A Life-or-Death Crisis

"Stop!"

Miao Mu's voice echoed through the dark sewers, accompanied by the deep boom of a shotgun.

"Shit, who the hell is this..."

Claw Hurd could barely run while dragging Dollmaker Barton along. Miao Mu's footsteps were getting closer and closer; there was only one corner between them now.

Claw Hurd threw Dollmaker Barton to the ground, switched off his flashlight, pulled a sharp dagger from his coat, and seemed to vanish into the darkness.

"Where are you? You can't just leave me! I'm still useful! Save me!"

Dollmaker Barton lay on the ground shouting. His glasses had fallen off somewhere along the way, and he could only stare wide-eyed at his surroundings, seeing nothing but pitch-black darkness.

All he could hear were the footsteps drawing closer.

At the corner, Miao Mu suddenly sprang out and fired straight ahead. Muzzle flame flared.

Claw Hurd, who had concealed his presence in the dark drainage channel, immediately opened his eyes and hurled the dagger in his hand through the air.

Whoosh! Clang!

"Ah!!!" Miao Mu clutched his slashed cheek and cried out through gritted teeth. Blood poured from the wound, dyeing half his face red.

With a click, the shotgun was chambered.

Miao Mu suddenly felt killing intent rushing at him head-on, making every hair on his back stand up. Acting on instinct, he held the shotgun horizontally in front of himself. There was a loud clang as something struck it.

Claw Hurd stabbed forward with his dagger. When the shotgun blocked it, he immediately changed moves and slashed across Miao Mu's chest.

The black police uniform was cut open like paper, but fortunately, Miao Mu was wearing a bulletproof vest underneath.

It was an advanced vest at the captain's level, with a layer of dense metal mesh inside that offered some resistance against slashing from the front.

That slash had nearly been fatal. In this moment of crisis, Miao Mu felt his adrenaline surge. He stepped back to open up some distance, then fired the shotgun straight ahead.

Muzzle flame burst forth. In that brief second of light, Miao Mu saw Claw Hurd. He was on his right!

Though the guy had dodged the shot, Miao Mu had no intention of letting him go. He gripped the shotgun barrel with both hands; there was no time to chamber another round.

Like he was wielding a baseball bat, Miao Mu swung the shotgun straight at Claw Hurd. The blow landed solidly.

Claw Hurd raised an arm to block it, but before he could swing his dagger again, Miao Mu lunged at him and drove his right elbow down.

At the instant it came down, the blade on his arm guard snapped out.

Claw Hurd narrowly dodged the strike, then countered with a heavy punch to Miao Mu's stomach. Even through the bulletproof vest, the force made Miao Mu groan in pain.

"Die!!!"

Claw Hurd gave a cold snort, his fists viciously hammering Miao Mu's body in an unbroken storm of blows.

Miao Mu covered up with both hands and staggered backward under the assault. Claw Hurd reached for his collar, but in a place this dark, he could not be that precise.

Just as he was about to draw another blade from inside his leather jacket, Miao Mu seized the opening and threw a punch back. The blade on his right arm guard snapped out, and he swept his arm sideways.

With a ripping sound, there came that soft sensation.

Miao Mu could clearly feel the blade on his arm guard cutting through Claw Hurd's skin and flesh. The cut was not deep.

But it startled Claw Hurd badly, stopping his attack.

Miao Mu quickly reached for his waist and drew the Greta F9 pistol Bullock had given him. He pulled the trigger and fired ahead, muzzle flash lighting up the tunnel.

Bang bang bang bang...

The gunshots echoed around them. By the flicker of the muzzle flashes, Miao Mu saw Claw Hurd charging toward him with a dagger in hand. Miao Mu turned and pulled the trigger.

The instant the muzzle swung toward him, Claw Hurd kicked out. With a crack, Miao Mu's gun hand broke, and the sharp pain shooting through his fingers forced him to fling the gun away.

The sharp dagger stabbed straight at him. With a wet sound, it pierced flesh. Miao Mu raised his left hand in front of his face, and the slender feather-shaped dagger punched through his palm.

"Let's see who dies!!!!"

Miao Mu roared as he threw a punch with his right hand. His injured fingers could no longer clench into a fist.

As the punch came down, Claw Hurd sneered and tilted his head aside to evade it. It was over!

The blade on Miao Mu's right arm guard snapped out. That sharp, icy sensation made the smile on Claw Hurd's face freeze instantly.

It was too late!

Miao Mu roared and swung his arm. The blade on his arm guard sliced across Claw Hurd's cheek, tearing away a chunk of flesh.

At the same time, Miao Mu stepped forward and violently jerked his pierced left hand. The dagger twisted inside it, but the unbearable agony was suppressed by his surging adrenaline.

There was only one thought in Miao Mu's mind now! Beat him to death!

Miao Mu rammed Claw Hurd straight into the drainage channel. With a splash, the two of them rose amid the flowing filth.

Miao Mu swung his right arm and smashed it into Claw Hurd's head. The sturdy arm guard and sharp blade split Claw Hurd's skull open.

"Ah!!!!!"

Miao Mu let out a beastly roar, raised his arm again, and smashed it down on Claw Hurd's head with a thud. Blood erupted like a fountain, spraying into the air.

Bathed in blood, Miao Mu raised his arm again like an enraged beast. Once, twice, three times—he brought it down again and again, accompanied by sounds that made one's skin crawl.

The blade struck bone and flesh like a butcher's cleaver crashing down onto a chopping block.

Above the drainage channel, Jerry and Otis, who had been hurrying after them from behind, used their lanterns to illuminate the area.

Seeing Miao Mu fighting in the drainage channel, Jerry jumped in without a word. The water here rose above his thighs.

He stumbled through the water, grabbed Claw Hurd, and forced him down into it. Once he pinned him underwater, the rushing sewage all turned red.

Miao Mu stood where he was, gasping for breath. The blood running from the wound on his face made him look terrifying.

Otis hurried over to support him and pull him toward the edge of the channel. Jerry held Claw Hurd underwater and unloaded his revolver into the corpse.

Bang bang bang bang...

"Destroy him!!!"

Miao Mu grabbed Otis's arm and said. Otis flung up a hand and shouted into the drainage channel, "Eat him! Hurry!"

The swarm of rats that had followed them surged into the water beneath the dim lantern light, a black mass covering the entire surface of the sewage.

Jerry hurriedly ran toward the embankment.

The rats in the water were like a pack of savage piranhas, immediately surrounding and devouring Claw Hurd's corpse. Violent red bubbles rose from the water like a boiling pot of spicy hotpot broth.

"Mumu, are you okay?"

Jerry looked anxiously at Miao Mu, whose face was covered in blood. Otis wore the same worried expression, afraid that something had happened to him.

"I'm fine. Hiss, fuck!"

Only after leaning against the wall did Miao Mu truly feel the pain. His entire body hurt so badly that he could not even tell which part hurt the most.

"That bastard got away! Go, go, go! If we let him escape, we'll be humiliated for nothing!"

When Miao Mu turned to look in the other direction, he realized that the damned Dollmaker Barton had taken the chance to run. He hurriedly urged Jerry and the others to chase him.

"You can't stay here. You need to go to the hospital!"

Jerry hurriedly said, but before he could finish, Miao Mu cut him off. "We went through all this trouble. If we let him go, I won't rest easy even if I die. Catch him! No one is taking the credit for this one! Jerry!!!"

"Damn it!"

Jerry gritted his teeth, stamped his foot, and ran ahead with his gun.

"That idiot won't be able to find his way. Otis, go help him. If that big Batman comes, I'll hold him off for you. Go!"

Miao Mu said between ragged breaths. A cold sweat broke out across his forehead, and every injured part of his body trembled.

"You..."

"I still have this!" With his blood-soaked, trembling left hand, Miao Mu patted his waist pouch. He still had an Enforcer Revolver.

Of course, the reason Miao Mu dared to be so bold was because Batman was here, and the sewers were a maze.

Otis hesitated for a moment, then stood up, blew a whistle, and hurried forward to find Jerry before he got lost.

Once the two of them left, Miao Mu could no longer hold on. He gritted his teeth and cried out in pain. The piercing agony was truly unbearable.

Rapid footsteps echoed through the sewers.

Batman, holding a tactical flashlight, appeared as if from nowhere in the darkness, standing just beyond the range of the lantern's light.

Within the light stood Miao Mu, covered in wounds. Beyond it stood Batman in the darkness, forming a peculiar tableau.

"Yo, big Batman. I thought you'd get here sooner. Looks like these sewers aren't easy to navigate either."

Miao Mu leaned against the wall, forcing a smile as he tried to speak lightly.

He did not want to cry out in pain in front of Batman, just as he had not wanted to show Jerry and the others his vulnerable side earlier. That would have been too pathetic.

Batman twisted the tactical flashlight in his hand. Purple light shone on the ground, revealing fluorescent markings one after another.

"It's not a maze. They're markers... Did you kill someone?"

Batman turned the light toward him. A powerful beam of white light shone onto Miao Mu, and the blinding glare made him tilt his head back and close his eyes.

"Gotham... is just like this. Kill or be killed... What about you? I heard you became a vigilante the moment you started out. Have you ever killed anyone?"

Miao Mu asked with a smile. Though he already knew the answer, Batman was Batman because he had his own principles and bottom line. Without that conviction—

Gotham would be an even worse place...

Just as the Three Kingdoms without Liu Bei's Shu Han would have been nothing more than an era of chaos...

This was Batman's greatest flaw, and also his greatest strength. Because he held to that conviction, he was Batman...

"You're injured. Badly."

Batman did not answer Miao Mu's question. Instead, he looked at his twisted right hand, his left hand pierced by the blade, his slashed and battered cheek, and his torn clothes.

Miao Mu wanted to smile, but his body could no longer endure it. His fading vision made him close his eyes.