyone" in a situation with Joker yesterday. 

"You guys need to hurry. Joker fired five shots in here." 

About five minutes later, police cars and ambulances arrived at the scene, and the family of five, who still had vital signs, were all taken to the hospital. 

"I don't know if they'll be psychologically scarred by what happened today – whether it's a psycho breaking into their house and shooting them almost to death, or a family of five having to pay expensive medical bills together." Commissioner Gordon sighed. "Riddler and Joker both seem to be shooting people lately but not killing them. Sometimes I wonder if they have some kind of deal with Gotham's major hospitals." 

"When you run into supervillains like Joker and Riddler who kill without blinking, just staying alive is good enough." Cody shook his head. "At least the Templeton family can still be together – oh yeah, how's that driver doing, the one who crashed into the fountain with Joker last night?" 

"He almost died, but it wasn't because of the gunshot wound, it was due to internal bleeding from the car crash – good thing you called the ambulance in time." 

It wasn't because I called the ambulance in time, Cody sighed. It was because I shoved a lollipop into his mouth when I went upstairs yesterday. Otherwise, he'd really be gone. 

It was the same back at the theater. Joker's explosion wasn't fatal, but the collapse of the theater stage caused many people to suffer potentially fatal injuries, so back then I also gave each of them some temporary first aid. 

"Do I need to give a statement?" 

"Just give a quick one, then you can go – man, I really don't know if you have good luck or bad luck. Two times with Joker, two times with Riddler, you've bumped into all four cases. It's a miracle you're still alive!" 

Cody gave an awkward laugh. When Joker blew up the theater, I refreshed and went in; when Riddler broke out of prison, Commissioner Gordon transferred me in; when those two met in the building last night, I solved the riddle using the system and rushed over; only running into the taxi driver this morning was an accident. Actually, luck played a pretty small part... right? 

After giving his statement, Cody left the Gotham PD. It was still early, so he first went to the Diamond District, found a gold store, exchanged a few gold bars for a hundred thousand dollars, and then took the money to a Gotham bank and deposited it. 

Anyway, the cash he earned in the Gotham City of his own universe was basically unused. At this point, Cody couldn't really be called rich, but making a living for the time being wasn't a problem. 

After taking care of these matters, he went to Gotham Hospital. 

When he walked into the lobby, it was no longer as chaotic as the last time he was there. The doctors and nurses seemed orderly, and nobody was loudly shouting news about doctors fighting with patients anymore. It was clear that the groups of patients who had been sent in yesterday via the Gotham PD had basically stabilized. It was estimated that many had passed the critical stage and had been moved to the ICU or other wards for observation. 

Cody wasn't there to check in, so he simply ignored the people around him and found a nurse in the lobby. 

"Hi, I'd like to check on the patients who were brought in yesterday, the ones injured at the Unicorn Theater." 

"Oh? Are you..." 

Cody took out his police ID, flashed it at her, and then put it away. 

"I'm Officer Cody from the Gotham PD. I was at the Unicorn Theater when the explosion happened yesterday. I was the one who dragged them out of the rubble, and I was sent to the hospital with them, though I wasn't injured – maybe you remember me?" 

The nurse blinked, finally remembering a police officer her colleagues had been talking about during the shift change. He had single-handedly dragged all thirty-three people buried in the rubble out after the theater stage explosion, saving considerable time for the rescue efforts. Although six were confirmed dead at the scene, the remaining twenty-seven had all survived. 

The TV stations called it "a miracle that happened twenty-seven times in a row," but actually, everyone in the hospital believed that the police officer who dragged everyone out was the real miracle. Almost all the doctors and nurses thought he must be a devout believer, perhaps Christian, or Catholic, or some other denomination. 

Almost everyone had pictured him as someone like Desmond Doss from Hacksaw Ridge, dragging buried injured people one by one out of the extremely dangerous theater rubble where a secondary collapse was possible. 

"Lord, let me get just one more; let me get just one more." 

Cody watched the nurse's expression change from confused to surprised, then to moved, and even a little worshipful. He instinctively felt something was off. 

What was she worshiping? 

"You're the hero who risked his life to save everyone from the rubble—" 

"Alright, alright, that's enough, you don't need to say anymore. I know what you're trying to say." Cody immediately cut her off. It was the first time in his life someone had praised him as a self-sacrificing hero like this, and his face really couldn't take it. "Cough, cough, anyway, let's keep our voices down. I mainly wanted to come see the people admitted yesterday and today." 

"No problem, I'll take you—" 

"No, no, no, that would really bother you at work. Just tell me where they are." 

"No, I insist on taking you myself." 

Cody's mouth twitched. This was the first time in his life he had run into this kind of trouble. Back when he was the perverted wheelchair guy, he never had this kind of annoyance. 

So, he lowered his voice and said mysteriously to the nurse, "Okay, since it's come to this, I have to tell you, I'm here at the hospital because the police department has a secret operation going on. I can't tell you the details, but I can tell you it's very important and needs to be kept secret. I can't let more people know." 

Hearing this, the nurse's face immediately showed understanding. "Oh, oh, sir, then I won't tag along. I'll tell you where they all are." 

"Cough, cough, thanks, thanks." 

Cody followed her directions, turned, and got into the elevator. But from the moment the elevator doors closed, he was thinking about one question. 

Since the rumor about a "police hero" had already spread throughout the hospital, it was highly likely to spread further. 

Just thinking about it made Cody feel a bit embarrassed. To him, since he had enhanced physical abilities and the Horn of Plenty, saving people was simply a matter of course. 

Because of his strength, providing just a little bit of help to others resulted in overwhelming gratitude – he didn't really like this feeling. It felt like some kind of condescending, high-and-mighty charity from someone above the common people. But in reality, he considered himself just one of the common people. 

In fact, even now, he didn't think of himself as a hero. 

Because he hadn't yet made a "sacrifice" for anyone else. 

Ding— 

As he was thinking, the elevator had arrived. 

Chapter 165: The Scarlet Question Mark 

By the time Cody walked out of the hospital, it was already noon. 

"Nice weather today, too," he said, tilting his head back to look at the clear blue sky – something he'd never seen in the Gotham of the other side. 

He pulled out a business card, squinting in the sunlight to read the name and number. A comedian, whose injuries were less severe and who had woken up, had given it to him back in the ward. Knowing Cody didn't have a solid place to crash in Gotham yet, the comedian had offered the card. 

This comedian rented a place in the East End, and not just anywhere, but one of the relatively safer spots there – a tough find without an introduction. 

Cody learned he was a widowed single dad, raising a son while also taking care of his elderly mother. The guy performed his heart out every day, grabbing any chance to make a buck. He’d raised his son, now thirteen, all by himself, and his mom was already seventy. Cody couldn't help but feel genuine admiration. 

He slipped the guy some cash as a thank you. The man looked conflicted but finally took it, looking pretty ashamed. But Cody figured he was accepting the money for his kid and his mom – an unexpected extra medical bill had pushed him close to the edge. 

To die proudly holding onto your principles, or to live stubbornly for others – both take incredible guts. 

The ward was packed with people: good men cracking jokes to put food on the table, broke dreamers chasing their comedy shot, or just folks trying to scrape by in Gotham – guys, gals, families, singles… 

They were all incredibly grateful to Cody. He felt like he wasn't the hero they pictured, but he was also kind of happy because he'd managed to save a bunch of people who were just trying their best to survive in Gotham. 

Amidst their thanks, he instinctively thought back to that first night he arrived in Gotham by train – back then, he also had nowhere to go, nowhere to call home. He’d also met someone trying to make a life then, and he'd helped that person too, earning their thanks and a lot of help in return, including that place in the East End where he could crash. 

The folks in the ward reminded him a lot of those two friends he hadn't seen in ages. It gave him this weird sense of bumping into old pals again. 

"Drake and Camilla... wonder how they're doing in Metropolis." 

After a moment, Cody snapped back from his thoughts. He memorized the name and number on the card, then waved down a cab. He automatically checked if the driver seemed normal before hopping in. 

"Downtown East End, please." 

"No problem, mister. Which street you heading to?" 

The cab pulled away, the voices of the two inside fading, eventually disappearing around the corner. 

"All units near Gotham Hospital, all units near Gotham Hospital. The suspect known as Riddler has just escaped from Gotham Hospital. His direction of travel is currently unknown. One doctor and two nurses in the hospital sustained serious injuries and have been taken to the emergency operating room..." 

Meanwhile, Cody was already deep in the East End, having found the landlord. He had no idea that Riddler had busted out of the hospital right after he'd left. 

Commissioner Gordon, who'd been swamped all day yesterday, couldn't catch a break. He and a few officers immediately headed to the hospital to look into Riddler's escape. 

"Commissioner Gordon, it looks like Riddler vanished right after he left the hospital. We can't figure out his route or where he went." 

Walking down the hospital corridor, Gordon sighed, listening to the officer's report. This was the third time the GCPD had been duped by Riddler. Thankfully, the last two times, some newcomer had saved their bacon and brought him in, but that was more the new guy's luck than his own sharp command. 

"What about the three hospital staff he attacked during the escape? How are they doing?" 

"The doctor and nurses who were attacked were found quickly, and since they were already in the hospital, they got treatment right away. They've just been confirmed to be out of critical condition." 

"Well, that's a silver lining, I guess." 

Gordon muttered, then led the other officers into the hospital's monitoring room. 

"Want to check the surveillance footage, Commissioner?" 

"Yeah, standard procedure... Just hand over the recordings." 

The security guard nodded. Gotham's "colorful" inhabitants meant hospital crime wasn't exactly rare, and Commissioner Gordon had dealt with hospital brass plenty of times. This major incident meant the higher-ups had already given the okay downstairs, telling them not to refuse Gordon's request for footage. 

Gordon pulled out a USB drive, and the guard took it without a second thought. He loaded all the footage from Riddler's admission to his escape – a full two days' worth. 

"Here you go, Commissioner Gordon." 

"Thanks." 

Gordon opened the laptop he carried with him. Waiting to get back to the precinct might take too long, and he wanted to start pulling the main clues right here. 

"What is loved more than life, and feared more than death?" 

A figure in a green suit stood by the window. The reflection in the glass showed the man's face: gloomy, detached, with a hint of simmering anger. 

His voice was ice-cold, like he was asking riddles to his own reflection, one after another. 

On the floor behind him, bright red blood had spread, three figures lying in the crimson pool. 

"What is something the content crave, something the poor have, and the rich lack?" 

His suit jacket was open, showing the lines of his chest and abdomen. Most obvious was the prominent bloody patch just above his stomach – a brutal, terrifying circular wound clearly visible. 

The wound, which had been stitched up, had split open again from his recent violent movements. But Nigma didn't seem to care, letting the blood flow freely. 

"What do spendthrifts waste and misers cherish? What does everyone take to the grave?" 

He pulled out a small knife and carved a clean three-quarter arc on his chest. Combined with the circular wound below, it formed the shape of a question mark. 

The sharp blade sliced through the skin, then the distinct muscle tissue, and finally cut into tiny blood vessels, causing the question mark on his chest to immediately start bleeding. 

"The answer, of course, is – Nothing." 

He used the blood from his chest to write three large question marks on the fallen doctor and nurses, then calmly walked out of the room. 

Or rather, walked out of the camera's view. 

At this point, Commissioner Gordon hit pause, rubbing his temples with a headache. 

"Nigma's still sticking to his old crime style, leaving riddles at the scene. But right now, the main thing is finding him. The surveillance footage will probably help with conviction, but it won't do much for helping us catch him." 

Just then, Gordon's phone rang again. 

"Hello?" 

"Commissioner Gordon, a citizen has reported that Riddler's message has appeared again." 

Gordon instinctively glanced out the window. It was getting towards afternoon, the sun high and bright. 

"What kind of message?" 

"A bloody question mark has appeared on a wall in Gotham Square."