Chapter 218: Kite Man: This High-Stakes Game (Early Month Vote Request for Friends)

Seeing the two figures locked in combat on the ground frozen into blocks of ice, Kite Man couldn't help but feel somewhat surprised.

"Wow, is this your new weapon? Or is Mr. Freeze actually on your side? Or did you just take it from him?"

"A friend gave it to me."

As Batman's voice rang out, the Batwing in the sky automatically dove downward; a net bag extended from beneath the fuselage, scooped up the ice block in the brief moment it hovered near the ground, then the fuselage rapidly pulled up again, flying to the side of the two men.

"Hold onto the wing; the people on the ground are safe."

Batman spoke briefly, then took advantage of the moment to drop from the automatically opening cockpit roof into the pilot's seat; the roof closed rapidly, leaving only Kite Man outside, staring in shock.

"Wait, couldn't you have made an extra pilot seat?"

Complaints aside, Kite Man still held on to the aircraft wing properly; he pressed the control button on his wrist, retracting the kite backpack on his back to avoid being blown away by the intense wind pressure at high altitude.

"Batman!" he shouted into the communicator in his helmet: "Where are you taking them?"

"No Man's Land."

"How do we defeat them?"

"I have a plan."

Inside the fighter jet, Batman had just set the flight route; immediately after, he looked at the surveillance footage popping up on the electronic screen, his expression somewhat Solemn.

The screen showed a figure in a black robe wearing a ghost-face mask, riding a bicycle speeding down the street; in the district before him was a defensive net formed by a sparse crowd of people, numbering about a hundred, each holding a gun in their hand and wearing a hat on their head; the hundred people were distributed across three districts, seemingly numerous, but in reality the defensive line was quite loose.

But Batman had previously scouted the Mad Hatter's hat factory; according to the production speed and working hours there, at least a thousand hats had already been produced; even counting those distributed among the people in the Solomon district, the number on the street was still short by about five hundred.

"The Mad Hatter has set a trap," he thought: "Just as we expected, this is the Riddler's open scheme; he wants to know if there are still traitors in the team—so tonight, I cannot go help Ma Ma Zhaodi."

He turned off the surveillance screen; things were going smoothly on Ma Ma Zhaodi's side, and now it was his turn to execute his part of the plan.

At this moment, Kite Man's voice rang out again from the communicator: "Uh, Batman, are you there?"

"I am."

"I think we might not be able to reach the destination."

"That is within my expectations."

"What?!"

Boom!

The cockpit suddenly shook violently; red danger alarms lit up on the screen: "Warning! Left wing severely damaged, fuselage damaged..."

"Batman! They both thawed out! Clayface is using steel beams to destroy the plane!"

Just as Kite Man finished speaking, another deafening roar sounded outside the plane; a thick steel beam smashed down directly from above the aircraft, shattering the cockpit glass into pieces.

"Solomon has broken free from the net bag too! He's climbing up!"

"Kite Man, detach first."

Batman spoke briefly, then climbed out of the fighter jet through the broken glass opening.

A whooshing wind sound attacked from behind; he immediately leaped forward; a steel beam swept over his head, its terrifying kinetic energy even creating a small shockwave in the air.

The bat with spread wings turned his head to look; Solomon and Clayface were currently standing atop the nearly unbalanced aircraft, still locked in combat.

Kite Man flew above him, shouting into the communicator: "The plane is gone! What do we do!"

"I knew it would crash; the mushroom only works for four seconds, slowing things down for sixteen."

On these two non-human physiques, their effective time would be even shorter—this data was collected when he fought side by side with Ma Ma Zhaodi last time.

While answering, Batman used a microcomputer to confirm the plane's landing point—although that had been calculated before takeoff, he needed to verify it again now.

"Then why use the plane to carry those two?! The area below is still a commercial district; if they fall, they might die from the fall, or they might crush people!"

"The fighter jet's landing point is a soccer field; no one is there now," Batman replied: "Seeing my fighter jet crash is the only way others will believe I was completely unprepared for tonight's events."

"I don't understand what you're saying at all."

"We must take them to the destination—your kite backpack's load capacity is enough to support both their weights."

Hearing Batman mention his kite backpack, Kite Man's face immediately showed a confident smile; this was his self-made equipment he took pride in, upgraded several times over these days.

"Most people wouldn't think a kite could carry such weight—Batman, you know your stuff."

So the two flew toward Clayface and Solomon, who were plummeting rapidly from the sky; at this very moment, even at this very moment, the two were still locked in combat, seemingly completely unaware they were high in the air.

Batman raised his hand, fired a grappling gun, dragged the nearby net bag over, and tossed the other end to Kite Man.

"Get ready."

Kite Man gave a thumbs-up: "No problem."

"Too—heavy!"

Half a minute later, Kite Man, gripping the net bag with both hands, was being dragged downward at high speed by the terrifying weight; the kite backpack was stretched to its limit, the tough alloy frame emitting a creaking sound of bearing too much load.

"Did they have to fight while holding those two steel beams!?"

On the other side, Batman was also pulling hard on the net bag's rope, but his flight wings were originally specialized single-person equipment for concealment, bulletproof, explosion-proof, and flexibility, completely different from Kite Man's rescue kite equipment, utterly incapable of bearing such a heavy burden.

Actually, even if he let go right now, it wouldn't be a problem.

"Do something! Batman, or we're going to fall!"

"Hold the net bag tight."

After a brief reply, Batman reached for the tactical belt at his waist again and took out a three-leaf clover from inside.

"I've got it tight! What do we do now?"

Just as he asked this question, Kite Man immediately shut his mouth, because the fierce wind at high altitude was getting stronger and stronger, blowing his face into a distorted shape.

"Now control the flight direction."

A strong pushing sensation came from behind; the strong wind blew the kite and Batman, also lifting Solomon and Clayface inside the net bag; the heavy pressure on the alloy frame was relieved, and that feeling of potentially falling apart at any moment finally disappeared along with the metal's creaking sound.

"What did you do?"

"Doesn't matter."

"Alright, where are we landing? You should at least tell me the destination."

"Liquid Nitrogen Factory."

"Good idea!"

A thrusting airflow burst from the kite backpack, adjusting its posture slightly as it flew toward the industrial zone not far away.

PS: Normal update tonight. Begging for votes at the start of the month; this is very important, friends.

(End of Chapter)