American police have the duty to maintain social order and stability.
So when enthusiastic citizens voluntarily clean up urban garbage, the GCPD is only too happy. Why would they interfere?
Fortunately, there was still the righteous Officer Jim Gordon.
Good cops were rare. You had to use them as much as possible while you still could. That was experience Gwen had accumulated from crossing countless universes.
You never knew when he would suddenly turn dark, but before that happened, people like him were perfect shields.
She followed the van to the docks and confirmed the children were being forced at gunpoint into shipping containers. Gwen immediately called the police.
Although cell phone cards in this era were primitive, they couldn't stump her handmade skills. The signal was just bad and she had to use an external antenna.
Sure enough, Officer Gordon arrived without hesitation not long after, bringing his partner Harvey Bullock.
The man had a beer belly and looked greasy. You could smell the whiskey on him from far away. His steps were unsteady, his eyes hazy, but there was a hint of cunning hidden underneath. Gwen had seen cops like this in her dad's station. They usually looked like useless sludge, but when needed they could still be useful—old oily bastards. They were still different from rookie cannon fodder or hopelessly corrupt cops.
"Ahaha, Jim, you fell faster than I thought!"
When Bullock saw Gwen, he immediately launched merciless mockery at Officer Gordon.
"What's her name again? Uh… White Killer?"
"It's Ghost-Spider," Gwen patiently corrected.
"Ghost-Spider. Sounds nice. Super cute!" Bullock pointed at Gwen and grinned at Jim. "This is the homeless children you mentioned?"
Officer Gordon shot him a glare, then put on a serious face and asked Gwen, "What's the situation inside?"
"More than twenty kids in the containers, four gunmen outside, and…" Gwen turned and gestured toward the cargo ship docked at the pier. "Some big client with completely unknown background. Can you two handle it?"
Officer Gordon drew his gun and answered with action.
"Go home, kid." Bullock looked speechless but still followed. At the same time he waved at Gwen. "Stop playing superhero games in Gotham, and don't get too close to rookie Gordon, or you'll end up riddled with bullets sooner or later."
Gwen agreed. This fat uncle wasn't a bad guy, and he could talk dirty. He looked like a gold-tier extra teammate who could survive until the end.
"GCPD!"
Bang bang bang bang—
That was how GCPD operated—decisive and ruthless. In Gotham, as long as you saw someone holding a gun, shouting "GCPD" and shooting them the moment they raised the muzzle usually meant you wouldn't kill the wrong person.
Bang bang bang bang—
Four gunmen… Gwen wasn't entirely sure what counted as a "gunman" in Gotham. From her observation, as long as you had money in this damn place, you could walk into any bar and recruit batches of armed thugs.
Gotham citizens had such wholesome customs.
The four gunmen couldn't even last one round. They were mowed down by Officer Gordon. But the gunfire also alerted the cargo ship. It docked, and a reinforced squad of black-clad masked men rushed down, raising Uzi MP5s and unleashing a storm of bullets at the two officers.
Ratatatatatata—
"Shit—!"
Bullock rolled behind a container, clutching his head, and shouted into his phone, "Mayday! Mayday! We're under heavy fire at the docks! Requesting immediate backup from nearby units!"
Officer Gordon crawled forward in perfect soldier prone position and reached Bullock's side, shouting, "Who the hell do these sons of bitches work for?"
"How should I know! They're lunatics!" Bullock roared. "Just grabbing a few kids—do bullets cost nothing? If I were their boss, I'd shove the magazines up their assholes when we get back!"
They clearly weren't Gotham natives. Makes sense. They came by ship—out-of-town dragons handling business in Gotham. It was normal to come prepared.
But the firepower was a bit too strong. The two officers were pinned in the corner with no way to fight back. If they could retreat into the container storage area, they might still have a chance.
Gwen glanced at the empty container beside her and silently calculated the container's own weight against the standard weight of adult men.
Known minimum empty container weight is 2.3 tons… She would need to hit at least twenty people at once to trigger the New Year passive. There weren't twenty people down there…
Ripping off a door should be enough.
Gwen tore off two container doors, aimed at the cluster of black-clad masked men, and shouted, "Justice from above!"
She actually wanted to shout "Za Warudo," but unfortunately she hadn't drawn a skill that awesome.
Boom—!
The two heavy container doors fell from the sky and instantly flattened half the gunmen. The suppressive fire disappeared in a second. The remaining gunmen looked at each other, looked up at the sky, saw no one, and couldn't understand where the doors had come from.
Officer Gordon, a retired soldier, naturally wouldn't miss the opportunity. He jumped out and fired several precise shots, taking down the rest of the gunmen in a beautiful counter-kill.
Bullock rubbed his neck as he walked over, looked at the scene, and grimaced. "Congratulations, you're gonna be on the news, buddy. What nickname will they give you? Let me think… Gotham's Future Star of Justice? Super Gotham Sheriff?"
Gordon looked at the container doors on the ground and said to Bullock in a low voice, "She's even more dangerous than I thought."
"Come on, Jim. Be a little more tolerant with young girls. At least for now she's on our side, and she just saved our lives!"
Bullock shrugged. "Your personality really doesn't attract women. I don't even know what Barbara sees in you. Is it because you've got a big dick and know how to use it? As for dangerous—haha, are you new to Gotham? Oh right, you are."
"No, I grew up in Gotham. It wasn't like this back then." Gordon said, "I just left for a while."
"No, no, no. It was always like this. You just never touched the bottom layer." Bullock put his hand on Gordon's shoulder and said tiredly, "You know, compared to you, I like that little white spider more. She has way more street flavor than you."
"She's still a wanted criminal."
"Yeah, that's exactly what I mean. Do you know how many wanted criminals Gotham has?" Bullock laughed. "The unimportant ones we just toss into the shredder."