Starting from scratch, Batman crushed my dream of getting rich

Chapter 363 Friends are just for getting things for free!
"I understand, you have superpowers."

After hearing Susie's general description of the situation, Ma Zhaodi understood immediately.

"You believe what I'm saying? You accepted the science fiction premise of superpowered individuals so easily?"

Susie's eyes widened like saucers: "Why? Aren't you surprised? Aren't you even a little bit suspicious?"

"Emm, you must not be a local from Central City, right?"

“Uh, no, actually my home is in Inglewood, Los Angeles, California. I only moved to the city center of Missouri for work reasons—why do you ask?”

"Six hundred and sixty-six, and even across states, makes it even easier to understand."

Ma Zhaodi patted her shoulder reassuringly: "You're from out of town and haven't been in Central City for long. You don't know much about the situation here, which is why you think things like superpowered people are unreal. But actually, if you look closely at the news in Central City recently, you'll find that these things are not so rare in Central City anymore."

"what?"

Seeing Susie's expression that said, "I don't understand, but I'm deeply shocked," Ma Zhaodi shrugged. At that moment, he thought back to when he first entered Gotham. This moment was just like that moment.

He just hadn't expected that Central City would have a similar effect to Gotham City for people in other areas without superheroes—since arriving here, he felt like he was in paradise. There were no daily gunfights, no crazy citizens, no mentally attractive criminals, no giant bats hanging people up every night, and even the judicial system was functioning properly.

However, Susie's expression that "shocked my mom for a whole year" told him that in the other person's eyes, the mere fact that "there are recognized superpowered people" was already making her somewhat unable to understand this world.

"This is DC," Ma Zhaodi thought to himself. The best matchmaking system brings the ultimate experience: a scoundrel with principles is matched with a Flash with a conscience, a villain from outer space is matched with Green Lantern, an underground organization is matched with Green Arrow, and a supermodel with overpowered stats and world-destroying abilities is matched with Superman, whose stats are equally impressive.

Oh, and also, the lunatics in Arkham Asylum are matched with Batman—it's obvious what kind of person Batman is.

As for the other states without superheroes, they all miraculously lack supervillains. If Ma Zhaodi went to these states, he might have to write a Peach Blossom Spring story overnight.

"Ten months ago, there was an accident in Central City. You were there at the time and probably saw the details in the newspapers—"

"Yes, I later learned that it was a particle accelerator explosion."

"That's right. It was probably after that night that some strange urban legends started to appear in the central city."

"About a month ago, a madman named Clyde Madon came to Central City to rob people and even assaulted police officers in the street. The media and the police filmed his fighting methods—summoning the wind and rain and changing the weather. Since then, everyone has realized that Central City has changed."

"Later, Clyde wanted to destroy Central City with a super-sized tornado. Although he was stopped by the police, the news of the superpowered person had spread throughout the city. It was from that day on that the Central City police established a superpowered person countermeasures team."

“Now, everyone knows that there was a criminal with superpowers in Central City, and also that there was a vigilante with superpowers who was incredibly fast. We call him The Flash. But I’ve seen even more—a few days ago, a superhuman who could turn himself into poisonous mist almost killed me on the street.”

Nibes, whose defenses had been breached by Ma Zhaodi, gave Ma Zhaodi's distorted account a thumbs down. Who really almost killed whom?

"In short," Ma Zhaodi concluded, "superpowered individuals aren't exactly fantastical beings, at least not in Central City. You might even need to demonstrate some of your abilities later."

Susie said she couldn't understand, and it took her a while to catch her breath before continuing.

“It was from then on that the military discovered that I possessed a special ability: I could turn anything I touched into a bomb—but that ability was completely uncontrollable.”

“Apart from myself, anything I touch could potentially turn into an equal amount of explosives. My hands can no longer touch a gun, no longer use a knife and fork to eat, no longer take new clothes to wear, no longer pull a doorknob. I dare not touch anything, like a disabled person who has lost both hands, and also a terrorist who can turn into a bomb anytime, anywhere.”

"The King's golden touch?" Ma Zhaodi scratched his head. "The admonition to the greedy is just a fairy tale, but when it comes true, things get really bad."

Susie sighed, "It was around that time that I saw General Erling's true colors—he used me as a guinea pig, saying that my abilities had enormous war potential, whether for assassination or for mass production of explosives, and could bring about a huge change to America's combat model."

“Erlin was no good man. He was a complete hawk, a war fanatic. He was always trying to develop new weapons, and even performed surgical experiments on me with several doctors. I saw no sign of him being a pacifist—his actions made me start to rethink the war in Afghanistan I was involved in.”

"Alright, alright." Ma Zhaodi made a pause gesture: "I've already seen enough of the US's global offensive. You haven't seen the future of my timeline, so you don't know what true hell on earth is like."

"Now, let's get back to the main point—Erlin is leading a team to hunt you down, and you used your abilities to escape from the experimental base, right?"

"Yes."

"You were in a state where everything you touched exploded, and you're still in that state now, right?"

"If I try to control it, there's a chance it won't explode, but I don't dare to gamble. Right now, all I can do is unleash my power and make everything I touch explode 100% of the time."

"Then I guess you desperately need a pair of hands to live a normal life right now."

"Is such a thing even possible?"

“It might be a bit difficult for me to do this alone, and I’ll have to pay a price. But then again, having more friends means having more options, and I, Ma, have a few friends in the city center. They help me without expecting anything in return.”

"Elbow, let's go to the Star Labs and freeload!"

Completely bewildered, Susie was pushed out the door by Ma Zhaodi and shoved back into her car. The two of them, along with the car and the cat, sped off towards the city center.

(End of this chapter)