Chapter 51: Cure Upon Arrival

The shadow of a bat with outstretched wings wandered through the streets and alleys of Gotham; this was his nightly routine: patrolling the entire city of Gotham, saving some unlucky souls he could save, breaking a few criminals' bones, and hanging a few more on the tower.

For him, this was a rather mundane daily routine, but today was Thanksgiving, so crimes on the streets seemed to have become scarce; it seemed even criminals had family to be with, which made tonight's work slightly more leisurely.

After finishing his patrol, instead of returning directly to his Batcave as usual, he stood among Gotham's high-rises, silently gazing at the scattered lights in the night, watching the psychedelic neon colors and the drifting scent of smoke from small rooms in each building weave together into a unique holiday flavor.

"In the coming year, will there be anything worth being grateful for?"

At this moment, on the streets of Gotham, Ma Ma Zhaodi was carrying a paper bag containing a finished Cornucopia.

"Not bad; at least this Cornucopia has no distinctive features. If I run into a psycho killer again, at least I won't get Batman's attention."

Thinking this, Ma Ma Zhaodi touched the disguise mask on his face and the mask's face covering; next time he did this kind of job, he planned to wear a proper disguise, absolutely ensuring the psycho killer wouldn't see his real face.

He didn't notice that a familiar figure had appeared behind him again, still wearing a black round hat, a loose trench coat, with an indistinct face, and rough men's gloves on his hands.

Seeing the paper bag in Ma Ma Zhaodi's hand, the trench-coated man naturally walked up, snatched it away, and immediately turned to duck into an alley.

"Damn, who stole my Cornuco—"

Ma Ma Zhaodi only felt his hand lighten, and then the prepared Cornucopia vanished without a trace; he instinctively cursed and turned to look, but could only see a dark shadow disappear deep into the alley.

At the same time, the mission completion notification popped up immediately.

"Thanksgiving Cornucopia"

Mission Description: Don't overthink it; this time there's just one client who needs a Cornucopia. Do well and get a reward; do poorly and there's no punishment.

Note: Low risk, high reward. This job was specifically reserved for you; as for last time—that was your own fault for messing up the fight.

Status: Completed (1/1)

Reward: A Horn of Plenty that can continuously produce food. Relying on it, you can survive in the harshest extreme environments. The food it produces can even provide certain life recovery abilities and life-steal effects on enemies—don't worry, it is not a Magical Item of this world either, so no cost is required."

Ma Ma Zhaodi examined the Horn of Plenty in his hand; its shape was huge, very huge, looking even as long as his own calf and as thick as his own thigh; he could even stuff half of his forearm into the opening.

Are there such huge goats in the world? Ma Ma Zhaodi wasn't sure; his own goat horn was also bought from the shop, but even so, it wasn't as big as the one before his eyes—carrying it around would be too conspicuous.

"This thing isn't easy to take out."

"Add an appearance disguise effect to the Horn of Plenty; only requires one hundred USD Asset Points."

"Just bury yourself in money—wait, does the pumpkin lantern have this effect?"

"The small pumpkin lantern can have an effect added: turn off the light. Only requires one hundred USD Asset Points."

"... I already have a small pumpkin lantern that won't light up."

On the night Batman found the restaurant, what Ma Ma Zhaodi took out was an ordinary small pumpkin lantern customized in Shangcheng; it looked exactly like a Magical Pumpkin Lantern but had no magic power.

Given Batman's sharp senses, he absolutely wouldn't dare to bring out a Magical Pumpkin Lantern directly; whether the chance of exposure was one hundred percent or one percent, there was a one hundred percent chance it would be detected during his post-mission review.

"Wait, damn, the person is lost!"

Ma Ma Zhaodi hurriedly stored the Cornucopia into the system; he had originally planned to use a remote reconnaissance item to follow that psycho killer from a distance to see who he intended to kill this time, but in the split second of distraction, the person was already lost.

Ma Ma Zhaodi hesitated slightly; since tracking was hopeless, maybe he could return to the hospital and use the Horn of Plenty to treat Harvey Dent's wife, Greta?

No, thinking it over carefully, it still wasn't feasible; doing so was too risky. Harvey Dent had only met him once; what would it look like if he suddenly showed up at the door with fruit?

He thought for a moment, then took out the Horn of Plenty disguised as a popcorn bucket, ate some small strawberries, and headed home.

As for why it wasn't popcorn, that was because the Horn of Plenty only produced fruits and flowers, not modern food or meat—a point that left Ma Ma Zhaodi quite regretful; he had originally hoped to cover all his dietary expenses directly using the Horn of Plenty.

But the benefit was that he wouldn't need to buy groceries anymore. Called "fruits," it actually meant "fruits, vegetables, and grains," because tomatoes and corn were included in the Horn of Plenty's output; the former is both a fruit and a vegetable, the latter a grain. So the Horn of Plenty could also produce other vegetables and grains.

He walked through the streets and alleys, passing the window of the magnificent Astoria Tower Hotel, hearing the sounds of clinking glasses celebrating and loud, rowdy singing from inside; the sound was familiar, making him instinctively spit.

"Tch, five rotten swordsmen; sooner or later they'll face retribution."

The few ruffians feasting and drinking heartily in the hotel room certainly couldn't hear Ma Ma Zhaodi's complaints; smiles beamed on their faces, dressed in suits and leather shoes, looking dignified, completely different from their previous hooligan appearance.

The entire Irish Gang was celebrating, boasting proudly about today's gains, mocking the prosecutor's stubbornness, Greta's gullibility, Chief Gordon's anger, Batman's silence, and the incompetence and weakness of the entire judicial system.

"Today is Thanksgiving; I'll drink first!"

"To the Roman, to the damn financier of this grand feast!"

"To the Roman!" *4

Delicious dishes on the table emitted steam; this was the Astoria Tower Hotel's special Thanksgiving turkey. The tempting aroma intertwined with the red wine in their cups, combined with the immense joy of sudden wealth, completely clouded their minds, making them feel lightheaded, almost completely drunk on the holiday atmosphere.

Then, the door was opened.

The glass cup in hand shattered on the floor, high-quality red wine spilled wildly. Before they could even cut open the delicious turkey with their table knives, the few men panicked and reached into their chests to pull out handguns, but the tailored suits of the upper class proved so obstructive at this moment, tightly binding their hands.

What a pity; the Reaper's patience had reached its end.

"Bang!"

Surprise!

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(End of Chapter)