Starting from scratch, Batman crushed my dream of getting rich

Chapter 378 A Seemingly Coincidental Coincidence

The doctors were pretty sure that Ma Zhaodi was no ordinary person.

He came from the east; his culinary skills are extraordinary; he possesses a very peculiar herb that can restore physical strength and heal the body; he once fearlessly used a vacuum cleaner to take down a superpowered criminal; he even dealt with a certain gang family in Central City for a long time, although that gang family is no longer around, and he is still doing business peacefully in Central City.

His group of gossip enthusiasts was even well-informed. Police investigations usually involve searching for clues and finding the culprit after the crime has occurred; but gossip and rumors don't require rigorous evidence collection or meticulous analysis and deduction. While they contain a lot of personal opinions, they also inevitably carry some resemblance to the original events. Because they are interesting enough, they are easy to attract attention and collect.

After discovering that Admiral Erlin, who originally wanted to target Ma Zhaodi, was now also in the spotlight, Wellsby thought a step further than the others in the lab—Erlin was indeed not a good person, and he was indeed ganged up on this time, but was Ma Zhaodi really just a simple victim in the process?

In Wells' view, Ma Zhaodi, who has been able to have the last laugh in so many incidents, is himself one of the objects to be wary of.

Of course, Barry is now certain that Ma Zhaodi is no ordinary person.

"Ah—this wine is truly a miracle."

In the bar, Barry, beaming, raised his glass to Ma Zhaodi: "Old Ma, you're absolutely a genius! One more, one more!"

"Keep your voice down." Ma Zhaodi glanced furtively at the bartender who had turned to serve other customers before daring to drop a drop of liquor into Barry's glass: "You can't bring your own drinks to the bar, or you'll be in big trouble if they find out."

"Yeah"

Barry poured more ice water into his glass. He felt that other liquors were a bit inferior and would easily ruin the taste of this drink, while the ice water would dilute the drop of liquor, allowing him to drink it in small sips: "This stuff is simply amazing. I can't even imagine what it would be like if I drank a sip directly from it."

“It will pour directly,” Ma Zhaodi replied.

At this moment, Caitlin calmly analyzed, "Your body is too healthy, and your metabolism is incredibly fast. The amount of alcohol in ordinary wine will be metabolized by you in less than half a second. That's why you can't get drunk."

Cisco added, "Yeah, Caitlin was even planning to research and concoct a super-high concentration of alcohol for you, something that would probably get you drunk—for a little while, maybe a minute."

"Are you planning to just force-feed me alcohol?"

"Stop being dramatic, Barry. In your current condition, even if we gave you an injection of an anesthetic that could knock out an elephant, it would probably only take effect for about ten minutes—we'd have to try to find out the exact duration."

Caitlin then added, "That's why I said the stuff Old Ma brought out is unscientific. Although it smells like fine wine and might taste like fine wine, it's unlikely to be wine. How could just one drop make you drunk until now? Can we take a drop back and do a test?"

As she said this, Ma Zhaodi saw her and Cisco simultaneously swallow hard.

“Stop joking,” he said. “A thousand-day intoxication isn’t something a normal person can drink, and besides, we didn’t come here to drink.”

"Oh!" Barry exclaimed in surprise, "That's right, we're here to find that Enderman!"

"It's already past midnight, I don't think the Endermen will show up tonight," Cisco quipped. "And don't you find it strange? Why would Endermen come to a bar to drink?"

“According to the bar owner, it didn’t seem to be there to drink.” Ma Zhaodi recalled the message he saw in the group: “He said that the bar suddenly lost power in the middle of the night, and while the power was still not restored, everyone could only use their mobile phones to light the way. As a result, they saw a dark thing teleporting around the bar. After the power was restored, many people had all their money gone.”

"What do monsters in the game need money for?" Caitlin couldn't help but ask. "That's how Endermen are in the game," Cisco replied. "They grab whatever they see and often teleport around in the game while carrying a block."

“I do have some concerns about the power outage,” Barry asked. “Isn’t the Petersburg substation near the bar?”

“That’s true.” Ma Zhaodi replied, “After that major power outage, the substation also said that it had found signs of being broken into, so they changed the employee access control system. Now you have to swipe your card to enter each door.”

"So we might encounter two super-powered criminals at the same time? By the way, should we assign someone to keep an eye on the substation?"

“Two super-powered criminals together isn’t the worst outcome.” The doctor’s voice came through the earpiece: “Don’t worry about the substation. I’ve connected to their alarm system via the lab’s satellite. If anyone breaks in, I’ll notify you immediately. The Ruswells are returning to Central City with the masterpiece, A Song of Ice and Fire, the day after tomorrow. Snart and his gang have been out of contact lately. My biggest concern is multiple emergencies happening at once. If that happens, even the Flash won’t be able to handle it all.”

"If two super-powered criminals do appear, Barry, don't panic. Use your analytical skills and make a plan. If we can defeat both of them at once, the pressure on us will be much less."

"My mindset is actually fine." Barry scratched his head; the effects of the Thousand-Day Intoxication were so strong that it brought him an unparalleled sense of relaxation. "It's just that I've been exercising a bit too much lately, could I—"

"No."

The doctor's tone changed back in an instant: "If you can't find anyone at the bar, come back to the lab and keep practicing. Anyway, Old Ma's alcohol can make your sleep quality very high, so you only need three hours of rest time each day."

"Oh my god."

Ma Zhaodi patted Barry on the shoulder sympathetically, poured him another drop of Thousand Days' Intoxication, then put the gourd in his pocket, changed its color and shape in a second, and replaced the wine inside with dry and strong liquor, and poured a glass for Caitlin and Cisco as well.

"Drink up, the wine in this gourd isn't as potent as the 'Thousand-Day Intoxication'."

The two men's eyes lit up immediately, and they picked up their glasses and drank them down in one gulp. They completely forgot about the tests they had just talked about. Ma Zhaodi waited for about half a minute and then noticed that the two men started to sway.

"I'm going to use the bathroom."

"Huh? Cheers!"

"cheers!"

"cheers!"

Ma Zhaodi stumbled. After thinking for a moment, he decided to leave a few hundred nanobots to keep an eye on things, in case the drunken trio got into any trouble.

He walked through the crowd to a quiet corner where a familiar figure was eating fries.

Beneath his trench coat, something faintly glowed with a blue light.

(End of this chapter)