Practicing Boxing

Gotham City went through another sleepless night, but it did not cause the citizens of Gotham any major trouble.

The songs still played, the dances still went on, and everyone still had to go to work tomorrow.

Gotham feared nothing. Even if Darkseid came, he would have to weigh the confidence of Gotham's people.

In short, Blackgate Prison had become famous this time. More than a hundred criminals had escaped, including several violent felons, and it instantly became the newspaper's front-page headline.

Even the gossip surrounding Playboy Bruce Wayne, the sort of news Gotham citizens loved to hear and speculate about, had been pushed to the fifth page.

The earlier pages covered the Arkham Asylum breakout, as well as whether the urban legend known as the Bat Vigilante was friend or foe...

And there was a photograph of Mayor Little Don Mitchell thumping his chest and declaring that he would protect Gotham's skies.

Miao Mu sat on the toilet in the Arkham Police Department, staring at Little Don Mitchell's face. With a rip, he tore the newspaper in half and stood up.

With a rush, the toilet began flushing.

Miao Mu walked out of the restroom feeling thoroughly relieved. There was no helping it—he had to bring his own toilet paper to use the bathroom. Some people even embezzled toilet paper.

It was truly... outrageous!

Miao Mu decided that if anyone from City Hall came to the Arkham Police Department, he would definitely invite them to use the station's restroom and experience the treatment received by police officers who risked their lives every day.

The station was very quiet, and rightly so. Six officers from the Arkham Police Department had died in last night's operation.

They had already been short on manpower. This time, they were completely finished.

Chief Wei Fei had not shown up at all today. Rumor had it that he had gone downtown for a meeting, and there were fewer than ten people left in the station.

"Good morning, Officer!"

A young patrolman immediately stood at attention and saluted when he saw Miao Mu, admiration shining in his eyes.

He swore that this respect came straight from his heart. Officer Miao Mu's heroic bearing last night had already been etched into his mind.

Fearlessly arresting criminals amid a hail of gunfire and protecting the peace of the community—that was why he had joined the police force!

Not to follow those lazy old bastards around, collecting protection money like gangsters and wasting his days away.

"Don't call me Officer. If you think highly of me, just call me Brother Miao. Oh, and the restroom's empty. Here, there's paper too."

Miao Mu handed the half-section of newspaper in his hand to the young patrolman, then took a cigarette pack from his pocket and headed toward the other end of the corridor.

"Yes!"

The young officer saluted again while holding the newspaper. Watching Miao Mu's retreating back, he hurriedly called out, "Miao Mu... no, Brother Miao! My name is Milo! Milo Scarelli!"

Miao Mu, walking ahead, nodded when he heard the name. He took out a lighter, lit his cigarette, then turned back and called out:

"I know you. You shot a terrorist dead yesterday. You're a good kid. Graduating from Gotham University, becoming a cop is a bit of a waste of your talent."

Gotham City's public safety might not have been great, but everything else was top-tier. Well... its villains were top-tier too.

The locals were simple and honest, and talented people emerged in endless numbers.

Gotham University was also a top school in the United States, and it had always remained committed to producing high-quality talent.

Milo smiled at that, maintaining his salute as he shouted, "I chose to become a cop because I wanted to protect Gotham!"

"Not bad."

Miao Mu held the cigarette between his thumb and forefinger in a somewhat unusual pose. After exhaling a puff of smoke, he waved his hand. "I'm off."

Young people filled with hope and expectations existed everywhere, but their endings were rarely good.

Miao Mu wandered around the station with a cigarette in his mouth. By the time he had finished the cigarette, he had also finished his patrol.

Miao Mu tossed away the cigarette butt, stood at the garage entrance, and looked around. He pulled open the garage's rolling door, went inside, then pulled it back down behind him and shut the door.

The lights on the garage ceiling came on. Myers's dedicated police cruiser had originally been parked here, but it had been written off last night.

Myers had also been injured by a stray bullet last night, so the space had been left empty.

Miao Mu pulled over a battered table that had originally been used to hold maintenance tools, though he had tossed them all into a corner.

After patting away the grease stains, Miao Mu took the Iron Fist Stone Monkey Statue he had acquired earlier from a backpack by the door. He inspected it from top to bottom and found that it was undamaged.

He set it steadily on the table, stepped back two paces, and framed it with his hands to confirm its position. After making another adjustment and ensuring that it was placed perfectly straight, he finally let out a breath.

He pressed his palms together into fists, spread his feet slightly apart, and closed his eyes to calm his mind and emotions.

His treasure-hunting system was indeed useful, and the things it found were good too, but Miao Mu was well aware of his own shortcomings.

Gotham's situation would only grow worse in the future. Yesterday it was Black Mask, but who would it be the day after tomorrow? Gods, ghosts, and all kinds of chaos.

And there was also the Court of Owls lurking deep in Gotham's shadows.

Being a police officer in Gotham was no easy job. Who knew whether Captain Gordon's miserable torture at the Joker's hands would happen someday, even though it had not happened yet.

But Miao Mu had no desire to encounter something like that himself. He had to grow stronger! Only then could he live well in Gotham!

Martial skill was the foundation, and a powerful body was essential.

Miao Mu's nose twitched. He smelled a fragrance—not perfume, not flowers, and certainly not food.

It was burning incense placed inside an incense burner!

Miao Mu suddenly opened his eyes. The scene before him was no longer the Arkham Police Department garage, but an enormous training ground.

The Iron Fist Stone Monkey Statue before him had also become enormous, three stories tall. Immortal mist drifted around it, dreamlike and surreal, as though he had traveled through time again.

The area was filled with people dressed in light-yellow training uniforms, practicing boxing forms move by move. Their clothing snapped sharply as they moved.

Miao Mu stood where he was and watched. Those martial artists were clearly right beside him, yet he could not see their faces.

"What are you spacing out for!"

A booming voice rang out like rolling thunder.

It jolted Miao Mu awake. He hurriedly raised his hands and copied the people around him, taking up a boxing stance with awkward, stiff movements.

But the booming voice did not sound again. Miao Mu practiced while watching his surroundings, trying to find where that voice had come from.

A sharp crack rang out.

"Ah!!!" Miao Mu screamed. His hand had cramped.

Trying to multitask had caused a problem. The Iron Monkey Fist was inherently a fierce and powerful boxing style, and when he explosively released all his force at once, he injured himself.

Even as he clutched his wrist, cold sweat forming on his forehead from the pain, the scene around him did not change.

However, Miao Mu realized something. He almost wanted to praise himself. His wrist hurt like hell, yet his mind could still wander to other things. No wonder his grades had been so bad in his previous life.

It seemed that the skill of getting distracted and daydreaming had already reached the pinnacle. Miao Mu looked at the stick of incense before the Iron Fist Stone Monkey Statue, thin white smoke curling upward.

The incense burner was made of stone, with the character "Fist" carved into its front.

Miao Mu immediately deduced that he could only remain in this place for the time it took for one stick of incense to burn!

Recalling the effects of the Iron Fist Stone Monkey Statue, Miao Mu did not dare waste any more time. Enduring the pain in his wrist, he watched the figures around him and continued practicing the boxing forms.

Although he had learned the Iron Monkey Fist as though enlightenment had been poured straight into his mind, his body had never undergone systematic training.

The moves he performed merely increased the damage of his fists. Nothing else had changed at all.

Miao Mu imitated those figures. After throwing a punch, he followed their shifting movements, gradually becoming more proficient. When he punched, force burst forth, his sleeves trembled, and even the pain in his wrist eased considerably.

This feeling... Miao Mu felt as though he were underwater, his body able to sense the resistance of "qi."

Before he could savor the sensation, the surrounding scene dissipated, vanishing like a mirage.