Chapter 17: Starting Off with a Hundred Consecutive Draws Gifted

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The room was filled with a group of young Black men. When Roland stormed in aggressively, they were momentarily stunned, then began hurling all kinds of filthy insults at Roland’s family. Two burly men even pulled down their pants, standing before Jason in their underwear.

“Motherfucker!” Roland snapped back, delivering a powerful palm strike. The two men were blasted apart as if they were mere stalks of straw, flying across the room and crashing harshly against the wall.

“Why don’t you just stick to picking cotton quietly? How dare you steal my money!” Roland’s anger grew with every thought, and he charged right into the crowd.

Lion’s Mouth! Earth-Shattering Cannon! Tiger’s Fierce Climb!

Caught up in the fight, Roland tore off one man’s belt, abandoning all formal techniques, and wildly lashed out at the group.

Suddenly, the room echoed with a chorus of agonized screams.

Ten minutes later.

“Please spare us! We swear we won’t play music at night anymore!”

The Black men had been beaten to a state where ancestral memories were awoken, utterly terrified and unwilling to resist.

“Did I say anything about music? Hand over all the money!” Roland snapped, whipping the belt with a sharp swish through the air.

“O-okay... we’ll get it for you.”

Terrified, two men rose and went upstairs.

“Boss, are we really going to give him the money?”

“Give him money? I’d rather shoot him! You distract him with the cash, I’ll sneak in a shot. Let him learn that First Street isn’t a playground for people like him.”

“Is that going to work?”

“Why not? We were too close before to use guns. Now with a sneak attack, no matter how good he is at fighting, what can he do?”

As the two men came down the stairs, they hadn’t even spotted Roland before he lashed out with the belt again.

“Still trying to trick me? As if that’ll work!” Roland cursed while striking.

“Please spare us! We won’t try any tricks again...” The men howled in pain.

“Hand over all the money.”

“Y-yes...” This time they dared not play any tricks, obediently handing all the money to Roland.

“That’s more like it.” Roland smiled with satisfaction, clutching the cash as he walked out.

“That bastard’s finally gone!”

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“Who the hell is he anyway? Why did he rob us?”

“Good thing we prepared ahead, didn’t keep the money all in one place.”

“He probably thinks what he took is everything...”

Just then, Roland smashed through the window and entered, grinning fiercely as he raised the belt. “I heard everything you just said.”

Instantly, the room was filled with endless screams.

Jason waited at the street corner for over ten minutes. When Roland appeared, he quickly asked, “I heard a fight broke out in there. Are you okay?”

“No problem. Got the stuff. Let’s go.” Roland flicked a wad of cash for Jason to see.

“...We lost less than two thousand dollars, but you’ve got at least ten thousand, right?” Jason’s eye twitched.

“Is that so?” Roland pondered. “No matter. It’s all ill-gotten gains anyway. It suits me fine, and I can do some good with it.”

“True enough.” Jason nodded.

“Let’s go. Tomorrow I’ll get you some good food. Bring more kids over, and some homeless folks too.”

After they left, a dark bat-shaped shadow descended behind them. It hesitated for a moment, then didn’t follow the two but turned toward another direction.

“Harvey, Harvey.”

At midnight, Harvey Dent suddenly heard tapping at his window. Groggily, he drew back the curtain to find a tall bat-shaped figure before him.

“Are you trying to scare me to death?”

“I just came to check on you. Gordon said you were out of contact for a day and he’s worried.” Batman opened the window and climbed inside.

“I’m fine, just feeling a bit unwell,” Harvey said coldly.

“Oh, the Romans made a big move today. I was worried they might target you.” Batman said, then sniffed the air. “What’s that smell on you?”

“Nothing...” Harvey’s expression twitched. What he’d been through today was hardly something he could share.

Batman caught the subtle change in Harvey’s face. His eyes shifted. “By the way, can I use your bathroom?”

“Go ahead.” Harvey pointed toward the bathroom, then lay back on the sofa, popping two cold medicine pills.

Batman entered the bathroom and noticed the smell was even stronger there. Picking up Harvey’s unwashed clothes soaking in a bucket, he found some sticky liquid on them.

He collected some samples and left the bathroom.

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“I’m relieved you’re alright. I’ll let Gordon know.”

“Tell him to stop being so paranoid.” Harvey lazily raised his hand. “I need to rest now.”

“Alright, goodbye.” Batman climbed back out the window, gliding down cloaked in his cape.

Harvey closed his eyes and drifted into sleep on the sofa.

The next morning.

The Batcave.

“Master, why are you still in the lab?” Alfred, Batman’s butler, walked in with concern. “You’ve been here for three hours.”

“I discovered a secret about a friend,” Batman said, fiddling with equipment, his expression troubled.

“What happened? Is it related to crime?” Alfred asked.

“Not exactly...” Batman hesitated. “If I had to say, it’s more like animal abuse.”

“Your friend abuses animals?” Alfred asked in confusion. “Are you planning to get him a psychiatrist?”

“He’s already seeing one. But that’s not what concerns me — it’s this particular obsession... I’ve never seen anything like it.” Batman rubbed his temples. “Maybe I’m wrong. I’ll investigate first.”

At that moment, Batman’s phone rang.

“Gordon, I visited Harvey last night.”

“You saw him? How was he?” Chief Gordon asked anxiously.

“He’s fine, just a minor illness. Like he caught a chill after a sauna.”

“Why was Harvey at a sauna? And why wouldn’t he answer my calls? I thought he was in trouble.”

“Maybe he just didn’t want to be disturbed when sick,” Batman said. “Some people are like that — they don’t want to see anyone when they’re vulnerable. Maybe that’s Harvey.”

“I see. That’s a relief. Thanks for the update...” Gordon’s words cut off as Batman ended the call.

“Gordon... maybe Harvey’s troubles are deeper than you think...” Batman set the phone aside, deeply pondering Harvey’s situation.