Chapter 145: Do You Really Not Plan to See a Psychiatrist?

In the abandoned factory of Gotham City, Victor and Nora sat on the frozen machine that had stopped running; at this moment, this beautiful crystal coffin had lost its original function, and for this couple, perhaps its value at this time was merely that of a somewhat cold seat.

Ma Ma Zhaodi, seeing that Victor still hadn't brought him a stool or anything, simply followed suit and sat on the machine.

Nora flipped through a notebook containing clippings from Gotham over this period. Perhaps thinking they might end up in court someday, Mr. Freeze had recorded everything: his entry into the company, freezing Nora, the boss's inquiry, the lab accident, and even the company's later attempt to use Nora and the freezing technology as a gimmick to make money everywhere, followed by his retaliation and the rescue of his wife.

He had cut down all the news reports with scissors and pasted them into that notebook, interspersed with his own supplementary accounts.

"Victor, you have experienced so much."

Nora looked through page by page at everything that had happened during this time, finally putting down the notebook. She hadn't expected to be frozen for so long, nor had she expected so many changes to have happened to Victor; looking at him now in that armor, the shadow of the gentle scholar was nowhere to be seen on him, and he looked more like a freakish criminal.

She touched Victor's helmet with some heartache; at this moment, she could not even reach the other's face, but this action made the other subconsciously shrink back.

"I am a monster, Nora." He lowered his head, somewhat dejected and depressed, and answered in a low voice: "I have become a criminal; I broke into GothCorp with a freeze gun; I killed people and robbed a bank; now I am wanted and have become a cold-blooded animal; I cannot take off this armor; I cannot live at normal temperatures; my heart is ice-cold—I cannot even kiss your face now."

"Victor, we can leave together, leave here, go to another country." Nora replied: "I don't mind what you have become; we can start a new life."

"Uh, no, sorry, with all due respect, you two cannot start a new life just yet."

This abrupt remark interrupted the couple's tender atmosphere; Victor and Nora looked over in shock, and Ma Ma Zhaodi, who had been listlessly fiddling with his phone since a while ago, had suddenly spoken up.

"I'm not exactly part of the FFF League; mainly, we just agreed earlier on a fair trade—I help you with one thing, you help me with one thing."

Upon hearing this, Mr. Freeze immediately nodded: "Naturally so; whatever it is, I will do my utmost to fulfill it for you."

"You have to go to jail."

Upon these words being spoken, both of their expressions froze again.

"You understand what I mean, right? Jail means turning yourself in properly, going to court for trial properly, going to prison and serving time properly, and staying inside."

"I know, but why?"

The two looked at Ma Ma Zhaodi in confusion; doing this brought him no benefit at all; why would he risk it for such a thing, specifically coming to treat his wife for a dangerous super-criminal?

Just to send him to the clink?

"I already said it, the price might be slightly heavy." Ma Ma Zhaodi shrugged: "Although Prosecutor Harvey will try his best to defend you, and with your surrender and good attitude of admitting guilt, plus applying to the court for leniency based on the bad things GothCorp has done, you still have to serve a long prison term. Judging by the situation where almost the entire GothCorp upper management has been wiped out, your sentence will likely start at twenty years."

"But that is not my only requirement; my full requirement is that after entering Wayne Prison as a prisoner, you help manage the inmates."

"That is a private prison of the Wayne Group, but the treatment of prisoners is at least human treatment; it is filled with members of the Falcone or Maroni families, along with other prisoners. Because there are so many troubles inside, we need someone who can hold the place down to help manage; you are one of the best choices; you will receive the rights of a guard, and you will be allowed to bring your freeze gun inside, and you can even freeze the troublemakers into blocks of ice to play with."

Mr. Freeze immediately began to think; he certainly knew about Wayne Prison; the news of the two gang bosses fighting in the Gotham City court had long been in full swing, and the news of the Wayne Group converting a large number of idle buildings into prisons was also well-known; he just hadn't expected that Ma Ma Zhaodi had actually come to recruit for the prison.

"Victor," Nora heard this and subconsciously looked at her husband, finding that his face did not seem to show any expression of anger or disgust.

"I am not afraid of going to court for trial; very long ago I knew I had done many wrong things; if it were not for Nora, I would not have persisted until today, and perhaps I would have turned myself in long ago."

Victor's tone carried a sense of relief and lightness, just like his mood at this moment; he gently embraced Nora beside him: "I'm sorry, Nora; just now I cured you, and now we must part again."

Nora's tears were almost filling her eyes; it could be seen that she was very reluctant to part with Victor, who loved her so deeply.

Seeing the matter settled, Ma Ma Zhaodi nodded and jumped down from the machine.

"Low-temperature treatment, the research on freezing the human body is your achievement; how to handle it is up to you; you two still have one night of time together today—remember to turn yourself in tomorrow."

Mr. Freeze nodded.

Ma Ma Zhaodi thought again at this moment and used Life Rapid Recovery on him; he did not receive a prompt for increased points, but rather a prompt saying "Treatment is only effective for 24 hours," which was much like when he first met Grandi in the sewer.

Was it because Mr. Freeze, as one of the sources of this universe, was unchangeable, or was it because his points were not enough to cure him completely? Ma Ma Zhaodi was not clear, but he still took out a candy and handed it to the other: "Eat it; your condition is quite special; I cannot cure it completely, but I can make you return to being a warm-blooded animal for one day."

He didn't even pay attention to the endlessly grateful Mr. Freeze; after completing the treatment and negotiation, he turned and left the factory; looking at the sky, it had not yet darkened.

"It makes no sense." He muttered to himself: "It's already been half an hour; until now, no one has been waiting for me outside; Harvey and Gordon haven't come; this means they are very confident in my negotiation this time—damn it, Batman must have gone on duty early!"

At this moment, a familiar low voice indeed sounded from the corner.

"Neither of your two types of candy can be used to cure diseases; at least not cancer; I have tested it."

"Of course you tried; I'm not blind." Ma Ma Zhaodi rolled his eyes: "I gave you so much candy, but you are still a mental patient to this day."

"What did you use to cure Nora Fries and Victor Fries?"

"Don't you already know?"

"Lady Drake, one of your cohabiting roommates when you first arrived in Gotham; her recovery was almost the same as Nora's—a story, a story about Santa Claus, but I don't believe in stories."

"You even found out what that story was." Ma Ma Zhaodi sighed: "Do you really not plan to see a psychiatrist? By the way, after you went in, did you also install a tracker on someone?"

No one answered; seeing Ma Ma Zhaodi change the subject, that bat disappeared into the night once again.

PS: Stuck on writing; the next chapter will be a bit later.

(End of this chapter)