Chapter 152: A Joke About Jokes and Riddles That Isn't Funny

Ma Ma Zhaodi went to find Grandy second, but upon reaching the children's residence, he realized—Grandy had to stay here; he needed to guard the children.

Since Grandy couldn't be taken, he went to find Mr. Freeze instead.

"Going on a long trip? How long will you be gone? I'm a bit worried about how things will be managed in Nora Prison. Who should I hand over duties to?"

"Forget it, Fries; you'd better continue watching the prisoners in the prison—without you, the prison ultimately isn't very secure."

Ma Ma Zhaodi sighed; Batman had searched for so long yet still hadn't found a single new reserve guard, which was very un-Batman-like.

So he ran off to find Batman.

"Wait, wait, what are you doing?"

Commissioner Gordon, sporting two dark circles under his eyes, grabbed Ma Ma Zhaodi, who had rushed into the room with great momentum: "Slow down, explain yourself clearly first."

"I want to borrow your key; I need to go to the rooftop to turn on the Bat-Signal and find Batman."

Hearing this, Gordon's heart skipped a beat: "What major incident has happened now?"

"Nothing major, really; I just have some personal matters and want to ask him for help."

Ma Ma Zhaodi's answer made him exhale in relief; during this critical period, the entire police station was busily overwhelmed, and the old man truly hoped no further complications would arise, as he, like Harvey, was exhausted to death.

"Then you'd better not go," he replied. "Batman said he also has matters to attend to recently; he has handed over Gotham City's patrol duties to Catwoman."

"There's such a thing? Where did he go? And can Catwoman handle everything alone? Why didn't he ask the Perverted Wheelchair Hero?"

"He said the Perverted Wheelchair Hero's style of operation is somewhat... overly cruel."

"Damn it!" Ma Ma Zhaodi erupted in anger. "How does he have the nerve to call others cruel!"

"In any case, that's the situation," Commissioner Gordon shrugged. "Don't activate the Bat-Signal unless there's a major incident; he said to only seek him out when something big happens."

With no other choice, Ma Ma Zhaodi could only run directly to Wayne Manor.

"Master Wayne has been very busy lately; he is still at the company and didn't even return to the manor last night," butler Alfred said, though he still welcomed him into Wayne Manor. "Without your flower tea, I fear he would have already collapsed."

"No, what is he busy with? He doesn't usually do any proper work."

"Ahem, Mr. Ma Ma Zhaodi, mind your manners."

Facing Alfred's kind smile, Ma Ma Zhaodi obediently shut his mouth; the old man seemed slightly displeased.

"It concerns the Wayne Prison matter and the Gotham Renovation Project; carrying out both simultaneously involves a massive workload. I think Master may still need some time to adapt to this normal pace of life."

Ma Ma Zhaodi had nothing to say.

"So, in the end, I still have to go on a business trip and work alone..."

After packing up, Ma Ma Zhaodi opened his system panel for the first time in ages; the last time he had checked the panel seemed to be several months ago.

"But thinking about it carefully, at least my current abilities are quite numerous."

【Asset Points: $153,627】

Panel: Basic Mental Resistance, Basic Combat Mastery, Intermediate English Mastery, Intermediate Motorcycle Driving Mastery, Intermediate Lockpicking Mastery, Intermediate Swordsmanship Mastery, Intermediate Physical Enhancement, Intermediate Natural Language Mastery, Advanced Culinary Mastery, Advanced Car Driving Mastery, Advanced Stealth Mastery, Advanced Climbing Mastery, Advanced Tracking Mastery, Advanced Blowgun Mastery, Advanced Acting Mastery, Advanced Disguise Mastery, Advanced Computer Mastery, Advanced Firearms Mastery, Grandmaster Wheelchair Driving Mastery.

Items: Nightwheel Chair, Unextinguishable Pumpkin Lantern, Sanity-Draining Pumpkin Mask, Horn of Plenty, Eight-Faced Han Sword, Hacker Two-Piece Set, Wiretap-Tracking Lighter, Assassin Blowpipe, Portable Garden (Golden Watering Can, Plant Fertilizer x8, Insecticide x10, Phonograph, Gardening Gloves, Flower Pots x30, Wheelbarrow), Pumpkin, Clover, Frozen Mushroom, Ice Shooter, Sunflower, Doom Shroom, Black-and-White Double-Sided Coin.

Special Skills: Cold Resistance Enhancement, Deep Sleep, Group Assembly, I Did Not Kill Anyone.

A batch of skills in the skill panel had changed; some he had upgraded to Advanced using skill points, such as Car Driving Mastery; others he had simply purchased outright, such as the Disguise skill he used previously when posing as the electrician Thomas.

Particularly special was that Basic Combat Mastery skill; he hadn't bought it with money but had trained it out over several months. Although not very useful for now, it counted as a small improvement—there was no helping it; the time was simply too short, and training martial arts for a few months was not at all the same concept as training for several years or over a decade.

Unfortunately, Gotham City had no low-level scenarios; incidents kept arising one after another, leaving little time for him to develop.

Looking at his panel, Ma Ma Zhaodi finally felt a slight sense of reassurance; at least he possessed some self-preservation capability now, right?

It was hard to say; this panel would naturally be very powerful elsewhere, but if in Gotham—Ma Ma Zhaodi felt he would mostly still need to continue training.

【One minute remaining until business trip departure; please prepare.】

The system's prompt sounded, and Ma Ma Zhaodi sat quietly waiting; he had nothing needing preparation, as weapons, self-defense items, and survival supplies were all in his item inventory.

【Countdown ticking: Five, Four, Three, Two—】

【One】

The system suddenly emitted a faint white light, which grew brighter and brighter until it was dazzling, followed immediately by a strange impact surging into Ma Ma Zhaodi's mind.

He could see nothing before his eyes, and his thoughts abruptly fell into a state of stagnation.

【Traveling to business trip location—】

【Destination reached; confirming world structure based on individual "Ma Ma Zhaodi"'s timeline...】

【Detection of fundamental world structure change: "Hypertime" has appeared】

【Detection of fundamental world structure change: "Elemental Forces"—the Red of All Life, the Green of All Things, the Black of Rot, the Grey of Decay, the Metal Spirit... have appeared】

【Detection of fundamental world structure change: "Court of Owls" has appeared】

【Detection of fundamental world structure change: "Barbatos" has appeared】

【Detection of】

Ma Ma Zhaodi felt himself half-asleep and half-awake.

He drowsily opened his eyes, gazing blankly at his surroundings, until several seconds later, his thoughts, as if dragged from the deep sea to the surface, shifted from sluggishness to clarity.

Faintly, the sound of a man speaking reached his ears, while all around was darkness.

"I am... Ma Ma Zhaodi; yes, I am here on a business trip."

He looked around; he seemed to be standing behind a curtain, crowded alongside people with panicked and frightened expressions, dressed in formal wear, some even wearing ties, all standing behind the curtain just like him, appearing as if waiting to go on stage to perform.

Strangely, their gazes were all fixed firmly on the person illuminated by the spotlight on stage, seeming completely unconcerned with any audience below.

No, there seemed to be no audience below.

Ma Ma Zhaodi leaned out and finally saw rows upon rows of empty seats.

A performance without an audience?

No, Ma Ma Zhaodi narrowed his eyes; he discovered someone on stage was watching the performance.

"Enough." That person stood in the darkness outside the spotlight, impatiently raising a gun toward the actor within the light: "This joke is equally unfunny."

"No, Mr., I beg—"

Bang!

The bullet left the barrel, and the actor fell to the ground.

That figure in the darkness waved a hand, looking toward Ma Ma Zhaodi's direction.

"Alright, next."

(End of this chapter)