"What?" The pale knight couldn’t help but be stunned. He opened his mouth, and his gaze fell on Natasha’s red hair again, then he said, "Could it be that’s how you got involved in this?"
"I was pulled into this by Batman," Natasha said sowhat helplessly, "Now is not the ti to talk about this. That guy is very particular about red-haired won. I saw in the newspaper that there’s a red-haired journalist caught here, that might be who it’s looking for. Whatever it’s planning to do, you’d better stop it."
"That’s the problem," the pale knight said, troubled with a furrowed brow, "It’s not that we don’t want to stop it, but he sohow managed to make most of the Congressn agree to a second referendum. Fiona is too young, her rhetoric too intense, and they used that against her..."
"What did she say?" Natasha asked, "I only saw the news of her arrest in the newspaper. It said she once had rhetoric about splitting the country?"
"Yes. You might not know, this cosmos’s Gotham beca a state independently, and the continuation of its self-policy with the new tax law brought good benefits to most ordinary Gotham citizens. Fiona’s father Willie was a revolutionary and a fighter, his voluntary sacrifice helped build today’s favorable situation. Fiona wouldn’t allow anyone to destroy her father’s revolutionary achievents. So when Congress proposed another referendum, she berated the Congressn and emphasized Gotham’s independence status. But the problem was she used such intense words that were taken out of context as ’she wants Gotham to leave the Federation,’ naturally leading to the accusation of splitting the country."
Natasha hesitated slightly and then said, "So, why not independent?"
"What?"
"Why don’t you plan to beco an independent country?"
The pale knight was stunned again. He pursed his lips and said, "It’s not that simple. The Federal Governnt would never allow it..."
"Whether to be independent depends not on who allows it, but on whether you have the strength to do so," Natasha said, "In my cosmos, there’s a small country called Wakanda, the most advanced and developed in Africa. France was colonizing madly in Africa, but they didn’t dare touch them because Wakanda had shield technology that they couldn’t even get close to..."
"Wait," the pale knight suddenly interrupted Natasha, "You’re talking about shield technology? What is it like?"
"Wakanda is located on the East African Plain, their shield layer is akin to a bowl covering the ground, protecting the entire country. Their technological level leads Earth, without their permission, nothing can get in."
"Oh my God, how did they develop such technology?" The pale knight couldn’t help but exclaim.
"Related to magic," Natasha said, "The gods they worship in their tribes actually exist and provide protection to the tribal chief. Also, they have a unique tal that is way ahead in materials science. Their successive leaders are quite competent, enjoying high prestige internationally..."
The pale knight rubbed his chin and said, "Sounds like it’s not too hard to achieve. Batman and I once discussed the possibility of making Gotham physically independent, but flying directly like other cosmos could be too much of a spectacle. We’re worried it might affect ordinary people’s lives. But putting a do to isolate here, it’s a pretty good idea."
"The premise is that you must unite as one. If after setting up the shield soone protests internally, that’s trouble," Natasha reminded.
"Makes sense," the pale knight nodded, "So far it seems most ordinary Gotham citizens are on our side. Batman should handle the upper class, if not, we’ll just let them get out."
"And the physical independence plan you ntioned earlier also has certain feasibility. But I think there’s no need to fly up to the sky, or, how about moving into the Atlantic?"
"What do you an?"
"Gotham is a peninsula surrounded by seas on three sides, its terrain is a bit like Italy. The part connected to the land is its greatest weakness. If you beco a purely sea-surrounded island, entrance and exit would be controlled by you. So you could completely move Gotham east after establishing the shield, no longer connected to the land, naturally enhancing independence."
"That would certainly be nice," the pale knight thought for a mont and said, "I’m going to find Batman to discuss this. You and Gordon handle Fiona’s situation, absolutely don’t let the Federal Governnt kill and silence."
"Rest assured. Even if Congressn want to do it, electronic life wouldn’t agree. I’m just going in to ensure electronic life is indeed keeping an eye on her. As long as it is, she won’t be in danger."
The pale knight left hurriedly. Natasha walked into the corridor next to the interrogation room, flashing her credentials at the agent: "CIA, Detective Romanov. Fiona Travell is involved in a case of external intelligence leaks, I’m here to investigate. Now let see the person involved."
Two FBI agents exchanged a glance. One picked up the communication device and requested an inquiry on that side. Not long after, Natasha was let in. Then a veteran-looking agent shook hands with her.
"Welco, Detective Romanov. I didn’t receive orders for a joint investigation, do you..."
"This is my private action. We don’t have enforcent power within the Federation, hasn’t been joint enforcent for 20 years within the territory. Don’t even know this?"
"Oh, no. I just want to know, what’s this intelligence leak case about? Could it be this Miss Travell is really a spy?"
"Of course not, it’s just that her father is a veteran of the Afghan battlefield. After she debuted, she published several reports on the Afghan war, and we suspect she may be transmitting signals to foreign forces."
Natasha raised her eyebrows at the agent. The other party imdiately understood—this was probably an attempt to find a scapegoat for a case that needed clarification but couldn’t be solved.
Anyway, this young girl has already been accused by the FBI of splitting the country, so adding an espionage charge wouldn’t matter. Moreover, she probably won’t leave the interrogation room alive, making any charges ultimately unimportant.
Natasha was soon brought in front of Fiona. All the other agents had left, leaving only the two of them. Natasha stared straight into Fiona’s eyes filled with anger, and for a mont, she was dazed, as if suddenly seeing her 17-year-old self.
"Miss Travell, our ti is precious, so I’ll be brief. You probably can’t leave here alive, so your charges are decided by those outside."
"Even if you kill , I won’t change my views. Gotham’s independence is the people’s choice. In a country that prides itself on democracy, this is a great victory, not a sha to be erased. You’ve forgotten the foundational principles of the Federation, trying to kill democracy yourself. If I die, God will know who the true patriots are!"
Natasha could see that this young girl in front of her, much like her self-sacrificing father, was truly fearless. But wasn’t everyone like that at 17?
"Alright, it seems I can’t change your mind. But I need to remind you, as death approaches, you must remain clear-headed. Don’t let anger blind you. God bless you, Miss Travell."
Natasha turned and left. Fiona behind her frowned and stared at her, clearly hearing the implication in Natasha’s words. This agent claiming to be from the CIA seed different from those Federal Governnt lapdogs. At this mont, Fiona suddenly and sharply realized a kindred spirit in Natasha’s soul. She began to carefully contemplate Natasha’s words.
Just then, she noticed the cara in the corner of the room move. The cara originally pointing at the doorway suddenly turned towards her face, and the red light on top began blinking repeatedly.
Fiona frowned. She counted the frequency of the blinking and suddenly widened her eyes—Morse code!
Her father was a veteran and had been a Marine communications soldier familiar with various code-breaking thods. When Fiona was young, she learned many types of codes from Willie, including Morse code and multiplex Morse code, even capable of deciphering an entire sentence without writing it down.
Fiona started morizing in her mind, but this line of code was surprisingly short. Translated, it was only a phrase—"Six o’clock."
Six o’clock? What’s going to happen at six?
To create a sense of pressure and reduce the prisoner’s perception of ti, the interrogation room usually doesn’t have clocks. But Fiona rembered entering at around four o’clock, and now it had been about an hour or so. It shouldn’t be far from six.
Fiona silently counted ti in her heart. Suddenly, she heard the sharp alarm sound of a smoke detector, followed by curses and heavy footsteps. Many people ran past the door, and thick smoke began to roll through the crack.
Suddenly, the door opened. A sowhat panicked cleaner walked up to Fiona and unlocked her handcuffs. He said to Fiona, "Hurry up."
Fiona hesitated a bit and asked, "You..."
"You rember your father established a veteran mutual aid association, right?" The person looked into Fiona’s eyes and said, "I’m one of its beneficiaries. The money he raised for kept from being permanently paralyzed. There’s no ti to explain, just go quickly."
"We’re leaving together," Fiona grabbed his arm and said, "There must be a fire outside, do you know the fastest way out?"
"We have to leave through the back door, follow ."
The person led Fiona through the ergency passage. The Gotham Police Departnt building had so years on it, having previously been an Irishman’s mansion. The ergency passage was added later on, so it was small and narrow, with lots of clutter piled in front. For this reason, almost no one used this way. The two of them successfully ran downstairs.
As Fiona ran outside, she looked back and saw thick smoke pouring out from the floor she was on. She asked the cleaner, "Did you start the fire?"
"No, but I heard it was due to aging circuits," the person said, "The police departnt’s facilities are too outdated, so it’s normal to catch fire because of aging circuits."
Fiona was about to nod but suddenly thought of sothing, looked at the cleaner’s watch and asked, "What ti is it now?"
The person glanced down at his watch and said, "It’s six o’clock, exactly six o’clock."
Fiona frowned deeply.
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