"Aah!!! My feet!!! My feet!!!"
In the Fight Club's second-floor office, the boss, who had been sitting in his chair, was now on his knees at the secret room's doorway with his ass in the air. Several long, thin nails had pierced his expensive leather shoes and driven deep into the soles of his feet.
"Fuck, who the fuck scattered nails here..."
After seeing even a drugged-up Luke get taken down effortlessly, he hadn't dared stick around. He had immediately decided to flee in the chaos.
But some goddamn bastard had scattered a pile of nails inside the secret room. He had taken just one step before falling victim to them and crashing straight to the floor.
And... and these fucking nails seemed to be coated with something, too. Now his feet didn't just hurt; they burned with a searing, stinging sensation, and they were even fucking itchy. It was absolute torture.
"N-no, I have to get out of here..."
Despite the terrible pain, he still had his wits about him. Luke had lost, which pretty much exposed the drugs. If he didn't run now, the big boss would kill him.
Since he couldn't get through the secret room, he would jump out the window instead.
Because this underground Fight Club really was built underground, its so-called second floor was actually at ground level. The windows were less than two meters above the ground, so he had a pretty good chance of jumping out and escaping.
First, though, he had to deal with the nails in his feet.
He got straight to work. He had clawed his way up from the bottom, after all, and still had some ruthlessness in him.
He took off his suit jacket, rolled it up, and stuffed it into his mouth. Then he gritted his teeth, grabbed one of the nails, and yanked hard!
"Aah!!! Why the fuck do these nails have barbs!!!"
The nail did come out when he pulled, but it brought a bloody mess with it, gouging a chunk of flesh out of his foot.
"My feet... my feet..."
"Oh, come on, enough already. You're a grown man. You only stepped on a few nails. Do you really have to howl like a damned ghost?"
Just then, Zuo Ci and the other two came marching upstairs.
Batman, who was in the lead, said nothing. He simply pulled out a Bat-Rope and bound the boss firmly to his chair.
Jack was carrying a whole bunch of people, including poor Luke from downstairs and several of the boss's assistants, who had been knocked unconscious.
Zuo Ci, meanwhile, brought up the rear. The reason was simple: he had picked the spectators' wallets downstairs.
"Refuse a gift from heaven, and you'll suffer for it. These spectators aren't good people anyway. Taking a little money counts as contributing to public safety in Gotham.
"What? Why, you ask? Obviously because once I've got money, I won't go out causing trouble. Honestly."
Ignoring Zuo Ci's antics, Batman finished binding the Fight Club's boss, punched him straight in the face, then grabbed his collar and began questioning him.
"Who's your boss? Where did these drugs come from? Where did those homeless people go?"
Batman's reputation hadn't yet reached the point where his name alone could silence a crying child at night, so when questioning stubborn suspects, opening with a beating to establish dominance was a useful tactic.
Unfortunately, this boss had seen his share of things. Not only did he show no fear, he spat at Batman.
"Who do you think you are? Fuck you. You're not getting anything out of me."
It would have been a lie to say he wasn't panicking. Facing Batman, a figure straight out of an urban legend, terrified him too, but he had no choice.
If he exposed the drugs, the worst the big boss would do was kill him.
But if he dared reveal those secrets, not a single member of his family would escape.
So, even if only for his family's sake, he absolutely couldn't say a word.
"A tough guy, huh? What are you going to do, Batman?"
After dumping the people he was carrying, Jack leaned casually against the corner wall and watched Batman. He was quite curious about this guy's interrogation style.
Batman had no intention of answering Jack. He simply pinned the boss's right hand down, preparing to start by breaking one of his fingers.
"All right, all right, hold on, hold on. We're civilized people here. Let's not use such bloody methods."
Just as Batman was about to act, Zuo Ci, who had finished collecting his loot, stopped him and gestured for him to hand the man over.
Batman didn't refuse. He stepped aside without even a moment's hesitation.
Batman had absolutely no objection to letting him extract the information. Whether Zuo Ci used his miraculous items or his twisted methods, Batman felt the results would be considerably better than brute force.
"Go easy on him."
That was all he said before turning away to inspect the secret room.
"Hey, what do you mean, go easy on him? I'm always gentle, okay?"
After grumbling a little, Zuo Ci stood directly in front of the boss and gave his shoulder a friendly pat.
"W-what are you going to do!"
For some reason, the instant this guy touched him, an inexplicable fear welled up from deep inside him.
"Don't worry. I'm a very kind person. I don't like fighting or killing at all.
"I just want to brush your teeth."
As he spoke, Zuo Ci pulled an utterly ordinary-looking toothbrush from his mage's robe.
"Don't... mmph!"
Despite the boss's attempt to resist, Zuo Ci pried his mouth open and stuck the toothbrush inside.
"Brush the top, brush the bottom, brush the left, brush the right, brush the inside, brush the outside...
"All right! Brushing finished. Job done."
After pulling the toothbrush out, Zuo Ci pretended to wipe nonexistent sweat from his forehead, as though he had just completed some monumental project.
Huh? What's going on? That's it?
The boss was a little dumbfounded. He had assumed the toothbrush might contain a razor blade or some other dangerous object, or perhaps be coated in poison.
But... after all that, nothing seemed to have happened to him.
So what exactly was going on? Had he really come over just to brush his teeth?
"Oh, right. Silly me, I actually forgot the introduction. Let me fix that.
"Ta-da! The Toothache Toothbrush!"
[Product name: Toothache Toothbrush Product price: US$2,000 each Product effect: Causes extensive proliferation of dental nerves after use, producing intense pain. The longer it is used, the greater the proliferation. Note: This product can be used alongside the Periodontitis Toothpaste and the Bone Hyperplasia Mouthwash. Satisfaction guaranteed.]
He had no idea why the Shop stocked such an outrageous thing, but he had to admit it worked very well.
Incidentally, dental nerve proliferation was irreversible, so...
"Y-you're joking, right... you're joking, aren't you... aren't you..."
At that moment, after hearing the introduction, the boss turned deathly pale and began sweating buckets. For a moment, he even forgot the pain in his feet.
"Sorry, but I don't like telling lies.
"One more thing. Judging by the time, it should be kicking in now."
!
That night, for the first time in his thirty-odd years of life, the boss learned that when people suffered pain beyond their limits, they could actually shut down.
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