Nobody can stop me from drawing cards in Gotham!

Chapter 20 Counterfeit: Holy crap, a box!

"What's wrong with him?"

This is the first thing Batman said the moment he landed on the rooftop where Jaeger was after using the grappling hook.

He was standing motionless on the ground, his eyes filled with abusive language, perhaps cursing everything from Satan to a fake Jesus.

"He's just petrified," Jaeger explained simply. "For me, this is the fastest way to subdue a fake. Don't worry, once the spell is lifted, he'll be fine; he just can't move right now."

Batman gave Jaeger a deep look and silently noted down the word "petrification" on a form in his mind that belonged to Jaeger.

Jaeger was completely unaware that he had become a cold, unyielding figure in the heart of a certain bat, only noticing that the other's gaze behind the white goggles was a little strange.

But in any case, business was more important. So Jaeger recounted what had happened when he confronted the counterfeiter, especially emphasizing the question that bothered him: "Whom do you work for?"

"I'm not familiar with the power dynamics in Gotham." Jaeger looked at Batman, who was deep in thought, with the expectant gaze one would give a group leader during a project. "You should know more than I do. Do you have any clues? Who do you think might be behind the fake?"

Batman pondered for a moment: "...I have a guess."

"Is it just a guess?" Yegren asked listlessly.

Batman walked toward the fake, saying, "No, that's enough."

He crouched down to look at the fake, his tone calm: "As long as I have a general idea, I can make the fake say anything I want."

"You want to... uh, interrogate?" Jaeger suddenly realized, and jumped forward to stand in front of the fake. "I'm not trying to stop you, Bat. But before that, there's something more important."

"You want to know the identity of the fake?" Batman hissed. "There's no need."

"Extraordinary physical abilities and combat skills; military background."

"They have the ability to track the GCPD's movements, quickly obtain and destroy the surveillance intelligence they possess... but tonight's surveillance intelligence was only circulated verbally within the Major Crimes Unit and among James Gordon, indicating that the other party did not hack into the police database, but was one of the police officers involved in the case."

"Furthermore, according to Otis Flanigan, the imposter is unfamiliar with the new buildings and roads in Gotham in recent years, but is more knowledgeable about the older streets and alleys. This suggests that the imposter is a native of Gotham who left the city some time ago and has only recently returned."

"And there are far fewer people in this area than you might have imagined." Batman gestured for Jaeger to remove the fake hood. "After screening, there's actually only one person."

Jaeger noticed that the fake's gaze changed shortly after Batman spoke, indicating that Batman's guess was probably correct.

What an amazing feeling! Is this the legendary instant opening?

"Wait a minute, those features you've described seem a little familiar to me." Jaeger remarked, then suddenly noticed something, "It just feels like something's missing..."

His gaze swept over the fake, and the image of the other party berating him, "You're clearly in cahoots with that bat who naively thinks Gotham City's laws can judge criminals... that weak bat..." flashed through his mind, startling Jaeger.

He had previously felt that the fake's speaking style was vaguely familiar, but he quickly forgot about it because of the subsequent battle.

But looking back now, and considering the conditions Batman set...

A figure instantly appeared in Jaeger's mind, crystal clear.

"Could it be..." Jaeger frowned, realizing what was happening, "I think I know who he is now too."

Then, taking advantage of the petrified imitation's inability to resist, Jaeger reached out and ripped off the imitation's hood.

"It really was you."

Jaeger stared at the other person's true face.

"—Hacher, officer."

Hatcher, one of the two rookie officers in the GCPD, a tall, silent white man who was impulsive in both his actions and words, was currently wearing a replica of a bat costume, frozen in place, staring back at Jaeger with a gloomy expression.

"No wonder you reacted that way when you saw me..."

Jaeger recalled what the imposter had said when he met him on the rooftop—no wonder Hatcher thought he was "pretending to be an ordinary person," because the imposter had seen him before when his magic hadn't been exposed, at the scene of the fourteenth murder tonight.

As for why Hatcher only recognized Jaeger on the rooftop, but did not react to Jaeger when the police arrived at the crime scene, it is probably because the imposter, who was busy escaping at the time, only knew that someone had suddenly appeared at the crime scene, but did not have time to carefully observe the appearance of the intruder.

The other party's identity and previously revealed personality perfectly matched the guesses.

At that moment, the illusory card table suddenly reappeared in Jaeger's mind.

[The Bloodstained Bat - Goal Achieved]

[First time resolving the event, reward: 1 random equipment card]

The silver event card that belonged to "The Bloodstained Bat" disappeared, and a new card landed on the edge of the table.

It was a golden card with only a question mark on it:

[Random Equipment Cards]

[Description: Use this card to randomly obtain an equipment card.]

[Note: In this era where everything depends on luck, some people casually draw a Time Gem, while others solemnly draw a piece of toilet paper—a random equipment card. Pretty amazing, right?]

Jaeger: "..."

Who put toilet paper into the random gacha pool...? Wait, toilet paper can even be considered equipment?!

After staring at the card for a minute and pondering his Schrödinger's luck for a long time, Jaeger's eyes widened—to draw or not to draw, that is the question.

Batman noticed Jaeger's unusual blank expression: "What's wrong with you?"

"It's nothing." Jaeger took a deep breath, suppressing his urge to ask Batman if he was lucky, and decided to try drawing the card another time. "How long until the police arrive? Do you have enough time for the interrogation?"

Batman, who had been distracted by the GCPD's movements, tapped the panel on his arm armor, which was set up to monitor location data, upon hearing this: "The power outage in Parrels slowed down the police's access to the surveillance footage. They only set off to investigate Otis Frynigan 20 minutes ago."

"As for the commotion here, the police received a report from nearby residents five minutes ago, but only just dispatched a portion of their forces to investigate."

"And the time it took them to get here," Batman said, clenching his fist so his knuckles cracked eerily, his icy gaze fixed on Hatcher, who had frozen on the ground, "...was enough for me to interrogate her."