King of the sewers

In the dark sewers, countless foul odors masked the scent of blood, and the few bloodstains left on the ground had vanished completely beneath layers of grime.

"Someone deliberately covered the tracks."

As an exceptional master of criminal investigation, Batman was certain that, although every trace here looked natural, someone had deliberately concealed the evidence-and done an extremely good job of it.

Apart from perhaps harboring a few more supernatural creatures, Gotham's sewers were no different from those in other cities in the United States. They were just as foul-smelling, just as convoluted, and just as neglected.

It was precisely this dark, hidden environment that made them a breeding ground for street-level crime. Batman had chased criminals who fled down here more than once, so he knew exactly what bloodstains would look like in this place.

As he searched for any traces that might remain, Batman silently considered the recent disappearances.

Gotham was not a warm city, and winter was fast approaching. Every year, when the weather turned like this, quite a few homeless people went missing.

Even with Batman doing everything he could to keep expanding Wayne Enterprises' charitable relief efforts, they still could not reach everyone. Homeless people disappearing had practically become routine.

But something was wrong lately. Too many homeless people had gone missing.

With Gotham's police cracking down, the Gangsters' human-trafficking operations had shrunk considerably. Combined with help from Wayne Enterprises, projections suggested that the number of missing homeless people should have decreased year by year.

Yet Batman had found that this year's number was not merely on par with previous years-it even showed signs of increasing. That made no sense.

On top of that, rumors of sewer monsters had gradually spread among low-level Gangsters and homeless people lately. Batman could therefore all but conclude that someone was plotting something behind the scenes.

That was exactly why he was here.

Sewer monsters... could it be Solomon Grundy? No, it wouldn't be him.

At the mention of sewer monsters, Batman's first thought was Solomon Grundy, a monster who resembled a zombie version of the Hulk.

Batman still had not figured out his origins. All he knew was that Grundy seemed to be a zombie who had risen from the dead, was not very intelligent, and had some connection to a classic European nursery rhyme.

He currently lived in Gotham's sewers and fit the description of a sewer monster better than anyone. But after a moment's thought, Batman dismissed any connection between him and the missing homeless people.

The reason was simple: Solomon Grundy was too stupid.

His intelligence was probably only on the level of a preschooler, and even normal communication was difficult for him. He might attack someone who accidentally wandered into his territory, but he would never deliberately abduct people.

Then who could be behind it? Joker? Riddler? Bane? The Court of Owls, which had yet to reveal its true face? Or... Zuo Ci?

Yes, Zuo Ci was also a possible culprit.

From the very beginning, Batman had been extremely wary of Zuo Ci. Even now, after doing business with him several times, he still did not trust him.

Certain aspects of Zuo Ci's personality were downright nasty. Add in the fact that he was one of the few people capable of pulling this off, and he naturally ended up on Batman's list of suspects.

"Cough, cough. Why does this damn place stink so much?"

Just as Batman was considering all these possibilities, an abrupt cough rang out in the sewers.

Without hesitation, Batman vanished into the shadows and carefully watched the source of the sound.

"Ugh, no, I really can't take this anymore. Why the fuck do I have to come to this shithole?"

Rubbing his shaggy afro, Jack cautiously advanced with a half-broken flashlight, venting his frustration as he went.

As a bottom-rung thug in the Falcone Family, he was looked down on by criminals and law-abiding citizens alike. Usually, he could only support himself through petty theft and small-time robberies, but at least he could scrape by.

A few days earlier, however, a routine robbery had gone wrong when he targeted a seemingly harmless Asian man.

Not only had he failed to steal a single cent, but he had been stripped of everything he owned. A drugged-out Black guy had even picked him up while he was unconscious and had his way with him.

That had made him infamous. His gang had kicked him out for being too much of an embarrassment. Without the gang's backing, he could not even pull off a simple robbery, leaving him with no income.

No income meant no housing, and no housing meant becoming homeless. Since he had offended plenty of homeless people during his days as a thug, they constantly drove him away. He was almost at the point where he could no longer survive.

That was when a deathly pale Rat-Man who lived in the sewers gave him an address.

He said it was the location of the kingdom their Crocodile King had established in the sewers. The Crocodile King was kind and happy to take in people who had nowhere to go.

Especially people like Jack, who could not even get by among the homeless.

Since he was already struggling to survive, Jack decided to take a gamble. After all, the worst possible outcome was death.

But once he actually entered the sewers, he began to regret it.

"Hah, the Crocodile King. I must've been crazy to believe that crap. Living in a shithole like this, Rat King would be more like it. Crocodile King..."

An unbearable stench, garbage and excrement everywhere, and heaps of things he could not even identify. Although Jack had prepared himself for the sewers to be less than pleasant, the reality still hit him like a blow to the head.

He even wondered whether that Rat-Man had a grudge against him and had deliberately tricked him into coming down here to suffer.

Fortunately, he had been lucky enough not to run into Slime yet. Otherwise, he really would have lost it.

"Oh, shi-"

Perhaps he was too worked up, or perhaps his sixteen-diopter "eagle eyes" had finally done their job. One careless step sent Jack sprawling into a puddle of foul water, and the flashlight he had stolen from another homeless person flew out of his hand.

As luck would have it, the flashlight landed right beside Batman's feet.

Or rather, Batman had deliberately positioned himself beside the flashlight.

"Aah!!! B-Batman!"

Seeing the legendary figure actually appear before him, Jack panicked and scrambled about like a startled cockroach.

"No, please don't eat me! I haven't done anything bad! Please don't suck my blood!"

Although supervillains and some high-ranking figures had more or less learned that Batman apparently was human, his image among those at the bottom of society remained decidedly bizarre.

So Batman ignored Jack's nonsense and simply hoisted him up with one hand.

"Tell me everything you know."