American comics: Starting in Arkham, a system-based Batman

Chapter 4 The Patient Ventriloquist

Zheng En felt that the last point was the most useful.

Who is Batman? In *Batman: Arkham Knight*, he can complete the Arkham All-Star team in one night. The lineup is incredibly impressive: Joker, Killer Croc, Riddler, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Two-Face, Scarecrow, Mr. Freeze...

There were 243 puzzles he needed to collect and solve, and in the story, he finished all of them in just one night.

Now Arkham only has Scarecrow, and even if it's only for an hour, that's enough time for Batman to help him escape.

With Batman around, Gotham City becomes easy mode.

However, no one would unleash their ultimate move right away. Zheng En also wanted to see what he could achieve on his own. Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly heard a sound.

"Gurgle~"

Zheng En looked down and realized it was her stomach that was growling.

He's been here for half a day now and hasn't eaten anything, no wonder he's hungry.

Zheng En observed the surrounding environment. It looked much like a hospital ward. There were three beds in the room, but only the one in the innermost corner was occupied.

An old man sat on the bed, his arms wrapped around his bent legs, muttering something under his breath.

Do people here even arrest old men?

Jung Eun was a little puzzled, but since she was already there, she greeted the other party with the mindset that everyone she met was a potential NCP member and might just reveal some news.

"Hello?"

Even though Jung Eun lowered his voice, the other person seemed to be startled and looked up at him abruptly, with several obvious blood vessels in his eyes.

Jung Eun's voice softened further, "My name is Jung Eun, I'm new here. What should I call you?"

"Just call me Arnold."

Perhaps because Zheng En looked genuinely harmless, the old man wasn't so nervous after seeing his appearance. "Why were you here?"

"I...I don't know, the police officer...brought me here." Jung Eun remembered her role as someone who couldn't speak the language, and stammered, "Where...is this place?"

It was rare to encounter someone even weaker than himself, so Arnold relaxed considerably. "I'm not sure either, it seems to be a hospital, something like Arkham."

"How did you get in?" Jung Eun asked.

Bringing this up clearly touched a nerve with Arnold. "I don't know, I didn't do anything, I'm really innocent..."

"Why, why, why me of all people..."

He started biting his nails in frustration, tilting his head to one side and pressing it against his shoulder so dramatically that it seemed his neck was about to snap.

She exuded a nervous tension, her eyes fixed on Jung Eun, "I'm really innocent, I'm really innocent, I'm really innocent, I'm really innocent, I'm really innocent, I'm really innocent..."

Dude, your reaction doesn't seem like it.

Zheng En inwardly scoffed, but outwardly pretended to be innocent, saying, "You are innocent."

"Is it right?"

"Yes, yes, yes, yes..." Arnold nodded repeatedly, "I'm innocent, I'm innocent, I'm innocent..."

Seeing Jung Eun's unwavering reaction, Arnold gradually calmed down. Once his reason returned, he reverted to his previous somewhat cowardly demeanor.

He smiled at Zheng En and said, "Actually, it's not so bad here. We have plenty of food and clothing, no worries about leaky roofs, and comfortable blankets."

"Besides, look how old I am. It's really lucky that someone as useless as me can live to sixty."

Neurotic, yet possessing the ostrich-like spirit of a nobody who comforts himself, and named Arnold... This guy is clearly a ventriloquist!

Zheng En nodded and smiled at him, her earlier desire to gather information largely gone, fearing that she might say something that would offend him.

He seems calm, but he's actually out of options.

The name "ventriloquist" is often associated with scars, and generally speaking, there are two origin stories about him.

One type is dominated by Scarface, where Arnold is controlled by the cursed puppet Scarface and becomes a criminal; the other type is dominated by Arnold, where the so-called Scarface is actually a secondary personality that split off to protect himself.

Without a doubt, the latter is what appears here.

Although she didn't know when the scar would appear, Jung Eun felt it shouldn't be too far off.

After ending the conversation with the other party, he pretended to be looking for food and started rummaging through drawers and cabinets in the room.

Who can understand the sense of redemption that comes from finding half a bloody handprint in a drawer...?

I spoke too soon. What I said earlier about only scarecrows? Now I've also spotted a ventriloquist, haha.

The story hasn't even started yet and they've already gathered the Crouching Dragon and the Phoenix Chick. Arkham, you're something else.

Zheng En smiled, looking somewhat tired; he had only been there for less than half a day.

"Batman, could you keep an eye on things for me while I sleep? I'm afraid I'll wake up in the middle of the night to find someone standing by my bed with a knife."

Zheng En knelt down in her heart and prayed, "Otherwise, I can only sleep with one eye open and one eye closed, taking turns keeping watch with both eyes."

Batman: "...I feel like you've adapted to life in Arkham. You've integrated pretty quickly."

"How can I not hurry? If I don't hurry, it'll all be finely chopped into minced meat," Zheng En thought to himself.

Zheng En's rummaging through the drawers caught Arnold's attention. He heard the occasional rumbling from Zheng En's stomach and, after hesitating for a while, couldn't help but speak up.

"Are you looking for something to eat?"

Zheng En nodded. Actually, he didn't think there would be any food in this kind of place, but it gave him a perfect excuse to search the room.

Just like when playing a game, players will click on everything they can interact with, regardless of whether it's useful or not.

Arnold, who had been sitting on the bed hugging his knees, finally spoke up.

"that……"

Jung Eun turned around and saw him cautiously glancing around before looking at her. "Could you come over here for a second?"

Jung Eun saw that the side of him with his back to her was groping for something.

Haha, he can't exactly pull out a knife, can he?

Can't you?

"What do you think the chances are that he'll suddenly attack and stab me to death?"

While asking Batman in his mind, Zheng En equipped himself with the [Basic Combat Skills] manual.

Unlike the "one-hour entrustment" service, this could be activated and stopped at any time. After Arnold extended the invitation, he accepted without hesitation, "Okay."

It's not necessarily a bad thing if a conflict arises with a fellow patient and attracts the caregiver's attention.

It would be even better if we could change rooms, since he really wanted to get a good night's sleep.

Jung Eun walked over calmly, and at that moment he could see what Arnold was holding tightly in his hand.

It was a small packet of biscuits.

"This is leftovers from breakfast. I was thinking..." He swallowed his words as if realizing something, "Anyway, you should eat some first."