Su Ming and Cindy took about five minutes, then the two of them regrouped in the heavy rain.
The night seemed darker than usual today, and the entire street was filled with an unsettling atmosphere. Many civilians, who had been startled awake, hid behind their curtains at home, afraid to turn on the lights to attract attention. They could only peer through the rain-splattered glass with fearful eyes at the two blurred figures downstairs.
"I have only one bad news, which is that I found ninja footprints on the rooftop. Other Shadow Dancers were here before us."
Cindy looked at the water that had risen above her knees. Gotham's drainage system was running at full capacity but still couldn't handle such intense rainfall.
Su Ming nodded; he had found nothing either.
The inside of the building was as clean as if it had been licked; this was impossible in a low-cost residential area. The Men in Black must have cleaned up before leaving.
Unwilling to give up, he tried to find eyewitnesses, kicking down several doors and threatening residents with weapons. Although some were so scared that they wet themselves, dirtying large sections of their sheets, still, no eyewitnesses were found.
This indicated that the Men in Black acted swiftly, making no sound at all. But on the other hand, it also showed that neither Gordon nor the others had fired, so Gordon should not be injured.
He sighed; the only clue left now was the corpse of this assassin. Should they use her as bait to lure the Assassin Alliance for a talk?
But that would be too passive. By the time the assassins came to claim the body, they might have already eliminated the Men in Black, and Gordon could be long gone.
"Let's go back to the car and bring the body with us."
With no other choice, he and Cindy returned to the car, watching the rain turn into a river outside the window. The two remained silent, pondering solutions.
"Why do you think she dressed like that? There's no gunshot wound on her body, so how was she captured?"
Cindy had her own ideas, but she still wanted to hear Su Ming's thoughts. As he said before, their knowledge could complement each other, and more clues were always beneficial.
At that moment, they were sitting in the driver's seat, with Cindy leaning against the steering wheel, and Su Ming resting his hands behind his head in the passenger seat.
He shook his head, looking out the window at Vico directing Pete around: one moment capturing the sky, the next filming the pooled water:
"There are many in Gotham capable of this. Scarecrow's fear toxin is available on the black market, almost up for sale on supermarket shelves. Killer Crocodile, Mud Face, those mutants also offer their services if the patrons can afford their fees. But our friends in black acted impulsively. Shadow Dancers would never spill secrets, no matter how much they're tortured. It's a wasted effort, and now they've provoked the Shadow Dancer Alliance."
"Alas, with such economic power, they could have been potential clients of mine. What a pity."
Cindy also lamented, feeling she had lost out on a million. No matter which faction, they previously appeared as ordinary people, but the Assassin Alliance consisted of countless elite assassins.
Many of these assassins started training from a young age; mastering various melee weapons by four, learning to kill by five, and from eight becoming operative for the alliance, carrying out global assassinations.
They had no self-awareness, abandoning their true names. They became weapons of the alliance; low-tier assassins didn't need honor, specializing in attacking targets in the darkness as a swarm.
Perhaps the power that killed them would soon vanish, but before it evaporated, they had to find a way to rescue Gordon.
Barbara now also knew their trail had gone cold. Aside from Gordon currently being safe, he likely had only three good hours left, leaving the three of them in silence, pondering over clues.
The large surrounding area had all its surveillance destroyed by various villains, beyond any traceable starting point. Su Ming felt like he had returned to the 80s, wondering how the police of that era solved crimes.
While they sat thinking, Vico hummed a tune, happily returning with Pete, looking quite pleased with the footage they had captured earlier.
Sitting down in the car and shedding her raincoat, she noticed Barbara's worried look.
"Oh? Why the frown, young lady?" she curiously asked Su Ming.
"Because besides a female corpse, we have no other clues. Has the TV station called you, any keen viewers?"
"Hehe, despite the high reward, no one dares to lie to you, even the fraudsters are scared, so there hasn't been a single hotline call so far."
Vico took out her phone, waving it. The station had indeed called earlier, but only to confirm she was still alive and asked her to tell Deathstroke that the station would cooperate with her requests, pleading not to kill them.
"No calls, so they won't voluntarily send people to help me look for clues? Looks like the motivation isn't enough; we should go to the TV station and kill a few people to spur some incentive."
Cindy expressed some dissatisfaction; previous missions hadn't been this troublesome. Employers would at least provide a target photo, a name, and activity area, unlike now.
"Oh, great! We should start by killing one of our news channel directors; she's the worst, always trying to suppress outstanding journalists like me."
Vico immediately urged Cindy to drive back to the station for a killing spree. If she could use Deathstroke's hand to kill her, wouldn't her future become much more comfortable?
Admittedly, her thoughts teetered on the brink of madness, harboring some form of disregard for life, as if she were merely a spectator in all events.
Su Ming removed his helmet, looking at her with a hint of a smile. He suspected Vico must have discovered something, now demanding extra compensation, much like a bounty hunter salivating over rewards.
"You're asking us to kill people now; did you discover something? Since that's what we promised as a reward to those providing clues."
Vico smiled triumphantly, pulling out a pair of glasses from her pocket; the lenses were wet, as if just fished out of the water, and she handed it to Barbara.
"You can't go back on your word because the one who provided the clue is me."
Pointing at her nose, she continued after Barbara confirmed they were Gordon's glasses.
"Director Gordon dropped his glasses during the kidnapping but managed to leave a clue on them. I coincidentally found them in the water. They were hidden underwater, covered by a body and stones; without my good luck, I'd never have discovered them."
Su Ming took the glasses from Barbara's hand. At first glance, they seemed quite ordinary, just like the type preferred by old folks, outdated in style. Perhaps Barbara's terrible fashion sense was learned from Gordon.
But he knew it wouldn't be that simple. In the car's light, viewed from a different angle, one could see some crooked scratches on the lens.
"He scratched words on the lens using a shard." Cindy leaned over to look, immediately commented: "It's a license plate number, likely the vehicle used in his abduction."
"Typical Gordon, managing this while being kidnapped. Barbara, it's up to you now. You know what to do, right?"
Returning the glasses to her, she certainly knew what to do, instantly opening her laptop and attempting to hack into the Department of Transportation's server, trying to locate footage from other districts, or the vehicle's registration information.
But the program's feedback informed her that the server didn't exist.
"Damn, the city's traffic surveillance server is offline; the storm probably knocked out their power."
Barbara tapped her wheelchair armrest, swearing in frustration. She just wanted to save her dad; why was fate so uncooperative?
Su Ming consoled her, signaling that it was alright. Since they had the license plate number, there was still another place sure to have the information they needed.
"I know a place where everything about Gotham is documented, but whether you can obtain it is up to you."
"I...I can do it!" Barbara nodded earnestly: "Even if it means going to jail, I have to save him."
Su Ming merely smiled, glancing at Cindy, who understood where he meant. She was indifferent but pointed to the back of the car.
"It's best you blindfold them and remove the phone cards; that place can't allow them to remember the route."