Chapter 8: Hacking the CIA
Nitrogen gas springs possessed numerous advantages: small volume, strong elasticity, long lifespan... They weren't suitable for firearms, and even his former grappling gun couldn't use them.
But combining them with web shooters was nearly perfect, especially the flat, military-canteen-shaped ones Batman had manufactured at the illegal factory, which could conform perfectly to the arm.
After Batman's redesign, the "web shooters" were almost unrecognizable from their original form, resembling wrist-mounted crossbows.
Batman's wearing method placed them on the outer forearm, controlled by muscle contractions to trigger firing.
The web shooters' original air-cannon-like firing principle meant the liquid webbing's launch speed wasn't slow, already exceeding typical bullet velocities.
But Batman's former grappling gun relied on gunpowder or high-pressure air for launching, with a modified body that gave the grapple far greater speed than ordinary bullets.
Combining the two gave Batman a new tool possessing the advantages of both grappling gun and web shooters.
"Black Cat wasn't detained at the police station. I can't determine if she has a record of arson, murder, or robbery."
Batman mounted the two completed new tools on his arms. A muscle twitch, an extremely subtle ejection sound, and liquid webbing shot out at tremendous speed, solidifying in the air within a blink and flying into the distance.
"Peter's computer can only satisfy ordinary people's daily needs. I need a higher-spec computer, similar to those in Otto's laboratory, to meet my frequent need to hack various systems."
Batman had tried with Peter's computer. Even after upgrades, it couldn't run a virtual machine at all.
While recording the new tool's various parameters, Batman began mentally constructing subsequent plans.
His goals were crystal clear: strike New York's gangs to accumulate funds, then double that capital by correcting the formula and entering Otto's fusion research.
Next would be establishing his own commercial empire to provide financial backing for subsequent massive investments in researching dimensional travel equipment.
Simultaneously during this process, Batman planned to pursue other methods in parallel while continuously fighting crime.
Fighting crime had become imprinted in his very soul. Even after crossing into this completely unfamiliar world, Batman had no intention of giving himself a vacation.
While naming the new tool the "Bat-Claw," Batman also completed improvements to the web fluid formula.
The new formula allowed fired webbing to stick firmly to anything. Even facing someone like Squid-Man with slime on his body, the webbing could entangle him rather than being easily escaped like last night.
Not only that, Batman had completely changed the webbing's color to black.
Most of his operations occurred at night. White webbing would reflect light and expose his movements.
It was still early. Batman wasn't rushing to find Squid-Man for confrontation. Before taking action, he had one important matter: spending money and disposing of firearms.
Last night's fifteen thousand dollars in cash from Joseph was enough for Batman to purchase the components he wanted on the market and assemble a computer temporarily satisfying his needs.
As for the firearms Black Cat brought from a munitions factory called Stark, Batman discovered after individual inspection that all had been sabotaged.
The saboteur was highly skilled with deep understanding of firearms, but Batman still immediately spotted the problem:
These guns would jam halfway through the magazine due to internal structural issues. Without high-precision tools for correction, these guns were completely useless scrap metal.
Taking scrap-metal guns to a gang war was no different from bringing water pistols.
After digging a hole and burying the firearms, Batman spent the remaining time going out as Peter to buy computer components and other tools.
After assembling the computer, Batman didn't immediately hack the NYPD system. Instead, he drew a sketch and uploaded it to the computer.
The sketch depicted Black Cat. Batman had perfectly recreated her appearance on paper from memory.
This was the next step of his plan after tying Black Cat at the police station without caring whether she could escape: directly hack the NYPD system and query all information about her.
"Black Cat. Real name Felicia Hardy, twenty years old, Empire State University student, father is a salesman..."
Batman read word by word the information about Black Cat displayed on the computer screen.
Most of this was true, except her father's identity wasn't publicly shown as the master thief "the Cat," but as a salesman.
The NYPD system showed Black Cat had a record, but not for arson, murder, or robbery. Rather, during her first year of college, she'd kicked and ruptured the testicles of a classmate who'd tried to grope her.
"Statement indicates Black Cat studied various martial arts and combat techniques since childhood... She's a suitable cooperation partner."
Batman stopped browsing information and began what he'd actually come to do after hacking the police system.
First task:
He deleted all videos that might expose Spider-Man's movements, voice, or body type, preserving only portions where features couldn't be distinguished.
This way, with Batman's superior counter-surveillance awareness, virtually no one could trace him as the former Spider-Man, Peter Parker.
Second task:
Batman didn't continue hacking the NYPD system. Instead, he turned his attention to another famous organization: the Central Intelligence Agency.
The reason Batman prioritized a high-spec computer as his second piece of "equipment" after the Bat-Claws was precisely for hacking the CIA.
He needed to understand whether supernatural forces existed in this world and determine if they could help him return to Gotham.
"Squid-Man. Real name Don Callahan, homegrown New York City thug, transformed into Squid-Man after accepting Oscorp's super soldier serum modification program, hired by various New York gangs as an assassin, has killed seven people..."
Supernatural powers definitely existed. The first entry was Squid-Man, whom Batman planned to confront in the sewers tonight.
"Possesses strength and speed far exceeding humans, nearly immune to bullets, can breathe underwater, can climb vertically on glass walls, therefore extremely difficult to capture..."
Batman memorized everything from the CIA files about Squid-Man, then looked at the second entry.
"The Hulk. Real name Bruce Banner..."
This was shockingly the scientist Batman had seen in Otto's laboratory, hanging on the wall alongside Einstein and others.
"...After a major battle with the military in '03, hasn't appeared since."
The CIA currently only recorded these two beings with supernatural powers, plus one confirmed missing, the world's first super soldier serum recipient, "Captain America" Steve Rogers.
As for non-biological supernatural forces, the CIA only recorded one thing, named the "Tesseract."
Before he could view specific information about the Tesseract, Batman detected that the CIA had discovered this intruder and was already tracing back to locate him.
Without hesitation, he immediately stopped the intrusion, erased all traces, then turned to making final preparations for tonight's operation against Squid-Man.