Starting from scratch, Batman crushed my dream of getting rich

Chapter 218 The Mad Hatter?
"Batman's assist came at just the right time!"

Ma Zhaodi crept stealthily into the theater. Batman's plane made a lot of noise. At this moment, all the gangsters inside and outside the theater were attracted by the explosion in the factory area and the monster in the sky. Outside the theater, chaos reigned. Only the crowd controlled by the Mad Hatter's hat remained unmoved and continued to mechanically carry out the patrol orders.

"What's going on? What happened?"

What was the cause of that explosion?

"It sounds like the explosion came from the direction of the factory guarded by that monster Solomon Grandi. Maybe that big guy has gone mad—he never seemed quite right to begin with."

"Lesen, Lesen! What's going on at the door!"

"This is Rayson. I saw Batman fly away in a plane with Grandi and Clayface in tow—it looks like Kite Man is still clinging to the fuselage."

"what?!"

"That's the situation. The plane is now out of our sight."

"Where's the Mad Hatter? Isn't the Mad Hatter going to send us to help?"

"This is a matter between superheroes and super monsters; there's no use worrying about it. Let's just focus on protecting the theater."

Immediately, everyone started talking about it. The news that Batman had captured two supervillains spread quickly throughout the theater. However, the Mad Hatter did not issue any orders to go to his aid, and there was no new information from the Joker's side either.

At that moment, a man's voice suddenly rang out over the theater's loudspeaker.

"Listen up, you idiots in the theater! Don't run around here! Don't make a fuss or cry—anyone who disrupts my rehearsal will be killed!"

The man's voice was almost hysterical, his chaotic tone carrying a hint of madness and immaturity, like that of a child who hadn't fully developed.

“It’s the Mad Hatter.” Ma Zhaodi, hidden in the shadows, watched the people in the theater in chaos, running around hurriedly. He seized the gaps between them and moved further inside. He was basically certain that the voice on the loudspeaker was the Mad Hatter’s.

As he had learned before, the Mad Hatter was indeed underdeveloped—he was a dwarf by birth, with slow and delayed physical development, and he had indeed taken an undeveloped drug that, instead of curing him, turned him into a mental patient.

Increased aggression, morbid obsession, paranoid thinking, and mental abnormality. That's why the voice on the radio sounds like a child, yet also so manic.

"The only people who can make it in Gotham are mentally ill."

While muttering to himself, Ma Zhaodi walked deeper into the theater. Although the Mad Hatter's announcement over the loudspeaker had caused the guards to return to their positions, it gave him a chance.

The theater was very large, so most of it was still guarded by a large number of guards wearing hats. Ma Zhaodi, wearing a hat, blended in and was not noticed by anyone.

Along the way, Ma Zhaodi passed through most of the checkpoints without any hindrance, but the further he went into the theater, the more members of the Falcone family there were. Clearly, the Mad Hatter, or rather the Joker, had arranged for the gangster gunmen to be in the core area, both for security and to maintain a balance of power.

As he approached the core area, he discovered that it had once again become a restricted zone for the controlled—only family members were allowed to enter.

However, seeing this situation, Ma Zhaodi breathed a sigh of relief.

"With this plan in place, it's basically complete."

Just then, a man in a black suit squeezed through the crowd, and Ma Zhaodi's eyes lit up.

The other person was about the same size as him, and also had a beer belly.

“Great.” He thought to himself as he squeezed next to the other person and followed him to a secluded corner, while the other person remained completely unaware—they had been in the crowd of hat-wearing people for so long that they had completely let their guard down against these “robots” who only obeyed orders.

Just as the other person's back was turned, he swiftly wrapped his right arm around the person's neck, locking his left arm around the right, and executed a rear-naked choke. "Ha—"

With his arm muscles tensed, he tightened his grip on the other man's neck, forcibly cutting off blood flow to the brain and preventing air from entering the lungs. The man tried desperately to open his mouth, but even his voice was trapped in his throat, only weak gasps escaping his lips. He struggled with all his might, but the two men were roughly equal in size and weight, and he was completely unable to break free from the fully formed rear-naked chokehold.

His struggle didn't last long. Just a few seconds later, the other person had completely lost consciousness and his body went limp. Ma Zhaodi supported his body, carried him into the theater's restroom, and changed his clothes.

When Ma Zhaodi walked in wearing a suit, he was calm and composed, and his appearance made him look exactly like a member of the Falcone family.

He walked through the gangsters on both sides of the corridor, but they didn't even glance at him. This attitude of judging people by their clothes and not even bothering to remember their own faces was quite remarkable.

Is this the Mad Hatter? The Mad Hatter is just like that? Just like that?
This defensive system might be able to withstand a large number of soldiers attacking, and it might be able to restrain superheroes from using their fighting power. But if the other side sends a bloodthirsty, ruthless supervillain to carry out a decapitation strike, wouldn't the Mad Hatter just explode?

"Hey kid, wait a minute—"

A voice interrupted Ma Zhaodi's progress. A member of the Falcone family, standing in front of a large gate, stopped him: "Why do you look so unfamiliar? Are you one of the family members in this neighborhood?"

"There's none?"

"Have it?"

"There's none?"

The members on the other side then raised their guns.

“Okay, okay.” Ma Zhaodi sighed. “Actually, I’m new here, so you might feel a little unfamiliar with me.”

Upon hearing this answer, the other person's eyes turned dangerous, and he pried open the hammer.

"That answer isn't very convincing."

Ma Zhaodi's muscles were tense; if things went wrong, he was already planning to just barge in.

At that moment, another gunman walked over: "Idiot, have you forgotten? After the ventriloquist was caught, a group of our men ran out from those blocks."

The person opposite looked at Ma Zhaodi with a suspicious gaze, but did not lower the gun in their hand.

"Then search him—kid, you can't go in with a weapon."

"All right."

Ma Zhaodi spread his hands; his two pistols were already in the store, and he was currently unarmed.

The man then touched Ma Zhaodi's waist, trouser legs, and shoes, and then his pockets.

“It looks fine,” he said. “But don’t touch it yet. There’s something I want to confirm if it’s yours.”

"what?"

"The black robe and mask placed in the toilet."

(End of this chapter)