Chapter 379 - 379: Meeting Oliver

The found-footage video Karl had created using the broadcasting company's surveillance system attracted enormous attention as soon as it was released.

The Joker's secret plot to murder Batman was presented clearly before the audience.

When the Dark Knight was finally caught off guard, fell into the pit, and had gasoline poured over him by the Joker, the video showed the Joker lighting a match—

Then it abruptly cut to black.

Nothing that happened afterward was shown.

But that alone was more than enough to leave the audience excited.

The footage never revealed how Batman ultimately escaped from danger, nor how he dealt with the Joker afterward.

Instead, it left the people of Gotham City desperate to know what happened next.

In a certain sense, Gotham had no shortage of Joker fans.

Those people thoroughly enjoyed watching the Joker's elaborate trap unfold against Batman.

Meanwhile, Batman's supporters were far more concerned about how their hero had escaped.

Either way, the hype surrounding the video continued to grow.

Searches and public attention reached entirely new heights.

At the same time, Karl was aggressively recruiting new personnel in preparation for the company's first proper production.

After all, there was no way a handful of old employees could maintain both reality-style programming and full television production.

He needed genuine professionals to rebuild the company from the ground up.

Karl handed the matter over to Ed Nygma with only one instruction:

Don't worry about spending money.

Whatever salary people demanded, negotiate it.

As a result, the deputy chief of the Arkham District precinct barely had time to return to the police station anymore.

Almost all of Ed's attention was being consumed by recruitment for the broadcasting and television company.

It was during this period that Karl finally found some time to think about other matters.

Opening his private laptop, Karl began reviewing the latest developments around the world.

To avoid missing anything important, he had secretly created files centered around specific individuals.

Each file continuously collected news related to that person.

That way, Karl wouldn't accidentally miss any major event that was supposed to happen around them.

"Huh?"

Karl sat with one leg crossed over the other as he stared at the information on his screen.

"Star City billionaire Oliver Queen disappeared five years ago, and his family foundation has officially abandoned the search?"

"A massive inheritance is now facing the possibility of having no heir?"

Karl blinked.

"Wait."

"Isn't that Green Arrow?"

He quickly calculated the timing.

"By now, Green Arrow should've spent more than enough time on that island."

"He's probably already developed the skills he needs."

"It's about time someone got him off that rock and sent him back to civilization."

Karl leaned back.

"Looks like I need to make a trip out to sea."

Speaking of Green Arrow, his real name was Oliver Queen.

In many ways, he was practically cut from the same cloth as Gotham's Bruce Wayne.

Both had been born into extremely wealthy families.

Both had lived carefree lives as spoiled billionaire playboys.

And both would eventually become superheroes.

Oliver's life changed after he was stranded on a deserted island following an accident at sea.

In another version of the story, he had been deliberately thrown overboard.

To survive, Oliver learned archery and combat.

Later, when a pirate ship reached the island, he seized the opportunity, defeated the pirates, took their vessel, and returned to the United States.

Afterward, inspired by the same desire to fight crime that drove Batman, Oliver became the superhero known as Green Arrow.

He would eventually join the Justice League, enter a relationship with fellow Justice League member Black Canary, and even marry her.

Compared with all those complicated stories, however, Karl didn't know nearly as much about Green Arrow as he did about Batman.

What he remembered most was that Green Arrow was one of the more unfortunate members of the Justice League.

In Karl's rather uncharitable opinion, Oliver's close-quarters fighting sometimes looked barely better than that of an ordinary street thug, while Black Canary frequently seemed to carry far more of the burden.

In some later stories, Black Canary even demonstrated just how dangerous she was by going toe-to-toe with opponents such as Deathstroke.

As one of the Justice League's relatively ordinary human heroes, Green Arrow always seemed awkward standing beside gods, aliens, and metahumans.

And compared with Batman, Oliver definitely drew the short straw.

Batman might not possess conventional superpowers either, but between his equipment, preparation, and what Karl jokingly considered the editors' endless favoritism, an ordinary flesh-and-blood Batman could still somehow become one of the most terrifying figures in the entire Justice League.

Anyone who dared portray Batman as even half as weak as an ordinary human would probably be figuratively burned alive by furious readers.

Green Arrow never enjoyed quite the same treatment.

His later history was considerably rougher.

In The Dark Knight Returns, an older Oliver had lost an arm after running afoul of Superman.

Following the events of Justice League: Cry for Justice, his relationship with Black Canary collapsed and he was driven away from Star City.

In the Injustice storyline, Green Arrow met an even worse fate at the hands of a former teammate.

Even in Arrow, the television series centered around Oliver himself, Karl remembered the man spending an impressive amount of time being beaten, betrayed, captured, or otherwise suffering.

Karl hadn't exactly been eager to keep following every version of his adventures.

…

In any case, the important thing was that Oliver Queen was not Green Arrow yet.

After being thrown overboard by someone working under him, he had remained trapped on a deserted island for years.

During that time, he had experienced a number of strange encounters.

But none of them had been enough to end his isolation.

Years passed.

Then, on this particular day, something different finally appeared on the horizon.

A large ship slowly approached the island.

Before long, several unfamiliar figures came ashore.

If this had happened a few years earlier, Oliver would probably have thrown himself toward them in excitement and begged them with a smile to take him away from this hellhole.

But years of surviving the island's brutal environment had hardened him.

He had become calmer, tougher, and far more cautious.

He was no longer the pampered playboy who had first arrived there.

Instead of revealing himself, Oliver immediately began evaluating the newcomers and trying to determine their intentions.

The island wasn't located anywhere near a normal trade route.

Ordinary sailors had no reason to waste enough time and fuel to come all the way out here.

In other words, anyone who suddenly appeared on this island was unlikely to have arrived by accident.

They might be pirates.

Or they might have some other purpose entirely.

The more Oliver thought about the circumstances surrounding his own shipwreck, the more suspicious he became.

So he remained hidden at first, silently observing the newcomers from the shadows.

There's definitely danger here…

Oliver narrowed his eyes.

But this is still a chance to get home.

Like Yao Fei taught me, every opportunity comes with a price.

When the time comes, I just need to find an opportunity to slip into the water and sneak aboard.

Once I'm on their ship, they'll have no choice but to bring me back to civilization.

Despite those thoughts, the people who had come ashore didn't look like sailors who had spent years at sea.

Their skin wasn't weathered.

Their movements were awkward.

And none of them showed any obvious signs of serious combat training.

That made Oliver slightly more confident.

After searching part of the island, the group established a camp near the shore.

Then they lit fires and began preparing food.

A whole suckling pig slowly roasted over a grill.

Steaks sizzled inside a pan.

Rather than looking like dangerous pirates who had come to raid an isolated island, the entire group seemed as though they had arrived for a leisurely camping trip.

Before long, the smell of food seemed to spread across the entire island.

(End of Chapter)

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