Seeing Red Hood still chasing and killing those men, Batman wanted to intervene.
But he didn't have the time now, because Nightwing's condition was critical!
It had even reached a life-threatening level.
He drove the Batmobile at top speed to take Nightwing to the Batcave.
Barbara, hearing of Nightwing's injury, also rushed back to the Manor.
Then, after careful examination by the three of them, they finally discovered with great frustration that Gotham City did not have a Doctor good enough to perform Nightwing's surgery.
The Scarecrow incident had caused too much upheaval; Gotham had not yet recovered, and no good Doctor was willing to stay in such a godforsaken place.
But Batman suddenly remembered that he had a childhood friend with whom he had lost contact, who happened to be a specialist in neurosurgery.
Bruce had followed his friend's career and knew that this old friend might have enough ability to save Nightwing.
He hadn't thought of asking Dane for help, but from the moment Dane hung up the phone, he couldn't reach him at all.
It seemed he was genuinely busy.
With no other option, Bruce finally had to dial Thomas Elliot's number.
"Bruce?" The call connected, and the other party sounded very surprised.
"You haven't called me in a long time."
Listening to his old friend's emotional tone, Bruce clutched the phone tightly.
He tried his best to calm himself: "Tommy (nickname for Thomas), I need you... I need your help."
Thomas lived in Philadelphia, not far from Gotham.
After receiving Bruce's call, the famous neurosurgeon quickly arrived from Philadelphia.
At Gotham General Hospital, the two childhood friends met.
But he had no time for pleasantries; he dressed quickly and entered the operating room.
After a ten-hour surgery, Thomas finally snatched Nightwing's life back from the God of Death.
The moment he announced the surgery's success, Bruce couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.
Everyone from the Bat-Family came to visit Dick, even Damian.
When Nightwing felt a little better, Damian couldn't help but taunt him:
"You're a disgrace to us! To be successfully ambushed by a bunch of scum~."
Nightwing's head was wrapped in bandages at this time, with only one eye exposed.
He was a bit listless now and didn't have the energy to argue with Damian.
As soon as Dick felt a little better, Bruce, despite Thomas's objections, insisted on transferring him to his own Manor.
As Dick's attending Doctor, Thomas was very angry.
"You are disregarding his life, Bruce."
"Didn't you ask me to save him?"
"If you wanted him to die, you should have done nothing from the start!"
Bruce couldn't tell him too much; there were too many secrets in his manor that he couldn't let anyone know.
Moreover, Thomas wasn't an ordinary person; he had shown a super high IQ since childhood.
Bruce was afraid he would figure out his identity.
So, he could only say forcefully:
"Tommy, your mission ends here. The rest is up to me…"
Thomas left in a huff, showing his disappointment in Bruce.
"I thought that after all these years, we were still friends. It seems I was overthinking it."
Bruce raised his hand several times, then lowered it several times, finally remaining silent.
Thomas left in disappointment.
At Wayne Manor, while Nightwing was still somewhat alert after just waking up, Bruce managed to get some information.
"You're saying the person who attacked you was Deathstroke?"
Bruce was greatly surprised.
After joining the JLA, he had thoroughly investigated every member, including Shazam's public identity, Dane Davis.
So he knew that Deathstroke had once tried to assassinate Dane, and ended up being beaten to an unknown state of life or death.
If what Nightwing said was true, then Deathstroke wasn't dead; he was still active on the front lines.
Deathstroke's involvement gave Bruce a headache, because this person was just a mercenary who worked for money, and it was hard to get clues from him.
But Batman had a hunch that Deathstroke attacking Nightwing, and the Killer Croc and Selina incidents, seemed unrelated but were actually part of the same plan.
He had to find Killer Croc and figure out what was going on.
And just as well, before Killer Croc was taken away by the CIA, he had planted a tracker on him.
It showed… hmm? He was moving at high speed!
Bruce immediately put on his Batsuit and drove the Batmobile to pursue him.
His Batmobile was extremely fast, but he wasn't in a hurry to catch Killer Croc, because he hoped Killer Croc would lead him to the mastermind.
Although he didn't know why, Killer Croc's goal was the 10 million U.S. dollars, so if the money was lost, he would definitely find a way to get it back.
Killer Croc was climbing a tall building; it was clear he knew who had taken his money.
Finally, on the rooftop, he found the thief—Selina.
Selina didn't seem surprised by Killer Croc's arrival; she tried to talk to him.
"Stop, Waylon, we've both been tricked by Poison Ivy!"
Batman, who had just reached the rooftop, paused at the mention of Poison Ivy.
Was Poison Ivy involved in this too?
Killer Croc didn't listen to Selina's explanation; he attacked her furiously, roaring repeatedly:
"Where's my money?!"
Selina also got angry: "I told you, Poison Ivy tricked us; she took all the money!"
She nimbly dodged Killer Croc's attacks, completely unharmed.
But her stamina couldn't sustain her for long, and soon, under Killer Croc's increasingly violent attacks, she was in danger.
At this moment, Batman finally appeared. He raised his arm and fired a high-voltage taser, instantly subduing Killer Croc.
The pain of the high-voltage shock seemed to make Killer Croc slightly more lucid.
He watched Batman approach, but no longer showed any aggressive tendencies.
"Waylon, tell me, what do you need that money for? Who made you kidnap that child?"
"It was Poison Ivy. She told me that for 10 million, she could cure my disease and make me a normal person…"
This was too absurd! Batman thought.
"Batman?"
At this moment, Selina walked up behind him, seeming a bit hesitant whether to get closer.
"Selina…" Seeing her, Batman had a thousand words but couldn't voice them.
Finally, he could only say something befitting Batman's identity: "Do you know where Poison Ivy is now?"
Selina looked at Batman; although this wasn't the reunion she had hoped for, just seeing him filled her heart with tenderness.
She slowly nodded: "I found her other safe house, and I'm about to go settle scores with her."
"Batman, please believe me, I was forced into this."
Poison Ivy could control others by manipulating hormone secretion, and Selina had clearly fallen victim.
After all, not everyone had Dane's high tolerance for toxins, able to ignore the power of hormones.
Batman turned his head to look at Killer Croc on the ground:
"Waylon, for your own sake, try not to escape from prison next time, okay?"
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