Chapter 177: Cause and Effect (Part 1)    

February 25, 2022

in Phantom Kid in the World of American Comics

A A

5/5 chapter, enjoy.

   “This is nothing more than being a low-quality copycat!” 

   Mathison looked at Hush coldly. 

   “No, it’s impossible, my imitation is perfect, no one knows Bruce better than me…” 

   He was shaking with anger. 

   In fact, Hush’s disguise was very clever, and even Mathison himself may not be able to do it better than him. 

   Mathison merely said that on purpose, to make Hush go crazy. 

   Whether Hush is so easily influenced or not didn’t matter to him, his mockery always takes place. 

   Trash talk is an art. 

   Now, through Hush’s reaction, it seems that this line had a great effect on him. 

   As for what happened from the beginning to the end? 

   Let’s rewind time back to dusk, starting from Mathison’s entry into the Clock Tower. 

   At the time in the Clock Tower, Mathison only needed to see Gordon’s back to determine the person was him. 

   After all, they have lived together for more than ten years, and sometimes they don’t need to look at each other to determine their respective presence. 

   Consequently, Gordon, who remained in the secret base of the GCPD underground tunnel, must be someone else. 

   In retrospect, when Mathison went to see Gordon as Lupin III, Gordon kept a pale and frail appearance.

   This is indeed a brilliant move.

   When people are weak, they tend to act differently from their usual selves, and others will not care much even if they notice this.

   Faking his pain and tolerance of it was definitely a skillful technique to use in his current state.

   In addition, there was nothing wrong with Hush imitating Gordon’s voice tone so that even Mathison didn’t see through Hush’s disguise at the time. 

   Of course, the most crucial point is Hush’s knowledge about S.H.I.E.L.D. intelligence. 

   Mathison did not think that anyone else knew about the operation that year besides Gordon. 

   However, since Mathison has got the information through the Rising Tide organization’s data, naturally, Hush may also have obtained the same information through his own means. 

   Mathison rescued Gordon, who was dying of thirst in the Clock Tower, then used a spoon to feed him water little by little. 

   After a long time, Gordon finally regained his vitality. 

   “Phantom… Kid?” 

   When Gordon opened his eyes, he saw Mathison and was surprised. 

   “Long time no see, Director Gordon, how did you get to this point?” 

   Mathison smiled friendly at Gordon. 

   “Where is this place?” 

   Gordon looked around, and he was inexplicably a bit familiar with this strange environment. 

   “You don’t know where this place is?” 

   Mathison frowned, “What happened before you were locked here?” 

   Hearing this, Gordon shook his aching head and fell into memory. 

   “I just remember that day when Bane attacked the GCPD with someone, I was hit by Floyd, then I lost consciousness, and when I woke up, I found myself here.” 

   “I don’t know where this place is or how long time has passed.” 

   Mathison’s frown deepened. 

   “I got the news of Gotham that a few days ago, Bane suddenly held the whole city hostage with a nuclear bomb.” 

   “There was news at the time that you were taken to the hospital after being injured, but you just said you were already here after waking up?” 

   The fact is already obvious, the real and fake Gordon were swapped at that time. 

   The GCPD was attacked in a major way, and countless police officers died. Presumably, all those who stood with Gordon at that time were killed. 

   And “Gordon,” who has been treated in the hospital, was actually Hush. 

   “No! Bane attacked the GCPD ten days ago. If you were locked here from the beginning, how did you survive? Why didn’t Bane kill you?” 

   Mathison voiced his doubts. 

   There’s actually something even weirder, and that is, why on earth was one of Bane’s people pretending to be Gordon? 

   If they simply wanted to wipe out the GCPD people, there was no way they would have delayed until now.

   Mathison was in deep thought for a while. 

   Hearing this, Gordon then turned his head to look at the bottom of the bookshelf, where there was a dark box that was already in a state of being opened.

   Mathison followed Gordon’s gaze. The box had been empty for a long time. 

   “There was a bit of food and water in that box, and I lived on those for the first few days.” 

   Gordon recounted. 

   “But there wasn’t really much. The box emptied quickly after a few days, even if I were consuming it in the most economical way.” 

   At this time, Gordon looked at Mathison with confused eyes. 

   “If it wasn’t for you, I might not be able to last until tomorrow. Thank you for saving my life, Phantom Kid.” 

   “As for why Bane didn’t kill me, I don’t know what he was really planning.” 

   “If you really want to show your thankfulness towards me, then don’t attempt to arrest me when I steal things in Gotham, how about that?” 

   Mathison said half-jokingly and half-seriously. 

   “Huh, you better stop daydreaming this much!” 

   “As long as you are still committing crimes, I will not give up on trying to arrest you!” 

   Gordon opened his eyes wide and smirked, then closed his eyes, and his tone became much calmer. 

   “But… I can try to reduce your sentence for you…” 

   “Hahaha, well, assuming that you can catch me.” 

   Unexpectedly, Gordon, who is over fifty years old, still has such a proud side. Mathison couldn’t help laughing. 

   “Hmph, if you continue like this, sooner or later, you will fall into the hands of the police.” 

   “Dear Mr. Gordon, this is not the time for bickering, do you know what I went back to Gotham for?” 

   Gordon was stunned when he heard the words, “What treasure have you seen? But I advise you to give up this idea. Bane is already a very difficult enemy, and he also released the guys from Arkham Asylum.” 

   “If you think of Gotham as it used to be, you’d be wrong.” 

   “Kid, since you can find this place without Bane’s eyes and ears, then there must be a way to escape Gotham. You’d better leave now.” 

   Mathison glanced at Gordon unexpectedly, not expecting that he would persuade him to leave. 

   “Forgive me, I can’t accept your proposal, Director Gordon. No matter how hard it is to get a treasure I like, no matter what means I use, I will definitely steal it.” 

   “This is my creed as a thief!” 

   “As for what to do with them after they are stolen, those are not important matters to me anymore.” 

   Mathison waved his hand and said indifferently. 

   Gordon stared at him blankly for a long time. 

   “Humph… hehe… hahaha…”

   Suddenly, Gordon laughed, and the laughter grew a little bit louder, and finally burst into tears. 

   “What a time to be alive! Even thieves have their own creed now?” 

   Tired of laughing, Gordon asked himself mockingly. 

   “I’m starting to wonder, what exactly are you trying to steal?” 

   “The nuclear bomb.” 

   Mathison’s confident words sent huge waves of emotion in Gordon’s heart.