88=90

Chapter 88: Intermediate Natural Language Mastery 

"What are you planning to do about Bruce Wayne? With the suspicion around his relationship with the Roman, we could really hit them hard – but honestly, I still have some doubts. His Wayne Enterprises did a lot for the kids back in the winter, after all." 

In fact, Harvey didn't have a terrible opinion of Bruce Wayne. If it weren't for what happened recently, Harvey might have gone to talk to that playboy who was willing to do some good. 

Gordon sighed. 

"Green. The color of St. Patrick's Day is green," he said. "When I was a kid, growing up in Chicago, we used to look forward to St. Patrick's Day every year." 

"They'd cancel school classes so we could go downtown and watch the parade – the city would turn the river green, and we'd all think it was the work of Irish leprechauns." 

"St. Patrick's Day... all we think about is green. But now, it's red – blood red." 

"Now St. Patrick's Day is here, and we haven't gotten any closer to finding this maniac." 

"The Holiday Killer..." 

Harvey watched Jim Gordon stand by the window, talking to himself with a worried frown. His own mood couldn't help but feel heavy. Commissioner Gordon's sense of justice was quite infectious, and besides, Harvey, as some kind of 'white knight,' didn't advocate for doing whatever it takes. He wanted fairness. 

"So, what about Wayne?" 

"Let's take it slow... focus our energy on Maroni. He's the weaker point to break through." 

"Maroni and Wayne, two birds with one stone? I like it..." 

Their voices, muffled and faint through the closed door, could still be faintly heard – and Vernon, wearing a white shirt and suspenders, was quietly standing at the door, committing their conversation to memory. 

"...Are you really going to do this?" 

"We have to – you've reversed this condition for Bruce Wayne before. You're the only one who can do this." 

Batman's figure was hidden in the shadows. "And do it fast – we need to stop these people from being controlled and doing worse things." 

"But looking at him... he doesn't seem too keen on eating chocolate either." 

Cody looked up at the man they had 'abducted'. He was currently tied securely to a chair, struggling desperately. The expensive gold watch, the gleaming leather shoes, the tailored suit, and the muscular build from regular workouts – it was clear this guy was from Gotham's white-collar elite. 

But the main point was his chest. Beneath the open suit jacket, it wasn't smooth human skin, but green, with vines and leaves growing on and covering his skin. 

Lush green plants almost covered his entire body, spreading from his chest to his abdomen, limbs, and back. At this moment, he could be considered a 'vegetable' in a certain sense. 

And every time Cody tried to bring the white chocolate in his hand near the man's mouth, the vines would tighten suddenly and burrow fiercely deeper into the man's body; the man's own struggles intensified. He clenched his teeth and shook his head away, clearly resisting eating the chocolate. 

"How long has he been like this...?" 

"At least a week." 

"Then how is he surviving? A human-vegetable? Not eating, surviving on photosynthesis? But the leaves aren't even exposed." 

"Everyone who's been parasited by these plants doesn't resist any other food – except chocolate and milk." 

"If we just ripped these things off... Forget it, forget it, let's not try. It might just peel his skin off." 

Should he try to race these deadly vines that were embedded deep in the bone? Cody hesitated for a moment. If he just poured milk on him, could he remove this abnormal state before the vines killed the host? 

Honestly, Cody didn't dare to gamble. If he lost the bet, the guy would be gone. This method was too unique; he could tell whose masterpiece it was with a single glance. 

Poison Ivy" Cody vaguely remembered her real name was Pamela. But more often than not, she was called "Ivy" in the comics by others 

Controlling others using plants and hormones is one of her common methods. Of course, the source of her power is actually magic, so explaining it as controlling hormones is like the power level settings in a Tokusatsu show – it just makes it seem like it has some scientific basis. 

No need to understand superpowers that clearly.jpg 

"I don't think going in hard is the right way," Cody shook his head. "Let's try the gentle approach instead. If we can keep these plants alive, maybe it'll be more useful than if they just withered." 

And it would also prevent Poison Ivy, who absolutely loves plants, from coming after me for revenge, Cody thought. 

He had heard about this fanatical plant lover. After all, there aren't many normal people in Gotham, and as a supervillain, Ivy is hostile towards anyone who harms plants. Her mental state could be classified as extreme plant-humanitarianism. 

Fortunately, Cody was usually quite caring towards plants and flowers. He didn't want to be targeted by such a supernatural villain just for helping Batman. It just so happened that the last mission gave him a discount card, and his system account still had a massive amount of 140,000 asset points left. 

[Special Language 20% Discount Card - Intermediate Natural Language Mastery] 

Cody silently selected the discount card, clicked Use, and purchased the Intermediate Natural Language Mastery in the shop, which originally cost 300,000 but was now 60,000 USD asset points. The remaining asset points in his system immediately shrank to just over 80,000. 

You get what you pay for. He hoped this skill would be good enough. 

After the skill purchase was complete, Cody's expression suddenly changed. Information, more complex and dense than usual, suddenly appeared from all directions, flooding into his mind. The difference was, these weren't human languages. They were the rustling of the street trees outside the window, the chirping of birds in the sky, the crawling sounds of ants in the room, the quiet growing sound of the green vines before his eyes. 

Natural language... was the language of the natural world. 

Cody clenched his jaw and held onto the edge of the table, struggling to digest the overwhelming rush of information that was threatening to overload his brain. Fortunately, he had the experience from last time, and he adapted very quickly this time. And when he stood up straight again, the entire world seemed much more vibrant. 

[Intermediate Natural Language Mastery] [Price: 300,000 USD] [Note: "I thought a young mare's voice would be more feminine."] ["Why? Do you talk to animals often? As far as I know, this is your first time."] 

Chapter 89: Please Call Me the Negotiation Expert 

Naturally, when Batman first showed up, Cody said no. 

"You can't just show up and expect me to follow you," he grumbled, pulling on clothes under the covers and complaining to the cowl standing by the window. "And seriously, can you stop using the window? Ever heard of a door?" 

"This is important," Batman replied, ignoring Cody's protests. "You freed Bruce Wayne from mind control before. You're the best person for the job." 

"Huh?" 

"Your Valentine's Day chocolates – the ones you gave Harvey and Gordon." 

Yeah, clearly Batman hadn't kicked his habit of monitoring his teammates. 

"Look, I got a taste of your methods before, but I gotta say," Cody shook his head, "hearing you talk about it again... it still feels pretty messed up." 

"About the chocolates, yeah, I remember those. I saw those two had a good vibe going and remembered Bruce helped the kids out, so I figured I'd give them a little push. The chocolates were made with special stuff, but mostly because they tasted good – Wait a minute, Bruce was controlled back then?" 

"Not just Bruce. A lot of others, important people. You're the only one who can do this." 

Liar, Cody thought. Batman always has a backup plan. 

But he'd shown up at his place. Not helping felt... kind of cold. 

"Ugh," he sighed. "Alright, hold on. Let me find some clothes and get some gear together so nobody sees me." 

And just like that, one super weirdo dressed like a bat and one super weirdo dressed like a ghost mask were riding in the Batmobile to the house of some poor white-collar guy controlled by Poison Ivy. 

"Honestly, if you pick me up in the Batmobile every time, I might be more willing to help next time," Cody said under his mask, deliberately lowering his voice to mimic Batman's gravelly tone, though his mind was still buzzing from the high-speed dash they just made. 

Even if he'd just been sitting quietly in the back, unable to see the street outside. 

"...He's inside. Follow me." 

... 

And so, we arrive at the present moment. 

"Hold on, let me catch my breath." Cody leaned against a table corner, taking a good three to five minutes before standing up again and walking over to the poor guy infested with vines. 

"Okay, okay. From now on, you can call me the Negotiation Expert. Let's see if we can talk it into leaving." 

Batman just stared at Cody, utterly silent, trying to figure out if he was having some kind of breakdown. 

"Alright, alright. How are you doing? My name's Cody. I'm here to make a deal. What's your name..." 

Three minutes later... 

"Ah, right, right. I agree, grapevines are prettier than gourdvines..." 

Another three minutes later... 

"Oh, no problem then, I get it. You like music, shows you're a cultured type... What? Heavy metal rock? Uh... right..." 

Pat 

Batman's hand landed on Cody's shoulder. Though he couldn't understand what Cody was saying, nor did he hear the plant making any noise in response, he could tell Cody was having a great conversation with that plant. Because no normal person could come up with so many bizarrely specific topics. 

But he couldn't let Cody keep chatting. 

"We're running out of time," Batman's voice was low. "We have a lot more people to save tonight." 

Cody shrugged, understanding. "Okay, okay. Guess I'll get to the actual work then." 

He waved at the plant. "Alright, bro, let's roll." 

And just like that, the plant, which had been struggling against him, quietly detached itself from the white-collar worker's body and crawled onto Cody's hand. 

Cody casually pulled out a lollipop and stuck it in the man's mouth. The body, which had been left ragged by the plant's departure, began to heal rapidly. In less than thirty seconds, the man frowned and showed signs of waking up. 

Thud 

Before Cody could say anything, Batman delivered a precise chop to the back of his neck, knocking him out cold. 

Cody popped the lollipop out with a smack and tossed the guy towards Batman. "Thank goodness, at least he didn't bleed. Otherwise, we'd have to deal with the mess." 

Batman silently caught him, observing Cody's throw, estimating his physical strength – typical tactical mind, always calculating. 

"I'll take him back where he belongs. The next few have tighter security. Wait for my signal before you go in." 

... 

No doubt, if Cody's plant conversations hadn't varied in length, their speed might have been even faster. 

Three hours later. 

Cody was covered in vines, looking at another struggling victim, his face dark as he gulped down half a bottle of water to soothe his nearly-smoked throat. Then he asked, "Hold on, first tell me, how many more?" 

"Four." 

"Are you kidding me? The first six have me packed full! Where am I supposed to cram four more?" 

"Put them here," Batman said, gesturing towards himself. 

"Are you... familiar with them?" 

"..." 

Ignoring the silent Batman, Cody twisted his head to look at the clock tower outside the window. The three o'clock chimes had already rung. It was clear, short of sleeping until noon tomorrow, he wasn't getting eight hours of sleep tonight. 

"Fine, fine. If we need efficiency, giving them some tangible benefits is probably the way to go." 

He opened his system store and found a list of items from a certain series. 

[Dave's Portable Garden] Price: 10000 USD Note: This isn't just any garden. This is a paradise that can satisfy any environmental need. 

Cody bought it without hesitation. The portable garden was a great value. He might even be able to grow some really useful plants in there. 

[Dave's Flower Pot] Price: 1000 USD Note: This isn't just any flower pot. This is fertile soil where any plant can grow. 

A simple pot, but practical. Cody bought 10 pots right away, just enough to hold ten vines. 

[Dave's Fertilizer] Price: 750 USD Note: Aaaah, yeah! So good! - From a plant that just took a hit of fertilizer. 

Buy, buy, buy! His salary and asset points for the first two weeks of the month, thirty thousand dollars total, were due to arrive tomorrow. After buying these items, even with that money accounted for, Cody still had over ninety-four thousand asset points left. 

"Alright," he said, casually pulling out a pot from under his loose black robe. He sprinkled some fertilizer inside and held it out to the current vine. "Look, I don't need to waste a lot of time talking to you. Let's make this quick. Pick one –" 

And Batman watched, utterly dumbfounded, as the plant that had been struggling and refusing to yield just moments ago, immediately latched onto the pot and dove inside, like a Husky that spotted a bone. 

Seeing Batman's look, Cody adjusted his mask with a theatrical flourish. "Please call me the Negotiation Expert." 

Chapter 90: Let the Fights Begin! 

Whether it was more about the carrot or the stick in the negotiation, one thing's for sure: Cody's efficiency spiked dramatically after that. 

Batman watched him pull out little flowerpots one by one from under that black cloak, then put them away again. He automatically pictured the guy with four flowerpots dangling from dense vines all over his body and started analyzing if he might be carrying a magic space specifically for pots. 

"Alright," the ghost-masked figure in the black robe clapped his hands at the Caped Crusader's pointy ears. "I've dealt with the last four people. We can head back now." 

"Your flowerpots..." 

"No way, those are off-limits, don't even think about it! I promised them either a lush, promised land of fertile soil or a trip back to their original owner." 

"Original owner..." Batman had already guessed who the mastermind behind this was. At that moment, he was considering how to find Poison Ivy. 

"I will find their original owner, but a lush, promised land of fertile soil... that would take them out of my sight." 

"Gardens. We're talking about gardens." 

"..." 

"Hey, don't go silent on me. This isn't just any garden; it's a plant paradise, understand? And it's not in this world, so we don't have to worry about these vines getting out and causing trouble again." 

Batman looked at Cody, then replaced his question with a statement: "...Not in this world." 

"The dead have their space, beasts have theirs, so even plants deserve a plant-space, right? Anyway, if you're worried, you can check in with me periodically to see how they're doing, but I definitely can't just hand them over to you. A promise is a promise; you gotta keep it." 

Seeing Cody's firm stance, Batman didn't push the issue further. He drove him back home in the Batmobile. He had a lot of other things to deal with tonight. 

"Remember to leave a five-star review, pal!" 

Watching the Batmobile's engine roar as it vanished into the dark night, Cody casually quipped before heading back to his room to get ready for bed. But just before hitting the hay, he suddenly realized that Batman hadn't actually explained what had happened tonight at all – at least, Poison Ivy wouldn't just mess with Batman for no reason. 

Cody picked up his phone to check the time. It wasn't a holiday, and the next Saint Patrick's Day was still a few days away, so it was probably not a case of the Holiday Killer teaming up with Poison Ivy to stir things up. 

"Better check the major news first." 

He tapped on the news section of his phone and started searching based on the faces he'd memorized. Soon, he spotted a familiar face in a financial news headline – one of the controlled victims, though not one of the ten from tonight. It was none other than Bruce Wayne. 

"Gotham Bank passed a resolution in early this month, finalizing a partnership with Falcone Imports. This win-win collaboration is expected to bring significant profits to both Gotham Bank, a subsidiary of Bruce Wayne's Wayne Enterprises, and Falcone Imports. It's hard not to be impressed; while Bruce Wayne often makes headlines for his playboy reputation, his business acumen and strategic vision certainly live up to the Wayne name." 

Clearly, Bruce would never have passed such a resolution. This situation could only mean the other board members conspired together to make the resolution "pass." 

This would be absolutely impossible under normal circumstances. A significant portion of the board members are loyal supporters of the Wayne family; even if they don't fully back Bruce, they would never turn against him. 

Unless they were being manipulated by some irresistible force. 

Cody meticulously searched online for Gotham Bank executives. Ten familiar faces instantly popped up – as for the others, perhaps controlling them wasn't even necessary; they were already fence-sitters anyway. 

"Poison Ivy helping Falcone Imports partner with Gotham Bank... In other words, Poison Ivy helped Falcone launder money. That's a risky road she's going down." 

Cody thought it over carefully, decided there were probably no loose ends for now, and climbed into bed to sleep. 

A late breeze blew through, and a green leaf gently drifted from the chimney into the fireplace... 

Cody was lucky tonight. While negotiating with the plants, he didn't encounter any obstruction from Poison Ivy or active retaliation from the vines. But that wasn't because Poison Ivy couldn't do it. 

In fact, the moment the first vine was removed, she felt it. She was just a bit busy tonight. 

... 

Night, Wayne Manor. 

Beside the roaring fireplace, a woman, nearly naked, sat leisurely in the mistress's seat at the dining table, sipping tea. She wore only a set of soft plant-fiber underwear, with large areas of skin exposed on the rest of her body. 

This wasn't due to some strange exhibitionist tendencies. It was because this outfit was the most suitable for her daily wear – she can photosynthesize through her skin to replenish energy and nutrients, thus requiring clothing that maximizes skin exposure. 

In fact, putting on a hooded robe and dressing as a flower girl in the plaza was one of the rare times she'd needed to wear proper clothes recently. 

Alfred didn't seem to be at the manor at the moment, so she used her abilities to silently slip into Wayne Manor, quietly waiting for Bruce Wayne. Her control plan from a few days ago had mysteriously failed because of a few pieces of milk chocolate, which she found utterly baffling. So, she took targeted precautions when controlling the Wayne Enterprises executives afterward. But being naturally competitive, she was still a bit miffed and wanted to come here to make up for the previous disappointment. 

Of course, men like Bruce get special treatment, she thought. At least I wouldn't let vines drill into his body. I couldn't bear to ruin his physique. 

"Hmm? Who removed my parasitic vines?" 

Just as Poison Ivy, sipping her tea, felt a strange sensation, she felt a gust of wind blow through. 

"You're in the wrong seat!" 

A startled cat suddenly charged toward her, clawing fiercely: "You're mine! He's mine too! Everything's mine!" (The original line in the comics is "you are mine, all mine," so Catwoman might have been cheated on twice over.) 

Poison Ivy saw Catwoman at Wayne Manor and had a strange feeling like she'd been caught red-handed. She stood up in a panic and took several solid hits from Catwoman. 

"Kitten! Let me explain!" 

"You're like a weed getting into someone's backyard! A weed that needs to be pulled out by the roots!" 

At this moment, Poison Ivy was exceptionally grateful that Bruce Wayne hadn't returned home yet. If Catwoman had seen her dressed like this and having also mind-controlled Bruce Wayne, the situation would likely have been completely unexplainable.