Cold. Shaking.
A clanging sound rang beside his ears. Half-conscious, Ma Zhaodi's head throbbed from being jolted by the vibrations of the floor.
"Sir."
Between sleep and wakefulness, a voice seemed to echo beside him again and again.
Who was that?
"Sir!"
Who was that voice calling?
Me?
"Wake up! Sir!"
Cold, damp air rushed in, filling Ma Zhaodi's nostrils. It seemed to carry a faint smell of blood, along with a strange sense of danger.
The scent seemed to travel straight from his nose to his soul. Ma Zhaodi's thoughts became clear in an instant, as if he had been dragged up from The Deep to the surface.
He suddenly opened his eyes and saw an unfamiliar ceiling.
No, not a ceiling.
The floor swayed rhythmically, accompanied by clanging noises. Thick clouds outside the window beside him moved rapidly. Rows of seats stood on both sides, and he was lying in the aisle between them.
He was on a train.
But why was he in a place like this?
Freshly awakened, Ma Zhaodi pushed himself up from the floor. Rows of empty train seats surrounded him, along with a conductor standing nearby.
"Sir, are you all right?"
Why was a foreign conductor asking him questions in English?
When the hell did I get on a foreign train?
No, no. I hadn't been riding a train before this.
Ma Zhaodi shook his head hard, trying to confirm that everything before him was not an illusion.
Unfortunately, everything before him seemed incomparably real. The slightly chilly air, the cold metal of the train, the scratches and damage throughout the carriage, and the roaring sound of the train all proved the reality of this world.
"But wasn't I staying up late to write?"
Ma Zhaodi desperately tried to recall his last memory. It seemed he had been so sleepy while writing that he had collapsed onto his keyboard.
Maybe I was so exhausted from staying up late that I fell asleep, and I'm dreaming now. Or maybe some bored variety-show crew is pulling a prank on me?
That was what he thought.
As he pondered, Ma Zhaodi stood up and sat in the seat beside him. The conductor continued asking about his condition. Seeing that the Asian passenger still refused to say a word, he couldn't help feeling a little afraid.
Ordinary passengers were nothing to fear, of course. But this train had only one stop left: its terminal station.
That terminal station was called Gotham.
Normal people might go to Gotham City, but it was unlikely that anyone who went there was normal.
The conductor steeled himself and asked once again, but the passenger still did not respond. He merely stared at him with a strange, gloomy look.
That gaze was terrifying. After being looked at just once, the conductor could no longer withstand the psychological pressure. He apologized and fled.
After seeing the conductor leave, Ma Zhaodi turned his head and looked toward the train window. Through the slightly misted glass, he could see the gloomy sky outside and the city shrouded in darkness beneath the rain clouds: towering clock towers, densely packed skyscrapers, strange Gothic buildings, and, faintly in the distance, a filthy cluster of low buildings, along with English slogans and signs everywhere.
Clock towers? Slums? English signs?
Judging by the style of its buildings, this city clearly wasn't in Dongda.
"Where the hell have I been brought? Is this even still my country?"
Ma Zhaodi murmured unconsciously.
"Wooo—"
Just as he was still wondering why he was dreaming about a foreign country he had never visited, the train whistle sounded. The train began slowing down, then entered the station.
Staring at the unfamiliar station design and the blond, blue-eyed Western faces standing nearby, Ma Zhaodi stood frozen beside the window.
"Clatter."
The train doors opened. Passengers carrying luggage and bags streamed out of the carriage and onto the platform.
Swept along by the crowd, Ma Zhaodi walked out of the train. At that moment, he felt like a rootless duckweed, drifting and swaying toward an unknown destination.
"Why haven't I woken up yet? Why hasn't this dream ended?"
He stumbled off the train. After taking only a few steps, he suddenly stopped and stared blankly at the English writing above the platform.
Gotham City
"?"
Ma Zhaodi had still wanted to deceive himself for a little longer, but he instantly broke down. He didn't know much English, but he had seen his share of superhero movies and naturally understood the significance of those words.
"Damn it all! What kind of heartless bastard sent me to a hellhole like this?!"
Nearly despairing, Ma Zhaodi covered his face with both hands. He seriously suspected that he might be skinned, dismembered, and devoured by criminals in an alley on his very first night in the city. As one of the cities with the highest crime rates in all of America, normal people here were rarer than phoenix feathers, while honest and upright people could be counted on one hand.
If a simple thief appeared in another city, he would unquestionably be an ordinary criminal. But if someone in Gotham only stole without robbing, and neither killed nor committed arson, then they were fully qualified to run for the title of model citizen.
Seventy percent of the people in this city were gang members. The rest consisted of world-class terrorist organizations, world-class assassin groups, children, tycoons, capitalists, lone supervillains, and the biggest psychopath in all of Gotham.
And then there were the world-class unlucky ones: ordinary passersby who knew nothing about the city and had accidentally wandered into it.
As for the police? There wasn't a single officer in the police department who had never cooperated with either gangsters or psychopaths. This was a city steeped in darkness. If there was still anything here that wasn't dark, it might be Ma Zhaodi, who had only just arrived.
"Ding."
Self-Made System has finished loading. Please work hard to earn money and prosper through diligence. As the saying goes, money can move even the gods. As long as you are not completely penniless, you will always have another chance. Current assets: Seven dollars Current mission: Rely on your own hands to find a job in Gotham City and earn your first fortune after transmigrating. The following beginner benefits are available: Purchasable: Basic English Proficiency Price: $1 Note: How do you spell "abandon" again? Local Identity Price: $1 per copy Note: In Gotham, the king of Gotham is the king indeed. All day long, there's nothing but gunfights and hacking people apart! Rapid Life Recovery Price: $1 Note: Try it if it works. Next time, enjoy a 99.99999% discount. Save Point Price: $1 Note: The fee is a hundred million. Pay it next time if you can't afford it. Please note: You may only earn assets through legal employment. Keep your feet on the ground, work hard, and prosper through diligence.
Seeing the system and its contents, Ma Zhaodi's mood rose and fell like a roller coaster. In the end, all his tangled thoughts became a single sigh.
"What kind of lunatic would want to find a legal job in Gotham?"
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