Chapter 170: Annihilation! The Falcone Family's Six Hitmen

Hearing the system's prompt, Ma Ma Zhaodi casually opened the system panel.

【Deadly Poison Ivy

Mission Introduction: Those who walk the Jianghu should know some old maxims: Do not enter forests, do not cross waters; that is the first. Do not provoke beggars, monks, women, and children; that is the second.

If some unlucky soul commits both of these, then here is a third, relatively new admonition: Those who come out to mix will eventually have to pay it back.

Note: Poison Ivy is not someone easy to talk to; although she is a vegetarian, she has plenty of strength and methods.

Status: Pending (0/6)

Reward: Advanced First Aid Mastery】

The mission requirement is to save six lives; it is not hard to imagine they are the "unlucky souls who committed both of those."

As the mission states, Poison Ivy is no pushover; even in her own world, the trouble she causes is not small.

Ma Ma Zhaodi looked up at the Gotham map, marking the location he had just sensed: "The Botanical Garden, three kilometers away—reachable in a few minutes. I hope to resolve this peacefully this time as well; if words can solve it, I won't use force."

Ma Ma Zhaodi twisted the handlebars, and the bicycle flashed through the streets and alleys of Gotham at an incomprehensible speed, racing toward the direction of the Botanical Garden.

"Alfred, any sign of the Joker or the Riddler?"

The roar of the Batpod echoed. Batman, who had only debuted a year ago, had been busy all night yesterday but still failed to catch the Joker; yet this afternoon, he was forced to appear early due to the Joker's five bullets and the Riddler's prison break.

For anyone, being a vigilante in Gotham usually means a fragmented schedule and a shattered body and mind; for Batman, this is especially true.

Ma Ma Zhaodi doesn't count; he is a perverted wheelchair hero, so when he is being perverted, he is very happy.

"I'm afraid there is no new news on either of those two, Master Bruce," an old man's voice replied. "After the Riddler left a question mark in the square, he vanished from the street surveillance; I guess he knows the blind spots of the cameras on the surrounding streets. As for the Joker—the Joker has absolutely no news."

At this moment, Batman thought rapidly in his mind; he knew the Joker wouldn't be laughing when he went to catch him yesterday, and naturally he knew how much weight the Riddler's taunt carried. If he followed this line of thinking, then the Joker and the Riddler would absolutely clash.

The Riddler ran, and he didn't leave a riddle, so the Joker is the one looking for him. How will he find him?

Just as he was still thinking, Alfred's voice rang out from the phone again.

"Master, allow me to remind you once more: Mr. Carmine Falcone has ordered all members of the Falcone family to immediately search for Mr. Nygma with full force and demands to see his corpse within one hour. This order has been in effect for twenty minutes."

"Falcone."

Batman pondered for a moment; before today, the Riddler and Carmine had clearly had no entanglement or connection, and the two sides probably didn't even know each other, likely having only seen each other on television.

Why was Carmine hunting the Riddler? And so urgently? This question had been lingering in his mind since he heard the assassination order twenty minutes ago.

"It's the Joker." At this moment, a guess formed in his mind. Borrowing strength to strike the opponent, stopping at nothing—this was the Joker's consistent style, and he probably imposed a time limit on Carmine, which led to this one-hour assassination order.

"Master Bruce, with the manpower the Falcone family members have within Gotham City, they might really find Mr. Nygma within an hour. If our speed isn't fast enough, the Riddler might very well be beaten into a sieve by family members who hate the Riddler."

"I know, Alfred," Batman replied. "There is one more thing: help me check Carmine Falcone's family situation and where his family members are currently. I suspect the Joker has kidnapped his family. If any of his family members have been missing from the time the broadcast aired until now, they may have already become the leverage he uses to blackmail Carmine."

"Okay—oh, Master, the Falcone family seems to have news; they are fast. A team has already gathered and headed to the Botanical Garden. If you want to save Mr. Nygma, you must hurry."

"Send me the location."

Hearing that the hitman squad hunting the Riddler had already assembled and departed, Batman immediately put the Joker's matter aside for the moment; saving people was the most urgent thing now.

"Master, there is one more thing; allow me to remind you."

"What?"

"Remember to bring an axe—according to the surveillance video in the Botanical Garden, it seems Mr. Nygma went there to find Ms. Pamela."

"An axe."

Batman's mouth twitched; using an axe against plants, Alfred's suggestion seemed very reasonable, but thinking of the opponent being Poison Ivy made him feel the statement was like a dark joke.

He turned the handlebars, and a cyan-blue flame stream shot from the tail of the Batpod as he sped toward the location Alfred had sent.

When Ma Ma Zhaodi reached the wall of the Botanical Garden, about a minute and a half had passed; it was obvious that if he hadn't been riding a bicycle, he would have been stopped by traffic police for speeding at the speed he had just gone.

Seeing the wall, he first looked around to confirm there were no cameras nearby, then without hesitation stored the bicycle in his hands into the system space, lightly leaped, and directly jumped over the wall, flipping into the Botanical Garden.

The instant he landed, the muscles across his entire back tensed, transferring power from the arm muscles to the back; Ma Ma Zhaodi rolled lightly on the grass before landing, making almost no sound throughout the entire process.

A hard landing would certainly work, but the downside is the noise is too loud and easy for people to hear.

He sprinted according to his directional sense of those poison ivy vines, dodging the surveillance cameras within the Botanical Garden; after mastering Advanced Stealth, such movement had become almost instinctive for him.

After running for over ten seconds, Ma Ma Zhaodi finally arrived at the destination.

Before his eyes were green, thick thorns spreading out from the forest; they were piled and growing in layers, bearing sharp and ferocious long thorns.

Six ragged people were hung up by vines; their black suits were torn to shreds, their firearms scattered on the ground. They were tightly wrapped by thorny vines, with sharp thorns piercing their bodies, making them completely unable to break free. If they forcibly tore themselves away, they would surely suffer pain no less than lingchi, with layers of skin and flesh torn off.

However, they didn't intend to struggle anymore; these vines were clearly poisonous, and the toxin inside had already caused them all to lose consciousness—and they were losing their lives.

"I knew it would be like this."

Ma Ma Zhaodi shook his head. Dealing with Poison Ivy in the Botanical Garden was like dealing with Aquaman in the sea; these people could be said to have no will to survive at all.

(End of Chapter)