The Third Part-Time Job

When Commissioner Gordon and Prosecutor Harvey arrived near the warehouse, most of what was inside had already burned.

The reason was quite simple: no one called the fire department because it cost money.

Naturally, the people whose home caught fire would be the ones to call the fire department. If a building in the community caught fire, perhaps a good neighbor might help make the call. But no one knew what was inside this warehouse, and at first, no one could find the person in charge. Therefore, the fire department arrived late.

Picking up a few hundred-dollar bills that had drifted out from the raging inferno, both men looked grim. Judging by the intensity of the fire, the warehouse likely contained more paper money. And for such a quantity of paper money to be hidden in a warehouse like this was, in itself, a very peculiar matter.

"Who could it be?"

--

"Tsk, who could it be?"

"So... it wasn't you?"

A deep voice sounded from behind. Catwoman startled and turned to look behind her. A tall, dark figure stood there, with two pointed bat ears above a pair of indifferent blue eyes.

"You're more of a cat than I am," she said indignantly. "Always appearing or disappearing without a sound."

"You haven't shown up in a while—where have you been?"

"In case you haven't heard, Falcone put a million-dollar bounty on my head."

"Mine too, but I'm still investigating a case here tonight."

"Yeah, yeah—but I'm not a bat, I'm a cat."

"When did you get here? What did you see?"

"Not much earlier than you—saw the same thing you did."

"Just happened to run into each other?"

"Want to know?" she giggled. "Catch me, and I'll tell you."

The figures of the cat and the bat leaped between the tall buildings, chasing each other, as if playing a fun game—though perhaps only the cat was enjoying it.

"Someone! Open the warehouse doors!"

On the other side, Commissioner Gordon and Prosecutor Harvey quickly forced the warehouse doors open with brute strength. However, all that greeted them was a mountain of burnt paper money ashes, along with a few bills that had escaped the flames.

"Great, now we have to investigate a major counterfeit money case—and one with hardly any leads, no less."

"It's not counterfeit."

"Hmm?"

Harvey Dent turned towards a corner of the warehouse. Batman's figure had appeared in the innermost area at some point.

"When did you get in? Never mind, what did you just say?"

He didn't answer, just walked over and handed Harvey a notebook.

"What's this?"

Harvey flipped open the notebook and asked casually.

When he saw the densely packed numbers inside, his heart suddenly jumped.

"Falcone's home was broken into a few days ago, and his safe was opened," Batman said. "Inside was an account book—a very important one. Catwoman and I were both at the scene then—this is also why he put a million-dollar bounty on both of us."

"Catwoman stole it? But how did you get it back?"

"I'm not sure why she wanted me to know this, but according to her, if you follow the money, you end up here, at this warehouse."

"You mean..."

--

Meanwhile, Ma Zhaodi had arrived in downtown Gotham City. This was the location for the third job he'd been tipped off about tonight.

"Even though the tip said to wear a gas mask, I really didn't expect this..."

Ma Zhaodi held a large Burger King Whopper in his hand, looking at the sewer entrance before him, his mouth twitching slightly.

"Who orders takeout from a sewer? Killer Croc? Is he that desperate for a burger?"

"Holy crap, no, the burger is the appetizer, I'm the main course!"

Thinking this, Ma Zhaodi broke out in a cold sweat. He just wanted to deliver food, not die.

But then again, he had his necklace and save points, so he wasn't really afraid of dying, was he?

Just in case, Ma Zhaodi immediately spent 100 asset points to set up a save point right then and there. That way, if Killer Croc really did want to make him the main course, he could just reload his save when he was at his wit's end.

"Or," Ma Zhaodi looked at the System Mall. His first and second jobs had already been settled, and his asset points had reached an all-time high of over twenty thousand dollars.

While these asset points couldn't give him the power to fight a mutated, man-eating crocodile man who was over two meters tall, weighed three hundred kilograms, and possessed super strength, speed, endurance, and regeneration, they could allow him to heal the opponent back into a normal person and then use his Colt to teach him how to be a good person.

"Put the opponent on the same level as yourself, then defeat them with rich experience. Instead of improving myself, I'll lower them." Ma Zhaodi figured this out and immediately felt more confident. He flipped open the sewer manhole cover and climbed down the ladder.

"Ugh, stinky!"

Less than three seconds after Ma Zhaodi climbed down, a foul odor assaulted his nostrils, almost making him vomit.

He immediately held his breath, suppressing the urge to throw up, and bought a gas mask from the System. The gas masks at the gun store were too expensive; the System's ten-dollar domestic ones were much more practical.

As long as it could block the smell, it was a good mask.

"Anyone there? Hello? Who ordered takeout?"

In the pitch-black sewer, where one couldn't see their hand in front of their face, Ma Zhaodi put on his gas mask and took out the small pumpkin lantern he had just acquired from the System.

"This is really small."

A tiny pumpkin lantern, only slightly larger than a quail egg, appeared in Ma Zhaodi's hand. It was so small it could even be hung on a keychain, but strangely, the pale yellow light it emitted was very bright, illuminating a range of over ten meters around Ma Zhaodi, and it even carried a hint of warmth.

It even came with a cute mini lantern pole.

Ma Zhaodi, holding the small pumpkin lantern, proceeded deeper into the sewer. In the empty, deserted circular pipes and spaces, only his footsteps echoed. Even with the pumpkin lantern illuminating the area, a sliver of fear inevitably crept into his heart.

"Anyone there? Burger King delivery!"

No one responded to him, except for a few squeaking rats that scurried out of the sewer.

Ma Zhaodi couldn't help but scratch his head. "Either the System is broken, or it's me."

"Solomon Grundy, born on a Monday!"

A deep, guttural roar erupted like thunder, making the entire sewer space vibrate. Heavy, thudding footsteps, like a rampaging behemoth, rapidly approached Ma Zhaodi's location.

"Holy crap! It's not Killer Croc!"