Chapter 45: Batman, I Have an Early Eight!

Ma Ma Zhaodi had of course seen the factory fire; he had started it himself.

In fact, this question was originally a single-choice one; every question before Batman's was a single-choice one.

He knew Ma Ma Zhaodi had carved a pumpkin in the shop, so for the first question, he naturally could not answer no.

He had a way to find out what he had told his colleagues, and he had once said in the shop that he would sell pumpkins on the street on Halloween, so for the second question, Ma Ma Zhaodi could only answer that he had gone out onto the street.

Similarly, Batman could easily confirm that a pumpkin head was kept in his home; he might have even taken a photo of it, and he had carefully checked surveillance cameras at key intersections, or directly questioned residents or passersby near the area where Johnny Viti was murdered. So if someone—even a grandmother with a poor memory—had once seen his distinctive pumpkin mask, they could immediately recognize it, because it was too distinctive.

So for the third question, Ma Ma Zhaodi answered: he had gone to the Diamond District wearing the mask.

These three questions were using known information to determine whether he would tell lies, but the question about the factory fire sounded quite different, because after putting away the pumpkin head, he had completed concealment and changed clothes with the system's help, so he probably could not continue investigating based on the clues of the pumpkin head.

But it was only "sounded" quite different.

The factory fire was simply too huge; that night, in the Diamond District, almost everyone could see the rolling black smoke and the sky-piercing flames from half a district away. Such a scene was itself an extremely rare emergency for a wealthy area like the Diamond District, and it was impossible not to attract people's attention. So, without exaggeration, the entire Diamond District probably noticed this fire that made Falcone fly into a rage.

"I saw the flames from afar and heard the crowd panicking. Fearing something else might happen, I left immediately."

"But you were not wearing the mask anymore?"

"I took it off," Ma Ma Zhaodi smiled awkwardly twice: "It was too ugly, a bit embarrassing, and everyone was watching the fire. I was afraid people would notice my mask."

This was true; after quickly moving away from the factory area, he had specifically taken off his mask. Once the fire started, this became his alibi.

So he knew his pumpkin carving was ugly too.

Everyone present suddenly had this thought pop into their heads—even including Batman.

At this moment, Batman still stared at Ma Ma Zhaodi. This person's physical reactions, pupil constriction, heartbeat, sweat, and other characteristics all reflected that what he said was true, but Batman instinctively felt something was off about him.

He was too nervous, yet too relaxed.

Everyone gets nervous when facing Batman, but criminals are usually extremely afraid of and hostile toward him. Even ordinary people mostly feel fear, distrust, and a bit of hostility toward him—which is also normal. Who would trust a bat freak who hides in the darkness every day, always breaks people's bones and tendons, and hangs them on towers?

He is the nightmare of Gotham City, not just for criminals, but for everyone. Very few people are willing to trust him.

But this person in front of him seemed very certain that Batman would not harm him. Either his brain was not working well, or he knew Batman better than ordinary people. He understood—or rather, thought he understood—Batman's abilities and code of conduct. So he was more afraid of Batman than ordinary people, yet trusted him more than ordinary people.

"I must investigate the identity of this newcomer to Gotham carefully when I get back," he thought silently, then turned his head and fixed his gaze on the supervisor.

"Where is Donald?"

The supervisor's face suddenly changed. He and Donald had done many things for the Falcone family at night recently and killed many people. Batman looking for Donald was naturally not for catching up.

"Don't think you can get anything out of me!"

In an instant, he quickly threw a fierce hook with his other hand. Just from this punch, it was clear he was definitely a skilled boxer. If this punch had hit Ma Ma Zhaodi's face, it would have knocked him unconscious immediately.

But this punch was aimed at Batman.

"Crack!"

The sound of dislocation rang out. Batman easily reached out with his other hand, grabbed his wrist, and dislocated his joint.

"Where is Donald?"

"Go to hell!"

This was clearly not an acceptable answer.

So Batman grabbed the supervisor with one hand, walked to the broken window, took out a grappling gun, and jumped down with him.

"Aaaaaah—!"

Ma Ma Zhaodi watched Batman's shadow carrying the supervisor disappear into the night sky of Gotham City. He silently shed tears and roared wordlessly in his heart.

"Batman! I have an early eight! I haven't collected my wages yet!"

At this moment, the sirens downstairs drowned out the sound of the heavy rain. Chief Gordon rushed in with his officers, looking at the injured and disabled scattered on the ground, and Ma Ma Zhaodi standing there silently grieving, feeling somewhat confused.

Why was there still one person left standing this time? Did Batman convert to Buddhism?

"Age?"

"Twenty-four, a restaurant waiter."

"Gender?"

"Male."

"Name?"

"Ma Ma Zhaodi."

Looking at the still glaring white lights, Ma Ma Zhaodi, who never smoked, suddenly felt the urge to light one.

"I was just working there, sir. Why am I being brought back to the Gotham City Police Department for interrogation again?"

"Who told you to show up at the wrong place at the wrong time?" Gordon shook his head, took out a cigarette: "I've never seen anyone this unlucky either—do you mind?"

"Go ahead, smoke." Ma Ma Zhaodi, feeling utterly hopeless, took a Pocky stick out of his pocket and put it in his mouth: "You can laugh if you want. Anyway, I'm already like this."

Gordon didn't really want to laugh, but seeing Ma Ma Zhaodi's current state, he found it hard to hold back. This was the first time he had seen an innocent citizen get caught at the Gotham City Police Department twice in such a short time.

"This isn't a normal situation either. You were at the scene when Richard Daniel was shot, you were at the scene when Johnny Viti was assassinated, and you were also at the scene when the factory's counterfeit money was burned. You even worked at that restaurant."

He turned his head and spat out a puff of smoke: "You just arrived in Gotham City and aren't a gang member, so your suspicion is lower, but your luck is just too good."

Ma Ma Zhaodi sighed, finished the Pocky: "Forget it, forget it. Let's finish the statement quickly."

"I have to work tomorrow," he thought: "I hope someone will pay my wages."

The next day, Ma Ma Zhaodi stood at the restaurant entrance, staring blankly at the locked door, his face showing a look of confusion.

"Wait, where is my workplace?"

(End of this chapter)