At this point, Will was like an inverted Batman.
Batman deduced results from clues.
He, on the other hand, was working backward from the results to organize the clues.
After committing such a major crime, Doctor Hugo Strange certainly wouldn’t foolishly wait for the police to come knocking.
He had already emptied his laboratory and fled.
How to find his hideout had become the biggest problem facing Will.
Back at the “Senate,” he collapsed onto the wooden bed.
The bedside lamp illuminated the moldy ceiling.
The mold had formed a mottled pattern, almost like a reflection of the chaos in his mind.
Aside from Oswald, Will wasn’t familiar with the others.
In fact, he rather disliked them.
Take the guy across the hall, for example.
Even after midnight, he never understood that he should turn down the radio.
Those faint, indistinct noises were like a dull knife repeatedly sawing at Will’s fragile nerves in the dead of night, accompanying him through one sleepless night after another.
But now, everything was different.
All those annoying people were dead.
The entire Senate was deserted.
The sound of water dripping from a faucet at the end of the hallway traveled through the deep corridor.
One drop after another.
One drop after another.
They burrowed into his ears.
A suffocating sense of emptiness enveloped Will.
Calm down.
Think about what Batman would do.
You can do this!
He muttered encouragement to himself.
But the more he did so, the harder it became to calm his shattered state of mind.
Superior martial arts.
An indestructible will of steel.
High-tech equipment.
Enormous financial resources.
And beggars and orphans scattered throughout Gotham’s streets and alleys, serving as his eyes and ears.
Bruce had all of those things.
Will had none of them.
So how was he supposed to become Batman?
He had confidently promised Maroni that he would bring back the stolen money within three days.
But when all was said and done, he was only an ordinary man.
Overwhelmed by immense fear and self-doubt, Will pulled his pillow over his head.
Knock…
knock knock…
In his half-dazed state, it seemed as though someone was tapping on the window.
But this was the fifth floor.
Will thought he had imagined it and ignored it.
Yet before long, the pillow over his head was suddenly yanked away.
“Hi, I’m back!
Did you miss me?”
Selina raised her eyebrows.
Her brilliant blue eyes reflected the light like a dazzling galaxy.
“You…
What are you doing here?”
“To make you answer my questions.”
Selina sat down at the foot of the bed and tucked the loose strands of hair from her forehead behind her ear.
Now that Will already knew her identity, she couldn’t be bothered to wear her mask anymore.
Leather masks had poor breathability, and wearing one for too long wasn’t good for the skin or hair.
But these were extraordinary circumstances.
He needed to infiltrate Hugo’s laboratory and steal the money.
Who could possibly be better suited to helping him than a cat burglar?
Will rubbed his temples, desperately digging through his memories of Catwoman.
He vaguely remembered a version of Catwoman who was the illegitimate daughter of Carmine Falcone.
Falcone had cruelly abandoned Maria while she was pregnant, leaving Selina with an endless hatred for Falcone from the moment she was born.
That version of the story could explain why Catwoman had robbed Maroni’s casino.
There was a good chance it was also the version of Selina that existed in this world.
“So you’re doing this to avenge your mother.
You want to destroy Falcone’s criminal empire and avenge her death.”
Will voiced his guess while quietly watching Selina’s expression.
In truth, he didn’t need to watch that closely.
The answer came from her mouth the very next second.
“Damn it, I haven’t even told Holly about this!”
Selina covered her head and took several deep breaths to calm the turmoil inside her.
She had come here specifically to demand an answer from Will.
Yet the fog had only grown thicker.
“How could you know that…
Forget it.
Tell me what you want.”
She was already tired of asking why.
She only wanted to know what kind of purpose this mysterious man harbored.
“You and I have the same goal.
We both want to bring Falcone down.”
To get Selina on board, he lied.
It had to be said that Will’s psychological composure made him a natural-born liar.
Whether facing Maroni or Catwoman, every time he lied, he could keep his breathing steady, his eyes sincere, and his tone calm and unhurried.
As expected, Catwoman didn’t see through him.
“So…
you want to work with me?!”
Shock and hesitation mingled in Selina’s expression.
In her eyes, Will had become mysterious at this moment.
Not only had he accurately predicted the casino massacre, he had even managed to investigate the life story of someone as insignificant as herself with astonishing precision.
Regardless of his actual abilities, possessing this level of intelligence-gathering capability alone made him worth cooperating with.
But they had returned to the original problem.
She absolutely could not work with someone whose background was unclear.
Even if the man had reasons he couldn’t explain, partners still had to treat each other with honesty.
Selina stretched lazily, placing both hands on the bed before crawling toward Will like an agile cat.
“What are you doing?”
Will asked warily, only to be shoved down by Catwoman.
She had already crawled right up in front of him.
Far too close.
He could even see several faint freckles dancing across her cheeks.
His breathing quickened, and both hands gripped the bed frame tightly.
“I really look forward to working with you, but before that, I need to know who you really are!”
She extended one finger, the sharp claws on her leather glove gliding from Will’s forehead all the way down to his throat.
“Honesty or death.
You have to choose one!”
Selina’s face was filled with vigilance.
Revealing information too early had cost Will Catwoman’s trust.
Fortunately, he had a quick mind.
Back when she had been completely fooled by his intelligence, he had already fabricated a false backstory to deal with her.
In this story, Will was the son of a merchant whose family had been destroyed by the mob.
He had infiltrated the Roman Empire to bide his time while secretly cooperating with other small gangs and the police.
More importantly, he had secretly investigated Falcone’s connections, so naturally he knew what Selina looked like. Get faster updates on g.com.
“No wonder you recognized me at a glance.”
Catwoman’s expression softened considerably.
It seemed she believed his bullshit, at least for the time being.
“So, what do you think of my proposal to work together?”
“Of course…”
A light kiss, as fleeting as the touch of a dragonfly, landed on his forehead.
That was Selina’s answer.
The girl sprang away and landed back on the windowsill.
She pushed open the window.
Her silver hair danced gently in the Gotham night wind, while the clouds overhead dispersed to reveal a crescent moon as sharp as a blade.
“Goodbye, mysterious man.
If you need me, I’ll appear again.”
“Don’t go!
I actually have a job for you right now!”
Poor Selina had just been about to leap from the windowsill when Will’s words pulled her back.
Her foot slipped, and she nearly fell from the fifth floor.
“You’re trying to murder me!”
Selina gritted her teeth and glared angrily at him.
…
Will took two bottles of beer from Oswald’s small refrigerator and climbed the fire escape to the rooftop.
Selina had already been waiting for some time.
“Do you have anything to open the bottles with?”
The girl pointed at the beer in his hands.
“I don’t need that!”
Will put to use the skill he’d developed from drinking beer and eating skewers at barbecue stalls.
He bit down on the cap and flicked it upward.
Pop!
The beer cap was launched into the air by the bubbles, spun as it fell, and disappeared into the darkness below.
Selina accepted the beer.
Bubbles clung to the inside of the glass bottle, while fresh foam churned upward, mingling with the aroma of fermented wheat and stirring the hormone-filled night.
She tilted her head and sized Will up from the corner of her eye.
A high nose, deep-set eyes, and sharply defined, refined features.
His appearance perfectly matched her exacting standards for a partner.
And he had even gone out of his way to bring beer.
It seemed he wasn’t completely clueless when it came to romance.
Selina took a small sip and waited for him to say something.
“Maroni gave me three days to find the stolen money.
I need your help.”
That’s it?
Selina was somewhat disappointed.
But when she heard that the money amounted to five million dollars, her spirits immediately lifted.
“Any leads?”
“I’m planning to start with the sewers.”
Will had finally sorted out his thoughts.
The biological monsters had launched their attack on the casino from the sewers.
Then they should normally be hiding in the sewers.
And when Doctor Hugo Strange moved his laboratory, he would certainly move somewhere near the biological monsters as well.
That way, he could ensure his own safety.
Of course, Will also told Catwoman about the dangers they might encounter.
He had expected her to have some reservations.
Instead, Selina simply tilted her head back and finished the entire bottle of beer.
“No time to waste.
Let’s move.”