Introduction to Recycling

"Rumble"

A dull thunderclap exploded in Gotham City's dark clouds. Pale lightning suddenly illuminated the city of sin in the night rain, also illuminating a bat-like shadow streaking across the sky.

"Santos, here's your salary for the month. Take it."

"Thanks, Phillip."

"Rick, you come here. Remember to lay off the trouble at parties from now on. We have to bail you two out of jail every time."

"Alright, alright, I get it."

"Castro."

As the supervisor's gaze swept over the store clerks and landed on a visibly excited Ma Zhaodi, his heart involuntarily twinged. Now, every time he saw the other man, he'd instinctively recall that day's gunfire during the turf war, and that expensive high-end chandelier.

"Ma Zhaodi, why are you so excited?"

"Because it's payday!"

"I have to remind you, your salary was already advanced at the beginning of the month. Don't think I'll pay you twice."

"The first one at the beginning of the month was money, but this one at the end of the month is happiness. It's a sense of ritual, Phillip, ritual is important."

The supervisor's face showed confusion. He tried hard to understand Ma Zhaodi's strange way of thinking, but after pondering for a long time, he still couldn't figure it out. In the end, he could only shake his head: "Regardless, your salary has already been paid—"

Ma Zhaodi stared intently at the supervisor's mouth, excitedly waiting for him to say those words. For him, the feeling of thousands of asset points appearing in his account was undoubtedly happiness.

"Crack"

The sound of breaking glass was exceptionally sharp and piercing at this moment. In his panic, Ma Zhaodi instinctively turned his head to look, only to see a pitch-black shadow crash into the restaurant from the night sky.

The supervisor was different from Ma Zhaodi. He had extensive experience with turf wars and noticed many details.

For example, several bat-shaped throwing stars shot out rapidly.

"Batman!"

A sense of foreboding immediately arose in his heart. As a gangster who had been in Gotham for a long time, he had also seen this bat once before. That time, he had been bedridden for three full months.

When he realized the bat's arrival, he immediately recalled the painful memory of his bones being broken last time. He vaguely remembered that last time, the bat's method was to first turn the entire area into its domain—a completely dark environment.

With this thought, his gaze involuntarily shifted to the newly installed luxurious chandelier. At this moment, the passage of time seemed to become extraordinarily long for him. The way the batarangs flew became so clear in his mind. Although his eyes couldn't keep up with the incredibly fast-flying projectiles, his brain had subconsciously filled in their trajectories.

So, he could only watch with despair as it flew with unwavering determination towards the chandelier, and let out a desperate wail from his throat.

"No—!"

"Crash—"

A series of shattering sounds rang out. The huge crystal chandelier instantly plummeted to the ground, scattering like water splashes, exploding into countless tiny, shimmering gemstone fragments.

Although it was rude to say so, the supervisor's voice at this moment made Ma Zhaodi feel like he had traveled back to that rainy night a few days ago.

It felt like familiar music was playing in his ears again.

"Snowflakes are falling, the north wind is howling—"

Ah, how strange, why did I say "again"?

"Batman!"

In the darkness, the supervisor's roar sounded again, just like the last time.

"You damn bastard! I'll kill you! Do you know how long it took to fix that chandelier—"

Batman remained unmoved. He calmly lunged forward, tackling a relatively quick-reacting waiter who had already drawn his gun. He swung his fist, as big as a sandbag, and delivered a powerful uppercut that accurately hit the waiter's jawbone. The trigeminal nerve connected to it was immediately stimulated, quickly transmitting to the cerebellum that controlled balance, and thus, the enemy was knocked to the ground by this heavy punch, dizzy and unable to get up.

After taking down one enemy with a single punch, he flickered, like a ghost in the night, and silently appeared behind another enemy. He delivered a chop to the back of the opponent's neck, and thus, the second enemy was also knocked unconscious with one blow.

"Supervisor! Supervisor, are you okay!"

Ma Zhaodi fumbled in the darkness and called out to the supervisor, his voice choked with tears.

"Someone! Someone! The supervisor is down again! Hurry and call an ambulance!"

"Get lost!"

Hearing Ma Zhaodi start crying again, the supervisor's vision instantly went black, and his low blood pressure shot up, solving his problem of not having high blood pressure yet.

"You're okay! That's great! Supervisor,"

And at this very moment, Batman had already taken down seven or eight waiters in the restaurant. Although he was unarmed, his fighting was almost like a tiger entering a flock of sheep, devastating.

"Use the muzzle flash to illuminate him!" someone shouted. The next second, the hands holding the gun were immediately grabbed firmly. One finger pressed against the back of the trigger, preventing him from firing, while the other hand, like a vise, tightly gripped his wrist and gave it a gentle twist.

"Ah—! It's broken! My hand is broken!"

The intense pain made him curl into a ball in the darkness, trembling in fear while clutching his broken hand.

Then came the next one.

"Don't come here, don't come near me, you bastard!"

An enemy seemed to have learned some martial arts. After Batman kicked the ribs of a gun-wielding colleague next to him, he lunged forward with a knee strike.

Batman dodged sideways and casually grabbed his calf, straightening the leg, and fiercely brought his elbow down on the knee.

"Crack"

"My leg! My leg!"

The crisp sound of bone snapping made everyone present tremble, yet Batman's assault wasn't over. The crisp sound of bone snapping, screams, and the dull thud of fists against flesh echoed through the dark space. The howling thunder outside only amplified the terror.

Gales and icy raindrops lashed into the room through the shattered window. No one knew if their hands were trembling from the biting cold or from fear, but all the bullets seemed to fly wide. The phantom shadow of a bat, like a monster from an urban legend, was impossible to see clearly, impossible to catch. Like an experienced hunter, he was preying on the gangsters in the restaurant.

"What are you doing?!"

Batman offered no reply. Conversation was meaningless at this point. Only by incapacitating everyone could his interrogation proceed.

However, the supervisor wasn't shouting at Batman.

"Just one sentence, that's all I need! Hurry! Or it'll be too late!"

Ma Zhaodi pleaded desperately at the supervisor, his face full of despair. "Just say you've paid my wages! I worked so hard for a whole month!"