2204 Side Story: Fantasy Journey 45

It couldn’t be helped. A magnate who was willing to spend so much money on one subordinate was much more likable than capitalists who calculated how to cut their subordinates’ pay as much as possible.

This way, as long as Barry’s father’s remaining stay was comfortable in prison, the two million was in the bag.

Rich people who were willing to spend money naturally had to be revered.

After they left the prison, Barry was about to say something like thanks, when Luke waved his hand and interrupted him. “It’s always easier to do good without any worries. Just consider this a team-building event.”

Barry: …I’ve never heard of this sort of team-building.

He didn’t say anything, but he was even more grateful.

Of course, Master Wayne and Luke received the same amount of gratitude.

Master Wayne had solved the main problem, and Luke had taken care of the details, but that didn’t mean that Luke had done less. Instead, it showed how meticulous he was.

Of course, Luke had done this on purpose.

He didn’t expect Barry to listen to him, but at the very least, he couldn’t blindly follow Master Wayne.

Master Wayne could take the lead in the team, but Luke had to have a certain ‘power of veto.’

He wouldn’t back down on this point.

Returning to the base with Barry, they went straight to Victor.

Luke asked, “Is the case simulation done?”

Victor waved away the virtual screen in front of him and opened another one. “After you and Bruce talked for two days, I did my best to recreate it as closely as possible; you can fill in the details. I’ll leave overturning the conviction to you – I’m not a professional, after all.”

Next, Luke, Barry and Victor adjusted the 3D simulation and added various notes.

After a busy afternoon, Luke finally said, “Okay, Victor, sort out the relevant data. I’ll have someone send it to the cold case division. Barry, go to CSI in the next few days and make sure that they verify the data. Your father will be cleared of suspicion.”

Barry had no doubts.

During the entire process of adjusting and analyzing the virtual scene, he had been full of regret. Why hadn’t he thought of starting with these questions?

But Luke seemed to know what Barry was thinking. He simply smiled. “You don’t know how the police work or think, and you don’t have a supercomputer that can compare with Victor’s skills; it wouldn’t have been that easy to find ironclad evidence.”

Barry relaxed.

Luke used the opportunity to say, “So, this is the strength of a team. By pooling together what everyone is good at, you can solve a lot of problems that you can’t solve on your own.”

This time, both Barry and Victor nodded.

Victor alone could have helped Barry with this, but the beginning would definitely be bumpy, and even after that, it would have taken them a long time to investigate.

Professionals, on the other hand, were completely focused on finding weak points in the police evidence.

The murder of Henry’s wife happened over a decade ago, when technology was definitely far inferior.

A lot of the police evidence back then could be considered ‘ironclad,’ but not necessarily now.

For example, some of the bloodstains in the house and on Henry had been deemed ‘random’ and ‘useless’ back then.

For Luke, who had a complete database of bloodstains, these were traces of a ‘third party,’ and they didn’t match the crime that Henry had purportedly committed.

Apart from that, a simulation of how Barry’s mother was injured suggested that the murderer was at least a good deal taller than Henry.

The scattered evidence was enough to prove that Henry had been deliberately set up.

Barry would be going to CSI as an external consultant partly because he would be more reassured if he could keep an eye on things personally, and partly to explain to the forensic scientists how to analyze the evidence.

Luke’s methods involved a lot of new techniques that ordinary forensic scientists might not necessarily understand.

Also, Barry and Henry were father and son, so it wasn’t appropriate for Barry’s name to appear on evidence for overturning the conviction, so he could only be a consultant.

It would be CSI who would officially provide the evidence; it would have nothing to do with Barry.

To put it simply, he was external personnel who was volunteering for now.

After this case, however, the CSI would be very clear on his level of analytical skills and methods; there would be a lot of opportunities for Barry to be sought out for ‘external help’ in the future.

A senior forensic scientist might not be rich, but it wasn’t hard for them to live a comfortable middle-class life.

Although Barry didn’t have these skills yet, Luke had a lot of information and technology on cracking cases in his database.

Barry could learn one or several areas on his own, and the rest could be analyzed using the database; the effect wouldn’t be any worse than what a top forensic expert could do. The GCPD would only benefit from it.

Barry would also have a respectable profession on the surface, and could still uphold justice.

Moreover, who would say anything about a forensic scientist who had a slightly strange character? Luke’s cheap uncle Old Greyson had a quirky personality, and other people had to work around that.

…

Barry got busy with work with great relish.

Nothing would go wrong, but it would still take three to five months.

Without money, it wouldn’t be strange if it took a few years.

Now that test subject 1 wasn’t around, Luke naturally turned to test subject 2. He talked to Victor for an afternoon, and the two of them reached an agreement.

Victor had a strong body, but it was too ‘rudimentary.’

Luke planned to help make him two sets of armor: a simulation suit and a battle protection suit.

All Victor needed to do was process data for the Justice League — for example, look up the origins of unfavorable opinions about the league online, and take appropriate countermeasures.

With Barry as an example, plus Luke’s ‘team-building theory,’ Victor accepted this arrangement despite feeling a little embarrassed.

Luke hadn’t charged Barry for his help, right? Luke wouldn’t charge him either, right?

As a team, they needed to help and work with each other to increase mutual trust.

Anyone who was brought in temporarily could only be described as a mercenary.

Victor’s brain was more convenient than a computer, and he could store data at will. Thus, when he was making the armor, he talked to Luke about data processing.

“You told me to get an ID and mix in with the anti-Superman and anti-Batman groups. I get it.” Victor’s eye glowed red. “But why do you want me to act like I’m the biggest protestor?”

Luke took a sip of his coffee. “Individuals are smart on their own, but a collective just goes with the flow. You know that, right?”

Victor nodded. With a simple scan, he could stuff a lot of academic knowledge into his head.

Of course, remembering → understanding → applying was a process; it wasn’t enough to just memorize things.

The number of people who could analyze certain phenomena in real life and even make money from it was dropping drastically.

Victor just memorized things – he would make some inferences at most, but he wouldn’t dig deeper.

In this regard, he wasn’t much better than an ordinary person.