Chapter 590: The Mad Cat's Debut! (Part 1) (Patreon)

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When the bizarre crocodile-cat and Batman's group of cats locked eyes, both sides paused, as they found each other equally strange.

From Batman's human aesthetics perspective, the other side appeared highly deformed, with a body somewhere between a cat and a crocodile—two creatures that were seemingly incompatible. The combination was far from appealing.

The crocodile-cat had ridges resembling crocodile scales from the top of its head to the base of its tail. Its eye ridges jutted out, and its claws were larger and more crocodile-like than those of an ordinary cat. Moreover, its size approached that of a cheetah, larger than most cats in the city.

In the eyes of the crocodile-cat, the cats on the opposite side appeared even stranger. In this world, cats wore clothing, and nearly all cats had equipment, even the ordinary cats living in the slums. To the crocodile-cat, these cats in front of him seemed completely undressed and unarmed, lacking even firearms. This struck him as exceedingly peculiar.

However, after a moment's hesitation, neither side immediately attacked, particularly the crocodile-cat, who appeared cautious. He took two steps back, moving closer to the shadow around the corner, then raised his tail, extended his claws, and adopted an unfriendly posture.

None of these cats on the opposite side understood feline behavior, including Batman, who couldn't adapt to cat life in just a few hours. He continued to view the situation from a human perspective and believed that the crocodile-cat's posture signaled an imminent attack. Therefore, he intended to strike preemptively.

Batman began to move slowly, positioning himself within the edge of the shadow. The crocodile-cat kept a keen eye on his silhouette. However, Batman, concealed within the shadow, was the nightmare of all opponents. The crocodile-cat could barely perceive his movements before a claw struck him on the head.

Batman wasn't a cat skilled in combat, or at least, he wasn't entirely sure how cats should fight. However, his learning ability was virtually unmatched. In a split second, he realized that feline creatures were indeed natural hunters.

Speed, agility, flexibility, and lethality—cats possessed all these qualities in abundance. Once Batman grasped this fact, he transformed into a true feline predator. He first lunged forward, biting the crocodile-cat's ear. Then, he followed up with a swift claw swipe across the crocodile-cat's front paw.

Next, he raised both paws and leaped forward, sharp claws pressing against the crocodile-cat's abdomen. Simultaneously, he swung his tail, changing his body's direction, and bit down on the crocodile-cat's neck.

The crocodile-cat emitted a pitiful cry, but the anticipated pain and death did not come. Batman didn't bite down with force; he only used his sharp teeth to immobilize the crocodile-cat. In the meantime, Clark rushed forward and exclaimed, "Hey! Don't do this! We can't kill a fellow cat..."

Batman released his grip, but his paw remained pressed on the crocodile-cat's abdomen. He stared into the crocodile-cat's eyes, noticing a somewhat human-like expression of fear on its face. Then, the crocodile-cat rolled over, exposing its belly in a submissive gesture.

The crocodile-cat was significantly larger than Batman's group, but it lacked the same agility. The transformation imparted by the crocodile's traits had paradoxically weakened the cat's predatory abilities. For instance, its front paws were less nimble and more reminiscent of a crocodile.

"Who are you? And why are you here?" Batman inquired.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" the crocodile-cat replied, its voice somewhat unclear. Although it produced "meow-meow" sounds, the other cats could understand its words.

"How did you end up here? How did you come to Gotham's sewer?" The crocodile-cat's eyes scrutinized these peculiar cats, but Batman replied, "We're from out of town, looking for someone here."

"Out of town?" The crocodile-cat blinked, sizing them up. "You wouldn't happen to be from the neighboring Big Apple City, would you? Especially you..." The crocodile-cat looked at Clark and said, "I smell that apple scent on you."

Clark, puzzled, extended his paw to sniff but couldn't detect any odor on himself. Constantine, frowning, remarked, "Forget about the smell. This place is downright foul. We need to find somewhere drier, or I'll start growing mold..."

Batman redirected his gaze to the crocodile-cat's face. The crocodile-cat gnashed its teeth and reluctantly explained, "I'm just a stray cat. As you can see, because of my appearance, I can't live on the surface. So, I have to stay here."

"Does the recent murder incident at the bank have anything to do with you?" Batman squinted at him. Upon hearing about the murder incident, the crocodile-cat visibly hesitated, shaking its head. "Although it's been a while since I've been to the surface, I know that it's Batsy's territory up there. A murder? Impossible. No cat can commit crimes in this city."

"Batsy?" Batman's eyes narrowed, and Victor, who was more familiar with Batman, understood that Batman's alertness had reached its peak.

"It seems you're not only from out of town, but you're probably from outer space. You don't even know Batsy, the richest cat in the world!"

"And he rules all of Gotham, haven't you seen? There are cameras everywhere in this place. Everything here is under his command. If he doesn't allow it, cars won't start, spaceships won't take off..."

"Every street, every corner, is filled with cameras and automatic weapons. Some cats did protest, saying that Batsy was infringing on the citizens' privacy. But clearly, Batsy's determination exceeded that of any cat."

"Later on, things became increasingly excessive. He replaced all the buildings in this city with steel-made cages, even furniture, food, and water sources were controlled by him. If Batsy didn't approve, you couldn't even open your own front door..."

"This has fundamentally put an end to theft," Clark said as he touched his own cheek. He continued, "If we can't even open our own doors, thieves won't be able to either."

"Hmph," the crocodile-cat snorted. "Indeed, if you want to open your fridge and grab a fried fish tail, you'll immediately receive a telephone call warning you that such food is unhealthy, and you should eat the cat bars produced by Batcat."

The crocodile-cat paced back and forth, occasionally scratching the ground with its claws, appearing somewhat agitated. It said, "Batcat claims that this is footing the bill for the city's security, but do we really need this level of safety?"

"But this city truly seems to have no criminals, right?" Batman inquired.

"Is that so? Then how did you all end up here? And why did I run into you here?"

The crocodile-cat, larger than all the other cats, walked up to Batman and said, "The sewer is the last refuge. It doesn't welcome Batcat's supporters. Even if you can defeat me, you can't defeat the lunatics deeper within."

"Are there other residents besides you?" Batman asked.

"As I've said before, not everyone supports Batcat's ideas. When things started getting more extreme, many cats stood up to protest, but they all disappeared without a trace."

"That's not surprising. Everything in this city belongs to Batcat. He can even poison your drink at any time because the factories, assembly lines, and even the cups are all his production."

"But this world isn't just made up of ordinary cats. There are freaks like me. Perhaps certain genes in me mutated, giving me the genes of prehistoric creatures like crocodiles. Consequently, I grew larger, stronger, and maybe this mutation even increased my intelligence. That's how I managed to escape here."

The crocodile-cat turned around, raising its neck high to display a wound on its right lower jaw. It said, "I was once captured by Batcat. He put a collar on me and installed a sensing device in my lower jaw. If I strayed from the monitored area, I would be electrocuted to death."

"I went through a lot of trouble to get rid of that device, but my lower jaw still bears a permanent hole..."

As the crocodile-cat lifted its head, several cats could indeed see a hole in the center of its dense fur. It was evident that the wound wasn't recent but had long since healed.

"Have you committed any crimes?" Batman asked.

"No, I used to live in the impoverished eastern slums. There were too many crazy cats like me there. We didn't make fun of each other. I had a barely tolerable job. But one day, Batcat told us he wanted to improve life here, making it as luxurious as the city center for all residents."

"But he wouldn't allow any criminals in his new city, so everyone had to undergo a security check. Apparently, I didn't pass that test."

"So, he put a collar on you?"

"Correct, he told me it was an act of tolerance. Even though I'm a monster, the test results said I had a natural violent factor and the potential to be a criminal. Yet, he still wouldn't kill me. Instead, I needed to accept stricter monitoring than other cats to ensure I wouldn't commit any crimes."

"Nonsense!" Clark concluded, shaking his head vigorously. "If you haven't committed any crimes, then you're not a criminal. It's as simple as that."

"There's no such thing as potential criminals in this world. If you put it that way, everyone is a potential criminal."

"When I'm angry, I also want to break things, maybe even give a punch to someone who's made me angry. When I go for the test, would I get a result saying I'm a criminal? It's absurd!" Clark exclaimed, showing strong disagreement.

"What is his test based on? Psychological analysis? Historical behavior assessment? Or something else?"

"I don't know," the crocodile-cat replied, shaking its head. "He was quite vague, saying something about... darkness lurking within my heart, that I was born a criminal and would certainly commit a crime in the future. Maybe it's just an excuse..."

"He arrested you without any evidence?" Batman mused aloud.

Upon hearing this, the crocodile-cat snorted and said, "Evidence? What does he need evidence for? This city is entirely his. Every street, every building is his creation. He's already being magnanimous by letting residents live here. If he were to drive all these cats out, Big Apple City wouldn't accept them. Everyone knows Gotham is filled with rotten cats."

"The mayors of the surrounding cities and the state's legislators all think Batcat is a good cat. He trapped all the rotten cats in this prison, preventing them from causing trouble in other cities. For those politicians, this is the best news they could ever hope for."

Hearing the crocodile-cat's explanation, the other cats appeared somewhat dissatisfied. Victor, looking puzzled, asked, "But when we entered the city, we found that there was still some chaos. We even got in easily."

"Do you think this method can truly eliminate crime? His unknown test, can it really screen out all criminals and create a city with only good cats? Do you think that's possible?" the crocodile-cat asked.

"Good and bad are relative," Constantine shook his head and said, "Good people who meet Batcat's screening criteria might be bad guys under other rules. This screening can only identify obedient citizens, not necessarily good people."

"So, he's been getting impatient recently," the crocodile-cat squinted. "After several years of transformation, he found that evil hadn't been entirely eradicated, and chaos had never left this city."

The crocodile-cat took a deep breath and looked at Constantine, saying, "I can tell that, except for this orange guy, you all are probably similar to me. We're currently short of capable workers. Would you consider joining us?"

"Us? Besides you, who else?" Batman asked.

"I've already told you, a group of crazy cats."

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Next Chapter>>Chapter 591: The Mad Cat's Debut!