American comics: Starting with Luke the Maker

"So wonderful! This is just too wonderful!"

Jonathan Crane ecstatically felt the surges of power within him, unable to contain his joy.

He felt that his frail self could now easily defeat anyone!

At his feet lay a man with dilated pupils, his face filled with horror, scared to death and devoid of life.

This was originally just a small recreational activity for him to test the upgraded version of his fear toxin, but he didn't expect it to bring him such a big surprise! A randomly chosen test subject, under the effects of the latest fear toxin, could actually provide him with unexpected energy!

From childhood to adulthood, he had never felt a sense of powerful strength within his body. Being thin and weak, he had always been the one bullied. But now it was different!

He punched the wall next to him. As he threw the punch, a layer of red and yellow energy enveloped his fist, amplifying his power and causing his fist to penetrate the wall as if it were thin plywood.

He didn't feel any recoil or pain. The energy perfectly protected his hand and achieved his goal.

It was like a divine power bestowed by the gods!

No!

Or was he the god himself?

The God of Fear?

Crane's face, hidden behind the scarecrow mask, revealed a slightly sinister and eerie smile. He loved this power he didn't know how he'd obtained! It perfectly matched his dreams!

He wanted to spread fear, and that was exactly what this energy desired. The stronger the power of fear infection, the more power he would gain!

He was no longer the weakling who could only bully people with his brains and equipment. If any barbarian dared to bully him because of their strong physique, they would regret their actions.

Red and yellow energy spread throughout his body. Crane felt his body become incredibly light. To his surprise, his toes gradually began to float off the ground. He had mastered another application of power; he had mastered flight!

Although he wasn't proficient yet, it was enough to make Crane incredibly happy.

He could feel this power coming from the scarecrow mask he wore. Before, it was just an ordinary mask, but since last night, it had been as if it had come to life, constantly communicating with him in some way.

It was knowledge!

Knowledge of how to build devices to expand its energy collection!

Forbidden knowledge that could transform him, turn him into a superman, and even dominate the city!

He had verified this today.

"Don't worry, I've verified that knowledge. Next, I'll gather more fear for you. I'll feed you until you're full! Hahahaha!"

In the remote, narrow, and dimly lit alleyway, a depressing and terrifying eerie laughter echoed.

……

On the top floor of a certain building, a spotlight projected a bat symbol into the sky.

Jim Gordon lit a cigarette in the darkness, illuminating his face with a flickering light.

"What is it?" A deep male voice suddenly sounded behind Gordon.

Jim Gordon tensed up, but relaxed after hearing the voice. He turned around and saw a figure partially exposed to the light in the distance.

"I just wanted to discuss some recent intelligence with you," Gordon said, dropping his cigarette and grinding it out with his shoe before looking up at the person.

"Whose intelligence?" Batman asked.

"The Scarecrow," Gordon shrugged, unfazed by Batman's cold and brief response. He was long used to his style. Sometimes, he had to admit, this behavior was reassuring. "He's been too active recently. Abnormally so. A loner, even starting to recruit subordinates. This is different from his usual style. There are reports that he has a big plan."

"I'll take care of him," Batman replied, still concisely.

"There's some information, I don't know if it's true, and I can't confirm its authenticity," Gordon hesitated, but after thinking about it, he still reminded him, "You better be careful when you act. He's not normal now! Someone saw him seemingly master some incredible ability, able to easily defeat anyone, strong to the point where it doesn't seem like him at all.

It's hard for me to say if they were hallucinating or something else. But undoubtedly, he's upgraded his tools and made them even more terrifying."

"Poison gas? I'll be careful," Batman nodded.

"What have you been busy with lately? If it were before, you probably wouldn't need me to remind you, and you would have solved the Scarecrow already," Gordon was worried about Batman's silence these days. He didn't know what had happened.

"Don't worry, I'm just keeping an eye on another troublemaker. Compared to him, the Scarecrow is nothing," Batman paused for a moment and selectively revealed some information.

"Another troublemaker? A supervillain?" Gordon frowned. Whatever was making Batman feel棘手 and troubled was obviously no small character. He racked his brains, wondering if Gotham had such a person.

It seemed that Gotham had quite a few top criminals.

Gordon's mind flashed through famous names, names that were legendary in Gotham's underworld.

"Not a supervillain, things are a bit complicated, but I'll solve it. I'll go solve the Scarecrow now," Batman shook his head.

"This is the address I found. He doesn't seem to be carefully hiding his tracks. This is completely different from the Scarecrow's usual cautious and careful behavior. Be careful, it might be a trap," Gordon took out a piece of paper and handed it to Batman, gripping the paper tightly as the other reached out to take it, reminding him.

Batman glanced at him, took the paper from his hand, and nodded slightly.

……

"Boss, this is all the loot for today."

Inside a locked factory, a group of people were tremblingly handing over their day's earnings to a person sitting on a box wearing a scarecrow mask.

"Too little," Crane looked at the money they handed in, feeling extremely unhappy. He felt that his bright and glorious future shouldn't be limited by money. The financial constraints were limiting the development of his abilities.

He was short on money before, and now he was even shorter.

"The city's wealth is concentrated in the hands of those upper-class people and gang bosses. We can't touch them at all. And the lower class, like us, are all a bunch of poor ghosts. They barely have enough money to feed themselves. We've robbed everyone we can around here these days," one of them cautiously defended himself.

"You reminded me," Crane pointed at the speaker with great joy. "You can't squeeze any oil out of poor ghosts. Sending you to provoke those gangs is sending you to your deaths."

Many subordinates nodded. Although they had guns, they still couldn't compare to those gang bosses. Their numbers alone could overwhelm them. Unless their boss was willing to take action.

"I want to do something big. Who is the richest person in this city?" Crane asked meaningfully.

"Bruce Wayne?" A group of people looked at each other, tentatively giving their answer.

"Yes, that playboy. I believe if I kidnap him, or someone he cares about, I should be able to get what I want," Crane's eyes lit up slightly. If it were before, he definitely wouldn't casually provoke and offend those upper-class people, but now? He couldn't wait!

He recruited these people to accumulate wealth and resources for himself faster, but in fact, it seemed they were somewhat useful, but not much. The daily income could only be described as a drop in the bucket compared to his planned expenses. To achieve his goal, relying solely on these randomly recruited, shoddy waste products would probably be a distant dream.

He still had to do it himself!

And even after various materials and money were in place, Crane would still face a dilemma, which was that there weren't enough research talents under his command! Letting these subordinates use guns to fight and rob people, do bad things, and commit petty crimes, they were all good at it. After all, without these skills, they wouldn't be able to survive in this city's underbelly.

But asking them to do fine work, assembling some kind of instrument, was still a bit too much for them. After all, the most familiar characters these people knew how to write were their own names. In this city where it was difficult to survive at the bottom, not everyone could receive higher education. Even with ordinary education, graduates were considered rare talents in the gangs.

When the time came, Crane would either have to assemble the equipment himself or teach these brutes by hand. It was truly a painful thing to think about.

So Crane decided that after obtaining sufficient resources and money, he needed to visit his university colleagues. They would definitely be extremely helpful and friendly to work for him.

Suddenly, Crane seemed to sense something and abruptly raised his head. He saw a ghostly person like a bat descending from the sky like a ghost.

"Look who's here?" Crane said with a look of surprise, "Gotham's champion of justice, the scourge of evil, the savior of citizens, the embodiment of darkness, too many titles, Batman."

Batman ignored Crane's subordinates pointing guns at him. His eyes fixed on the Scarecrow standing in place, and a hint of doubt flashed in his eyes. According to the psychological profile he analyzed of the Scarecrow, if the other party saw him, he would probably first try to escape, using various weapons and toxins to entangle him, rather than standing in place so casually, without fear, and even somewhat delighted at his arrival.

However, he had checked the surrounding area. Apart from the people in the warehouse, there were no other forces involved, and there were no ambushes outside. He could tell that the people in the warehouse posed no threat to him with just a glance, even if they were all holding guns.

So, what gave Crane the confidence to support him?

Batman didn't think much about it. He believed that as long as he threatened the other party, the other party would definitely reveal his trump card. Then it would be a matter of seeing each other's abilities and strength.

So Batman immediately rushed towards Crane. Crane's subordinates blocking in front of him didn't stop Batman's progress at all.

Gunshots rang out, but they fell on Batman's black cloak and the armor outside his body, except for a few sparks, they didn't have the effect they should have, even though they were very close to Batman.

"Idiots! Don't shoot! What will you use to pay for it if you damage the goods?" Crane cursed, snatched a gun from a subordinate next to him, and fired wildly at the wooden box under his feet.

The wooden box was shattered, and the sound of glass breaking came from inside the box.

Crane lightly jumped back from the box. Streams of gas spilled out of the box, spreading to the surrounding area.

Crane's subordinates seemed to have seen something extremely terrifying, and they ran away in a panic in the opposite direction of the gas diffusion. However, their speed was still slow. The gas diffused and volatilized extremely quickly in the air, covering most of the warehouse in a very short time.

Some people who accidentally inhaled some of the gas staggered and fell to the ground, convulsing, and their expressions looked as if they had seen something extremely terrifying, crying and wailing while desperately moving their hands and feet on the ground.

It's just that their movements were irregular, as if they were dodging something's pursuit, and some were even trying their best to escape, but they were just moving in a maze-like manner in a relative space.

"Ah, energy!"

Crane took a deep breath in a daze, feeling the energy pouring into his body from all around. He opened his eyes, looked at Batman who seemed to be unaffected and had broken through to him, looked at the miniature gas mask on his face, and raised his eyebrows slightly: "How cunning, you even made yourself a gas mask?"

Batman didn't respond to the Scarecrow's words, but punched him in the face. But he was surprised to find that his fist was blocked by a layer of red and yellow light. His fist seemed to have hit a swamp, and all his strength was gone.

"You shouldn't have attacked me," Crane showed an unfathomable look of joy on his face: "You have the smell of fear on you. Do people like you also have things they fear in their hearts? This is so wonderful! I believe your fear should bring me more and stronger power!"

Responding to Crane was Batman's storm-like attack.

However, the layer of red and yellow energy protected Crane without dead angles. Batman's powerful fists and feet landed on the motionless Crane, and all the strength was lost.

"Those who come into contact with the power of fear will inevitably face their own fears. Good luck!!" Crane's mouth under the mask cracked into a terrifying arc, reminding Batman.

Batman suddenly staggered, and he found that the scene in front of him had an illusionary scene, like a hallucination.

The Scarecrow in front of him overlapped, and his body was constantly getting bigger, or he was constantly getting smaller. He could no longer judge whether he was getting smaller or the other party was getting bigger based on the surrounding environment. The dullness of other organs was exchanged for the mercy of hearing. He heard the sound of flapping wings coming from all directions, and the familiar, memorable, fragmented and chaotic calls.

That was the sound of bats!

PS: Thanks to the reward from classmate Jingde Feng.