Starting from scratch, Batman crushed my dream of getting rich

Chapter 537 Sales Promotion

Maeve's words surprised Ma Zhaodi.

"Clark even told you this?" he asked. "Just how much did he tell you?"

"Is Clark his name?" Maeve asked with interest. "He didn't tell me that, and I don't think I've ever heard anyone in the company call him by his name."

"Who cares about a superhero's real name? Even New Yorkers wouldn't know your names unless they're close friends or super hardcore fans."

Ma Zhaodi pursed his lips: "I haven't finished asking yet. How much did he tell you?"

“He told us almost everything. He said he was an orphan, that he wanted to work with you to overthrow Walter, and that you were also a superhuman, and that the candy that could heal others was given to him by you.”

Ma Zhaodi breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, Clark was aware of the situation and did not tell Maeve about the multiverse and the main universe.

Seeing that he didn't speak, Maeve assumed he was very dissatisfied, so she made a few excuses for Clark: "He might be sent by Vought from time to time to watch over Homelander, to conduct experiments and mental treatment on him, and so on. If he doesn't tell me about your situation, I can't cooperate with you."

"I don't dwell on these kinds of things."

Ma Zhaodi waved his hand: "If Clark thinks you're trustworthy, then I don't need to be wary of you. Let's get down to business first—um, by the way, did he really say he was an orphan?"

He said his parents were no longer in this world.

This is true.

“He also said your combat skills are good enough to be my sparring partner,” Maeve continued. “And your superpower is producing those healing candies—that’s the second important reason I hired you.”

"So it was for the candy? That puts my mind at ease. This stuff does help treat injuries sustained during training and restores stamina, making training much more efficient."

Ma Zhaodi said, "Living in New York is really expensive. I haven't been here long, but I've already spent a lot of money and haven't earned much."

Maeve raised an eyebrow: "Didn't Walter give you 100,000 back then? Barrett even mentioned it."

Who is Barrett?

"The talent manager works under Madeline and is responsible for our communication. If you watched the news on TV on the day Starlight joined the team, you should remember that there was a woman who went to the red carpet to pick her up and her mother."

"Oh, I vaguely remember. Anyway, the $100,000 that Walter gave me has already been spent, and that money isn't really considered legitimate income for me."

Maeve was taken aback: "What have you been doing? You've spent 100,000 in such a short time—even the Seven rarely spend money like that."

During their conversation, the two walked along the street to a building. Maeve gestured for Ma Zhaodi to follow, and the two entered the elevator and pressed the button.

“It’s a long story,” Ma Zhaodi replied to Maeve. “In short, all 100,000 was spent on the plan to deal with Walter.”

Maeve: "You used the money Walter gave you to fight Walter?"

"What is the problem?"

"No."

The two exited the elevator, rounded a corner, and entered a training ground. The interior was quite spacious, and there were many cold weapons displayed in the corners of the room.

"Is this your training ground? These baseball bats, daggers, and machetes look like street weapons."

“These are all unsharpened weapons, for practical simulation,” Maeve replied. “However, during regular training, there are also longswords, round shields, and the like in the warehouse next door, but I don’t feel like I need these things.”

“If your stats are too high, no one can beat you.” Ma Zhaodi picked up a metal baseball bat and examined it carefully. “Homelanders are terrible at fighting too. They just throw wild punches in the street and don’t like using weapons—and modern people all know how to use guns.”

“In multi-person combat training, it is not safe to always use firearms.”

Maeve sighed, "Three unlucky guys have already been accidentally shot by other people's bullets, so I'm giving up."

"No problem, we'll just practice close combat. Bullets won't do you much damage anyway."

Ma Zhaodi casually tossed the bat aside and stood back in the center of the field: "Don't worry about me. I'm also a superhuman. My body isn't as strong as yours, but it's enough to hurt you. You don't have to hold back."

Maeve raised an eyebrow. "You don't use weapons?"

"I only know a couple of sword techniques, but my skill level is probably not as good as yours. I'm better off unarmed."

So Maeve also threw away the sword she had just picked up.

Ma Zhaodi stepped forward.

Maeve threw a punch first, but Ma Zhaodi extended his five fingers forward, easily meeting and dodging the attack. He then grabbed Maeve's hands from the side, intercepting her power in advance and clearly feeling her muscle movements.

"Ok?"

In that instant, he also sensed the condition of Maeve's right hand bones.

Are you injured?

"how do you know?"

Maeve pulled back with her right hand, followed by a left punch, a jab aimed straight at Ma Zhaodi's abdomen.

However, this attack was detected as soon as he was charging up. Ma Zhaodi easily dodged it and placed both hands on his right arm, exerting all his strength.

"Ahhh!"

The excruciating pain, reaching right to the bone, made Maeve scream. Her brain went blank for a moment, and then she felt the world spinning as her head slammed onto the floor.

Boom!
"Fighting while injured isn't impossible, but you have to learn to hide your weaknesses."

Ma Zhaodi squatted down next to Maeve and gave her a bright smile: "The first lesson in street fighting is that playing to your strengths is the most important thing. If the other person is a cripple, your first choice should be to kick his good leg hard."

Maeve finally recovered and looked at Ma Zhaodi with eyes that almost burned with fire: "Good, I've really learned something."

"It's nothing, it's no big deal—fuck me!"

Ma Zhaodi dodged, but a gleaming longsword pierced through his original spot with a sharp whistle, nearly piercing his heart.

"Since leveraging our strengths is the most important thing, then of course we should use our swords whenever we have them, right?"

Maeve grinned maliciously as she got up: "Again?"

“No, we haven’t discussed compensation yet.” Ma Zhaodi shook his head: “That last time counts as a trial period; what follows is the paid period.”

"How much weekly salary do you want? Fifty thousand?"

"Let's not base it on time, but on the number of classes. Besides, 50,000 is a bit too little."

"Don't push yourself too far."

So Ma Zhaodi simply tossed her a piece of fruit candy.

"I only just found out about your right hand. I'm not just selling lessons—you need lots of fruit candies to heal your right hand injury, right?"

"Tsk, 50,000 per class."

"Ten thousand, and I'll heal your injuries on the spot."

"Ok, deal."

Maeve readily agreed.

"Damn it!" Ma Zhaodi's joy vanished instantly: "That's too little!"

(End of this chapter)