Starting from scratch, Batman crushed my dream of getting rich

Chapter 232 The Riddler: I Admit There Was an Insult to It

The Penguin had barely finished relaying the orders when he received even worse news.

Poison Ivy's communicator suddenly rang, and a hoarse, half-dead voice on the other end of the line delivered a new message to her.

"Pamela, this is Firefly. Batman captured Man-Bat in his drone, but luckily he wasn't smart enough to capture two people at once, so I escaped. But be careful, it's heading your way!"

Poison Ivy glanced at the bat-fighters in the sky and couldn't help but curse, "You're too late!"

"Then I can only wish you good luck."

The call ended, and both Penguin and Poison Ivy felt a chill run down their spines.

Penguin was surprised that Batman was captured but Firefly wasn't; Poison Ivy was surprised that her teammates were so unreliable, only sending the message now.

Of course, it's also possible that Firefly was seriously injured and was tending to her wounds or had passed out, but for her, none of these reasons could help alleviate her current predicament in the face of Batman.

"Pamela, don't force me to use strong herbicides."

Upon hearing Batman's words, Poison Ivy's expression changed several times, but after a few seconds, she suddenly laughed.

“Want me to go back to the police station with you? That’s easy, Batman,” she said. “As long as you deal with these citizens who want to kill you first.”

Batman frowned, suddenly realizing that something was amiss.

bang!

With a gunshot, Batman felt the impact of a nine-millimeter pistol bullet from his back armor—after being shot so many times, he could subconsciously distinguish the bullet type.

But another question puzzled him.

"Why?" He turned his head and saw a citizen who had gotten up from the ground and was pointing a pistol at him.

“Only nine minutes have passed.” He suddenly turned to Poison Ivy: “You’re lying.”

"You can never completely trust information provided by the enemy. Isn't it romantic that one fragrance can neutralize another?" Poison Ivy said with a laugh. "The Mad Hatter was a madman, so he believed it. Batman, are you a madman too—or a fool?"

At this moment, more and more citizens gathered around them. One by one, the people wearing hats stood up in a daze, half asleep and half awake, and raised their guns at Batman.

Meanwhile, even more people emerged from the surrounding buildings. When Ma Zhaodi first infiltrated the theater, he had already noticed that the surrounding security was sparse. This was not because the remaining people were all inside the theater, but because they were all hidden in the surrounding buildings.

At this moment, the group surrounded Batman.

"The Mad Hatter's last order before he fell into a coma was to attack you, so now you're the only one who will be surrounded."

“If I were you, I’d first look for the control buttons on the Mad Hatter to find the people outside the theater.” Poison Ivy’s mocking voice was drowned out by the crowd: “After all, they’re all carrying guns, and you probably don’t want to see them shooting at each other—that would be too bloody.”

Batman frowned. He first fired his grappling hook into the sky, and the Batplane quickly descended, pulling him up. But when he looked down at the ground, Poison Ivy and Mazurde had vanished without a trace. Only Mr. Freeze, who was unable to move, and the Mad Hatter, who had already passed out, remained on the ground.

"They're both excellent actors," he thought to himself. "But if we were really fighting today, I would make the same mistake."

"I've learned another lesson."

He sighed, took the pilot's seat in the Batplane, and the aircraft's hard shell blocked the handgun and rifle fire from the others on the ground. It then fired two grappling hooks, pulling Mr. Freeze and the Mad Hatter up one by one, before quickly flying away from the battlefield. The controlled citizens, of course, couldn't keep up with the Batplane on foot. After Batman and the Mad Hatter disappeared from their sight, they all lost their target, returning to the area around the theater with bewildered expressions. Some resumed their patrols, while others retreated back into the buildings.

"Boss, the battle is over for today." The Penguin, barely suppressing his elation, reported to the Joker with a grave expression, "We've suffered heavy losses. We need to make plans for the next step as soon as possible."

"I've lost all three of my cards." The Joker snorted irritably. "The theater is about to—humph, probably already lost."

"Boss, the team has arrived near the theater." As the two were talking, the communicator crackled with another report: "Everything around here is not normal. Everyone seems to have been released from control. Some people have taken off their hats and thrown away their guns."

"We didn't see the Mad Hatter or Batman, but there were vines and signs of ice at the scene, Poison Ivy and Mr. Freeze—"

"Alright, alright," the Joker interrupted impatiently. "Batman's quick on his feet. You guys get out of here—to be honest, I now understand why the Riddler went to such lengths to get Thor here."

"That guy's really unlucky."

Five minutes later, in the hall, the riddle teller was sitting calmly in his seat, waiting for his subordinates' report.

“Nigma, Poison Ivy is back.”

“Very well.” A smile appeared on his face, and he reached for his golden cane, walking down the steps. “Let them in.”

"Uh, there's one more thing."

"Huh? What's the matter?"

"The result of today's battle is that Mad Hatter, Mr. Freeze, and Man-Bat from the Joker's side were all taken away by Batman, while Poison Ivy and Firefly successfully escaped."

With each word he uttered, the riddle-maker's smile grew even wider; nothing could make him happier than today's victory.

A risky and ingenious plan, a desperate counterattack against overwhelming odds, and a strategist who outmaneuvered the enemy to achieve victory against all odds.

“Yes, you have faithfully carried out my plan,” he said. “I admit that I did take a gamble in this battle—putting Thor to serve the Joker, and then having Firefly and Poison Ivy face multiple enemies at the same time.”

“But I won the gamble, or rather, this result was exactly what I expected—I knew Batman liked checks and balances, so it was natural to turn him into one of my pawns.”

"Regardless, today is our victory, and you can all fight for me—"

“No, Nigma, I meant that someone came back with Poison Ivy.”

"Who will wait and see!"

The riddle-maker suddenly opened his eyes wide and gripped his cane tightly, the relaxed smile on his face vanishing instantly.

At this moment, he finally noticed the problem in today's battle report—there was one person who had not been mentioned at all.

He looked towards the doorway, where the familiar figure in black robes stood, making him feel dizzy.

"Boss, I'm back."

"Who the hell let you come back?!"

(End of this chapter)