Starting from scratch, Batman crushed my dream of getting rich

Chapter 201 Boss, you really have forgotten the pain after the wound healed

The banquet finally came to an end, and the eighth course was dessert.

"I'll contact you all soon through Inspector Gordon about the money. But right now, I can't make a decision. I hope you all understand this. After all, I'm a little worried that the loser won't be able to accept the fact of defeat. If there's a commotion in the manor, I'll be very troubled."

"After all, I understand you have to kill Batman, but I don't want you to point your guns at me."

As Wayne led the two groups out of the manor, he said goodbye to them: "One last thing. When you two attended the dinner tonight, you each kidnapped a group of hostages for your own safety. As you can see, the dinner was not disturbed by the GCPD or Batman. I hope you can release those hostages after you return safely."

The Riddler nodded. "Of course, Mr. Wayne, we are not animals—most of the time."

"of course."

"I think I killed all the hostages before I came here." The Joker shrugged: "I think so, I can't remember - I'll go back and take a look."

Bruce turned his head to look at the Joker with a frown. Even though he had experienced the Joker's madness and disorder, he still felt deep anger and disgust at this moment.

The ninth dish is coffee.

"Thank you, Alfred, for everything tonight."

The tired Bruce Wayne took the coffee handed to him by the butler and took a sip.

"Oh, nothing, actually, this is a pretty special waiter experience."

“Mother would be horrified – to have guests sent away after dessert without any sherry or coffee.”

"Yes, Master Bruce, it is true."

At this moment, a message suddenly appeared on Batman's computer. It was a message from Ma Zhaodi.

"The Joker hostage is alive and well, he's been released—remember to give the money to the Riddler so he can give us a raise."

Bruce breathed a sigh of relief and deleted the message.

"Alfred," he said suddenly, "you know, I was already considering the point of view of that host on TV."

"Choosing a side? Master Bruce, I'm afraid that's not a good idea."

"But at that point, I had almost nowhere else to go, Alfred."

Bruce took a deep breath.

"If there really is no way to end this war, if more people die, if there is no magical ability like Ma Zhaodi, if there is no ally like Kite Man to help save people."

"If Mr. Ma Zhaodi hadn't been able to gather enough allies, you had planned to join the Riddler?"

"Yes. Although I feel bad for Chuck, I have no other choice." "Then, next time we meet, I'll probably need to express my gratitude to Mr. Ma Zhaodi in person." Alfred breathed a sigh of relief. "What are you going to do now?"

"Ma Zhaodi's ability to incite rebellion is quite strong. I've never met anyone who understands other super criminals like he does, and he can even communicate with them calmly. I don't know if this is due to his shady identity, but he has certainly helped us gain a large number of allies."

"Like Little Floyd and Mr. Slade?"

"Yeah. He actually asked Batman to ask me to talk to those two mercenaries. I even have a suspicion that he knows about me."

Having said that, Bruce subconsciously concentrated on thinking about the message Ma Zhaodi had conveyed to him.

"Batman, find a wealthy man who doesn't want to see Gotham City get hurt. Have him pay you a sum of money to hire Deathstroke and Deadshot. Have them cooperate with you and voluntarily allow you to capture them. This wouldn't count as betrayal of their respective employers, just mission failure. As long as the money is high enough, they'll naturally agree."

"The two people in the Riddler's camp are also expected to agree to my terms and leave him. As for the Joker, I'm also providing him with intelligence, so I have the opportunity to persuade his subordinates to defect. One of them has already accepted my offer. Next, I will talk to the Penguin. He is originally a member of the Falcone family and will not willingly submit to a madman. In fact, if the Joker doesn't fall, he will never be able to take power. As long as he still has some ambition, it is only a matter of time before he agrees to our alliance request."

"While I'm undercover, I'll go to the lair and buff those people one by one. Don't worry, there won't be many casualties. With the help of Kiteman and you, we can try to keep the casualties to a minimum."

Three paragraphs, six supervillains, two superheroes—a total of nine if you count the Psycho Bicyclist. This force was forcibly forged during the confrontation between the Riddler and the Joker, a third force capable of changing the situation. According to Ma Zhaodi, there's another idiot who could be tricked into leaving the Joker's camp, but they're worried about him being exposed, so they haven't done it yet.

Even if they didn't defect, simply withdrawing from the battlefield would be enough to weaken the strength of both sides to a level that Batman could handle.

"It's hard to imagine how he did it." Bruce took another sip of coffee. "Getting along well with those lunatics and turning them over—what price could beat the Riddler and the Joker's offer?"

"Well, Master Bruce," Alfred sighed, "the Riddler and the Joker are both quite capable of bewitching people, but we all know that super criminals all have certain obsessions, or perhaps it's not an exaggeration to call them beliefs."

"Money and threats have a very strong persuasive power, but in the face of faith, these persuasions become insignificant."

"You seem quite sensitive to this. Wait, which university in the UK did you graduate from?"

The Riddler was quick to act. After reaching an agreement with Bruce, he released the captured hostages and the civilians who had been forced to serve as soldiers. And after Bruce wired him the money, the smoke and gunfire in the city began to rapidly decrease.

However, despite this, the Joker has no intention of giving up directly. He still commands his super criminals and some core members of the Falcone family whose weaknesses are controlled to fight this battle that is gradually losing balance.

So then, the conflict between the two sides turned into a conflict between high-end combat forces, that is, a duel between super criminals and super criminals, plus Batman.

On this day, the Riddler with a bandage on his shoulder called Ma Zhaodi and the Scarecrow.

"Psycho Bicyclist," he said, "Tonight, you and Scarecrow are going to the Joker's territory to do some detective work. Your bicycle maneuverability and survival skills are great, so you can take Scarecrow with you."

Ma Zhaodi looked at the Riddler and sighed slightly for his wise decision.

Alas, boss, you have really forgotten the pain now that the wound has healed.

(End of this chapter)