The bathroom where the guard Hardy had replaced was being held.
Hardy found the guard named Milovan again, put him in an Arkham inmate's uniform, and dragged him near the control room.
"Next, whether I can get out depends on you, buddy."
In the corner of the hallway, Hardy patted Milovan's face and pinched his philtrum to wake him up.
"You—!"
Just as Milovan was about to shout for help, Hardy covered his mouth, watching the terror in his eyes.
Of course Milovan was terrified, especially since the person in front of him looked exactly like himself.
Hardy reached into the vest pocket for spare magazines, pulled out a dark green Titan II venom injector, and, under Milovan's desperate gaze, inserted the needle into his heart.
This way, the drug would take effect faster.
And the powerful regeneration after the Titan II transformation would quickly heal this minor wound.
The rationality in Milovan's eyes quickly disappeared, replaced by mania, and his body began to swell uncontrollably.
"Good, just like that."
A satisfied smile appeared on Hardy's face. He put the nearly empty injector back, then gathered chakra in his right hand and punched himself hard in the shoulder.
Even with the bulletproof vest, blood seeped from his shoulder.
Hardy's expression instantly switched to one of panic. He clutched his wounded shoulder and turned to run.
"No, it's bad! A monster has been released! Quick! Call Nightwing for backup! Only a superhero can handle this kind of monster!"
At the control room door, Hardy shouted to Nightwing and the guards.
"Where?"
Nightwing stopped interrogating Harley Quinn, picked up his batons, and asked Hardy.
"Just outside in the hallway! He's coming!"
Nightwing turned to look at the monitors.
At the end of the hallway, a monster as terrifying as Bane was rampaging and smashing things.
Without hesitation, Nightwing grabbed his batons and rushed out.
"Let's help too!"
The guard captain also picked up his gun.
"Um… Captain, my shoulder's injured, I can't use a gun…"
"Milovan, you stay here and rest, and keep an eye on Harley Quinn! The rest of you, come with me!"
When only Hardy and Harley Quinn were left in the room, Hardy grinned at her, then knocked her out with a punch.
"Now, it's time for the final step of the plan."
Hardy looked with satisfaction at the surveillance monitors.
Nightwing and the guards were entangled with the Titan monster that Milovan had become.
At the top of Arkham, Batman was confronting the Joker. Commissioner Gordon was tied to an electric chair, hanging upside down from an antenna, while Joker pointed an injector gun at Gordon.
After the injector fired, Batman blocked the needle with his body and, with a single "I am Batman," suppressed the mutation with his sheer willpower.
Frustrated that Batman had ruined his show, Joker injected himself with Titan venom, starting the final battle with Batman.
"Excellent. Now, no one can stop me from escaping."
Hardy pressed a button, opening all the high-security doors in Arkham, and turned to leave.
...
...
When the Titan giant that Milovan had become was finally defeated, Nightwing and the others returned to the control room, only to find Harley Quinn unconscious in the chair. On the monitors, all the doors of Arkham were wide open, and every criminal was trying to escape.
Only...
However, Arkham Island is isolated in the water, making it very difficult to escape.
For every inmate imprisoned in Arkham—except for Killer Croc—trying to swim away is no easy feat.
The best method, of course, is by boat or yacht, but getting your hands on one of those is no simple task, and there aren't many to go around.
So, not many criminals are likely to make it out.
But that has nothing to do with Hardy right now—only his shoes are a little wet.
"Phew... What a hassle. Luckily, the water is calm enough that walking on it isn't too difficult."
After reaching the shore, Hardy found a deserted patch of woods to rest for a while.
He had long since mastered the skills of tree climbing and water walking.
Although the quality and quantity of chakra in this body weren't particularly high—not as good as his original self—the techniques themselves weren't affected, at most just less effective.
"I don't have much chakra left. I'll rest here for a bit, then head to Gotham. With a Transformation Jutsu for disguise, I can start looking for ways to gain fortune and boost my combat power."
Having escaped the dark and hopeless Arkham Asylum, Hardy felt as if the vast ocean and high skies were his to roam.
After all, he was a graduate of the talent-packed Arkham—surely with such a solid credential, he could make a name for himself in Gotham's underworld, right?
...
...
"Good, my clone has left Arkham. Now, I'm about to officially join the Puppet Corps myself!"
Hardy patted the fat man, then looked at his status panel.
His fortune bar had now reached 17.9.
He wondered how much it would increase this time.
Loading the fat man and Tom into a large wooden box that looked like a wardrobe and slinging it onto his back, Hardy set off for the Puppet Corps headquarters.
A month had passed since the last selection.
Of the eighty puppet masters who participated, only about ten percent passed—twelve in total became new members of the Puppet Corps.
Of course, before officially joining, they still needed a month of training to comprehensively improve their puppet skills, make up for their weaknesses, and learn some advanced puppet techniques.
"The puppet techniques of our village were founded by the Second Kazekage. Over the past thirty years, they've developed into multiple branches and a complete system. For example, there's the basic Sand Secret Technique, and the White Secret Technique passed down from Monzaemon. Today's final lesson is another pivotal puppet technique—the Black Secret Technique."
In a classroom built from sand and stone, a puppet master clad in black robes was lecturing the twelve new recruits.
He was a special jōnin skilled in teaching, and at that moment, he was demonstrating with two puppets, one in each hand.
"The Sand Secret Technique is foundational—typically, you can only control one puppet at a time. Of course, that doesn't mean its potential is low. If your puppet is strong and you can fully utilize its power, you can still be a formidable puppet master. The unique thing about the Black Secret Technique is that it lets you split your focus, even three ways, to control multiple puppets at once."