NABC Chapter 4772 The Royal Casino (6)
Chapter 4772 The Royal Casino (6)
Chapter 4772 The Royal Casino (Part Six)
But things didn't go as Greed expected. Matt was cut down in a single exchange, and because he couldn't mount a proper fight, he didn't gain many advantages. But this wasn't the worst news. Judging from the speed at which Matt fell to his death, Greed knew that Arkham Batman must have received a significant power-up.
Greed cursed Dr. Manhattan in his heart: "Is it not enough to strengthen Batman's appearance and physique? Do you have to give him an even stronger set of skills?"
Returning to Arkham Batman, the key to his swift defeat of Matt can be summed up in two words: sneak attack.
To be precise, it was a trap. Arkham Batman knew Matt could see through him and would definitely come to save Superman, so he set a trap.
He led Superman to a chair marked with a green symbol; it was an electrified chair that could electrocute someone. After tying Superman to it, he stood guard there for a while, pretending he had other things to do, and then planned to leave through the front door.
Sure enough, Matt sneaked in through the back door. Just as he reached for the chair to save someone, Arkham Batman returned and knocked Matt down with a single punch.
His punch had a very short wind-up. After knocking Matt to the ground, he used a batarang to deal some damage, followed by another punch. Strangely, this time two punches were enough to bring him to the brink of death. It seems that Superman's base stats were boosted, which is why he survived three punches.
With Matt down, Arkham Batman has finally rid himself of a major threat. Now, Greed has no offensive skills, Lucifer is still clueless, and the agents have already defected; peace is not far off.
“Matt’s down,” Greed sighed and said to the agent.
“Someone must have completed the seal,” the agent said. “Completing two seals unlocks new skills, and completing more will further enhance them. Matt was probably caught off guard and ambushed.”
"What do we do now?" Greed asked, a bit troubled. The situation had taken a sharp turn for the worse; they didn't have enough time to develop, and Batman would be coming for them soon.
The agent sighed softly and said, "I can go alone, since my victory conditions have been changed anyway."
Greed raised an eyebrow, and the agent briefly explained that he had been affected by the skill. Greed thought for a moment and said, "If you leave, does that mean he wins?"
"I guess so, maybe it's just not a perfect victory."
“That works too,” Greed said without hesitation. “If we can’t escape, you can go alone. Or you can tell him our location, he can kill us all, and then you can leave.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” the agent said worriedly. “If it were just the two of us, we could do it. We’re one person after all. But have you considered Lucifer and Matt? Even Superman wouldn’t do it. They’d kill me, the traitor.”
"The reason I'm telling you this is because I don't intend to side with Batman. I don't want to be hunted down by Superman, Lucifer, and Daredevil. That's not my job, and the President didn't pay for it."
Greed laughed and said, "Then you will indeed be hunted down. Especially Matt, he's a good friend of mine and can be described as hating evil like poison. If you offend him, you can forget about ever going to the Central Universe."
“So now we have to think of what to do,” the agent said. “I’m all alone, I can’t stay here to protect you and rescue Matt at the same time. But we can’t count on Lucifer.”
“No,” said Greed, “let Lucifer go to save them.”
The detective looked at him with some doubt, and Greedy continued, "Lucifer isn't bad; he just isn't engaged. But that might just be because he doesn't feel pressure. You see, when he's playing escape rooms, he's really into it, isn't he?"
"Isn't that because Anatoli is there?"
“We can manage if we’re here,” Greed said. “I’ll hide first, and you find a way to find him.”
Where are you hiding?
"In the closet, of course."
It wasn't a foolproof plan, but there wasn't a better option. After the agent left, Greed found a closet in the hallway and hid inside. Now, he could only leave it to fate.
Batman from Arkham arrived quickly, and with his movements unrestricted and equipped with a grappling hook, searching the five-story casino was a breeze. Plus, he had night vision goggles; nothing could escape his keen eyesight.
Batman from Arkham still uses the Presidential Suit's abilities; he can highlight gambling facilities that are currently in use. Previously, when it was highlighted, someone was already using it on this floor, and he suspects it's Greed. Now, if he can eliminate Greed, the game is practically won.
After going upstairs, he immediately checked the rooms, especially those containing the gambling facilities that had been used, but found no one there. He then went upstairs again, only to come back down a short while later. Undeterred, he returned to the same floor.
The greed lurking in the closet could only curse inwardly: If it's not on this floor, why don't you go check the top floor? Who gave you the confidence that it's definitely on this floor? Don't you know that a rabbit doesn't eat the grass near its burrow?
In fact, he really underestimated Arkham Batman. Because of the psychological trick he used in the Hunt that caused Black Widow's escape to fail, Arkham Batman now anticipates Schiller's predictions.
He figured Schiller would definitely play a trick – knowing Schiller would come looking for him, but instead of running far away, he'd hide near the facilities Schiller had used before.
After searching around and finding nothing, they'll assume he's already run away and start looking further afield. This gives him the opportunity to slip away, leave a trace somewhere else, and continue this tactic, wasting their own time.
It has to be admitted that his predictions were quite accurate; that's exactly what his greedy plan was all about. It wasn't that he didn't want to play the game of prediction and prediction of prediction, but rather that his capabilities simply wouldn't allow it. Not referring to psychological prowess, but rather his lack of escape skills. Even if he did run, he couldn't get very far, and he might even run into them head-on. Being blind to what's right under his nose was a last resort.
Seeing that Arkham Batman was stubbornly refusing to leave, Greed was actually hesitant about whether to go out and show himself, pretend to be cut down by him, and then escape halfway. But then he thought that even if he escaped halfway, he wouldn't be able to run very far without a speed boost, and the trick of circling around the pallets was definitely out of the question.
Batman from Arkham finally started checking the lockers. It wasn't that he hadn't thought of it before, but rather that he hadn't known lockers could hide people. After all, none of them had managed to escape a locker in the last game, so he was unaware of this rule.
Watching Arkham Batman meticulously search cabinet by cabinet, Greed finally gave up his illusions. However, he realized there might be another way out: rescuing Matt.
Batman Arkham, unaware that Matt could rise from near-death, would be caught off guard. He also had numerous control and survival gadgets at his disposal; the moment Matt stood up, he threw them at Arkham, then used the medkit to pull Matt up, so the two of them could escape together.
How could he get Arkham Batman to take him to Matt's place? He didn't even know where Matt had been slashed, and Arkham Batman was clearly no longer willing to be persuaded.
Greed weighed in his mind, and he considered whether to use the item in a desperate gamble, but ultimately gave up. He didn't want to waste the item like that.
Greed held his breath inside the cabinet, listening to the approaching footsteps of Arkham Batman. The instant the cabinet door opened, he darted out, dodging Arkham Batman's first punch, and then ran towards the end of the corridor.
He couldn't run as fast as Batman Arkham in a straight line, so he quickly left the straight path and jumped down from the atrium. After arriving on the first floor, he randomly chose a direction and hid behind a gambling table, using it as cover.
He didn't know if Batman had marking abilities, but he could observe. Arkham Batman instinctively looked around at the environment and the carpet, trying to find footprints, but of course, there weren't any. These kinds of games, for the sake of fair competition, generally don't allow too many external factors; otherwise, Batman would be invincible, and his detective abilities would be practically indistinguishable from seeing through everything.
Arkham Batman really didn't mark Schiller. His batarangs had to hit; he was too greedy and dodged quickly, so neither the punch nor the batarangs hit him. And his line of sight was perfectly timed; Arkham Batman truly had no idea where he went.
However, Batman in Arkham can search at his own pace because he has night vision goggles. The lobby is also quite spacious; he only needs to stand at a few angles to see if anyone is hiding behind obstacles. Greed can't possibly move under his nose either, otherwise he would be discovered just as easily.
Greed, on the other hand, was plotting to change angles and block the line of sight. Seeing Batman walk forward, he quickly moved to the right, but unexpectedly, Arkham Batman charged straight at him.
Greed gasped and turned to run, but it was too late. Arkham Batman charged forward and delivered a punch that drained most of Greed's health. The next strike followed, and Greed collapsed to the ground.
He sighed inwardly, knowing there was nothing he could do once he was caught. Batman probably had night vision; even his slightest movement had been detected.
Arkham Batman shouldered Greed and headed towards the basement. Greed, who thought only the agents could turn the tide, suddenly brightened up when he saw Superman and Matt tied to chairs in the same room. What a stroke of luck!
Unexpectedly, the final execution took place in a large communal room, where everyone was tied up together.
Batman Arkham was also helpless about this. He thought it would be simpler if he didn't have to execute in order this time, and there was indeed no order rule this time, but he changed another execution rule, which was that the electric chair's power could only be activated twice.
In other words, he had to carry out a collective execution. With a total of 5 players, and only two executions allowed, it would have to be either 3+2 or 4+1, not one at a time. So he could only save up the executions and execute them all at once, which gave greed an opportunity to exploit.
Arkham Batman, carrying Greed, was about to place him on the chair next to Superman. Just as he was about to lower him, Greed used a resurrection coin, instantly escaping his near-death state. He then pulled out a gadget and sprayed pepper spray into Arkham Batman's face. Taking advantage of the moment Greed was restrained, he manipulated Superman's chair, rescuing him.
Superman understood immediately and fired a heat ray, knocking Batman back two steps. Greed seized the opportunity to release Matt as well. Matt's X-ray vision was already activated, and the three of them ran towards the door at top speed.
When Arkham Batman caught up, Greed threw another slime gadget on the ground. Arkham Batman somewhat missed his previous ability to be immune to ground-based attacks, but he didn't step on the trap. Instead, he used the wall to jump over it. However, this wasted some time, and the three of them were already long gone.
Batman from Arkham slams his fist against the wall. "Don't let me catch you, Greed!"