Chapter 51: Chapter 39 Batman's Love Crisis_1
"...And that's how it is. Ever since that night, she has been frequenting that district. It's just too dangerous. I don't know how to deter her because she doesn't even like Bruce, she even turned down a date with me, yet I clearly..."
Shiller pours himself a bit of champagne, then says, "She's been going to the slums of Gotham night after night, and so far hasn't encountered any danger, are you sure she's just an ordinary person?"
Bruce rubs his face and says, "That is precisely my concern. If she were just an ordinary girl, that wouldn't be a problem. But if she's not ordinary and she keeps following me around like this, what am I supposed to do?"
And this all started from the last case.
After Jonathan's case was resolved, Bruce didn't completely remove himself from the equation. Or rather, Batman ran into other problems.
Last time, Batman saved Christine from the goons who kidnapped her. He thought she was unconscious at the time. Who knew she was actually fully aware? From that day onward, this beautiful girl fell in love with Batman.
Yes, with Batman, not Bruce.
She even outright rejected a date with Bruce a few days later. Each night, she would go to the district where she had been kidnapped, hoping Batman would show up again.
"In a way, you should be flattered. The charm of Batman has made her ditch the world's richest man."
Bruce gapes, his expression incredibly complex.
Being adored by a beautiful girl is, of course, a reason to be happy. But this situation is just too bizarre and puzzling. A girl falls in love with him, but then ditches one version of him for another. If this were to be written into a romance novel, it certainly wouldn't be clear without at least 100,000 words.
"Regarding your personal feelings, I have no advice to offer you, except to take care of your health." In the end, Shiller says.
Bruce didn't expect Shiller's prediction to come true so quickly.
That night, Batman was once again patrolling Gotham. He had gained quite a reputation in Gotham recently because he had essentially cleaned up the slums around the Morson district.
This time his patrol was not in the chaotic slums, but in the luxury district which often experienced robbery cases.
In fact, the possibility of a serious crime occurring here is not less than in the slums. Because, in the slums, disturbances typically involve drunk brawls, extortion by the Mob, or large fights. But in the luxury district, a robbery would at least result in two or three people lying in pools of blood. The employees of luxury good stores may even be victims. These cases are by no means less serious than the Mob fights in the slums.
Furthermore, those daring enough to commit such crimes are often experienced hands, cooperating well and quickly leaving post-robbery. It's not easy to handle them.
Batman has already cracked down two robbery gangs. You could say it was their bad luck. Right after Batman upgraded and arrived here from the slums, a robbery and murder case happened. They killed two female employees and stole the jewels from the store. More coincidentally, a string of pearl necklaces was left scattered on the ground.
And so, this robbery gang is now in prison.
The other group wasn't much better. An inexperienced gang of clumsy thieves happened to run into Batman, now they're also eating prison food.
That night, Batman was standing on a roof across the street from a jewelry store. He watched a small, nimble figure sneak into the jewelry store through a window at the back door. The woman inside the store hadn't even time to react before the figure overpowered her.
It seems that there was a female thief, yes, a thief, not a robber. She didn't smash the glass of the jewelry counter, instead found keys on the salesclerk, and opened the glass door of the counter.
As she was admiring the brilliance of a gemstone, a shadow appeared behind her. He said, "Miss, no matter how long you look at it, this gemstone will never belong to you."
As she turned her head, her vision went black, and she was promptly knocked unconscious.
The thief's luck was apparently even better. Just as Batman was about to turn her over to the police, a gang bust into the antique shop across the street. These were actual robbers, wearing masks, carrying machine guns and bags, and they cornered the staff with their guns.
Batman had no choice but to deal with them first, leaving the female thief behind. When he came back, she had vanished.
However, the situation did not end there. Over the next few days, Batman always felt someone was following him. But the follower was agile and quick, and Batman couldn't catch them.
One day, Batman set a small trap. He pretended to throw a bag of gems stolen by a robber into a trash can on the street corner. As anticipated, a small figure sneaked into the garbage can to pick up the spoils. Batman grabbed her cloak, only to have the female thief claw at his face, nearly injuring him.
Seeing Batman, the female thief let out a sigh of relief. Batman, clutching his arm, asked, "The gems, huh?"
"Don't you think our ears are well-suited?" Her voice was sweet. Afterwards, she flicked her ear which was on her head with her finger. That's right, her mask also had two ears. Although they weren't as pointy as Batman's, their positions were indeed similar; both were on the top of their heads.
As if possessed by a ghost, Batman said, "Are you another bat?"
"Bat?" The female thief said in disbelief: "Who's the bat? I am Catwoman. Doesn't it make sense that only a cat would have ears like this? Do you think you're a bat? What kind of weirdo would consider themselves that kind of animal?"
"Catwoman..." Batman contemplated this name. Then, he fished out the bag of gemstones from the garbage bin and tossed it to her. "No cat would be interested in gemstones. Stop harassing the jewelry store clerks. Since you didn't kill anyone, I'll let you off this time."
Having said that, he was about to leave but was stopped by Catwoman, who grabbed his cloak. Grinning broadly, she shook the bag in her hand. "Hey big spender," she said, "You must still have these, don't you?"
Batman knitted his brows, puzzled. He didn't know why everyone could tell he was wealthy.
He had deliberately made his bat suit very low-key, not using any high-end drugs, and even deliberately left his beard a bit uneven.
Batman didn't turn around, only looked back to call out, "I don't have any more. You can't expect a bat to have that kind of thing."
Just as he was about to leave, a whip wound around his waist. Batman didn't feel as though any force was holding him, but a soft body pressed against his back, and he heard Catwoman whisper in his ear, "If you're a bat, then you're the most interesting bat I've ever met. We'll meet again..."
With that, she jumped onto the wall of a nearby alley and disappeared quickly. Batman touched his own ear, mulling over Catwoman's words. A cat who loves gemstones? What an eccentric.
Just like himself.
Unbeknownst to him, on his way back to the city, he ran into Christine again. The beautiful cheerleading squad leader was wearing a bulky down jacket with a hat, hiding her sexy figure and pretty face. As soon as Batman spotted her, he wanted to dodge her but thought better of it and approached her instead. A young girl wandering the streets of Gotham in the dead of night was far too dangerous.
On seeing Batman, Christine walked excitedly over. However, as soon as she reached him, she asked with a frown, "Do you have a girlfriend? Did you have a date with her?"
Batman was baffled. "Don't stick around here. You know how dangerous it is," he advised.
"But I just want to be your girlfriend." Christine shrugged, clearly unaccustomed to being the one confessing her feelings; usually, others were the ones to confess to her.
Batman countered, "I don't need a girlfriend. You should go home."
"Then what's with the scent of the Louis Vuitton perfume on you? Don't tell me you like women's fragrances."
Batman felt a massive headache coming on.
Being a regular in the perfume aisles, he was familiar with these scents. He knew he had been held by Catwoman earlier, but he did not expect this female thief who prowled the streets at night to drench herself in such a strong perfume.
Without saying a word, Batman swirled his cape and left.
While Batman might not wish to engage with Christine, someone was very interested in her; that was the new principal, Sheldon.
Don't forget, it was Christine who testified that the former principal had kidnapped her, providing the most convincing evidence to convict him.
Sheldon knew that the Jonathan case, which implicated the former principal and led to Victor's downfall, must have been orchestrated by someone behind the scenes. There were too many mysteries left to decipher. Who defeated Jonathan? Who rescued Christine? Relying on Gordon wasn't going to cut it.
Sheldon thought that even if Christine was not familiar with the person behind the scenes, she must know who he was. He wanted to figure that out. If he could understand the series of connections derived from the Jonathan case, then he could confidently secure his position. The power structure in Gotham was overly complex. To gain a foothold here, one needed a good entry point. Sheldon believed that the Jonathan case was the best subject for investigation.
On the other hand, Batman and Catwoman were rapidly progressing in their relationship. Perhaps there was such a thing as destiny in this world. Catwoman's vivaciousness and romanticism had nothing in common with Batman's serious skepticism, yet he was utterly smitten with her.
The pair frequently wandered around Gotham at night. Although Catwoman couldn't help Batman fight, her abilities to infiltrate and scout were top-notch. Catwoman loved all kinds of jewelry, and Batman had plenty of money.
However, when it came to the issue of theft, they always clashed. Batman thought Catwoman had kleptomania, but Catwoman felt as though she merely had an appreciation for the jewelry. Since the pieces were left untouched in shop windows, she didn't see a problem with borrowing them for a few days.
Finally, one day, Batman followed Catwoman and yet again thwarted her theft. Catwoman was completely infuriated. In the midst of their argument, Batman, chivalrous as always, didn't use substantial force. Catwoman, however, was fickle. She slapped Batman and, with a small dagger, stabbed him in the side.
Consequently, what began as a potential love scandal involving Batman evolved into a literal kidney crisis.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone