I am Batman

Amid the cheers of the onlookers, Baicang climbed back onto his beloved little electric scooter.

Although a few young women enthusiastically invited him to come over to their homes, Baicang firmly refused.

He still had important business to attend to.

He opened his phone as he rode and searched for properties for sale in Q City. Looking at the outrageous prices with their six or seven zeroes, Baicang couldn't help clicking his tongue. "Never thought I'd still be unable to afford a home after two lifetimes."

With his limited funds, he had to settle for renting a spacious single-floor apartment near the city center that he was reasonably happy with.

Watching Baicang pull stack after stack of cash from his shoulder bag, the real estate agent suspected he was a robber and nearly picked up the phone to call the police.

Baicang had no choice but to show his Hero Association credentials before the agent reluctantly believed him.

Leaving the agency, he looked at his nearly empty shoulder bag and couldn't help sighing.

Making money is so fucking hard!

After casually tossing his now-useless shoulder bag into his new home, Baicang dusted off his hands and prepared to find Saitama and pick up where they had left off.

The deserted district of Z City.

Monsters were unusually active in this part of the city, so no one dared live there. That was why it was called the "deserted district," or the ghost town.

Only criminals and people with unknown identities dared stay here.

Oh, and poor people.

As usual, Saitama lay on the tatami that day, propping his smooth head up with his right hand as he watched the news.

"Hmm... Seems like nothing big has happened lately. What a pain."

Such a peaceful life left Saitama terribly bored.

Knock, knock, knock.

Someone knocked at the door.

"Oh, coming."

Don't tell me it's someone coming to collect the rent!

Saitama remembered that he seemed to be two months behind on rent and immediately grew nervous.

He cautiously opened the door and discovered that it wasn't someone demanding rent, but a handsome young man with white hair, carrying two large shopping bags.

"Who are you?" Saitama looked puzzled.

"It's me, Baicang! Master Saitama!"

Seeing that Saitama had completely forgotten him, Baicang was speechless.

Before Saitama could say anything else, Baicang squeezed into the room.

Looking at the cramped, crowded apartment, exactly as it had been in the anime, Baicang understood that Saitama's life as a hero was rather tight financially.

"Oh, I remember. You're that guy who called me his master last time."

"I really can't. I'm completely unqualified to be a teacher..."

Once Saitama remembered who Baicang was, he grew troubled again. Rubbing his bald head, he tried to turn him down, but was interrupted before he could finish.

Baicang pulled out a sheet of paper and offered it to Saitama with both hands, saying sincerely, "Master Saitama, this is the deed to this apartment!"

"I've already bought it for you, Master. This is my gift to honor you as my teacher!"

"Please accept it!"

"Huh?!" Baicang's move left Saitama stunned for a moment.

After learning Saitama's address, Baicang had contacted the owner and expressed his interest in buying the apartment.

Since it was in Z City's deserted district, no one had shown any interest in the place. Only Saitama had been foolish enough to rent it.

When the owner heard that someone wanted to buy it, he immediately agreed and sold it to Baicang for an extremely low price.

"Th-this isn't right, is it? How can you just give me an apartment?"

"I can't..." Saitama thought it over and still intended to refuse, but was interrupted again.

Baicang took a photograph of himself and Runo out of his clothes and said hoarsely, "Please, Master. I... I'm too weak. I want to become stronger! I want to protect my little sister!"

He shouted the last words, bowing his head deeply as he desperately tried to squeeze out some tears.

Faced with such a serious, sincere Baicang, Saitama had no choice but to reluctantly agree.

Just as planned!

Baicang immediately raised his head and wiped his dry eyes. "Thank you, Master Saitama."

Watching Baicang's mood change in an instant, Saitama wondered whether he had agreed too quickly.

"Master, let me cook lunch today. It's what a disciple should do."

He promptly picked up the two big shopping bags and ran toward the kitchen.

These were premium ingredients Baicang had bought for Saitama at the supermarket, all in preparation for this moment.

With years of experience cooking for Runo, Baicang was quite a good cook.

At the little table.

Saitama couldn't stop praising Baicang's tuna sushi, lightly seared wagyu beef, pork cutlets, and other dishes. This whole combination of moves had won him over completely.

"Master Saitama, could you tell me the secret to your strength?" Seeing how happily Saitama was eating, Baicang eagerly asked the question he was most curious about.

Hearing his disciple ask the crucial question, Saitama adopted the air of a teacher, setting down his chopsticks and looking at Baicang solemnly.

"All right! But this isn't something an ordinary person can stick with. Can you?"

"Yes!"

"Good! One hundred push-ups! One hundred sit-ups! One hundred squats! And a ten-kilometer run! One set every day. Can you do it?"

"Yes!" Baicang shouted right in front of Saitama.

Although the secret to going bald was just as full of questionable points as it had been in the anime, he didn't think Saitama was joking.

There was a B-Class hero with the alias Glasses who had understood Saitama's teachings and grown stronger step by step through constant training. Baicang also intended to train according to Saitama's method.

"Yes, Master Saitama. I'll follow the method you've taught me to the letter and train hard!"

Saitama smiled and nodded in satisfaction.

"There's no need to rush. It took me three years to reach where I am now, too."

Looking at Saitama's bald head gleaming in the sunlight from the window, Baicang felt a chilly breeze across his own scalp.

After playing a few rounds of video games with Saitama to strengthen their bond as master and disciple, Baicang arranged for Saitama to visit his home in a few days, then left.

On the way home.

"Ugh... What should I do?" Baicang worried about how to make money-and big money at that.

He had been spending money like water lately. Renting his apartment, buying Saitama's place, and setting aside money for furniture had emptied his savings in one fell swoop, forcing him to think about how to support himself.

Suddenly, Baicang remembered how he had earned his first windfall, and an idea immediately came to him.

I'm a hero. Isn't cracking down on criminals exactly what I'm supposed to do? All the dirty money I confiscate should be "appropriated," of course.

Noticing a cosplay costume shop right by the road, Baicang walked inside with a smile.

"Good night, big brother."

Dressed in loose green dinosaur pajamas, Runo said good night to Baicang, then yawned and went to bed.

"Mm-hmm."

After watching Runo enter her room, Baicang returned to his own room and secretly locked the door.

He changed into the dark hero costume he had bought at the shop and climbed out through the window.

Beneath the pitch-black night sky.

On a bustling shopping street, Baicang hid in a tree in a roadside green belt, watching the passing crowds for a suitable target.

"Woohoo! Hahaha!"

A motorcycle gang suddenly roared onto the street. The deafening noise of their engines sent the surrounding pedestrians fleeing in fright.

Watching the frightened crowds scatter, the bikers laughed without restraint.

They revved their engines hard to scare everyone else, only moving on once the crowds had completely fled. Then they headed for the next busy spot to keep enjoying the thrill of bullying others.

"The champion of justice is ready to strike."

Baicang slowly backed away and vanished into the darkness.

After terrorizing the entire street, the bikers stopped at an empty intersection.

"Boss, are we going after Mountain Chicken's gang later?" a biker with a green mohawk asked their smoking, purple-mohawked leader.

Hearing the name of his sworn enemy, Mountain Chicken, the purple-mohawked leader angrily threw his half-smoked cigarette to the ground. "Yeah! Mountain Chicken's gang broke the rules. They actually collected money on my turf. We'll kill him tonight!"

"Yeah! Yeah!" "Kill him!" "Fuck him up!" His underlings began shouting as well.

Just then, a small fry with a red mohawk spotted a suspicious masked man in black approaching along the roadside. He immediately jumped off his motorcycle and barked at him, "Hey, who are you?!"

Beneath his bat mask, the corners of Baicang's mouth lifted slightly. "I'm Batman. You're being robbed."