"Oracle."
Batman raised a hand and pressed the earpiece hidden beneath his cowl.
"I've already hacked into the Tower of Miracles' computer and blocked the execution of Project Ten," Batgirl Barbara typed from the Batcave.
At the top of the Tower of Miracles, the launch platform for the third wave of missiles, which was about to be released, came to a halt.
Doctor Hugo turned around and gazed at the man before him.
"It seems I underestimated you, underestimated Cale-El Water."
Doctor Hugo readjusted his glasses, calmly regarding Batman.
"Do you really think that's still Cale-El Water? You should be well aware of his life trajectory over the past twenty years. This doesn't resemble the obsessive doctor of the past."
Batman looked at Doctor Hugo.
"Perhaps it's the effectiveness of my therapy sessions at Arkham? Besides, all this is pointless now. It seems I've lost, but fortunately, you did come. As long as I can eliminate you, next time someone wants to destroy Gotham, no one should be able to stop them."
A smile appeared on Doctor Hugo's face.
"Initiate Project Eleven, password—Wayne!"
Batman's pupils constricted. He lunged forward, his right arm wrapped around Doctor Hugo, the blade on his left arm pointed forward, and an elbow strike shattered the window glass. His cape unfurled behind him as he leaped out.
"Boom!"
The top of the Tower of Miracles exploded.
In the distant sky, after discovering that there was no third wave of missiles and instead seeing the top of the tower explode, Shimizu quickly flew towards the Tower of Miracles.
Thus, he naturally discovered Batman, under the cover of night, gliding away with Doctor Hugo, and pursued him.
Batman used a special joint lock with his left hand to restrain the struggling Doctor Hugo, while his right hand controlled the gliding cape. Suddenly, he felt the surrounding airflow being frantically disturbed, and the cape couldn't maintain balance, as if it had been thrown into a tumbling washing machine, spinning downwards.
"Bruce! The Puppeteer is chasing you!" Barbara shouted over the comm channel.
"I know, Oracle! Initiate Contingency File 1263."
Batman hurriedly pressed a spot on his shoulder connecting to his cape with his right hand.
"Engaging Jet-Assisted Atmospheric Stabilization System."
Some of the materials filling the inside of the bat-cape quickly underwent a chemical reaction, releasing a large amount of gas that filled the inside of the cape and then rapidly released outwards, stabilizing the air pressure by diffusing the airflow.
Even if it could only stabilize for a very short time before being disturbed again, that amount of time was enough.
At the same time, Batgirl in the Batcave opened Contingency File 1263 on the computer.
Anti-Puppeteer Plan, initiated!
"Bang!"
The grappling hook fired, hooking onto a nearby tall building, then automatically retracted, swinging Batman into the distance, smashing through the glass of a building.
"Beep—"
Batman activated the pulse signal jammer on his Batsuit, disabling the infrared imaging, fire control, and other functions of the White Knight armor.
Shimizu followed closely behind, rushing inside.
"Batman, you know my target isn't you. Hand over that self-righteous fool you're holding, and I won't bother you."
Shimizu used his ability to manipulate airflow to spread his voice throughout every part of the building, while also trying to sense the reflections of sound waves through the airflow, attempting to pinpoint Batman's location using a sonar-like method.
This technique had just been developed, and Shimizu wasn't very skilled with it yet.
It required extremely strong brain calculation and analysis abilities, but fortunately, as a Puppeteer, that was what he excelled at.
"Found him!"
Shimizu immediately looked in a certain direction.
"Cough, cough, you don't have to do this. I've already lost. You can just hand me over," Doctor Hugo, who was being carried like a dead dog by Batman, coughed out.
Batman didn't speak, only used sonar, infrared vision, and other devices to judge Shimizu's position, and quickly circled around inside, trying to stall for time.
However, he was moving towards the roof.
Because the people inside the building, after being frightened, immediately screamed and ran downstairs, wanting to leave the building.
This also made things easier for Shimizu.
"Ah ha, there's no one in front of me."
The White Knight clenched his fist, activated the pneumatic device, and punched a large hole in the wall.
That way, he wouldn't have to detour.
"You don't think that your plane will fare any better than those helicopters just now, do you?"
The whirlwind surged, and in the flying dust, under the dark night, the White Knight's tall figure appeared particularly oppressive.
Assuming that it wasn't affected by Batman's pulse jammer, and the internal electronic components weren't burned, then the White Knight's V-shaped blue eyes would be particularly striking in this scene.
"No, I never intended to use this thing to deal with you," Batman said in a low voice, looking at Doctor Hugo, who had been firmly trapped and thrown beneath the driver's seat.
Inside the Bat-plane, the sound of mechanical twisting suddenly stopped, and Batman had already donned a new suit of armor.
The heavy black metal looked like it was filled with a different kind of texture.
"Master Bruce, I must remind you that although promethium metal batteries have a much larger capacity than nano-batteries, they are far less stable. We haven't yet tested whether doing so will cause the promethium metal battery to react with the promethium alloy in the suit," Alfred said, holding a cup of coffee, standing behind Barbara, watching the screen.
"We don't have time to test it anymore, Alfred," Batman pressed a button, his body falling freely, standing in front of Shimizu.
Anti-Puppeteer Armor!
After multiple modifications and reconstructions, this armor was equipped with an airflow stabilization device similar to the one previously installed on the bat-cape, and was extremely heavy, in order to avoid excessive airflow interference.
Furthermore, a layer of promethium metal was plated on the outer shell, giving it super-strong defensive power and immunity to most energy attacks such as magic. At the same time, electric motors were installed inside, making this armor an almost perfect exoskeleton.
"Boom!"
Two metal fists, one black and one white, collided, shaking out a wave of air.
The Anti-Puppeteer Armor didn't move an inch, while the White Knight took several steps back.
It wasn't that the White Knight's strength was inferior to the Anti-Puppeteer Armor, but that the latter's weight was too great.
