The Dead

"Little brother, what should I call you?"

Death's voice was soft and soothing.

"My name is Bai Lang."

Bai Lang came back to himself and answered instinctively.

"That isn't your true essence."

Death shook her head. Her face was utterly expressionless, as if nothing in the world could move her.

If that wasn't his true essence, what was he supposed to call himself? Not Bai Lang?

Death Number Two? Or something else?

Hearing her words, Bai Lang fell into thought.

Seeing him lost in thought, Death prompted him:

"At my very essence is the concept of death, so I am called Death."

"Think about it. What is at your very essence?"

His very essence?

Bai Lang carefully considered what lay at the core of his being.

His superpower, Current Propulsion?

That was just an ability, not his essence...

Could it be the resolve he'd made?

His expression turned a little puzzled. He tentatively said, "Justice?"

A gentle smile appeared on Death's face as she asked him in return:

"Do you think you're just?"

Bai Lang gave an awkward smile. He couldn't claim to be absolutely just, but at least he had a conscience.

What was his true essence?

He kept thinking.

Without knowing why, a word slipped from his mouth.

"Human!"

At last, a smile appeared on Death's face.

"That's right. You are human, and you also possess part of my power. Would you like to visit the Mysterious Realm?"

Once Death accepted the name, Bai Lang finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He shook his head. The Mysterious Realm was a place for the dead.

Besides, it lay outside the DC Multiverse. Who knew whether he'd be able to get back out if he went in?

"Very well." Seeing that he didn't want to go, Death didn't insist.

After all, she had sensed that part of her power had been diverted elsewhere, which was why she had appeared here.

Now, this incarnation of hers was going elsewhere to guide the souls of the dead to the spirit realm where they belonged.

"I hope you'll have grown by the next time we meet."

After saying something so cryptic, Death's figure gradually faded and finally vanished.

Once she was gone, the weight hanging over Bai Lang's heart finally lifted. He stared at the spot where she had been sitting, still shaken.

"Whew... How did I manage to draw the attention of someone like her?"

He slowly let out a breath, his heart pounding as he sat on the bed and thought back over what had just happened.

"Human? My essence is human, so that's why Death accepted it?"

Farmer's Chinese Restaurant.

It was now noon. With its low prices and delicious foreign cuisine, this restaurant in the Upper City had won over many of Gotham's less fortunate residents.

In a nearby alley, several Black and white teenagers stood together.

Beck held the small note Bai Lang had given him.

He glanced nervously at the busy Chinese restaurant.

"That's the place the officer told us about, right?" one of his Black companions asked.

Beck nodded. "It should be."

"Can we really get jobs and survive?" asked the only girl in the group.

Beck remembered what Bai Lang had been like last night and answered firmly, "We definitely can!"

Ten minutes later.

"So the boss sent you here." Gardner looked at the note Beck had brought over. The familiar handwriting on it was Bai Lang's.

These kids came from poor families, and some of them had already lost both their parents.

He didn't know why they hadn't gone to an orphanage, but it was clear the boss wanted to help them.

"What can you all do?" he asked the six kids in front of him, who'd been through much the same things he had.

"I can wash dishes..." Beck hurriedly said.

"Before my parents died, I worked as a cashier for a while..." one of the Black boys said.

"I..."

All but the thirteen-year-old girl described their skills and the jobs they'd done.

Gardner looked at the little girl, who seemed on the verge of tears from anxiety.

He understood how she felt.

If her parents and relatives hadn't met with misfortune, a thirteen-year-old girl like her should have been in school.

Gardner patted her on the head and comforted her. "It's all right. Everyone has to grow up sometime."

"All right, come with me. Beck, put your gun away."

"I'll find work for you."

"Death Whisper is the ability to communicate with the dead, but at present, in the DC Universe, every dying life sees Death when it dies..."

Bai Lang walked along, carefully thinking over his newly acquired ability.

"Communicating with Death Whisper is fine, but if I enslave the dead, Death might come looking for me."

He suddenly realized how useless Death Whisper was in the DC Universe right now.

"Should I try to appeal to her interests? I don't even know what Death likes..."

The intense friction between the cells in his body made Bai Lang feel a pang of hunger.

"Forget it. I'll grab a bite before heading to the police station."

He was just about to head to the Chinese restaurant he'd taken over.

But before he could set off, Ryan came looking for him.

"Chief Bai Lang, we found a corpse in Crime Alley with its organs removed."

"Its organs were removed?" Bai Lang asked in surprise.

Was this some kind of gang organ-trafficking operation? Or had those man-eating monsters come out again?

Bai Lang followed Ryan and the others to the scene where the body had been found.

A human outline had already been drawn on the ground in white.

Nearby lay the body of a boy wearing gray clothes covered in patches.

His eyes had been gouged out, and a huge opening gaped in his abdomen. Through it, they could see that there was nothing inside.

"Have you figured out where he was from?" Bai Lang asked, staring at the body without changing expression.

"He seems to have been from Mercy Orphanage..." Judith replied beside him.

"An orphan from Mercy Orphanage?" Bai Lang nodded.

"Secure the scene, gather evidence, and find the killer."

Outside Farmer's Chinese Restaurant.

"Alfred, you know I've always been interested in Chinese food."

Alfred smiled beside him. "Young Master Wayne, you should have come here for a meal ages ago and enjoyed the life of a playboy."

"Perhaps you should bring Miss Charlotte along sometime, too."

Bruce Wayne wasn't much of a foodie, but Alfred had been recommending the place ever since he'd tried it once.

"Maybe next time. Let's see how it tastes, just the two of us today."

As soon as they sat down, Alfred called out to Beck, who had just started working as a waiter.

Beck came over to them. Seeing their fine clothes and distinguished manners, he felt nervous.

"Waiter, do you have a menu?" The butler Alfred noticed his unease and asked gently.

Beck nodded, then went over to the cash register and brought back a menu.

Perhaps because Chinese restaurants were so rare in Gotham, the place was as busy as ever.

Gardner and the others couldn't keep up with the work.

That was why Bai Lang had given Beck and his friends a chance yesterday.

And after all that, he'd gained two Ability Points.

Bai Lang looked at the waiter bringing him a plate of rice topped with gravy. It was the little girl who'd asked him last night if he wanted to have some fun.

"What's your name?" Bai Lang asked the girl.

"Molly." After setting the food down, the girl timidly slipped back into the kitchen.

Bai Lang ate as he surveyed his surroundings.

Suddenly, his expression froze, as if he'd seen something strange.

In his field of vision, a white male apparition followed behind the girl, Molly, seeming to say something to her.

But Molly acted as if she couldn't hear anything.

She carried a bowl bigger than her face toward Bruce Wayne and the others, focused on her task.

The white apparition looked like a middle-aged man, and his face bore some resemblance to Molly's.

Bai Lang could hear its words clearly.

"Molly!"