Starting With Batman

da da da da—

Ivan appeared swaggeringly at the door as if cosplaying Rambo. With a cigarette in his mouth, his arrogant posture seemed to silently shout, "You are all surrounded!"

The gangsters near the door were stunned by the grenade. Some were knocked down by the shock wave, while others died in a trance.

Unfortunately, Ivan only caught them by surprise. Although the hall was full of enemies, not all were concentrated. Neither grenades nor a bullet rain could suppress everyone.

After recovering, the gangsters quickly organized a counterattack. Though their aim was poor, they had numbers on their side. Many were also carrying Sub-machine guns; even without aiming, a barrage of bullets is still highly fatal. Ivan soon had to find cover; the dense gunfire blew the roulette table he hid behind to pieces.

Charlie realized that Ivan might not be as cold as he seemed. During the day, he lazily talked about casualties being nothing more than statistics, acting like he didn't care. But, not long after, here he was, with a gun, preparing to put an end to the infection.

This caused Charlie to hold Ivan in high regard.

However, feelings aside, Ivan's actions are not acceptable.

In Charlie's eyes, all the gangsters in the hall were not only criminals but also walking Hero Points. Every time one was killed by Ivan's bullets, it meant fewer Hero Points for Charlie. This was undoubtedly a significant loss.

He couldn't let Ivan have all the fun.

With Ivan attracting all the firepower, Charlie didn't have to be as cautious. Batman descended from the air while still under the cover of the shadows; he approached two gangsters at the back and took them out silently.

The dense gunfire and deafening noise covered the sound of his actions. Everyone focused on Ivan, not noticing the silent take-down in the back.

Charlie soon realized that Ivan had serious skills. Facing so many opponents, he suppressed them alone.

Ivan moved and adjusted while shooting, always finding cover to avoid enemy fire and exposing enemies in his line of sight through his movements.

Ivan seemed to anticipate every move, understand every position, and predict every attack.

In no time, everyone in the hall was either knocked down or killed.

Batman moved through the shadows, unseen by Ivan.

But just because Ivan didn't see him didn't mean he didn't notice.

All twenty-two enemies in the hall were down. With a cigarette in his mouth and a gun on his shoulder, Ivan walked through the blood-soaked hall, deep in thought.

In a shootout like this, it's usually hard to tell who killed whom. It's a confrontation with firepower. But Ivan knew exactly where each of his bullets went. There were twenty-two people in the hall. He killed nine. The remaining thirteen were taken down by someone else.

The most frightening part was that he only realized this at the end, not during the battle.

Ivan frowned.

Such a thing was almost unheard of. He was confident in his abilities, aware of every slight change in the fight. Even if the other person was skilled, they couldn't completely escape his notice.

But someone just did.

There was something else here. Like a ghost, silently moving through the battle, wielding a transparent sickle like a grim reaper.

It took down thirteen people without him realizing it.

"Interesting."

After figuring this out, Ivan laughed. He looked around the messy hall, lit a new cigarette, and continued forward, stepping on the wreckage.

He couldn't find the "ghost," so he stopped looking.

In any case, his purpose didn't change.

Ivan thought of himself as an easy-to-understand person. Some people in the city were like maggots in the gutter. If you saw them, you felt sick. If you didn't get rid of them, you couldn't sleep well.

He acted on whims, just like when he broke the neck of a criminal in the interrogation room.

Besides, while taking out these trash, he might as well clean up the infection.

Anyway, if all potential infection targets were killed, the infection wouldn't spread, right?

Even without valid reasons or evidence, such a conjecture is enough for him to implement his actions.

Ivan walked ahead, and Batman followed silently in the shadows.

Operating Batman, Charlie felt a bit strange.

Listening to the gangsters earlier, their leaders should all be inside for a meeting. The shootout was intense, with bullets almost piercing the ceiling.

They had already taken down all the personnel at the entrance, but the remaining gang members inside did nothing.

---

Finding the conference room, Ivan emptied his magazine through the door to show his "goodwill." He then kicked the door open and strode in.

But there was no one. The table was a mess, filled with half-eaten food and random cigarette butts.

Clearly, someone had been here a few minutes ago.

Ivan found a small door in the room. It seemed the gang had prepared an escape route.

---

The gang leaders, led by Nagase, were sneaking out through the back door to the underground parking lot.

Nagase cursed as he ran, complaining about his recent bad luck.

Business was sabotaged, and personal affairs were a mess; A simple killing of some tramp turned into the awakening of some bad omen.

And now, a few minutes ago, a group of lunatics attacked his lair. So unlucky, So F*cking unlucky!

But it didn't matter.

He had risen from the bottom and experienced worse times. He was confident he could make a comeback.

Click

Suddenly, all the lights in the parking lot went out, plunging it into darkness. The fleeing leaders felt their hearts tense.

Then, they heard laughter echoing in the empty parking lot.

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