Peace

"Imperial Shocking World Palm!"

As Bai Lang let out a mighty roar, gale-force winds swept through the training room!

The five-hundred-square-meter training room seemed as if a tornado had sprung up out of nowhere, the fierce winds whipping the tattered mats around.

If Bai Lang hadn't been standing there, the mats would have been blown straight up to the ceiling in an instant!

The force of the wind from his palm alone was already terrifying. If that strike had landed squarely on the wall, the reinforced concrete would have been reduced to dust in moments.

"With the boost from the 200,000-volt current, even a casual punch from me packs sixty tons of force, and my speed has reached an astonishing hundred meters per second!"

"With martial arts, I can reach a tremendous seventy tons of force!"

"And those aren't even the biggest improvements. My control over my strength has gone up by almost two whole levels, and I'm making much better use of the current in my body..."

If Bai Lang's previous current utilization rate had been 21%, it was now up to 42%.

It had doubled outright. The most obvious result was that his stamina and endurance had more than doubled.

It was like he'd been leaking electricity before, but now he wasn't leaking as much.

Before, practicing Current Propulsion could increase his voltage by at most a thousand volts a day. Now, a day of focused practice would add two thousand volts.

That was practically a whole Ability Point!

Improved Power Control could even let him cause massive destruction with an extremely small amount of force.

If he ran into an opponent like Deathstroke again, he wouldn't need to go to all that trouble.

He'd only have to use the current to stimulate the acupoint in Deathstroke's neck, and he could make him pass out with pinpoint precision.

Bai Lang shook his head and tidied up the messy training room.

"I can have Ryan and Susan come here to work on their fitness."

Just then, the phone in Bai Lang's pocket suddenly rang.

"Beep, beep, beep..."

It was an unfamiliar number, but Bai Lang answered.

"Hello."

"Sir, we're calling from Gotham Bank about your student loan..."

The woman on the other end rattled on and on. Bai Lang barely listened, only catching that she wanted him to repay his student loan.

That was when Bai Lang remembered that his predecessor had taken out a student loan from Gotham Bank to attend college.

The loan was one hundred thousand dollars a year, but the interest rate was a whopping 40%.

(Note: Student loan interest rates in the United States are extremely high. Even Obama didn't pay off his loans until after he became president, though he could have paid them off in full and chose installments because it was more cost-effective.)

After four years of college, he now owed Gotham Bank $380,000, including principal and interest.

And Gotham Bank was a subsidiary of Wayne Enterprises. In other words, he now owed Bruce Wayne $380,000.

"Damn! I thought my predecessor had saved up ten thousand dollars, which made him a fairly well-off little cop. I didn't realize he was buried under such a huge pile of debt!"

Bai Lang couldn't help grumbling at the thought.

Converted to RMB, that was over two million yuan.

Who in their right mind got transmigrated into a new world only to find themselves two million yuan in debt?!

Fortunately, he still had an arcade and a Chinese restaurant, as well as a generous salary now that he'd become a police captain.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to handle the eight-thousand-dollar monthly payments.

After leaving the training room, Bai Lang returned to the station. Susan, Ryan, and the others were sitting around, chatting idly.

He checked the time. It was right around dinnertime.

"It's getting late. Do you want to grab something to eat? I know a pretty good Chinese restaurant in the upper part of town. Want to give it a try?"

"Chinese food?"

Edward perked up at Bai Lang's suggestion. "Do they have mapo tofu? My college roommate used to tell me it was delicious."

"By the way, who's Mapo? Is she a beautiful woman or what?"

Before Edward could ask anything else, Bai Lang quickly turned to Ryan and the others.

"What about you?"

"I heard tomato and egg stir-fry comes in two different flavors, sweet and savory. Is that true?" Ryan stood up too, seemingly very interested in Chinese food.

"I think you'll like it."

Bai Lang smiled and nodded, then took his five officers and several of the station's original officers—around ten people in all—to his Chinese restaurant.

They walked past the sign for Farmer's Chinese Restaurant and went inside.

The restaurant was bustling, with nearly every seat taken.

Several lanterns of different shapes hung from the ceiling, brightly illuminating the entire restaurant.

Red tablecloths were hung along the walls, printed with golden peony designs.

The moment Gardner spotted his boss, he started to walk over. But when he saw the group of police officers behind him, he instinctively tried to keep his distance.

Bai Lang took Ryan and the others to an empty table, and they sat down.

He felt more at peace than ever before. It was the first time he'd felt that way since arriving in this world.

He knew exactly what had brought it on.

The tremendous strength he'd gained from 200,000 volts of Current Propulsion was enough to withstand ordinary bullets.

Edward and Ryan looked over the menu, ordered a few dishes, and started chatting.

Bai Lang took the opportunity to head into the kitchen.

"Gardner, how much did you say the restaurant made the other day?" he asked, walking over to him.

"Over eleven thousand dollars. After deducting our living expenses and the restaurant's monthly operating costs, we made more than eleven thousand dollars in profit."

Gardner counted it up on his fingers. "Oh, right, boss. We've got a lead on how to take down Wayne Enterprises."

"We're planning to build up our entertainment business and bring Wayne Enterprises down that way."

"And Mick's been tinkering with some Controlled Nuclear Fusion thing lately. He says that once he gets it working, we'll be able to surpass Wayne Enterprises."

Hearing that they were all working toward the goal he'd set, Bai Lang nodded with satisfaction.

These ordinary people had joined the gang because they couldn't make ends meet. Now that they had honest jobs, they no longer had to break the law or commit crimes.

"Great. I have to pay off my student loan soon, though. Transfer eight thousand dollars to me from the account. Take the few thousand left over and go have a good time with Mick and the others. Enjoy life for a while."

With that, he turned to leave.

"Oh, and don't forget to pay your taxes!"

Bai Lang didn't want someone from the tax office coming after him the very next day.

Mapo tofu, tomato and egg stir-fry, hot-and-sour beef tripe, stir-fried pork with chili peppers...

Several dishes Bai Lang had loved in his previous life were neatly arranged on the table.

He picked up a piece of egg with his chopsticks and chewed slowly.

The sweet-and-sour tomato flavor mingled with the rich taste of the egg, making Bai Lang nod in approval.

If there were no criminals and no endless troubles, Gotham would be such a beautiful place.

After the meal, Bai Lang received a notification on his phone that eight thousand dollars had been deposited.

Gotham was always rainy at night. The rain drizzled on without stopping.

As he passed the street next to his home, Bai Lang spotted the old man again, selling Mexican burritos with a child beside him.

But the old man seemed to be in trouble. Several tall, muscular Black men stood in front of his stall, arguing with him.

"Please, sir, I still have a child to raise!" the old man begged.

But one of the men reached straight into the box where the money was kept.

"Hey, old man, you should be honored we're taking your money. We're out of work too!"

Bai Lang's expression darkened. He drew his service pistol from his waist and hurried over.

"I doubt you want to get shot, do you? You bastards!"

The Black men froze at the sound of his voice.

The man who'd grabbed the money was about to curse at him, but when he saw that Bai Lang stood a head taller than them and had muscles like a dragon, he immediately backed down.

"Put the money back!" Bai Lang barked.

There was no denying the threat posed by a gun.

After returning the money, the men even paid for the Mexican burritos they'd been holding.

"Thank you so much, Officer Bai."

The wrinkles on the old man's face bunched up as he gave Bai Lang an awkward smile.

"What kind do you want? Chicken or bacon?"

"Spicy, with chicken."

Bai Lang looked at the four-year-old in the old man's arms. The child's eyes were closed, brows furrowed, and little face covered in exhaustion.

"How much?"

"Uh... you don't have to pay, Officer Bai!"

Bai Lang glanced at the menu on the stall, then set two dollars on the counter.

Then he turned around and walked back to the little house he rented, Mexican burrito in hand, ignoring the old man's calls.

"I've never felt this relaxed before. Even after I started working in my previous life, the pressure never let up..."

He lay on the bed, watching the news on television.

A male host in a suit stood near Arkham Asylum.

"Arkham Asylum has issued a warning about Joker's escape. Citizens are advised to remain alert for this mental patient..."

Meanwhile, at the Taylor Street Warehouse.

Batman, Bruce Wayne, had appeared for the first time in his Anti-Batman Armor.

Earlier that day, Director Gordon's men had found the skin Joker had cut off at Arkham Asylum.

So Bruce had gone to see Gordon and asked about Olivia, a survivor of the earlier bombing.

But he'd learned that Olivia had been taken to an abandoned warehouse at the end of Taylor Street by someone suspected of being a deranged dismemberment killer.

So he'd ridden his Batcycle over.

But he saw a police car parked outside the warehouse.

At the same time, a strong smell of blood was wafting out of the warehouse.

Batman, Bruce Wayne, frowned and strode inside.