When Selina turned her head, she found herself staring directly into a phone camera.
David gave a satisfied nod and lowered the device.
"How was the shot?" he asked casually. "Good angle?"
On the phone's screen was a perfectly timed photo: Selina Kyle holding up the stolen sapphire ring, admiring it with a smug smile that made her look exactly like a proud little thief cat.
"Delete it!"
The moment she realized what had happened, Selina lunged forward in panic, reaching for the phone.
But David had already stepped back.
He slipped the phone neatly into his coat pocket right in front of her and gently patted the pocket as if sealing it away.
"This," he said calmly, "is evidence that might be very useful in court someday."
"Give it back!"
Selina reached for him again.
She tried several times to snatch the phone from his pocket and erase the photo before anyone else could see it. Her movements were quick and agile, clearly practiced from years of street survival.
But each attempt fell just short.
David moved lightly, almost lazily, stepping aside each time she lunged. He looked completely relaxed, like a butterfly drifting among flowers.
Selina grew increasingly frustrated.
No matter how she tried, she couldn't even touch the corner of his coat.
After several rapid attempts, Selina finally stopped. She bent forward with her hands on her knees, breathing heavily like a college student who had skipped every gym class for the past four years.
Then suddenly her eyes widened.
She looked past David's shoulder with genuine alarm.
"What is that?!"
"Don't try childish tricks."
David didn't even turn around.
Despite the perfect timing and convincing tone, his expression remained completely flat.
Selina Kyle.
The international thief later known as Catwoman.
She specialized in stealing jewelry, cultural relics, and priceless works of art. Her skills were world-class, allowing her to slip past even the most advanced security systems.
Although she was still young now, David knew better than to believe she had exhausted herself after such minor movement.
"As a professional thief," he thought calmly, "your stamina should be better than this."
He tilted his head slightly.
"Or are you not worried about getting caught and dragged to a police station?"
Crack!
The sharp sound of leather snapping through the air echoed across the alley.
Selina straightened up instantly.
The fatigue vanished from her expression as she pulled a black whip from the satchel strapped around her waist. With a confident flick of her wrist, the whip cracked loudly against the wet pavement.
Her entire demeanor changed.
Moments ago she had looked like a delicate college student.
Now she resembled a black rose with thorns.
"A warning for you, outsider," Selina said coolly. "Don't mess with anyone in Gotham."
She flicked the whip again.
"Even if she's a thief."
David raised his eyebrows with interest.
"That's unfortunate," he said lightly. "I just met one of the darkest and coldest men in Gotham earlier today."
He studied her for a moment.
"By the way, how did you know I wasn't from here?"
Selina removed her plain glasses and twirled the whip casually.
"Your trench coat is nice," she said. "But in Gotham—a city that rains and floods almost all year—only two kinds of people wear coats like that."
Before David could respond, the whip shot forward like a striking snake.
"First," Selina said, "people who don't understand Gotham."
The whip lashed toward him.
"Second—"
Her voice sharpened.
"Rich idiots who buy luxury clothes just to throw them away after one use."
"You're not wrong."
David reached out casually.
His hand closed around the whip mid-air.
The leather snapped tight in his grip.
He glanced down at the muddy hem of his coat, then looked back at Selina with a faint smile.
"But why can't I be the second type?"
Selina ignored the question.
She yanked hard on the whip, trying to pull it free.
Nothing happened.
She pulled harder.
Still nothing.
The whip might as well have been clamped inside a hydraulic press. Even when she planted her feet against the wet ground and leaned back with both hands, the leather didn't move a single inch.
Her shoes slid uselessly across the pavement.
"Damn it," she muttered. "What did your parents feed you growing up?"
It felt like trying to wrestle a bull.
"Vegetables," David replied thoughtfully.
He tugged lightly on the whip.
Selina's body lifted off the ground.
"Apple pie."
She flew several meters through the air.
"Oatmeal."
She landed hard in a muddy puddle.
"And occasionally a glass of milk in the morning."
David released the whip.
Selina lay sprawled on the ground, soaked in rainwater and dirt, looking miserable.
He tilted his head slightly.
"You're lighter than I expected."
Selina groaned and pushed herself up slowly, clutching her side.
"Oh, excuse me," she said sarcastically. "Forgive my delicate weight."
She staggered forward with a limp.
"Such a gentleman, country boy."
The next moment, she suddenly reached into her bag.
A stun gun appeared in her hand.
"Let's see how you handle this!"
Click.
Compressed nitrogen inside the device fired instantly.
Two metal electrodes shot forward.
Zap!
They struck David squarely in the chest.
A powerful electrical current surged through the wires—strong enough to make a three-hundred-pound man collapse immediately, convulsing helplessly on the ground.
Selina waited for the inevitable result.
It never came.
David calmly plucked the electrodes off his coat.
He flicked them aside as if brushing away dust.
Then he walked toward her.
Selina's proud smile froze.
"What kind of monster are you?" she blurted out.
For the first time, panic crept into her voice.
She looked like a cornered kitten now, glancing desperately for escape routes in the narrow alley.
But there was nowhere to run.
"What do you want?" she demanded.
She backed against the wall.
It was finally obvious that David hadn't followed her just to report a thief.
David pulled out his phone and waved it lightly.
"Miss," he said calmly, "you wouldn't want the police to discover evidence of your theft, would you?"
…
"Be more specific."
Inside a temporary hotel apartment, Selina sat with an expression of reluctant resignation.
She had been captured.
The man sitting across from her held undeniable evidence of her theft and had forced her into a deal.
But his request remained frustratingly vague.
"What exactly do you want me to find?"
"I want information about everything that's been happening in Gotham recently," David said.
He leaned forward slightly.
"Especially anything related to gangs."
Selina frowned.
David continued calmly.
Avery had come to Gotham.
Judging from the arrogant words he had spoken before leaving town, Avery wasn't here just to enjoy himself in a lawless city.
"There are so many weak people waiting to be conquered."
"I'll return and erase anything that makes me uncomfortable."
The man's ambitions were obvious.
A faint gleam flashed in David's eyes.
Unlike Clark, Avery had immediately identified a weakness in his abilities and attempted to eliminate it.
Coming to Gotham meant gathering followers.
If Avery built a gang and returned to Smallville with them, they could dig up every Kryptonite meteorite in the area and destroy them.
Then nothing in the world could threaten him anymore.
But reality wasn't that simple.
"You realize there are more gangsters in Gotham than hotels with hot water, right?" Selina said.
She fiddled with the empty stun gun irritably.
"I still don't understand where you came from," she added. "Anyone else would've dropped after that shock."
"Who are the biggest gang leaders in Gotham?" David asked.
He thought briefly about Avery's inflated ego.
The man probably wouldn't waste time with minor criminals.
"Black Mask," Selina said, counting on her fingers.
"Roman Sionis. Carmine Falcone. The Penguin."
Each name carried weight in Gotham's underworld.
David nodded.
"I want information on them," he said. "Recent movements. Anything unusual."
Selina stared at him.
"Are you serious?"
Her eyes widened slightly.
"You're talking about them like they're street punks who panic when a small-town police chief shows up."
She leaned back slowly.
"In Gotham, every one of those men can shake the entire city with a single move."
Her voice turned grim.
"They're monsters who eat people alive."
She crossed her arms.
"Trust me. It's safer to offend the mayor than to cross one of them."
....
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