Drugs Paralyze the Starving Night Raven Gang

Bai Lang knew very well that it was the Court of Owls that wanted to assassinate Dr. Arkham.

And according to the comic's plot, it was highly likely that Batman Bruce Wayne would save him.

Although Arkham Asylum had major events happening during this period, who could say that Gotham wasn't experiencing its own troubles?

If he went along and protected Dr. Arkham, he would naturally gain Ability Points.

But what about Gotham?

With the police and Batman staying on Arkham Island to guard Dr. Arkham for at least several days.

Who knew what would happen in Gotham with no one in charge during that time?

Compared to Arkham Island, it was obvious that Gotham as a whole was more important.

Ryan and Judith, along with Director Gordon and the others, went to guard Arkham Island.

The police station, which originally had about twenty people, was instantly emptied, leaving only Bai Lang and the station chief, Edward.

Bai Lang, as usual, went to the training ground to exercise.

His fists flew, and a terrifying red current with streaks of gold flowed around Bai Lang's body.

His powerful body, exuding a terrifying aura, moved continuously, creating countless afterimages.

"Hoo..." Bai Lang let out a long breath.

The terrifying current was completely contained by his strong physique, and even the sweat that seeped out was instantly evaporated by the powerful lightning.

After resting for a while, he left the training ground, put on his white uniform, and headed to Park Street, preparing to investigate the gang called Night Raven.

Park Street was a more rundown area of Gotham, close to the new city, with a depressed economy and frequent criminal activity.

Bai Lang drove his police car along Park Street.

Perhaps because of Crime Alley's notorious reputation, there were fewer pedestrians around.

A few scattered passersby saw the police car and quickly dodged, quickening their pace to leave the area.

They were afraid of becoming innocent victims caught in a shootout between criminals and police.

The road was mostly occupied by small groups of people or a few loitering addicts.

Bai Lang arrived next to the alley that Judith had mentioned yesterday.

Peering through the car window, he could see several scrawny white men squatting in a corner, their eyes occasionally glancing at the luxury cars outside.

Bai Lang's gaze fell upon the dirty clothes and messy hair of these men.

Their faces were unnaturally pale, their eyes sunken, and they had large dark circles under their eyes, resembling pandas.

A foul odor even drifted over with the gentle breeze.

He got out of the car and approached the white men.

"Do you know of a small gang called Night Raven around here?"

Seeing a police officer asking questions, the leading white man, holding a cigarette, stood up.

"Which precinct are you from? What do you want with the Night Raven gang?"

Bai Lang frowned as he looked at them.

He could tell that these white men had recently used drugs and were clearly a group of addicts.

"My name is Bai Lang, and I'm the detective in charge of this area. Didn't your boss, Night Raven, want to discuss cooperation with my subordinate?"

He didn't have a good impression of addicts.

After all, like gambling, once you got hooked, it was incredibly difficult to quit.

The scrawny white man nodded, appearing somewhat dazed.

"Oh, I see. Do you have any money?"

"What do you need money for?" Bai Lang couldn't help but frown.

"Nothing much, just to buy some drugs," the emaciated white man replied with a weak smile.

"Take me to your boss, and you'll get your money."

Seeing Bai Lang's strong and tall build, the white man could only nod. He then turned and led Bai Lang into the alley.

Bai Lang followed behind him, wanting to strike up a casual conversation, but the man's talk was either about drugs or planning to target some rich person's luxury car.

This made it impossible for Bai Lang to find any common ground.

"I remember your boss is named Eli. What kind of person is he?" Bai Lang asked casually.

"Oh, you mean Eli? Boss Eli was arrested by Batman last night. Our Night Raven gang got a new boss overnight."

The white man carefully tucked a green dollar bill he was fiddling with into his back pocket.

"New boss?" Bai Lang looked confused.

Just as he was about to say something, he heard the white man point forward with his finger.

"We're here. That's our new boss."

Bai Lang turned his head, following his arm with his gaze.

He saw a woman with twin ponytails at the end of the alley, a baseball bat slung over her shoulder, looking dejected as she sat in the shade, smoking.

It was Harley Quinn, whom he had met before.

Bai Lang walked over, a little surprised.

"Harley, how did you become the boss of the Night Ravens?"

Harley's eyebrows furrowed slightly, as if she were contemplating something.

Hearing Bai Lang's words, she snapped back to attention.

"Detective Bai Lang? Wow! It really is you!"

"Did you come to blow up Gotham with me?"

She excitedly ran up to Bai Lang, like a ten-year-old girl.

"After I heard what you said, I started to change myself, trying to return to a normal life."

"Originally, I wanted to work as a waitress in a restaurant to make a living, but I found that many people in that restaurant had ill intentions towards me."

"So, I quit, kicked that fat boss's ass, and then got pulled into a small gang. Yesterday, I became the new boss."

Harley Quinn's face was animated, as if many things had happened during this time.

Like a child, she had many things to tell Bai Lang.

"Uh... so, you're the new boss of the Night Ravens now?" Bai Lang looked at her uncertainly.

It seemed that Harley Quinn had changed quite a bit during this time.

"That's right."

Harley nodded excitedly, but then, as if thinking of something troublesome, her small face immediately dimmed.

"Where is your base? The old boss of your gang found my subordinate and wanted to talk about cooperation."

Hearing this, Harley stood up and gestured for Bai Lang to follow her deeper into the alley.

The alley was narrow, only about a meter wide, so they had to walk one after another.

After turning three corners, Harley led Bai Lang to a half-finished building. In front of the building, an open space was the base of the Night Raven Gang.

Bai Lang looked at the area, and the question he subconsciously wanted to ask, based on his past life memories, was automatically blocked in his mind.

Why don't they live in the unfinished building?

Come on, if they get discovered, they'll have to pay taxes.

If I don't have money, can I not pay taxes?

If you don't pay taxes, your body won't be yours anymore...

He shook his head and looked at the open space.

It was called an open space, but to be precise, it was a garbage dump.

The space wasn't large, perhaps only about a hundred square meters, but it housed about ten tents of various sizes and colors.

The tents were surrounded by piles of all sorts of household garbage: bread bags, burnt plastic, peeling sofas...

Bai Lang even saw some broken glass that looked like containers for storing drugs, as well as rusty syringes.

Coughing and shouting sounds emanated from the tents, one after another, like a living hell.

Several people lay on the ground, staring at the sky with wide eyes, seemingly wondering how they had ended up this way.

A gaunt man was injecting drugs into his vein with a rusty syringe. After injecting himself, he handed it to another skeletal little boy.

All their faces were filled with numb expressions, as if Gotham had forgotten them.

"This is it." Harley Quinn felt a headache looking at the mess.

"Sister Harley."

From among the crowd, a six-year-old girl saw Harley and stumbled towards her.

"Melina, you must be hungry. It's okay, we'll be able to eat soon..."

Harley picked up the little girl and explained to Bai Lang, "You could call it a gang, but to be more accurate, the Night Ravens should really be called a refugee camp."

"Because of the economic depression, many people can't find work or food, so Eli gathered them together. Occasionally, someone can steal something to sell."

"But still, two people couldn't stand the hunger and committed suicide."

"To survive, some of them go out to scavenge for food, some find drugs and rely on their numbing effect to go a day or two without eating."

"Others engage in drug dealing, or theft and robbery."

"As long as they can survive, that's all that matters."

Bai Lang looked at the girl in Harley's arms.

Her face was sallow, her cheeks gaunt, her hair messy, and not a clean spot on her body.

Her clothes were patched with various scraps of towels or socks, and they were so large that she had to strain to stick out her limbs.

He fell silent for a moment. Compared to the people he had met before, the Night Raven Gang was the least like a gang.

He knew how many unemployed people there were in America during the Great Depression, but he didn't know that such a place existed in Gotham.

"Didn't the government do anything?" he asked Harley Quinn beside him.

"Do you think if Mayor Hardy were useful, they would have ended up like this?"