Chapter 139 Chapter 139 · Revised [VIP]
After Megan asked Arthur and got his affirmative answer, she walked into the gift shop excitedly. She also had something she liked, that is, porcelain.
The focus is on beautiful porcelain.
Megan had her own aesthetic taste. She disliked most blue and white porcelain, complicated patterns, and awkwardly shaped utensils. She spent a long time browsing the porcelain section before finally choosing a fresh, floral-shaped single-serve tea set. Arthur asked if she wanted to drink tea from it. Megan thought for a moment, looked up, and said, "No, I want to keep fish in it."
The shop assistant next to me, who had a distinctly Asian face, spoke in English, "Sorry, lovely girl, let me tell you—the teacup is too small for fish."
But Megan said, "Raise plastic fish." She opened her clear green eyes and told others her plan. Even if others thought it was strange, other people's opinions had nothing to do with her.
The little plastic fish she had gotten a long time ago was not thrown away. After winter came, because Megan no longer liked playing in the water, it often stayed in the empty plastic fish tank. The air could not bear its weight, so it could not float. Megan sometimes looked at it and them, but did not intend to do anything, nor did she plan to buy other new fish.
After choosing a set of porcelain for Arthur to hold, Megan fell in love with a set of porcelain dolls. It looked to be of a particularly unique style and had a base. Megan walked over to pick it up and found that there was something inside and the base was detachable. Since the clerk did not stop her, she took it apart carefully and found that there was a doll inside the doll.
Megan then unpacked a row of porcelain dolls of decreasing height.
"This is so fun." Megan's eyes lit up and she was so happy that she couldn't express it in words. She held the smallest doll in her palm and showed it to her father. For the first time, she focused her attention entirely on one object, instead of being cautious in everything she did and paying some attention to Arthur. She was attracted by something else.
The smallest doll was only slightly bigger than Megan's thumb, but the patterns on it were still clear. Megan put them back one by one, and finally installed the base. She also gave this thing to Arthur and waited to check out together later.
It was rare for Megan to be so excited. She held her head high and looked around, curious and interested in everything. When she found the square lanterns hanging above her head, she looked at them a few more times. Many things were clearly reflected in her eyes. She was no longer like she usually did, looking at them without paying attention. Now she seemed to want to remember all of them.
The atmosphere here infected her and easily made her lively.
Arthur took her out to play, and the places were carefully selected. He paid attention to the child's mental state and mental health, which made his actions seem very correct and timely in many cases.
Arthur followed her closely, looking at her gently, as if he was watching the best dream theater.
Megan thought she had bought almost everything, but when she passed the accessories area, she suddenly saw the scarf, paused, and turned around.
She saw a purple scarf at a glance. Because she was short, she couldn't reach it even after standing on tiptoe, so she asked Arthur to do it for her. She didn't know what was wrong with her lord, and the expression on his weathered face was a little subtle. It was not until Megan buried her head in the scarves and took out a rose-red striped scarf that his expression changed naturally. Under his gaze, Megan also took out a dark-colored versatile scarf, and then stopped.
There were many accessories that little girls liked nearby. Megan bought herself a bunch of fluffy bear hairpins and a few scarves stacked up in a pile. Since Arthur's hands were already full of things, she carried them to the counter herself.
After checking out, the clerk told Arthur that there were lockers in the store where they could store their purchases. They just had to take the barcode and keep it safe, and they could pick it up anytime.
After Arthur asked Megan's wishes, they walked out of the gift shop empty-handed, but both of them had a scarf around their necks. The reason was that Megan chose a large scarf that she couldn't use herself, so Arthur gave her a smaller one in the same color, so that it looked like a parent-child outfit.
Back outside, walking further ahead, they could see street performances and activities. Megan wasn't interested in singing, musical instruments, or martial arts performances. Arthur followed her at a leisurely pace, but he never really fell behind. Seeing that Megan seemed to be wandering aimlessly, he soon walked side by side with her, leaning over slightly and asking, "What else do you want to see?"
When he asked, Megan had already seen what she was curious about and pointed ahead, "There's a big one over there." It was a strange description that only children could use.
Arthur looked in the direction of her finger and found that it was a lion dance.
The venue occupied by the lion dance team is large and spacious enough, and there is live accompaniment. The instruments they use are monotonous, but the music they play is rhythmic and passionate. The music style of that country has always been like this, majestic, but also down-to-earth. Even if you find uneducated homeless people on the street, you can get a similar impression from them.
It's understandable that this lively atmosphere attracts the attention of children. Arthur took Megan over and watched this passionate and exciting performance with her.
Megan said, "Wow, the tail—"
She had that habit of only speaking half of her words and then asking more questions, and Arthur didn't even blink, playing the role of her perfect supporting role. "What's wrong with your tail?"
"The tail can move." Megan said with a rising tone.
The lion dance performance was wonderful, with loud gongs and drums. Megan watched with great interest and didn't feel the crowds or noise at all, especially when she saw another lion dance coming later and people from the same team brought tables and piled them up high. Someone else came on stage with a ball and started a performance of two lions playing with the ball.
Megan likes the fluffy lions and unknowingly squeezed to the front row, with her eyes showing her love. When the lions were parading around, she looked down and saw a little girl reaching out to them. She wanted to high-five with them, but the lions' palms were feet, so the two lions staggered their steps and shook their heads, each rubbing against her palm, which made her smile with her eyes curved.
…
The school vacation was very long, and Megan played outside for a few days before being taken back to Arkham Asylum by the Joker.
She was familiar with this route. Holding her father's hand, she walked through the corridor and into the prison, and then returned to the Joker's cell. Almost all the criminals in the high-risk area knew that this father and daughter who looked so respectable had returned, but there was a problem...
Now the real Joker is back with Megan, so who were they with before? A fake one?
This incident alone can make many criminals furious and think that they have been fooled, but Scarecrow is not among those people. A long time ago, he was taught a lesson by the clown after scaring Megan, and he had long seen who of the father and daughter was immersed in the family drama. It seems that he and Megan have a bad relationship. After all, they have that incident, so it is reasonable for them to hate him, but the fact is that their relationship is not bad.
When the Scarecrow came to find Megan, the Joker was also in the cell. This madman was good at pretending, but his attitude towards Megan was perfunctory. He sat motionless in the chair and watched Megan pack her things by herself.
He knocked on the cell door and stood by it, watching the situation inside. He had his usual fake smile on his face. He glanced past the clown and looked at Megan. "Long time no see, kid, would you like to come and talk to me?" His tone was still frivolous and extremely unpleasant, but what did a mentally ill criminal like him want to be liked? He only wanted fear.
The clown narrowed his eyes and smiled at them. He knew Megan's social situation, but that didn't stop him from pretending to be nice and speaking in a strange tone, "Hello Megan, another friend of yours is greeting you."
There was a clear conflict between them, and the Joker was particularly aware of Megan's temperament. She only appeared to be well-behaved, but in reality she was domineering and vindictive. So what caused them to reconcile? This question also interested the Joker, but Megan had always visited Scarecrow in his cell before, and it seemed like she hadn't done anything special.
The two adults were arguing, and Megan was still looking at where to put her flower-shaped tea set. When she heard this, she turned her head, raised her teacup, and said to the scarecrow, "A new cup."
The expression on the scarecrow's face was subtle. It was obvious that he used to always disdain children's playing house, but now he said cooperatively: "Good aesthetic taste." But his attitude was still condescending, and it seemed that he wanted to save some momentum for himself.
Megan didn't care what others thought. She looked at the Joker's already full collection in the cell, turned around, and placed the tea set next to the Joker's hand, as if she had just realized that she still had a father. "I'm going out to play."
This is not a request for opinion, just a notification.
The clown sighed, "Alas," and said, "You've grown up and have your own ideas. Why tell me?" His smile stretched wide. Perhaps he really was that happy? So happy that he looked at the scarecrow with a hint of scrutiny, curious. However, it seemed he would have to wait for Megan's return before he could get the answer.
It's normal for children to want to run away when they grow up. The clown waved his hand, signaling a child to get out, but the child stuck to him. She rubbed her head against the clown's arm, and after he held her head, he gave her a kiss on the cheek as a way of coaxing her, "Bye, Daddy."
Megan walked out of the cell with her short legs, but she only walked from the Joker's cell to the Scarecrow's cell.
On the way, she extended a hand to the scarecrow, who raised an eyebrow. He had known that Megan had some habitual behavior, so he wanted to high-five her to appease the child, but then he heard her say, "Jonathan, a New Year's gift."
——You will give it, right?
The child's face showed this expression. The scarecrow looked down at her and fell silent. After a long while, he opened his mouth and said, "Is this the second sentence you said to me after not seeing each other for a long time?" Is this reasonable? Is it reasonable?
The scarecrow sneered. He wouldn't squat down to talk to Megan at eye level, but his attitude was no longer as bad as it had been at the beginning. He walked slowly past her and said, "I thought you wouldn't ask me for it."
Megan followed, "I watched the lion dance."
"Oh, you were out playing. It sounds like you went to Chinatown, and the hustle and bustle there dazzled you."
"And your gift." Megan raised her hand again. This time, the Scarecrow stopped and patiently took the thing from her hand. He found that it was just a crudely made straw pendant. He glanced at it coldly and put it away.
Scarecrow and Megan have a good relationship, but others don't know it. The reason is, of course, that he has also privately joined in coaxing the child and playing house with the child.
In order to find the root cause of Megan's improvement, he was able to act irrationally and impulsively. However, after being beaten by the Joker and accepting the reality, he realized that it was impossible for him to obtain the information he wanted through improper means, such as coaxing Megan or threatening the Joker. So he chose the most direct, but less dignified, path -
He chased the child to apologize in private, put on the gloomiest face, and did humble things, and the final result was exactly what he wanted.
Scarecrow would not feel ashamed or indignant about this. He knew clearly what he wanted and took Megan back to his cell. He was a mentally ill criminal, but not a dirty scum. In fact, no matter who Megan, the only child in Arkham, went back with, they would open the cell door to eliminate any risks and misunderstandings. No one wanted to bear the blame that did not belong to him, and there was also a chain of contempt in the prison. Scum were trash that should be completely eliminated.
As for whether the Joker is actually a scumbag... Scarecrow thinks that most people's first reaction to seeing a creditor is a headache. And who is the Joker's creditor? Of course, it's the Arkham star, Megan! A headache is enough for the Joker.
He couldn't help laughing when he thought about these things, which seemed a little puzzling to Megan. Scarecrow pulled out a chair for her and sat behind the table.
This cell is decorated like a psychological counseling room, with a minimalist and serious style, but the bookshelf behind the desk is filled with various journals, magazines and books, all related to psychology and medicine. In addition to being a professor of psychology, Scarecrow has in-depth research in the field of neurology, and he has also studied pharmacy to a certain level.
Now he took out a document from the drawer and placed it in front of Megan seemingly calmly. He prepared a pen for her and even considerately opened the pen cap.
He believed that this person was the Joker's creditor, but she was also his only research subject, and he could not harm her by force. He could only say that the Joker had taught him a lesson and made him cautious, so that he had not secretly drawn a tube of Megan's blood for testing for so long, but just took a small pill of hers and let it go without saying that no results were found.
Up to now, Scarecrow has only given Megan the test scale to answer. The targeted questions he set up can indirectly reflect Megan's spirit and psychology. This is all he can do now.
Megan finished answering the questions carefully. After about half an hour, Scarecrow took the scale and began to calculate the scores, but a voice next to him asked, "Where's the New Year's gift?"
The scarecrow curled his lips, without raising his head, but tilted his head to indicate the direction, "It's on the bookshelf, take it yourself." The gift he prepared was not the cheap thing Megan gave him, but he didn't know what to give, so he just picked one at random.
Megan went over and picked up a document, "Bank building drawings and staff schedule."
"no."
"Gotham Library, huh? You..."
"Not really," Scarecrow turned around impatiently and saw Megan holding a gift box, but she still picked up other things on his bookshelf and looked at them. It was obvious that she was teasing him again. He couldn't help but be silent for a moment. He really lost his temper. "Give me ten minutes, okay? Don't you want to know the results of your evaluation?"
His face was gloomy and even more gloomy, but he was still handsome. He turned his head and continued to calculate the scores. He turned the pages one by one and got the results by mental calculation. However, there was still a score sheet attached to his scale. He didn't need it, but the protagonist wanted to see it. He not only marked the scores, but also wrote comments.
When Megan peeked in, he pointed to the score and comments with the tip of his pen and slowly explained them to her. Finally, he said, "Look, just like your usual test results, they all show 'mild exaggeration.' What's causing this? Your mind is sensing something wrong, but you don't actually have that kind of behavior. Besides psychological exaggeration, could it be due to a lack of self-protection?"
"But I think that's the effect of your medication. The medication does block some of your perceptions, such as the pain you suspected you were experiencing, as well as the headaches and somatic symptoms you mentioned. However, these are feelings you only experience sometimes, even rarely, and don't affect your actual life, so this creates a somewhat conflicting result."
Scarecrow is a professional. After the explanation, he put the scale away and placed it in Megan's medical record folder. However, her name was not on the entire medical record, and the handwriting would disappear on its own after a while. Only his handwriting and comments would be left. But no one would get any important information from this case. This was a protective measure.
After completing the psychological test on Megan, Scarecrow leaned back in his chair and asked her, "Did you see your gift?"
Meghan took out something from the gift box and tilted her head slightly, "A card?"
The scarecrow chuckled, showing a little pride. "Yes, a card. You can go to the bank to withdraw the goods. There are valuables I keep in the bank. I guess you know what it is-"
"A dose of fear poison."
"And the little stones in the box. I know you think they're glass, but they're barely worth anything. I'll give them to you to play with."
Scarecrow didn't form a gang, and while he appeared to be alone, he was actually wealthy. He didn't sell his fear gas, but what about the byproducts he produced during his experiments? Then there were the papers he published, the patents he sold, and even the dividends he received—a significant sum. Even if his lab was constantly being built, destroyed, and rebuilt, who could blame him for having investors?
As long as someone wants to make money from him, he will never lack funds. In fact, some of his theories have been realized in the medical field, and after the patents were bought by the chaebols, they were laundered into regular drugs and circulated on the market. It complies with US and international drug regulations, but he, the proposer of the theory, is not presentable.
...In fact, he is the developer, but once the news that Scarecrow is the developer is exposed, it will only cause large-scale panic and boycott, and there will be no profit from the drug.
He was lost in his own thoughts, and when he came to his senses, he saw Megan still in his cell, raised his eyebrows and asked: "Aren't you going back to your clown daddy? He didn't look very willing at that time." This kind of instigation was very easy for Scarecrow. As long as it could cause trouble for the clown, he would do it with great enthusiasm, and he didn't care about the consequences.
Megan drawled, "No, Daddy will only be mad at you."
This sentence choked the Scarecrow. He looked at Megan with a complicated and gloomy look for a long time, then stood up and walked to the door, opened it wide himself, and said with a hypocritical smile: "Do you want me to take you home?" He already had the attitude of seeing someone off.
Then he met the eyes of Killer Croc who came here after hearing the news. Scarecrow's expression fell again and again, and finally disappeared completely.
The scarecrow calmly met the crocodile monster's gaze and pointed to the door. "Take her away, crocodile. I bet you must have missed her a lot, right?"
Killer Croc, standing over two meters tall, looked down at him condescendingly, his cold-blooded pupils fixed on him. But Scarecrow was confident. He hadn't done anything to Megan, so there wouldn't be a major conflict between them. So, he felt safe. Seeing Megan walking slowly, he took a few steps over, picked her up by the armpit, and handed her directly to Killer Croc. "Your child, keep it."
Killer Croc looked at the hypocritical smile on Scarecrow's face and said nothing more. He turned his gaze to Megan, raised his thick and ferocious arms, and took her in. But before leaving, he turned around and said, "This is the clown's child, Scarecrow. I hope you won't say the wrong thing next time."
Scarecrow chuckled, "Yes, you are just friends." In Arkham, Megan only belongs to the Joker, and everyone else's relationship with the little star cannot surpass that of the Joker, but he did it on purpose.
Killer Croc took Megan away. He didn't pay much attention to Scarecrow. Their types of crimes were different. Killer Croc would sometimes "get along" with the criminals in Arkham, but that didn't mean he had a good relationship with them. He would only take a side when it was necessary to join forces or when the chips they offered impressed him.
He doesn't like many 'smart people' who claim to have a smart brain but do a lot of stupid things. No matter how smart they are, they will be defeated by Batman. In Arkham, everyone is the same.
He took Megan to walk in the corridor of Arkham's high-risk area, and the tail behind him swayed rhythmically with his steps, just like a few years ago, easily attracting her attention. She lay on his shoulder and looked down, as if she wanted to break free from his embrace and touch the tail.
The passage was filled with Killer Croc's heavy, deep breathing, easily drowning out the sound of the ventilation fans and the rushing air. Megan breathed softly, feeling the airflow. When she was picked up, she saw the ventilation fans working, so she knew the movement that was covered up by the breathing.
Megan stayed in Arkham for a long time. It was a very long and slow time. The scenes in her memories were just like now. There was a light above her head, but it always felt dark because the cell was never exposed to sunlight. The sunlight only came in through extremely narrow gaps, but there were not many sunny days in Gotham.
She suddenly opened her mouth, "Happy New Year, Waylon."
Now that she could speak and express herself, no longer being the subject of speculation about why she had lost her voice, she sat on Killer Croc's arm and heard her older friend say, "Happy too, Megan."
Megan said, "I want to touch your tail."
Maybe this is an offensive remark, but Killer Croc doesn't think so. He put Megan down. Even though he knelt down, he was still a huge guy. But he tried his best to look Megan in the eye, showing in the most straightforward way that this was an attitude of respect for equality.
Most of Killer Croc's body has reverted to the appearance of a crocodile. Except for the fact that he can still walk upright, his entire image is different from that of humans. He has the vertical pupils of a cold-blooded animal, the snout of a crocodile, extremely sharp teeth, and is covered with scales, which is terrifying and horrifying.
At this moment, he stretched out a sharp claw that could easily scratch the wall, tear the steel bars, and destroy the human body. He gently restrained it and placed it on Megan's head, kneading it, and said in a low and smooth voice: "I've been waiting for you to make this request for a long time." From the moment his eyes fell on Megan, until now she was close and frank.
The author has something to say:
Happy National Day! Please give me a red envelope in the comment section of this chapter~
This chapter has 1220 words added on October 2nd. Little angels who have already purchased it should remember to read it.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
