Watching Joker shove Rachel out of the high-rise window, Liu A'dou cursed under his breath. That lunatic really plays for keeps. He shoved through the panicking crowd and dove straight for the window.
He managed to grab Rachel's hand, but the next moment, both of them were falling.
Totally unprepared, no intel… Liu A'dou's mind was racing, already summing up why this had gone so wrong. But the freezing night wind was slapping his face, and no amount of reflection was going to save his life right now.
Damn it! Liu A'dou gritted his teeth and managed to hook his fingers onto the edge of the shattered glass. One hand gripping Rachel, the other barely hanging on by four fingers—it was pure agony.
Batman, you son of a—get your ass here now! Liu A'dou's nerves were shot, and whenever he was under this kind of stress, he couldn't help but swear.
Last time he was hanging off a cliff, now he was dangling off the edge of a skyscraper, with someone else's life in his hand. This job really sucked. His fingers felt like they were about to snap, but if he let go, they were both dead. Still, he believed—Batman would come.
Down below, people had already spotted them and were shouting.
Thomas had his family camcorder in hand, filming the whole thing. His lens alone was worth more than the camera itself, so even from over a hundred meters away, it could still clearly capture the two figures dangling in mid-air.
Iselin was frantic. Where the hell did Liu A'dou disappear to for a bathroom break? The big news was happening, and he was missing again. And now Thomas had scooped the story.
Thomas held the camera steady, his voice tense. "Everyone, do you see this? We're here at Gotham Hotel, and just now, two people suddenly fell from the top floor. They're hanging off the side of the building, dozens of stories up!"
Neither of them had seen Joker slip out the back door.
"Oh God, someone help them!" Thomas's heart was in his throat as he zoomed in on the scene. The guy clinging to the window frame was holding on with just four fingers, supporting both their weights. Any second now, they could fall. It was terrifying.
Rachel couldn't see who was holding her up, but it definitely wasn't Batman—this guy was way too thin. Guilt swept over her. She felt like she'd dragged him into this.
Joker was gone, and now the millionaires realized it was time to help. But for a moment, none of them knew what to do.
One of the richer ones finally snapped out of it. "Use belts! They're about ten meters down. Tie the belts together and pull them up!"
Saving lives came first, and they didn't care about their designer belts anymore. One after another, the rich guys started pulling off their luxury-brand belts.
"Hang on, we're lowering a rope down to you!" one of them shouted, though the howling wind swallowed most of his words before they reached Liu A'dou.
But Liu A'dou could guess what they meant. Hang in there. No shit, if I don't, we're both dead. He clenched his teeth and held on.
"Hurry up, tie the belts together!" They scrambled to knot the belts, some of them holding up their pants as they worked.
A minute? Maybe longer? Liu A'dou couldn't tell anymore. His fingers had gone numb. If they didn't get to him soon, he'd have to let go.
Rachel's wrist was gripped so tightly in his hand she didn't dare move. One wrong twitch and they'd both fall. But trembling was instinct—it couldn't be helped. Her body shivered, and Liu A'dou just clenched harder, his grip bruising her wrist.
"We're lowering the belts now, grab them!" they yelled.
The belts dropped—but they'd forgotten just how strong the wind was up here. The thin belt string didn't fall straight down; it got caught by the gusts and blown off to who knew where.
Now the millionaires were panicking. They looked at each other, clueless.
Damn it, can't you idiots tie something heavy to it? Liu A'dou cursed silently. It was clear now—he could only rely on himself.
He looked down at Rachel and said through gritted teeth, "Hold onto my waist, or my leg, I don't care. Just hold tight. I need both hands."
Rachel heard him, but she couldn't move. Fear had locked her body in place.
"Hurry up, or we're both dead!" Liu A'dou's voice sharpened. Where the hell is Batman? In the movie, he shows up in seconds—what's different this time?
Of course, it wasn't the same. Even if the big events played out like the films, Liu A'dou knew now that the details were never exact. Like how in the movie, it was Middle Eastern terrorists who kidnapped Iron Man, but here, it was actually corporate rivals. You couldn't trust the movie timelines completely.
Lesson learned.
"Move it!" he barked again.
Under his urging, Rachel finally reached up and grabbed onto Liu A'dou's thigh, wrapping her arms around it as tightly as she could.
"I'm letting go of my other hand now—hold on!" Liu A'dou warned. "I'm counting to three, and then I'm releasing you."
"Three, two, one!" He let go.
Rachel instantly clung to his leg like a lifeline, her grip like iron. Now, with one hand free, Liu A'dou could finally attempt something insane—break the glass in front of him.
The glass on high-rise buildings was reinforced, meant to withstand enormous force. There was no way a regular person could break it barehanded—but Liu A'dou wasn't a regular person.
He curled his hand into a fist, pressed it to the glass, and took a deep breath.
Jeet Kune Do—born from Wing Chun, refined with techniques from all over the world, a style of no-limits combat. Liu A'dou had trained in it for thirty years in his other world, had fought the best of the best. He was, in every sense, a master.
Jeet Kune Do included the essence of Wing Chun's greatest technique—short power. A way to unleash explosive strength in close range.
Rachel felt the wind pause around her. She didn't know it, but Liu A'dou was syncing his breath, focusing his body.
Every part of him—from the knuckles of his fist, through his wrist, forearm, shoulder, down to his core—adjusted in a flash, gathering force for a single strike.
He couldn't afford a second chance.
"Ha!"
The sound cracked through Rachel's ears like a bomb. The wind exploded back into chaos, whipping past her face, and she instinctively clung tighter to Liu A'dou.
His fist connected. No time for buildup. All the energy stored in his muscles fired into that point.
A shout from his throat. A crunch from his bones. A shatter from the glass.
Three sounds, one instant.
The reinforced glass buckled inward, a spiderweb of cracks splintering across it.
Liu A'dou shoved hard. The hole widened enough for them to escape.
Go!
With a heave from his waist, he swung both of them through the gap, tumbling onto the shards of shattered glass. But reinforced glass didn't cut easily—its edges weren't sharp. Miraculously, neither of them was hurt.
The floor was empty. No lights, no people. Which meant no one saw the pain etched across Liu A'dou's face.
His whole body ached. His hand throbbed, his legs screamed. This is hell… I need to get out of here.
"Who are you?" Rachel's voice came from behind, breathless, stunned. What kind of person could punch through reinforced glass with a bare fist?
"Didn't Joker say it already?" Liu A'dou forced a grin. "I'm Kaitou Kid."
He gave her a glimpse of his back, calm and cool, then vanished into the darkness.