I'm Working Alone Now

I'm Working Solo Now

Christmas Eve, 11:30 p.m.

Gotham.

Six hours and thirty minutes remained until the Space-Time Portal opened.

The streets were deserted.

Other than the occasional passing car, the only people in sight were drunken streetwalkers by the roadside and thugs wearing Santa hats.

A Christmas tree nearly two stories tall stood decorated with colorful bows and glittering ornaments.

Unfortunately, no one dared go out at this hour, much less make a wish beneath the tree.

Above them, a moon as large as a tire seemed ready to crash straight down.

Li Zu tilted his head back and watched a peculiar aircraft glide beneath the moon... It was shaped like a bat.

A silent air hung all around. A deep breath even carried the scent of blood.

The humanoid "thing" writhing in the distant corner made Li Zu turn his head and call out:

"How about letting him go? It's Christmas Eve, after all. Maybe he's in a hurry to get home for dinner with his family~"

This bloody little episode had begun two minutes earlier, when a drunk picked a fight with two terrifying people.

Deathstroke gripped his long blade in reverse, flicked the blood from it, and sheathed it as he walked over to Li Zu.

It truly was only a brief episode. No one cared what became of the "thing."

Deathstroke also looked up, his one eye settling on the massive billboard ahead.

Gotham Merchants Bank, its doors tightly shut.

Apparently, its owner had also considered that some people might be short on cash during Christmas. To avoid trouble, the bank had closed early and had even cut power to its twenty-four-hour ATMs.

"This is the place?" Li Zu pinched his chin, asking curiously, "Gotham Merchants Bank belongs to Black Mask?"

"Roman Sionis. He owns factories, banks..."

It was probably Deathstroke's first time encountering something like this too—helping his "employer" rob a bank to pay the fee for hiring him.

Strangely enough, when Deathstroke heard the proposal, he had not felt inclined to refuse.

Perhaps he had been subtly influenced without realizing it. Of course... Deathstroke found that strange now. Not accepting bad checks was one of his principles.

"Just one door?"

In the Flashpoint World, Li Zu had never had the chance to witness those legendary figures. They wore a different face as "good people," or perhaps Batman, Thomas Wayne, had already slaughtered them all.

Still, he had heard a little about Gotham's talents.

Not even an entire building could stop Gotham's freaks, much less a single door.

"This door has an alarm system. If it's forced open, not only will the alarm sound, but every defense measure in the vault behind it will activate," Deathstroke said.

"Buddy, you really sound like a narrator explaining things~" Li Zu chuckled, as though deliberately playing along with the Christmas tree's festive atmosphere.

He walked straight toward the security door and pressed a hand against the high-grade alloy barrier.

More than ten seconds later.

The Merchants Bank entrance had become a plastic toy door, complete with a carefully crafted Christmas-themed color scheme.

Li Zu easily pushed it open, removed his red Santa hat, and flashed a grin. "Come in~"

Gotham Merchants Bank.

All surveillance systems had failed. Only the green emergency exit signs in the corridors flickered, barely illuminating the path ahead.

Buzz, buzz~

The sound of a car engine came from around the corner beyond the vault.

Li Zu held a "toy water gun" in his hand and leaned against the wall, poking his head out.

Beyond the vault, Black Mask's men were hauling bags of cash into a vehicle.

Roman Sionis, who had previously left Blackgate Penitentiary, stood conspicuously among them.

He looked down at the watch on his left wrist while holding a pistol in his right. The muzzle wandered aimlessly, and anyone it happened to point at could not help but shudder.

The two corpses in the corner made it clear what happened to those who found themselves in its sights.

Black Mask was robbing his own bank? That was an interesting discovery.

"Looks like we came too late~"

Li Zu pulled back, shrugged at Deathstroke, and asked, "Do you have a plan?"

"..." Deathstroke quietly watched Li Zu, waiting for him to continue.

Though they had not known each other long, Deathstroke believed he fully understood Li Zu—a somewhat unhinged freak who liked showing off.

It would be best if Li Zu did nothing at all.

After all, his goal here was money.

Sure enough, Li Zu scratched his neck with the pinky of his right hand as he said, "I have a plan to get the money, but I have one condition. Take off his mask and give it to me... Of course, all the money is yours~"

"What?" Deathstroke immediately abandoned his previous confidence.

He realized he did not understand Li Zu at all.

"I just think the face under that mask might be the one percent I need most." Li Zu's lips curved upward, his expression declaring that he was determined to have the mask!

"Mm-hmm~"

Deathstroke found no reason to refuse.

Black Mask's men were moving the cash.

Emptying the entire vault was hard labor. Sweaty, exhausting labor that they gladly did!

"Are you working overtime on Christmas Eve too?"

A voice came from the corner. A man wearing a red Santa hat was waving at them.

He was also holding a "toy water gun" in his left hand.

"Oh~!" Roman Sionis, Black Mask, stared at Li Zu with interest through his mask.

"You took care of Batman?"

Black Mask had nearly forgotten the amusement he encountered at Blackgate Penitentiary.

"We welcome you back. I put a two-million bounty on Batman's head, you know~" Black Mask's voice remained as unpleasant as ever.

Li Zu slowly walked forward, aiming the "toy water gun" at the two closest thugs.

"I'm working solo now!"

In an instant, the toy gun became a real firearm. Flames erupted from its muzzle, and the recoil made Li Zu's body shake continuously.

The bullets traced circles as they sprayed from the floor to the ceiling.

Unfortunately... not a single shot hit.

The toy gun suddenly becoming a real gun caught everyone off guard. Only Black Mask burst into delighted laughter. "Hahahahaha!"

The moment Li Zu emptied his magazine, Black Mask's men seized the opportunity and lunged at him.

Bang, bang.

Two gunshots rang out from the shadows, and the two thugs closest to Li Zu collapsed to the ground.

"Oh~?" Black Mask curiously raised his head, then sharply swung his gun around.

Bang...

"Pfft." A bullet tore into flesh, and one of Black Mask's thugs fell to the ground.

Black Mask was not alarmed in the slightest. He merely clicked his tongue and shook his head.

He quickly fired three more shots in three different directions, all three hitting his own men.

Whether he truly knew the hidden killer's location, or had fired two shots merely for amusement, was unclear.

Yet the slaughter in the darkness had not ended.

Like startled birds, Black Mask's men kept turning their heads in every direction to search for the hidden threat. Yet they fell one after another—not only beneath Deathstroke's hidden gunfire, but beneath Black Mask's hand as well.

Once over half of Black Mask's men had been killed or wounded, Deathstroke landed beside Li Zu with a long staff in hand.

The staff was stained with blood.

"Wait."

As Deathstroke prepared to pounce, Li Zu stopped him.

"I think we may have found the wrong person~" Li Zu glanced at Black Mask, then looked toward the woman in the corner.

A second earlier, Deathstroke's bullet had taken out the thug covering the woman's mouth, freeing her at last and allowing that smile to surface.

It was mechanical, heartfelt, chilling, frenzied, sickening—

...a chaotic smile!

"HAHAHAHAHA!!!" She staggered to her feet, pointing at Li Zu as she laughed wildly.

She clutched her stomach and laughed.

She laughed without restraint upon a path paved with corpses, blood, severed arms, and mangled limbs.

Thanks to "Ordinary Person ndm" for the 100 Qidian Coins tip, and thanks to "JOKERRISING" for the 100 Qidian Coins tip.

(End of Chapter)