"You…"
Barbara's face changed slightly when Jin exposed her identity. She quickly looked around, and after seeing that there were no passersby nearby, she felt relieved.
"Wait here."
Barbara glared at Jin, then took out a small microcomputer. She quickly hacked the nearby surveillance cameras, ran to an empty alley to change her clothes, and then came back out.
She now wore simple denim shorts that revealed her fair, slender thighs, white knee-high socks with colorful stripes, a plain short-sleeved shirt, and a purple bat-like coat over it.
Despite the casual outfit, Barbara still looked adorable.
She walked up to Jin, placed her fists on her waist, and asked, "How did you recognize me?"
Jin smiled slightly, answering casually, "Eyes. People say the eyes are the windows to the soul. Looking at yours, I just knew you were my best college friend."
Barbara's face instantly turned bright red. Her head felt hot, and dizziness came over her.
"Oh… I hate you… don't say things like that! I… I'll get shy too!"
She began to giggle nervously.
Jin shook his head and smiled. He had long known that Barbara would blush and giggle whenever praised, just like Chopper.
What Jin didn't know was that Barbara only reacted this way to him. If anyone else complimented her, she wouldn't blush like this.
Barbara then recalled the message from her father, Gordon, warning her not to let anyone get ahead of her.
She felt cautious immediately.
"Away… have you met any women lately?"
"Huh?" Jin blinked, confused.
"Why are you asking that now?"
In the past, Barbara would never have asked such a question. It felt more like a police officer interrogating a suspect.
"Speak quickly!"
"Well… I did meet one recently."
Barbara's eyes sharpened. She felt that she had been too careless. Another woman had already tried to get close to him.
After that, Barbara, now serious, dragged Jin to the shopping mall, walking with him all afternoon.
By the time they finally finished, Jin returned to his apartment, but a strong sense of unease suddenly filled his chest.
He had felt it ever since he gained the roaming gunner ability—an intuition that something terrible was about to happen.
"This feeling… it's bad."
Jin couldn't ignore it. He quickly changed clothes and went out again.
——
With Harleen's help, the Joker finally escaped from Arkham Asylum.
He brought Harleen to a chemical factory, explaining his plan to use her to attract Jin.
Harleen stopped a few steps away, glancing down at the chemical pool below. Her brows furrowed, and she spoke with a hint of anger:
"I did everything I could to get you out of Arkham… and you bring me here?"
She raised her pistol, pointing it at the Joker. The weak girl she had once been was gone—Harleen had changed after surviving the Gotham mall ordeal.
"Kahahaha!" the Joker laughed. "But madam, this really is the best method."
He raised his hands in a flamboyant salute.
"Once you jump in, you'll be completely new."
"You'll become like me."
"You'll attract Batman."
"You'll attract the person you care about."
"And your beloved will fall madly in love with you!"
Harleen, however, was no longer a girl blindly obsessed with the Joker. She might care about someone, but she wasn't foolish.
Bang!
Harleen fired a bullet that grazed the Joker's ear.
The Joker touched the wound, stunned, then looked at the blood on his fingers and grinned again.
"Gahahaha~"
It was the first time he had met a woman both crazy and rational. Contradictory, yet fascinating.
"You are the funniest, craziest, and most interesting woman I've ever met… but…"
Suddenly, the Joker pulled a pistol from his waist, aiming at Harleen.
"I won't see you again."
Bang!
Harleen, still a novice with firearms, had no time to react.
Just as the Joker's bullet was about to hit her, another bullet appeared.
It collided with the Joker's bullet mid-air, shattering it completely before falling to the ground.
The Joker tilted his head, confused. His grin remained, but his eyes were full of question marks.
"It seems I arrived just in time."
Both the Joker and Harleen looked up.
A man stood above them on a high platform, wearing a black trench coat and a cowboy hat, looking down calmly.
The moment Harleen saw him, her heart ignited. A bright smile spread across her face as she called out:
"Jin!"
——
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