Become a Phantom Thief from the Comic World

On the thick tree trunk, dozens of long and narrow claw marks are clearly visible, each mark is more than ten centimeters deep. Creatures that can leave such deep claw marks on tree trunks are extremely rare in nature. Even among many large beasts, only a few of them can. Only a few exceptionally powerful individuals can do it.

In a developed city like Gotham, it is basically impossible for such large beasts to appear.

There is no doubt that the marks on the tree trunk are 100% left by the legendary 'bat monster'.

There are many trees with similar traces nearby. There are at least four or five trees nearby at a glance. It is hard to say whether there are more similar trees deep in the woods.

"There is no blood left on the claw marks, and the distance between each mark is relatively tight. It doesn't look like the marks left when a tree trunk was accidentally grabbed during an attack on a human. Instead, it looks like..."

Robin held his chin in his hand and said thoughtfully.

"It's like venting."

Batman's voice came from the side.

"Yes, just like when people are emotionally excited, they will have a strong desire for destruction in their hearts. The 'Bat Monster' obviously used to dig trees crazily here. Maybe killing people intensified some of its emotions, maybe it was excitement. ? Or maybe it’s not enough?”

Robin said, turning to look at Batman.

I saw Batman squatting on the ground next to him, gently peeling away some soil and branches and leaves, his eyes slightly focused.

"What's wrong? Did you find anything new?"

Robin came over and asked.

"The Upper West Side Police Department needs to hone its on-site investigation skills."

Batman picked up a broken ring-shaped object from the ground and said expressionlessly.

Wiping off the dirt on the surface, the ring-shaped object regains its color. The silver ring is inlaid with a diamond the size of a rice grain.

It’s a diamond ring!

And judging by the appearance and specifications of the ring, it's likely to be a wedding ring.

Why would a wedding ring appear in a woods where a murder occurred not long ago?

Who abandoned it? Some unlucky fool? Or the deceased? Or someone else? Why is the ring broken?

The above issues cannot yet be determined, but what is certain is that this ring must have been left here recently.

The reason is simple. The ring is not buried very deep. It is just covered by a little bit of soil and branches and leaves. You can definitely find it if you look carefully.

There are a lot of homeless people living near Robinson Park. If this ring had existed a long time ago, it would be impossible for Batman to find it now.

Batman narrowed his eyes slightly and pressed a few times on the arm guard of his left hand.

Then the arm guard opened automatically, and there was a strange container inside. The space didn't look like much, but it could actually fit a lot of things into it.

Put the ring inside, and the open arm guard automatically closed. Then a green light swept over the ring, uploaded the data to the Batcomputer in the Batcave, and automatically built a virtual model of the ring.

The data model cannot help but include the appearance information and manufacturer information of the ring, and even the fingerprints remaining on the ring were scanned.

Meanwhile, Alfred is sitting in front of the Batcomputer, waiting for news from Batman and Robin.

When the ring data was uploaded to the Batcomputer, Alfred instantly became very energetic.

"One penny, investigate who this diamond ring belongs to."

Batman contacted Alfred.

Just like Dick's code name is Robin and Batman's code name is Bruce, Alfred also has his own operational code name - Penny One.

Batman calls Alfred by the penny when he's on a mission.

"Okay, Master Bruce, I am very pleased to see that you are finally interested in the wedding ring, but judging from the status of the Wayne family, are the diamonds on this ring a little too small?"

Alfred skillfully operated the Batcomputer, comparing the fingerprints on the ring with those in the database, while saying humorously.

As for why the Batcomputer’s database contains the fingerprint identity information of all citizens of Gotham...

We don't know, and we dare not ask.

Soon, the comparison results came out. Alfred Hui reported: "We found a sample that matches the fingerprint on the ring, but there is something strange."

"What's weird?"

Robin's communication channel was connected to Batman and Alfred simultaneously, and he could hear Alfred's words in real time, so he asked.

"The owner of the fingerprint sample is named Kurt Langstone. He is a well-known zoologist. I heard that his main research object is bats. He got married a few years ago and wears a wedding ring. It’s normal, and the fingerprints also match, so we can be sure that he is the owner of this ring.”

Alfred said, "The strange thing is that I collected all the surveillance records near Robinson Park. In the past month, this Dr. Langstone has never been there at all!"

"It's interesting. If the ring belongs to Dr. Langstone, and he has never been here, what happened to the ring we found?"

Robin raised his eyebrows and said, "Did Dr. Langstone also be attacked by a bat monster? But why did the bat monster want a diamond ring and throw it away? It can't be to taste the ring to see if it can eat the ring. You bit it off and then threw it away when you found it didn’t taste good?”

"Come here, Robin!"

At this moment, Batman's voice came from far away. He came to the Batmobile at some point, opened the door and got in, shouting without looking back.

Robin reluctantly followed and sat in the passenger seat.

"Now, we're going to find Curt Langstone."

Batman quickly started the Batmobile and said in a deep voice.

Robin nodded to make it clear.

"I know Dr. Langstone. He lost his hearing due to a disease. In order to restore his hearing, he began to study bats in depth because he believed that bats' developed hearing could help him."

On the way, Batman suddenly spoke.

"Kurt has been trying to mix bat DNA with human DNA to create a serum that can cure deafness. A year ago, he came to see me at Wayne Group, hoping that Wayne Group could fund his research. After claiming that he succeeded, There will no longer be deaf people in the world, but I refused and persuaded him to change his research direction, and I have lost contact with him since then."

"Perhaps, he is still insisting on research on serum."

Hearing this, Robin asked with an absurd face: "Don't you think... Kurt Langstone developed the bat serum, but it did not cure his deafness, but turned him into a human being?" A bat monster?”