This is a windowless room, the pale daylight lamp flickered like a dying struggle, crackling for a while before finally lighting up.
The chill and the strange scent in the air engulfed the person who had just entered, he sighed, nudged his glasses with his hand, his brows tightly knitted into a character representing '川'.
"Thank you, Mr. Forte, please give me some time alone now."
"Of course, Director Gordon, this is the autopsy report. When you leave, please help push the body back into the cold storage, and don't forget to turn off the lights."
The forensic examiner nodded understandingly at Gordon, having seen what's under that white sheet, he understood Gordon's thoughts.
This abnormal phenomenon would naturally make the Director take abnormal actions.
In Western countries, the forensic center is generally an independent institution. There are many police stations in each city, and occasionally outsiders like the FBI need forensic assistance.
Thus forensic institutions are often affiliated with certain group research departments or public universities, named something warm, like Star Laboratory or so....
But Gotham is different from other cities because it only has one police station. Therefore, forensic experts don't need to set up a forensic center elsewhere; they can work directly in the police station's basement, affiliated with the station.
It was pouring outside, and given the time, the sky should have been bright by now on regular days. However, Director Gordon still hadn't gone home. After arranging night shift officers to respond to incidents, he still had a pile of paperwork to handle.
Being a real cop isn't as marvelous as it looks on TV, where you just solve cases and catch criminals; there's tons of follow-up work afterward.
If there's a shooting, then you have to write a gun report; if you get shot, then you need to attend psychological counseling; if someone dies, the police have to comfort the family.
Most importantly, one must document and categorize the chain of evidence, providing prosecutors ample proof to convict offenders during prosecution.
If anything goes wrong in this process, then the culprit, caught through great effort, might be released as innocent in court.
In other cities, this isn't the Director's job; Chiefs can liaise with the prosecutor's office. But Gotham is different; some cases can't be handled by lower-level Chiefs.
Because of Batman's existence, directly sending criminals to the station with evidence seems exhilarating, but strictly speaking, the Dark Knight doesn't have law enforcement power, and the evidence he acquires is illicit, which requires Gordon to 'process' a bit.
This job cannot be outsourced to others; it was Gordon's agreement with Batman at the outset, and processing evidence is also an illegal action; he won't let his subordinates risk themselves for promises he made.
If this is the cost of being a good cop in this city, then Gordon wouldn't refuse this deal.
He nodded to the forensic examiner, signaling him to proceed with his own tasks. Hearing the morgue door close behind him, he walked straight toward the cold storage tray pulled out from the wall.
On it lay a white sheet covering a human body underneath.
Gordon stretched out his wrinkled hand; years of hard work made him appear older than others his age. He clenched his fist, quickly released it, and straightforwardly lifted the sheet.
Bruce Wayne; the body placed in the morgue is him.
The officers found the corpse while patrolling in the evening, right in Crime Alley, where the murder happened years ago. He was dressed in a luxurious handmade suit but died smiling against the nearby red brick wall.
That was several hours ago; at that time, he had managed to fix the Bat Lamp, and 'Batman' swiftly arrived as promised.
Seeing the main character appear, Gordon was reassured; perhaps the body in Crime Alley was some kind of prank?
So at that time, Gordon didn't mention it and discussed the appearance of other creatures in the city with Batman.
Everything seemed normal; Batman wasn't very talkative and left without saying goodbye.
The reason Gordon chose to selectively forget about the body is that Crime Alley... is too sensitive for Batman; he didn't want to disturb Batman's thoughts with more pressing matters at hand, right?
The facts also proved his point; in the following hours, Gordon felt the tremor sweeping through everyone's minds, then Gotham was hit by another flood. Amidst this chaos, officers were deployed everywhere, even day shift officers were pulled from their beds at home, yet manpower remained insufficient.
However, he forgot about the corpse, while forensic examiners didn't. They conducted an examination on the peculiar millionaire's body.
Fingerprints, blood type, height, weight, even the wear on his teeth matched perfectly with Mr. Wayne's dental records, which was very bizarre.
Therefore, they performed an autopsy on the body and conducted a DNA comparison; the test results just came out, and the DNA completely matched....
This is the genuine Bruce Wayne, the owner of Wayne Group, a big name in Gotham.
Forensic examiners immediately reported this matter to the Director, and Gordon put down his work and made his way to the basement.
He could feel a strange sense of contradiction, a chill running directly to the top of his head.
If the real Bruce is lying in the morgue cabinet... then who was he speaking with on the rooftop earlier?
Sometimes knowing too much isn't good, and Gordon belongs to those ordinary people who know relatively more. Of course, he can't compare with the ones wearing tight suits, but he happens to know about the Dark Multiverse.
Yes, he eavesdropped on Barbara's phone call with friends, and a father eavesdropping on his daughter's call is inappropriate, but Gordon asked himself, what would Batman do? In such situations, is privacy more important or the daughter's safety more crucial?
Actually, there's no need to ask – if you ask, it's about monitoring everything!
So Gordon knew that in the Dark Multiverse, there was a group of crazy Batmen, and the most dangerous one was the one who laughed the most.
He arrived too hastily; the coroner hadn't had time to stitch up the chest, which conveniently allowed Gordon to examine the cause of death.
The autopsy report was actually quite comprehensive, but the cause of death was listed as 'unknown'?
You must know that people don't die for no reason, even if they are scared to death, the cause of death would still show on the body.
And this kind of death, as if the soul suddenly left the body, Gordon had never seen before. All the checks on the corpse indicated he was in the best physical condition before dying, with all parameters showing superior to ordinary people.
This is quite normal since he is Batman.
But it seems that in the very next second, this person's soul emerged, and his life just disappeared, with a smile still on his face.
This was too bizarre.
Director Gordon lowered his head and looked at Bruce before him. In his view, there was no difference between this one and the known one.
But at this time, he could not get in touch with Wayne Manor. In the past, the only way he could contact Batman was the Bat Lamp.
However, he was a bit afraid to use that lamp now; he couldn't be sure which Batman would arrive.... the only way now was to break the silence and drive to Wayne Manor himself.
Going to Wayne Manor to find Alfred or Bruce is one thing, but to find Batman is another...
He must ensure that things can be evaded on the surface and must not let others know he knows Batman's true identity.
This is to protect Batman, and also to protect himself and his family. The senior villains tacitly understand who Batman is, but it's the out-of-towners who might not know Gotham's rules he worries about.
Old rules sometimes have their benefits, for instance, nobody said anything about smoking in the morgue before, and now Gordon wanted a smoke to calm down and think.
However, his ears suddenly twitched; though very slight, he suddenly heard a sound coming from outside the police station, sounding like gunshots masked by the wind and rain.
...............
The Cruel Knight hid behind a tree in the park, coldly watching the police station not far away, his gaze passing over the courtyard before the station, skimming over the police officers still moving briskly in the heavy rain.
Gordon's office lights were still on, but he was obviously not in the room, for his shadow couldn't be seen through the window, which meant the plan to descend from the rooftop could be abandoned.
Gordon's old car was still parked in the courtyard, albeit soaked by the flood, but the station had a fully automated repair line provided by Batman, so Gordon's car was operational, meaning he was still in the station.
After the sudden flood outbreak, Mad Laugh needed some time to alter his plan, so he suggested temporarily leaving the team to handle some personal affairs.
Mad Laugh sang an aria, praising the beauty of hatred. He knew well that the Cruel Knight was heading for Gordon, so he generously let him go, even pretending to ask if he needed help from others.
The Cruel Knight said there was no need; the Justice League was just a bunch of useless people, after all, he had killed them before.
Mad Laugh was too lazy to tell him the differences of Earth-0. The young self was very confident, which was good, letting him stir things up was exactly the role of the Cruel Knight.
Indeed, Mad Laugh looked down on the Cruel Knight's abilities; anyone can fire a gun, but a Batman overreliant on firearms is destined for limited achievements.
When the Cruel Knight killed, the blood and brain matter never even splattered on him, and how is that cruel?
Failing to experience the emotions of the deceased, such slaughter was meaningless.
So the Laughing Bat had another subordinate open a teleportation gate with special energy, casting the piece onto the board, now it was up to the Cruel Knight to see how much time he could buy them.
No one dared to speak, but Mad Laugh remembered this world's Deathstroke vividly.
His strength was considerable, and his style ruthless, leaving Mad Laugh sometimes unable to discern who's the madman, him or himself?
He knew he was being watched by Deathstroke, always feeling a sword hanging over his head whenever he passed alleys and corners.
That feeling was like Deathstroke would rush out of the darkness the next second, to relocate his head with a Giant Sword.
The tense and thrilling sensation excites Mad Laugh immensely. He was delighted, for in a game, he indeed hoped his opponent took him seriously, that way, winning was meaningful.
But according to the resonance among metals, Deathstroke, with that Great Sword, was still in Metropolis.
This means the other party still did not know the Cruel Knight's target, and once he realized, it should be too late. As long as they had Director Gordon as a hostage, the Justice League could not stand by and let Deathstroke abandon the hostage.
Thinking of this, Mad Laugh sucked in a breath of anticipation, it's a pity Batman of the Main World was taken ahead by Joker, he clearly had a luxurious package prepared as well.
This world is truly annoying....