Inside Bai Lang's rented apartment.
John sat stiffly upright beside a small square wooden table.
He looked up ahead, where the young man was cooking. White steam carrying a fragrant aroma lingered throughout the room.
Having gone nearly a full day without food, his stomach kept secreting acid.
The foul taste in his mouth made him swallow unconsciously.
Bai Lang carried over a freshly prepared bowl of food and set it before him.
John froze for a moment, then reflexively thanked him.
"Thank you."
He took a sharp breath, and the scent of rice mixed with eggs and beef rushed into his nostrils.
John swore that this was the most fragrant, most delicious Mexican fried rice he had ever smelled or eaten.
Yet the young man in front of him called it by another name.
"Egg fried rice. I learned it in my hometown. Even though I added some beef, it's still egg fried rice."
Just as, although I had awakened the superpower of Magnetic Field Rotation, I was still a good person.
Bai Lang sat across from John, looking at the old man who appeared weathered despite being only in his forties.
"My place is small. Sorry to make you put up with it, John."
John revealed a heartfelt smile.
"Thank you, Detective Bai Lang. Just having a place to rest is enough. Thank you so much."
He scooped up the egg fried rice with a spoon.
The grains were golden and coated in sauce, mixed messily with diced sausage and beef.
Yet he did not seem to see common Mexican fried rice ingredients such as tomatoes or avocados.
But for an old man with no money, stranded far from home, a place to stay and a meal that could fill his stomach were the greatest blessings he could receive.
He did not dare ask for more. Destiny had already treated him well enough.
As John ate, he seemed to remember something. He took out the small blue leather notebook he had been writing in earlier, along with a pen.
A soft scratching sound rose as he ate and recorded something in the notebook.
"You're from Metropolis. Why did you come to Gotham? This place is much more chaotic than Metropolis," Bai Lang asked.
At this time, Zod and his group's Kryptonian spaceship had yet to arrive on Earth. Metropolis had far better laws and order than Gotham.
"Cough, cough..." John seemed to have eaten too quickly and nearly choked.
"Slow down. There's no rush." Bai Lang handed him a glass of water.
In Bai Lang's field of vision, Death, clad entirely in black and white, was also sitting at the table, eating the exact same egg fried rice as John.
"This tastes pretty good. Your cooking is excellent, little brother."
After taking a bite, Death's eyes lit up, and she could not help praising him.
Bai Lang ignored her, because John apparently could not see Death beside him.
He was afraid of frightening the old white man.
Perhaps because he had spent so much time with Death, he had unexpectedly developed a faint trace of sympathy for someone about to die.
John took a sip of water and felt a little better before explaining why he had come to Gotham.
"I came to find my son."
"He came from Metropolis to Gotham when he was seventeen to make a living. I haven't seen him for seven years, and I wanted to see him one last time."
"To see whether he's been doing well these years, whether he's grown taller, become stronger, whether he's found a girlfriend..."
As he spoke, he seemed to realize he had said too much.
John smiled apologetically at Bai Lang. "Sorry. When you get old, you start talking too much without realizing it."
Bai Lang knew this was probably John's final wish.
"Do you have his name and a photo? I'll try to help you find him."
John froze at those words, as though he had heard an illusion.
"Detective Bai Lang, what did you just say?"
"I said I'll help you find him."
"Who?"
"Your son."
After confirming that he had not misheard, John once again revealed a devout smile, while his eyes reddened slightly.
"Thank you, Detective Bai Lang. Thank you so much. I don't even know how I could repay you..."
Destiny had truly treated him well. At the final stage of his life, he had encountered another good person.
A thoroughly good man.
He took a photograph he had treasured for seven years out of the package.
It was a photo of John and his son taken before Mike left.
"Mike. Mike Benjamin, my son."
Bai Lang accepted the photo. Due to its age, it had long since yellowed.
It showed two somewhat similar-looking men. The one on the left was taller and older than the one on the right, and looked much like John in his younger days.
The man on the right still had a boyishness about him and was thinner, but his eyes were filled with disdain and immaturity.
After settling John in his home, Bai Lang put on the Batman suit again and headed out.
The sparse drizzle continued to fall, as if it would never stop.
Bai Lang released Nicole Ballard from his wrist.
Once Nicole was released, she drifted around aimlessly.
"Batman, why did you let me out? Where's Catwoman?" Curiosity appeared on her face as her eyes kept wandering over Bai Lang's body.
Granite-like muscles were set beneath the suit, radiating an inexplicable magnetic field.
Afraid that she would keep questioning him, Bai Lang immediately activated Magnetic Field Power and enveloped her entire soul body.
"Nicole, didn't you still have to help them fulfill their final wishes?"
"I've strengthened your soul power now, so go on."
Soul juice!
Nicole felt as though something strange had flowed into her soul body, and her soul-formed face grew hotter and hotter.
Her whole body went weak; even her soul turned limp and soft.
"Emmm, yes!" she couldn't help letting out a soft moan.
Bai Lang looked at the undead Nicole in bewilderment. He had no idea what was happening, but did charging up the undead feel that good?
She discovered that her soul was becoming increasingly solid, and that she could even slightly affect reality.
"Then I'm off." She knew Bai Lang could summon her back at any time, so she instantly drifted into the distance.
But the next instant, Nicole, who had floated a hundred meters away, reappeared before Bai Lang.
"Oh, right. Help me find this person while you're at it. His name is Mike."
Bai Lang showed Nicole the photograph, then rushed into a nearby alley.
With Magnetic Field Rotation at ten thousand horses, his hearing could now pick up sounds within a three-kilometer radius.
Normally, though, Bai Lang had no need to take in every single sound.
But just now, he had heard something unusual coming from that alley. It sounded like someone was being murdered.
When he rushed over, he saw two well-dressed men with slicked-back hair repeatedly stabbing another man in the abdomen.
Anyone who had killed before knew that if you wanted to stab someone to death properly, the best method was nine shallow thrusts and one deep one.
The technique was neither too powerful nor too weak—just enough to kill.
When the two men saw Bai Lang's dark Batman-clad figure appear before them, they immediately panicked.
"Batman? Why's he here?"
Expressionless, Bai Lang looked at the two well-dressed men.
He recognized them as the ones who had driven luxury cars down Park Street and cursed angrily earlier.
Even now, he remembered what one of the wealthy men, Jackson, had said.
"I'm telling you, even if I threw my things to the dogs, I still wouldn't give them to poor trash like you!!"
Though those words had not been directed at him, they still made him feel deeply saddened.
Some things had made these people believe that the rich and the poor were two different species...
"...Sigh." He suddenly sighed and looked at the soul of the middle-aged man standing beside Death.
Without saying anything, he merely raised a hand toward the two frantic men. Magnetic Field Power crushed them into a puddle of blood.
[Ability Points +2]
As the two fell, two more souls appeared before the man who had just been killed.
The three souls immediately became tangled up in a fight again.
Death wore a rather helpless expression.
"Some lives don't understand how precious life is, even after they die..."
Bai Lang had no interest in watching them. He knew all three men possessed prominent social status and wealth.
But that had nothing to do with him. He was merely acting according to his own nature.
A life for a life was only natural. He had his own standards for judgment.
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