The Dawn Trail in the World of American Comics

On the dim streets of Gotham's East End, the Penguin who was given a shot was no longer howling in pain.

Batman injected him with a hemostatic agent and used a special spray to maintain the severed finger injury. Then he signaled Commissioner Gordon with his own bat communicator.

The Penguin destroyed some kind of "understanding" and attacked the police station, so it naturally had to be resolved by the Gotham Police Department.

The VIP ticket to Blackgate Prison had been personally delivered to Oswald's hands by Master, which was also a kind of superhero's integrity.

However, this matter was not over yet today.

The young man Mason knew he couldn't just leave like this because Batman was staring at him with those cold, almost emotionless eyes.

Even through the goggles of the bat helmet, Mason could feel the cold scrutiny.

Obviously, Master was very dissatisfied with his "shameless sneak attack."

"A high school dropout in Gotham, a 17-year-old young man, who was previously unremarkable and was raised by a black gangster with serious violent tendencies."

Batman said in a hoarse voice, "Your performance tonight is inconsistent with your past experiences, Mason Cooper. Perhaps you should explain?"

"I guess you don't know how tragic it is to have a drunken father since childhood, and unfortunately, that man is drunk every day."

Under Master's gaze, the young man squatted down, picked up the black umbrella dropped by the Penguin, and held the exquisite and lethal weapon in his hand.

He didn't look into Batman's eyes, lowered his head, and said in a calm but bitter tone, "You personally arrested my father three times and I think you know that person better than I do. In my childhood memories, he smiled only a few times. After my mother died, he brought various women home to fool around. To him, I am more of a burden than a gift."

"Have you had such a childhood, Batman?"

Mason raised his head and glanced at Master, saying, "I guess you definitely haven't. If you did, you would know that I have been secretly training in marksmanship not to hurt others, but for self-defense! Especially after I secretly called the police to take me away when I was seven years old, and after that man found out, he almost beat me to death. I knew that no one could protect me on those haunted days, not even you, who can make Gotham tremble! Batman won't appear in that nightmare and take me away like in the comics."

This sentence instantly pierced Master's heart, which was as strong as steel.

Of course, it didn't break through all at once.

But those familiar with the origin story of Batman know that when facing Batman's questioning, it is obviously easier to gain some sympathy by turning the topic to the level of parents.

Moreover, Mason was not talking nonsense.

From the memories he gained after occupying this body, this young man's short life was really painful in the past, and his father's death in the gang war was not like a curse for the young man.

It is even more like liberation.Of course, such words couldn't be said at the moment.

"Tonight, the people I hurt are all from the Penguin gang. They are bad people!"

Mason knew his words had worked when he saw Master fall silent. He touched the penguin umbrella in his hand and took a step back, stepping on a fallen batarang with his foot.

He said loudly:

"Since I was a child, the Penguin and his gang have locked everything about me like a lock. I thought I could get rid of them when I went to high school.

But they found me right after my father died and asked me to drop out of school and join them.

The bastard at your feet buys insurance for all his subordinates to win their hearts.

He claims to be the most righteous boss in this city, but he still hasn't given me my father's insurance money to this day. I hate them, is there a problem with that?

Only when they are all done can I get rid of the past, overcome my fears, and embrace a new life... Batman! You are a powerful person, you are not afraid of these guys.

They can't hurt you even with guns.

But I can't.

I'm just an ordinary person who is good at shooting. I'll die if I get hit. I also helped your friend. Is it wrong for me to pursue a new life?

Do you want me to apologize to them?"

Under the repeated questioning, the progress bar of the special engineering creation "Penguin's Armed Umbrella" had already appeared on the light screen in front of Mason.

Compared to Batman's high-tech equipment, which often takes hundreds of hours to analyze, the analysis speed of this thing is much faster.

The blueprint collection will be completed in a few minutes.

But this umbrella is probably going to be taken away by Master. Mason just wants to get his "spoils" after this conversation is over.

After a few seconds of unbearable confrontation, he spread his hands and said to Batman:

"This is my entire story.

The story of a young man who endured for 17 years and finally found a chance to escape from hell. Believe it or not! But I'm not here to provoke you. In fact, I'm here to thank you.

Without your intervention, my grudge with the Penguin gang wouldn't have ended so easily."

"End?"

Master finally spoke.

His cloak covered his body and the black, low-key battle armor, maintaining his usual cold posture, he said in a hoarse voice:

"This is not the end at all, it's just the beginning.

What you did tonight cannot be hidden, and the Penguin's gang will not disband just because he and his core members are in prison. Oswald has a group of killers in the city who specialize in dealing with such things.

I won't comment on the grudge between you and the Penguin gang.

I also have no intention of criticizing your view of your father. But Mason, you have personally sent yourself into a terrible crisis, and you may not even survive tomorrow night."

"That's my business, the path I chose, I'll walk it myself."

Mason was a little nervous.

But he still acted like an unyielding young man, picking up his gun and putting it on his back, glancing at Master and saying softly:

"Can I leave now? Batman, I need to go back and pack up to start my escape."

"Stay here and wait for Gordon to come. He will protect you.""少爷,您真的要对他进行这样的调查吗?"

"是的,我需要知道他的底细."

"但他已经成为了您的盟友."

"这并不代表他没有秘密."

老爷冷静地回答道,阿福沉默了片刻,最终还是点头应道:

"明白,我会尽快把资料整理好."

"好."

老爷挂断通讯,转身走向一旁的黑色摩托车,他的脸上看不出喜怒哀乐,仿佛一切都在他的掌控之中.

而在另一个角落,梅森却站在那里发愣,他的脑海里闪过种种回忆,那些曾经被他深深埋藏的伤痛和孤独,在这个陌生的城市里，他一次次地试图证明自己的存在感，却总是被人忽略和遗忘。

他想要变得强大，想要有人依靠，想要被认可和尊重。

但他不知道自己是否能够承受这一切，他的内心始终充满了疑虑和不安。

他不知道自己是否能够成为一个真正的英雄，他只知道自己必须去尝试，去拼搏，去追寻那属于自己的梦想。

于是，他深吸一口气，抬起头，向着未来走去。"Master, are you going to train a new Robin again? Do you need me to prepare adoption papers and make a call to that person? This child has no family left."

"No."

Batman refused decisively and said to Alfred as he turned to leave:

"I see Jason in him. Maybe he'll be safer without me. Keep an eye on him, Afuo. He's been suppressed by darkness for too long. Tonight's outburst may just be the beginning. But whether he returns to calm or heads towards distortion, no one knows.

As for me...

I just don't want to see another resident in Arkham Asylum. This city has enough trouble already."

---

In the early hours of the morning, Commissioner Gordon personally drove Mason to a safe house located in the Odysseus District. He was very cautious and there was no one else with him except for Mason.

Obviously, he also knew that his police department was not so clean.

"You'll stay here for the next few days and wait for further arrangements."

The commissioner threw a large bag of temporary supplies onto the bed in this small apartment and said to Mason, who had changed his clothes and put on a baseball cap to cover his figure while looking around:

"Don't go out. There's a takeout phone on the table over there, and an emergency communicator on the bedside table. Let me ask you again, are you really willing to testify against Oswald in court?"

"I've already offended him to this extent. If I don't testify, they won't let me go."

The young man didn't seem to be under any pressure. He walked to the window and pulled up the blinds slightly. He could see Miller Harbor and the Gotham River flowing through the city under the dark night.

He turned to look at Commissioner Gordon and asked:

"How long will the Penguin be sent in for?"

"With his black material, at least 235 years."

The commissioner shrugged and added:

"Of course, that's assuming he won't escape from prison."

Mason was not at all surprised by this. He grinned and said:

"So as a police commissioner, you've already assumed that the bad guy you caught and sent to prison will definitely escape?"

"This is Gotham. Anything is possible here."

The commissioner laughed twice and looked at his watch, ready to leave. Mason stopped him and said:

"Leave me a weapon, just in case. What about my self-assembled gun?"

"It's in the evidence department."

Gordon pushed his black-framed glasses and glanced at Mason.

Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

He probably thought that this young man's situation was indeed special, hesitated for a few seconds, and took out his spare gun from his pocket and placed it on the table, leaving an extra magazine.

He said:

"Stay safe."

"Okay."

Mason watched the commissioner leave and then locked the door. He took a bath first, and then picked up the umbrella he had been carrying and took out the two bat-shaped throwing knives he had picked up from his shoes.

He placed these things on the table, and the information label immediately appeared on the screen:

Penguin's Armed Umbrella

Quality: Excellent Engineering Special Item, Excellent Craftsmanship.Status: Fully equipped (semi-automatic rifle, combat spear, staff sword, miniature flamethrower, miniature poison gas sprayer, umbrella bulletproof shield, ejection flying knife)

Manufacturer: "Penguin" Oswald Cobblepot

Item description: We generally call this kind of ingeniously crafted multi-purpose self-defense weapon "Death 3000".

Tip: The blueprint has been collected and can be deeply modified after improving engineering skills.

"Click."

Mason twisted the curved handle of the umbrella, making it emit a gear-like sound. In his gaze, a snow-white sharp blade popped out of the umbrella tip.

He turned the umbrella handle slightly again, and the umbrella tip was replaced with a delicate nozzle.

As he turned the handle to the end, the sharp umbrella tip shot out with a whoosh and fiercely pierced the wall, the hollow spike the size of a little finger sinking into the concrete, the tail still trembling rapidly.

Mason grinned, retrieved the umbrella tip, and opened the loading port on the handle, filling it with the bullets from Commissioner Gordon's gun.

This thing could hold fifteen bullets, but loading them was time-consuming. Obviously, shooting was its most insignificant function.

All those dazzling little accessories were hidden in a circular mechanical box at the top of the umbrella, looking as exquisite as a music box.

With Mason's current engineering level of Lv0, he could be sure that if he took this thing apart, he wouldn't be able to put it back together by himself.

He played with the umbrella for a while, then picked up two bat-shaped darts with a rugged and exaggerated design and placed them in front of him. The information label popped up again:

Basic Bat Combat Dart

Quality: Exquisite forging/engineering item · Outstanding craftsmanship

Status: No components installed, the central part of the combat dart has seven different weapon slots reserved, which can meet different needs such as explosion, electromagnetic shock, blindness, toxins, and monitoring.

Can be used for close combat by pulling back the dart body.

Manufacturer: Wayne Industries R&D Department

Item description: You know the cost of this little piece of iron is enough to buy a new car with a little loan, right? Would you be willing to throw it out and hit someone?

Tip: Sample collected, blueprint collected.

"Who besides Bruce Wayne can afford to use this thing?"

Mason sighed and said, "So those villains who were knocked down by the bat dart were actually hit by a luxury car? That's the power of money. Hmm, I'm so envious."

But before the young man's lemon-like envy could subside, a prompt popped up on the screen in front of him: entering combat mode...

"What?"

Mason blinked in surprise.

The next second, some heavy object hit the wall of this "safe house," followed by a violent explosion that shook the entire apartment.

The young man was blasted out and hit the opposite wall, then climbed up and spat out a mouthful of blood.

But he reacted quickly, grabbing the Penguin's umbrella in the chaos and opening it like a shield in front of him.

The impact hit the umbrella surface with a bang, and the flying bullets pulled the young man back into the crazy gunfight of several hours ago.The collapsed wall emitted black smoke, and several masked men rushed in towards the automatic weapons. They hadn't seen their target yet, but Mason's floating crosshairs had already locked onto them.

The young man held the trigger of his umbrella handle while adjusting the preset trajectory, and decisively fired at the right moment.

Three consecutive shots took down two assassins who had rushed in. He grabbed the nearest dropped rifle, put Gordon's gun in his pocket, and stuck the batarang on his belt before stumbling out of the door while covering his mouth amidst the sound of gunfire behind him.

The safe house of the Gotham police station was indeed safe...

Well, at least it was for the assassins.