I Announce Gotham Is the Most Livable City in All of DC!

I Announce—Gotham Is the Most Livable City in All of DC!

There were three Batman games on the Famicom. The scene Cheng Tian found himself in was based on the first one, which had been adapted from the 1989 film of the same name. The game had also boldly added cutscene animations, just like Ninja Gaiden and Ninja Cat/Kung Fu Cats, despite the storage limitations of Famicom cartridges measured in KB. That was quite an ambitious move.

However, those cutscenes had already been heavily abridged. The reason was that the Japanese developers had naturally referenced many classic scenes from the original comics. Among them, the confrontation between Batman and Joker had closely recreated the famous scene from The Killing Joke.

The result went without saying—legal warning letters!

For this Batman adaptation, the most troublesome part was actually the design of the BOSS faction.

In the film, there was only one supervillain: Joker. Batman had spent the entire story locked in a deadly love-hate struggle with him... But an action platformer couldn't exactly have only one BOSS, could it?

Thus, the Japanese developers designed a series of original BOSS units by referencing the source material without completely copying it. They even gave every one of them detailed character backgrounds that were completely unnecessary.

As usual, the Japanese and American versions naturally differed in their character designs.

When Cheng Tian heard the thug in front of him mention "Killer Moth," and combined that with the gang's name, "Moth Gang," he was basically certain that this scene used the American character designs rather than the Japanese ones. Otherwise, Killer Moth might have turned into "Sergeant Fred."

Of course, the so-called American character designs had merely forced the names of DC villains onto vaguely similar original BOSSes. Their abilities and settings did not match perfectly.

But Chosen Evolution Space had a fascinating mechanism. While preserving much of the original game's charm, it also supplemented and improved unreasonable aspects of generated instances.

Thus, Killer Moth and the Moth Gang, who should have had absolutely nothing to do with the original film, had appeared here quite naturally.

With the thought that it was a festive occasion, Cheng Tian planned to pry more information out of the two men in front of him. Unfortunately, these two really were nothing but useless fools hiding behind a powerful gang. Apart from knowing their gang leader's name, they knew nothing about any other core members, leaving Cheng no opportunity to exploit a gap and gather information.

Just when Whitey thought Cheng Tian had nothing left to ask, Cheng Tian, after pondering for a while, spoke again. His next question was so strange that even Whitey and the Blackie behind him, who had already woken up and quickly adapted to—or perhaps blocked out—the stench, could not help freezing.

"If Gotham City catches fire, does the insurance pay out?"

"Uh... If the burned area is insured by Wayne Enterprises, there should be some compensation, right?"

As someone at the very bottom, Whitey naturally could not afford Wayne Enterprises insurance. But he had indeed never heard of any news about someone buying insurance and receiving no compensation.

Although Gotham was a gathering place for gangs, with the Moth Gang, Electrocutioner Gang, Firefly Gang, and the most vicious of them all, the Joker Gang, all gathered there, the organization that truly extended into nearly every corner of Gotham was the enormous conglomerate known as Wayne Enterprises.

People could curse the rich all they wanted, but Wayne Enterprises' insurance business really had never been involved in any major scandal that even someone at the bottom like him would have heard about.

"Then, do the fire trucks respond quickly? Is there water in the hydrants? And who pays for the fire department's expenses?"

Cheng Tian asked three more questions in a row.

"The response seems pretty fast. I once heard some Firefly Gang bastards chatting in an underground bar. They were complaining that the firefighters arrived so quickly they hadn't even finished enjoying the fires they'd started. Judging from that, there should be plenty of water in the hydrants.

"As for the money, I think Wayne Enterprises funds and sponsors that too."

Perhaps Cheng Tian had gotten him talking. The two foolish thieves who had been beaten at their own game relaxed considerably. The conversation settled into a rhythm where Cheng Tian asked, Whitey answered, and Blackie occasionally added something. Cheng Tian also learned a great deal about the city.

For example, people like Whitey and Blackie, who were gang members in name but homeless people in practice, could go to the aid stations established by Wayne Enterprises to receive relief supplies. At the very least, they were guaranteed one free, filling meal every day.

And those unfortunate souls injured after being caught up in the justice carried out by some tight-suited, bat-themed freak could have their expensive ambulance fees waived as long as they could prove how they had been injured. Their subsequent medical treatment also came with substantial discounts, all paid for by Wayne Enterprises.

Learning these genuine facts about Gotham was the real joke from hell for Cheng Tian.

For a long time in the past, not only he but many other people had believed that Gotham, a place blessed with outstanding people and natural beauty, was a sinful city utterly unfit for human habitation. Yet now, with real examples for comparison, Cheng Tian had truly felt the existence of the phrase "a capitalist's conscience" in the Gotham City before him—a phrase that should never have gone together.

As the actual master of Wayne Enterprises, which controlled nearly every field in Gotham City, Bruce Wayne should have been like most capitalists, exploiting the people at the bottom until nothing remained. Instead, his greatest hobby was dressing up in a skintight suit at night and running around beating criminals!

Have insurance? Pay!

Fire? Rescue!

Homeless? Help!

Criminals? Smash them!

I hereby declare—Gotham is a better and more livable city than Metropolis and Los Angeles!

"Hey, hey, hey!? You're just leaving like that? Let us go!!" "Yeah, Bro! You haven't even untied us!"

The atmosphere between them had clearly become extremely friendly—so friendly that the Black-and-White Duo thought Cheng Tian might even buy them drinks. Yet after asking a whole string of questions, Cheng Tian, apparently savoring some thoughts, simply turned around and left with remarkable smoothness.

The sound of his civilized cane striking the ground stopped. Cheng Tian turned around, and the tapping resumed.

"You don't actually think that casually chatting for a few minutes can wipe away the fact that you tried to rob me, or even kill me, do you?"

Looking down from above, Cheng stared straight at the Black-and-White Duo. The sight made both men instinctively swallow.

"No matter how twisted and tragic your experiences of becoming homeless were, you attacked me once you became capable of it. That means this isn't the first time you've done something like this. You're trash. Scum. You need to be punished."

"...Bro, are you one of those vigilantes who says nothing and goes straight on a killing spree?"

Blackie tried to sound tough, but even his voice trembled uncontrollably.

To his surprise, Cheng Tian shook his head. Then he gave an answer that sent a chill straight through the hearts of the Black-and-White Duo.

"My friends... the best punishment doesn't necessarily have to be killing, you know~"

Cheng Tian smiled brilliantly.

Ten minutes later, a black shadow descended from above, seemingly blocking out the narrow sky over the alley.

Because the material of his cowl prevented him from turning his head freely, Batman could only face his target with his entire body. When he saw the scene before him, his whole body jolted.

The Black-and-White Duo had all four limbs twisted in the opposite direction and had been tied together in the shape of an interlocking yin-yang diagram.

A sensory assault known as "eye-searing" wormed into Batman's mind before any other emotion could.

Meanwhile, Cheng Tian had already appeared in an underground bar in an inappropriately gentlemanly outfit—a place where no ordinary person should have any reason to go. It was the very same little bar Whitey had mentioned earlier.

Cheng Tian sat down at the bar, tapped the counter twice with the index and middle fingers of his left hand held together, and then said something that drew even more attention to him.

"Bartender, a glass of milk, please."