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Chapter 45: Ch.44 The Bat

"Hm? What is it, Father?"

She snapped out of her thoughts and looked at him, puzzled. The cold wind from afar was carrying away the last bit of steam from the teacup. If it went on any longer, the tea would freeze.

The fire in the hall blazed brightly, casting their shadows on the wall like dark, monstrous figures.

"What are you thinking about?" Ra\'s al Ghul turned his head and continued looking at the distant mountains. This place had six months of daylight and six months of night. Nanda Parbat was currently in the depths of the long night.

"Nothing... I was just a bit lost in thought. It\'s been so cold lately."

Talia found an excuse. There was no way she could say she was thinking about Gotham.

Ra\'s al Ghul snorted softly, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. He knew what his daughter was thinking about; even the distant mountains knew. Her little thoughts were like a black dot on the snowy mountain. No matter how small, they were still clearly visible to Ra\'s al Ghul.

"I\'ve told you before, Gotham must be destroyed. Its very existence is a stain on this world."

Talia lowered her head, adding a bit more hot water to the cup before setting the kettle back on the fire. "Yes, Father."

Ra\'s al Ghul sat quietly on his cushion, enjoying the aroma of the matcha. He was pleased with Talia\'s obedience. The reason she could enjoy the immortality of the Lazarus Pit was because he loved hearing the word \'Father,\' filled with patriarchal authority.

Her mother had died long ago, so she had only her father. She could only have her father. Even though he had the Lazarus Pit at the time, he had never resurrected that woman, even though she was his wife.

"When Bane brings me what I need, we\'ll begin our operation. Gotham has swallowed our League members, and I will make it pay in blood."

Although he spoke such words, Ra\'s al Ghul\'s expression was calm, as if he were merely wiping a speck of mud from the snow rather than planning to annihilate a city of eight million people.

Even if Gotham were empty, he would still erase that city, which represented filth and ugliness. Only then could he feel at peace.

It had been so many years, and he had drifted further and further from peace. His calm expression was only an imitation of his former self; his heart had always been turbulent waves.

"Yes, Father."

Talia bit her lip and replied softly. She knew that when Ra\'s al Ghul was in this mad state, no one could stop him. And right now, Batwoman was missing. Even with the League\'s intelligence network, no one knew where she had gone.

Talia had tried to keep this information from him, knowing that if Batwoman wasn\'t in Gotham, her father would inevitably target the city. It was always the same. Even knowing it was a trap, Ra\'s al Ghul would plunge headlong into it.

The League had suffered many losses because of this.

But the situation had deteriorated too quickly. One of the assassins who had been hiding in Gotham had gone missing two days ago. Early this morning, another assassin discovered her body dumped by the roadside, left to be drenched in the rain.

Ordinary assassins had no right to use the Lazarus Pit. Dead was dead.

When the news came, she knew she could no longer keep the fact that Batwoman was not in Gotham under wraps. A League member\'s death demanded vengeance; that was the rule of the assassins, the core guarantee that kept so many assassins united under the organization.

She had reluctantly reported the news to Ra\'s al Ghul.

Ra\'s al Ghul\'s face remained calm, but she could see the fire in his eyes flaring up as if ignited all at once.

He sent his men to contact Bane, the person most familiar with Gotham.

Bane had once been a member of the League of Assassins, brave and formidable, with immense strength, until he somehow angered Ra\'s al Ghul and was expelled.

After that, the big brute joined someone else. When they met again years later, he was wearing a gas mask and carrying a venom system on his back.

The \'Titan\' venom in his system could double his size and strength, significantly increasing his healing and resistance. But long-term use of Titan would damage the brain and cause organ failure. Only Bane\'s unique constitution could withstand it.

Ra\'s al Ghul felt as if he were looking at a piece of scrap iron he had discarded by the roadside, which had been forged into a precious sword by someone else, now lying before him.

Of course, he wouldn\'t miss such an opportunity. He sent Talia to contact Bane and stir up trouble in Gotham.

Bane didn\'t hold grudges. He and Talia had always gotten along well. As soon as they met, he agreed to help his old employer.

During the chaos, he broke Batwoman\'s spine with a wrestling move and threw her into the same Middle Eastern pit where he had once suffered, forcing her to watch Gotham\'s destruction, powerless to stop it, as a form of torment.

But to his surprise, Batwoman was saved by Lady Shiva, a former enemy. Not only did she heal Batwoman\'s shattered spine, but she also taught her new moves and combat techniques.

Batwoman then returned to the city, drove Talia away, discovered Bane\'s weakness in the plastic tubes that supplied venom to his back, unplugged them, and easily defeated him. She threw him into Blackgate Prison, locking him up with a specially designed 50-ton device.

Until recently, when Bane somehow managed to get the raw materials in prison, reconfigure the Titan venom, and, with greatly enhanced power, escape once again, hiding somewhere in Gotham.

Now Ra\'s al Ghul remembered Bane again and sent people to notify him that the League of Assassins needed something special, promising that the League owed him a favor.

What exactly this special thing was, only Ra\'s al Ghul and Bane knew. Even Talia had no idea.

But from her point of view, it wouldn\'t be anything good.

Talia was feeling conflicted. On one side was her friend Batwoman, and on the other, her father and the League. It was like two voices in her head were constantly pulling at each other.

In reality, she felt that Gotham was doomed this time. With Batwoman missing, even if she wanted to secretly warn her, she couldn\'t.

Ra\'s al Ghul, of course, understood this as well. So he was now pretending to be calm, waiting for good news from Bane, in a surprisingly good mood. He even dragged Talia out to admire the snow, this view he had seen for hundreds of years, in the middle of the night.

"Ah, Talia, is my tea ready?" he asked softly, gently stroking his beard. "It wouldn\'t do for me to have to wait until Gotham is destroyed before I can enjoy it, would it?"

"Of course... not, Father. It\'s ready. Please, have some."

Talia kneeled up, placed the tea bowl on a wooden tray, and slowly pushed it towards Ra\'s al Ghul.

Ra\'s al Ghul nodded in satisfaction, his face showing a rare, gentle smile as he picked up the bowl and took a sip.

"Very good. This Kyoto matcha is quite authentic. Your tea-making skills have improved."

"Thank you for your praise, Father." Talia bowed. She had been raised like this from childhood. Obeying her father was as natural as breathing.

She had been fighting against this instinct all her life, but it seemed there was no hope for her anymore.

"Hahahaha!" Ra\'s al Ghul threw his head back and laughed. His powerful aura radiated out without restraint, causing the flames to flicker more violently. His laughter echoed among the distant mountains.

It was a laugh of pride, relief, and madness.

"No one can stop me now! Destroy Gotham, and then destroy the world!" He patted Talia\'s head and lifted her up. "We will build a new world on the corpses of the Amazons and the ruins of this planet! A world that belongs to me!"

But just as he was envisioning his beautiful future, a raspy voice suddenly came from the dark corner of the room, shattering his dream:

"I wouldn\'t be so sure."

"Who\'s there?!"

Ra\'s al Ghul immediately drew the sword from his waist, a double-edged blade of Eastern design, his weapon of choice. He was known as one of the greatest swordsmen on Earth, a master of blades and swords.

He had never imagined that anyone would dare sneak into the League of Assassins\' headquarters and get this close to him.

The intruder did not answer his question, only took a few steps forward, allowing the flickering firelight to illuminate her form. A black cloak, black suit, black mask. She had wavy black hair cascading over her shoulders, with two pointed ears on her head.

She wore black lipstick, and a golden medallion adorned her neck, engraved with a bat symbol. It was both a piece of jewelry and a voice modulator. Her blue eyes stared at Ra\'s al Ghul through the mask, expressionless.

Ra\'s al Ghul frowned, pushed Talia aside, gripped his sword with both hands, and raised his guard.

"How could you possibly find this place?"

Batwoman threw two B

atarangs, hitting the fire pit directly. The projectiles released a strange gray smoke, instantly extinguishing the roaring flames without leaving a trace of smoke, plunging the hall into darkness.

Only her voice, altered by the modulator, echoed from another direction in the darkness.

"Because... I\'m Batwoman!"