Starting from scratch, Batman crushed my dream of getting rich

Chapter 623 Another old acquaintance

The squad leader didn't last three seconds after giving that order.

The combined attack of the two Batmen came so fast that Ma Zhaodi didn't even have time to buy the new gun from the store before he saw two dark clouds looming down—a front kick that broke his calf, a knee strike that shattered his shoulder blade, followed by a series of hooks and punches to the front, a throw to the back, and finally a finishing joint lock.

In just over ten seconds, the squad leader collapsed to the ground. Almost every part of his body that wasn't fatal was covered in wounds, and some of his joints were twisted in a bizarre way.

The only good news is that he has already fainted from the excruciating pain and will not have to endure any more suffering for the time being.

"hiss"

Ma Zhaodi watched in horror, gasping for breath, and withdrew his hand that had been reaching for the mall.

No, no, he assessed the other man's injuries. Given the squad leader's current condition, he probably wouldn't survive long enough to be carried into Gotham Hospital alive. If he were to fire another shot, the squad leader could now use the time while he still had vital signs to pick out a small box he liked on Amazon.

"Is it just my imagination?" Ma Zhaodi looked at the two Batmen who were mowing down the crowd with unparalleled skill. "Why do they seem to be going berserk right now? Or is it that the Batmen in the Arkham Universe are always this ruthless?"

"And what's going on with Bruce? Wasn't he having a tough time in the plaza before? What's this now? Batman's super evolution?"

"Old Ma, Old Ma! Look!"

Jason's excited shouts interrupted his train of thought: "Wow, what a powerful left hook—yes, yes, that's how you beat them up! Smash their groin!"

"You seem to be talking a bit too much." Ma Zhaodi quickly covered Jason's mouth, the bloodthirsty audience member. The kid had been with him for a long time, and he had picked up some of the strange things the kid said unconsciously: "Just watch Batman, don't try to copy him, okay?"

"But Batman is really cool."

Jason argued, "If it weren't for Grandi, I would be riddled with bullets by now if I ran out into the street and had a bunch of thugs pointing guns at me."

"Your next sentence is that you want to learn how to fight and solve cases from Batman."

Ma Zhaodi said expressionlessly, "No, it's not allowed, it can't be allowed."

"Then when I'm riddled with bullets by criminals in the street, all you can do is plant seeds on my grave in the cemetery—"

"Hey, don't jinx it."

Jason's words gave Ma Zhaodi a major headache: "Given your personality, you can only restrain yourself a little in front of me. When you see other people, you're like a demon incarnate. If you were to learn Batman's fighting style and way of doing things—Gotham City would be in complete chaos."

"If you know how to fight, you can teach me."

At this point, Ma Zhaodi paused, realizing that Jason's adventurous fighting spirit and his idolization of Batman were unlikely to be dispelled by Ma Zhaodi's few words. Considering that prevention is worse than cure, and that there might be other strange things emerging in Gotham in the future, perhaps teaching Jason some self-defense skills himself would at least make this mischievous kid more controllable.

"Old horse."

Batman suddenly said from the side, "Take Jason out of the city first. We can't let him stay in the city forever."

The two turned around and realized that dozens of thugs on the street had all been knocked to the ground. Their injuries were not much better than the squad leader's; at most, they hadn't fainted. The overall scene was quite gruesome.

While such a scene would be commonplace in normal Gotham, Ma Zhaodi was fairly certain that this group belonged to an exceptionally unlucky category—because in the past, when Batman fought, he would only lose one of his arms or legs, and even after defeating a villain, he could at least scream, breathe, and make a sound. Unlike now, this group's condition was almost identical—the only difference being that they were still alive.

"But why is Batman from Arkham so ruthless?" He scratched his head. "Could it be that Jason has rebelled and run away from home to become Red Hood in the Arkham universe? Does Jason look the same as Jason here?"

This question couldn't be asked directly, and Arkham Batman remained expressionless, saying nothing.

“Okay, I’ll come back to find you two after I take Jason out of the city,” Ma Zhaodi replied. “I’ll take Grandi with me too; he can stay outside the city and work as a security guard.”

“Solomon Grandi.” Grandi pounded his chest, making a loud thud: “Protect!”

Ma Zhaodi patted Grandi's arm with satisfaction, since he couldn't reach his shoulder: "Grandi, I'll give you an extra chicken leg when we get back."

Putting everything else aside, at least the big, clumsy guy is no longer just reciting Mother Goose rhymes; he can use other words and communicate to some extent.

"I have a problem with this, I want to protest!" Jason wasn't really keen on leaving.

"Protests are futile."

"Could you please pay a little more attention to what's happening here?"

The woman's voice coming from the attic sounded somewhat helpless: "This soldier's fingers are shaking with nervousness, and I'm getting annoyed by the gun pointed at my head. If you keep leaving him alone, I'm really worried he'll accidentally fire."

"Shut up, you freakish vegetable!"

Ma Zhaodi and Jason peeked out and discovered a closed cell in the attic. The cage, made of bulletproof glass and steel, was impenetrable, and inside was another squad leader dressed in mercenary uniforms.

He was holding a gun to a woman's head, but his whole body was trembling slightly—just now, he had witnessed two Batmen completely crush a squad of dozens of mercenaries with extremely cruel methods. The members of those squads were paralyzed from the waist down before they could even fire their guns.

It was at this moment that he truly understood the emotion that all the criminals in Gotham City felt towards Batman—a soul-deep fear.

"Damn it, if you move her again, she'll die!"

His threats were all bark and no bite, but the gun in his hand and the physical law that "if you are killed, you die" were the truths. So the two Batmen could only stand in front of the bulletproof glass and carefully observe the closed cell.

At that moment, Ma Zhaodi reached out and covered Jason's eyes.

"Stop watching, it's not suitable for children."

Under the squad leader's gun, a woman dressed in very little clothing was tightly bound to an iron chair in the center of a glass cell, her hands and feet shackled—her upper body was only covered by a red cropped T-shirt, barely covering her back and two key points on the front, while her lower body was simply covered by underwear.

Her skin tone was generally similar to that of a normal person, but with a hint of green, and she wore a few flowers as hairpins.

Ma Zhaodi immediately guessed her identity.

"Poison Ivy? What's she doing here?"

(End of this chapter)