Killing (Please Bookmark! Please Follow!)

Rumble!

A peal of muffled thunder rolled in from the horizon.

The rain in Gotham grew heavier and heavier, as if it would never stop.

[Ability Points +3]

Bai Lang withdrew his hand from Kevin's neck.

Kevin, standing across from him, had already had his neck crushed by Bai Lang and was dead beyond doubt.

Looking at the pale blue panel before him, Bai Lang felt a faint surge of delight.

He had gained three Ability Points just by killing Kevin. Would making even greater changes earn him even more?

Moreover, his Current Propulsion did more than merely stimulate his muscles and enhance his physical abilities.

The current was still weak for now, but he had a feeling that if the Current Propulsion within his body broke through forty thousand volts, he would be able to force the current out of his body and launch electrical attacks.

The upper limit of Current Propulsion was five hundred thousand volts. After that, perhaps he would even be able to absorb electricity to recover from his injuries.

Reaching the realm of Magnetic Field Rotation would be even more terrifying.

Then there was the matter of obtaining Ability Points. According to the panel, he could gain them by causing ripples of influence in the world.

In other words, the greater the ripple of influence, the more Ability Points he would receive.

He called up the pale blue panel.

[Name: Bai Lang]

[Lifespan: 23/120]

[Abilities: Level 1 Firearms Mastery (71%), Level 1 Combat Mastery (12%), Current Propulsion 1000/500,000 volts (Advanced Ability: Magnetic Field Rotation)]

[Ability Points: 3 (Can be obtained by causing ripples of influence in the world)]

[Spend 50 Ability Points to draw another ability or unlock a function]

Three Ability Points could directly fill the progress bar for Level 1 Firearms Mastery and raise it to Level 2, but they could also send his thousand-volt Current Propulsion soaring to four thousand volts.

For now, Current Propulsion was the more urgent ability.

So, he used all three Ability Points he had just gained on Current Propulsion.

In an instant, he felt the rapid friction of every cell in his body accelerate by more than tenfold.

The current within him also continued to rise.

Two thousand volts, three thousand... four thousand volts...

Only upon reaching four thousand volts did it finally settle back down.

Crackle!

Threads of blue electricity coursed through Bai Lang's entire body, bringing a faint numbing sensation.

His strength had risen too quickly, and his will could not yet fully contain the current.

But before long, he was able to completely control and restrain the electricity within his body.

After all, both Magnetic Field Rotation and Current Propulsion were relatively will-based abilities.

Not to mention that this thing could grow stronger simply by following one's heart.

It was utterly outrageous.

After clearing out the Red Rose Bar, Bai Lang left through the back door in Batman's outfit.

Then, his body abruptly shot through the rainy night.

Under the four-thousand-volt Current Propulsion, he could now run one hundred meters in four seconds.

Anyone on the street would have seen a black afterimage streaking past at astonishing speed.

Just a few minutes after Bai Lang left, Batman arrived at the Red Rose Bar in the Batmobile.

When Bai Lang arrived at Deputy Detective Mark's residence, he saw a woman's corpse lying in the living room.

Apart from several bloody holes that looked as though they had been made by gunfire, there were also several strangulation marks around her neck.

And... the corpse was covered in milky-white sticky fluid, as though she had been filled into a cream puff.

He recognized the female corpse on the floor. She was Police Officer Andy, who had served under Mark alongside him.

Andy had also investigated the case involving the Red Rose Bar with him, yet he had never expected that she would be raped and murdered by that bastard Mark!

Staring at Andy's filled corpse, Bai Lang's expression darkened.

If he had not awakened his superpower, Kevin and the others would have intercepted and killed him long ago. They might even have tortured him viciously beforehand.

Detective Mark stood in the kitchen, holding a post-coital cigarette in one hand and a phone in the other, seemingly calling someone.

A computer sat on the table, apparently deleting something.

"Beep..."

No one answered the phone.

Mark was puzzled. Kevin should not have gone home yet at this hour, so why was he not answering?

Just then, through the window's reflection, he saw the tall, burly "Batman" standing behind him.

He jumped in fright, nearly knocking the gun on the desk onto the floor.

"Batman?! When did you get here?"

Detective Mark remembered that he had just killed one of the Police Officers under his command and hurriedly picked up the gun from the desk.

He gripped it with both hands and aimed it tightly at the "Batman" before him.

Bai Lang looked at the tense-faced Mark and said coldly, "Detective Mark, you wouldn't want anyone to find out that you killed a Police Officer and colluded with the gangsters, would you?"

He sensed the remaining Current Propulsion energy within him. What was left was enough to deal with an armed Mark.

Current Propulsion made his voice deep and low, exactly like the Batman Detective Mark remembered.

It could be said that, aside from lacking technological enhancements, Bai Lang was now convincing enough to pass for the real thing.

Mark looked nervous. His hands trembled as they held the pistol, his eyes fixed firmly on the burly "Batman" across from him.

"Don't come any closer. I've got a gun! If you come closer, I'll kill you!"

"Heh. You know fear too?" The deep voice came from across the room, then shifted into the strong, clear voice of a young man.

"You bastard, when you wanted me dead, why weren't you acting like this?"

The familiar voice entered his ears, and an image immediately surfaced in his mind—it was Bai Lang, that Asian guy!

Could Bai Lang be the Batman they had been hunting all along?!

That cowardly guy was actually Batman? If he caught him, he would surely become famous, get promoted, and make a fortune!

At that thought, greed flashed in his eyes. The hand holding the gun stopped shaking, and a mocking smile appeared on his face.

"Batman? You're Bai Lang, aren't you?!"

"Heehee... Bai Lang, I advise you not to resist. Otherwise, if I hurt you first and then fuck you, I won't be able to enjoy it to the fullest..."

His gaze gradually turned lecherous, and the smile on his face became utterly obscene.

"You bastard, still spouting nonsense when you're about to die!"

The moment the words fell, Bai Lang charged forward.

Seeing this, Mark immediately pulled the trigger and fired at Bai Lang's head.

But with the boost of Current Propulsion, Bai Lang's neural reactions were now incredibly fast, almost on par with a cat's.

And his eyes had been fixed on the finger resting on the trigger.

The instant his opponent made the motion to fire, he twisted his head aside and dodged the bullet. At the same time, he burst forward and punched the service pistol out of Mark's hand.

Crack!!

The force was so great that it directly broke Mark's wrist.

The crisp sound of breaking bone mixed with the man's scream. Bai Lang's face was twisted with savagery, like a ghostly demon in the night.

"How is that possible?! How could you dodge a bullet?!"

Mark's face was filled with shock and confusion. He was stunned that Bai Lang had evaded a handgun shot.

He had clearly been nothing more than an ordinary, meek little Police Officer. Even the real Batman could not withstand bullets.

Since when had the other man's reaction speed become so fast?!

"You... you can't kill me!!"

Enduring the agonizing pain, Mark said fearfully, "I'm a Detective, and I work for Boss Bane. If you kill me, Boss Bane won't let you get away with it!"

"You old mule-dog!"

Bai Lang reached out with his right hand, clamped his palm over the man's head, and lifted him up.

Looking at Mark's flushed, humiliated expression, he smiled cruelly.

"Were you about to say that if I killed you, I'd meet a terrible end? That even my friends and family would be killed by Bane?"

Bai Lang's cold, cruel gaze frightened Mark.

"No..." Mark was furious inside, grinding his molars so hard they nearly shattered. He wanted nothing more than to tear Bai Lang into pieces, but he had no choice but to beg for mercy.

"Don't... don't kill me..."

"Hmph!" Gripping Mark by the head, he violently hurled him to the floor.

Mark's body slammed heavily into the ground, and the intense pain left him in agony.

"Run! Let me see whether that Bane will come save trash like you!"

That demonic voice echoed by his ear. Mark looked at him fearfully, then gritted his teeth and crawled forward.

"Huh? You're actually running?"

Hearing Bai Lang's mocking words, Mark's scalp went numb.

Before he could spit out another curse, he fell completely silent.

Deputy Detective Mark's corpse collapsed to the floor, his eyes bulging wide as if they were about to pop from their sockets. It was an exceptionally horrifying sight.

The kind that would give anyone nightmares at night.

Bai Lang fired two more shots, blasting out his eyeballs.

That looked much better.

After finishing all this, Bai Lang casually tossed Mark's pistol aside.

The pent-up gloom in his heart seemed to have dissipated. He felt as though this crime-ridden city had changed him somewhat.

He looked up at the surveillance camera in Mark's home, then stepped closer and let it capture his face beneath the bat helmet.

[Ability Points +2]