CHAPTER 34

The very next day after Deathstroke escaped from Wayne Manor!

Bruce Wayne used all the news media he could mobilize to expose the Wayne Manor theft incident from the previous day!

He stated that a large amount of property was lost from the manor, among which was a green, glowing ice hockey stick, the most valuable item.

Bruce Wayne generously declared that as long as the thieves returned the green ice hockey stick within three days, he would not pursue the other losses!

Otherwise, after three days, he would resort to offering a high-value bounty to retrieve his lost items!

As soon as this statement was made, it caused a tremor throughout Gotham. Gotham's richest man was going to offer a billion-dollar bounty; that was an opportunity to ascend to heaven in a single step!

For a time, the thieves were panic-stricken.

In Gotham City, however, many bounty hunters inexplicably emerged!

They specifically targeted those thieves, whether it was petty pilfering or home invasion robbery. As long as they were discovered by them! These bounty hunters would hound those thieves like hunting dogs.

They were like a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse, conducting a carpet search for that stick! All for those billion US dollars!

This caused all the famous thieves in Gotham to be suppressed, including Catwoman Selina, who was so scared she didn't dare to go out. Those bounty hunters were too crazy!

However, because of their appearance, the number of theft cases in Gotham dropped directly to zero.

This made Commissioner Gordon feel that the previously bustling police station had suddenly become idle!

…………

After the press conference, in the Lincoln sedan, Jason asked Bruce Wayne with some concern: "Bruce, are you feeling better?"

Batman that morning had truly frightened Jason!

At three o'clock in the morning, while they were waiting for Deathstroke in the manor, they suddenly heard hysterical laughter coming from the villa. Hearing that somewhat low, hysterical laughter, Jason and Max knew something was wrong!

They rushed to the scene on the third floor at top speed, only to see Alfred holding a Remington M870, charging in one direction.

Batman, however, was collapsed on the ground, his face contorted in pain. His already clenched teeth and his clouded, unfocused eyes gave no indication of what torment his mind was enduring.

Not long after, Alfred ran back. He picked up the fear-stricken Batman on his back and went to the Batcave.

After placing Batman on the medical equipment, Alfred carefully checked his heart rate and various other bodily data, then administered an anesthetic. Watching Batman fall peacefully asleep, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Master has been saved! You two don't need to worry," Alfred explained to the two worried individuals with an awkward smile.

"So..., Deathstroke escaped, right?" Max asked with a curious expression, a question that struck a nerve.

Alfred was momentarily speechless, recalling how, just a few minutes prior, Master had confidently declared he would take care of Deathstroke.

But just a few minutes later, Master was lying on the medical bed. Alfred didn't know how to explain, so he could only nod with an awkward smile.

Returning to the present, not long after the effects of the drug had worn off, Bruce, his face still somewhat pale, had just finished holding the press conference.

That pale and weak body added credibility to the news he had just delivered!

Bruce was silent for a moment, then responded, "I'm fine, Jason. My body has pretty much recovered! I'll do a few sets of fist techniques later, then get some sleep, and I'll be alright."

"That's good."

Jason knew how effective that set of fist techniques was. Not to mention himself, even Alfred, who was practicing with them, had visibly become "younger" over this past week of training.

——————————

After Slade Wilson left Wayne Manor, he immediately returned to his hotel in Gotham.

Relying on his powerful mind, the images from his memory replayed before his eyes. He quickly transcribed everything he had seen onto A4 paper.

Looking at the "The Self-Cultivation of a Magnetic Field Madman" that he had written out from memory, Slade Wilson gained some new insights.

He began to organize his equipment. Having offended Bruce Wayne in Gotham, he had to leave quickly.

Before dawn, he had to leave Gotham City.

Sitting in the helicopter he had summoned, Slade flew towards Hong Kong.

He now needed to find someone, an extremely powerful woman!

Her fighting skills were strong to an almost unbelievable degree. Hailed in their circles as the world's number one assassin, and also one of the world's strongest martial artists—Lady Shiva.

Slade needed her help to interpret the fist technique diagrams in the latter part of the manual. Although the moves had illustrations, he couldn't understand the annotations about meridians and such.

Slade was a cautious man. Although he didn't understand those meridian annotations, he could still practice by looking at the human body diagrams in the book.

But he felt it was best to find someone knowledgeable and ask them!

He knew quite a few martial arts masters: Ra's al Ghul, leader of the League of Assassins, but cooperating with him was too costly; Bronze Tiger, although a martial arts master, his philosophy clashed with Deathstroke's.

After thinking it over, only Lady Shiva, with whom he had a relationship that was part mentor, part friend, was suitable for cooperation.

On the helicopter, he took a few pictures of the fist techniques and sent them to Lady Shiva.

In less than three minutes, Lady Shiva sent a text message.

Lady Shiva: [Where did you get this? These moves have traces of ancient fist techniques! Tell me, Slade.]

Slade smiled slightly and typed with both hands: [I stole it from Batman. His Robin learned this stuff, very strong!]

Lady Shiva: [Very strong?! Interesting, Slade. For you to say 'very strong,' I'm somewhat curious about that Robin. Wait, I'm coming to find you now.]

Slade: [No no no, you don't need to rush. I'm on my way to find you. You should still be in Hong Kong, right?]

Lady Shiva: [Yes, still here. Then, let's meet at the old place!]

Slade: [Good, see you at the old place.]

……………………

The sun was setting in the west...

After a roundabout journey, switching from helicopter to passenger plane, then taking a taxi, Slade finally arrived at a rural dojo in Hong Kong.

Lady Shiva, dressed in a martial arts uniform, was brewing tea and waiting for him.

"You're here? Where's the item?"

Her voice was cold, with a hint of curiosity.

Slade didn't keep her in suspense. He took out a small stack of A4 paper from his coat, folded it neatly, and placed it on the coffee table.

Lady Shiva's brow furrowed. It wasn't an ancient-style book? But a stack of unbound A4 paper!

"You don't trust me? Slade, are you trying to fool me with this handwritten copy?"

Slade spread his hands helplessly and explained, "No, the original version is still in Batman's hands. This is what I reproduced relying on my formidable memory!"

Slade pointed to his own head, "My enhanced brain has perfect recall! It's absolutely a one-to-one reproduction, without missing any punctuation marks!"

Lady Shiva picked up the stack of paper. The name at the beginning of the papers made her momentarily confused—"The Self-Cultivation of a Magnetic Field Madman"?

Then she skipped over the title and began to examine the content carefully.

She didn't pay much attention to why the content was in English; she figured that since it was written by a foreigner, it was normal for it to be in English.

But as she read on, she realized something was wrong!

Why... next to the records regarding meridians, was there a long string of words written in... uh, Pinyin?

Was this Pinyin being used as a form of encryption?! Or was the person who wrote this thing Chinese?!

She read out the sentence she had pieced together from the Pinyin: "Electric Current Propulsion is the foundation. If you can surpass the limits of Electric Current Propulsion, you can obtain the most terrifying power in the world!

Magnetic Field Rotation!

If one can possess Magnetic Field Rotation and cultivate it without hesitation, one can achieve [Body Enhancement], [Cellular Recombination], [Animal Abilities], [Mind Reading], [Matter Recomposition], [Weather Control], and even more so, directly influence the Earth's magnetic field!"

This absurd and exaggerated introduction made Lady Shiva's heart unconsciously beat faster!

Her hands trembled involuntarily. From that description, she clearly understood how incredibly powerful this was! So much so that she began to doubt whether this thing was real!

"Are you sure Batman's Robin succeeded?"

Slade Wilson nodded seriously. He still remembered those two Electric Current Propulsion punches to this day!

"He should have succeeded. Every time he fought me, he would shout 'Electric Current Propulsion,' and his strength, speed, and agility were able to comprehensively suppress me, an enhanced human!

What do you think of the content in this book?"

A very excited smile appeared on Lady Shiva's face:

"Crazy, extremely crazy! The cultivation method described on this is, one could say, challenging the physiological limits of the human body! However, I am also very willing to try!"

Slade also showed a similar excited smile: "Are you planning on electric shock training? Or lightning strike training?"

Lady Shiva didn't answer directly, but instead asked back: "Heh, Slade Wilson, you came all this way to find me, you must have your own ideas, right? Tell me."

"I want to try the lightning strike training! With my self-healing ability, I should be able to withstand it.

However, we're currently lacking thunderstorm weather! Attracting lightning isn't realistic. I thought... you might have some other methods!"

Lady Shiva's eyes narrowed, and she said with a smile, "Hehe, for the sake of this book, I'll help you with your request! Let's go. If we're fast enough, we can reach the place before sunset!"

Slade also said with a smile, "Hehe, you're acting much more impatient than I am!"

The place they were going to was a private power plant in a suburban area, Lady Shiva's property.

As one of DC's martial arts fanatics, Lady Shiva had also once used electric current to train her body. However, when she discovered that her body couldn't withstand too much current, she gave up.

The destructive speed of the current surpassed her own self-healing speed. Not only did it not make her stronger, but it also dragged down the speed at which she was becoming stronger. So, she stopped current-based body tempering.

Now, with "The Self-Cultivation of a Magnetic Field Madman" given by Slade!

She once again had the courage to continue practicing. Regardless of whether she could succeed or not, trying was, after all, not wrong!

The car drove for nearly an hour before they reached their destination.

"Your factory?"

Lady Shiva nodded and introduced:

"Yes, the previous owner of this factory came looking for trouble with me. I took him out, so this power plant became mine! Anything that's mine, unless I want to give it away, no one can take it!"

Lady Shiva's sharp eyes stared at Slade, the expressed meaning being, if you dare to have any crooked ideas, I'll kill you!

Her supreme martial strength brought her extreme confidence! She was confident that no one could snatch her things from her hands!

"Alright, alright, I was just asking!"

"Let's go. There's plenty of electricity here, and the voltage is under your control! Let's see if this secret manual is as powerful as he wrote it to be!"

Lady Shiva led the way, walking towards the interior of the power plant. However, her walking speed was already close to a jog, filled with impatience!