Chapter 226: The Zoologist Who Became a Beast

The Penguin left.

Nearby, the Man-Bat let out a noisy chittering, sharp and grating, sounding deeply uncomfortable to hear.

"Dr. Langstrom, you may not be quite clear-headed yet," Mr. Freeze replied. "Perhaps when you regain some sanity, it would be better to speak with me—after all, by then, you would be speaking English."

"Chitter-chitter-chitter—"

"In any case, today's mission begins at night, and I will inform you of the specific time and location in advance. Dr. Langstrom, you will go on the mission with Mr. Freeze tonight. I will issue orders to him to make him obey your commands, but remember, he is under mental control; you cannot give him overly complex orders."

"Chitter-chitter—"

"Alright, I will give the mission briefing later—Mr. Freeze, come with me."

Ma Ma Zhaodi moved his steps mechanically, following Mr. Freeze out of the room, all the way to his frozen laboratory underground—after joining the Joker's camp, he had specifically moved his freezing equipment here.

After bringing Ma Ma Zhaodi into the room, the laboratory door was closed; this was Mr. Freeze's own laboratory, the internal equipment arranged by himself, equally capable of preventing eavesdropping.

After confirming Ma Ma Zhaodi had no metal items on his person other than the pistol, Mr. Freeze directly removed his dual pistols, then clicked the button to release the control.

"Victor?"

"It is me."

"Is this your laboratory?"

"You were controlled by the Mad Hatter, then brought here by the Penguin, do you remember?" Mr. Freeze said. "Mr. Freeze, you seem rather careless; if the Penguin had not handed you over to me, we might not have had the chance to talk."

"Then I should thank you."

"Saying this now is meaningless; Mr. Freeze, if you die, how will you fulfill what you promised?"

"If I die, then I'm afraid I cannot fulfill it," Ma Ma Zhaodi replied. "This is very simple logic; a transaction is just this: you give me what I want, I give you what you want—you withdraw from this war, and I will help improve your and your wife's condition—but let me state beforehand, I cannot completely cure both of you; I guess this world still has separate arrangements for both of you."

"Do you think I do not want to withdraw from this war? Do you think I cannot see the Joker is currently at a disadvantage? But I simply cannot decide when to appear or where I have the chance to exit?"

"You will not wait long, Victor," Ma Ma Zhaodi replied. "Right now, the only people who can be sent out are just a few: the Man-Bat, you, and me. Cobblepot is the Joker's logistics chief, and the Mad Hatter is his last source of troops; perhaps the Joker will eventually send Cobblepot out, but the Mad Hatter is unnecessary."

"So what?"

"So now only the Man-Bat, me, and you remain; your opportunity will arrive soon; you just need to choose a reasonable way to exit the battlefield at the right time."

"I am worried that before I exit the battlefield, you might already be shot dead by the Riddler's army—under control, cannon fodder die easily; the Joker does not care about your life or death."

"Survival is my instinct; on this point, you can trust me."

Mr. Freeze cast a questioning glance.

"Well said, so how did you crash on the Mad Hatter's hands?"

"That was a strategic adjustment; do not ask."

In the night of Gotham City, the Man-Bat was spreading his wings, flying over the city. Although his arms were entirely of normal human structure, thin, light membranes connected them to his body; these wings, just like a bat's wings, enabled the Man-Bat to possess bat-like flight capabilities. And his upper body and legs also looked entirely of human structure, but the surface was covered not with human yellow skin, but with dense gray-black fur like a bat's; this was also human body features overlaid with bat characteristics.

His hands and feet had turned into curved claws and talons, his ears stood up sharply like a bat's, his nostrils had become like a pig's snout, and his mouth had grown canine teeth; these three organs, after mutation, also possessed bat characteristics, able to emit and capture high-frequency short sound waves, enabling him to ignore dark environments and capture all movements around him.

At this very moment, he could even use his talons to carry Ma Ma Zhaodi's black robe and his bicycle through the sky; just like his nickname "Man-Bat," this Dr. Kirk Langstrom seemed more like a certain degree of mutation and modification towards a bat on the general framework of a human; his human features overshadowed a considerable portion of the bat features.

Ma Ma Zhaodi looked up and said, "I did not expect you to be a doctor; your education is higher than mine."

However, in Gotham City, this was not too strange; Mr. Freeze was a cryologist, Dr. Hugo was a psychologist, Harley Quinn was specially hired by Arkham Asylum as a patient psychological consultant, the Mad Hatter independently developed a brainwave controller, and the Penguin was a top-tier practical economics master.

It is hard to say whether Gotham City is a place of barren mountains and evil waters or of outstanding talents; anyway, whether one has superpowers, or super ability, or money power, if one wants to be a super villain here, one must have something to show for it, more or less.

"I was once a zoologist, a nocturnal mammalogist, a cross-species hybridist." At this moment, the Man-Bat's reply voice had already turned into English, although it still carried strange chittering noises, but this was also because his vocal cords had undergone mutation: "Although I am still that now, I do not care much about those past matters; actually, I think I may not be able to continue this work."

"But how did you become like this?"

"You are not a Gotham local, are you?"

"I have not stayed in Gotham for very long."

"Then it is no surprise; have you heard of some news reports from the Gotham Police Department, similar to legends of vampire bats?"

"Emm, no impression."

The doctor chuckled bitterly twice, but his expression seemed to become a bit more relaxed.

"In short, I was originally a cross-species hybridist, that is all; my job was to research a serum to give humans bat-like sound wave emission and reception capabilities; the original intention of this technology was to help the blind or the hearing impaired, giving them the possibility to live in another way."

"Sounds impressive; was this sponsored by Wayne Enterprises?"

"No, it was the boss of Caldwell Group, Elliot Caldwell. Anyway, I once believed that the bat serum was a great cause that could contribute to those disabled humans, and even all of humanity."

"And then?"

"I messed it up."

(End of this chapter)