After a few people honestly finished their meal, Ah Fu gave up his 'surveillance' of Su Ming and carried a tray to deliver food to Gordon.
Originally, Director Gordon had a good plan. He intended to visit Wayne Manor to meet Batman and offer him some help.
However, the developments didn't align with his wishes.
When he reached the manor, before he could enter the Bat Cave, the old butler caught him and escorted him to the 'absolutely safe' safe house from last time.
Gordon was prepared to sacrifice for the city he loved, but the old butler said, "Thanks, but we don't need it."
So, the poor director was once again put under house arrest. At that time, Gordon looked at Diana and the others with a desperate gaze, hoping the Justice League would speak on his behalf, but Green Arrow and Sea King all turned their heads away, pretending not to see.
Gordon shouted, "Deathstroke, you tricked me again!" as he was dragged away by the old butler.
But who could blame Su Ming for being a nice guy? Back then, he offered Gordon a choice: either go play at Poseidonis's amusement park or come to Wayne Manor.
Who could he blame for the choice he made?
The old butler could not allow Director Gordon to see Bruce in a tattered Bat Suit, looking lost and disheartened.
Now... it's still not possible.
Just as Su Ming was about to share his opinion, Bruce pushed a bat-shaped pad across the white tablecloth, playing a video.
First visible were the red and blue flashing police lights, then the heavy rain that overshadowed them; it was a clip extracted from some unknown surveillance footage.
The water on the ground flowed quickly, and in the video, officers were lifting a corpse off the hood of another car.
In the top left corner of the screen was a speed marker of X2. Su Ming pressed pause and fiddled with the tablet to enlarge the image a bit, wanting to see what kind of corpse warranted Batman's attention.
But the rain blurred the vision, and the raindrops on the lens made everything look distorted and unnatural. He could barely make out the person dressed in luxurious attire; judging by the suit's material and craftsmanship, it must have been expensive.
This corpse used to be a well-to-do figure.
"Explain this."
Su Ming asked Bruce, casually pushing the tablet to the left, as Diana had been craning her neck to see, her hair brushing against Su Ming's neck.
"Brother Eye, process the image."
Bruce, holding an empty cup, calmly said. Instantly, the image on the tablet started to clear up as if layers of veils were being peeled away.
Sharpening, smoothing, color correction, extrapolating outlines—a series of operations completed within seconds, resulting in a much more vivid video after the de-mosaic process.
"Is that you?" Diana sighed.
She also recognized the identity of the corpse, albeit this Bruce looked much older and had a snow-white beard reminiscent of the Old Captain. Still, looking at his facial proportions and bone structure, Diana was confident she wasn't mistaken.
"Yes, yet another 'me' was killed last night. He must be from some parallel world, a version of me who gave up being Batman."
Bruce hooked his finger under the uniform at his neck, still looking relaxed, even with a smile on his face.
"That's impossible. I constructed the Earth Protection Array. No one can travel between worlds without my allowance." Su Ming looked carefully at the corpse, confirming the identity.
The officers were retrieving the body from the hood of a roadside vehicle, checking his ID. The surveillance camera conveniently zoomed in, displaying the credentials in perfect detail.
Besides carrying hundreds of dollars in cash, his driver's license recorded that his car's plate was 'Gotham City 0001', a mayor's plate.
"I know you've protected our world with magic, but it's clear he's not me, nor is he a future version of me. We still can't explain why he was there last night, precisely during your confrontation with the Cruel Knight. How this Bruce could fall from about 250 feet high in a handmade suit on the opposite side of the city."
Bruce glanced at his father beside him, his smile slightly fading as he explained to Deathstroke.
"It's the work of Laughing Bat's accomplices, there's no doubt. I just can't figure out how they bypassed the Earth's protective barrier. Currently, the three Sanctuaries are operating normally, and Shadow Contract and Bo Bo are monitoring the Eternal Rock, so it's unthinkable that they wouldn't notify me."
"Is it possible he was transported to the Main World before you constructed the barrier and was only killed last night?" Oliver suggested another possibility.
Bruce nodded, acknowledging this possibility: "If we understand why he was killed, and why another 'me' in the morgue was killed previously, why they both died on Earth 0, we might deduce Laughing Bat's intentions."
Su Ming stroked his chin, leaning back against the chair's backrest, his fingers feeling the sharpness of his stubble.
"From a detective's perspective, when one person is murdered, the detective investigates the deceased's social connections. When two people are murdered simultaneously, the detective looks into the link between them. When three or more people are killed by the same murderer, the detective shifts their focus away from the victims and starts analyzing the murderer's behavioral patterns and psychological profiling, because erratic serial killers don't need a motive at all..."
"Mad Laugh is diverting our gaze away from the corpses and onto himself—it's a cognitive trap!" Bruce already understood. Though he wanted to slam his desk in frustration, he was stopped by a piercing look from Thomas.
"But we only have two victims, and we've already figured out their connection is from the Otherworld Bruce." Barry, a forensic scientist, had some insights on these matters.
Su Ming shook his head and calmly explained, "No, we now have three bodies. The Cruel Knight is also Bruce Wayne. Although it appears he died at our hands, it doesn't rule out the possibility that Mad Laugh sent him to us as a sacrifice."
"Alright, so these three corpses must have some commonality, besides the obvious identity-related things, what else are we overlooking?"
Oliver exhaled deeply, feeling pressure as if someone was sitting on his chest.
It was akin to a nightmare's suffocating presence, unchanged even with his rapid growth in prowess.
"We need to make a trip to the police station. I'll release Director Gordon first." Bruce pulled up his mask, adjusted his cape, and prepared to take action.
But Thomas stopped him and stood to gear up: "I'll go with them. You must continue to inject the antidote I gave you; your condition doesn't allow you to roam around recklessly."
"But Mad Laugh is targeting me."
"No, he's after Batman, and I am Batman." Thomas glanced at his gun, reinforcing his declaration that he hoped to be the last generation of Batman.
"Your antidote might not even be effective." Bruce was still struggling, unsure how to deal with his father, now acting somewhat childishly as if he spoke to Thomas this way when he was younger.
Though it was phrased the same way again, twenty years had passed since.
Thomas patted his shoulder, inspecting his red Bat Belt: "The antidote I have was left by Martha. She was always prepared for anything... She managed to create a serum against Joker Poison, and you must try it regardless."
"...I understand."
Mentioning Martha left Bruce without options. He could only let Ah Fu change his uniform and take him to the Bat Cave for his injections.
"Alfred, keep an eye on him." Thomas specifically instructed.
"Of course, Master, I won't let the young master wander off, just like the old days," Ah Fu replied with a smile.
Thomas glanced at the others nearby, his mouth moving slightly: "Indeed, just like the old days."
..........
Gordon was released from the safe house.
When he discovered the Batman before him wasn't Bruce Wayne but the supposedly dead Thomas Wayne, Gordon's worldview shattered.
"You're really not from some Parallel Universe?"
"No, it's really me, Officer Gordon. Remember your first day appointed in Gotham? We met in front of the police station during the day. I was talking to your director because 'external factors' disturbed the family business." Thomas pulled down his mask, shaking hands with Gordon.
"But that night... I examined your corpse and your wife's..." Gordon remained bewildered because the Justice League members vouched for Batman's truth: he truly was Earth 0's Batman, and he indeed was Thomas Wayne.
"Let's go, Director Gordon. We need to return to the morgue. After we left, if the police station continued operating normally, two new Bruce Wayne bodies should be sent there."
Su Ming interrupted their identity verification process, intending to use Gordon at the police station temporarily, despite having to repeatedly confirm identities with acquaintances.
Thomas wanted to cover for Bruce, but Gordon's age made him more susceptible to the shock of such sudden changes.
Regarding the GCPD's situation, Su Ming felt it wasn't a major issue. Although the Cruel Knight's assault caused considerable casualties, the Gotham Police Station was long used to such events.
As long as there were survivors, the station wouldn't close under Gordon's arrangements. Even during Joker's chaotic periods with citizens, the station operated normally.
"Uh, are you the Deathstroke I know?" Gordon's thick glasses concealed suspicious eyes, as he suddenly suspected Deathstroke's identity.
Su Ming shrugged, declining to answer, as he embraced Gordon with one hand and opened the Teleportation Gate with the other.
Strictly speaking, he wasn't the Deathstroke Gordon used to know... Yet if Gordon keeps doubting everything, he might end up becoming the next Batman.