"The situation is slightly unfavorable for us. I didn't see how Laughing Bat got away from our sight just now, did you?"
Diana sheathed her Treasure Sword, tugged at her hood, and said with a somewhat grim expression as she looked at the distant ruins shrouded in thick smoke.
Her dynamic vision is exceptionally powerful. The fact that she can see Cheetah's rapid sprinting proves this point. Cheetah is known as a Speedster who doesn't rely on Divine Speed, even clawing Barry out from the Divine Speed.
Yet even so, Diana still didn't see how Laughing Bat disappeared right in front of everyone just now.
She only remembers everyone stepping from the Bat Cave through the Teleportation Gate to this side, and in the moment of opening the door, Green Arrow and Deathstroke engaged Laughing Bat rapidly like lightning, but it was anticipated.
After that, Laughing Bat vanished, as if he had never been here, using a bunch of miniature loudspeakers to lead everyone down the path he had planned.
This feeling is extremely unsettling.
Green Arrow also tugged at his cloak; he doesn't want to get drenched like Arthur. If anyone had been closest to Laughing Bat, it was hardly anyone other than him who flashed behind the adversary intending to shoot arrows secretly.
But Laughing Bat wasn't the Cruel Knight; he hadn't fallen into madness and hallucinations, and this made him far stronger than a typical Batman. Green Arrow admits he couldn't block so many arrows nor perform the move where Laughing Bat seemed to slash forward while retreating—it defies logic.
So he sighed and shook his head at Diana: "I'm sorry, I didn't see anything either."
Yet, before Wonder Woman could speak, Arthur quickly stroked his beard and, with the Trident in hand, stepped back two paces: "Don't ask me, I didn't see anything."
Diana and Green Arrow rolled their eyes, never intending to ask Arthur.
Wonder Woman approached Deathstroke, who was comforting the blind old man, and seemed unconcerned with the temporary setback.
The rain showed no sign of stopping, its dense lines making everything look hazy, even the embers in the Wayne Tower ruins seemed beautifully dark red.
Raindrops continuously battered the black-and-yellow armor, water streaming through its seams, adhering to the skin before flowing to the ground, as Deathstroke lifted a corner of his cloak to shield Bill from the rain.
"Old man, don't be afraid, we are the Justice League."
"Justice League... just now, what happened? Has Wayne Tower..." Bill, somewhat dazed and with ears still ringing, spoke loudly, trying to grab the uniform of the person beside him but only feeling cold metal.
"Wayne Tower exploded; you're the only survivor."
Su Ming tried to simplify things, not worrying that the old man would be unable to accept it. After all, he's lived to this age in Gotham—what kind of scene hasn't he seen? Oh, no, more like what hasn't he heard?
"You must be Steel Bone, right? All made of iron, I've heard about you. But Mr. Wayne is still in the tower, please, save him," Bill pleaded urgently, clasping Su Ming's arm.
Su Ming glanced helplessly at Diana, who was trying to suppress her laughter at the recognition of Deathstroke as Steel Bone—a genuinely amusing occurrence.
Steel Bone is full of Promethium Metal, equipped with a red electronic eye, while Deathstroke likewise wears a Promethium Metal suit with a red tactical visor...
Come to think of it, the resemblance is uncanny. Perhaps next time Steel Bone could be painted to impersonate Deathstroke for some harmless scare?
Diana's thoughts had wandered afar.
Su Ming didn't bother to correct the blind man's error; they had already guessed that Laughing Bat would leverage Bruce Wayne's identity to blend into Wayne Tower, and now the sole eyewitness description proved that point.
"Don't worry, he's fine. He left before anything happened," Su Ming reassured, patting the old man's shoulder. The person appeared frail, possibly suffering from a serious illness: "Can you tell us what happened earlier tonight?"
However, the answer disappointed Su Ming. Not every blind person holds secret intelligence or superpowers—what Old Bill said mostly confirmed their guesses without providing new evidence.
From afar, Green Arrow shook his head at Su Ming, indicating it's pointless; they need to quickly formulate a plan.
"Thank you, Bill, your information is helpful to the Justice League. If you face any difficulties later, seek out Steel Bone. Meals at the Hall of Justice are on my tab, if any household appliances break, have Mr. Wayne call the Justice League—I'll fix them, and..."
Generously, Su Ming promised a bunch of things in Steel Bone's name, causing Diana to roll her eyes repeatedly. Deathstroke seemed addicted to taking on other identities.
"By the way, where do you live? We'll take you home."
"I have no home; Wayne Group is my home." The old man laughed lightly, gesturing for them to go about their business: "Drop me off at the supermarket near Wayne Tower, then go deal with the bad guys."
Su Ming looked over at the ruins—on a day like today, no supermarket would be open. So he thought for a moment and directly opened a Teleportation Gate, sending the old man to the Eternal Rock, where it's safer, with Bo Bo for company. Maybe the Gorilla could glean some extra intelligence.
Just before entering the Teleportation Gate, old Bill turned around: "There are no outsiders here, right?"
"No, why?" Su Ming thought he might recall some intelligence: "It's just me, Steel Bone, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, and Sea King—all members of the Justice League."
"Then you all know Batman's true identity?"
"Hmm, of course."
"I know too, hehe, Batman is actually Mr. Wayne, I've known for a long time."
"Oh?"
"The sound of footsteps, a person's stride and force are hard to change. Although I'm blind, my heart isn't blind. I know he's Batman, today he's also bustling for Gotham. He's truly a great man, you all must take good care of him."
Su Ming sighed inwardly, it was really too sad, watching the old man with a proud face, thinking he had kept Batman's secret...
He decided not to reveal the old man's mistake today, just let him remain in the dark.
"Thank you for keeping the secret for him, it was a big help. I'll send you to a safe place to stay temporarily. Someone there will take care of you. Once we deal with the bad guys, you can come back."
"Alright, hehe, good luck." Old Bill shuffled towards the door, suddenly recalling something, and turned around: "Has Mr. Wayne been a bit forgetful lately? Is the pressure too much for him?"
"Hmm? Why do you say that?" Su Ming raised an eyebrow.
"Today when I opened the door for him downstairs, he asked me, 'Is your grandson doing well out of town?'. But my grandson passed away in an accident a long time ago. I didn't correct him to spare Mr. Wayne any embarrassment, he truly is too tired, what a pity."
Old Bill said with a sense of emotion. He could probably guess what a double life the masked man was living. When he had his eyes, he used to watch spy movies too.
Even those with double identities, no matter how glamorous they seem, are deeply trapped in eternal hell.
A gleam flashed in Su Ming's eyes: "Excuse me for asking, when, and how did your grandson die?"
Bill waved his hands, his aged hands like dry branches: "That's in the past. They were visiting me in Gotham, happened to encounter a disaster. Two heroes turned bad, one called Son of Gotham, the other Daughter of Gotham, they..."
"Thank you, I understand now. Rest well." Su Ming interrupted him, sending him through the teleportation gate. He had gathered enough information and knew where Laughing Bat's weakness lay.
"Hmm? Why not let him finish?" Diana questioned, not understanding Slade and the old man's conversation at all, having no clue what it meant.
If Su Ming had to explain, he really couldn't clarify it to Diana as it involves things beyond the Fourth Wall.
Laughing Bat had mentioned, the Final Smile system in Wayne Tower is the same as his.
Wayne Tower was constructed after the Night of the Owls. Batman managed to acquire this intel after confronting the Court and built his own version of the Final Smile.
Laughing Bat did the same on his Earth.
Up to this point in time, their experiences were entirely identical.
But what Bill said about his grandsons' deaths involved the event of Son of Gotham. Those two young people had such a deep yearning for justice and power, that after being manipulated, they went down a path of no return.
They started at a high point, possessing flight, super power, and other abilities others could only dream of, yet they wanted more.
Thus, the Celestial Eye Association and Hugo manipulated them, Bane got involved as well. Batman intended to train them as successors, but their minds were obviously not sufficient to meet such standards.
One of them died, and the other went mad.
That's just a general account. They caused quite a bit of devastation to Gotham and Midtown, leading many ordinary people to perish.
But that's not the focal point, the point is Laughing Bat is unaware of this event, indicating divergence between his Earth and the Main World. This is the timeline's turning point.
"Detective Comics" is DC's flagship, no matter how other stories are rebooted or retconned, Batman's story has never changed.
From an observer's perspective, it can almost be treated as DC's timeline, a metric for measuring the occurrence of other events.
As for which issue Son of Gotham's event took place in?
"DC Rebirth: Batman," is what Dr. Manhattan wanted when merging the Watchmen universe with the Main Universe, causing a loss of ten years, changing the world.
Son of Gotham was the first major event in Gotham after the world's changes.
In other words, Laughing Bat's memories don't match with post-Rebirth events in Gotham. In these past two years' stories, there must be an opportunity to defeat him.
Laughing Bat may have filled gaps in his knowledge of Otherworldly Deathstroke through Luthor, but Luthor and Su Ming aren't that familiar with each other...
Su Ming only needs to find discrepancies between the Main World post-N52 Rebirth and other worlds, to use something with misaligned recognition by Laughing Bat to topple him, and this time throw him into the sun using a lunatic.