See You Again, Ma

Ma Zhaodi looked at Drake, his eyes showing a mix of shock, despair, contempt, and admiration.

"Are you even human?"

"We die together."

"How did I not realize you were so—"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

"I'll f*** your mother, I'll skin you alive! I'll chop off your d*** and shove it up your a** to use as a d***! You dogs! You two are dead! If I don't f*** you two to death today, I'll shoot myself in the head!"

The bullets that had been suppressing fire in the corner of the street suddenly became as dense as firecrackers, and the man's curses echoed through the street. His choice of words and tone indicated that he was probably a little angrier than before.

"See? He's flustered."

Drake shook his head, "This is what I hate most about Gotham. The citizens are unstable, short-tempered, and don't want to talk things out when trouble arises."

"Fine, fine, if you can talk, say more. It'd be best if you maintained this style until you die."

As they bickered, they secretly prayed that the other would be hit by a passing truck or crushed by falling debris from an airplane.

Or they could try to shoot back. After all, there was only one opponent, and they were two.

Ma Zhaodi glanced at the Glock pistol he had been fumbling with for a long time, trying to find the safety, and sighed inwardly, We're not that close. He then looked up at the rooftop of the building next door, but the cat-like figure had already disappeared. He sighed again, We're not that close either. He thought that he had no choice but to use the save point this time.

Drake suddenly spoke, "Huh, why did the noise stop?"

Right, why had the man's gunshots and curses stopped?

Two extreme possibilities immediately popped into Ma Zhaodi's mind: one was extreme luck, and the other was extreme misfortune.

His heart suddenly began to pound. In the ensuing silence, he stared intently at the corner, swallowing involuntarily.

The next moment, a hulking man with a sinister grin suddenly appeared there, his dark gun barrel pointed directly at them.

"Bang! Bang!"

Before Ma Zhaodi could even pull the trigger, the man had already fired two shots. Ma Zhaodi felt a numbness in his hand as his Glock was shot out of it. Drake's black pistol fell to the ground with it.

"Son of a b****!"

"Bang!"

A blast of hot air erupted as the high-velocity bullet tore through the air, grazing Ma Zhaodi's temple and leaving a gash in his black buzz cut.

He instinctively closed his eyes, but the next shot didn't come as expected. Only the sounds of gunfire around the bus and the thud of a heavy object falling were heard.

Did Drake kill him?

He opened his eyes in confusion and indeed found the armed man lying on the ground. However, Drake also looked at him blankly, as if to confirm whether he himself had killed the hulking man.

They exchanged a look. Ma Zhaodi could only squat down and gently turn the man over, finding no wounds on his body, and he was still breathing and had a heartbeat.

"He's not dead, just fainted."

"Why would this person faint?"

"I don't know, maybe he was so angry he fainted."

Although he said this, Ma Zhaodi already had a vague guess.

While it was true that the farther away from superheroes the safer it was in this world, he had been saved today. This debt of gratitude was now owed.

The ability to knock out an armed, burly man in a matter of seconds and disappear without a sound was a typical Catwoman move.

"Don't just stand there, take his guns and bullets, and tie him up securely."

Drake's combat ability wasn't great, but his reaction was fast. It seemed he had learned something in Gotham over the past year. He gestured to Ma Zhaodi while quickly frisking the man. They found a Beretta, a Colt Revolver, and the Colt m2000 in his hand, a total of three guns. Along with two magazines and two bags of bullets in his pockets, one might think this guy was some notorious gangster enforcer.

"Are you sure he's not part of some gang?" Ma Zhaodi asked while tying the man up. "I really don't want to be called in for a 'chat' by some Black Gang Godfather tomorrow."

"As I recall, he joined several gangs, but never stayed long. Look, his gang tattoos seem to have been removed. The remaining tattoos are meaningless. I guess even the gang boss couldn't stand his temper."

"You took the bus for half a year, and you didn't notice this guy wanted to kill you?"

"One of the main reasons I could survive half a year on the bus was not looking or asking too much. Besides, this guy always looked like he was about to attack anyone. How was I supposed to know he was really targeting me?"

Drake said this while taking out his wallet, then hesitating for a moment.

"Honestly, I'm a little reluctant to let him go alive."

Ma Zhaodi looked at the hulking man, feeling conflicted. Although killing and robbing was wrong, this person had almost taken his life.

He thought carefully and turned to look at Drake.

"Does he know where you live?"

Drake froze, then his expression turned strange.

"He never seemed to appear near my house."

"But if he wanted to find out, he could have done it long ago?"

"Yes."

Upon hearing this, Ma Zhaodi put away the gun in his hand.

"Since the person who saved us didn't kill him, let's follow her wishes—let's put the wallet back too. This little bit of money is useful to us, but it's not much."

Drake looked at Ma Zhaodi with some surprise. At this moment, he suddenly had a feeling that even without his help, his new friend might be able to adapt to Gotham very quickly.

Of course, Gotham's methods might not be right. Letting him go today could mean being shot dead by him another day.

"You call the shots." He casually put his wallet back. "But I'm definitely not taking this bus again tomorrow. I'm no cowboy."

Ma Zhaodi shrugged. After all, Drake didn't have a save point and couldn't retry. He completely understood.

"I think he's quite like a cowboy—what's his name?"

"Banner, Clinton Banner."

"Good name. As long as it's not Bruce or Floyd."

"Bang!"

A gunshot rang out from the street, followed by the old man's booming shout: "Old Jack is departing! Everyone get on board!"

Ma Zhaodi looked at Banner, who was tied up and leaning against the wall. He showed no signs of waking up yet.

So, he casually put the revolver and bullets back into the man's hand and even put his hat back on him.

"See you again, crazy cowboy."

Saying this, he and Drake ran towards Old Jack's bullet-riddled bus.

Banner opened his eyes behind them. With a slight tug, he broke free from the jacket that the two had temporarily used as ropes. It was clear that Ma Zhaodi wasn't very skilled at tying people up.

He raised the revolver and aimed it at Ma Zhaodi's back.

However, the trigger was ultimately not pulled.

"Bang," he mimicked the sound of a gunshot with his mouth, then put the gun away and turned to leave.

"See you next time, asshole."