Dizziness sank deep into his skull, and his eyelids felt as heavy as lead. The sticky sensation of blood-soaked fabric clinging to his back made every movement a struggle.
Li Ang leaned against the wall and managed to stand, his surroundings illuminated by the dim, flickering light of old lamps fixed to the arched ceiling of the sewer. The passage to the surface was completely blocked by the rubble from the explosion.
Fetid, garbage-strewn water rose steadily in the dark channels, lapping against the steps. Occasionally, small, scrawny rats scurried out from the crevices in the stone walls, sniffing cautiously before retreating back into the shadows.
The vile environment did little to affect Li Ang. Steeling himself, he focused inward, diving into his sea of consciousness to assess his condition.
Dozens of acupoints throughout his body had been activated, their spiraling vortices of spiritual energy operating autonomously, slowly restoring his muscles from the effects of the relaxant.
"This Human Immortal Aperture Refinement Method is truly remarkable," Li Ang mused. "Even with just the first stage crudely applied, there's an innate sense of self-sustaining harmony. Any other technique would have left me paralyzed, suffocating as the muscle relaxant shut down my respiratory system."
At that moment, the blonde girl lying on the ground stirred awake. Rubbing her tear-gas-burned eyes and nose, she looked around in confusion.
"Where am I?"
"If you must know," Li Ang replied in an emotionless tone, "you're currently 100 meters beneath the bridge on Fifth Avenue, near Sullivan Island. And you should be thanking me for breathing the rancid stench of this sewer instead of being blown to pieces in that explosion."
"...What?"
The girl's face was blank with bewilderment, unable to grasp the situation.
Li Ang offered no further explanation. He knelt down and used a sharp piece of stone he'd picked up to tear at the leg of her jeans.
"What are you doing?!" she shrieked in alarm.
Li Ang clamped a hand over her mouth instantly, his voice icy and devoid of sympathy. "Shut up, you fool. I'm not some hormone-driven teenager who can't walk past a pretty girl, nor am I a gallant gentleman with a chivalrous code. I saved your life. Every breath you take and every beat of your heart is because of me. If you keep screaming, I'll drown you in the filth of this sewer and let you choke on its stinking, putrid waters."
The sheer brutality of his tone silenced her. She had seen such predatory, beast-like eyes before—on her banker father's face when he nonchalantly bankrupted hundreds of working-class families over lunch meetings.
"Good. Stay quiet," Li Ang said, satisfied with her compliance. He tore the fabric free with a harsh rip, tying the corduroy material into a makeshift sling to secure his broken arm.
Seeing the girl's fleeting relief, Li Ang sneered. "Don't flatter yourself, miss. I have no 'interest' in your perfumed, superficial shell. Apart from your jeans, you're utterly useless to me."
He adjusted the sling, turned away without a glance, and began walking.
"Wait!" she called softly. "Where are you going?"
Without stopping, Li Ang waved dismissively. "To survive."
"Uh?"
"If you've ever studied the 1920 sewer map of Gotham, you'd know we're at the outflow channel near Old Town. The path behind us is blocked, and the only exit ahead leads to the sewage treatment center—where the clowns likely escaped."
He paused briefly before adding, "The explosion's soundwaves would've traveled through these tunnels like an amplifier. Even those idiots should've realized by now that the blast didn't destroy the cash, hostages, or police as planned. They'll come to check soon."
As if to confirm his words, hurried footsteps echoed from the darkened corner ahead.
"Boss, we should leave now. The cops could—"
"Shut your mouth," snapped a sinister voice. It was unmistakably Bucky, the gang leader.
The distorted shadows of the clowns stretched and twisted under the flickering light as they approached. Li Ang tiptoed back to the girl, pressing her into a pitch-black corner.
"Stay silent," he whispered.
Li Ang removed his shoes, placing them gently in the murky water. He flexed his fingers and toes before leaping up to grip the stone crevices of the curved ceiling like a lizard, inching toward the approaching gang.
The clowns stomped noisily, their heavy boots sloshing through the sewer water. Beams of light from their flashlights danced across the filthy surface.
At last, they rounded the corner.
Li Ang released his grip and dropped. His landing sent water splashing upward, temporarily obscuring their vision.
With precision and lethality, Li Ang struck. His hand sliced into one thug's throat, collapsing his trachea and leaving him gasping for air. A swift fist drove into the center of his chest, causing his heart to seize.
Spinning around, Li Ang jabbed his thumb into another thug's temple, shattering the delicate bone junction and inducing immediate cerebral hemorrhage.
The whirl of spiritual energy from his activated acupoints pushed his body to its limits. Panting heavily, he dodged a spray of bullets by rolling across the wet ground. Propelling himself up with one hand, he delivered a crushing elbow to a third thug's skull, snapping his neck.
Using the body as a shield, Li Ang absorbed a barrage of bullets from Bucky's gun before hurling the corpse aside. His final punch connected with the jaw of the fourth clown, disrupting his vestibular system and sending him stumbling helplessly into the sewage.
Only Bucky remained.