American comics farmer: start by adopting the villain savior.

Chapter 247 Selena: This isn't the car going to my house!
Riding his silver motorcycle, Dior navigated the streets of Gotham, which were completely paralyzed and ruled by torrential rain.

The wheels rolled over the puddles, splashing up a murky curtain of water.

The usually dazzling neon lights were all turned off, and the whole city seemed to be soaked in a bucket of thick ink. Only the occasional lightning bolt that streaked across the sky could briefly illuminate the distorted and gloomy silhouettes of the buildings.

Along the way, all he could see were a few faint points of light, swaying softly in the windows of distant high-rise buildings or deep in narrow alleyways.

It looked like a burning torch? Or perhaps the dim glow of a surviving candle?
it is a pity.
Amidst intermittent, fragmented shouts torn apart by the raging wind and rain, and the clash of blunt objects, the points of light flickered like will-o'-the-wisps.

This familiar, nauseatingly chaotic prelude made Dio sneer inwardly.

Gotham's nights, especially those nights when order is lost, always breed the most primal violence and madness.

However, he had no intention of paying attention to it. After all, once they left his territory and his order, the infighting among these lowly scum was not worth wasting even a second of his time.

Twist the accelerator, and the engine roared suddenly higher. Dior was determined to leave this lawless quagmire behind and get home as soon as possible.

But just as he was about to drive out of the chaotic area and turn onto the relatively open Gotham Avenue...
"Bang—crash!!!"

Accompanied by a sharp shattering sound!

A blurry figure, amidst countless shards of glass, plummeted from a high-rise window of a dark building, crashing head-on into the path he was hurtling towards!

"THE World!"

Dior gave a cold shout almost instinctively.

In an instant, everything around him, including the splashing raindrops, the falling shards of glass, and even the figure, froze completely in his eyes!

unlucky!

A surge of pure irritation welled up inside Dior.

They actually chose to jump off a building specifically to hit his face?!

"Om-!"

Time begins to flow.

"Pfft!"

A dull thud as something heavy fell into the garbage heap replaced the collision that should have occurred.

Dior made only a slight adjustment to the front of the car to stabilize it.

I just want to keep going.

He couldn't even be bothered to look at it again; he just wanted to twist the accelerator and completely forget about this boring farce.

Such suicide scenes are more common in Gotham than expired bread in a convenience store.

Just as he was about to twist the throttle again, a blinding bolt of lightning tore through the night sky, illuminating the area in front of him with a brief, pale light.

It also illuminated the figure he had thrown into the trash heap.

It appeared to be a woman, curled up motionless amidst filthy cardboard boxes and rotting garbage.

But the flash of lightning clearly revealed the dark red blood that kept overflowing from the corners of her mouth and flowing down her jawline.

Moreover, her tattered black uniform, which seemed to be covered in metallic sequins, and her short blonde hair, which, even in her disheveled state, still showed signs of being meticulously styled...

"Crack-!"

The sound of shattering glass came again from above.

Dio looked up, his gaze piercing through the rain, and saw a slender and agile figure gripping a specially made grappling hook rope, swinging down from a broken window on a higher floor.

It landed precisely and lightly next to the pile of trash, splashing water everywhere.

This time it was someone I knew.
Selena Kyle clearly didn't expect to run into Dior in such a godforsaken place.

Especially when her pupils contracted sharply the moment they met Dior's cold gaze, a barely concealed embarrassment flashed across her face.

But she immediately reacted, quickly crouching down to try and lift the barely breathing blonde woman from the garbage heap. Her voice unusually urgent and pleading, she turned to Dio and called out:
"Help me! Dior!"

Dior took off his helmet expressionlessly and casually hung it on the handlebars.

The cool rain immediately soaked the golden wisps of hair on his forehead, which then slid down his cheeks.

He was about to speak, his tone anything but friendly, given that his way home had been interrupted time and again.

Unfortunately, he couldn't even utter the first syllable before he deducted Miss Selena's wages.
"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!" "Whoosh!"

Several more dark figures silently descended from different floors above.

Surround them.

Wearing a dark, form-fitting outfit, her face was covered, revealing only a pair of emotionless eyes.

Everyone moved in perfect unison, and the landing was almost silent, clearly demonstrating their high level of training.

The leader stepped forward and said in broken English with a heavy Japanese accent:

"You... hand over the device, hand over the black diamond!"

Dior frowned slightly, a hint of impatience flashing in his eyes.

What is the gibberish saying?

Where did these Japanese devils come from?
Ok
What bad luck! It's like bad luck opening the door for bad luck itself.
This is incredibly unlucky!
Especially when his gaze glanced slightly backward and swept over Selena.
The Catwoman at this moment had lost her usual elegance and composure. She was still wearing that expensive custom-made evening gown, instead of the tight-fitting clothes she wore at night.

Unfortunately, the beautiful fabric was now a mess from the rain and stains. Soaked, it clung tightly to her shapely body, outlining her breathtaking curves, but also making her look incredibly disheveled.

Her carefully styled hair had come undone, a few strands of wet hair clung to her cheeks, and raindrops dripped down her beautiful jawline.

She half-embraced the blonde woman who was vomiting blood, her eyes filled with anxiety, yet still resembling a wildcat cornered and ready to unleash its claws at any moment.

Dio withdrew his gaze and looked back at the group of pesky ninjas in front of him.

"Although I don't know exactly what happened..."

He slowly scanned each ninja, as if examining a group of ignorant insects.

"But gentlemen, it seems you intend to make things difficult for... my employee?"

He deliberately emphasized the word "employee".

It was as if Selena and the unknown blonde woman were really just two insignificant employees of his Iceberg Club, and that he, the benevolent 'boss,' had simply encountered someone daring to harass his subordinates on his way home from get off work.

Faced with Dio's question, the ninjas exchanged bewildered glances.

Only when the leader slightly tilted his head to signal did two ninja figures, blurred in the rain, rush towards Dio from the left and right with a fierce aura!

The movements were swift and silent, and the short knife in his hand reflected a deadly cold light in the occasional flashes of lightning.

"Ah"

The only response they received was a cold snort from Dio, utterly contemptuous.

"THE World!"

The world fell silent.

The splashing raindrops froze in mid-air.

The charging ninja remained frozen in place, still in a forward-charging stance.

The entire world was reduced to a monotonous gray and white, with Dio being the only one who could move freely in this stagnant spacetime, and the real statue behind him.
--"world".

Dior didn't even bother to move.

The Stand's enormous fist carried terrifying power.

It was a simple, direct, and brutal blow to the chests of the two ninjas.

"Om-!"

The stagnant world resumed its clamor, and the sounds of rain and wind once again filled our ears.

It can be clearer
but it is
"Bang!! Bang!!"

Two teeth-grinding sounds of ribs cracking rang out almost simultaneously.

In an instant, the two ninjas were slammed against the exterior wall of a building on the side of the street!

The force of the impact was so great that their bodies were almost as if they had been forcibly 'pressed' into the wall, their heads tilted to the side, their limbs twisted at unnatural angles, and they had completely lost consciousness, their fate unknown.

Rainwater washed over their sunken chests and the blood seeping from their mouths, quickly staining the wall a pale red.

Dio flicked his wrist and glanced at the remaining ninjas who were clearly intimidated.

"Who else wants to be part of Gotham City's Art Deco?"

He stared blankly at the scene before him.

Selena's eyes captured only fragmented images.

In her perception, Dior seemed to have merely flicked his wrist casually, without even changing his posture.
The two menacing ninjas in the distance were struck as if by an invisible giant hammer, flying backward in a way that defied the laws of physics, and embedding themselves deeply into the solid wall.

This was completely beyond Selena's comprehension.

It's not speed, it's not power, it's more like...

A certain rule that makes words law, a certain absolute realm that she cannot see.

The heart is beating in the chest cavity.

Each heartbeat pumps out a flow of blood mixed with novelty and trepidation.

Fear remains, but another, stronger emotion is emerging.
It was awe of absolute power, and an uncontrollable fascination that arose because this power belonged to the golden figure standing in the rain.

"Kekell"

A painful murmur drew Selena's attention back to her.
"Diana."

Selena lowered her head, her voice tinged with urgency.

The blonde woman, whom she called Diana, fluttered her eyelashes and finally slowly opened her eyes.

Her eyes were first filled with confusion and physiological tears. She subconsciously raised her hand and rubbed her aching temples, then strained to focus her gaze on Selena's face.

"You...Selena?"

Her voice was hoarse and uncertain, "How did you... get here? I remember we just..."

Unpleasant fragments of memory suddenly returned, and Diana's face drained of color, turning deathly pale. She grabbed Selena's arm abruptly, her voice filled with regret.

"Sorry... Selena, I dragged you into this."

Seeing her sober appearance, Selena's tense nerves relaxed slightly.

She never expected that tonight, while simply taking a stroll on the rooftop during a city-wide power outage, she would unexpectedly run into a friend she hadn't seen in years, someone she grew up with in the same orphanage, and in such a disheveled state.

"It's alright, Diana..."

Selena patted her back gently, trying to sound relaxed. She raised her chin and gestured forward, "Look, we have the 'King's' protection."

"king?"

Diana was puzzled, but she suppressed her dizziness and turned her head to look in the direction Selena was looking.

In the rain, darkness outlined a tall silhouette, and the golden figure still stood there.

Ahead of him were the remaining ninjas, who were clearly terrified.

"Who...who is he?"

“My boss,” Selena snorted, a hint of childlike smugness creeping into her voice, “Isn’t he amazing?”

"Isn't it amazing?" Diana asked hesitantly.

Encouraged by their leader's frantic hand seals and incantations, the surviving ninjas suppressed their fear and surged forward once more.

A strange power seemed to be gathering in the darkness, and the air trembled slightly, foreshadowing the imminent eruption of some supernatural force.

Faced with all this, Dio merely let out a cold snort from his nose, about to make a move.
"Oh?"

He let out a soft, ambiguous murmur.

The imposing aura that had been building up suddenly vanished, and he calmly crossed his arms, as if he had suddenly lost interest in the scene, or as if he was waiting for something.

The sudden pause startled the ninjas, but their instincts allowed them to seize this seemingly open opportunity and launch an even faster attack!

Can.
"boom--!"

A blinding white light exploded without warning, instantly engulfing everyone's vision and turning the rainy night into a pure white expanse.

Following closely behind.
There were a few short, shrill cries of agony, and the muffled sound of a sharp weapon tearing flesh was particularly clear in the bright light.

The light faded as abruptly as it had appeared.

Selena blinked hard at her burning eyes, and after a few tears slid down her cheeks, her vision quickly adjusted to the darkness that had returned.

Suddenly, a lithe figure appeared in the rain. The person wore a mask that covered half of their face, and their wet brown hair clung to their forehead. In their hand, a strangely shaped claw weapon was precisely embedded in the chest of the last person standing.

Fresh blood slowly flowed down the cold metal, spreading a faint red hue in the pooled water.

"Miss Scandal?"

Selena gasped instinctively, somewhat taken aback.

"You know her?"

Dina, held tightly in her arms, turned her face weakly to the side, her voice barely audible. Rain and cold sweat soaked her golden hair, making her look like a sunflower ravaged by a storm.

"Um…"

Selena's tone was somewhat complicated, "We can barely be considered... colleagues."

“Scandal,” Dio began, joining the final note of this rainy night.

Upon hearing this, Skandar swiftly withdrew his claws, letting the ninja's body collapse to the ground.

She nodded in response.

His voice sounded somewhat muffled through the mask: "It's me."

"Very good." Dio glanced at the corpses that had been cleared away in an instant, but didn't say a word about her efficient killing. He simply asked something else in a calm tone: "How was the mission?"

Shaking off the bloodstains from his claws, Skandar's tone remained equally calm: "More than seventy percent has been recovered."

Listening to this nonsensical conversation, Selena felt dizzy. What kind of code were these two talking about?
But she couldn't care less about that at the moment, and looked anxiously at Dio:

"Dio! My friend is dying, we have to get her to the hospital right away!"

Dio finally shifted his gaze from the carnage, his eyes sweeping over the weak-breathing Diana in Selena's arms, and said with a hint of sarcasm, "Send her to this Gotham Hospital that's currently without power?"

"Do you want her organs to appear in black market shop windows tomorrow morning, all in exquisite packaging?"

Selena's face paled, her lips moved, but she couldn't refute it.

She was all too familiar with the dark side of Gotham, and what Dio said was by no means an exaggeration.

“No need to trouble yourself… Selena…” Diana coughed weakly, which aggravated the wound at the corner of her mouth, but her eyes were unusually clear. “I’m fine… my body is healing on its own. You know, my body… has always had a much stronger self-healing ability than others since I was a child.”

Selena was taken aback by what she heard, and then, as if waking from a dream, she looked closely at her best friend in her arms.

Just then, a pale bolt of lightning tore through the sky, briefly illuminating the entire alley.

In the fleeting light, Selena could clearly see that the abnormal, deathly paleness on Diana's face was slowly fading away at a visible speed.

What surprised her even more was that the edges of the previously gruesome wounds on Diana's arms and lower abdomen were now slowly shrinking, and new granulation tissue was quietly growing.
Only then did she belatedly breathe a sigh of relief, her tense shoulders slumping. She had been so concerned that she had completely forgotten about Diana's monstrous self-healing ability.

"Can…"

Selena wanted to say something, but Diana was already struggling, trying to stand on her own.

“I want to go back to the martial arts gym first… Selena.”

Although Diana's voice was still a little weak, her eyes had regained their clarity and determination.

"A martial arts school?" Selena frowned immediately, looking at her disapprovingly. "But how can I feel at ease with you like this? And what if..."

"Enough! Stop putting on this weird sisterly show."

Dior interrupted their argument, "I have no interest in hearing you argue about the location of the sanatorium. Summarize what happened in three sentences. I'm in a hurry."

Selena and Diana exchanged a glance.

Finally, Diana took a deep breath and quickly explained, "After the power went out tonight, a man covered in injuries broke into my martial arts gym and shoved this into my hands."

She opened her palm, revealing a black USB drive.

Rainwater slid down her cheeks and dripped onto the small metal object.

"He said it had to be given to DEO, and absolutely not to anyone else, not even ARGUS, and then... he died."

“Immediately afterwards, a group of ninjas rushed in. I told them I could have the USB drive, but they insisted that I had taken some kind of ‘black diamond’ and started chasing me without saying a word…”

“That’s right,” Selena quickly interjected. “I saw Diana being chased by them on the rooftop, so I intervened…”

"And then the two of them got chased and hacked at together?"

Dior raised an eyebrow sarcastically, interrupting her explanation.

Selena shut her mouth in embarrassment, unable to refute the embarrassing truth.

Without looking at Selena, Dior's gaze returned to the small USB drive.

DEO, Supernatural Operations Department...

He remembered that old Deng in the family seemed to have an advisory title, and that old Deng's Martian best friend, Ron Jones, seemed to be the boss there.

As for ARGUS…

He had vaguely heard Martians mention it.
It was created by a woman named Amanda Waller, known as the "Sky Eye Society," which is the Bureau of Paranormal Investigation.

Um.
A messenger who would rather die than give something to DEO than ARGUS…

A group of ninjas willing to kill to find the so-called 'black diamond'...

Dior stopped looking at the two women and simply took out his phone.

The screen emitted a faint light in the rainy night, however.
The signal grid space was completely blank.

He opened the most recent text messages; the previous message from the Martian was still there.
A candid photo.

The image shows his old man and a muscular man at a banquet, their arms around each other and crying. The background is a blurry campfire and a jubilant crowd.

Dio's lips twitched uncontrollably.

He expressionlessly shoved his phone back into his pocket, his gaze returning to the small black USB drive. He then turned to the blonde woman, his tone a businesslike detachment: "This..."

“Dinah…Dinah Drake Lance.”

The woman took a deep breath and gave her name.

“Yes, Ms. Dinah Drake Lance.”

Dior asked calmly, "Would you be interested in making a deal?"

After he finished speaking, he didn't give Diana any chance to interrupt.

"You should also know that in Gotham at night, especially in a Gotham that has fallen into complete darkness, order is a luxury."

“The journey from here to your so-called ‘martial arts school’ is far from peaceful.”

"Give me the USB drive," Dio stated his condition, while gesturing with his eyes to the silent Skandar beside him. "I'll have her professionally and safely escort you back."

"This deal is fair, isn't it?"

Raindrops pattered against the ground and the dilapidated buildings, making a continuous pattering sound.

Dior stood there, his golden hair damp with rain, his eyes calm and unwavering, awaiting her reply.

Almost the instant he finished speaking, Diana also breathed a sigh of relief.

Without hesitation, she handed the small black USB drive to Dior.

"take it."

Her tone was light with relief, “This is completely unwarranted. Thank you, Mr. King.”

Dior reached out, pinched the USB drive between his fingertips, and casually stuffed it into his pocket without even looking at it.

Then he turned to Skandar and instructed, "Send both of them back."

Skander's figure, however, seemed rooted to the spot, remaining completely still.

Her icy voice came through the mask, leaving no room for negotiation:
"I can only bring one person."

Dior raised an eyebrow, a flash of displeasure in his eyes: "Why?"

Skandar turned slightly to the side and pointed to another sleek black motorcycle parked in the shadows not far away: "My motorcycle can only seat one person."

A brief silence followed, broken only by the patter of rain.

Dior rubbed his temples and changed the command:
"...Then you take the two of them and walk back."

“No.” Scandal refused again, decisively.

"Why again?" Dio's voice was clearly impatient.

"Because Gotham at night without power is very unsafe," Scandal stated, his logic remarkably clear. "Three people on foot are an obvious target, move slowly, and are difficult to defend against."

"This is Gotham, not here."

Dior almost laughed in anger.

But just then, Diana gently tugged at Selena's arm and whispered a few words quickly in her ear.

Selena first widened her eyes slightly, and then her ears turned a thin blush at a visible speed, which was particularly noticeable in the damp night.

She gently nudged Diana with a hint of reproach, but her expression softened considerably.

"Alright, alright, Selena has her own methods."

Diana broke the stalemate with a smile, walked over to Scandal's motorcycle, straddled it with a deft movement, and then waved to Selena, "I'll go back with this... cool lady first."

"Selena, I'll trouble your 'King' to escort you later!"

Skandar neither agreed nor disagreed with the teasing, but simply nodded slightly before getting on his motorcycle.

The engine emitted a suppressed, low roar, and the black panther instantly awoke.

It carried two women and deftly tore through the rain.

Only Selena and Dio remained in the same spot.

Watching the taillights disappear around the street corner, Dior turned to Selena expressionlessly:

“When did I say I would send you back, Miss Selena? Figure out your own way back to the club. I’m in a hurry to get home.”

Selena's face darkened.

But she immediately changed into a pitiful look, pointed to her blood-stained and disheveled clothes, and even deliberately staggered forward a couple of steps, her steps unsteady, making her already somewhat unnatural ankle seem even more aggravated.

"Are you really comfortable letting me, in my current state, traverse this dark Gotham, a place teeming with madmen and criminals, all by myself?"

Her voice still carried a slight tremor and a hint of grievance.

Dior looked at her silently, his pupils revealing no emotion, as if he were weighing something.

Seeing that he didn't immediately refuse, Selena decided to press her advantage. She said in a languid and seductive tone, "How about... you take me home?"

"Let me tell you, my cat can do backflips! It's amazing!"

"?"

Dior looked utterly bewildered. "I already said I'm in a hurry to get home."

He glanced at his watch; the hour hand was already close to 10 p.m.

It takes more than an hour to drive back to Smallville from here.

Where did he find the time in America to send this troublesome stray cat back to its den?

What's more, there are two infants at home who need to be fed...

As if he had thought of something, Dio suddenly stopped.

His gaze returned to Selena, and his thoughts drifted back to that afternoon.

Previously, outside that dilapidated orphanage in Gotham's East Side, this woman was handing out gifts when she was surrounded by a group of dirty little children. Although she looked disgusted, her movements were surprisingly skilled, and she could even handle four or five crying brats at the same time...

She... seems...

Do you know how to handle children?
The idea quietly took root in Dior's mind and began to spread at an astonishing speed.

The slight impatience on his face vanished instantly, replaced by a meaningful calm.

He didn't say anything more, but simply straddled his sleek silver Harley motorcycle, started the engine, and then turned his head to gesture to the back seat with his eyes.

Selena's face immediately lit up with a victorious smile, a hint of smugness in her expression. She nimbly jumped onto the back seat, her arms naturally wrapping around Dio's waist.

just
As the motorcycle tore through the rain and sped through one familiar street corner after another, Selena's smile gradually froze.

This direction…

It was neither the way to her cozy apartment nor the way back to that noisy Iceberg Club!
The surrounding scenery became increasingly unfamiliar, towering buildings were replaced by low bungalows, and the city's neon lights were left far behind. It was clear that we were speeding towards leaving the city!
"Hey...wait! Dio!"

Selena couldn't help but raise her voice, bringing her lips close to his ear and shouting with all her might amidst the howling wind and roaring engine:
"This isn't the way to my house, nor is it the bus back to the iceberg!"

(End of this chapter)