American comics: Praising the sun, starting from Gotham!

The old man tossed a metal plaque to Jerami, who was standing next to him.

Jerami instinctively caught it.

The boy felt a sudden weight on his wrist the moment he touched it.

That was real, pure gold.

What was carved on it wasn't anything auspicious or lucky, but rather a somewhat ferocious ouroboros.

"This counts as the entrance fee."

Lei Xiao Augu withdrew his hand.

"Kids these days are very pragmatic, and I think that's more effective than a business card, right?"

Jeremy didn't hear what he was saying at all. His eyes had turned a golden yellow, and his teeth were chattering uncontrollably. He had never seen such a large piece of gold in his entire life, not even in his dreams.

But the golden light did not warm Alvin, who was standing in front of him.

The man who had endured countless tortures in the Court of Owls without ever showing any turmoil was now experiencing spasms throughout his body.

Lei Xiao Augu did not release any killing intent; the ancient soul simply stood there, and its weight was enough to crush him.

"Relax, Alvin."

Xiu En tumbled off the second-floor balcony like a sack of potatoes with springs in it, completely losing his composure.

He stomped on the ground, sending dirt flying everywhere.

After landing, he reached out and snatched the crucial gold medal from Jeremy's arms.

"Boom!"

Xiu En's mouth, which A Fu had criticized countless times, left two clear rows of teeth marks on this antique gold medal without any mercy.

Lei Xiao's usually calm green eyes narrowed slightly.

He is knowledgeable and well-informed.

He had seen madmen who killed their fathers for power, fanatics who destroyed the world for their ideals, and so-called heroes who, like that detective, regarded darkness as their companion.

But he had never seen anyone so brazenly munching on the Assassin's Creed token like a breakfast cookie in front of an Immortal.

And it seems he even complained that the thing was a bit soft?

"The purity is actually pretty good."

Xiu clicked his tongue, and instead of returning the tag to Jerami, he put it into the pocket of his trench coat.

"Alright, although this stuff can't be used for paving roads, I can accommodate you if you want to use this garden to practice Tai Chi."

His eyes were fixed unabashedly on the emerald green jade pendant at Lei Xiao Augu's waist.

Lei Xiao Augu was amused, literally.

"Do you know what this sign means?"

The old man, with his hands behind his back, stepped past Joestar and approached the young man whose posture was slouching.

"In the underworld, with this, you can even buy a real island."

"Oh, so that means it's really valuable."

"But I'm more concerned about something else, old man. I heard you're quite the bath enthusiast? I have a brother who wears a bat costume and is quite averse to the water in your tub, but the color looks a bit like a giant vegetable soup to me?"

"Vegetable soup? He even told you that?"

Lei Xiao Augu actually laughed out loud this time, although his laughter still carried only a cold indifference.

But the admiration in his eyes only deepened, because he saw in this young man something purer and more disdainful of worldly rules than his own.

"You can try it if you have the chance, although I'm not sure if your stomach can really digest the curse of time."

Lei Xiao's fingers gently caressed the jade pendant that Xiu En had his eye on, as if displaying bait.

"By the way, if I understand correctly what you meant by 'brother,' I think we'll have more in common than you think."

Xiu En weighed the gold medal in his hand.

"Seven parts firm, three parts sweet."

"Although it's a bit tough, it definitely tastes better than those cheap bullets from Black Mask that have too much lead."

Lei Xiao Aug simply flicked his sleeve, as if the bits of gold that had been bitten off were really just bread crumbs.

He stood by the flowerbed, ignoring both the trembling killer and the scavenging boy with his eyes practically bulging out of their sockets. His gaze passed through this barely forcibly cleared-off patch of land and fell upon the eastern district's buildings, which still appeared gloomy and oppressive even in the morning light.

"If you like this kind of taste, you'll find that most of this city is bitter lead."

"You're too late, young man. Even just a few days ago, when the sirens of police cars hadn't yet faded from this chaotic land, that clown named Edward... who called himself the Riddler? dared to lay the battlefield right on the doorstep of law enforcement."

Lei Xiao Augu turned around and continued:

"Bombs, poison gas, and this meaningless black crude oil everywhere! This isn't the vitality of life; it's just maggots feasting on corpses."

He stretched a finger into the air, as if drawing a huge picture of decay there.

"The gunfight outside the police station, the ruins of the shipyard—these places that should be governed by order have now become the playground of those clowns. No, this can't even be called a game; it's just an aesthetically displeasing excretion."

The old man's gaze finally fell on Xiu En.

"You possess the power to illuminate all of this, the Chosen One, or whatever you may call yourself. Are you truly willing to use this light, capable of reshaping stars, to compete with those madmen wallowing in the mud for a piece of moldy bread?"

"This city is sick, and it's a cancer deep within its bones. There's no other way but to remove it."

The old man began to preach his theory of purifying the city, believing that destruction was the only way to bring about new life.

If it were Bruce, he would probably already be mentally calculating a thousand moral paradoxes to refute this cathartic theory.

If it were some hot-blooded idiot full of a sense of justice, he might have already raised his fist and shouted that no one can decide whether someone lives or dies.

But the one standing there now is Xiu En.

Xiu En didn't even bother to yawn; he simply tilted his head.

"Sir, what you're saying sounds like... the kind of cleaning lady who, if she accidentally steps in dog poop, would seal the whole street with cement."

Shuon's smile was so radiant that Alvin's eyelids twitched, and Jenny thought this metaphor was probably going to be written into the Proverbs of God by Joestar again:

"If you find this place too noisy, I think you can go to the Antarctic Rift Valley. There are very few viruses and people there, and I guarantee that apart from penguins, no one will be competing with you for space."

Lei Xiao Augu's face, which had maintained a perfect aristocratic demeanor, froze for a moment.

But he was, after all, a politician who had lived for centuries, and that desire to sweep the imperfect pieces off the table was instantly swallowed up by the depths of his green eyes.

He chuckled softly.

"A very interesting analogy, a cleaner? In a sense, I do have the biggest broom."

He stopped trying to persuade this stubborn rock with grand principles.

Lei Xiao Augu took the ancient jade that had been shining brightly in Xiu En's sight from his waist.

It swayed slightly in the air, and the flowing green luster inside seemed to possess a living, breathing quality.

"That detective, your ally, is just as stubborn as you are. But unlike you, he refuses to evolve."

The old man held the jade pendant flat in his palm and took a step closer to Xiu En.

"This piece of jade is merely a trivial waste I extracted from the pool water. If you find even the slightest bit of his so-called 'no-kill' principle and 'protecting the mud' boring, or if you wish to taste a main course a hundred times purer than this waste..."

His eyes held a hint of seduction and challenge:

"I think you'd be happy to come and see my bathroom. There's no entrance fee, and I can guarantee... no one will dare to take it from you."