Chapter 186: Clashes Are Irregular, Old Ma Bows His Head and Turns

After dealing with the machine gunners on both sides, Batman folded his cape and landed silently among the crowd.

He watched Ma Ma Zhaodi, holding dual pistols, picking off every potential firing position with precise shots in the crowd, and instinctively made a mental note.

"First, his marksmanship is excellent, or rather, very excellent; maybe not quite up to the level of the super-villain mercenary Deathstroke, but certainly not far off; second, there is a mushroom capable of freezing and slowing a large area, seemingly non-lethal but with extremely strong crowd-control ability; third, there are two types of candy that can neutralize tricky poisons; fourth, there are strange plants that seem not to grow on Earth; fifth, he can control birds; sixth, the pistols show no reloading action, yet dozens of bullets have already been fired."

"This person might be trustworthy for now, but he is troublesome."

At this moment, the three groups on the street had already erupted into chaos.

"What is going on with this guy? Is he riding a bicycle!? Is that thing fitted with a racing engine!?"

"Batman has shown up too! I'm freezing to death, I can't fight him at all!"

"Damn it, why is that pumpkin-head's marksmanship so terrifying!"

Crack!

Oh, the last sound was Batman breaking a gangster's leg bone.

"Aim! Aim!"

"Aim your head! He's making that bicycle leave afterimages! And with my hands frozen, I can't even hold the gun."

"Aim at Bat—"

Crack!

"Ah—"

Ma Ma Zhaodi, wielding the infinite-ammo Blade of the Samurai, moved in and out of the crowd seven times; at this moment, the two sides that had suddenly been attacked had completely united their front; all the gangsters knew that the most threatening force on the field was the team composed of Batman and that maniac on the bicycle.

Not to mention they had all seen the news recently, knowing the fate of those attacked by the maniac bicycle hero.

"Open fire, open fire, shoot the guy on the bicycle! Don't let him catch you!"

"If Batman catches you, he'll just break your bones, but that guy on the bicycle will make you lose everything!"

"Stop his bicycle!"

However, verbal sparring has no damaging effect on maniacs; the reason Ma Ma Zhaodi pulled out guns instead of an assassin's blowgun is that bullets are more efficient in situations like this.

The frequency with which he pulled the trigger became terrifying; the gunshots exploded into a cacophony almost like firecrackers, and two storms of metal bullets poured from the barrels of the two Blade of the Samurai pistols, knocking down all the gunmen attempting to resist in the simplest and most brutal way.

To put it simply, he started spinning.

If the Batman from Ma Ma Zhaodi's world had seen this scene, he would probably have started testing on the spot whether he had been swapped out.

In two minutes, the gangsters only had time to cry out a few times before Batman and the maniac bicycle hero disabled their hands, and some even had their legs broken, removing all ability to resist.

Three minutes later, sirens sounded at the street corner; the Gao Ta Police Department squad arrived at the scene and took the dozens of groaning and wailing gangsters lying on the ground to the hospital.

On the rooftop, Ma Ma Zhaodi looked at the gunmen scattered all over the ground, feeling quite regretful in his heart.

"Why did you call the police? I could have just hung them all up."

"No." Batman's tone was cold and hard: "The hospital's medical pressure is already extremely high; the criminals you hang up will suffer secondary injuries at night."

Ma Ma Zhaodi shrugged; that statement was not wrong.

"There is one more thing." He asked: "What do you think about that matter mentioned on television?"

Batman turned his head and looked at him silently.

"Choosing a side sounds quite reasonable, doesn't it?"

Ma Ma Zhaodi continued: "You saw it too; the two of us combined, dealing with nearly a hundred people below, the scene was like a butcher slaughtering chickens; even if you did it alone, it would just mean using a few more special Batman gadgets and being a bit more ruthless."

"This is the combat efficiency of a superhero or a super-criminal against ordinary people; the Riddler or the Joker have no 'no-kill' rule, they would only be more relaxed than us; if it was Mr. Freeze, or Deathstroke and Deathstroke-level mercenaries like that, the people below would die directly on the street."

"And the Riddler and the Joker's subordinates are not limited to Mr. Freeze, Deathstroke, or Deathstroke; even with the two of us combined, we can at best be considered a key factor influencing the outcome, but cannot become a third party that simultaneously overwhelms both sides—I just want to say, if you have similar plans, could you discuss them with me when the time comes?"

"How many types of candy do you have?"

Batman suddenly spoke, interrupting Ma Ma Zhaodi.

"What? Oh, two types; milk candy cures illness, fruit candy heals wounds—why ask this suddenly?"

"Your candy saved Chuck's son's life."

Hearing this, Ma Ma Zhaodi paused in surprise.

Those two candies were originally intended for Chuck; as the intersection of three forces, Chuck's situation would be very dangerous; he had originally planned to find an opportunity later to explain the effects of those two candies to him, but he didn't expect Chuck to give them directly to his son.

"Who made the move?"

"The Riddler did it—the Joker used a fake bomb, not poison."

Ma Ma Zhaodi immediately understood; he recalled that day, after escaping the tavern, he ran to find Chuck, only to discover he was tied to an explosive vest, playing bungee jumping with Batman on Gao Ta.

Without even a rope.

So he placed a clover on the ground—anything not touching the ground, it could blow away; during the bank robbery, he had used this plant to blow away the Scarecrow's poison gas.

"Did the Joker force him to jump?"

"He jumped himself—I want to ask you for two candies."

Ma Ma Zhaodi casually tossed out two candies; at this moment, he secretly rejoiced in his heart that he had rushed over at that time.

At that time, the Joker still had the skill "I Did Not Kill"; if he had forced Chuck to jump, or if he had used a real explosive vest, then Chuck would not have died. But Chuck happened to want to jump himself; if he hit the ground, he would truly become Chuck-sauce.

"Alright, but don't change the subject, the problem we were just discussing—"

Ma Ma Zhaodi's voice stopped abruptly; the Batman beside him had disappeared again.

"Damn Batman, developed this habit in just one year of starting out."

Ma Ma Zhaodi sighed, rode his bicycle, and left the scene while cursing.

The next day, Ma Ma Zhaodi went to work.

"Chief Gordon." He heard an officer inside the office ask Gordon: "What should we do? Should we really bet on one side as the television says? Help the Riddler, or help the Joker?"

"Joseph." Gordon replied: "We are the Gao Ta Police Department, the open protectors of this city; cooperating with Batman is already my limit; the Riddler and the Joker... absolutely not; if the citizens of Gao Ta see us doing this, they will surely be despairing."

"But now, what should we do?" Joseph asked: "How can we win this war?"

Gordon's voice fell silent.

Neither of them spoke. After a while, someone knocked on Gordon's office door.

"Sheriff, two courier boxes have been placed on our desk, with name cards on them, both clearly addressed to you."

(End of chapter)