Jason slowly let go.
Since Tim really did know her, there was no reason to keep holding her down.
The situation had become incredibly strange.
A mysterious naked woman wrapped in Robin’s cape.
A Robin currently questioning his entire existence.
A Demon’s Son tied up like a caterpillar.
And a Red Hood who seemed to have misunderstood something.
The entire dock fell into a peculiar silence.
Jason took a step back.
Then let out an awkward laugh.
“Heh.”
“Hehehe.”
He looked at Tim, then at the woman standing before them.
“So you two actually know each other.”
Tim shot him a look.
The look clearly said: You’ve never seen Ghost in the Shell*? It’s a great movie.*
Jason completely missed the signal.
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Freed from her restraints, Nora stood up.
Tim’s cape was a little too large for her. The black fabric draped from her shoulders and hung down, covering her entire mechanical body.
The night wind blew across the dock.
The cape fluttered gently.
Her inorganic eyes quietly observed the three brothers standing before her.
As for whether Nora felt embarrassed about being naked—
She really didn’t.
First.
This wasn’t her body.
Second.
It was a mechanical cybernetic body.
Third.
Her mind was currently occupied with figuring out how to safely remove Major Kusanagi’s body from the scene and get rid of it.
Embarrassment wasn’t even on the list.
Tim, on the other hand, looked slightly uncomfortable.
He scratched his hair.
His blue eyes glanced left.
Then right.
In the end, he decided to stare at Damian.
Because Damian was the safest option.
“Um...”
Tim paused.
“Hello.”
Another pause.
“I’m Robin.”
Nora: “...”
Jason: “...”
Damian: “...”
The dock fell silent once again.
Jason slowly tilted his head.
He felt like his brain was struggling to keep up.
Wait.
Let him sort this out.
This mysterious woman believed Tim knew her.
And Tim clearly did know her.
He had even lent her his cape.
But now—
Tim was introducing himself.
Which meant Tim believed she didn’t know him.
So what exactly was going on?
Jason looked at Tim.
Then at Nora.
Then back at Tim.
Finally, he couldn’t hold it in anymore.
“Wait a second.”
Red Hood raised a hand like a student asking a question in class.
“So do you two know each other or not?”
Nora remained silent.
Tim remained silent.
Damian lay on the ground.
Looking at one.
Then the other.
For the first time in his life, he felt that he might not be the strangest person at the scene.
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Nora looked at Tim.
Tim happened to be looking at Nora.
Their gazes met in midair.
For a second, neither of them spoke.
Then Nora answered first.
"Don't know him."
At almost the exact same moment, Tim said,
"I know her."
The dock instantly fell silent.
Jason: "..."
Damian: "..."
Then both of them turned to look at each other.
Nora blinked once.
"I know him."
Tim immediately corrected himself.
"Don't know her."
Jason: "..."
Damian: "..."
Jason slowly narrowed his eyes.
Something was off.
Very off.
He knew Tim too well.
Tim's guard around strangers was notoriously high.
Especially in Gotham.
Especially around someone who appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the night and could apparently turn invisible.
Under normal circumstances, Tim would already be questioning her, gathering information, analyzing behavioral patterns, and mentally drafting a risk assessment report.
But this wasn't normal.
Tim looked relaxed.
More than relaxed.
He almost looked like he trusted her.
His shoulders weren't tense.
He wasn't maintaining a defensive distance.
And body language wasn't something you could fake that easily.
Jason looked at Tim.
Then at the woman wrapped in the cape.
The questions in his head kept multiplying.
Just where exactly had this rich kid met a naked woman who wandered onto a Gotham dock in the middle of the night?
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So Jason raised both hands.
Making a clear I’m not hostile gesture.
“It’s okay.”
“It’s okay.”
He tried to ease the tension a little.
“Relax.”
Then he looked at Nora, his tone even bordering on polite.
“I just want to know why you’re at a Gotham dock in the middle of the night.”
After a brief pause, his gaze swept over the cape wrapped around her, and he carefully considered his wording.
“And dressed so... um... lightly?”
Jason was being extremely tactful.
Really.
He even felt like he deserved some kind of award for politeness.
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Nora glanced at Jason.
These people were Batman’s disciples. Suspicion, investigation, and brute-force problem solving were practically standard procedure.
Suddenly, Nora felt like she was standing in the middle of a final oral defense, with three examiners sitting across from her.
How exactly was she supposed to explain this?
She couldn’t exactly say that she had originally planned to throw Major Kusanagi’s body into the canal.
Nora’s brain began working at high speed.
Then an idea struck.
“I came here to swim.”
The air fell silent for a second.
A perfect answer.
Not only did it explain why she was at the docks,
it also explained why she wasn’t wearing any clothes.
Nora felt that her logic was completely flawless.
Hearing the answer, Jason looked her up and down.
Around twenty-five years old.
Short, neat hair.
Small in stature, but surprisingly strong.
And now she was standing there, saying with complete seriousness that she had come here to swim.
Jason fell silent.
Then he slowly turned his head and placed a hand on Timbo's shoulder. Leaning forward slightly, he lowered his head and asked in what he believed was a quiet voice—but was actually loud enough for everyone to hear,
"Timbo, is there... maybe something wrong with this woman?"
The corner of Tim's mouth twitched.
At this point, you might as well just ask if there's something wrong with her head, he thought.
But he still did his best to maintain a neutral expression.
After all, he seemed to be the only normal person left at the scene.
So Tim answered,
"She does like diving. Maybe she suddenly felt like coming out in the middle of the night to..."
Halfway through the sentence,
even Tim could feel the credibility rapidly slipping away.
Still, he tried to explain.
Because aside from the question of why she was here,
diving really had been one of her hobbies in the movie.
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While the two brothers were quietly discussing the matter, the subject of their discussion decided to state her request.
"Excuse me... may I go swimming now?"
Nora felt a little tired.
Far too many things had happened tonight.
Starting with dealing with Major Kusanagi's body.
Then seeing Tim and Damian fighting.
Then being pinned to the ground by Jason as a suspicious individual.
And finally being forced to deactivate her invisibility.
Right now, all she wanted was to get rid of this troublesome mechanical body.
And then go back to her dorm and sleep.
The three brothers shifted their attention back to the only woman present.
Despite the many unanswered questions, she had provided a reasonable explanation. There was really no justification for keeping her here and interfering with her leisure time.
Jason thought about it for a moment before spreading his hands and offering a polite smile.
“Of course, ma’am. You may enjoy your time in the water.”
Jason decided to let her go.
After all, there would be other opportunities in the future. Besides, Timbo clearly knew something. At worst, Jason could always hack into Tim’s computer and look for answers himself.
Upon being told she could leave, Nora let out a quiet sigh of relief.
She glanced at Tim.
He was looking at her as well.
His blue eyes rested on her silently.
He said nothing.
He did not stop her.
He simply watched, as though evaluating something.
What a troublesome night, Nora thought.
She slowly walked toward the edge of the embankment.
The smell of the water drifted up to meet her.
The night wind swept across the canal, carrying a damp chill, while the sound of water striking against itself echoed in her ears.
Again and again.
Especially clear in the silence of the dock.
Nora reached up and pulled off the cape.
The black fabric slid down her shoulders.
Then fell to the ground.
Major Kusanagi’s mechanical body was exposed beneath the night sky.
Cold.
Precise.
Its smooth contours resembled a work of art.
Viewed without any sexual context, it looked more like a masterpiece of craftsmanship, or perhaps a showcase of future technology. Moonlight spilled across the cybernetic body, casting a faint sheen over its surface.
Nora lowered her gaze toward the canal.
A rare Gotham moon was reflected on the water.
Ripples swayed gently across the surface.
Then— she lifted her right foot.
The next second, her body tipped forward.
Her figure disappeared beyond the edge of the embankment.
Water splashed upward, then quickly settled back into stillness.
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Less than ten meters away from where Nora had entered the water, the three brothers watched the woman disappear from sight.
Each of them fell silent.
Only the sound of the canal continued echoing through the night.
Damian was the first to break the silence. His green eyes shifted between the other two.
“You’re really just going to let her leave?”
Jason glanced at him and answered without hesitation.
“As if.”
Then he casually pulled out his phone.
The screen lit up.
A map was displayed.
At the center of the map was a red dot.
Tim glanced at Jason’s screen.
After two seconds of silence, he quietly pulled out his own phone.
The same screen.
The same map.
And the same red dot.
The night wind swept across the dock.
Both of them looked down at their phones.
There were no outsiders around anymore.
Staring at the red dot on his screen, Jason finally asked the question he had been holding back the entire time.
“Who is she?”
Tim let out a bitter smile.
Honestly, it was not an easy thing to explain.
Because no matter how you looked at it, the whole situation sounded completely impossible.
Even now, he still had not fully accepted it himself.
Tim rubbed his temple.
Eventually, he gave up trying to find the right words and simply said,
“Look up Ghost in the Shell on your phone.”
Jason raised an eyebrow, but did as he was told.
He quickly opened a search page and entered the title.
A moment later, the results appeared.
Motoko Kusanagi.
Public Security Section 9.
Cyberization.
The networked world.
Artificial intelligence.
Jason slowly lowered his phone.
His expression was complicated.
“She’s an anime character?”
Tim nodded.
Jason looked down at the image on his screen again, then raised his head toward the canal.
“So we just met an anime character and had a conversation with her?”
Tim nodded again.
“Assuming she wasn’t a cosplayer, then I think it was her.”
He paused before adding,
“At least the body was.”
Jason stared at the image on his phone.
The Motoko Kusanagi displayed on the screen was almost identical to the woman they had just met.
The appearance.
The height.
The hairstyle.
Even that distinctly mechanical presence.
Everything matched.
Which somehow made the situation even more absurd.
So Tim really did know who she was.
In fact, he knew her very well.
Because she was already a famous anime character.
But that raised an even bigger question—
How did an anime character end up on a Gotham dock?
Jason felt like he needed a drink.
Or maybe two.
So he asked,
“She said you knew her. Do you know why?”
Tim shook his head.
His blue eyes were thoughtful.
“Not sure. But it's possible she hacked into my systems and read my files.”
Tim thought back to how familiar she had seemed with him.
Then he thought about the capabilities of that cybernetic body.
The more he thought about it, the more reasonable it sounded.
“I need to go check my computer...”
While the two of them continued discussing the matter, a voice suddenly interrupted from beside them.
“I have a question.”
Damian was sitting on the ground.
His hands and feet were still tied up.
His green eyes looked seriously at the other two.
“How long can someone stay underwater while diving?”
Both men immediately fell silent.
Jason looked down.
Tim looked down too.
Then both of them stared at the red dot on the map.
The dot had not moved at all.
And it had been quite a while.
Damian continued,
“Because she still hasn’t come back up.”
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The human record for holding one’s breath was eleven minutes and thirty seconds.
Tim glanced down at the time, then looked back toward the dark canal.
The target had been completely motionless for a long time.
And throughout the entire period, neither of them had seen her surface.
The water was unnaturally calm.
Only the reflections of the streetlights shimmered across the surface, broken apart by gentle ripples.
Tim and Jason exchanged a look.
The next second, both of them sprinted forward at the same time.
As he ran, Jason shouted,
“She has suicidal tendencies too?”
The night wind swept across the docks.
Footsteps rapidly approached the embankment.
Running alongside him, Tim answered,
“In the story, she questions whether she really exists! Whether her soul is fake! But I honestly don’t know about suicidal tendencies!”
Jason's mouth twitched.
“That answer is not reassuring at all!”
Before he could finish speaking, both of them had already reached the edge of the embankment.
Without a moment of hesitation, they dove straight into the cold, dark water.
A huge splash erupted.
Then was quickly swallowed by the night.
At the bottom of the canal,
Nora was preparing to transfer away.
Warnings continuously flashed across Major Kusanagi’s cybernetic body.
Oxygen depletion.
Oxygen depletion.
Oxygen depletion.
System alerts kept blinking.
But Nora was somewhat distracted.
Because this perspective was actually quite rare.
She looked down at the bottom of the canal.
There was garbage everywhere.
A rusted bicycle.
An overturned canoe.
A car door that had apparently fallen in from somewhere.
Scrap metal.
Broken wooden planks.
Everything piled together in complete disorder.
Gotham residents seemed to enjoy throwing things into the river.
Today there's one more robot down here, Nora thought.
If someone dredges this place in the future, they're going to be very confused.
And honestly, today had been a pretty unusual experience.
She had seen Jason.
She had seen Damian.
From the perspective of a Batman fan, that alone made the trip worthwhile.
Just as Nora was about to close her eyes,
a beam of light suddenly appeared.
The darkness of the riverbed split apart.
A column of light pierced through the water and moved steadily toward her.
Tim emerged in front of her, a flashlight clenched between his teeth.
He floated in the water, his black hair drifting with the current.
The beam illuminated the surrounding debris and sediment.
And illuminated Nora as well.
Nora could not help but smile.
How many times had they met today already?
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Tim looked at the person before him.
She stood quietly among piles of garbage at the bottom of the canal, as if she herself were just another discarded object left behind there.
But Tim did not think she was trying to kill herself.
So he did not hesitate.
He reached both arms forward and pulled her into an embrace, paying no attention to what she looked like at that moment.
And as Tim reached out,
Nora reached out as well,
wrapping her arms around the idiot who had jumped into a freezing canal in the middle of the night.
The water was cold.
The only sound was the quiet flow of the current.
For a brief moment, their figures overlapped within the beam of light.
But only for a second.
The next moment,
the oxygen countdown reached its end.
Nora transferred her soul.
The mechanical body from Tim's dream lost the ghost that had inhabited it.
Its eyes lost their light.
Its body instantly became heavy.
A mass of bubbles poured from its mouth and drifted toward the surface.
Tim immediately sensed that something was wrong.
He tried to hold onto the cybernetic body and swim upward.
But it was too heavy.
Much heavier than a normal human body.
Tim's eyes widened.
His mind raced as he desperately searched for a solution.
Just then,
Jason finally arrived.
Red Hood's figure emerged from the darkness.
The two of them positioned themselves on either side, trying to bring the cybernetic body to the surface.
Even so, it was difficult.
In the end, they could only swim upward first.
The moment Tim broke through the surface, he sucked in a huge breath of air.
Then he looked up at the night sky and shouted,
“Connor!”
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In less than five seconds,
a figure came speeding in from the distance.
A brief sonic crack echoed through the night sky.
The newcomer was wearing a leather jacket and came to a complete stop in midair, utterly ignoring gravity. Looking down at the two drenched figures floating in the water, he flashed a bright grin.
“Tim, it’s rare for you to call me while you're on patrol. I thought you only sent text messages.”
Tim didn't even have time for greetings.
The canal water was freezing, and his entire focus was on figuring out how to retrieve the cybernetic body.
He immediately pointed toward the water.
“Quick. There’s a mechanical body down there that needs to be moved.”
Conner blinked.
He didn't really understand why there would be a mechanical body in a canal.
But he trusted Tim.
The chairman of the Teen Titans.
So without asking a single question, he dove straight down.
With a splash,
he disappeared beneath the black surface.
Then—
less than three seconds later,
a figure shot back out of the water like a rocket.
Water exploded into the air as Conner flew back into the sky, his entire face bright red.
Pointing downward, he shouted,
“Tim! That’s a naked woman!”
Still floating in the canal, Jason immediately shot back,
“What are you embarrassed about?”
“You Boy Scout.”
Conner's face turned even redder.
“That’s not the point!”
“You could’ve warned me first!”
Tim wiped water from his face.
Was this ever going to end?
He quickly pointed toward the embankment.
“My cape.”
“Use that to cover her.”
Conner followed the direction of his finger.
Sure enough, a black cape was lying on the shore.
The next second,
he flew over, grabbed the cape, and immediately plunged back into the water.
The entire sequence happened so fast it left only an afterimage.
Another second passed.
The water erupted again as Conner emerged from the canal.
This time, there was someone in his arms.
The Son of Superman was carrying her in a perfect bridal carry, while Tim’s cape was securely wrapped around the cybernetic body.
Water dripped steadily from the cape.
Conner slowly descended onto the embankment.
His movements were careful, as though he were transporting something precious.
Then he looked down at the person in his arms.
He looked up at Tim, who was climbing out of the water.
Then at Jason, who was equally soaked.
Finally,
the Son of Superman asked the most reasonable question imaginable.
“Excuse me.”
“Who is she?”
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and then Add to home screen.