Batman, the demon spirits, and the mysterious figures dominated the headlines of every major and minor media outlet in Gotham. As a result, news about "enthusiastic citizens rescuing kidnapped children" could only be squeezed into an unnoticed corner.
That night, Liam struck the demon spirit, harvesting a wave of experience, and at the same time, his eyes recorded a unique energy fluctuation emanating from it. Following the trail of this strange fluctuation, he quickly located a warehouse in the abandoned Gotham Port. He tore open the door, and inside were the children who had gone missing over the past few days.
To be honest, Liam was a bit surprised when he entered. The poor children were listless, each drooping their head weakly. They were tied to crooked crosses, their faces painted with strange patterns in blood—a truly shocking scene.
Fortunately, it only looked horrifying; the children were all fine. From their descriptions, it was clear that the kidnapping had been carried out by that demon spirit. It had not communicated with the hostages at all and, after locking them up here, it had simply ignored them. But judging by the scene, it seemed related to some kind of cult ritual.
The next night, two enthusiastic guests arrived at the shop: a mother and daughter. The mother was in her thirties, and although the pressures of life had left her a bit haggard, her figure was exceptionally well-maintained, still full of charm. If Prime Minister Cao were here, he might exclaim at her beauty.
The daughter looked about eighteen or nineteen. Though she hadn't fully blossomed, she had inherited much from her mother: round face, fair and tender skin, and eyes filled with gratitude.
"I really don't know how to express my gratitude," the woman said tearfully. "Ever since I heard that the leader of the Iron Mask Gang was hospitalized, they haven't come looking for us again. I don't know what to say. Johnny passed away early, and for many years, there hasn't been a man who could teach us how to protect ourselves, especially in a place like Gotham. That old house is all my daughter and I have left. If we were driven out…"
Liam remembered: the woman's name was Tess, and her daughter was Cathy. The Johnny she mentioned was her deceased husband, who had apparently been beaten to death by gangsters.
It was said that the Iron Mask Gang had wanted to buy the apartment building where they lived for some reason. Some residents refused to move out, which led to conflicts.
Liam quickly interrupted, "No. I'm very glad your situation had a happy ending, but that unfortunate fellow from the Iron Mask Gang broke his leg skiing by himself. It has nothing to do with me. He even told people that himself."
The little girl, Cathy, burst out laughing.
Tess smiled warmly. "If possible, I hope you can find time to come to our home for dinner."
She winked, her gaze lingering just a moment too long.
Liam smirked. "Sure, I've been working too much recently anyways; it might be… interesting to see what a normal evening looks like."
Cathy's eyes lit up, and Tess's smile broadened. "Wonderful! We'll prepare something special. You'll feel completely at home."
Liam's mind was already calculating the possibilities of the night ahead. Their warmth, the way Tess's hand lightly brushed his arm, the sparkle in Cathy's gaze—it promised an experience he wasn't about to refuse.
He let himself follow them, outwardly polite, inwardly anticipating. Tonight would be… enjoyable.
The young man sitting near the door in the shop looked on with envy, jealousy, and a touch of hatred, shaking his head repeatedly. "All handsome bastards shiuld die!!"
This person was Tom, a regular customer of the shop. A young man who had recently graduated from college, unable to find a job, he idled all day while constantly fantasizing about being a writer.
He would stay in his dirty rental room, typing away all day, but his work remained unread, yet he always felt proud of himself. Sometimes he would come to the shop, order a cup of coffee, and sit there all day, claiming it was for gathering material.
Liam glanced at him. "I heard your new book flopped again?"
Tom's face instantly flushed red.
"Who, who said that? I'm still gathering material—the book hasn't even started, so how can it be called a flop again?"
"Your alternate account was discovered. What was it called… 'This Time I'll Cut a Handstand Plane'?"
Tom's face got even redder. "Writing a book… can it be called cutting? You've played games, right? Isn't there a saying about 'padding the blade' in games? This book of mine is just padding; it can't be considered cutting!"
Liam looked at him with a half-smile.
The young man finally retreated under Liam's gaze, running out with a red face, muttering without looking back, "You guys wait—the next book will take off immediately."
The shop was instantly filled with cheerful energy.
However, Liam touched his cheek in the mirror and couldn't help but fall into deep self-reflection. Perhaps when he reverted to his human form, he had adjusted himself to be too handsome?
After transmigrating, his true form was now Ultraman, not human. However, his racial talent and some school courses had allowed him to transform into any human form. He had chosen his original appearance from before transmigration. He felt he had only made minor adjustments, but his charm had ended up higher than expected.
After last night, the energy of the bracelet had increased slightly again. Theoretically, this also enhanced Liam's strength, but the increase was small. There was no progress bar, so he couldn't feel it. Perhaps only after enough accumulation would he notice a qualitative change.
In fact, this didn't only affect his strength in Ultraman form—it also enhanced his human form's physical abilities. Yes, his human form also possessed superhuman powers. Just like Zero in his human form, who displayed super strength and non-human athletic abilities, and Hikari, the head of the Science and Technology Bureau, who showed near-instantaneous super speed in human form during her early appearances in the TV show.
Even more exaggerated was Orb's human form, Kurenai Gai. In his normal human form, he possessed incredible strength and super speed and could even physically withstand beam attacks from giant monsters and aliens, leading audiences to believe that Ultraman was merely a giant Kurenai Gai in a suit, perhaps even weakened.
Liam and Kurenai Gai were both non-human in their true forms. At the very least, they possessed bulletproof bodies, super speed invisible to the naked eye, and basic super strength. As long as the opponent wasn't too threatening, Liam could handle it without transforming.
The DC World was dangerous, but opportunities to gain experience were abundant. For example, the fact that Maroni had a Batman demon spirit on him last night was bizarre. Logically, there shouldn't be such mystical occurrences in early Batman stories; Gotham should have only normal criminals, or at most, mentally unstable ones.
What appeared last night was clearly beyond the usual scope. It felt like seeing calculus on an elementary school math test—clearly meant to mess with Batman's mind.
Well, never mind for now. Let's blow off some steam," Liam said, his voice low and teasing as he leaned closer to the mother-daughter duo.
The three of them laughed softly, the kind of laugh that hung in the air like a shared secret. Liam's hand brushed against Tess's under the table, lingering just long enough to make her shiver.
Feeling uo her supples thighs, causing her to involuntarily clench her thighs together and bite her lip...a faint blush on her face.
Liam's fingers traced the curve of her waist; she leaned into him just a fraction, and he felt the heat of her breath. The tension in the room thickened as he reached into her pants...
—Ding!
The energy crystal on Liam's bracelet flickered, glowing faintly. He froze,' Blue balled, seriously!'
"I… uh…" Liam cleared his throat, trying to mask the lingering smirk. "I've got to check something. Duty calls."
Before either of them could protest, he straightened, giving a quick wink that promised this wasn't over. "Be good while I'm gone," he added, letting the tension hang in the room before slipping out.
He quickly checked, and realized the bracelet wasn't activating; rather, its built-in spatial compass had been triggered by some unknown spatial activity. In other words, the bracelet had detected an abnormal spatial fluctuation nearby.
'Could there be other visitors from another world besides himself? Who could it be? Were they from his world?'
Liam's mind stirred. He activated the bracelet's function, and it immediately projected a map of Gotham City out of thin air, with a prominent red dot marking a specific coordinate among the intricate buildings. That was the exact location of the anomaly.q