American Comics: Today's Big News

Chapter 27 I love this place!

With his backpack on, Connors ignored the ubiquitous surveillance cameras in Arkham Asylum and acted as if he were at home.

First, he ran to the asylum director's office and took a hot shower, then rummaged through drawers and cabinets to find a map of the place.

Finally, he took the treasured cigars he had found in the dean's office drawer and slowly walked toward the prison area where the prisoners were held.

Extremely dangerous criminals such as clowns and riddle-makers are kept in solitary confinement, not far from the ordinary prisoners.

After much deliberation, Connors finally chose an empty solitary cell. His tricks rendered the surveillance ineffective, while his lock-picking ability easily bypassed the multiple layers of security.

Then he took off the backpack behind him and opened it; it contained the things he had brought from the "Andrew Hotel".

A clean and tidy set of bedding, as well as toiletries.

If conditions allowed, he would even like to soak his feet.

His superhuman physical abilities combined with his spider-sense allowed him to sleep without any psychological pressure. As the prisoners were kept in solitary confinement, the guards did not conduct surprise checks every one or two hours like they did with ordinary prisoners, in order to avoid any accidents.

He slept soundly until dawn, when he was awakened by a commotion in the solitary confinement cell next door and the heavy thuds of objects hitting the floor.

"I slept quite comfortably, it's just that there was no air conditioning—"

Connors criticized his sleep quality last night, and hearing the sound of locks being opened outside, he guessed it was time for dinner and casually opened his own cell.

The cell was empty; the guards knew it, and so did the other inmates.

Upon hearing the sound, almost everyone turned around and saw Connors, dressed in a neat prison uniform, walk out, holding a water bottle in one hand and a toothbrush in the other, with foam still around his mouth.

Prison guard: "???"

clown:"???"

Riddler, Scarecrow, Penguin: "???"

After brushing his teeth as if no one else was around, Connors magically produced a wet coin to wash his face, yawned, and then greeted the stunned group of people:

Good morning—we're all acquaintances here.

After saying that, seeing that the people were still in a daze, Connors, acting as if he knew them well, walked towards the location of the restaurant on the map he had looked at the night before, saying as he walked:

"If you don't eat well, there's something wrong with your brain."

Any prison guard who wasn't an idiot would realize at this point that something was wrong at Arkham Asylum, and immediately pulled out a walkie-talkie:

"Were more prisoners brought in last night?"

A voice came from the other end of the walkie-talkie:

"No, Batman was racing cars all night in Gotham and didn't catch a single criminal. I suspect he's having relationship problems—uh, is there something going on in the hardest-hit area?"

"Yes, a guy we've never seen before came out of the cell that was supposed to be prepared for Bane, and he wasn't even locked up. He was even brushing his teeth with a bottle of mineral water!" The prison guard's voice was full of disbelief.

Inside the dining hall of Arkham Asylum, Connors sat at an empty table with a tray in his hand.

Soon, dozens of prison guards rushed in with shields and guns, surrounding Connors.

Three more prison guards approached him, two carrying guns and one carrying leg irons.

He demanded in a stern voice:

"Who are you? Why are you here?"

Connors did not resist and obediently extended his foot, allowing the other person to put the anklet on him.

"I was brought in by Batman last night, how could you forget?"

The prison guards exchanged bewildered glances.

Soon, one of the prison guards slapped his forehead:

"Oh, right, he was indeed brought here by Batman yesterday, but I don't know who was so careless as to not put a cloak on him."

The other prison guards also looked enlightened, and the tense atmosphere immediately eased.

Among the other gloating prisoners in the restaurant, someone chuckled:

"Hey bro, these guards don't take you seriously at all. They can even forget to put on a mask? Maybe you should have just broken out last night."

"Shut up!" the prison guard shouted angrily.

Soon, the prison guards who had been so aggressive just moments before all left, leaving only a small group to prevent a riot. He wasn't surprised at all that the guards had believed Connors's nonsense so easily.

[Today's Gossip: Selena's Windows]

[Reward for watching the drama unfold: Intermediate Hypnosis]

I only ate this one piece of gossip all day yesterday, which wasn't too big or too small, but the reward was pretty good.

It was precisely because of the existence of "intermediate hypnosis" that Connors felt so confident that he entered Arkham Asylum.

As soon as the prison guards left, another group of people surrounded Connors.

The clown's pale hand pressed down on Connors's dining table, he leaned forward, and his mouth stretched almost to his ears in a wide grin:

"Welcome to Arkham, my friend—the Scarecrow stretched out his withered, long leg and stomped directly on the table:"

"Want breakfast? Five million dollars a time, kid."

He was retaliating against Connors for asking for five million to open a lock. After he finished speaking, Connors's plate was overturned.

Fortunately, Connors reacted quickly and saved an egg.

The riddle-maker stood aside, and God spoke eloquently:

"Let's guess a question now: 'I can sneak up on you, or even be right in front of you, without you even knowing. But when I reveal myself, you will be different. What am I?'"

Connors pondered for a moment:

"cockroach?"

The riddle solver happily spread his arms wide and laughed heartily:

"Wrong! It's betrayal! Hahahaha—when you helped Batman capture me, did you ever think you'd be betrayed by Batman too? How does it feel to be personally delivered here by him?"

"It's great." Connors didn't know what the Riddler was so happy about. "Everyone here is so talented, and they all speak so nicely. I love it here."

"You like it here? I'll make sure you stay here forever, like a rat in the sewers, never seeing the light of day again."

A soft, gentle voice drifted over. Connors, who was peeling an egg, looked up and felt lost.

"Who is it? Who is speaking?"

Penguins were furious:

"It was me! It was me! You despicable scoundrel, you wreaked havoc on my Iceberg Club while I was away!"

I'm definitely going to settle this score with you!

The Scarecrow and the Riddler also began to rub their hands together, while the Clown chuckled to himself, and the other prisoners continued to watch the spectacle with an indifferent attitude.

Connors quickly admitted his mistake:

"I'm sorry, Ugly Master, Mi Master, Grass Master, everyone, I was wrong before. Here, this is an egg I just peeled..."

He stuffed the peeled, pitted, dog-chewed egg, still in its shell, into the riddle-maker's incessantly chattering mouth.

After stuffing it in, he pulled out a high-end cigar he'd pilfered from the asylum director's drawer the night before, broke the seal with his bare hands, lit it with a match, and said contentedly:

"I have come to seek refuge with you."

He was sitting in his seat, puffing away on his cigarette, while the others stood beside him, making it difficult to tell who had sided with whom.

Outside Arkham Asylum, Harley Quinn leaped onto the hood of Connors' muscle car, which was parked there, a large wooden mallet slung over her shoulder, looking quite dashing.

Wearing a tight vest over an open jacket, the contrasting black and red colors, along with a choker and hot pants, made Harley Quinn look dashing and stylish, her exquisite features rivaling those of movie stars.

She came to cause trouble, but her target wasn't Arkham Asylum; she was there to sabotage the Joker and his gang's escape plan.

As one of the prisoners who escaped from Arkham, Poison Ivy knew all of the Joker's plans, and now Harley knows them all too.

"Go, Harley Quinn! This is your first battle to make a name for yourself. Gotham's highways will soon be named after you!"

Harley Quinn said to herself, then jumped into the muscle car and rammed it into the gates of Arkham Asylum.