Selina stopped, ready to quickly turn and attack, to snatch the gun.
She had the agility of a cat; ordinary people wouldn't be able to react quickly enough to her attacks.
But the others quickly chased after her from the back door, pulling out their guns and aiming at her.
She frowned slightly, only able to raise her hands.
"Look what we've found," Simon sneered. "The jewel thief, rumored to only appear at night, is actually out in broad daylight, strutting around."
With several dark muzzles pointed at her, Selina's face was grim, but she showed no panic.
She saw the greed for money clearly in the eyes of these people.
Do they want her jewels?
"Selina, I hear you've been stealing priceless jewels and artifacts everywhere, but it's rare to see you sell what you've obtained."
As expected, Simon's expression turned ruthless as he threatened, "Where have you hidden all the treasures you've stolen?
Tell us, and you might live. Otherwise…"
The others also sneered and advised, "People call you one of Gotham's best thieves. If your things are gone, you can always steal more. It's not worth losing your life over."
"To be so easily subdued by a few thugs."
As Selina was pondering a way to escape, a familiar voice suddenly sounded in her ear: "You're a little disappointing, Selina."
"Who do you think this is because of?"
Hearing Ron's voice suddenly, her heart leaped with joy, but after understanding what he said, she immediately felt a bit aggrieved and angry.
Selina cursed the bastard in her mind.
She was very cautious, always appearing only at night with the cover of darkness. As a lone thief, she avoided contact with people whenever possible.
"Even appearing in the daytime, I'd be prepared with a handgun; I wouldn't be subdued so easily."
And normally, she wouldn't be chased down and only then realize she was being targeted, like today.
It was entirely because of Ron that Selina appeared so unprepared in the daytime, her mind distracted by the collar around her neck, lowering her guard and leading to her current predicament.
"Who is she talking to?
Is there a second person here?"
Simon and the other robbers exchanged glances, looking around the dilapidated, empty alley with strange expressions.
"Could it be that the great thief Selina has multiple personality disorder?"
"Are you blaming me?"
The faint, indifferent voice in her ear sounded again, giving the impression it was about to leave at any moment.
"No, how could I blame you?
My dear Master."
With her lifeline about to leave, Selina quickly changed her expression, pulling out a fawning smile towards the sky and her surroundings.
"Master, are you going to watch your poor little cat be bullied by others?"
She put on a pitiful act, believing Ron could see her.
"I said, this collar can give you punishment, and it will also give you rewards.
Your attempt to break the collar aside, you obediently gathered information, so…"
"So what?"
Selina quickly pressed, but there was no further sound.
"What Master?
Hey, who exactly are you talking to?"
Simon and the other robbers' faces darkened, as if they might shoot at any moment, threatening her.
They could tell Selina was genuinely talking to someone else.
As Selina anxiously pondered how to resolve the situation, she suddenly felt a powerful force surge within her. She looked down in confusion.
"Boss, look at her hand!"
Someone among them cried out in terror.
Crack!
Selina raised her hand, which was wrapped in flashing lightning.
"What… what is this?"
Her eyes widened in a daze, startled by the changes in her body.
"Monster, shoot quickly!"
Seeing this inhuman, unrealistic scene, the robber leader Simon and the others were even more terrified, instinctively aiming and firing at Selina.
Bang bang!
In the alley, deafening gunshots rang out.
Selina instinctively raised her hand, and there was no intense pain as she had imagined, only a few holes in the sleeve of her arm.
"My body?"
A hint of surprise and realization appeared on her exquisitely beautiful face.
Selina understood what Ron's reward was.
"You want my treasures?"
She smiled softly, her beautiful eyes filled with triumph and coldness, as she looked up at them, her voice playful.
"No… no!"
As if seeing a demon, the robbers retreated in terror.
Ah!
First, a shrill scream echoed in the alley, accompanied by the sound of bones shattering, as if someone had been sent flying over ten meters and crashed heavily against a wall, then fell silent.
Subsequently, a figure was casually thrown dozens of meters high, plummeted heavily, and smashed onto the concrete ground, instantly killed.
Their frantic shooting was useless.
A bolt of lightning struck, leaving behind several electrocuted bodies. Selina walked out of the alley, her eyes glowing as she looked at her hands, feeling both novelty and excitement.
"I feel so strong now, almost inhuman."
Excitedly, she rode her motorcycle to a secluded forest to familiarize herself with her new power, then returned to the mansion.
"How did you do it? You made me invulnerable to bullets and able to shoot lightning."
But Ron, drinking coffee and reading the newspaper, completely ignored her. He snapped his fingers, turning her back into a mortal.
"My power… my lightning…"
Suddenly reverting to a mortal, Selina found it hard to accept. Having grown accustomed to being as powerful as a god, she felt a bit unaccustomed to her weak body.
She could no longer stomp her foot to crack the ground, leap dozens of meters high, run faster than a cheetah, or with a wave of her hand, turn towering trees into charcoal.
"You took back the reward you gave me."
"You didn't think you could get that kind of power just for doing that small thing for me, did you?"
Taking a sip of coffee, he looked up at her strangely, as if looking at a fool, and said indifferently.
Ability Points: 1.24 million
Turning his gaze back, Ron was very satisfied with the change in his ability points.
It had increased by over a hundred thousand.
Ability points are acquired by changing the fate of plot characters, primarily determined by two key factors: the character's strength and their prominence in the story.
Selina, putting aside her strength, is a popular character, and changing her fate would also cause some changes in Batman's fate.
In terms of importance to the DC plot, Batman and Superman are two irreplaceable characters.
"Although Batman's strength is lacking, getting seven or eight hundred thousand ability points from him shouldn't be a problem," he thought to himself.
This was still a conservative estimate.
"Master… I'll go make you another cup of coffee."
Despite being mocked, Selina wasn't angry at all. Instead, a charming and fawning smile reappeared, and she began to show great solicitude.
Her goal had shifted from escaping Ron's control to whether it was possible to permanently gain this power and then escape.
Holding the coffee cup, she turned around, her beautiful face unable to hide her excitement as she fell into a fantasy.
"If I could permanently gain that power, all the jewels in the World would be mine."
…
A few days later.
At the Wayne Family's private estate.
Under shining lights, in the magnificent ballroom, Gotham's officials, nobles, and elites from all walks of life gathered, invited by Bruce Wayne.
Beneath the enormous chandelier, sparkling like diamonds, the invited high-society guests chatted and laughed freely.
Gentlemen in suits and ladies in beautiful evening gowns paired up.
"The invitation was sent to the estate, but it didn't have our names on it. How did you do it?"
The handsome Ron, dressed in a silver suit, held a glass of champagne, calmly watching Bruce Wayne, who was about to go on stage to give a speech.
Beside him, a pleasant voice, like silver bells, rang out, though mixed with a touch of feigned gentleness and poise.
Selina, elegant and beautiful in a silver evening gown beside him, asked curiously.
The people at the estate had let them in after seeing the invitation.
"I have the highest level of clearance in the World.
I can go anywhere."
Taking a sip of champagne, he said slowly.
His psychic abilities allowed him to travel to any place on Earth.
"Alright…" Selina was about to probe, as she had been doing for the past few days, to ask Ron whether he was a powerful Master of magic or a god, when—
"Ladies and gentlemen…"
The confident, flamboyant voice from the microphone had just begun.
The banquet, which had been filled with laughter and clinking glasses moments before, quickly fell silent in unison, their gazes all converging on the person on stage.
Because standing there was the son of the Wayne Family, the man who, after returning to Gotham and remaining silent for a short time, had used thunderous means to send his own uncle to prison and take charge of the Wayne Group—Bruce Wayne.
Gotham's wealthiest and most envied man.
This was his first public appearance, and it was in the form of a banquet hosted at his own estate, inviting guests, and he announced that a major announcement would be made at the event.
Everyone was curious about what he wanted to say.
Given the power Bruce Wayne possessed, he could make Gotham tremble with a mere stomp of his foot; the major announcement he spoke of would certainly not be simple.
"Thank you all for coming.
Gotham is a complex place, and everyone has a different interpretation of it.
For me, Bruce Wayne, what is Gotham City? A hometown? A home? The location of my family?"
Unlike his usual deep, gloomy demeanor, Bruce Wayne on stage was confident and flamboyant, like a charming young Master speaking eloquently, opening his speech with a rhetorical question.
Just as he said, Bruce Wayne had become a mask for him; only when he took off the mask was he his true self.
"In fact, I don't know how to answer that question either.
However, speaking of this question, I recall some words, some words my father Thomas Wayne once said to me…"