Starting from scratch, Batman crushed my dream of getting rich

Chapter 360 You won't even call me Old Ma
After a brief negotiation, Snart and Ma Zhaodi finally agreed that they would not come to collect the money today, but would drive back to collect it another time.

Are you really, really, really planning to take the high-speed rail and leave the city center?

"I have my plan."

"You knew I would also tell the police about this, right?"

"Please."

"I have another one—"

"Don't push your luck. I've already promised never to kill anyone. Very few people can buy my long-term principle for 300,000."

"Okay, okay, good luck—by the way, isn't it going to be another six months before we meet again?"

"Don't worry, we'll see each other again much faster than that."

Snart smiled and turned to leave.

"What about the cyclotron on that gun?" the three-wheeled vehicle suddenly asked. "Shouldn't we take it over and analyze it?"

“I’d like to,” Ma Zhaodi sighed. “But as you saw, I already tried, and he’s not going to agree—can’t you see Cisco’s experimental logs? Just follow that and do a good job of replicating them.”

"That will be very slow."

"What's the rush? There aren't any out-of-control speedsters running amok on the streets right now."

Ma Zhaodi picked up his phone, dialed Joe's number again, briefly explained Snart's situation, and then went straight home to sleep.

The next day, when Ma Zhaodi opened the newspaper, he found that today's report was titled "High-speed rail derails in the middle of the night, thief Snat escapes with diamonds."

"The freeze gun is absolutely amazing at causing destruction!"

After carefully confirming that there were no casualties reported in the article, Ma Zhaodi put the newspaper away.

There were no casualties after the high-speed train derailment. Barry must have been there yesterday; only he could have arrived quickly enough to save everyone.

Who's winning?
"Old Ma, oh Old Ma"

A weak voice suddenly came from the side. Ma Zhaodi looked over and saw that it was Barry, clutching his waist, coming to the food cart.

“Well, looks like Barry got beaten up again.” Ma Zhaodi couldn’t help but laugh.

"Isn't this Barry? How did he change so much in just one day?"

"Uh, my lower back got a little frostbite yesterday."

Barry gave an awkward laugh. "It's okay, I'll recover quickly—uh, may I buy a liqueur-filled chocolate?"

"You have good taste! This is an old family remedy that has healing effects."

"What food are they selling today? I'd like to buy some too."

"Today's treat is spicy strips."

"What?"

"Spicy strips, handmade spicy strips."

The three-wheeled vehicle couldn't help but complain into its earpiece: "Did you see that? Even Barry can't stand how much you've let yourself go."

"Why do you care so much?" Ma Zhaodi still had a smile on his face, his mouth still in the same shape, but he quietly squeezed out a few words of retort through his teeth: "Just watch whether I sell it all today and that's it."

Barry eventually left with a bag of spicy strips—although he had never seen such a strange snack before, he decided to take a bag back to the lab to let everyone taste the saltiness, trusting in Lao Ma's cooking skills.

"One-off deals don't bring repeat customers."

"What do you know? I asked Liu Zi, and when they heard I was going to make spicy strips, they were all very supportive, saying they'd be incredibly delicious."

Boom!

Before he could finish speaking, a sudden explosion from nearby interrupted Ma Zhaodi's voice. "Boss, boss." The silly cat on Ma Zhaodi's head, with a spicy snack stuffed in its mouth, scratched its head in confusion: "It's so delicious, meow."

"Stop messing around, that's a real explosion." The three-wheeled vehicle instantly connected to the city's surveillance network: "No explosion point seen in the nearby cameras, but I saw... the army?!"

"What the hell are you talking about? Why would the army be dropping bombs in broad daylight—Dumb Cat, take your greasy hands off my head, stop scratching me and go scratch your own!"

"Boss, you're disgusted with me, meow."

Just as the trio in the food truck were in complete chaos, a woman suddenly emerged from the alleyway next door.

"Hello, would you like to buy a pack of Chinese-style handmade spicy strips?"

"Sorry, I don't have time!"

The capable woman, dressed in a black leather jacket and pants, had very distinctive long blonde hair with slightly purple ends. She was very beautiful, and her features also carried a hint of heroism.

She ignored Ma Zhaodi's sales pitch and kept running forward, but when she saw a group of soldiers in military uniforms on the road ahead, she had to run back.

"So? Want to buy some spicy strips?"

"Please! Hide me first! Don't tell anyone you've seen me!"

Her eyes quickly scanned the layers of partitions inside the food cart, and when she spotted a small space on the lower level, she immediately squeezed inside.

At the same time, a series of footsteps followed from the streets and alleys, and the two teams completed their encirclement of the food truck.

"What about people?"

"We didn't see them. Maybe they went inside a house?"

At this moment, a tall, burly old man with a white buzz cut walked out of the squad. His clothes and arrogant, domineering aura clearly indicated that he was the commander of the two squads.

When Ma Zhaodi saw him walk straight over, his face showing a hint of coldness and ruthlessness, he immediately felt that the other person was not a good person.

"Were you setting up your stall here the whole time?" He walked straight over to Ma Zhaodi and instructed him, "I am General Wade Erling from the military. I was just looking for a deserter within the military. Tell me, where did she go?"

Who the hell are you?

Although Ma Zhaodi really wanted to retort directly, the other party had already introduced themselves, so such a response would seem unreasonable.

“So,” he replied, “you want to ask for my help?”

“I’m asking you to fulfill your duties as an American citizen.” Erling took another step forward, his imposing figure looming over you like a mountain.

If it were an ordinary person, they would most likely not be able to withstand the domineering aura of this general.

"Fulfilling obligations?"

Ma Zhaodi shook his head, and with a calm movement, he hugged the silly cat on his head into his arms.

"You've been a general for so many years, and I've been a citizen for so many years, yet we don't know each other."

"This is the first time the U.S. military has come to me, a citizen, for help, and I can't even remember the last time I saw you."

He casually scratched the cat's chin.

"Let me be frank, your U.S. military has never cared about the friendship of any citizen, and you disdain to contact us."

Erling's eyes turned extremely stern: "I'm asking you to answer my question!"

“I understand that your military has made a fortune by relying on the government, doing very well in business, living a very good life, backed by tycoons, and armed with guns—you don’t need friends like us.”

“But now you come to me and say, ‘Citizen, we need you to fulfill your obligations now.’”

“You have no respect for me at all; you don’t consider me a friend.”

"You wouldn't even ask my name or call me Old Ma."

(End of this chapter)