The next steps were simple. Now that he knew Riddler's target, he just needed to return to Wayne Tower and find Fox's address.
Beat Riddler to the punch, catch him on the spot, and give him a Batman-style thrashing.
Su Ming jumped off the building and flew away.
Director Gordon left some time for Batman to look at the photos, then turned to look at the distant neon lights, quietly smoking: "The riddle is not yet complete. I think the Riddler will continue his crimes... Batman?"
He turned around, only to find Batman had disappeared once again.
"I'm used to it... I'm used to it..."
Gordon hypnotized himself as he headed downstairs, unable to recall how many times Batman had left without a word.
Everything went according to plan. After Riddler killed two more innocents, he finally made his way to Fox's residence.
Hidden in the darkness, just as he was about to attack Professor from behind, he was grabbed by a pair of stronger hands.
In the darkness, he could only see the cold, white eyes and the grey Bat mark on the chest of the person who came for him.
The lights and chaos made it impossible for him to determine if the Batman before him was real or fake.
"No, how did you solve my riddle so quickly?"
"Solve the riddle?"
Batman pinned him to the ground, his struggles useless against the terrifying strength that threatened to crush his shoulders.
"The answer. You haven't given the answer yet." Riddler strained to reach for his fallen hat.
"I asked you to guess riddles, play hide and seek, and do kidnappings..."
With every word Batman spoke, a giant fist landed on Riddler's face. The turned-around Professor could only watch in shock as two more figures suddenly appeared in the room, not knowing what was happening.
"You're cheating... You're not as smart as me." Riddler, beaten black and blue, still clung to his riddles.
Su Ming had already held back quite a bit of his strength. Otherwise, he could have easily exploded Riddler's head with a single punch. As for those ordinary riddles set by others, what did they have to do with Su Ming?
"Tell me, the answer."
Since he was already cheating, although he didn't understand why Riddler was so fixated on the answer, why not just get the answer straight from Riddler's mouth?
As he questioned him, he crushed Riddler's leg bones as easily as breaking instant noodles.
"Seven, the answer is seven!" Riddler couldn't withstand the torture, the pain too much for someone as smart as he was, and gave up the answer.
Su Ming's heart skipped a beat. This number...
"Who sent you? Answer! Or I'll rip out your tongue so you can't speak another riddle." Su Ming went on to crush one of his arms.
"A deal, I had a deal with someone..."
Riddler fainted.
Su Ming stood up, shook his cape: "Lucius, let me use your bathroom."
"Of course, Bruce, but why did he come to my house?" Professor indicated a direction, but his face was full of confusion.
"Once I wake him up with some urine, we'll find out soon enough..." Su Ming dragged Riddler across the floor to the bathroom, leaving a long trail of blood behind.
.............
He intended to splash him awake with urine, but that kind of thing isn't available on demand, so in the end, Su Ming used toilet water to wake Riddler up.
He got a piece of information from Riddler's mouth.
Earlier that day, someone anonymously contacted Riddler and offered 2 million US Dollars for him to kill seven ordinary people in Gotham and set riddles to draw Batman's attention.
Riddler enjoyed puzzles and was in need of money. Although he couldn't find out the identity of the other party, the deal was indeed attractive.
He reverted to his old methods, killing seven people one by one and planning to leave the final clue with Lucius, but inexplicably caught red-handed by Batman.
This script was off. Shouldn't Batman be chasing leads, trying to save other victims? How did he skip over the lives of ordinary people and go straight to the final step?
Su Ming considered the number 'seven,' and the mysterious person who hired Riddler.
He knocked Riddler out again, grabbed him by the neck, and headed out the door: "Lucius, I'm leaving. Let your son upgrade the security at your house when he's free, just say I told you to."
"Uh, okay. Are you going to the company tomorrow?"
"No, I'm busy lately, the world's about to end."
"Huh? That's right... isn't this about the 17th time this year? Anyway, about the recent financial reports you..."
Batman, carrying Riddler, leapt off the building and vanished, the black cape swallowed by the nightfall.
Professor sighed. He knew Batman was Batman, and Bruce was Bruce, but meeting him was harder than meeting the President.
He's left Wayne Group unattended, and Lucius' own son is starting to resemble Batman more and more... how this would turn out, he couldn't tell.
Su Ming directly returned to the police station, stripped Riddler naked, and hung him at the entrance of the station, then used a public phone to notify Gotham City's media.
Riddler loved the limelight, often appearing on TV shows to duel Batman with riddles, so Su Ming decided to have the Gotham media publish Riddler's naked photos and videos to humiliate his fragile ego.
Nigma cared about his face, and now his thin, bare body was on display for all the people of Gotham to see. In the short term, this guy would probably have no face to return to Gotham.
As for whether the next revenge would be fiercer... what did that have to do with Su Ming?
The media acted quickly, even faster than the police across the wall. Before Gordon and his team could react, a huge crowd of reporters, carrying all kinds of equipment, mercilessly swarmed around Riddler hanging under the station's street lamp.
The journalists collectively reached a fever pitch, and all the anchors started recording the news immediately.
"Riddler was hung completely naked at the police station entrance, and on both sides of his buttocks were Batman's marks. Does this imply Batman's criminal methods have escalated? What exactly did he do to Riddler's rear? This question deserves deep thought."
Another broadcaster had a different focus, spitting as he pointed at Riddler's emaciated body: "Everyone can see, Riddler's there is particularly small... oh, right, viewers may not see it, we'll pixelate it, but I can responsibly tell you, it's really small!"
There were also more serious reporters: "Riddler, Nigma, a renowned mathematician and computer expert, his journey to becoming the Riddler is unknown. But today, he has once again killed seven innocent civilians, a matter for the legal system to resolve. Yet, behind it all, are Batman's methods legal? Will Riddler, who he apprehended, plead guilty?"
Other media outlets, having shot enough footage, were now rushing into the police station, aiming to interview Director Gordon.
On the rooftop across the street, Su Ming pulled his cape over his face like Batman and watched the chaos below, pondering other issues.