Chapter 190: Kite Man

Disguise was a simple matter for Ma Ma Zhaodi.

He possessed Advanced Disguise Mastery, so masking himself was no difficult task, but before meeting the Riddler, he had not used his disguise skills; the reason was simple—it was a technique of passing off a fake as genuine, effective against most scenarios, but a fake remains a fake; disguise could only blend one into a crowd, yet if subjected to close, focused inspection, the mask would quickly be exposed.

To deal with the Riddler, it was best to employ unconventional, unexpected moves.

【Polyjuice Potion

Price: 20,000 USD Asset Points

Note: Produced by Professor Snape, guaranteed to be a masterpiece—it can only help you disguise as another person; those classmates who like paper dolls, please do not attempt to use it to transform into a cat-eared girl; Polyjuice Potion cannot achieve that.】

Ma Ma Zhaodi certainly dared not use the potion recklessly; he still remembered that in Harry Potter, Hermione drank Polyjuice Potion mixed with cat hair and turned into a cat-human hybrid—she seemed to have stayed in the hospital wing for a full two months before recovering.

So he indeed asked Batman to find a middle-aged man within Gotham City (though he was actually exactly thirty, only a few years older than Ma Ma Zhaodi); that man's ancestors were truly authentic Gotham Black Flags.

His parents were gangsters who died in gang warfare before he reached adulthood, and he himself was also a gangster, recently taken away by Batman during the war between the Joker and the Riddler; he had no family or career, few friends or relatives, and his real name was indeed Ockholik Sol.

Ma Ma Zhaodi had singled out this identity among many orphan identities at a glance, mainly because his name had a flavor of a dream collaboration.

Borrowing this identity, he finally became a member of the Riddler's camp, with specialties in marksmanship, bicycles, and being a pervert—as for other aspects such as freezing or bird calls, he claimed they were effects of Batman's magical gadgets, unrelated to himself, and stated he had completely abandoned the light for the dark, with no possibility of any further entanglement with Batman.

The Riddler remained noncommittal; he did not fully trust Ma Ma Zhaodi, as this person gave him a feeling far too similar to that police officer who had previously messed with people's minds.

One day, the Riddler suddenly gave Ma Ma Zhaodi a mission.

"Pervert Bicycle Hero, I have a mission for you."

At that moment, Ma Ma Zhaodi was playing coin toss with Two-Face; he turned his head and asked, "What mission?"

"Recruit someone, or kill him—facing an opponent like the Joker, the more cards we have, the better, and the fewer cards left for him, the better."

"Recruit whom?"

"A dispensable minor character, a failure, a clown who seeks attention, a fool who cannot see the situation, a target hated by everyone."

"Nigma, I truly think your rhetoric and intelligence are impressive, truly—but can you please not use this type of breathless speaking style? Just say a name, okay?"

The Riddler fell silent for a moment, then spoke again to answer: "Kite Man."

"That settles it then." Ma Ma Zhaodi let out a long breath: "Is there anything else to note?"

The Riddler ignored him, turned his head, and walked away directly.

"Gather the intel yourself; the Riddler doesn't pay such a high salary to feed you for nothing, kid." Mr. Zsasz, standing nearby, tactfully stepped forward to answer for the Riddler: "As for weapons—you previously had two pistols modified with submachine gun magazines, didn't you? If you prefer knives, you can buy them from me; fair to young and old, hehe."

He was bare-chested, his body covered densely with countless scars, stretching from his chest to his back and extending to his abdomen, gruesome and terrifying, even giving Ma Ma Zhaodi a slight sense of trypophobia. Judging by his appearance, one could probably guess that his legs were likely covered with similarly dense scars like his upper body.

As a serial killer, he was also a pure pervert; for every person he killed, he carved a scar on his body; his information on killings was indeed gathered by himself, but he believed guns were unreliable, so he basically used knives for killing.

"No need at all." Ma Ma Zhaodi shook his head: "I'm not very skilled with knives; guns suit me better."

Two-Face seemed oblivious to the conversation among the group, toying with the black-and-white coin in his hand, lost in thought.

Kite Man was soaring in the sky.

He wore a light green combat suit, with a small backpack on his back from which a large green kite extended; in the cloudless night sky, air currents were lifting it to dance and soar.

He adjusted his posture slightly; a boost of air jetted from the backpack behind him, helping him glide downward; in an instant, he shot several meters away.

Chuck combined his kite blueprints with a jetpack, ultimately creating this kite backpack; the kite structure allowed sustained flight by harnessing air currents, while the jet portion could adjust direction and accelerate or decelerate.

This was his exclusive flying device; the wind was an old friend he had known for many years, the kite was his favorite toy, and he knew every gust of air his skin touched inside out. He maneuvered the kite backpack with agility in the wind, appearing calm and free; at this moment, he could fly anywhere he wished to go.

But he was not as happy now as during that previous flight.

He looked down at the city beneath his feet; he had already reached the Park District, and since his flight altitude was high enough and the air currents strong, he basically did not need to worry about being hit by bullets.

The streets below were in chaos; acrid smoke drifted from the ruins of buildings, and a bloody wind carrying the scent of fresh blood blew through every corner; the moon above still shed its light, but its color was slightly dimmed and reddish, like dried blood.

The myriad lights of homes he had seen that night had, within half a month, been extinguished into scattered points of light; only impenetrable fortresses and heavily guarded sentry posts remained.

Chuck flew alone over this city; this was already who knew how many times he had flown; with each circle, his mood grew sadder.

Only after he ascended into the sky did he see more tragedies on the ground.

At this moment, he recalled the words spoken earlier on television.

"We must choose a winner—if we want the Joker to be finished, we must help the Riddler; if we want the Riddler to be finished, we must help the Joker!"

His heart hesitated, for he knew what the Riddler and the Joker had done. Moreover, he was not a warrior; the reason he had personally crafted this flight suit and kite backpack was merely to fulfill a wish he once held. Thinking of this, he no longer lingered in the night sky; he decided to return home.

The huge kite spun in the air, attempting to return.

Just then, a glaring streak of crimson on the ground caught his attention. It was a little boy in red clothes, sitting amidst the ruins, clutching a woman's hand and weeping.

Watching this scene, Chuck inexplicably thought of his own son and his ex-wife.

Thus, the kite slowly descended.

(End of this chapter)