Marvel: The Sole Player

A few days later, Darian received notice that he was officially reinstated and returned to work at the Gotham City Police Department.

He hadn’t been idle during these days; he had visited most of the teleport activation points in Gotham, including the most prominent one in the city, Wayne Tower.

He didn’t know if these wealthy Superheroes had some special hobby, but they always liked to make their company buildings so flashy and ostentatious.

Tony’s Stark Tower was like that, and Bruce Wayne’s Wayne Tower was even more so.

The top of Wayne Tower had two sharp protruding structures. When looking at the silhouette of the entire building, it was clearly the outline of Batman wrapped in his cape. It was as if they were afraid people wouldn’t associate the place with Batman; they truly weren’t even trying to hide it.

Of course, there was a reason why Batman dared to be so blatant.

Everyone in Gotham knew what kind of person Bruce Wayne was: an idle playboy who knew how to do nothing but spend money.

Such a profligate son was an entirely different species from the taciturn, socially awkward Batman who only knew how to use his fists. No one would ever link the two together.

After all, no one would imagine that a lunatic would give up the life of a top-tier billionaire to become a skin-tight-suit-wearing pervert who liked to find large men for passionate brawls at night.

For this reason, even if someone saw Batman coming out of Wayne Manor with their own eyes, they would only think that Batman had sold his backside to Bruce Wayne, which was why he had the money for all sorts of advanced equipment.

This is the importance of a public persona.

Just like Darian’s persona: righteous, upright, low-key, never holding grudges, sincere, clean-handed, tight-lipped, and dutiful...

Because of this, he was able to gain the trust of so many Superheroes.

Which superhero would dare to say a single bad word to Darian’s face?

Only those evil supervillains constantly tried to smear his image. However, Darian was a generous man; he chose not to bicker with them, simply telling them to be more careful in their next life before forgiving them.

Unfortunately, there were still many places in Gotham that Darian hadn’t had time to explore.

For example, the talent-rich Arkham Asylum.

As everyone knew, most of Gotham’s criminals were mentally unstable, and Arkham Asylum was an institution specifically for treating such psychiatric patients with criminal tendencies.

Later, Batman reached a cooperation agreement with the Gotham police. Using the Wayne family’s financial power, they significantly upgraded the facilities of Arkham Asylum, transforming it into a heavily guarded special prison specifically for incarcerating super-criminals who exceeded normal categories.

In Gotham’s criminal circles, Arkham held a very special status. It was the equivalent of a top-tier university for criminals, an authoritative certification body for high-level criminal talent.

A criminal who hadn’t been locked up in Arkham would be embarrassed to say they were part of the underworld.

On his first day back, Darian teleported to the Gotham City Police Department right on time. The teleport point was set in the restroom.

Just as he pushed open the stall door, he saw Harvey sticking out his crotch, thrusting it back and forth toward the hand dryer on the wall.

Harvey noticed the movement, turned his head, and froze when he saw Darian.

"Darian? Why are you in the restroom? I clearly checked just now and no one was here."

Darian didn’t reply. His gaze shifted downward, landing on the wet patch on Harvey’s crotch.

Harvey quickly pulled down the hem of his shirt and explained, "Don’t get the wrong idea. I accidentally splashed some on myself while washing my hands, so I just wanted to dry it."

Darian said cheerfully, "It’s fine, I understand. In the past, you could pee three yards against the wind; now, you’re peeing on your shoes even with the wind. It’s normal for your age."

Harvey was immediately displeased. "I can still pee three yards now! If I hadn’t already drained the tank, I’d show you right now by peeing from the first stall all the way to the ninth!"

Darian waved his hand. "Fine, fine, I believe you."

Harvey got anxious. "Your eyes clearly say you don’t believe me! This really is just water!"

"Whatever you say."

"Fuck!!"

Darian ignored the frantic Harvey behind him, pushed open the restroom door, and went straight to the Director’s office.

"Director, I’m back."

"Officer Darian, welcome back."

Gordon sighed, his tone carrying a hint of helplessness. "I originally wanted you to rest for a few more days, but recently things have been happening one after another in Gotham. The department is truly short-handed, so I had to call you back early."

Darian sat down in the chair across the desk and said casually, "It’s fine. I was just idling around anyway."

The two chatted briefly about recent events, then Gordon shifted the topic and asked, "By the way, a few days ago I received news that you were taken away by Cobblepot’s men. You didn’t run into any trouble, did you?"

Darian shook his head. "No, that Penguin is quite nice. It’s just that his aura is too strong; anyone standing in front of him has to obediently lower their head to speak."

Gordon: "..."

Is that a strong aura?

It’s clearly because he’s short!

"Cough, cough!"

Gordon gave a dry cough, feeling that the thought was a bit too mean, and quickly suppressed the corners of his mouth which were about to curl upward.

He was professionally trained and could hold it in. He continued to ask, "Did Cobblepot make things difficult for you?"

"..."

"No, he respected me very much, and he respected my gun very much too."

"..."

Gordon felt some admiration for Darian.

That day, after he received news that Darian had been taken by The Penguin, he had urgently contacted Batman for help.

Later, Batman only told him that Darian was perfectly safe and didn’t elaborate. At the time, Gordon thought Batman had arrived in time to fish Darian out of The Penguin’s hands.

Never in his wildest dreams did he expect that Darian had actually used a gun to threaten The Penguin on the Penguin’s own turf.

As expected of the man he had his eye on!

"Alright, as long as you know what you’re doing. If you have any difficulties, just let me know."

Gordon didn’t press for more details. He took out a police ID and a folder from his drawer and pushed them toward Darian.

"From now on, you are officially back on duty. There’s a case that needs you and Harvey to investigate together."

Gordon said with a serious expression, "Recently, the False Face Society has been very active in Gotham. A large amount of weaponry is flowing into the city through their channels. I need you to investigate the False Face Society’s transport routes and, ideally, find their transit warehouse in Gotham."

[NPC James Gordon has issued a new quest to you]

[Quest: Arms Smuggling]

[Objective: Determine the False Face Society’s arms transport routes in Gotham and find the location of the transit warehouse]

[Rewards: EXP +1500, Gordon’s Favorability +10, Anchor Shard *1, Random Item *1, Random Equipment *1]

Darian’s eyes lit up, and his gaze toward Gordon immediately became a bit more fervent.

As expected of an NPC with the Director title; they are so good at issuing quests.

Darian hadn’t forgotten that he still needed to collect enough Anchor Shard to synthesize a complete teleport anchor to turn this DC Universe into a permanent server.

The problem was that during these days he had been wandering around Gotham, he hadn’t triggered even the most ordinary side quest, let alone a dungeon quest. Even when he met Batman, the system didn’t make a sound.

Yet, on his first day back, just by sitting in Gordon’s office, a quest was delivered to his door.

It seemed the heavy responsibility of farming Anchor Shard would ultimately fall on Gordon.

Gordon felt a bit unnerved by his stare. He adjusted his glasses and asked, "What’s wrong? Is there a problem?"

"No."

Darian withdrew his gaze and said with a serious face, "I guarantee the mission will be completed."

Gordon didn’t mind; a positive attitude was never a bad thing.

"Remember, safety first. If you encounter any major trouble, contact me immediately."

Gordon spoke with great confidence, his face full of assurance, as if any trouble in Gotham was nothing to him.

Because it didn’t matter; Batman would take action.

Harvey also received the quest from Gordon and met up with Darian outside the station.

The patch on his crotch had long since dried, and his expression had returned to normal, as if nothing had happened in the restroom.

Harvey teased, "Rookie, I didn’t expect you to get such a big case on your second day. When the time comes, don’t get scared out of your wits if something happens."

Darian said calmly, "Aside from Batman doing a pole dance in front of me, there is nothing in this World that can scare me anymore."

Harvey choked for a moment.

True, this was someone who dared to shoot Baso in the face; his courage was anything but ordinary.

Moreover, he had just heard from Gordon that a few days ago, Darian had pointed a gun at The Penguin in the Penguin Gang’s territory and even walked away unscathed. This achievement would be enough for anyone else to brag about for a lifetime.

Harvey felt a bit depressed, feeling that the new generation was truly pushing out the old.

Were young officers these days all this fierce?

He decided to regain some ground in his professional field. Clearing his throat, he said, "The False Face Society has always been very mysterious, and finding their whereabouts won’t be easy. However, I have a few well-informed informants down at the docks. I should be able to squeeze something out of them."

Every officer who had worked in Gotham for a number of years would develop a few informants of their own, relying on them to gather news from within the underworld to help solve cases.

Having been a veteran officer for over a decade, Harvey naturally had much richer informant resources than the average officer. This was his advantage, and a capital that a rookie like Darian, who had just arrived at the GCPD, did not yet possess.

In terms of case-solving speed, he believed Darian certainly couldn’t match him.

The next second, however, he heard Darian say, "No need, I’ve already found a lead."

Harvey: "?"

Good grief, we haven’t even left the station yet. Where did you find a lead?

Before Harvey could ask, Darian walked straight to the police car, pulled open the door, and sat in the driver’s seat.

Seeing this, Harvey had no choice but to go around to the other side and sit in the passenger seat. Just as his backside touched the cushion, he heard Darian give a warning while gripping the steering wheel.

"Fasten your seatbelt. The target location is a bit far, and the car might go a bit fast in a moment."

"Heh, rookie, you’re looking down on me a bit."

Harvey immediately gave a disdainful smile. "When I was street racing to catch criminals, you were still playing with mud. How fast can you possibly go? Just try it and see."

"Alright, then allow me to demonstrate my poor skills!"

Time seemed to be suddenly pulled back over a decade.

In those years, Gotham’s idol, Batman, had not yet debuted, and Gordon was just a green kid who had recently joined the GCPD.

Gotham back then was completely different from now; mob forces ran rampant, and the GCPD was almost helpless against them.

Even for a veteran officer like Harvey, who had some status in the GCPD, he was worthless in front of the mob forces. He had to be extremely respectful when meeting a mob boss.

This situation only began to change with Gordon’s arrival.

Gordon possessed all the qualities an officer should have: upholding justice, not fearing power, and viewing the protection of citizens’ safety as his primary responsibility.

No matter how great the risk, he dared to rush to the front lines to fight against the mob.

Harvey must have been crazy back then, actually joining that guy Gordon in his madness, provoking mob forces he had never dared to offend before.

Together, they handled countless cases, confronted and entangled with all kinds of dark and evil forces, and who knows how much they sweated or how many injuries they sustained.

Eventually, Gordon was finally promoted to Director of the GCPD, continuing to shine his light for this city.

And Harvey did not retreat to the rear; he remained on the front lines, leading batch after batch of new GCPD officers, just to train officers as excellent as Gordon and add a bit more strength to Gotham.

Unfortunately, officers like Gordon were truly rare, especially in a place like Gotham.

So many years had passed, and Harvey had never seen a truly promising junior.

Until now, when he met a young officer named Darian.

Darian acted even more boldly than the young Gordon.

Facing the barrel of a mobster’s gun, Gordon could remain unfazed.

When a mobster faced the barrel of Darian’s gun, Darian could also remain unfazed.

Gordon’s driving speed didn’t exceed a hundred miles per hour, but Darian’s starting speed was no less than a hundred and eighty.

Except for his character, Darian seemed to be more excellent than Gordon in every other aspect.

With such a young officer, the GCPD finally had a worthy successor, and he could die without regrets.

In a daze, Harvey seemed to see the future of Gotham gradually becoming better.

He leaned against the seat back, gave a gratified smile, and slowly closed his eyes.

"Hey, Harvey, don’t sleep. We’ve arrived. Wake up!"

The life-flashing-before-his-eyes images were suddenly torn apart, and Darian’s voice came from the driver’s seat.

Harvey opened his eyes. The police car had stopped steadily, and Darian was looking at him sideways.

"Harvey, are you okay?"

"I’m fine, of course I’m fine. I’m doing great."

Harvey forced a smile. "Compared to how I drove in my youth, your speed is still a bit slow."

Darian nodded. "The speed this time was indeed a bit slow. I can’t help it; the GCPD’s police car configuration is too poor. It can only hit 180 mph at most."

"When I get back, I’ll have to make a suggestion to Director Gordon. At the very least, the configuration should be upgraded so it can start at 300 mph. Otherwise, how are we supposed to catch criminals at this speed?"

Harvey: "Impressive..."

"..."

Did you misunderstand something?

We are catching criminals, not F1 racers!

Darian opened the car door and stepped out, then looked back to find Harvey still in the car.

"Harvey, why aren’t you getting out?"

"Don’t mind me. My old leg pain is acting up. I’ll be fine in a moment."

***************************

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