Death

Bai Lang saw that she had started answering him of her own accord, and felt reassured. It seemed his speech had helped a little after all.

He shook his head. "After they go to college, some have countless paths laid out for them by their parents;

while others have to crack their heads open before they can find a broken, muddy path of their own."

"And even then, after graduation, they follow in the footsteps of those who came before them and their peers: finding jobs, getting married, having children..."

"Then they become just like their parents, pushing their own children... And the cycle repeats, passed down generation after generation."

"Who's born dreaming of going to college, making lots of money, buying a house, getting married, and having children?"

"Under their parents' control, their dreams are crushed, and they become the least authentic versions of themselves."

"As for why they do it, it's just like you said: they're all doing it."

"Their parents do it, their peers do it, so they end up doing it too..."

Bai Lang paused, then said, "Harley, what I'm asking is, if everyone else is doing it, are you just going to go along with the crowd too?"

"Rather than hide who you really are, you should let your nature run free."

Harley stared at him with her mouth open and her head tilted. A strange light flickered in her eyes, as if she were thinking about something.

"I know you did a lot of things with the Joker before, but that was only because you thought you were in love with him."

"But the truth is, the Joker never loved you. He's always loved Batman."

"You pretend to be happy every day and keep your feelings bottled up. Why not try being yourself?"

"After all, whether you spend the day happy or unhappy, the day will pass all the same."

Harley's long eyelashes trembled faintly, and the look in her eyes shifted from the madness of before to a trace of hesitation.

"Maybe you're right, but I'm leaving now, Officer."

After a moment of silence, Harley suddenly spoke.

"You're not going to do anything to a helpless little girl, are you?" she asked, feigning a pitiful look.

"I'm a good guy," Bai Lang replied, though the reaction in his body was somewhat inappropriate.

"That's what all the bad guys say, Officer."

Harley stuck out her tongue and answered playfully.

She picked up the baseball bat beside the bed, then staggered over to Bai Lang.

"But I believe you. You're a good guy."

With that, she quickly leaned in and kissed Bai Lang.

[Ability Points +2]

A pale blue notification box appeared before Bai Lang.

With Bai Lang's reflexes, he could naturally have dodged, but Harley didn't seem to mean any harm, so he let her do as she pleased.

Then Harley rested the baseball bat on her shoulder and staggered away.

Bai Lang watched her back, recalling Harley's actions and the Ability Points he'd gained.

"I never thought that would work too..."

He increasingly felt that changing these people was far more valuable in terms of Ability Points than killing them.

"Right, my Ability Points have passed fifty."

He brought up the Blue Panel.

[Name: Bai Lang]

[Lifespan: 23/120]

[Abilities: Level 1 Firearms Mastery (71%), Level 1 Power Control 85%, Current Propulsion 204,000 volts/500,000 volts (Higher-Level Ability: Magnetic Field Rotation)]

[Ability Points: 52 (Earned by creating ripples of influence in the world)]

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

"Given how fast I'm cultivating right now, it'll probably take a month or two to reach Magnetic Field Rotation.

But can this ability draw give me an ability on the same level as Magnetic Field Rotation?"

Bai Lang studied the Blue Panel, curious about drawing another ability.

"I earned more than fifty Ability Points just yesterday, so I can use them to give it a try."

As soon as the idea came to him, Bai Lang imagined a finger pressing the draw button.

Almost instantly, a huge wheel appeared before him.

[Ability Points: 52] → [Ability Points: 2]

All fifty Ability Points were deducted, and the wheel began to spin.

"Martial arts aren't registered by the Blue Panel, so I probably can't draw any..." Bai Lang murmured, watching the wheel.

"It'd be even better if I got a superpower that could work with Magnetic Field Rotation..."

As he murmured, the wheel slowly stopped on a white segment.

[Ability Acquired—Death Whisper]

[Description: Possesses a portion of Death Authority. Can see, speak with, and command the dead, and enter the spirit world.]

Almost instantly, Bai Lang felt as if the world before his eyes had changed.

He quickly rolled up his sleeve, revealing a black, five-petaled flower on his wrist.

"Higanbana..."

The moment he saw the flower, Bai Lang knew its name and purpose.

It was where the spirits he commanded would dwell, and the source of the Death Whisper ability.

When a person was about to die, a spirit would appear. If he could speak with and command spirits, then he might even be able to build an army of the dead in the future. He could do a great deal to change Gotham.

But it seemed the DC Universe had a being who embodied the concept of Death...

"Looks like you're the new little brother."

A pleasant, mature woman's voice suddenly rang through the room.

At the sound, every hair on Bai Lang's body stood on end, and he instantly went on alert.

A sense of dread filled him.

He hadn't noticed anyone appear beside him, and all the enhancements from Current Propulsion seemed to have stopped working!

His gaze swept across the room.

The television, which had been playing, and the hands of the clock, which had been turning, all seemed frozen in place.

"What are you doing?"

Hearing the voice again, Bai Lang immediately turned toward it.

A woman holding a black flower-patterned parasol stood there, watching him.

More precisely, she was looking at the Higanbana on his wrist.

Bai Lang looked at her. She wore a deep-black camisole and tight black pants that traced her graceful figure.

Her face was pale as snow, and both her hair and lips were jet-black.

Her eyes were like two unfathomably deep lakes, seeing through all life and death in the world.

Beneath her right eye was a black symbol resembling the Eye of Horus.

"How long are you going to stare, little brother?" the woman asked Bai Lang again.

Only then did Bai Lang come to his senses. He stared at the woman before him, shock surging through him.

He hadn't expected this person... this God to come here.

Death, a conceptual being whom one could see at the moment of birth or death.

The ultimate concept of death in the DC Universe, and the second eldest of the Endless Family.

Though she was the second eldest, she might well be the most powerful of the Endless Family.

The end of all things had been waiting there before the first life was born.

When all the creations of the universe came to an end, Death would close the world and leave.

In other words, in the DC Universe, Death was the most powerful being besides the Supreme God, God, and Lucifer.

Wait... Death could only be seen by the newly born and the dead.

Could he see her now because of the ability he'd just acquired?

"Sorry, I got a little carried away staring," Bai Lang said apologetically.

"It's all right. I'm your big sister. We're siblings of the same origin, so look all you like. This is only an avatar, after all."

Death sat down in a chair and spoke to Bai Lang.

"Your birth was a little unexpected for our eldest brother, though. Destiny said that this change of yours wasn't recorded in the Book of Destiny."

"And when this life was born, I saw him. His soul had already vanished, replaced by yours."

In front of a conceptual being like her, Bai Lang had no secrets at all—except for the Blue Panel he'd awakened.

"And besides a trace of Death in your soul..."

Death seemed to notice something and paused.

She continued, "There seems to be something strange there."

Bai Lang knew who Death meant by their eldest brother: Destiny.

But there was something strange in his soul?

Could it be the Blue Panel?

Or something else entirely?