On a cruise ship far from Gotham Docks, Talia stood by the rail in black travel clothes, watching Gotham City gradually recede, her eyes filled with unwillingness.
She had put on makeup. Her rough skin and wrinkles made her look like a woman in her sixties, while her dyed half-gray hair added even more age to her appearance.
"Ma'am, the wind is strong at night. Please return to your cabin." A sailor in a navy-striped shirt was gathering the ropes nearby and tying them behind the cabin when he noticed Talia and offered the advice.
The Tailun Jikang was a medium-sized cruise ship. It traveled along the coast, stopping at cities by the sea.
"Okay, thank you." Talia smiled faintly and, like an elderly woman, walked along the rail toward second class.
Behind the cruise ship, a speedboat was rapidly catching up, dragging a white trail of spray behind it.
Clang! A grappling hook flew up from below and caught on the rail, its rope pulled taut behind it.
The sailor, having finished clearing up the clutter, looked down at the suddenly appeared grappling hook in confusion. Then a black figure climbed up the rope with the agility of a monkey.
In the pitch-black night, amid the waves and howling wind, aboard a cruise ship far from land, cold sweat instantly broke out across the sailor's back.
Before he could turn and call for help, the black figure on the rope had already rushed up. It stepped onto the rail as though walking on flat ground, all in the blink of an eye.
The sailor's sturdy body slammed heavily into the wall. Before he could even struggle, a black combat boot kicked him in the face.
Watching the sailor fall unconscious, Miao Mu, dressed entirely in black and nearly blended