Chapter 19: With Friends Like These, Who Needs Enemies?

“When I was on the Tibetan Plateau, many people said I was a martial arts prodigy,” Batman shrugged.

“Ah, well…” Roland simply didn’t bother to explain, “That’s a secret.”

“Oh.” Batman nodded. Since his friend wasn’t comfortable talking about it at the moment, he decided to investigate on his own. “There’s one more thing—you just went and robbed someone…”

“Damn! How do you know?” Roland exclaimed in shock. “Are you spying on me?”

Batman said nothing. Instead, he warned, “Try not to do that kind of thing. Even if it’s a gang, robbing them is still illegal.”

Roland suddenly realized something and started feeling around his own body. When his fingers touched the collar, he felt a hard object.

“Did you put this here?” Roland couldn’t help but complain. “With friends like you, who needs enemies?”

Batman remained silent.

“Forget it, I’m out of here,” Roland said, knowing Batman’s nature well. In the Justice League, everyone except Green Arrow had contingency plans—some even against him.

As for why there was no plan for Green Arrow… that was because the old Bat didn’t need gadgets to take Green Arrow’s arms apart.

Batman said nothing, simply standing quietly, lost in thought.

“What are you thinking about?” On the way back, Jason noticed Roland had gone silent and thought maybe Batman had upset him. “Did Batman get under your skin?”

“Not really,” Roland scratched his head. “I was just wondering if I could use this opportunity to ask Batman for some compensation for emotional distress.”

“Yeah, that’s unlikely,” Jason shook his head. “I have to say, your train of thought is pretty strange.”

“Forget it, I’ll just keep making money the honest way,” Roland said.

“What do you mean by ‘keep making money honestly’? Since when have our methods been honest?” Jason couldn’t help but tease.

“Shh, don’t say that. We’re all doing legitimate business.”

Arkham Asylum.

Batman brought Poison Ivy here, but to his surprise, chaos had already erupted inside.

“What’s going on?” Batman asked a guard.

“The Joker and Harley Quinn have escaped!” the guard said in a panic.

“Tch.” Batman felt a headache coming on. The most troublesome guy in Gotham had broken out again. What kind of trouble was this?

“Process Poison Ivy’s admission,” Batman instructed the staff.

“Understood.” The guards expertly took care of Ivy, leading her into a room.

Batman sighed and turned away.

He needed to find Joker’s hideout and capture him before Joker caused a major incident.

Laughing Bone Airlines.

“My pudding, haven’t you thought it through yet?” Harley Quinn said boredly to Joker. “We just got out of Arkham. Can’t we spend some time doing something romantic?”

“Shut up. I need to come up with a plan to give the Bat a surprise…” Joker scribbled on a piece of paper. “That’s it. Tomorrow we kidnap Gordon first.”

“Great!”

Commissioner Gordon took a painkiller and suddenly felt a chill down his back, an overall discomfort.

“Maybe I should see a dentist,” Gordon thought, but the idea made him feel even worse.

The next afternoon.

“Commissioner Gordon, what’s going on here?” Roland came to the Gotham City Police Department and eyed Gordon’s swollen eyes filled with bloodshot veins, puzzled. “Did you stay up all night working on a case?”

“Yeah… that’s right,” Gordon mumbled. He couldn’t very well tell them he had a nightmarish dream about the dentist.

“You need to take care of yourself,” Roland advised. “Cases never end… especially in this city full of extraordinary people.”

“Are you trying to encourage me?” Gordon felt even gloomier thinking of all the villains in Gotham. “Come on, I’ll take you to see Harvey.”

The place where Gordon and Harvey met was a café bathed in soft light, with a faint aroma of coffee that calmed and comforted.

“This is a place I specifically chose. Nice atmosphere, right?” Gordon said.

“Doesn’t quite seem like your style,” Roland remarked.

“I’ve been tense lately. Needed to relax a bit.” Gordon ordered three cups of coffee and some pastries, sitting at a table. “I’m also trying to find time to rest. There’s just too much going on.”

“Sounds like something else happened,” Roland asked.

“Exactly,” Gordon sighed. “Mad Hatter is still missing, and Joker escaped again.”

“This is trouble,” Roland said, surprised. Joker was one of the most memorable villains in Gotham to him.

Most of Gotham’s villains had mental issues, but Joker’s were by far the most severe.

“Yeah…” Gordon stirred his coffee and looked toward the café door. “Oh, here’s Harvey.”

Harvey Dent entered, and upon seeing Roland, his expression turned strange.

“So it’s you…”

“Didn’t expect you to be Harvey Dent…”

The two greeted each other awkwardly, like niche online friends unexpectedly meeting in person.

“What’s going on between you two?” Gordon asked, confused. “Do you know each other?”

“Met once…”

“Yeah, we talked for a bit…” Roland said. “Had a good conversation.”

“Where did you meet?” Gordon asked curiously.

“Pool hall!” “Cinema!”

“Hm?” Gordon sensed something was off.

“Ahem, let’s get back to business,” Roland cleared his throat and changed the subject.

“Right, you said you needed legal advice?”

“That’s right. There’s an abandoned church I want to…”

“I see…” Harvey considered. “Have you applied to the church? They know more about this stuff.”

Roland shook his head.

“Do you know a certain number of believers?”

“Not many,” Roland thought. He couldn’t very well proselytize to minors. Besides, he wasn’t a true believer himself, so claiming to be one was no big deal.

“Do you often need to hold gatherings?”

“That I can do.”

Harvey frowned. “What about a clergy member to lead those gatherings?”

“For now, it’s just me,” Roland said, growing less confident.

“Do you have an organizational structure, rules, and some financial backing?”

“Well…”

“Wait, what exactly are you trying to do?” Harvey asked, puzzled.