Chapter 220: The Mad Hatter Is Just This?

"Batman's assist came at just the right time."

Ma Ma Zhaodi crept stealthily toward the theater's interior. Batman's aircraft made a huge racket; at this moment, all the gangs inside and outside the theater were distracted by the explosion in the factory district and the monster in the sky. The area outside was in chaos, but only the crowd controlled by the Mad Hatter with his hats remained unmoved, continuing to mechanically execute patrol orders.

"What's going on? What happened?"

"What was that explosion?"

"It seems the explosion came from the direction of the factory guarded by that monster, Solomon Grundy. Maybe that big guy has gone mad—he didn't look very normal to begin with."

"Lei Sen, Lei Sen! What's the situation at the entrance!"

"This is Lei Sen. I saw Batman flying a plane, carrying Grundy and Clayface away—there also seemed to be the Kite Man clinging to the fuselage."

"What?!"

"That's the situation. Now that plane has flown so far we can't see it anymore."

"Where's the Mad Hatter? Doesn't the Mad Hatter plan to let us go help?"

"This is a matter between superheroes and super-monsters. Worrying won't help. Let's just focus on guarding the theater first."

For a moment, everyone began to murmur. The news that Batman had captured two super-villains spread rapidly through the theater, yet the Mad Hatter did not issue any order to go support, and there was no new news from the Joker's side either.

At this moment, a man's voice suddenly rang out from the theater's broadcast system.

"All you fools in the theater, pay attention! Do not run around here! Do not make a scene, crying for your mothers and fathers—whoever disrupts my rehearsal stage, I will make them die!"

The man's voice roared in a near-hysterical manner; amidst the chaotic tone, there was a hint of madness and childishness, like an underdeveloped child.

"It's the Mad Hatter." Ma Ma Zhaodi, hidden in the shadows, watched the theater staff in disarray, running back and forth in a hurry. Seizing their gaps, he moved deeper inside, his heart fairly certain that the voice on the broadcast was indeed the Mad Hatter's.

Just as the information he had learned earlier stated, the Mad Hatter was indeed underdeveloped—he was a congenital dwarf, with slow and lagging physical development. He had also indeed taken a drug that was not yet fully developed; this drug failed to cure him and instead turned him into a mental patient.

Increased aggression, pathological obsession, paranoid thinking, psychopathy. That is why the voice on the broadcast sounded like a child's, yet appeared so mad.

"In Gotham, how can anyone make it to the top without being a mental patient..."

Ma Ma Zhaodi muttered to himself while walking deeper into the theater. Although the Mad Hatter's shouts on the broadcast caused the originally stationed guards to return to their posts, this gave him a slight opportunity.

The entire theater was very large, so most areas were still guarded by a large number of hat-wearing sentries. Ma Ma Zhaodi, wearing a hat and blending in among them, remained undetected by anyone.

Along the way, Ma Ma Zhaodi passed most checkpoints smoothly and without obstruction. But the deeper he went into the theater, the more Falcone family members there were. Obviously, the Mad Hatter, or rather the Joker, had arranged all the gang gunmen in the core area. This was for security, and also for balance of power.

When he was about to reach the core district, he discovered this area had once again become a restricted zone for the controlled—only family members could enter.

But seeing this situation, Ma Ma Zhaodi actually breathed a sigh of relief.

"With the plan reaching this point, it's basically done."

Just then, a man in a black suit squeezed through the crowd. Ma Ma Zhaodi's eyes immediately lit up.

The other man's build was similar to his, also sporting a beer belly.

"Perfect." Thinking this, he squeezed his way to the other man's side and followed him to an empty corner, while the other man remained completely unaware—they had been among the hat-wearing crowd for too long and had completely let down their guard against these "robots" who only followed orders.

The moment the other man turned his back, he directly wrapped his right arm around the man's neck, locked his left arm over his right, and quickly completed a rear-naked choke.

"Haa—"

After his arm muscles tensed, he squeezed the other man's neck tightly, forcibly cutting off blood flow to the brain, and air could not pass to the lungs either. The other man opened his mouth with all his might, but even his voice was locked in his throat, able to emit only a weak hissing sound. So he struggled with all his might, but since their body types and weights were nearly identical, he was completely unable to break free from this already-formed rear-naked choke.

His struggle did not last long; mere seconds later, the other man had completely lost consciousness, his body going completely limp. Ma Ma Zhaodi supported his body, carried him into the theater's restroom, and changed into his clothes.

When Ma Ma Zhaodi walked inside wearing the suit, his expression was calm and his posture natural, and his facial features made him look completely like a member of the Falcone family.

He walked through the gangs on both sides of the corridor, yet those people did not even look at him once. This attitude of looking only at clothes and not at people, not even willing to remember a companion's face, was truly worth sighing over.

"So this is the Mad Hatter? The Mad Hatter is just this? Just this?"

This defense system might be able to stop a large-scale soldier assault, or perhaps make superheroes feel restricted and unable to exert their combat power, but if the opposing side sent a blood-thirsty, man-killing super-villain to conduct a decapitation strike, wouldn't the Mad Hatter just explode right then and there?

"Hey, you kid, wait—"

A voice interrupted Ma Ma Zhaodi's advance. A Falcone member in front of a large door stopped him: "Why do you look so unfamiliar? Is there anyone like you among the family members in this district?"

"No?"

"Is there?"

"No?"

So the member on the other side raised the gun in his hand.

"Alright, alright." Ma Ma Zhaodi sighed: "Actually, I'm new, so that's why you feel a bit unfamiliar seeing me."

Hearing this answer, the other man's eyes turned dangerous, and his hand cocked the hammer.

"That answer isn't very convincing."

Ma Ma Zhaodi's muscles tensed; if the situation turned bad, he had already planned to break through here directly.

At this moment, another gunman walked over: "Idiot, did you forget? After the Ventriloquist was captured, a batch of our people escaped from those few districts."

The other side looked at Ma Ma Zhaodi with a suspicious gaze, but the gun in his hand did not lower.

"Then search him—kid, you can't go in carrying weapons."

"Alright."

Ma Ma Zhaodi spread his hands; his dual pistols were originally stored in Shangcheng, so he had no weapons on his person at the moment.

So the man's hands patted Ma Ma Zhaodi's waist, pant legs, and shoes, and then checked his pockets.

"Looks like there's no problem." He said: "But don't move yet. There's something I want to confirm belongs to you."

"What thing?"

"The black robe and mask left in the restroom."

(End of this chapter)