Chapter 04:..
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"Hiss~" Harleen sucked in a breath as Jiang Li gripped her wrist. He was using too much strength, causing her pain.
Jiang Li immediately reacted and apologized politely, "Sorry, I was a bit rude just now."
"It's fine."
Harleen said it was fine, but the resentment in her eyes was almost overflowing, clearly showing his actions had made her uncomfortable.
But on second thought, Jiang Li was her savior. She pushed the rude action to the back of her mind.
Harleen extended her fair hand and smiled at Jiang Li, "My name is Harleen Quinzel. Nice to meet you."
"Jiang Li," he replied, shaking her hand.
"Chinese name. So you're from China." Harleen's eyes held a trace of curiosity. "You were so skilled just now. Is it because you know Chinese Kung Fu?"
She had heard long ago that everyone in China knew Kung Fu. She had even seen Chinese people on Twitter claiming they could kill a tiger with a sliding tackle. She didn't know if it was true or false, but she was deeply astonished.
"No, I don't know Kung Fu. I'm just a little bit stronger."
As Jiang Li spoke, he deliberately made a "little bit" gesture with two fingers, indicating it really was just a little.
"Alright. Let me buy you a cup of coffee as thanks." Harleen invited Jiang Li.
Jiang Li naturally wouldn't refuse. He needed to befriend Harleen, making it convenient to sign in on her in the future when she became Harley Quinn.
On the way, they chatted with each other.
"Li, what do you do for work?"
"I don't have a job right now, but I will eventually. What about you, Harleen?"
Although Jiang Li's question was feigning ignorance—he naturally knew Harleen was a psychologist who would change drastically after meeting the Joker.
"I'm a psychologist. If you have any psychological problems, you can consult me. I'll give you a special 20% discount."
Jiang Li smiled and joked, "Twenty percent off is too little. Can't you give me 90% off?"
Harleen naturally knew he was joking. She put her hands on her hips, widened her pretty eyes, and pretended to be annoyed, "You really wish. I'm more likely to give you a 'fracture'."
The two laughed and chatted happily, like true friends, even though they had only just met.
Honestly, after interacting with her, Jiang Li felt a little reluctant to let the quiet and beautiful Harleen turn into that crazy Harley Quinn.
Because Harley Quinn's fate was honestly a bit tragic. The Joker could be said to have never loved Harley at all; he was extremely disgusted by her calling him Puddin' or Mr. J.
To the Joker, Harley was nothing more than a toy, a tool for his crazy, bloody games.
The two walked together into a mall, preparing to find a coffee shop to drink coffee and chat.
But, unexpectedly, the next second, the mall's steel gates suddenly slammed down, locking the entire mall tightly. No one could escape.
Except for Jiang Li, who remained calm, all the passersby began to panic. They knew in their hearts that when something like this happened, it was almost never good news.
"What's happening?" Harleen started to get scared because of the panic around her.
Jiang Li frowned and looked around, a bad premonition in his heart. He felt that something bad was about to happen.
"Sssss~" The suspected sound of a gas leak reached Jiang Li's ears, causing his expression to change drastically.
He immediately looked around, searching for a store that sold gas masks, because he guessed the perpetrator of this attack was one of Gotham's famous villains, Scarecrow!
Fortunately, his luck was good. He quickly saw a store selling gas masks. Without hesitation, he grabbed Harleen's hand and ran toward the store.
"Bang!" Jiang Li smashed the glass with an elbow strike, handed a gas mask to Harleen, and grabbed one for himself.
Although Harleen was a bit taken aback by Jiang Li's actions, out of trust, she didn't delay and put the gas mask on her face.
After they both put on their gas masks, they walked out of the store and quickly saw a terrifying scene unfolding in the mall.
A murky fog began to permeate the air. Some of the first people to be affected inhaled the fog, and the blood vessels on their faces began to turn dark brown.
Their eyes filled with bloodshot veins, becoming incomparably red. A passerby who hadn't been affected yet looked at his friend acting strangely and asked:
"Hey, buddy, are you okay?"
But in the ears of the affected person, the question sounded like strange screeches, like the sound of zombies in movies.
The latter raised his red eyes, followed the sound to look at his companion, and his face instantly changed. He saw the thing he feared most: a zombie!
"Ahhhh!! No!" The passerby's legs instantly went soft, and he collapsed on the ground, screaming.
His hands began to search for anything nearby to defend himself. It was a normal reaction of self-defense out of fear.
"Buddy, what's wrong? Ahh!!" His companion's head was suddenly struck by the other's baseball bat.
A full-strength blow from the steel baseball bat caved in the questioner's head, and blood splattered on the spot.
The affected passerby had no idea he had just killed his friend. He held the baseball bat with a face full of terror, looking around.
"They're all zombies!!" In his eyes, all the surrounding passersby had turned into the terrifying, ferocious zombies from movies.
Not just him; many affected people saw others as the things they feared most and grabbed any available weapon.
Knives, guns, bats—anything that could hurt someone was picked up, because the best way to eliminate fear is to destroy it.
The scene began to descend into chaos. In the eyes of a normal person, they were killing each other indiscriminately, creating a bloody and cruel Asura field.
"...What's happening?" Harleen leaned fearfully against Jiang Li, trying to find some sense of security from him.
Although Jiang Li wasn't a good person and wouldn't go out of his way to save these people who were killing each other without any benefit to him, he also wouldn't just stand there and wait for rescue.
Wait for the Gotham cops, none of whom were good except for Gordon? Or for Batman, Bruce Wayne, who was so busy with crime that it was uncertain if he could even arrive in time?
That was worse than saving himself. He had to find Scarecrow!
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