The silhouette of the Bat on the moon was gradually obscured by the mist, the abundant vapor brought by the damp ground always seemed to return to the sky. A halo appeared around the moon, making everything seem less real.
And now, everyone is actually standing in a city where seeing is not believing, and hearing is not believing either.
In Gotham, what's important has never been black and white; it's about what you steadfastly hold onto in your heart.
Those wandering the streets in the dead of night are often driven by the things they persist in internally—perhaps desire, perhaps darkness—but the key is whether your persistence is stronger than others'.
If it is, then you are right. If not, you might just end up as another corpse in the sewer or trash heap.
Batman wants to change this, to prove that even if beliefs are frustrated in this city, there is still the right to live. The belief in a happy life, even when faced with the blows of cold reality, still allows ordinary people to survive in Gotham.
In fact, it has some effect, because although Gotham's citizens seem slightly mad, they indeed can still survive, just not in a black-and-white way.
But such actions also garnered Batman a loyal fan, the Joker, who believes human nature is a big joke, which is why he is always happy in Gotham.
Su Ming bent down, patted Damian's head, messing up his hairstyle.
"Angry?"
Damian took a step back, twisting his neck to escape from the clutches. He didn't know why Deathstroke always went for his head, and this feeling... was it a bit familiar? Does this person seem to know him well?
"State your purpose." Damian refocused, as the matter at hand was unexplained.
Every action by Deathstroke has its deeper meaning, even with Otherworldly Deathstroke, he wouldn't believe this mercenary from another world was just passing by and stopped to greet the Teen Titans.
Even if it was to greet the Titans, Da Mi could understand. Maybe every Deathstroke likes to fight Titans?
Damn it, should've picked another team name.
But that kind of greeting should be more intense, like blowing up Nightwing's hospital room or throwing Steel Bone into magma.
Yet in New TT, aside from himself, everyone else is not familiar with Deathstroke.
Currently, Deathstroke's close demeanor leaves Damian searching for a reason, his heart perpetually suspended.
Although Damian showed no emotion, and his eyes were covered by goggles, Su Ming could tell what kind of drama was playing out internally from his clenched fist beside his leg.
Psychology is a skill used to observe human subconscious behavior; even Batman, in a state of extreme surprise, experiences a certain degree of pupil constriction.
This is a human instinct; under the influence of surprise and fear, pupils constrict, enhancing the ability of the eyes to focus, to see potential dangers more clearly.
Batman is still human; if unprepared, he will also display weaknesses.
Of course, Deathstroke's research on Batman isn't extensive; obstructive superheroes aren't just one Bat. But if a journalist could interview the Joker, the Joker might probably write a book titled 'The Corners of the Bat's Mouth.'
And although Damian learned Batman's poker face, he is after all still young, and some subconscious habits completely expose him.
The teammates behind him wore puzzled expressions, Wally and Mili whispered about something, while Himeko put away her bow and began observing the moon again.
Billy Wu smacked his lips twice, eventually bowed his head, and started playing the 'Virtual Girlfriend' game on his phone, his face sporting an obsession-like grin.
As for Crush, it's obvious that she wanted to take on Deathstroke, but Damian wouldn't allow it. She, annoyed, went to bend a lamp pole by the roadside, and naturally her mouth was 'sweet' beyond measure.
In the slightly startled, concealed glances of these people, Su Ming's hand that had been touching Damian paused for a moment, tremulously retracted, and wiped on his chest armor.
"No... nothing, just bored passing by, wanted to see your strength."
Damian squinted his eyes, something's off, truly off, better probe a little more.
"Oh, and now you've seen it?"
"Mm, you're all quite good, just need some coordination, but..." Deathstroke rubbed his chin under the face armor, appearing quite troubled.
"But?" Damian raised one eyebrow.
Deathstroke nodded, a sigh came from the helmet: "What you will face is a Dark Monster, this thing is extremely dangerous for you."
Damian furrowed his brow, the topic returned to the task, seems this Deathstroke was also avoiding something.
But now the matter at hand was more urgent: "You know what we're looking for?"
"Batman watches over me, I watch over him. Your meeting with him and Wonder Woman, I not only saw but also heard." Su Ming nodded, pretending to say, "Honestly, I think with your current strength, you shouldn't engage with things from the Magic Realm."
The fog dissipated, the moonlight lengthened their shadows, blending the Bat and Damian's forms as if before, the mountain-like imposing figure of Deathstroke's shadow completely overshadowed Damian's.
"So you already know about that monster," Da Mi said, pulling down his black hood and crossing his arms. "But we have mages in our team too."
Su Ming gestured for Damian to follow him inside to talk, since being close to the scene would make explanations easier: "Is your mage an elf? A fairy? A Lantern God? Whatever they are, their combat experience is lacking, their offensive skills poor, and they're ridiculously innocent."
Damian subtly pushed his tongue against his teeth; this was indeed true.
He and Mili had actually known each other for a long time; it's just that when they first met, Mili was a pitiful fairy.
She's over 4000 years old this year, but for about 3900 years, she was buried underground as one of the captives of the Prometheus group.
As for how she got buried underground, she couldn't remember; her mind had basically completely degenerated in the darkness, only recovering in recent years, like a little girl.
Several years ago, archeologists dug up the jar she was in from the ground and sent it to Midtown's museum for exhibition, and the Rascal Gang with a sense of justice 'robbing from the rich to give to the poor' conveniently snatched her out during an operation.
But the jar looked dusty and wasn't worth as much as other ancient jewels and artifacts, so the Cold Team put it in their base's kitchen as a flower vase.
Lightning quickly found the Rascal Gang's new base, defeated everyone, and retrieved the stolen goods, except they overlooked the ceramic jar.
During interrogation, the museum found one antique missing, but the Cold Team couldn't remember where they had put the ceramic jar.
So he directly said it broke and was thrown away. Anyway, being caught already meant life imprisonment, would breaking one artifact add more years? Serving 100 years and 101 years in prison, what's the difference?
Barry expressed helplessness to the museum; Midtown is a big city, even he couldn't possibly find the shards anymore.
That concluded the matter, but not for Mili. Her living jar was then stolen by a petty thief from the Rascal Gang's base, pawned for just enough US Dollars for a bottle of beer.
Afterward, the pawn shop sold the jar again, and it made its way to Gotham, but everyone thought it was just a fake antique.
It appeared to be primitive style from B.C., yet the jar was new and clean without any damage—who would it convince? Even if it's a fake antique, it's the type that didn't even convincingly deceive.
Thus, in Gotham, she moved around several places until one day a villain inadvertently got it, and by coincidence, rubbed the jar bottom the right way, releasing the imprisoned Mili.
That little villain was the type who didn't have a name in Gotham, not even as good as a street thug, just someone with criminal ambition.
Seeing Mili's form, he was scared witless, but he quickly remembered the story of Aladdin's Magic Lamp and tried it out.
Sure enough, the thing that came out of this jar was much better than the Lantern God, offering infinite wishes and super naive.
So this villain deceived Mili, telling her that with money, humans would be happy.
Thus, Mili conjured a never-ending stream of money for him. This villain used this money to indulge himself, recruiting a large number of followers and battling old gangs, throwing the city into chaos every night, with heavy casualties among gang members and civilians alike.
However, because he wasn't at the level before, he was never troubled by Batman, but after becoming the instigator in disputes, he attained that qualification...
Needless to say, how could a nouveau riche stand against seasoned villains and Batman? And because he used Mili to resist, Batman directly sent him to Arkham, a fast track to the top.
As for Mili, she was defeated; Batman casually pulled out something from his belt and defeated her.
Through Batman's education, she also recognized her mistakes; Batman originally planned to imprison her, but Damian, who was acting with him, persuaded him to set her free.
Enslaving or imprisoning someone with a kind heart isn't what justice should do.
Thus, after consulting her opinion, she took back her jar, roaming the alleys of Gotham these years.
Having witnessed too much sin, she no longer interacts with humans; she only likes cats and always fulfills the wishes of stray cats during the day.
Because stray cats have simple desires—they want to live, want food, things she can easily accomplish.
This time Damian wanted to form his new Teen Titans, so he found her; after all, he knew very few mages and wasn't keen on relying on Batman's connections.
Why wouldn't she turn five US Dollars for each team member to buy a soda? This is the reason.
Because she learned that money doesn't bring happiness; on the contrary, sometimes the desire for money only brings misfortune to oneself and others.
The stray cats taught her a lot; as long as creatures have food and are healthy, they can be happy. So after she educated Damian in turn, she directly conjured a bottle of soda for each team member — now everyone was satisfied, right?
However, the magic assisting ability in life doesn't equate to combat power.
The current facts prove that not only can Batman easily defeat her, but Otherworldly Deathstroke can too, and seasoned mages like Constantine should have no problem either.
But Damian has no choice; he can only take Mili, fighting crime, while helping her find her purpose in life.
Not living for stray cats and dogs, but living as an individual to fulfill her own wishes.