Upon hearing this place's name, even Thea and Lyla, who were not locals, were somewhat surprised.
Arkham Asylum. Just the sound of it carried weight. This wasn't a title earned through clickbait headlines; it was a place forged by the minds and lives of countless individuals, both sane and insane.
As a landmark in Gotham, Arkham Asylum stood alongside Blackgate Penitentiary as the preferred institution for young aspiring criminals.
If an aspiring criminal manages to obtain a release certificate from Blackgate after serving their time and a stability notice from Arkham's Psychological Health Committee, they would have a promising future in the Penguin's organization or one of Gotham's five major crime families.
These two places were akin to martial arts schools and wizarding academies in certain novels.
While Blackgate primarily focused on combat training, Arkham offered various forms of psychological guidance.
For most tough-skinned Americans, what Blackgate taught was a child's play compared to the transformative experience at Arkham.
Now, hearing that a large group of criminals had gathered in such a terrifying place, experimenting on countless citizens—whether mentally or physically—this bad news gave Thea a headache.
Seeing Barbara, who was usually eager to brainstorm ideas for such situations, now frowning, Thea knew that these individuals were somewhat fearful. Indeed, without Batman's support, the smaller heroes were hesitant. Even Thea felt a bit apprehensive.
But as the appointed leader, she couldn't let them lose heart.
At this moment, her old comrade-in-arms would be more reliable. She instructed Felicity, "Release the drones for reconnaissance and stream the real-time footage to this vehicle."
Felicity replied with an "Okay" and went about her task cheerfully. Thea couldn't help but wonder if Arkham had a minimal effect on her or if she was just naturally bold and fearless.
"Commissioner, do we have a map of Arkham? Let's discuss our approach route." What? Not going to attack? Of course, they could. Thea didn't want to go, though. She'd rather just contact Amanda and have her send a hellfire missile directly to the asylum. Quick, efficient, and hassle-free. Wouldn't that be nice?
But now, as a hero on the side of justice, she absolutely couldn't say such things. If they all refused to go, she could reluctantly follow suit!
But those kinds of words about giving up hostages and just living our lives and not caring about them—for Commissioner Gordon, with his sense of justice at 100, and for Barbara, with her sense of justice at 99—were impossible for such words to come out of their mouths.
Under Thea's regretful gaze, Commissioner Gordon eagerly brought over a large stack of blueprints.
Whoever did the city planning was a total idiot. Arkham wasn't just a wooden cabin; it was a massive administrative area. The area was huge.
Thea examined the specific map of Arkham. This place, loosely referred to as a hospital, occupies a massive area, far exceeding the usual hospital specifications. The land covers nearly 100,000 square meters, and the building area—difficult to estimate—probably ranges from 150,000 to 200,000 square meters.
"Come and take a look. I've arrived outside the asylum gates," Felicity announced, operating the drone as if it were a remote-controlled aircraft, flying it over the asylum.
The group quickly gathered around the display screen to watch.
This was Thea's first time seeing this renowned building. From the outside, it didn't exude the hellish atmosphere one might expect. Like all the buildings in Gotham, it was dark, dilapidated, old, and had a kind of hysterical restlessness.
Felicity, the only one with a carefree attitude, remarked, "It's just like any other building," as she effortlessly activated a range of functions, including stealth mode, thermal imaging, and maneuvering around obstacles.
As the drone lowered its altitude, the group gradually saw the scene inside the compound. Describing it as overcrowded would be an understatement. In an area of less than 100 square meters, five armed thugs were patrolling densely.
In less than half a minute, three patrol teams had passed through this area.
Felicity didn't dare to fly the drone too low. While optical camouflage could ensure that most people couldn't see it, the sound of the drone's flight couldn't be concealed.
Entering the building was not an option. Controlling the drone outside the compound, they surveyed the perimeter. Fortunately, with thermal imaging technology and Felicity's skillful maneuvering of the drone along the walls, Thea and the others could compare the live feed with the old map and find the best point of attack.
"There are too many people here." After looking at the map for a while, Thea muttered to herself. Just from the red dots seen on the thermal imaging, there were thousands of people. Perhaps only one-tenth of them were criminals? Even so, that was still a staggering number. Their five-person team couldn't take on so many people.
"Wait, fly back a bit more." Commissioner Gordon, noticing something, stopped Felicity.
On the screen, a faint figure appeared. The person was indoors, and the drone's camera was looking through the window, making the image very blurry.
"Can you zoom in a bit?" Commissioner Gordon squinted his eyes but couldn't confirm anything, even after looking for a while.
"Even if I zoom in, it will still be like this. This is a commercial drone, not a military one. But we have another method. This is a technology developed by our Queen Industries specifically for the Starling City Police Department, but unfortunately, someone interfered," Felicity explained, activating the facial recognition software as she glanced subtly at Selina.
Selina made an embarrassed expression, gesturing with her eyes as if to ask why Felicity kept bringing that up. Hadn't they put that behind them?
The computer quickly compared the blurry photo, and next to the blurry photo, a clear headshot appeared.
Similarity of 95%, this is the person. Strange name though, Oswald Cobblepot," Felicity said, holding a pen and looking at the result on the computer screen. She felt that this person looked strange and mismatched, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
The local Gotham residents exchanged uneasy glances and simultaneously exclaimed, "The Penguin!"
"Continue the reconnaissance." Thea didn't think this guy was anything to be afraid of. He had no superpowers; his martial skills were average at best; and he was tragically short, with a lame leg to boot. What were they afraid of? Thea felt like she would be bullying him if she fought him.
As the drone continued its aerial surveillance, the group roughly understood the perimeter defenses. It's worth mentioning that there were not only the elite Scarecrow troops they had encountered before but also many members of various gangs.
According to Commissioner Gordon, they were all under the Penguin's command. He had briefly unified Gotham's underground forces in the past, and although his influence was not as significant as before, he still had many loyal followers.