Chapter 1904

There were about a dozen people in the cage; glancing over them, a few stood out.

One was the suited man currently cheering the loudest; he wore a tailored suit and polished shoes, his hair combed meticulously, and the briefcase in his hand bore a small Wall Street financial institution logo in its lower right corner — at a glance, he was the very picture of a typical successful finance type.

There was also a hippie girl dressed in an extremely exaggerated fashion, currently grabbing the cage bars and shrieking wildly, her cries no quieter than the suited man's.

And a mother clutching her son tightly, weeping louder than she shouted, while the seven- or eight-year-old boy in her arms was the one desperately crying for help.

A couple seemed to be checking their phones to call the police; unfortunately this wasn't the real world, so how could there be a signal? They had only pressed a few buttons before they started yelling in panic.

Natasha immediately stepped to the front of everyone and shouted: "Quiet! Everyone quiet! You won't be in danger……"

This was a quite typical agent approach — calm the crowd's emotions first, no matter what — but it was obviously useless; Natasha had barely taken two steps forward when she was nearly hit in the head by a phone thrown by one of the couple.

"Let us out, you damn demon!!" the hippie girl screamed.

"Everyone quiet." Batman also stepped forward, but his movement was clearly blocking Shiler; his voice wasn't loud, but it carried penetrating power, and the crowd's clamor lessened slightly.

"If you don't cooperate, you'll all die here. Now stay quiet so we can hear the questions clearly."

The previously panicked crowd couldn't calm down to think about their situation, but human adaptability is strong; after Batman poured a bucket of cold water over their heads, they recalled what that strange voice had said earlier.

At this moment one person turned to look back and happened to see the giant gemstone man's pair of eyes shining with dazzling brilliance, triggering another wave of screams; Batman could already hear Shiler's intense heartbeat gradually accelerating.

"Ask the question quickly." Bat-Bat and Batman glanced at each other, then Bat-Bat spoke loudly.

"Very well then, Batman, answer me: you and several members of the opposite sex……"

"I refuse to answer."

In the arena, a pin drop could be heard.

"Are you crazy? You damn spandex freak!! Which terrorist organization did you crawl out of?! Didn't you hear him say if you don't answer, we'll be hoisted up and dropped to our deaths?!" the suited man roared.

"Answer him quickly!" the woman of the couple screamed.

"Calm down, everyone calm down." A woman who looked like a teacher stepped forward and said: "We need to discuss a strategy together."

"Haven't you figured it out yet?! He wants to kill us!"

"Are you sure you want to refuse to answer?" The gemstone man narrowed his eyes, seemingly very displeased with this outcome.

"I'm sure." Batman silently counted Shiler's heart rate in his mind, then repeated: "I am sure I will not answer!"

"Creak creak creak," the cage slowly rose, the chains' friction sounding like a death knell.

"Ask the second question quickly!" Bat-Bat immediately shouted.

"Fine, then my second question is……"

"I refuse to answer." Natasha's eyes darted rapidly; she glanced back and said.

"I haven't even……"

"I refuse to answer!"

"I wasn't asking you!"

"I refuse to answer." Bat-Bat said crisply.

"I……"

"I also refuse to answer." Batman said.

The gemstone man slapped his forehead.

"Are you really superheroes?!! Or are you actually idiots who can't understand the game rules?! I said if you refuse to answer, the cage rises, and then they'll all fall and be smashed to meat paste!!!!"

"We understood the rules, and we're fully aware of the consequences. Hurry up and raise the cage!" Batman practically roared.

"No! The person I want to question is Shiler!" The gemstone man likewise roared: "Shiler, answer me, how many people have you killed?!"

"I haven't killed anyone."

"You're lying!!!"

"I only kill pigs."

The gemstone man was choked speechless.

"Ask the third question." Natasha raised her voice: "Hurry up!"

"Are you in a rush?! Don't rush! Let me think!"

At this point the cage was about one meter off the ground; Natasha stomped her foot anxiously, glanced back again, and roared at the gemstone man: "Do you need until next year to think of a single question?! Is your brain the size of a walnut?! Or is it as tiny and invisible as that thing of yours?!"

"You……"

"Hurry!! Damn it!! Ask!!!"

"Natasha, how many men have you……"

"I refuse to answer! Only a guy like you with no bullets in your gun and no brains in your head would keep count of how many times you've touched the opposite sex all your life!! Next!!!"

The cage rose again, but the people inside didn't even have time to be afraid, because everything happened too fast.

They just shouted back and forth, one side asking urgently, the other answering even more urgently; the whole Q&A was like a machine gun, mixed with talk of men, women, killing, and hurry hurry hurry urgent urgent urgent — no one could understand what they were saying.

"Aaaaaaaah!" The gemstone man let out a furious roar; this wasn't how his script went!!

"Continue asking quickly!" Bat-Bat said, looking at the cage about two meters off the ground.

"You can't keep refusing to answer — do you want to kill us?!" That suited man desperately reached his hand out of the cage, seemingly trying to grab Natasha at the very front.

Natasha nimbly stepped back, avoiding his touch, but just as she dodged, the little boy behind the suited man threw his hat; Natasha and Batman both instinctively sidestepped, and the hat landed on Shiler.

The boy wasn't strong, so it hardly counted as a hit; the hat was more like it fell onto Shiler, but it was like the last match that ignites the firewood pile.

Shiler's breathing instantly quickened, his heart rate nearly doubling from before; Natasha instantly recalled the story Shiler had told her, and she bellowed: "Hold him down!!!"

Batman moved faster than her shout; he almost instantly knocked Shiler down and pinned him under his body weight.

The next second, "Bang!" Batman was flung away; he flicked his cape, stood up, grabbed Shiler's waist from behind and threw him out; Bat-Bat rushed forward, Natasha close behind.

The gemstone man was dumbfounded.

Sowing discord is the third round's event! How did a fight break out? What happened?!

Even more absurd was what came next: Batman used his weight advantage to either pin Shiler down or throw him out.

Bat-Bat also understood Batman's tactical strategy, but he had never personally witnessed Shiler's prowess, underestimated his threat level, had been active for a short time, and his heart was a bit too soft.

Watching Batman throw Shiler over, Bat-Bat felt that with his own strength he could certainly pin Shiler down, but Shiler landed in a sideways position; pressing down like that might break the other's ribs.

He hesitated for about half a second, and Shiler executed a roll right in front of him, scrambling out from the side; by the time Bat-Bat reached out, he grabbed only air.

Natasha was farther away, just one step short of catching Shiler, but that single step decided the difference between heaven and hell.

Shiler swooped toward the cage with a *whoosh*, seizing the suited man's arm dangling outside.

The three rushed over to pull Shiler away, but Shiler's hand clamped onto the suited man's arm in a death grip; when Batman pulled, the suited man let out a miserable scream.

"Let go! Shiler! Let go now!!"

Natasha shouted as she pulled; she pulled the suited man and he screamed, the suited man screamed and Shiler pulled outward.

The suited man's shoulder and neck were caught on the cage bars; the bars were about to snap his collarbone, and the hippie girl reacted swiftly, hugging his neck and yanking him back.

But force is mutual — one side pulling out, the other pulling back — the suited man was no tug-of-war rope; his whole body was nearly torn in two, and inarticulate shrieks came from his mouth: "Stop pulling! Stop pulling! Help!!"

Seeing they couldn't pull him free, Shiler directly used the suited man's arm as a rope, intending to feel for the bar's edge and leverage himself up.

Batman instantly roared: "Ask the questions!!!"

"You people..."

"ASK!!!!!!!"

"Suka!" Natasha clamped onto Shiler's shoulder, using him as a human ladder, stepped on his shoulder, and climbed onto the cage faster than he did, driving a kick into the suited man's shoulder.

The kick was both fierce and fast; Shiler didn't react in time, was dragged forward a step, his wrist knocked against the cage's edge, causing his grip to loosen; the hippie girl yanked the suited man back, finally wrenching him free of Shiler's clamp.

Shiler and the two Batmen pulling him behind all fell from the momentum; the cage shook and Natasha was also flung off, crashing onto the ground nearby.

The hippie and suited man inside the cage were likewise thrown backward by the momentum into the pile of people; an elbow struck the little boy's stomach, and the boy burst into tears with a *wah*.

For a moment, everyone was sprawled in chaos, crying for father and mother.

Gemstone Man was stunned.

Owen fell silent.

The watching Xi fell eerily quiet.

But it wasn't over — the just-fallen Shiler scrambled up instantly and charged at the cage again; Batman's eyes and hands were quick, grabbing his leg and yanking him down, and Bat-Bat immediately pinned him.

"How is he this strong?!!" Bat-Bat bellowed.

"Raise the cage! Now!!" Batman also roared.

"Pull us up! Pull us up! Hurry!!"

"No, you people this..."

Natasha glanced at Shiler beside her, then at the people thrashing inside the cage; the scene of Shiler gutting fish flashed through her mind.

Every fish was vivisected while still alive and kicking.

Natasha clearly remembered that among the fish he'd hauled up, one had struggled so violently it slammed into the gap in the ice and died on the spot, and Shiler hadn't even glanced at that fish.

Natasha spun around and accelerated into a sprint, hands clamping onto the cage bars, core engaging, one leg swinging through the gap between bars, climbing onto the cage's side once more.

Then she drove with both legs; the cage instantly swung out like a swing, the people inside like clothes in a washing-machine drum, tossed into utter disorientation before they could grab anything.

Natasha poured all her strength into four or five kicks; the cage hanging in midair became a giant pendulum, the unrestrained passengers all slammed into bars and ceiling, instantly bleeding from head wounds.

These were all ordinary people, with no quick reflexes to speak of, and even less impact resistance; they dropped like flies, and before long every last one was knocked unconscious.

Natasha jumped down, observing Shiler's reaction.

Good news: Shiler indeed stopped looking at the cage.

Bad news: Shiler started looking at the remaining live fish.

Natasha stared at Shiler and retreated two steps, a roar mixed with panting echoing across the arena:

"RUN!!!!!!"