"No, you're wrong."
Eric looked coldly at Batman on the screen. "I don't hate this world; rather, I see problems more profoundly than any of you. I am gradually revealing the truth of the world, and you are feeling uneasy!"
Eric slowly walked towards the screen, getting closer to Batman.
"What is the fundamental reason for Gotham's rampant corruption and crime? You know better than anyone that the hedonistic capitalists pushed the city into the fire, yet they blame the innocent poor for not putting it out effectively. You are a vigilante at night and a capitalist during the day. Why don't you pull yourself down from your position first and judge yourself?"
Eric looked at Batman, who had his head bowed, remained silent for a moment, and then continued, "And that Joker, you love him, don't you?"
"What?"
"You hide alone in the dark city, just for that Joker, watching him kill innocent person after innocent person! You love having him revolve around you, playing your ridiculous archenemy game, but you don't know how many lives have been lost!"
"No,"
Batman, still with his head bowed, murmured, "You know that's not true."
"Look at you, Batman, you are an extremely self-centered guy. You hide in the darkness, completely disregarding your friends around you. You don't even pay attention to your family. I heard you've taken in many children as Robin in the past two years, and you demand things from them as a father!
You have never fulfilled your role as a father; you even caused the Death of a Robin! Your parents both died, leaving only you, Batman! What reason do you have to shirk a father's responsibility!"
Batman gritted his teeth, his fists clenching with a creaking sound. Before Eric had even finished speaking, he roared.
"Ah ah ah ah!"
Losing control, Batman roared and slammed his fist hard against the wall in front of him.
Even though Eric wasn't there, he could still feel the force of that blow.
"This is you, completely losing control after a few words from me. If you can't put yourself in others' shoes, don't pretend to be a sage! Keep hiding, Batman, when I find you, I will kill you!"
Eric gave Batman a cold glance and turned to leave.
Batman, however, raised his blood-soaked hand, "Wait!"
"What, still something to say?"
"You are right, Eric."
Batman looked up and said sadly to Eric, "You are right. If I had your power, my methods would be no different from yours. I would also forcefully implement my peace policy like you, but—",
"You should do better than me!"
Eric didn't speak, looked at the dejected Batman, and turned to leave.
Wonder Woman quickly followed Eric's footsteps.
"I didn't expect you to say so much to Batman."
Diana said to Eric.
"Don't you two have some sort of acquaintance?"
"We know each other."
Wonder Woman shrugged, "But we've only met a few times and dealt with vampires together. Speaking of which, that woman has a deeper relationship with him."
"Who?" Eric asked.
"That woman from the future."
Diana exhaled, sounding a bit displeased.
Whenever the topic of her future self came up, Wonder Woman's mood would sour.
She quickly changed the subject, "Why do you know Batman so well?"
"What?"
"The person who always talks about killing Batman actually knows him better than anyone. This can't help but be an unsolved mystery."
Facing Wonder Woman's teasing, Eric was silent for a moment.
"I am always willing to understand my enemies!"
"No!"
Wonder Woman could tell Eric wasn't speaking from the heart.
"Don't force it, Eric. At some point, you must have known him very well, even considered him a friend."
Gotham.
"He's just putting on a front!"
In a dark alley at night, a female voice echoed from within.
Catwoman, in her wild black cat suit, walked deeper into the alley, her footsteps echoing on the ground.
Not far from her, a person lay on the ground.
A pool of blood had congealed beside him.
An expensive handbag lay in front of him, its precious cosmetics spilled out, mixed with a few bullets.
At his feet, a black cat curiously circled the corpse.
She knew the dead man in front of her.
His name was Joey Gayton. A few years ago, he used to be a mechanic.
But not long after, his life collapsed. With the economic downturn, he lost his job, and soon after, his house, but at least he still had his family and honor.
There are many such petty thieves now. Compared to those sanctimonious, well-dressed beasts who ruin lives at will, these people only commit insignificant minor crimes.
Men and women who have nothing must find a way to survive, but Joey did not survive.
Catwoman walked up to him, knelt down, and looked at his corpse, sighing in her heart.
She rummaged through the bag on the ground, shaking her head.
"When you were alive, you often stole handbags and wallets, especially from cars. You weren't a very bad person, yet you were stabbed by those self-proclaimed righteous scumbags and left here to die!"
Bang!
After taking things from the handbag, Catwoman used her grappling hook to swing upwards.
As she soared through the air, many thoughts flashed through her mind.
Petty thieves like Joey struggled to survive in fear—the fear of being caught, of disappointing loved ones, or of being imprisoned and unable to see their children grow up, or the fear of letting down those who depended on them.
Catwoman swung her rope and landed on a building, seeing a squad of military police patrolling the street, and immediately hid herself in the shadows.
After the patrolling soldiers disappeared, Catwoman used her grappling hook to swing down, landing her body outside a first-floor window of the building.
After cutting the glass, she entered this wealthy family's home.
Upon entering the room, she shrugged, looking at the luxurious decor.
"Well, the guy who owns this mansion must have taken many ordinary people's homes. This bastard finally, when his empire was about to collapse—when his greed and mismanagement ruined this company and everyone's lives—he took a huge sum of taxpayer emergency aid to give himself a raise and get rich!"
As she spoke, she walked over and moved a painting on the wall.
Behind the painting was a safe, hidden there, undiscovered by anyone.
Catwoman took off her metal necklace and used it as a key to operate the safe.
"This is the true face of evil!"
Catwoman muttered as she skillfully opened the safe.
Looking at the jewelry and money inside, she nodded in satisfaction.
"Well, these shiny things are mine, and this money might be able to go to Joey's family."
"Catwoman!"
Just as she was triumphantly taking money and jewelry from the safe, a familiar voice sounded from behind her.
Selina looked back and saw Eric standing behind her, she didn't know when.
Carrying a full bag, she paused, then lowered her head to greet Eric, "Hi, Homelander, are you here to help? Thank you, this bag is quite heavy!"
"What—what is this situation?"
Before Eric could answer, a man in pajamas came down the stairs holding a gun, looking at Eric and Catwoman with the bag, then at his opened safe, and said in surprise.
"Damn it!"
Selina cursed and immediately jumped out the window.
Since she was tied with a rope, she didn't have to worry about falling straight down.
Whoosh!
Selina's body plummeted rapidly through the air, but Eric was even faster, descending from the sky and accelerating, instantly flying to Selina's side and grabbing her.
Thud!
Eric landed on the ground, holding Catwoman's body.
"It seems you still haven't escaped me, Selina!"
Looking at the somewhat dazed Selina in his arms, Eric put her down.
"Well, I knew you'd come looking for me recently, but just to be clear, I won't be giving back what I've taken."
Selina jumped out of Eric's arms and said.
"You haven't contacted me recently. I remember our contractual relationship hasn't been terminated, Selina."
Eric looked at Miss Catwoman, whom he had left his mark on, and slowly said.
"I—I'm just a bit lost."
Catwoman said to Eric, "I wanted to calm down."
"Lost?"
"Yes."
Catwoman looked directly into Eric's eyes and said, "What if there was a god-like guy, incredibly fast, who could see or hear anything you're doing at will, and he suddenly decided to severely punish the entire city?
Of course, I mean, this level of action would certainly make ordinary criminals stop. But now, criminals are being discovered in large numbers every day, and many people die every night.
Eric, some people see you as a savior, some people look up to you, but those who look up to you, they cannot empathize, they cannot see the hypocritical side of their actions, they think they have been given the right to kill bad people."
Catwoman sighed, "But they don't even know what true bad people are like. True evil is that rich man just now. Sometimes I don't know if what you're doing is right or wrong."
"Maybe things got worse, maybe they got better."
Selina looked at Eric, "That's why I'm lost."
"Eric, you are already caught in this holy war, so can you do me a favor? Don't forget the working people you're trying to protect. You are high above, you can see the whole picture, try your best to prevent people from dying! Millions and millions of people have already lost their homes in America; they are victims of the cruel attacks by greedy corporations and banks."
Selina's tone was a bit agitated, "This is my request, Eric!"
"I know, Selina."
Eric looked at the agitated Catwoman, his expression still calm, "I know who created the villains, and I know the true nature of this world."
"That's good then."
Catwoman came over and hugged Eric, "I'm a little scared. I thought you had changed. The old you wouldn't be like this. I thought you would attack the common people."
"I have never changed."
Eric looked at Catwoman for a long time and then asked her, "Come with me to Metropolis."
"So you want me to join your faction?"
Catwoman's expression changed, and she asked slyly.
"You could interpret it that way."
"Then I must apologize, I don't want to leave this city, at least not yet. There are still many things waiting for me to do here."
Selina refused Eric's invitation.
"Is that so?"
Eric turned to look at the city, "Although this city has changed somewhat because of me, it is still a dangerous place."
"You don't have to worry about that. I have my own way of surviving."
Selina smiled at Eric, "So, are you going to arrest me now? After all, you've become the ruler of this city, or rather, all of America."
"Not for now."
Eric shook his head, "I'm not a busybody who does everything himself."
"That's good. I'm going to the orphanage next. If you have time, I don't mind if you come with me."
Selina tidied her equipment and said to Eric.
Hearing Selina mention the orphanage, Eric paused.
Memories from his previous life flooded back, and after a moment of stunned, he nodded.
He hadn't made any special arrangements.
After returning from Alaska, he stayed with his sister at the hospital for a while.
Although Clark's arrival was somewhat surprising, it did not exceed his expectations.
What he hadn't expected was that Rachel would be able to suppress Clark after the outburst.
Despite having overestimated his sister's potential quite a bit, he still hadn't expected it to exceed his imagination.
After leaving the Star Scepter with his sister for self-defense, Eric left the hospital, preparing to come to Gotham to try and find Batman's whereabouts, but unexpectedly discovered Catwoman in the act of theft.
This was the reason for his encounter with Catwoman.
Bringing his thoughts back, Ariel followed Catwoman towards the orphanage in Gotham City.
"Do you know?"
Catwoman suddenly said to Eric, "The first time I tasted pizza was at the orphanage. I knew a very good staff member there named Brubaker. She was a bit plump but very optimistic. But later she was transferred."
Catwoman walked down the street, silent for a while, then said to Eric, "Later I entered a juvenile detention center, and there, I saw how cruel the world was. I remember I was 13 at the time, and I found out the administrator of the juvenile detention center was embezzling funds. Later, in an attempt to cover up his criminal activities, the administrator put me in a sack and threw me into the river. He wanted to drown me."
"Do you know the outcome, Eric?"
"The outcome is that you're still alive."
"Uh-huh, correct answer, but still a bit off. I escaped and went back to the orphanage to steal files, trying to expose the administrator's corruption. I used those documents to threaten the administrator, forcing him to remove the name 'Selina Kyle' from the city archives. Then I stole the administrator's diamond necklace and escaped from the orphanage."
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