"Don't hurt Crocodile King! Get out of here, you damn bastard!"
A boy in his early teens stood among the crowd, clearly worked up beyond reason, shouting as he fired several more shots.
"You..."
"Everyone, stop! Get back!"
Before Batman could finish speaking, Waylon, who had only been unconscious for a moment, staggered to his feet, much to Batman's surprise.
Just how tough was this guy?
"Crocodile King! Thank goodness you're all right!"
Seeing Waylon stand up practically unscathed, the furious Rat-Men suddenly broke into celebration. The joy in their eyes was impossible to fake.
Batman instinctively took a few steps back, watching him warily and waiting for his next move.
"Your Majesty! Let's kill this bastard!"
After celebrating, the group had found their pillar of support again, and their anger flared once more as they demanded to shoot Batman for hurting their king.
This time, however, Waylon did not rush forward to attack. Instead, he raised a hand to stop them.
"Enough. Go back, all of you."
"But..."
"I said, go back!"
The Rat-Men clearly did not want to let it go, but after Waylon's roar, they could hardly argue, however unwilling they were. They could only return to their settlement in frustration.
Only after everyone had gone back did Waylon turn his gaze to Batman again, though this time his hostility was much less apparent.
By now, Waylon was fairly certain that even if Batman was not a good person, he was not some vicious monster either.
He had won through a cheap trick, but the fact that he had held his own against Waylon for so long proved he was no pushover.
In those few seconds while Waylon was unconscious, Batman could have killed at least the leaders if he had wanted to, even if he could not kill everyone. But he hadn't. Not only had he killed no one, he had shown no intention of attacking them at all.
That alone made Waylon feel he was different from those bastards on the surface.
"Tell me why you're really here, Batman."
Batman glanced at Waylon without betraying his mild surprise. His mood had shifted quickly, and he was more rational than Batman had expected.
"Why are you gathering homeless people?"
Batman's question was the same as it had been at the start, leaving Waylon slightly taken aback. So he really had come for the homeless.
Favorability +1
"I'm sorry for my attitude earlier. The truth is, I'm gathering homeless people simply to give them a chance to survive."
Waylon sat cross-legged again. Although Gotham's sewers were relatively spacious, they were still too narrow for him, and standing only made them feel more cramped.
"You've always lived up there, so you should know perfectly well what happens to homeless people when winter comes.
I'm no good person. Hell, it's debatable whether I even count as a person. But even so, I don't really want to see them die like that. Too many of them don't deserve to die.
That's why I wanted to gather the people who wouldn't survive down here. The sewers might be worse than a garbage dump, but at least they're warm enough."
Once he understood that Batman genuinely cared about the homeless, Waylon's attitude softened considerably, while Batman began rapidly analyzing the information he had provided.
"How many people have you brought here?"
The question made Waylon pause, then he replied helplessly, "Honestly, not many.
They don't believe the stories about some Sewer King, and they don't believe there's anyone left in this world willing to take them in. So, aside from a few who came to try their luck, fewer than ten people have come here in total."
The numbers didn't add up.
If Waylon was telling the truth, then the mass disappearance of homeless people probably had nothing to do with him. But was he telling the truth?
After a little thought, Batman decided Waylon was unlikely to be lying. Even setting aside the respect the Rat-Men showed him, his sheer size and level of knowledge probably made such meticulous work impossible for him.
"I don't know what's suddenly happened up there, but since you're asking, it probably has something to do with the sewers.
Lately, aside from fighting some gray guy, all I've heard is a report from my people about a group who looked like soldiers coming down here. I don't know anything beyond that. I hope it helps."
People who looked like soldiers? Was the military secretly conducting human experiments again?
Batman noted that crucial piece of information, then turned to leave without lingering any longer.
"Batman, I don't know whether you really care about those homeless people or have some other agenda, but either way, there aren't many people like you left who care about them and treat them as human beings.
So, I hope everything goes well for you."
For some reason, Waylon had sensed something about Batman that made him unable to hold those words back. Batman said nothing more either. He merely gave Waylon a silent look before disappearing into the shadows of the sewer.
After leaving the sewers, Batman chose not to continue investigating and returned to the Batcave first. His suit had been damaged in the fight, and his body had suffered significant injuries as well. He needed a little time to recover.
Crack... crack...
Distinct cracking sounds accompanied the rapid regrowth and healing of his bones, and the intense itching came and went just as quickly.
In less than a minute, Bruce could clearly feel that his bandaged arm had completely recovered.
What a miraculous creation.
"Alfred, how much Bandage do we have left?"
Having experienced the Bandage's miraculous effects, Bruce had no intention of using any other medical treatment. Time was short, and he needed to recover as quickly as possible so he could get back to work.
"Plenty, Master Bruce. At the very least, wrapping you up like a mummy won't be a problem."
Understanding what Bruce wanted, Alfred wound the Bandage around his injuries while making a small joke.
He had noticed that although the Bandage looked about the same size as ordinary medical bandages, there was clearly far more of it once he started using it. By his calculations, those three rolls were more than enough to wrap Bruce's entire body ten times over.
After finishing the bandaging, Alfred brought him a cup of coffee.
"Master Bruce, if I may, why not try contacting our magician friend and asking him to perform a divination? It would save a great deal of time, at least."
After downing the coffee in one gulp, Bruce was once again in better shape than ever. He chatted with Alfred as he changed into a spare Batsuit.
"Alfred, relying too much on others is dangerous. Besides, I still can't rule him out as a suspect."
Alfred sighed helplessly at that. He genuinely feared that Batman might one day work himself to death.
"But if the situation becomes urgent, I'll consider it, Alfred."
After changing, Batman added that just before leaving, which surprised Alfred a little.
"Then I'll have your pocket money ready, Master Bruce."
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