MANY THANKS FOR WHO GIVEN THIS BOOK A POWER STONE!
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Black Cat was hanging upside down from the gantry crane, her flawless face tinged with a blush. The shadowy figure had bound her tightly, leaving her utterly powerless to break free.
She tried to open her mouth and shout, but her lips were sealed with sticky white webbing, allowing only muffled whimpers to escape.
Even now, Black Cat had no idea whose hands—or whose monster's—she had fallen into, and a wave of sorrow welled up in her heart.
"Today was my first mission since joining Kingpin's gang, and I screwed it up..."
What saddened her wasn't the failed task itself, but that her revenge plan had been snuffed out just as it was getting started.
"Who is Kingpin? Why are you seeking revenge?"
The low, sudden voice rumbling in her ear startled Black Cat.
She steadied herself, her eyes darting wildly in the limited field of view, hoping to catch a glimpse of the speaker. But she failed—everywhere she looked was the pitch-black abandoned factory, with no sign of who was talking.
"Mmmph."
Black Cat whimpered twice; her mouth was still sealed, so she couldn't speak a word.
The next moment, her body lightened, and after a disorienting whirl that left her sense of direction in chaos, Batman gently set her down on the ground.
Then the webbing on her mouth and body was torn away, restoring her freedom.
Pretending to casually stretch her limbs, Black Cat subtly scanned her surroundings. But she still couldn't see who had rescued her from Squid Man, so she asked the empty air in front of her:
"You're just going to untie me like that? Aren't you afraid I'll run off?"
"Answer my question: Who is Kingpin? Why are you seeking revenge?" The deep voice whispered like a demon from a nightmare.
"You don't know who Kingpin is, which means you're not a New Yorker—at least, not someone from the underworld." Black Cat was unsure of this mysterious guy's intentions, so she feigned calm as she said, "But tonight, you stuck your nose into gang business. What exactly are you after?"
Boom!
Black Cat's repeated evasions seemed to anger the mysterious figure. She watched in shock as a five-ton I-beam was lifted upright and plunged deep into the earth.
Black Cat was dumbfounded.
Everything that had happened tonight was beyond her imagination. Only now did she realize she was conversing with something inhuman, a being of immense power.
A suitable expression of fear crossed her face, but her mind was racing. "There's no way I can take on Kingpin alone—I need help. My original plan was to piss off as many New York gangs as possible, but now it looks like I've got a better ally..."
"This is a warning. Answer my question!"
Batman's voice interrupted Black Cat's thoughts. He still hadn't appeared in her line of sight, maintaining his mystery.
"Kingpin is the boss of my gang. A year ago, he started expanding his operations across New York on a massive scale. He said he wants to be the emperor of the entire world's underworld, so he calls himself 'Kingpin'..."
Black Cat seemed frightened, spilling out everything she knew in a rush:
"But New York alone has over fifty major gangs, and plenty of old, established families too—like the Corleone family from the Mafia..."
"Like the Falcone family in Gotham..." Batman added silently in his mind.
"...So Kingpin's expansion hasn't been smooth sailing." That was everything Black Cat knew about Kingpin.
"Why revenge?" Batman asked.
At the word "revenge," the mix of real and feigned fear on Black Cat's face vanished, replaced by hatred she made no effort to hide from Batman:
"Kingpin killed my father."
"My father was the infamous great thief 'Phantom Cat.' Half a year ago, Kingpin approached him and asked him to steal something. My father refused."
"The next day, he was brutally murdered in an alley. I spent a full month investigating before I figured out Kingpin had sent people to kill him."
After Black Cat finished, she waited a long time with no response from Batman. Just as she thought he'd left, the deep voice spoke again:
"You're not lying. Kingpin's on my list too. Interested in partnering up?"
As Batman, it would be a disgrace if, after three days of nonstop intelligence gathering, he still didn't know who Kingpin was.
In the makeshift command center at the deepest part of the abandoned shipyard, Kingpin's portrait had long been pinned in the most prominent spot.
To return to Gotham, Batman had to build his business empire from scratch, and he'd inevitably clash with these criminal forces sooner or later.
Likewise, for Kingpin to establish his underground kingdom, he'd use legitimate businesses to cover his crimes. Even if Batman didn't seek him out, Kingpin would come looking eventually.
Asking Black Cat about Kingpin was just a pretext. When she muttered about "revenge" under her breath, Batman had already planned everything.
——Her whispers might fool her nearby underlings, but not Batman with his enhanced hearing.
Black Cat's lips curled into a smile the moment this mysterious guy said Kingpin was his target too. That's exactly what she'd been angling for with all her talk, and as for why this guy wanted Kingpin... what did that have to do with her, Black Cat?
"Partner up? Sure, no problem. What do you want me to do?" Black Cat crossed her arms under her chest, creating an enticing cleavage.
"Take a vacation. Our partnership starts officially after that's over."
Black Cat blinked in astonishment. "Vacation where?"
"NYPD headquarters."
Black Cat couldn't comprehend why partnering against Kingpin meant turning herself in to the cops. She quickly protested:
"No, wait... At least tell me if you're human or what?"
The deep voice suddenly murmured right in her ear:
"I am Batman."
Then she passed out.
When Black Cat came to, she found herself and her underlings bound hand and foot with ropes and chains, dumped at one of the NYPD's precincts in Manhattan. Dawn was just breaking.
This time, it was ropes and chains holding her—not that it mattered. Black Cat, trained from childhood by her father "Phantom Cat," slipped free with ease and vanished into the streets before sunrise.
As for her underlings... Black Cat had no intention of helping her enemy—Kingpin—out. She almost wished all his men ended up tied like this at the police station door.
"Batman..." She murmured the name to herself.
"Batman?" A few hours later, Kingpin—whose neck was even thicker than his head—tapped his cane on the polished floor and rose, towering like a wall. "He ruined my plans?"
In an office in a Hell's Kitchen building, Black Cat nodded with lingering fear:
"Yes. According to the plan, we sold Joseph a batch of faulty guns. He'd fence them to some small gangs in Manhattan, and we'd absorb them all in one go tonight."
"But after I shot Joseph in the head, Squid Man fled. He doesn't seem interested in working for a dead employer anymore."
Black Cat knew Kingpin's cunning; with his smarts, he'd see through any lie. So she stuck to the truth, just omitting her deal with Batman.
Even if she didn't say it, Kingpin would get the info from others, like Joseph's crew.
"First Spider-Man, then Squid Man, now a Batman. When did New York turn into a zoo?" Kingpin said with a smile.
Ignoring his appearance, his voice alone might make you think he was a kindly uncle.
Kingpin casually picked up today's Daily Bugle from the desk and pointed to the front-page photo of Squid Man. "This is your Squid Man, right? Tell him I'm offering five million bucks for Batman's head."
Meanwhile, at the deepest part of the abandoned shipyard, Batman was also holding the morning's Daily Bugle, lost in thought.
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