Chapter 21: News

"Ugh, that kid wasn't training me at all, she's just using me as a punching bag all day long, huh."

As Jekyll returned to the basement with a bruised and swollen face, there wasn't a spot on his body that didn't ache. Even as he carefully lay on the soft sofa, his bruised buttocks made him grimace.

"But hey, getting this thing makes the beating somewhat worth it."

Jekyll pulled out a rectangular object from his pocket, unable to suppress his joy.

Unexpectedly, Dinah had kept her promise and gifted him the cellphone.

A few minutes ago...

"I'm giving you this phone directly. Anyway, the SIM card is recent; I only got it to communicate with Harley."

At the end of the training, Dinah tossed the phone onto Jekyll, who was lying on his back, seemingly spaced out.

"But I've formatted all the stored content inside. There's not a single call record left. If you want Harley's number, ask her yourself."

Jekyll held the seemingly expensive phone in his hands, surprised by Dinah's generosity. However, considering Dinah's identity, he wasn't too surprised by it.

"I never expected you were the Black Canary—daughter of the Green Arrow."

In the next moment, Jekyll felt his collar being roughly grabbed, as Dinah's pretty yet frosty face loomed over him.

"I warn you—if you dare to spread what happened before..."

"Before... you mean when you were on top of me?"

Thud!

Jekyll felt like he'd been hit by a sledgehammer in the stomach, as Dinah's punches were as merciless as ever.

"Don't play dumb. You know exactly what I mean. If you dare to talk about how I, I was fooled by you..."

Jekyll remembered it now. Dinah's panicked calls for "Daddy" were strangely adorable, but it was the first time Jekyll had seen Dinah in such a flustered state.

However, if Dinah was so afraid of her father, would the Green Arrow, Oliver Queen, find his way here? Did she come here without her parents' consent, running away from home? Jekyll couldn't help but be curious, but judging by Dinah's expression, asking now would only lead to another beating.

After bidding farewell to Dinah, Jekyll lay back on the basement sofa, feeling a little excited as he scrolled through his phone.

"Fantastic, feels like going from primitive life back to modernity!"

In these past few days, Jekyll's understanding of this world had been limited, relying solely on newspapers and magazines in Harley's room for information. But with the phone, it was different. With the help of the internet, he could quickly learn the basics of this world.

What should he search for first?

Opening the search engine, Jekyll hesitated for a moment, then typed in the word "superheroes."

If it were in his previous life, the search results would probably be links to various comics, movies, and novels, or maybe some serious and not-so-serious fan fiction. But in this world, it was evidently quite different.

[Batman has not appeared for a week in a row. Has the last remaining founding member of the Justice League fallen?]

The headline with the highest relevance caught Jekyll's eye, and his pupils shrank in surprise. Jekyll could guess the reason why Batman hadn't appeared, but the phrase "last remaining" was worth pondering.

Carefully clicking on the link, Jekyll confirmed that the date of this news was today, then slowly began to read through it—his heart tumultuous like waves unable to be calmed.

This article wasn't clickbait; it briefly mentioned Batman's consecutive days of absence before summarizing the current situation of other founding members of the Justice League.

Superman—the man of steel from Krypton, the god among men. He was once the core of the Justice League and the moral compass in people's hearts, a symbol of hope.

However, three years ago, in the battle against the supervillain Doomsday in Metropolis, everyone thought Superman would once again overcome the odds and defeat the enemy. But Superman found himself in a fierce battle, unable to wait for the Justice League's support, and ultimately perished before the eyes of the world.

Wonder Woman—the Amazon princess from Themyscira, who briefly became the leader of the Justice League after Superman's fall, and actively promoted communication between Themyscira and the mortal world.

However, shortly afterward, a serious invasion war broke out on Themyscira, and rumors spread that Queen Hippolyta had died in battle. In response, Wonder Woman, Diana, announced that she would no longer interfere in the mortal world, returning to Themyscira as the Amazon queen to protect her people.

Diana's departure seemed to be the catalyst, as Aquaman soon announced that he would return to Atlantis and no longer interfere with the surface world. As for Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter, they disappeared into outer space and hadn't been seen for a long time. The Flash also mysteriously vanished shortly afterward, and nobody knew what timeframe he got caught up in. With their arch-nemesis, the Rogues, naturally disbanding.

[We must admit that the days protected by the seven great superheroes of the Justice League are gone forever. Although the Justice League now has new superheroes to maintain its operations, we must consider whether the government and law enforcement agencies should play their proper roles after losing the protection of the superheroes—we should not rely solely on the assistance of vigilantes.]

Reading the last paragraph, Jekyll noticed the byline of this article.

[Author of this article: Lois Lane, Special Correspondent for Daily Planet.]

Jekyll took a deep breath; if this was a report from that reporter, then most of the information inside was likely correct.

Madness, utter madness, what on earth happened in this world?

Jekyll continued surfing the internet for a while longer. Whether on big or small forums and other reports, they all confirmed what was stated in this article—most of the superheroes he was familiar with, and those who were the most powerful in the original comic books, either died, disappeared, or retired one after another. It seemed that this world was entering a post-superhero era.

It was only then that Jekyll remembered the description he had seen in Harley Quinn's clippings, boasting about Gotham's modest and peaceful city life. Now, it seemed like it wasn't ironic at all. As the veteran superheroes in other cities disappeared one after another, Gotham under the shadow of Batman became the place where supervillains least wanted to gather.

But even in this situation, change would soon come, or rather, it was already happening.

Jekyll scrolled to a news item in the entertainment section, which stated that Bruce Wayne, the owner of Wayne Enterprises and Gotham's playboy philanthropist, had been injured in a horse-riding accident and was now participating in social activities in a wheelchair.

After sighing lightly, Jekyll swiped past this news. Then, a headline in the entertainment gossip caught his eye.

[Image shattered! Commissioner Gordon divorces, another truth behind the scenes? Mysterious woman seen entering Commissioner Gordon's residence, is the seemingly upright detective secretly keeping a mistress?]

When Jekyll saw the accompanying photo of the news, his eyes slowly widened.

Although it was taken from afar by paparazzi, the image quality was very poor. But from the attire, Jekyll recognized who the woman in the photo was at a glance.

Wasn't this the disguised Harley Quinn?!

°°°

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