Chapter 237: Calm Chuck - You Missed Me!
A week later.
Chuck went to his routine physics class at Princeton University, much to the amusement of young Sheldon, who was practically laughing in his sleep, before returning to his mountain villa.
Jane, working with FBI Director Kate in New York, was very busy lately and had hardly any time to come over.
At her cousin Howard's request, Monica helped speak to her aunt about Howard's desire to stay in New Jersey, causing Mrs. Wolowitz to cry and make a scene, truly disrupting the household. Monica could only offer a forced smile and comfort, and didn't have time to come over either.
This was Chuck's period of solitude.
Fortunately, Chuck was used to being alone and didn't feel uncomfortable. He managed his time very well, attending classes, handling cases, and playing chess.
While playing chess with Anna, Chuck drove into the villa, parked the car, and got out to walk into the villa with his phone.
Suddenly, he looked sharply in one direction up the mountain, then slightly turned his head.
Bang!
A bullet grazed him and struck the wall behind him, blasting a small hole in it.
High in the dense forest, a man lay prone, a heavy sniper rifle in hand, aimed at him from a distance. Chuck had been in the man's scope the entire time he drove into the villa.
As soon as Chuck got out of the car, the man aimed the crosshairs of the scope at Chuck's head, his finger already on the trigger. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, he saw Chuck, who had been completely unaware, suddenly turn his head and look at him, as if he had seen him.
The man, too, had fought through countless dangerous situations; though startled, he remained calm and immediately pulled the trigger of the heavy sniper rifle.
He didn't care how Chuck had noticed; he was determined to kill Chuck!
Then he discovered something unbelievable: Chuck had simply turned his head and dodged the bullet.
"What the hell?!"
the sniper exclaimed, speechless.
Then something even more unbelievable and infuriating happened. Through the scope, Chuck, who had narrowly escaped being hit, calmly watched him, his lips moving slightly. The sniper couldn't hear what Chuck said, but he could read the simple lip movements.
"You missed me."
A sentence even an elementary school student could understand, but in this context, it was filled with dark humor and mockery.
Because the sniper knew this reference!
Not only in the US, but almost the entire world knew it!
It was decades ago, when a US president, who had survived multiple assassination attempts, was giving a speech, and a balloon suddenly popped, sounding like a gunshot.
Because Americans, with their gun culture and with shootings happening regularly across the country, had almost developed a conditioned response: upon hearing any sound resembling a gunshot, their first instinct was to run or find cover.
Not to mention that this was during the Cold War era!
The then-president, who had already survived assassination attempts, would normally have ducked down, been surrounded by Secret Service agents, and quickly fled the scene.
But after the balloon popped, making a sound like a gunshot, the president calmly said, "You missed me!" and then calmly continued his speech.
Putting everything else aside, that courage alone was truly admirable—a thumbs up and "Awesome!"
The sniper was also impressed, feeling that this was the true bearing of a country's leader. But now, to have his assassination target stand there so nonchalantly after being shot at was a completely different feeling.
So he moved his gun, preparing to change his target from Chuck's head to the wider chest.
This time, he was determined to kill Chuck!
Let's see if he can dodge again!
However, at this moment, Chuck's figure had disappeared from the scope.
"Shit!"
The sniper felt like he was going crazy, frantically moving the scope to try and lock onto Chuck again, but there was no sign of him. After a few seconds of thought, he immediately put away his sniper rifle and prepared to leave temporarily.
Sniping is all about one shot, one kill.
Now that Chuck had dodged the fatal blow and vanished without a trace, Chuck's unpredictable behavior made him quite wary. The wise choice was to leave first and then look for another opportunity.
However, it was already too late.
Sensing the impending danger, Chuck immediately dodged the incoming bullet, made a dry joke, locked onto the sniper's precise location, and immediately went at full speed, disappearing into the forest and rushing towards the sniper.
At such a short distance, before the sniper could react, Chuck had already appeared behind him, silently watching the opponent pack up his sniper rifle and prepare to leave.
The instant the sniper turned around, Chuck met the astonished sniper's gaze expressionlessly, and before the sniper could react, he struck him unconscious with a precise blow.
He pulled the sniper's phone from his pocket, adjusted his decorative glasses, and the locked phone unlocked automatically.
Chuck checked the call history, found a number, and dialed it.
"How was it?"
The phone rang a few times before being answered, revealing a middle-aged man with a British accent.
"He didn't hit me,"
Chuck said calmly.
There was a moment of silence on the other end, followed by a few seconds of silence before the call was disconnected.
Chuck wasn't surprised; he remembered the voice and would recognize it if they encountered each other again!
After cleaning up the scene, he carried the unconscious sniper in one hand and the packed heavy sniper rifle in the other, leisurely returning to his mountain villa and locking the sniper in a secret room.
"Can we track him down?"
Chuck asked as he cleaned and repaired the wall damaged by the sniper's bullet.
His wristwatch vibrated almost imperceptibly.
Chuck wasn't surprised.
Anna wasn't omnipotent; in America, there were disposable cell phones that could be bought and used without registration, and short calls were difficult to pinpoint.
There was always the sniper, after all.
Such a grown man carried plenty of information.
So Chuck continued methodically repairing the wall, determined to make it seem as if the sniper attack had never happened, no matter who sent him.
Calling the police was impossible!
He would never call the police.
Although he was a police consultant, once such a matter was reported, the subsequent developments would be difficult for him to control. If, under the influence of powerful figures he had offended, he might end up being the one investigated instead of the one who called the police.
Investigating Chuck's background and finding suspects was perfectly legal and reasonable!
But Chuck didn't want to be investigated. Otherwise, if they really found something like certain weapons in Chuck's house, it wouldn't be something he could just explain away.
At some point, the sniper, who had been knocked unconscious, woke up and found himself surrounded by complete darkness.
He remained silent, trying to process the situation in order to escape or even fight back and complete his unfinished mission.
Then, with a snap, a door and window opened, letting in a faint light.
The sniper instinctively shielded his eyes, then realized with astonishment that it was a small window, like those used in confessionals in a church.
On the other side of the window, Chuck's expressionless face appeared. "Who sent you?"
"You should know,"
the sniper mumbled.
"Don't tell me it's the CIA."
Chuck had already checked the identification on his person. "Agent Babbage."
"Since you know who I am, you should know that I have no grudge against you."
The sniper, indeed Agent Babbage, was acting on orders. He looked at Chuck. "I'm just following orders. It has nothing to do with personal grudges. If you lay a hand on me, it's treason."
"So you can kill me, and I can't fight back?"
Chuck looked at him calmly.
"It may seem wrong, but that's the truth,"
Agent Babbage said frankly. "After all, we represent America."
"Tell me your superior's identification information. I'll go talk to him about who really represents America,"
Chuck said.
"You know that's impossible,"
Agent Babbage said. "In our line of work, ability comes first, but loyalty is even more important. When we enter this line of work, we're already prepared to sacrifice."
"Is that so?"
Chuck bluntly asked. "Isn't it a high-paying job? Are you sure you're prepared to sacrifice, and not to enjoy the thrill of killing at will and high pay?"
"It seems there's a reason why your superiors want to kill you."
Agent Babbage's eyes narrowed. "Your thinking is dangerous!"
"That depends on perspective."
Chuck said. "Have you read the Batman comics?"
"Of course."
Agent Babbage smiled. "You're not telling me you're the real Batman, are you?"
"Of course not."
Chuck shook his head. "Do you think Batman is dangerous?"
Agent Babbage fell silent.
In the eyes of most people, Batman is naturally not dangerous, and even his principle of not killing seems foolish to assassins who walk in the shadows and embrace violence.
The most effective way to stop a person's evil is, of course, physical elimination. There's no such thing as an endless cycle of arrest, imprisonment, escape, and re-arrest.
If he were facing criminals, he wouldn't be afraid of Batman at all; he might even treat it as a fun game.
But when Chuck spoke of Batman, he clearly wasn't referring to Batman's restraint or morality. Chuck probably meant that while Batman doesn't kill, he doesn't hold back on beating criminals; as long as they don't die, any beating is acceptable.
While he wasn't afraid of death, why bother getting beaten up if he could avoid it?
However, reality didn't cooperate.
The light disappeared, and in the darkness, he was relentlessly struck by blows that seemed to appear out of nowhere, hitting his most sensitive spots. Howls and groans echoed in the darkness.
His nightmare had officially begun.
Beat him within an inch of his life!
Ultimately, he wasn't as strong as he thought, and began to confess what he knew. "I don't know who my superior is, I've never met him, we've only ever communicated by phone..."
"Good! Continue in a moment!"
Chuck nodded, letting him catch his breath.
After an unknown amount of time in the darkness, a wail arose again. "I've told you everything I know... You have to believe me!"
"Sorry, you're a very experienced antisocial personality, and my abilities are limited; I can't verify the truthfulness of your words,"
Chuck said bluntly.
"..."
Agent Babbage momentarily forgot his physical pain. Was this really the reason he kept enduring the same beating?
He couldn't believe that even at this point, the renowned detective Chuck, known for his ability to read people, couldn't tell that he had completely confessed.
Then he understood why Chuck had asked him about Batman. It wasn't just that Chuck wanted to embody Batman's "fight without killing" mentality, but also that he wanted to tell him that someone who could hold his own against the Joker and his gang of Gotham lunatics—in the Joker's words, Batman was actually the craziest person in Gotham.
What could you expect from a madman?
"I'm not going anywhere,"
Agent Babbage muttered to himself, realizing the situation.
"You don't need to walk out."
Chuck was also frank. "I told you I'm not Batman."
"...How did you do that?"
Agent Babbage, completely resigned to his fate, paused for a moment before asking the question he most wanted to know, becoming increasingly agitated. "How did you sense I was aiming at you beforehand and even dodge my bullet?! That's completely impossible!"
Facing Agent Babbage's unwavering gaze, Chuck remained silent for a moment. Just when Agent Babbage thought he was going to leave him in the dark, a deep voice rang out. "Because I am Batman~!"
"..."
Agent Babbage would rather die confused than be mocked to death as a confused ghost!
One minute not Batman, the next he's Batman again—isn't that insane?!
So he just uses that identity whenever it's convenient?!
It's only because he's not in the mood to process this right now, otherwise he would definitely suspect Chuck was implying something!
New Hampshire.
Underground secret room of the shelter.
Anna, the girl in white, listened to everything. When Agent Babbage mentioned how Chuck could sense danger and dodge sniper bullets, Anna's blank gaze visibly focused.
After Chuck and Agent Babbage finished their conversation, her phone rang. Chuck took it out, glanced at it, and said, "I have a sense of danger; I'm not afraid of assassination."
Anna, the girl in white in the shelter, suddenly brightened her gaze, a radiant smile spreading across her face.
The reason she had contacted her sister was because she had discovered her sister's people pointing sniper rifles at Chuck. Unaware that Chuck could sense danger in advance, she had no choice but to ask her sister for help for the first time, for Chuck's safety.
This was something she hadn't wanted to do.
She knew that once she spoke up, her sister would understand Chuck's importance to her and use Chuck's safety to control her, making her obey her orders.
Her fears were later confirmed.
Her sister came to her immediately.
Although she also took the opportunity to integrate into her sister's criminal empire and use her sister's resources to eliminate the assassination threat against Chuck in advance, her intentions were ultimately compromised.
It turns out it was all a wonderful misunderstanding.
Chuck would have been fine even without her asking her sister... that's wonderful.
(End of Chapter)
[+500 Power Stones = +2 Extra Chapter]
[+10 Reviews = +1 Extra Chapter]
If you enjoyed this chapter, leave a Review!
P*atreon/Soulforger (50+ advanced chapters)
Buy me coffee - ko-fi*com/soulforger01