Laughing

The cells in Bai Lang's body rubbed together furiously, and the electric current kept climbing until it finally stopped at 102,000 volts.

He forcibly used his willpower to rein in all the flowing electricity.

Even so, countless dense red arcs still appeared across his skin.

That wasn't all. The powerful current also made his body grow stronger.

A layer of hardened skin spread across his body, his nerves became more sensitive, and even his strength had increased by an unknown amount.

Bai Lang reached for his clothes, but the moment his hand lightly touched them, the wooden table they were on shattered into pieces.

"This won't do. My strength has improved too quickly. I need to find somewhere to get used to it."

After struggling to put on his clothes, Bai Lang carefully made his way outside.

His clothes tore in one place after another under his immense strength, but he didn't care in the slightest.

Mrs. Lisa next door watched Bai Lang walk by in his tattered clothes, and became even more determined to make sure Little Peter never took up a job like his.

She crouched down and spoke earnestly to Little Peter. "Little Peter, look. This is what happens when you become a police officer. You can't even afford a decent set of clothes. And don't forget, there was an explosion at the police station just a few days ago."

Little Peter watched Bai Lang walk away and nodded blankly.

Gotham Forest.

Lush, verdant trees crowded together, surrounding a clearing encircled by towering pines and cypresses.

A blurry afterimage streaked through the air at high speed, stirring up gusts of wind again and again.

A burly figure was throwing punches nonstop.

This was another place Bai Lang had found that was suitable for testing his strength and practicing new moves.

Whoosh! Whoosh!!

His punches swept through the air, and his immense strength tore through it, producing a fierce whistling sound.

With the 102,000-volt current boosting him, Bai Lang's strength had reached a terrifying twenty-three tons!

His speed had reached the point where he could run a hundred meters in three seconds, and his neural reflexes had improved even more.

But that wasn't the biggest improvement.

Bai Lang held out a finger. The current surged inside him, and then red light appeared at his fingertip.

"100,000 volts!"

As soon as he spoke, a red bolt of lightning shot from his fingertip and slammed into the pile of rocks in front of him.

With a sharp crack, the pile exploded. Countless rocks split apart, and shards scattered everywhere!

The fact that the rocks had been blasted into pieces showed just how powerful that bolt of lightning had been. If an ordinary person had been standing there, the terrifying current would have killed them instantly.

Even so, Bai Lang didn't look happy.

"The current in my body is only enough for me to use 100,000 volts twice. What really affects my strength is still my body."

With his current abilities, using this kind of attack from a distance was still too difficult.

He planned to have a weapon made that could channel his electricity. Anyone it touched would be injured or killed by the current.

After putting his clothes back on, Bai Lang picked up his phone.

"Bai Lang, get over here! We've got a major case!"

Several messages from his colleague Ryan were displayed on the screen.

Bai Lang returned to the police station. He was just about to ask Ryan what was going on when Director Gordon came striding over, looking furious.

"Bai Lang, you're coming with me."

In the police car, Bai Lang kept wanting to ask what the case was, but Director Gordon's constant frown put him off asking.

"Officer Bai Lang, I've looked into the cases you've solved recently. You're a good man, and you have a sense of justice. I'd like to promote you to captain. What do you think?"

Director Gordon suddenly asked.

Bai Lang was a little surprised. Why was he suddenly being made a captain?

Could it have something to do with this case?

He thought for a moment before replying, "Director Gordon, could I have some time to think about it?"

Gordon saw that Bai Lang hadn't immediately accepted, and wanted to consider it carefully instead. His impression of Bai Lang improved even further.

Meanwhile, Bai Lang focused on making the cells in his body rub together at high speed, generating electricity.

[Current Propulsion: 102,000 volts] → [Current Propulsion: 103,000 volts]

He was one step closer to the 500,000-volt mark.

Soon, the police car arrived at the scene: the abandoned factory where Bai Lang had previously practiced and where Bane had died.

Several officers and medical personnel were already there, carrying the bodies outside.

Bai Lang saw one of the medical personnel brace himself against a wall and vomit.

Nearby, Vincent and Maroni, two highly experienced officers, looked just as pale and terrified.

As Bai Lang and Gordon got out of the car, they saw a hideous, horrifying corpse lying on a stretcher.

The corpse's face looked as if something had torn it apart. Its mouth hung wide open, and its eyeballs were twisted at unnatural angles.

Everyone was startled by the eerie sight of a corpse that looked like a monster.

Suppressing his urge to vomit, Gordon led Bai Lang and the officers behind him into the abandoned factory.

Eight or nine bodies lay on the floor, surrounded by blood.

Without exception, their mouths hung wide open, their eyes bulged, and their lips stretched back to their ears in a strange, frenzied grin.

In an instant, Bai Lang realized what was happening: the Laughing Man incident.

He no longer remembered the details from the comics very clearly, but he still knew the general outline.

The Joker was behind it all.

He had created a terrifying "Laughing Gas" and released it into the Gotham Reservoir to take revenge on everyone.

According to the story, Batman would eventually capture the Joker and save everyone.

But if Bai Lang captured the Joker before that happened, would it affect the world and earn him Ability Points?

Before Bai Lang could make up his mind, a black-clad figure dropped down beside Director Gordon. It was Batman—Bruce Wayne.

"These bodies have been dead for a month," Batman said in a low voice.

"Then can you explain why you wiped out the Red Rose Gang, killed my deputy, Mark, and then murdered Bane and his men?" Director Gordon turned to Batman beside him and asked.

"..."

Batman Bruce Wayne didn't reply.

He hadn't done those things. Someone else had done them while wearing a Batman suit, and he was looking for that impostor too.

The fake Batman had also fought crime, but his methods were exceptionally brutal.

Still, Batman had always been Bruce Wayne, and even Gordon thought he was the one responsible.

But that wasn't how Bruce operated, so he didn't admit to anything when Gordon questioned him.

Only Bai Lang, standing nearby, looked at him with a strange expression.

He knew that all the things Director Gordon had mentioned had been done by Bai Lang while wearing a Batman suit.

It was thrilling to see the real Batman Bruce Wayne being questioned by the director about them.

"These bodies look like they were used by criminals for target practice," Batman Bruce Wayne said, changing the subject.

Director Gordon was about to say something else, but the black-clad figure beside him had already vanished.

He looked at the bodies on the ground, their deaths so horrific, and thought of the people who had previously died at the hands of "Batman."

I hope you don't truly fall into darkness. Otherwise, I'll arrest you myself...

Bai Lang looked at Director Gordon, his eyes narrowed like those of a sly old fox, and grumbled inwardly.

If he knew that the fake Batman responsible for all those major crimes was standing right behind him, I wonder what kind of expression he'd make.

The officers found no clues at the scene, so Director Gordon told Bai Lang to go home and rest.

Back home, Bai Lang carefully thought through the Laughing Man storyline.

Although a lot of things were different from the comics, the general plot still matched fairly well.

He clearly remembered that the final scene took place at the Gotham Reservoir.

Meanwhile, the evening news had already started playing on Bai Lang's black-and-white television.

"...Arkham Asylum, located outside the city, has a terrifying history..."