What bad intentions could Batman have?.

Old Wayne Building.

As the elevator door dinged open, Chen Tao had just walked into the 14th floor when he saw Lincoln standing there, like a silent and elegant statue.

"Bruce, I was just about to say how much I appreciate you coming to meet with me. I can imagine how busy you are these days."

"Not too busy to meet with Lincoln March, 'the next mayor of Gotham'—"

"Is this what the gossip is saying right now?"

"So be it." Chen Tao smiled at him: "But I don't doubt the authenticity of the gossip. I have been reading reports about you, a self-made financial genius turned philanthropist."

"Your story is wonderful and perfect."

Lincoln March felt that when Bruce said the word "perfect", he seemed to be pointing somewhere else, but looking at his sincere eyes, he felt that this was another illusion of his own overthinking.

"You also do good things. You fund a boys' home and run after-school literacy classes."

Chen Tao took out a check and wrote on it.

"So what do you think? Does the number look satisfactory?"

"Bruce, I'm not here to ask you for money, but don't get me wrong - every penny is appreciated."

"Hell, Mayor Carlo has about 10 credit lines running around the clock, and the source of funding is questionable in the best possible word," Lincoln March said.

"If you want public support, I'm afraid I can't give it."

"I don't want to support it publicly. What I really want is your vote."

Chen Tao silently watched Lincoln March act.

The other person's expression was sincere.

Tsk. If you like playing so much, why not continue playing with him?

"My vote. You came all this way just for one, Lincoln."

"Yeah, but what you're doing right now is what I believe in, Bruce's plan to rebuild Gotham is a good thing, and frankly, I look at you like I'm seeing a friend."

"A cynic would say you saw an opportunity."

"Yes, the cynics will say that you launched the New Gotham project to serve a corporate image because it was a publicly held project and so on and so forth but to serve a private purpose."

"Is this what the gossip is saying right now?"

"Well, maybe they're right. It's time for me to go. I'll leave the check on the table."

"Bruce, you know, I also lost both of my parents as a child."

Chen Tao's footsteps paused.

The meat show is here, the classic parents start.

No matter what, when you want to deceive Batman, first bring the topic to an area that the other person does not understand.

"It's weird, isn't it? I only remember details. I can barely remember my mother's face. But I remember her--clearly.

The brooch she was wearing on the day of the accident. The ceramic brooch I made for her in school was small and heart-shaped. It was completely crooked, one side was bigger and the other was smaller. But she pinned the brooch to her charming skirt. It was my ugly little brooch.

I don't remember the drunk driver who hit us.

I don't quite remember how the accident happened...but I remember when the paramedics took me away, I saw the brooch lying on the ground intact, not broken, not cracked, just lying on the road, I just hope someone takes it pick it up. "

"After I lost everything I owned that night, I was in a state of utter hopelessness for a long time. I hated the world."

"But then I got tuition, funding to go to City College, and the city saved me, Bruce, Gotham saved me."

"This city gave me purpose when I was alone, and I bet it gave it to you too."

"I look at you, and I see an ally, a real ally, and you must know that there are not many allies in this city, and they are far apart, especially now."

Chen Tao smiled.

"Mr. March..."

“I’ve always believed that the best way to understand a city is to keep your feet on the ground.”

He turned around and stood in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window, stretching his body and looking at the scattered human fireworks in the distant night.

“Feel the cracks in the pavement beneath your feet…”

An indescribable aura enveloped Lincoln March. He didn't understand what was going on, he just felt--

Just seeing Bruce Wayne standing there with a wine glass... made him suffocate.

"The strangely bright silence of the snow-covered parking lot..."

"The elevated train passed over Third Street, hissing and sparks flying."

“The ticking of traffic lights late at night…”

"But you know what's most interesting?"

He saw Bruce Wayne turn around, and light shone into the room from behind, causing half of his face to be hidden in shadow.

“Everything about Gotham is so obvious on the surface, but if you try to understand Gotham on a deeper level, you could spend your whole life…and still not know anything about it.”

"Isn't that right, Mr. March?"

"There's an underground cavern in Gotham."

Lincoln March didn't know why the topic suddenly changed here.

"There is only one, in fact, the only one is in Kane County, located just below the Willow Grove Children's Rescue Center. Many years ago, this was Gotham's affiliated hospital for children with mental illness and neurological disorders. Until It was still functioning 18 years ago.”

Lincoln March's expression changed little by little. This is a secret that only he and the court will know. They have been hiding it well over the years. How did Batman get this information?

Of course I know it from reading comics.

Chen Tao looked at his solemn look and smiled secretly in his heart.

He continued:

"I had a brother, Thomas Wayne II, Mr. March..."

As Chen Tao spoke, he secretly observed Lincoln March.

He laughed secretly in his heart and continued, telling a story that had been magically changed by a time traveler:

"When I was three years old, my mother was pregnant with him and we were in a car accident. I don't remember the accident, but there are records. He was my brother, a premature baby with a congenital condition. defect."

Lincoln March felt his heart beating faster and faster.

Bruce Wayne knew far more than he expected, which meant that... all his previous assumptions about the other party had to be overturned.

“Records from Gotham Mercy Hospital show that my brother, Thomas Wayne Jr., was forcefully born in an emergency, was given a name, and was quickly put on life-saving tubes — but doctors said he had severe neurological damage. Because it's so severe, there's a good chance he'll become a permanent vegetative state to get through the initial trauma."

"He managed to survive."

"My parents secretly sent him to Liulin Hospital for treatment. They always felt that the car accident was unusual. In order to protect the little baby and prevent the possible masterminds from harming him, they sent him there Willow Grove.”

Chen Tao stared closely at Lincoln March's face: "My parents love my brother. But what no one expected is-"

"Half a month later, that little baby disappeared."

Chen Tao said: "My parents were looking for him until they died, and I have been looking for him for so many years."

Lincoln March's hands were shaking.

"We didn't find it at all."

"Say, March, where's that kid going to be?"