2164 Side Story: Fantasy Journey 5

After giving Luke a deep look, Senator Finch turned around and left.

Luke shook his head inwardly.

Senator Finch wasn't stupid or bad. She could already be considered a good person in this illustrious DC universe.

It was a pity that she already had a fixed worldview, and she felt that Superman should give the victims an explanation.

Now… Heh, the Dark Knight was in the picture, and would also be expected to give the public an explanation.

What Senator Finch didn't know was that an explanation was only given when someone valued you.

In Luke's heart, killing bad guys and protecting ordinary people was his own business, and had nothing to do with anyone else. Why should he explain it to them?

Of course, the idiots in this world had been spoiled by the 'god among men' and the 'man among gods'; they needed to be taught a lesson.

Glancing at the protesters again, he got up and left.

That afternoon, Senator Finch proposed a new bill to curb 'vigilantes.'

All the TV stations started to focus their fire on Superman.

In addition, the underground judge who called himself the Dark Knight, who had just appeared a month ago (Luke hadn't shown his face in the two months before that) and was known for his ruthlessness toward the criminals of Gotham, had also been pulled in as a side character.

What caught everyone off guard was that the situation took a dramatic turn that night.

Many 'victims' who had been used as main evidence by these TV stations to gain sympathy were exposed to be completely fake.

For example, a certain lady said that her parents and husband had died in the battle that Superman fought, but there was a lot of daily surveillance which proved that she had been shopping with these 'dead' family members right up until last month.

A certain disabled person who insisted that he had been abandoned and hadn't received any compensation used the cash donated by a 'good Samaritan' to buy illegal drugs, alcohol and women.

Many officials who condemned Superman's behavior with righteous expressions were exposed for embezzling disaster relief supplies, hoodwinking women, and even murder.

At the end of the video, the mastermind finally appeared.

It was a mask with a mustache and a wide, strange smile. The masked man said at the end of the scoop, "Justice, how many evils have been committed in thy name?"

The screen suddenly turned black, leaving behind what looked like two slashes from a sword to form a V.

The video was also accompanied by screenshots and text, which simply and bluntly explained all the evidence.

It didn't take a genius to understand that this was a very thorough investigative report.

It turned into a huge net which nailed these slanderers and hypocrites to the pillar of shame.

Even those who had only joined in the fun shut up guiltily.

They might not be as despicable as these people who had been exposed, but there was definitely no 'justice.'

The righteous indignation earlier had been borne purely out of the 'outrage' of the masses — if everyone was doing it, even if it was wrong, everyone would be at fault. Nobody could blame them.

But it was different now.

The masked man with the codename V slapped the onlookers in the face in the crudest and most direct way.

What happened next alarmed many people.

After the video was released, some 'public figures' jumped out to attack V for being shameless and a fan of Superman.

Then, recordings of these famous people taking bribes were exposed.

What was even more terrifying was that these recordings weren't just about this particular 'business,' but also about other 'business' they had engaged in over the last few months.

In a new video, V concluded, "Although justice is late, judgment will come."

This time, the major TV stations and public figures suddenly became more civilized and easy-going.

The discussion on all the talk shows amounted to, "We're all civilized people. Let's talk things out."

They didn't dare be so explicit or even provocative.

Who the hell knew what other videos V had? None of these people were clean.

Besides, they couldn't say that V had done anything wrong.

After all, V hadn't touched any of them. He had just made public the dirty things they had done, which was completely in line with their slogan of 'educating the public in truth and justice.'

They felt good condemning others, but it was very painful to be played by others and not be able to fight back.

That was because nobody knew who V was.

Should they work harder to attack Superman and lure V out? What a joke. They didn't know whether they could lure him out, but what was for certain was that they would definitely be destroyed by more dirt first.

It had to be pointed out that the people who had been exposed had also implicated more than one or two people behind them.

V also exposed the dirt on these masterminds — there was ironclad evidence of drug trafficking, murder and rape.

Thus, while many ordinary people were still clamoring that something be done about Superman, or cursing V for being a coward, there was no deliberate guidance of public opinion from the mainstream media for the time being.

Naturally, Luke wouldn't deal with these ordinary people who had practically no influence.

Many of them had indeed lost family and friends, and could only blame it on Superman.

Otherwise, they could only blame the dead villain, which wouldn't help them vent their emotions at all.

In short, V targeted people with ulterior motives, and didn't implicate the innocent.

Without a professional to guide the trend, it was impossible for ordinary people to give public opinion a clear shape.

After all, a lot of people had died in Superman's battle, but he had saved even more people – the protestors were a minority.

A populace that wasn't united wouldn't put any pressure on superheroes at all.

Trusting and mobilizing the masses, and using people to control people, was something that Luke was an old hand at.

It had long become unnecessary for him to take personal action back home – Gold Nugget, who had countless online IDs, led the Bat Squad's hardcore fans and easily crushed troublemakers.

…

A month later, in a lakeside villa on the outskirts of Gotham, Master Wayne, who had been busy all night, was still resting. Alfred finished sorting out the intelligence he had gathered and went to the kitchen to make lunch for his young master.

Suddenly, a voice rang out at the kitchen door. "Hello, can I have a cup of coffee? And the sandwich you're making, too."

Alfred paused before he slowly turned around.

Then, he saw Luke, who was leaning against the kitchen door, smile at him politely. "I've heard a lot about you. Alfred Pennyworth, the loyal and legendary butler of the Wayne family."