Tony could somewhat understand their fear of this particular guest.
Gotham had a Dark Knight, often seen as a freak in a suit, and some people thought he was just an urban legend or a story made up by the city.
However, there was also a White Knight, and he was no urban legend or story. He was real, and he was relentless.
Harvey Dent, the District Attorney of Gotham City.
If Gotham had anyone who firmly stood for justice, it would probably only be a bat, a police commissioner, and this white knight right in front of them.
The three worked as a team.
The one fought crime at night using the shadows, one brought the criminals into the police station under the public eye, and the last one made sure the criminals received the punishment they deserved.
Harvey was smart and very determined with all the gangs in Gotham knew his name. He had caught some gang members and put them in jail.
Even though they were enemies, they also kind of respected him, and kind of feared him.
There are a lot of people who want to be good in Gotham, but only a few can stay strong and actually withstand the brutal pressure of reality.
However, the problem was Tony was scared of him too.
The White Knight is the brightest light when he's a symbol of hope, but he becomes very twisted and broken when he falls into darkness.
'You're all afraid of Harvey Dent? What about me? You think I'm not afraid of Two-Face? Am I not your coworker too?'
"Mr. Dent, hello, please come with me."
Tony said.
Harvey Dent nodded at him and looked at his face very closely for a few seconds, and he suddenly asked, "I noticed your smile looks a little stiff. Are you feeling sick? Or are you a bit nervous?"
"No, no, I'm perfectly fine. I'm just really passionate about my work and just a little excited, hahaha."
He forced his smile to look as natural as possible, desperately trying not to leave a lasting impression on this future supervillain.
"Oh, is that so?"
Harvey replied with a knowing smile, "I thought you folks didn't like me very much."
"How could that be? Red Dragon warmly welcomes every guest. It's an honor to serve you, haha."
'I'm such an idiot. I always knew most superheroes weren't exactly rich, and the ones who were wouldn't show up in a place like this. However, I didn't know Harvey Dent had a bad habit of showing up in person like this.'
Looking at Harvey Dent's bright and sharp eyes, Tony couldn't help but feel a little nervous.
'Wait… is there going to be a fight later? Surely not… right? I haven't got anything good in the system.'
"Then bring me the menu."
Harvey said casually, "A few scumbags got thrown into the precinct yesterday. I'm in a good mood and feel hungry today. I have been thinking about how many years I should ask the court in their sentence."
"Ah, right... of course."
He handed over the menu, sneaking a glance over his shoulder. He saw a few people in the crowd turning red in the face right before his eyes.
That gave him a bad feeling deep down.
'Don't screw me over, man. Please.'
"Those scumbags… they're like rats—have you ever seen a swarm of rats?"
Harvey flipped through the menu with a strange enthusiasm.
"I've seen plenty. The big ones are clever. They hide away in their nests during the day and only come out at night to bite people."
By now, nearly half the room had turned red.
'Stop talking, just stop…'
Tony's heart pounded in his chest.
'If he keeps going, they will eat him.'
"However, the rats in the gutter? They've got no loyalty, no sense of family. The little ones are all pretty dumb. If you catch a few, you can drag the whole nest out right after."
He glanced around hopelessly to see if there was anywhere to hide. Then, he carefully felt the gun tucked under his suit.
Luckily, after he ordered his food, Harvey didn't keep bothering him. He just asked some questions about the food and wine.
Tony wanted to pretend he was confident and bluff his way through watching and dealing with customers, but he didn't even have to try with Harvey here.
Harvey was using talking to him as a way to ridicule the other gang members in the restaurant.
However, Tony nervously brought out dish after dish, and he saw his coworkers reach toward their waists under their suits, but others stopped them.
Ding ding ding—
Suddenly, the phone rang, interrupting the pleasantly relaxed Harvey. He hurriedly took the call, exchanged a few words, then promptly paid the bill and left the restaurant.
Tony was confused and didn't understand what happened, but he was happy because he got his first tip and some points for his work.
The restaurant staff seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as well.
If Harvey Dent had stayed any longer, they might not have been able to hold back their anger.
...
Fortunately, the guests that followed were all normal people.
The supervisor's judgment about Tony hadn't been wrong with his appearance and demeanor genuinely helped his awkwardness.
Throughout the day, the restaurant welcomed hundreds of high-society customers coming and going, and Tony served one after another and learned a lot.
No matter if they were picky and demanding, grumpy because of age, eccentrics, or rude and bossy, they handled all of them smoothly.
Tony couldn't help but admire their professionalism.
...
On the quiet streets of Otisburg late at night, a big truck was driving through the city with a heavy load.
Karl had one hand on the steering wheel and the other holding a hamburger, casually glancing out the window.
It was ten in the night, and there were barely any people or vehicles on the road. The empty streets made him excited, and his speed had risen to eighty.
Karl had been a truck driver in Gotham for a long time. He'd been driving this route for years, and that kind of speed was nothing to him.
"Life always finds a way~"
After munching on his hamburger, Karl hummed quietly.
"Wahoo—!"
Suddenly, a sharp, excited shout mixed with a bright, colorful streak of light zoomed past his window.
The shout sounded a little excited, a little happy, a little scared, and a tiny bit relaxed.
"What the hell was that thing?"
Karl's eyes widened as he tossed the hamburger aside and leaned forward to look at the source of that dazzling rainbow light.
"Was that... a glowing wheelchair?"
"Wooohoo—!"
At the same time, Tony was riding around in his heavily electric wheelchair, feeling like he was flying.
He had upgraded it to full power with a speed up to one hundred twenty.
The wheelchair was covered in colorful LED lights, making him the brightest and coolest thing on the street.
The wheelchair was designed with wind and rain protection, an aerodynamic body, seat belts, and even airbags to keep him safe.
In just seven minutes, Tony had already driven the wheelchair out of Otisburg and was about to enter the East End.
The few remaining street thugs who saw a rainbow-lit wheelchair flying across the road decided not to bother him.
Who could even hit something drifting at that speed?
Of course, Gotham City always has some lunatics, and a few shooters raised their guns and fired at the glowing wheelchair.
Naturally, the bullets missed.
That streak of light turned casually a few times, and their bullet was instantly thrown into chaos.
The few bullets they managed to shoot didn't hit anything at all.
Tony sped from the road into the tight, narrow alleys of the East End without slowing down.
Luckily, the route he was taking came from a map from a system that gave directions in Gotham.
Finally, Tony reached a narrow alley.
He slammed on the brakes and drifted to a perfect stop right at the alley entrance.
After stopping, Tony stood up and gently lifted the wheelchair. Suddenly, the sides folded in, and it turned into a unicycle.
He pushed the unicycle through the narrow alley, and right in front of him was Drake's house.
"Let's see... 10:12 PM. Not bad. I could save a bit more time tomorrow."
It's hard to say whether Gotham will get a new urban legend in the coming days about a mysterious racing wheelchair.
However, the city was already so crazy that a wheelchair going a hundred twenty miles per hour wasn't even a big deal anymore.
Then, he happily carried his "unicycle" into the building.
...
Meanwhile, on the rooftop of a building in the East End, Catwoman stood silently. She watched as the young man she had saved earlier, carrying that glowing wheelchair, disappeared.
She was quietly thinking about everything she had just seen and started to regret what she had done.
"I thought Gotham couldn't get any crazier…"
...
On the other side, Karl was still driving with one hand, cursing loudly on the road.
"This is goddamn ridiculous. I've never seen anything like that in my life — Gotham's getting more weirder up by the day."
Just then, a black, bat-shaped shadow flew across the sky. It cast a massive silhouette that quickly engulfed Karl's truck, gliding silently over the roof.
"Scarecrow, Penguin, now this new nutjob calling himself Mr. Freeze… screw it. Gotham is full of freaks, and don't even get me started on that so-called urban legend Batman."
He spat hard out the window, "All of' them can go to hell."
BANG!
The front windshield shattered without warning, and in an instant, a dark figure appeared inside the cramped cabin.
It was like a ghost, a nightmare, or fear itself.
Looking at the dark, white eyes, enormous black wings, and sharp ears, Karl couldn't help but remember the urban legends he had heard before.
They said that every night, a terrifying black bat was circling above Gotham City.
It always watched anyone who dared to commit a crime or enough to do something bad. It brought with it fear that carved into the soul… and justice, swift and ruthless.
Shaking with fear and despair, Karl trembled as he choked out its name.
"B-B-Batman!"
....
150 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter
250 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter
450 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter
1000 Power Stones = 2 Extra Chapters
2000 Power Stones = 3 Extra Chapters