"Hail Hydra?"
Batman rewound the audio and listened to it again.
Although the voice was kept extremely low, and the speaker seemed to be whispering close to Norman Osborn's ear, the Prophet AI had still successfully parsed it and made it clearly audible.
Batman had distinctly heard the word "Hydra" twice now.
The first time was when Tony Stark bought Batman's half-finished AI model for a hundred million dollars, and Batman steered the conversation toward the Tesseract, which Tony mentioned.
The second time was when S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil used the Bat-Signal on the rooftop to attract him, but Batman hacked into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s internal systems from several floors away.
Coincidentally, both times he learned about Hydra were related to the Tesseract.
And whether from hacking into S.H.I.E.L.D. or from other channels, Batman understood that Hydra, the massive organization from World War II, had been completely eradicated.
Batman grabbed a pen and paper, writing down a series of words on the sheet.
Hydra, Tesseract, gamma rays, S.H.I.E.L.D., Super Soldier Serum, Norman Osborn, General Ross, and a symbol to represent the code Hawkeye and Black Widow received while returning after arresting Dr. Banner.
He stared at these words for a few minutes, then added two more: Shulman, F.E.A.S.T. Shelter.
"According to Norman Osborn's attending physician, Dr. Tanis Nieves, the ones who took Norman Osborn away were four men dressed in black tactical gear, armed with weapons."
"But the surveillance was blocked, and Tanis couldn't accurately describe their appearances or the models of the weapons they used, so I can't determine from their appearances where the Hydra that took Norman Osborn came from."
"The other party mentioned General Ross, and said they'd give one more chance..."
Batman used the pen to draw lines connecting Hydra to each of the other words, then separately linked Norman Osborn, General Ross, gamma rays, and Super Soldier Serum together:
"General Ross might have been secretly released by Hydra, or it could be another organization—uncertain."
"Norman Osborn's body was enhanced by a failed Super Soldier Serum, and his serum was created at General Ross's suggestion, using gamma rays instead of Vita Rays."
"General Ross's legs were broken by me, and half the reason he recruited Norman Osborn might be to continue researching the serum and heal his own legs."
Batman added "New Mexico" after this series of words:
"That's where General Ross once experimented with the gamma bomb, and where Dr. Banner was hit head-on by the rays, gaining the ability to transform into the Hulk."
Beep.
Just as Batman was about to proceed with the next deduction, the modified gas chromatography-mass spectrometry instrument emitted a soft chime indicating the completion of its work.
Based on the instrument's electronic spectrum analysis, the gun oil scent Batman had detected outside Norman Osborn's isolation ward was exactly one produced by a subsidiary of Stark Industries.
The gun oil model was "SI-03," with the prefix being the initials of Tony Stark's company, Stark Industries.
"Barbara, help me trace all orders from Stark Industries in the past six months involving this gun oil, as well as weapons compatible with it," Batman said.
"No problem, Bruce," the Prophet AI replied, immediately diving into hacking Stark Industries' systems right after finishing the audio analysis.
Batman turned his gaze back to the paper on the workbench with the series of words written on it, and even added two more with the pen: modified firearms, Stark.
Batman hadn't forgotten that when he first crossed over, the first black market deal he encountered was Black Cat selling tampered firearms to Hammerhead Joseph.
Batman had already determined that the modifications to the guns were done by Kingpin's subordinate Shulman, but he hadn't yet investigated the source of the guns.
But now he had to find out.
The portion of guns he had confiscated had been completely destroyed along with that modified muscle Batmobile's self-destruction, but that didn't mean only those forty-two guns had entered the market; Kingpin's remaining forces must still have some left.
It was time to pay Black Cat a visit.
Late at night, in the sixteenth-floor low-rise building in Hell's Kitchen that Kingpin had once used as his office space.
The spacious, brightly lit, luxuriously decorated office stood in stark contrast to the dilapidated exterior of the low-rise building.
Black Cat wasn't wearing her black deep-V leather outfit with the white fur collar; instead, she had changed into a black combat suit with silver edges, featuring obvious armor plating and complete coverage from the neck down.
Her previously loose white long hair was now tied into a high ponytail at the back of her head, and her eyes were covered by a mask that she hadn't worn before.
Kingpin's office now had four hanging punching bags added, arranged in a square formation. Black Cat was positioned in the middle of the four bags, constantly dodging and weaving, looking for opportunities to strike.
Bang!
One punching bag was sent flying high by Black Cat's punch before swinging back down quickly. Black Cat followed up with a whip kick, but this time the bag didn't budge at all.
Black Cat eyed the bag suspiciously, as if it had rooted itself in the air. With a sharp clang from her combat suit-covered hands, razor-sharp claws extended uniformly from all ten fingertips.
Just as Black Cat cautiously went on guard, she saw Batman's figure materialize from behind.
"Why?" Batman's figure appeared like a ghost, without even a whisper of wind, materializing silently there, and he asked, "Everyone else besides Shulman was sent to prison, so why do you keep training?"
"Whew—Batman?"
Black Cat let out a sigh of relief, moving her hands slightly so the claws extending from her suit's fingertips retracted.
She hadn't felt tired while focusing on facing the four punching bags at once, but now that her mind relaxed, sweat immediately poured down her forehead.
"During the time I infiltrated Kingpin's gang, I witnessed firsthand the bottomless darkness of this city," Black Cat said, catching her breath a few times to steady her breathing. "Kingpin fell, but a new Kingpin will rise."
"I don't want to be like last time in this room, facing a powerful opponent like Bullseye with no chance of winning, just waiting for you to drop from the sky and save me."
"I want to master greater power."
Batman looked at Black Cat, observing her micro-expressions as she spoke, confirming that she was telling the truth and not lying to deceive him:
"The choice is yours, but you probably don't want to become my enemy one day."
Black Cat chuckled happily, removing the mask from her face and tossing it aside:
"Hope not. You rarely come by these days—got something you need my help with?"
"Kingpin once had you sell a batch of arms from Stark Industries to Joseph," Batman asked. "Are there any leftovers from that batch?"
Black Cat nodded:
"Yes, but not many. After I teamed up with the police to round up Kingpin's remaining subordinates in one fell swoop, someone secretly contacted me wanting to buy that batch of weapons. After I refused, they never tried to contact me again."
"Who was he?" Batman vaguely grasped the key to the clue.
"He called himself 'Mr. Negative'."