"Hello, am I speaking with Mr. Ma Zhaodi?"
"Yes, this is he. May I ask who's calling?"
"Lucius Fox. You can call me Lucius. I found a special wheelchair last night, so I wanted to call and ask whether you recently lost an electric wheelchair."
"Oh, yes, that's my wheelchair." Ma Zhaodi answered the call mechanically, while a storm was already raging in his heart.
Holy crap. The man on the other end said his name was Lucius Fox. If we set aside the possibility of two people having the same name, then he was one of Batman's support technicians.
He had also said he'd found Ma Zhaodi's wheelchair. So where had the robber gone? And according to the system's description, the wheelchair's modified technology and materials weren't anything particularly impressive. It could be considered an ordinary modification at best—though perhaps a little too reckless. How could something like that have attracted his attention?
"Oh, it's like this. That wheelchair rear-ended my car yesterday. I suggested that the Gotham Police Department keep the incident as low-profile as possible, and you won't need to pay any compensation. But personally, I'm very interested in some of the things on the wheelchair. Would you mind discussing them with me privately?"
"Uh..."
Seeing that the person on the other end seemed about to back out, Lucius calmly added, "Sir, I'm the technical director of Wayne Enterprises. You don't need to be overly concerned. The only reason I contacted you is that I believe there may be some possibilities for technical cooperation between us."
"Since you've already confirmed my phone number, you've obviously confirmed my other information too, right?"
"That's correct. I'm sorry, and I have no intention of offending you. It was merely a routine information check. We don't wish to violate your privacy."
Clearly, Lucius's questions were only a matter of courtesy. If Wayne Group's investigation was obstructed, someone else's investigation might show up at his door. Although that sounded somewhat like Ma Zhaodi's persecutory delusions, in Gotham, the possibility was definitely not zero.
"I just don't understand why you contacted me. It definitely can't be because of that wheelchair—its technology isn't particularly impressive."
"We can discuss that when we meet, Mr. Ma Zhaodi. Today, tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, sometime between three and five in the afternoon. Once you're ready, call this number, and I'll send someone to pick you up."
"What if I don't want to come?"
"I respect your wishes, but I still hope you'll come. Communication would benefit both of us, and I won't take up too much of your time."
"How about after ten tonight?"
"I'll compensate you for the financial loss incurred during your absence from work, but please be sure to come between three and five."
"All right, all right."
Lucius's tone was extremely polite, almost to the point of being overly courteous. After thinking it over carefully, Ma Zhaodi decided to ask Donald for the afternoon off. As for the few hundred dollars' worth of Asset Points he might lose, he could only consider himself unlucky.
As a family business whose operations covered every aspect of Gotham, including medicine, food, transportation, and construction, Wayne Group was a colossal capitalist giant that even a Godfather of the underworld like Falcone would never want to offend directly.
To survive in Gotham, even if one was unwilling to cooperate with them, one could at least not become their enemy.
Thus, at three in the afternoon, Ma Zhaodi called the number Lucius had left him.
Donald was genuinely reliable. He did not even ask what Ma Zhaodi needed the leave for before giving him the entire afternoon off.
At 3:26 p.m., Wayne Tower.
"Mr. Ma Zhaodi, let's get straight to the point." A middle-aged Black man in a suit sat across the desk from Ma Zhaodi and gently placed a small bag on the table. Inside was a fragment of a blue petal.
What the hell? Where did he get that petal?
Ma Zhaodi's poker face nearly cracked. As far as he remembered, he had only drunk flower tea once, and he had chewed up every last petal. Even his thermos—
Wait, where was his thermos?
Damn it! There was a cup holder beside the seat of the modified wheelchair! I even praised the modification for being thoughtful and practical, then casually put my cup in it.
He had never imagined that the reason he had been tracked down was because a little of the flower tea in his thermos had remained, and the thermos had then been delivered into Lucius's hands along with the wheelchair after the accident.
"This was found on your wheelchair. We're still conducting further analysis, but the preliminary test results are already in. Mr. Ma Zhaodi, the plant you brought to Gotham appears to be quite unusual."
Ma Zhaodi's thoughts raced. Refusing to admit it at this point would absolutely be the worst option. His DNA was in the thermos, so he might as well confess and play the role of an utterly ordinary passerby.
"I thought you contacted me because of the wheelchair."
"That illegally modified wheelchair is also quite interesting, Mr. Ma Zhaodi, but I advise you not to use such a dangerous vehicle. And as I said earlier, I contacted you because of 'the things on the wheelchair.'"
"All right. Actually, I only obtained that flower tea after arriving in Gotham. I don't have much of it, either—I only have one bag left. In fact, before yesterday, I had never even drunk that kind of flower tea before. I also didn't know it could keep people awake."
After hearing Ma Zhaodi's answer, Lucius continued asking, "Keep people awake? That's its effect?"
"Yeah. I drank a cup of flower tea yesterday at noon and couldn't sleep all night. I only managed to sleep for ten minutes in the car in the afternoon. It feels much more effective than coffee."
So it was not some new type of drug, but merely a natural long-term stimulant. This result allowed Lucius to relax slightly. At least Batman's to-do list would not gain another item, which would let his daily routine remain somewhat more normal.
"Interesting. So where did it come from?"
"I picked it up on the train when I was coming to Gotham. I can't remember exactly where it happened. Anyway, it drifted in through the window and landed in front of me. I thought the flowers looked nice and smelled pretty good, so I kept them."
"That sounds rather poetic."
"Mm-hmm. In any case, the rest is all here." Ma Zhaodi took a small cloth bundle from his pocket. Sure enough, it contained several blue flowers identical to those in the small bag.
"Although I don't know why you're interested in these flowers, they're not particularly useful to me anyway. If you want them, I can sell them to you."
"Can't you determine roughly where they fell?"
"I'm sorry, but I wasn't awake for much of the train ride. I was asleep most of the time."
"All right, then—I'll pay you a sum of money. Or you can choose another form of compensation."
"What kind of compensation?"
"For example, joining Wayne Group and becoming a member of the technical department."
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