Chapter 202: Boss, You Really Have Forgotten the Pain Once the Scar Has Healed

The banquet finally drew to a close, with the eighth course being dessert.

"I will contact each of you through Sheriff Gordon soon regarding the money. But for now, I cannot make a decision yet; I hope you understand this—after all, I am slightly afraid the losing side may not accept the fact of their defeat. If they cause a scene in the manor, it will be very troublesome for me."

"After all, I understand you must kill Batman, but I do not want you to point your guns at me."

When Wayne walked the two groups out of the manor, he bid them farewell: "There is one last thing. When the two of you attended the banquet tonight, you each kidnapped a batch of hostages for your own safety. As you can see, the dinner was not disturbed by the GCPD or Batman. I hope that after you return safely, you will release those hostages."

The Riddler nodded in agreement: "Of course, Mr. Wayne. We are not beasts—most of the time, we are not."

"Of course."

"I seem to have killed all the hostages before I even arrived." The Joker shrugged: "Seems like it, can't remember—I'll check when I get back."

Bruce turned his head to look at the Joker, his brows furrowing. Although he had already experienced the Joker's madness and chaos, he still felt deep anger and disgust at this moment.

The ninth course was coffee.

"Thank you, Alfred. Thank you for everything you did tonight."

The weary Bruce Wayne took the coffee handed to him by the butler and took a sip.

"Oh, it was nothing. Actually, this counts as a rather special dining experience."

"Mother would be shocked—simply letting the guests leave after dessert without serving sherry or coffee."

"Yes, Young Master Bruce, indeed so."

At this moment, a message suddenly appeared on Batman's computer. It was a message from Ma Ma Zhaodi.

"The Joker's hostages are not dead and have been released—remember to give the money to the Riddler so he can raise our wages."

Bruce breathed a sigh of relief, then deleted the message.

"Alfred." He suddenly spoke: "Did you know, I was already considering the viewpoint of that host on television."

"Pick a side? Young Master Bruce, I'm afraid that is not a good idea."

"But at that time, I had almost nowhere to go, Alfred."

Bruce took a deep breath.

"If there truly is no way to end this war, if I see more people die, if there is no magical ability like Ma Ma Zhaodi's, if there is no ally like Kite Man to help save people..."

"If Mr. Ma Ma Zhaodi had not been able to gather enough allies, were you planning to join the Riddler?"

"Yes... Although this is very sorry to Chuck, I had no other choice."

"Then, next time we meet, I suppose I will need to personally express my gratitude to Mr. Ma Ma Zhaodi." Alfred breathed a sigh of relief: "What do you plan to do now?"

"Ma Ma Zhaodi's ability to turn people over is quite strong. I have never seen anyone who understands other super-villains like he does, and he can also communicate with them calmly. I don't know if it is because of his gray identity, but he has indeed helped us recruit a large batch of allies."

"Such as Little Floyd and Mr. Slade?"

"Yes... He actually asked Batman to find me to talk to those two mercenaries. I even suspect he knows about my situation."

Speaking of this, Bruce subconsciously focused his mind, carefully recalling the message Ma Ma Zhaodi had conveyed to him.

"Batman, find a wealthy man. Find a wealthy man who is unwilling to see Gotham City hurt. Let him pay a sum of money to hire Deathstroke and Deadshot, let them cooperate with you in acting, and voluntarily let you capture them—this does not count as betraying their respective employers, just a failed mission. As long as the money is enough, they will naturally agree."

"Two members of the Riddler's camp also have hope of agreeing to my conditions and leaving him. As for the Joker's side, I am providing him with intelligence as well, so there is a chance to turn over his subordinates. One person has already accepted my price. And next, I will talk to the Penguin again—he was originally a member of the Falcone family and will not willingly submit to a madman. Actually, if the Joker does not fall, he will never be able to rise to power. As long as he still has a bit of ambition, agreeing to our alliance request is just a matter of time."

"I will go to their lair during my undercover mission to buff each of those people one by one. Don't worry, very few people will die next. With the help of Kite Man and you, we can try to keep the casualty count to a minimum."

Three passages, six super-villains, two super-heroes. If we count the Perverted Bicycle Hero, that makes a total of nine. This force was forcibly pulled out from the standoff between the Riddler and the Joker, a third force capable of changing the situation. And according to Ma Ma Zhaodi, there is another big oaf who can be tricked into leaving the Joker's camp, but we are worried he might expose us, so we haven't done it yet.

Even if they do not defect, simply withdrawing from the battlefield of both sides is enough to weaken the forces on both sides to a range Batman can handle.

"It is hard to imagine how he actually did it..." Bruce took another sip of coffee: "Getting along well with that group of madmen and turning them over—what price could surpass the conditions offered by the Riddler and the Joker?"

"Well, Young Master Bruce," Alfred sighed: "Both the Riddler and the Joker are quite capable of bewitching people, but we all know that all the super-villains have some obsessions, or we could even call them convictions."

"Money and threats possess quite powerful bewitching abilities, but in the face of convictions, these bewitchments seem insignificant."

"You seem to have quite a feeling about this, wait, which university in Britain did you graduate from?"

The Riddler did not move slowly. After reaching an agreement with Bruce, he released the hostages he had captured and the civilians who had been forcibly used as soldiers. And after Bruce transferred the money to him, the gunpowder smoke and gunfire sounds in the city district indeed began to decrease rapidly.

However, despite this, the Joker did not intend to give up directly. He continued to command the super-villains under his hand, along with some core members of the Falcone family whose weak points were controlled, to carry out this battle that was gradually losing balance.

Thus, the conflict between the two sides subsequently became a conflict between high-end combat power, that is, a duel between super-villains and super-villains, plus one Batman.

On this day, the Riddler, with bandages on his shoulder, summoned Ma Ma Zhaodi and the Scarecrow.

"Perverted Bicycle Hero," he said: "Tonight, you and the Scarecrow go to the Joker's territory to do some reconnaissance work. Your bicycle's mobility and survival ability are strong enough, so you can take the Scarecrow along to act."

Ma Ma Zhaodi looked at the Riddler and sighed slightly at his wise decision.

Alas, Boss, you really have forgotten the pain once the scar has healed.

(End of this chapter)