"We value honor and responsibility, while you... you're just a madman!" The gang member on the ground shouted with all his might. This was the gang's bank, and yet it had been robbed by a lunatic. This was something the veteran gang members could not accept. "What will you gain? Regret, that's all. You've crossed the wrong person, madman."
The purple coat had been worn for a long time, stained with patches of grease and dust, but it still retained the mysterious aura of a long purple suit.
"Tsk tsk tsk," the robber mocked. "What doesn't kill me makes me stronger. You call me a madman? Congratulations, you're right. The madman, 'The Joker,' is back!"
"Ahhhh hahahahaha~ Ah hahahahaha~~——" The insane laughter echoed, and a Joker card was the start of the whole event.
The gang boss seeking revenge was locked up in Black Gate Prison, never to see the light of day again. So Liu A'dou and Iselin, this pair of lovebirds, returned to their normal routine.
Since the broadcast van had been blown to pieces, Liu A'dou and Iselin spent most of their time working in the office. Whenever they had to go on location, they had to use their own cars. But Liu A'dou's old car kept breaking down every few days, causing him and Iselin to constantly miss out on big news.
Bored, Liu A'dou saw a panicked figure stumbling in through the entrance—it was Thomas, the confident reporter who aspired to be Gotham City's number one journalist.
They had never seen him so flustered before. Something big had happened.
Thomas rushed straight into the station manager's office, and the door slammed shut behind him. Everyone was curious about what news Thomas had uncovered.
"Big news, it must be huge!" Several chatterboxes immediately started discussing.
"Obviously! Do you know what kind of big news it is?"
"No, do you?"
"I don't know either."
"Tch~~——"
It was indeed big news, but Howard hesitated, unsure whether to air it.
"Manager, go ahead and broadcast it. I worked hard to dig this up from the police station," Thomas said, giving Howard an odd look. Usually, if he had such a big story, Howard would have patted him on the back and nodded enthusiastically. Why was he so hesitant today? "This is an exclusive story!"
Howard, however, was thinking about how much panic this news might cause. But as a reporter and the head of the independent news station, neither his identity nor his superiors would allow him to consider the public's fear. In the end, he reluctantly said, "Let's air it on the evening news."
"Yay!" Thomas punched the air, his hard work paying off. This news was sure to shake all of Gotham City.
The crowd buzzed with curiosity, all craning their necks to know what big news Thomas had found. But the door was closed, and clearly, neither the manager nor Thomas would emerge until the news was aired. It was clear that the news was extremely important.
A sense of unease flashed through Liu A'dou's mind. This news might be about some new big villain showing up. After all, this was Gotham City. Liu A'dou's first thought was that another bad guy had appeared. And as usual, his intuition was spot on. When the evening news aired, fear would soon cover everyone.
"Liu, Thomas has gotten another big story," Iselin remarked. Since the establishment of the Independent News Channel, Iselin had always considered Thomas a competitor. Thomas always managed to get the story before her, and it frustrated her to no end.
"He's our senior, with better connections than us, so this is to be expected." Liu A'dou got along quite well with Thomas. They were both colleagues, and Liu A'dou's mental age was about the same as Thomas's. They often chatted together. Liu A'dou knew that the confident and outspoken Thomas was already a father of two, though he didn't seem to take much care of his family.
Iselin understood the reasoning, but the feeling of always being one step behind was still hard to bear. Iselin's goal was to become the best journalist, and she certainly wasn't going to give up. "What do you think this news will be about?"
"I'm not sure, but I have a bad feeling about it. Let's hope it's not bad news."
Iselin couldn't figure it out either, so she returned to her desk. The Independent News Channel was divided into several departments—interviews, financial news, current affairs, international news, and hot topics, each with its own division. Liu A'dou and Iselin worked in the current affairs department, the largest department with a total of three main shows: Prime Time News, Batman Focus, and Gotham City News.
There were more than fifty employees in the current affairs department, with one group responsible for screening videos submitted by enthusiastic viewers, another working in the studio, and a third group handling field reports.
There weren't many people handling field news—only eight in total, with four broadcast vans. But since Liu A'dou and Iselin's broadcast van had been destroyed, there were now only three vans left.
Thomas was the best field reporter at the Independent News Channel and the small leader of the field reporters. He had the authority to mobilize all the broadcast vans, but unless it was an international event, the rule was that there wouldn't be two vans covering the same news event at the same location.
The office for the current affairs department was very spacious, newly renovated, with floor-to-ceiling windows on one side. Sunlight and the view came in unobstructed, bringing energy to everyone working there.
Liu A'dou and Iselin's desks were separated by three rows. Iselin's was by the window, while Liu A'dou's was near the hallway. This was why Iselin could see the station manager's office from Liu A'dou's desk.
Liu A'dou sat there alone, his curiosity piqued about what big news Thomas had uncovered. He glanced at the paperclip on his desk, a small smile forming. Maybe he could try a little divination.
In the world of Conan, there was magic. Liu A'dou had a classmate who was a red mage, and he had learned many skills from her. Divination was just the most basic of magic. Using paperclips was more than enough. He took eight paperclips, held them in his palm, shook them, then let them scatter across the desk.
Wood falls in Shen, fighting is done in Shen, and Shen breaks Yin.
It was a bad omen, meaning that his unease wasn't unfounded, and this incident might very well involve people he knew. Of course, divination didn't always work accurately—it only gave a rough idea. And often it wasn't reliable. In the world of Conan, magic knowledge was quite shallow.
"I hope it's not..." Before he could finish, Liu A'dou suddenly felt a wave of dizziness, and he collapsed onto his desk.
"Liu?" His colleagues around him gasped in shock, caught off guard.
How could someone who had been perfectly fine just moments ago suddenly faint?
"Call an ambulance!" They hurriedly moved Liu A'dou to the break room, unsure of what had happened to him. Iselin was especially nervous, never leaving his side.
This didn't go unnoticed by those with more experience. It seemed that these two young people had a special relationship. Although Liu A'dou and Iselin hadn't publicly acknowledged their relationship, Iselin's actions had clearly shown that theirs was no ordinary connection.
"Everyone, step back, give him some space to breathe." Someone pushed the crowd away.
This was the first time Liu A'dou had used magic since crossing over. He hadn't expected that his first use would feel like it had triggered some switch in his brain, transporting him into a world that felt like a dream.
In simple terms, it was as though the protagonist's cheat code had activated.