American comics: Praising the sun, starting from Gotham!

He took half a step forward, as if he was about to turn away, or as if he was about to collapse from exhaustion.

That half-step distance was just enough for him to cross that so-called safety boundary.

"cough--!"

A coughing fit broke out.

Accompanying the cough was not a spray of saliva, but a rusty steel pipe that had been swung around in a wide arc.

Using the slight twisting force of his waist, he slammed the iron lump in his hand hard against the yellow-haired man's thigh, which was clad in tight jeans.

"Click."

The crisp sound of bones cracking even drowned out the dense sound of rain.

The steel pipe used no fancy techniques to directly cause the blond man's right knee to form a reverse angle.

"Aaaaaah!"

The screams instantly tore through the rain.

The blond-haired man fell to one side, the switchblade flying out of his hand, his arrogant face instantly contorted into a mangled mess of flesh from the excruciating pain.

Before the other two could react, Xiu En had already turned around using the momentum of his swing.

He didn't give the two men a chance to draw their guns or knives.

Whether you're doing good or bad, in Gotham, hesitation leads to defeat, and being soft-hearted means giving up.

The tall man, who was about to touch his lower back, had just slipped his hand inside his clothes when Xiu En's steel pipe arrived. The pipe pierced the man's abdomen, turning his roar into a dry heave, followed by a blow to the head.

Although the force had diminished considerably due to his weakness, the sound of the iron hitting his forehead was still enough to make one's teeth ache.

The third person panicked completely.

He watched as his two companions collapsed to the ground, then looked at Xiu En, whose mouth was full of blood and whose eyes looked like a ghost, and instinctively turned to run away.

"Do good deeds from beginning to end."

Xiu En gritted his teeth and threw the steel pipe in his hand away violently.

The steel pipe spun and struck the fleeing man's ankle. Although it didn't break his leg, it was enough to send him sprawling face-first onto the slippery ground.

Xiu En dragged his heavy steps over, panting three times with each step.

He walked over to the man who was trying to get up, raised his foot, and stomped hard on the man's knee joint.

He stomped on the wall three times until he heard that pleasant, crisp sound, then he stopped and leaned against it, panting heavily.

Only the wails of three men echoed through the alley, along with the trembling victim huddled in a corner.

Xiu En felt as if a ball of burning coal was stuffed into his lungs, each breath searing his trachea. But he had to move; he didn't have much time, and even less strength.

He crouched down next to the tall man, ignoring the man's resentful gaze, and reached out to grope inside his clothes.

I got my hands on something cold and heavy.

The Glock 19 has considerable wear on the slide, a typical black gun.

"nice one."

Xiu En tucked the gun into his belt and then expertly searched the pockets of the three men.

Several rolls of US dollars, probably around a hundred, were soaked by the rain.

There were also a few packets of unidentified white powder and a few crumpled coupons.

He carefully collected the money and the switchblade that had fallen to the ground earlier.

As for the powder, he casually tossed it into the sewer.

After doing all this, Xiu En felt his legs go weak and he sat down on the muddy ground.

He wiped the blood from his face, looked at the dumbfounded victim in the corner, and then at the system interface on his retina.

"System, does this count as doing good deeds? I helped the citizens of Gotham clean up three social outcasts and even retrieved dangerous weapons while I was at it."

The interface on the retina began to shake violently.

The system panel suddenly turned a somber dark gold.

A booming sound, as if from the collision of ancient bronze artifacts, rang out.

The shock made his head buzz.

"【Geng metal governs destruction, and in autumn it brings annihilation to all things…】"

"[When Venus traverses the sky, it signifies a revolution in the world, and a new king for the people...]"

"【This is a method of killing, not an act of benevolence... However, even thunder is merciful on this wicked land.】"

The voice oscillated between "benevolence" and "ruthlessness".

It seemed to feel a kind of instinctive pleasure from the simple and brutal physical exorcism that Hugh had just performed.

However, as a system that claims to "do good deeds and accumulate virtue," it also appears somewhat, even arrogantly, conflicted.

Xiu En covered his ears, but the sound directly affected his nerves.

"Can't you speak like a human being? I'm coughing so hard my lungs are about to burst, and you're still reciting classical Chinese?"

The system seemed to choke on Xiu En's impatience.

Those messy ancient symbols instantly disintegrated on my retina.

[Judgment complete.]

[Behavioral Logic: Violence for Violence, Cleansing Away Defilement.]

[Comment: Although the methods were ruthless, they were in line with the "White Emperor's" ruthless nature.]

[Reward Distributed: Little Sun Temporary Power Pack (Automatically Utilized)]

The next second, a warm current appeared out of nowhere in Xiu En's chest.

Xiu En took a deep breath of the rain-smelling air.

Transparent.

Unprecedented clarity.

Although his body was still as thin as a bamboo pole and his muscles were still atrophied and weak, the heavy shackles that threatened to kill him at any moment had been temporarily removed.

He looked up, and on his retina, the death knell of a red countdown was pounding wildly, the numbers rising rapidly before finally freezing.

[Lifespan Countdown: 27 hours, 45 minutes, and 12 seconds]

That glaring scarlet finally turned back into a relatively gentle pale gold.

"One day...is this the price of living?"

Xiu En clenched his fist. Although his strength had not increased substantially, he could feel his heartbeat becoming stronger and more stable.

that's enough.

In this damn Gotham, as long as you don't cough up blood, it means you have unlimited possibilities.

He stood up from the mud, his movements even more swift than when he was hitting someone.

At this moment, apart from the sound of rain and the faint groans of the three thugs, the only other sound in the alley was the victim's rapid breathing from that corner.

It was a middle-aged woman wearing an inexpensive suit, clutching her briefcase tightly, a piece of her glasses broken, and she was trembling like a leaf.

The way she looked at Xiu En was a hundred times more terrified than when she looked at the three thugs.

In the simple values ​​of Gotham citizens.

Thugs are only after money.

A madman covered in blood, breaking someone's leg with a steel pipe and talking to himself while talking to thin air is usually deadly.

"No...don't kill me..."

The middle-aged woman shakily reached into her bosom, seemingly trying to take out her wallet.

"I have money, you can have it all... please don't kill me..."

Xiu En glanced down at him, then looked at the steel pipe in his hand that was still dripping pink rainwater.

He casually tossed the steel pipe into a nearby trash can.

"Keep it for medical treatment."

Xiu En patted the US dollars he had just taken from the thug in his pocket; they were his meal tickets for the day.

As for the victim, the system didn't issue any follow-up tasks, and he was too lazy to cause any more trouble.

He turned around, not glancing at the three lumps of rotten flesh on the ground again, and walked out of the dark alley, hands in his pockets, splashing through the water.

Behind me came the sound of a middle-aged woman crying with relief.

Stepping out of the alley, Gotham's iconic gloomy sky remained oppressive.

But Xiu En was in a good mood.

He had a gun, a knife, a little over a hundred dollars, and twenty-seven hours to live.

Compared to ten minutes ago, this is like getting rich overnight.

The priority now is to fill our stomachs, and then find a somewhat decent place to study what other functions this neurotic system has.

The "[Legion Binding]" notification bothered him, as it meant he was trapped in Gotham.

Across the street was a 24-hour convenience store with a neon sign, bulletproof film on the glass windows, and two menacing-looking Black men squatting at the entrance.

Xiu En touched the hard object at his waist and walked straight over.