Test

"If I were you, I'd think carefully before acting rashly," the man in black said, his voice unnaturally low, clearly altered.

Jay suppressed the instinct to lunge forward and decided to hear the man out. The man in black watched his reaction coldly. "A wise decision."

"Who are you?" Jay asked. "Is it you who's been looking for me?"

The other party didn't answer his question, instead continuing, "Now, as you can see, I only need to make a slight move with this knife to take this woman's life. I've performed countless throat slittings in my career, and I'm confident I won't fail this time. I know you're fast, but you should know that I have a motion-activated quantum field barrier installed on my belt. If you try to punch me, it will be triggered. You might be able to break the barrier with one punch, but that will buy me enough time to kill this woman."

"Let her go," Jay gritted out. "You want me, don't you?"

"I'm afraid that's not possible; her involvement is a crucial part of the plan." The voice remained flat, like a synthesized electronic tone. "Of course, you're not without options. I know you possess powerful penetrating heat vision, which will be the only thing you can hit me with in time before I eliminate the hostage. But you must also know that you only get one chance, and it must be fatal."

Jay was startled by the bizarre condition, beginning to suspect he was dealing with a lunatic. If he understood correctly, the man seemed to be urging him to kill himself.

"Now, the question is," the man in black said coldly, "do you have the guts to do it?"

His voice was still cold and somber, devoid of any emotional fluctuation, yet a palpable killing intent was being released. Jay had no doubt that this madman might actually go through with it, and if so, Helena would die because of him. Damn it, he was just starting to develop a slight liking for her.

Jay saw a flicker of expectation in Helena's eyes as she looked at him, perhaps believing he could handle the situation. To be honest, he lacked confidence. Jay took a deep breath and said, "You don't have to do this. You want me, don't involve innocent people."

"Ten seconds." The man in black was unmoved. As he spoke, he tightened his grip slightly, the blade, reflecting the white basement light, already faintly breaking Helena's skin. "That's the last moment of hesitation you have."

The guy wasn't lying. Jay scanned his entire body; there was indeed a high-tech device on his belt that he couldn't quite understand, subtly emitting invisible particles. It could likely activate a barrier that could withstand his attack. Perhaps he could use his heat vision to disable the device, but the man had cunningly positioned himself behind Helena, making the only sure target his head.

Jay began to consider the man's sole proposed solution, which didn't seem so bad. He could directly shoot through his head with his heat vision, stopping his brain function before the nerves could even transmit a signal. Helena had mentioned that these assassins were all blood-soaked; removing one like this, even if not a good thing for the world, shouldn't be a bad thing.

The man in black's countdown was down to five seconds.

This seemed like a very easy deal, with nothing left to hesitate about. The Huntress was a current government agent and a former superhero. More importantly, he knew Helena was a good person. If sacrificing this assassin who appeared out of nowhere could save her life, it certainly wasn't a bad trade, especially since this bizarre situation was intentionally created by this lunatic.

Jay was already entertaining the thought, a murderous aura flashing in his eyes with the red glow of his heat vision. This was a fairly simple problem; what was there to hesitate about?

Yet, he couldn't help but hesitate for two more seconds.

Could this really be considered a transaction? If, in this moment, he defined his actions as "exchanging a worse life for a better one," did that mean he had the right to decide whose life was more valuable?

He didn't even know who this guy was.

He suddenly felt it was at least necessary to know what kind of person he was about to kill. No matter how terrible the other party was, he felt he should at least remember his face.

Jay tried to see through the black mask but found he couldn't. The man must have added lead to the mask; he couldn't see his features. So, he tried to see through his body, and the result truly astonished him.

Although he wasn't a surgeon, he was quite sure the X-ray of the man in black was far from "normal." The man's bones were riddled with damage, like patches sewn all over. There were countless large and small fracture marks, his joints were covered in cracks, and the wear on his knee joints, in particular, made Jay wonder how his legs could still function normally. When he saw the marks of past spinal fractures, he almost cried out in surprise.

With his body in such a state, he still possessed such skill. Was this guy made of iron?

This suddenly reminded Jay of someone, and a new possibility stemming from it flashed through his mind like lightning. He suddenly realized, could today's sequence of events be too coincidental? Helena had just run to the football field to warn him, and this assassin in black followed closely behind. Furthermore, with the Huntress's skills, even if she were caught, she shouldn't be unable to resist even once, right?

And now that he thought about it, both the assassin and Helena seemed to be constantly posing problems for Jay, observing his responses, reactions, and solutions. Perhaps, from the very beginning, this was all just a test.

The man in black's countdown was down to one second, and Helena still looked at him with expectant eyes.

Jay took a deep breath, an unavoidable tension gripping him. He was young, hadn't even left school yet, and this was his first time facing such a situation. His judgment concerned Helena's life, and this was an unprecedented burden for him.

What if he guessed wrong?

The countdown ended, and he still hadn't acted.

The man in black stared intently into his eyes and said, "Time's up. Is this your answer?"

Jay met the knife-like gaze, feeling an inexplicable pressure. But he didn't back down and said firmly, "No, I won't kill you, but I'm willing to make a deal with you."

"Go on."

"If you dare to touch her, I promise I'll make you regret it. I won't kill you, but I'll make you pay the price you deserve," Jay said. "But if you let her go now, I promise to let you leave this parking lot unharmed, without touching a single hair on your head."

After saying this, he stood motionless, meeting the man in black's sharp gaze directly, trying his best to hide his lack of confidence and project more self-assurance. The man in black also stood still, maintaining the stare in silence. With each passing second, Jay felt more of himself being exposed under the man's piercing gaze.

After a long pause, Helena suddenly spoke, "I think this counts as passing, right?"

The man in black put away his short knife and commented, "Almost as naive as 'him'."

Helena rubbed her neck, where the blade had just touched, and smiled charmingly, "But isn't that what you hoped for?"

Jay took a deep breath, knowing he had guessed correctly.

The man in black ripped off the black mask, revealing another mask—still entirely black, with white goggles, two pointed ears standing erect, and below them, a sharp jawline covered in stubble.

He was Batman.