Chapter 133 Chapter 133 [VIP]
On the third day of Megan's holiday, she decided to go out and play in the evening. She was wrapped up thickly. A child was running alone through the streets, as if chasing a plastic bag that was blown by the wind because they were running in the same direction.
Chasing a tattered, useless and meaningless plastic bag, but Megan's pace would not change or stop for such a thing.
Then she was picked up.
A dark green figure suddenly jumped out from the side of the street. This tall and thin man stopped Megan and lifted her up. Seeing that her head was lowered and her expression was unclear, he put her down on the ground, but held her shoulders so that she could not run away. Then he knelt down and looked at her at eye level. "Long time no see, Megan."
He had just managed to force a seemingly cheerful smile when Megan shoved him on the shoulder. Having been a super criminal for some time, he still had some reflexes. He immediately steadied himself, grabbed Megan with both hands, and blurted out, "I guess you need a newspaper with a Joker report, or something else?"
Seeing Megan stop moving after watching him, the Riddler finally let go of her hand and brushed off his shirt. It was clearly dust-free, but who could blame him for pretending? He squatted on the street and said to Megan, "How about helping me with something?" Then he pulled a card from his collar pocket. It had a Joker-like logo printed on it.
The Riddler obtained this thing from a member of the Joker Gang and had originally just been carrying it around with him. However, this was not entirely true. He had always considered himself the smartest man in the world. Once he got something and decided to use it, he would be sure that it would come in handy. He looked at Megan with a false smile on his face, and the darkness in his eyes gradually deepened.
Everyone in Arkham knew something about Megan's experience after being taken away by the Joker. They all had their own intelligence channels, especially since the target was just a child, not a clown.
Want to track down the Joker? That would be like telling him directly that someone is plotting against him, but it would be relatively easy to track down Megan indirectly.
Besides, Megan is a little star in Arkham. She has so many friends, and her father has so many enemies. There are so many people who want to know her intelligence to infer the Joker's behavior. They tacitly fish in troubled waters, so they can succeed a few times. Once they find the flaw, they are not far from discovering Megan's "little secret".
So the Riddler learned a joke, a very funny and ironic joke. It wasn't about the Joker being a good father to Megan, which was completely impossible. The Joker was just making fun of Megan, and he personally caused many ridiculous situations...
Take Megan's teacher, Richard Long, for example.
The joke the clown had created had already been discovered by the Riddler, and it had successfully made him, an outsider and the audience, laugh. Who wouldn't laugh at such a malicious joke? Even the homeless people in the soup kitchen, who were barely clothed and starving, would have laughed heartily.
The Riddler knew the identity and impressive resume of this martial arts master, but after he retired to the mountains, he was once again invited out to train many newly debuted young heroes. Among them was a student whose code name was:
Batgirl.
Batgirl had her spine broken by the Joker, and now the Joker's adopted daughter and she are studying under the same teacher. Who wouldn't find it ridiculous?
So the Riddler doesn't think the Joker is sincere towards Megan. The madman enjoys acting, bewitching and deceiving others. He has long seen through these tricks of the "Joker". He believes that in the entire Arkham, except for Killer Croc, Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy who have a little conscience, everyone else is unforgivable.
Just like him, there is Scarecrow, Penguin, Two-Face, Black Mask, Ventriloquist, Zsasz and so on... They would never think that they are good people. They uphold the principle of profit above all else and are a group of cruel and ruthless criminals. The Joker was no exception in the past, but he obviously went astray and immersed himself in a clumsy family drama, just to have more fun for himself.
The Riddler couldn't help but sneer. The clown's fun was amusing, but he and the others didn't have the patience to participate. They would only take a look occasionally to divert their attention. Rather than caring about her, they cared more about what the clown was doing.
As for tipping off Batman to Megan's identity? Do you really think some criminals haven't thought about that? It's a shame these idiots die so quickly, never accomplishing anything significant, only ending up with a dismembered body. If the Joker were that easy to deal with, they wouldn't be so wary. Instead, they think the Joker is using Megan as bait, and whoever takes the bait will only have one outcome.
Now he waved the Joker card in front of Megan, but he didn't deliberately hook her. He just stuffed the card in her hand and said casually: "I heard from the Mad Hatter that you can paint. If you come and work for me, I will pay you."
The Mad Hatter is a complete idiot. He was very brave to let the clown's child paint him as a painter, but his courage was useless. It is said that he insulted Megan, which made the child unhappy. On the way to be transported back to Arkham, he encountered a gunfight. Not only was he shot, but he also broke an arm and even had several fingers comminuted fractures. This was undoubtedly a huge blow to the "scientific research talent".
With the lessons learned from the past, the Riddler thought that if he wanted to find Megan to do something, even if he planned to observe secretly, he should at least make it look good on the surface, right?
But he had no serious intention of paying her, he just used things with the Joker logo to coax the child, and he thought she would be easy to coax, just like in Arkham, and they got along well at that time.
Megan tilted her head to look at the card, then looked up at the Riddler. After a long pause, she slowly asked, "What are you going to do?"
The Riddler raised his eyebrows, thinking that Megan agreed, and stuffed the card into her hand. Then he was about to stand up and said helplessly, "I haven't hired the right people, and now I need someone to draw question marks on the wall for me." How should I put it? He hired thugs before, but they robbed him in the end. His perfect plan was thugs for others. This kind of thing really doesn't need to happen again and again.
Then he stopped moving to get up, looked around and saw that there were no people around. The corner they were in was already remote, so he felt relieved and whispered to Megan, "You must know the location of each question mark. It is related to my final answer to the mystery. There can't be any mistakes."
He didn't dare trust any random thugs anymore, but if he had to do it himself, he wouldn't have that much time. He had to set up mechanisms and hide riddles, and the whole puzzle-solving process would be complicated and troublesome. What he pursued was top-level wisdom, and a puzzle that could stump Batman was not easy for him either.
Just like the metal balls he'd made so many times before, besides the mechanisms, shouldn't they be welded? Shouldn't he strive for perfection in craftsmanship? Otherwise, Batman's tiny bombs would shatter them, and the puzzle would become boring.
The Riddler needs to use his brain, but he also has to complete many processes like a welder or carpenter. Even though he outsources a lot of work, the remaining ones cannot be underestimated. He also has to be careful about workers leaking information to prevent Batman from knowing his arrangements in advance. There are too many things to do.
So now whenever he catches someone, he asks them to help him do the work.
He sighed at all the things he had to do, then took Megan's hand and took her to his safe house, where aprons, work hats, small buckets, roller brushes, and even a small cart were ready for him to put the paint buckets and spare paint on, which would save him a lot of trouble.
But seriously… how could this not be considered another form of child-rearing? Not knowing how to build a relationship with Meghan, they simply paid her to do something, creating the illusion that they were getting along well.
The Riddler used his brain and felt that this matter was safe enough and there was no problem, so he took out his own drawings. As for whether Megan could understand this problem, they had played together before. The Riddler gave Megan the questions and asked Megan to pass them. He also taught Megan to recognize the drawings at that time, so there was no need to worry.
But now they are in Gotham City, which is too big. The Riddler is worried that Megan doesn't know the streets and doesn't know the route, so he has to explain and remind her in detail to avoid any real problems. Then he will have to carry the bucket and paint it himself.
His drawings were detailed enough, with a lot of data marked on them. After he finished explaining, he saw that Megan was about to wear "work clothes", so he took the initiative to help her put on her hands and tie her apron belt. He even put the hat on her personally.
The boss opened the paint bucket for her and thoughtfully placed it on a small cart. He also asked Megan to try to pull and push it. It turned out that this was not difficult for Megan's strength, so he was relieved and said, "Do a good job, Megan. I'll treat you to a big dinner tonight. Let's go to Chinatown. There are also many snacks there."
But he had clearly reached the door, but he still stepped back, squatted down, took out a handful of bills from the inside pocket of his suit, and stuffed them into the pocket behind Megan's apron.
"This is your reward. Use it to buy food and toys. But when you're out there, be careful not to let other people see your money. You know, most of them are scum and villains."
For some shameless thugs, robbing children is not shameful at all, not to mention that if they suddenly decide to kidnap rich children for ransom... then it would be dangerous.
The Riddler thought cautiously that the child must not go out and show off her wealth. Even if the clown made fun of her, he was very concerned about whether she would be harmed. The Scarecrow's experience once told him that physical damage is a kind of damage; and the Mad Hatter's experience not long ago told him that making a child angry and unhappy would also damage her heart.
This child was a precious and fragile thing, just like antiques and luxury goods. Although her value was not clearly stated, the madman Joker would care about every detail. Once he provoked her, it would be equivalent to destroying the integrity of the Joker's possessions and would provoke the Joker's crazy revenge.
The author has something to say:
Ugly Dad: Not paying, making Megan work for nothing, and making her angry (note to the Mad Hatter). Paying is child labor (note to the Riddler)
Riddler: ...(Has a vague sense of foreboding)
Robin in the backstage was eager to try: Me too!
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