Chapter 61: Night Watchman

Batman rarely had moments to think for too long.

Generally, the situations he faced demanded immediate decisions—critical, extremely urgent, and brooking no delay; time was always a luxury to him, and there was no help for it. Often, the crises most desperately needing someone to step in left no room for procrastination—and his intelligence was indeed sufficient to handle such situations.

But tonight was different. The strange thing he encountered tonight was no super-crisis, involved no super-villain; it was simply strange.

But also a bit warm.

That comical Santa slowly stirred the steaming porridge in the pot, as if even the night itself had grown long, as if a corner of the city were saying to him, It's alright, taking it slow is fine too. Tonight is just an ordinary night, this is just an ordinary alleyway; there is no crime, no conspiracy for now. You can pause here for a moment.

But he did not intend to pause. Batman never paused—Gotham had more than just this one corner, and Batman always had things to do.

He glanced back at the shabby shack and the children lining up for porridge, raised his hand to make a phone call, then turned and vanished into the night.

"Boss, why call everyone out so late? It's the middle of the night..."

"Cut the crap. Tonight is a bit strange. That bunch of brats, who knows what they're up to? Suddenly gathering in one place, even built a shack and started cooking porridge. Let's go check. If they're trying to pull something, we'll teach them a lesson."

"That's right! Maybe there's some benefit there too." The scarred big man sneered twice: "Even if there's no benefit, Lao Zi still needs to beat up a few brats to vent my anger—I haven't even had enough sleep yet, and this damn weather is so cold."

"Ah—choo! Hiss, it is cold indeed. This snow is damn thick. Christmas is coming soon; can't those brats just shut up for a while?"

"Hey, didn't we have an order recently? Otherwise..."

"What order? That was the previous order, already delivered. The next one hasn't even appeared yet. Catching those brats now would cost money to feed them—unless you're paying?"

"Leave this place."

This abruptly spoken sentence was clearly not from someone in the gang. Low, hoarse, cold, and carrying some inexplicable eeriness.

"Who! Who's there!"

Dim moonlight spilled over the night of Gotham, casting flickering cold light on the snow. In the faint reflection of the weak light, everyone could vaguely see a blurry, tall black shadow standing in the snow.

Was it a person? But how could a person grow a pair of bat-like pointed ears?

"I said, leave this place. Don't make me repeat it a third time."

However, the scarred big man did not take it seriously. In his view, the person opposite was like a slapstick actor on television, or a clown in bizarre costume on stage; those pointed ears were nothing more than some weird, cheap ornament.

So he immediately cursed: "Who the hell do you think you are? Daring to order—"

"Shut up! Idiot!"

The leader immediately stopped his cursing. The scarred man didn't know the urban legends about Batman in Gotham City, but he had heard of such matters more than once. Although this was the first time he had seen it with his own eyes, he already knew something of this nocturnal creature's deeds.

However, had Falcone not placed a full one million dollars bounty on this bat's head?

Thinking of that huge sum, he instinctively licked his lips.

Batman could see the greed shining in the other's eyes. Many of the gang members beside him also wore the same grimace. Perhaps they had already imagined in their hearts the future of bringing merit to join the Roman's ranks and spending that one million dollars freely and happily.

At this moment, they had already made their choice—and chosen wrongly.

"Boss, he's gone!"

"What?"

He turned in shock. Within the dazzling white halo of the flashlight, only a bright white snowy field remained. The bat-shadow that had stood in the snow had vanished, causing him to curse angrily in frustration.

"Damn! That guy got away!"

"They all said how terrifying Batman is, yet he ran away in a few damn seconds!"

At this moment, a gang member stammered out a call.

"B-b-b-boss..."

"What boss? Call him Big Boss!"

"On the head!"

Everyone was startled, turning their gaze to the sky.

In the silver-white full moon, that bat-like black shadow suddenly spread its black wings. Its size instantly swelled wildly along with the shadow, almost blotting out all the moonlight.

For some reason, Batman tonight seemed more intimidating than ever before. The blurred, twisted, terrifying bat wings rapidly enlarged with the sound of a high-speed diving glide. In this moment, all the gang members understood why the bat of Gotham City represented fear.

"Hit him! Shoot him with guns!" The scarred big man squeezed out the last shred of courage in his heart, shouting these words with a trembling voice.

Yet he still shouted too slowly.

"Crack, crack, crack."

The crisp sound of bones snapping one by one rang out. Still decisive and clean movements, still a form appearing and disappearing mysteriously. Batman, like a tiger entering a flock of sheep, knocked down burly big men one by one. Everyone drew their guns, wanting to aim at him, but no one dared to fire, because in such a dense formation, bullets could easily hit their own comrades at any moment.

Gang members in the formation fell one by one into the cold snow, groaning while clutching their hands, feet, or some other part. The dim moonlight could only occasionally illuminate the bat's figure, but in the next second, he would vanish back into the shadows.

"Flashlights! Shine the flashlights on him!"

No sooner were the words spoken than a stun grenade carrying intense light exploded among the crowd.

Buzz—

Violent high-decibel sonic booms and blindingly bright light immediately enveloped everyone. With severe tinnitus and blindness, all the gang members carrying flashlights were easily harvested by Batman like leeks.

Fire, fire, fire.

The silver-white snowy ground and the silent black night sky both seemed to burn at this moment. Bone-chilling fear scorched everyone's mind. At this moment, the bodies of everyone still standing trembled uncontrollably. They struggled to raise the guns in their hands, using them to maintain their last shred of courage, but looking at the few remaining comrades, everyone also knew the tide had turned against them.

"Gotham Police Department! Everyone put down your guns!"

With the sound of police lights, sirens, and loudspeakers, Gotham Police Department patrol cars arrived at the scene at this moment. Almost all the gang members were moved to tears. In their eyes, these were not the detestable police about to take them to jail, but kind angels about to deliver them from hell.

"Quick! Officer! I confess! Arrest me quickly!"

Amidst the chaos, Batman's figure quietly vanished from the crowd.

On this night, the Gotham Police Department was packed to the brim. All the gangs daring to approach the porridge shack were broken by the Dark Knight, their bones snapped and tendons severed.

In contrast, the children drinking porridge spent a warm and peaceful night.

PS: This is probably what it looks like when Batman scares people.

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(End of this chapter)