Batman quickly arrived at the old ACE Chemical Factory site. He was more than familiar with the place.
"Ra's al Ghul!"
He looked at his former teacher, then turned his gaze to the bandaged man beside him.
"So all of this was your design? Who exactly are you? Why are you doing this?"
Hush did not answer the question about his identity. He looked at Batman and gave a strange laugh.
"You should already know my name. Please call me Hush, Batman."
The bandaged man's eyes were malicious, and only faint facial features could be seen through the bandages.
"As for why I'm doing this, that's a stupid question. No criminal in Gotham doesn't wish for you to die."
"Do you think so too?" Batman looked at his teacher.
He clearly remembered that this master of ninjas utterly detested evil.
"Times have changed, my child."
Ra's al Ghul smiled at him:
"You taught me this: sometimes, to eliminate a greater evil, you have to make temporary compromises."
"So I guess this is non-negotiable?"
Batman prepared for battle.
But Ra's al Ghul raised a hand to stop him. He signaled his subordinates to open the gate behind him.
Batman became a little more cautious.
But when the gate opened, behind it were not mechanisms or weapons.
Instead, two coffins hung high on a crane.
Batman gritted his teeth and roared, "Release my parents!!!"
This was the second time Batman had lost his composure in front of others. The last time was when he almost beat Joker to Death.
Ra's al Ghul was unhurried.
"You don't have to be like this, because I never intended to insult the Wayne couple."
"On the contrary, I respect them, because they were the first couple to try and make Gotham better."
"But you and I have both seen the final result."
"Bruce, we've always known that Gotham is a city beyond saving, but you are not!"
"You can still make the right decision again. Do you know how I escaped the fate of Death?"
Batman's body trembled, his eyes fixed on Ra's al Ghul.
His expression was strange, with some disbelief, a hint of longing, and also a touch of struggle.
"Yes, you must have heard the legends of the Lazarus Pit."
"What if I told you now that those legends are all true?"
Ra's al Ghul pointed to the green pool below the coffins.
Batman could no longer maintain his fighting stance. His shoulders slumped as if he had lost all strength.
His voice hoarse, he said, "It's impossible! They've been dead for over twenty years!"
After more than twenty years, his parents' bodies would have long since decayed into White bones.
Ra's al Ghul said casually:
"Perhaps in the past, but now, I have a new understanding of the Lazarus Pit."
"I can tell you with certainty, Bruce, your parents can be resurrected!"
Batman's mind fell into confusion. He didn't know how to handle the current situation.
But, could they really be resurrected?
Thomas and... and Martha, could they both be resurrected?
Batman... no, Bruce, it was as if the image of his family of three reappeared before his eyes.
So many years had passed, yet their voices, smiles, and appearances remained clear, without any fading.
Seeing that Batman was truly wavering, Hush couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"Hahahahaha, you're really tempted, you're actually tempted!"
"Batman, it turns out you're just a mortal!"
Batman, as a mortal, was vulnerable.
Only a very few supervillains understood this.
Hush's words startled Batman. He looked at the bandaged man and barely managed to regain some composure.
"So what is your goal? It can't just be to fulfill me, can it?"
"The only person I want to kill is Batman, not Bruce Wayne, do you understand?"
"I don't care if Bruce dies or not, as long as Batman dies."
He suddenly let out a strange laugh:
"A friend told me this, and now, I feel he was absolutely right."
"But please don't misunderstand, your teacher is telling the truth. This pool can indeed resurrect your parents."
Although he said so, Hush's malicious tone always made Batman have bad premonitions.
"What are you hesitating for?"
In the distance, Damian quietly watched the scene from a secluded spot where no one could see him.
He was also waiting for Batman's choice.
Bruce had a chance to have a happy family again. He could become an ordinary person again.
Instead of wearing black and being an aerialist in the city every night, catching endless rats.
But Damian felt a hint of unease in his heart. He didn't know where this unease came from.
Zzzzt —
Just as he was still thinking, the lifeless battle suit he was wearing suddenly made a crackling sound of electricity.
"Damian..."
"You..."
"OK, the signal should be normal now. What's going on over there? I just found your battle suit offline."
Damian's eyes flickered as he considered whether to explain the current situation to Dane.
But he didn't know that this battle suit was designed by Dane himself, so it had countless backdoors.
Everything Damian saw through the battle suit's eyepiece, Dane could actually see if he wanted to.
Right now, he was watching with great interest.
"I see, Batman's father-in-law."
"And a bandaged villain. They seem to have your father in a bind."
"So, do you want to help your father?"
Help? Help with what?
Damian didn't think the choice his grandfather offered was wrong.
On the contrary, he felt that Bruce's hesitation was unreasonable.
Was fighting Gotham's criminals more important than resurrecting his parents?
But out of that hint of unease in his heart, he inexplicably asked:
"You said, can the Lazarus Pit bring people back from Death?"
Dane gave an affirmative reply:
0 Seeking fresh flowers
"Yes, the Lazarus Pit does have the ability to bring the dead back to life. But..."
Damian was just about to let out a sigh of relief, nearly getting scared back by him.
He said impatiently, "Can't you just say it all at once?"
"Don't rush, but you see, even though the name Lazarus sounds very biblical, it has nothing to do with holiness."
"On the contrary, I suspect the Lazarus Pit is more closely related to demons. Do you remember what your grandfather's nickname is?"
Damian blurted out, "Head of the Demon!"
"Yes, Head of the Demon. Why does he have such a nickname?"
"Is it merely because he has killed many people?"
"If your grandfather truly detested evil as much as you think, why aren't there titles like 'Savior' associated with him?"
"Instead, it's a name like Head of the Demon, which sounds like an evil villain."
Dane's series of interrogations made Damian waver. He stared intently at Ra's al Ghul in the distance.
And Dane delivered the final blow: "Damian, is Ra's al Ghul, after bathing in the spring Water, still the same person he used to be?"
"Bringing the dead back to life is an extremely costly magic."
"Even in the Magical Realm, it is a miracle that only a very few people can touch."
Ra's al Ghul seemed somewhat displeased with Batman's hesitation, and he brought out another bargaining chip.
Selina was suspended not far from the coffins. She was still unconscious.
"Selina..."
"Batman, you've thought long enough. How about I decide for you!"
"What do you want to do?" A sense of dread rose in Batman's heart.
"I can give you a small demonstration, to show you the effect of bringing the dead back to life."
Ra's al Ghul pointed to Selina above, his meaning self-evident.
Batman's voice deepened: "She is not a commodity for you to display!"
Ra's al Ghul ignored his words and instead said, "In my eyes, she is."
"A habitual thief, to experience the greatness of the Lazarus Pit once is not a waste of her worthless life."
"No—!"
Batman's shout indicated he had made his choice.
But he was too far from Catwoman to rescue her.
Just as he was heartbroken, only able to watch the woman he loved die once again, Damian arrived!
The nano-suit, with its functions restored, was powerful; he effortlessly saved Catwoman.
Damian yelled urgently at Batman: "The coffins!"
Batman immediately understood, and two Batarangs instantly flew out, knocking out the operators controlling the ropes.
"You were too hasty," Hush said, watching Ra's al Ghul with dissatisfaction.
Batman was clearly about to make his choice.
"You don't understand him at all," Ra's al Ghul merely sneered and stepped forward to confront Batman.
Just as a melee was about to erupt, the concrete wall of the ACE Chemical Factory suddenly exploded as if dynamited, and a figure in a white robe appeared in the breach.
It was Dane.
"Did I miss the party?"
------------------------
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