"Gwen, what do you think of this city?"
Wanda felt out of place, even a little resentful of it. She wasn't sure how Gwen felt, but she wanted some validation from her best friend. Maybe then things would feel a little different.
"I don't know. Since Lorien decided to come here, there must be something worth it."
When Lorien made the decision, neither of them objected because they trusted him. They were uneasy, but Lorien adapted just fine.
In fact, every time someone deliberately came to his clinic looking for trouble, he found it amusing. Some of them were strong, but many were ridiculously weak. Despite being so weak, they still insisted on causing trouble. These people… were almost cute.
But not everyone came just to stir up trouble. Some had other reasons.
Like Clark Kent, who was shocked to see him here.
Or a woman named Diana Prince.
When this woman walked into his psychological consultation room, Lorien froze with a book in his hand, unmoving for a long while.
Because she was simply too beautiful.
Her beauty could melt the ice in the heart of even the coldest person.
"Are you dissatisfied with something?"
Lorien could feel his heartbeat faltering. It wasn't an unfamiliar sensation.
It was easy to understand.
He was stirred by the woman before him.
A woman so beautiful that the world around her seemed to lose its color—no wonder she was said to rival the goddess of beauty herself.
But why was this Amazonian princess here?
"I've always been cherished by those around me. Honestly, it's stressful."
Lorien had thought Diana Prince had just wandered in out of curiosity, but to his surprise, she was actually here… to see a psychologist?
How unexpected!
He thought about it but didn't interrupt her, simply passing her a glass of juice.
Diana Prince blinked. "Thank you. I really like this sweet and tangy juice."
"Please, go on. Be quick."
Lorien glanced at the clock—it was already past four.
Her timing wasn't great, showing up just before his shift was about to end.
Beautiful or not, no one was allowed to delay his finishing time.
Diana Prince froze again.
Lorien smiled. "I finish work at five."
She had stepped into his clinic on a whim, never expecting him to point out that time was short and ask her to explain everything before he got off work.
But instead of feeling offended or upset, she was intrigued.
Because of her beauty, she was used to constant special treatment.
When she first entered, she had clearly noticed his momentary distraction at her looks—but only for a moment.
"Don't worry, I'm not much of a talker. I just suddenly felt like chatting after coming here." Diana Prince smiled, then began speaking slowly about her family.
To Lorien, Diana's life sounded blissfully happy. Her sudden remarks felt almost like showing off—what people call the idle thoughts of someone with no real worries.
"Gotham City is such a chaotic place. Why are you here?"
Lorien asked lightly, his tone carrying nothing more than casual curiosity.
Diana wasn't offended by his dismissive manner. In fact, if he had spoken too seriously, she might not have wanted to talk at all.
"I was invited by a friend. She said this was a beautiful place. Maybe we just have different ideas of what 'beautiful' means."
Her voice carried a subtle shift in tone. Perhaps she felt uneasy speaking behind her friend's back, because after a brief hesitation, she fell silent.
"It's getting late. I should be going."
Diana rose to her feet.
She hadn't been there long—maybe twenty minutes at most. Originally, she had planned to leave right away, but after a moment's pause, she pulled out some money and set it in front of Lorien.
He didn't refuse. He glanced at the money, then simply watched her leave.
This was downtown, the busiest part of the city.
...
Even the smallest commotion outside could be heard clearly. Lorien knew just how lively Gotham had become the moment Diana appeared.
If she had been an ordinary person, it might have been cause for worry. But she was anything but ordinary. So, seeing that he still had some time before the end of his shift, Lorien withdrew his gaze and returned to the book in his hands.
When the clock struck the hour, he closed up and stepped outside.
"Hey! Doctor!"
No sooner had he left than a group of street punks closed in, their expressions leaving no doubt about their bad intentions.
Lorien showed no trace of panic. On the contrary, he even smiled and raised a hand in greeting. "Good afternoon."
"Doctor, we heard you've chased off quite a few of our buddies. You're really getting cocky, huh?"
"If I weren't bold enough, I wouldn't be running a clinic in Gotham City."
Lorien's smile grew wider, which only made the punks scowl even more.
"Get him!"
Since words weren't getting them anywhere, the thugs stopped talking and rushed him all at once.
Not a single one managed to touch even the corner of his coat. In the next instant, they were all sprawled on the ground.
Lorien looked down at their pitiful state in silence, then stepped on them without hesitation. "Gotham really is a city of extremes. Even powerless nobodies think they can come after me."
He spoke lightly, then walked away.
The thugs groaned on the ground, completely unaware of what had happened. All they knew was that Lorien had done something.
At first, all the ones picking fights with him had been ordinary humans, lured by the money they thought he had. To them, robbing him was nothing unusual. What they hadn't expected was that this time, they had kicked a steel wall.