## Chapter 2: Healing the Ventriloquist
The Ventriloquist sat against the wall, gun in hand, like a helpless prisoner awaiting the slow opening of the gate. Looking at him, no one would believe that this fifty or sixty-year-old bald, white man was the infamous Ventriloquist from the dark world. To be frank, his shaky appearance didn’t make him seem dangerous at all.
The hostages next to him were huddled together like quails, trembling. They were all employees of the Evidence Bureau, a guard lying on the ground, half his body stained red with blood. He had tried to fight back, but couldn’t even draw his gun before the Ventriloquist shot through his hand.
“Oh, Mr. Socksock…” The Ventriloquist had a white woolen sock on his left hand, a substitute personality created when he couldn’t find his puppet, Scarface.
“Is hurting others really right?” He said to his left hand in a hushed, cautious voice.
“Look, he’s bleeding.”
“Enough, Mr. Ventriloquist, you’re too cowardly.” His voice came from his stomach even though his mouth was shut tight. The sock on his hand moved back and forth, like a sock speaking, eerily creepy and unsettling.
“What a fool! What do we have to exchange Scarface with without the hostages?” The sock on his left hand swayed alertly, like an aggressive venomous snake: “Even kindness has its time and place. This jerk deserved that bullet. As long as they cooperate, I won’t hurt them, okay?”
“But, but…”
“Shut up! Stop wasting your energy on this nonsense. Batman could barge in any minute…”
The Ventriloquist whimpered in a pitiful voice, but he dared not retort to Mr. Socksock, so he actually apologized to the injured guard in a mournful tone. “Sorry, huh…”
Bang, bang, bang!
A violent knocking interrupted his voice. The Ventriloquist immediately pointed his gun at the hostages, his voice switching to Mr. Socksock’s, low, dark, and full of crazed cruelty, like a wild beast whose territory had been invaded. “I told you, if you dare come in, I’ll shoot through…”
“Knock knock, this is Batman.”
Arnold’s hair stood on end. He knew the voice too well – it was definitely Batman. But the situation was strange today.
It was well-known that Batman never used the front door, and never knocked.
Mr. Socksock tightened every muscle in his body. He crawled on the ground, raised his gun, ready to attack. As long as Batman dared to enter, the bullet would lick his…
“Hurry up and open the door, let Daddy Batman pour in the sweet nectar of justice for you~”
“???”
The nonsensical words coming out of Batman’s usually serious mouth made the Ventriloquist’s brain short-circuit for a moment, allowing Chen Tao to push the door open without any expected attack.
“Batman, you…” The Ventriloquist immediately reacted after a brief daze.
But the opportunity was fleeting, my friend.
“Scarface!”
The puppet blocked his gun, pinning his finger like it was locked, making it impossible to pull the trigger.
“Damn it, let go of me!”
In an instant, a new voice echoed, if Mr. Socksock’s voice was merely that of a crazed thug, then this new voice was like the embodiment of darkness – the dark embodiment of the Ventriloquist’s inner self!
Endless malice almost dripped onto the floor like ink.
The Ventriloquist stood up from the ground. The previously timid, meek little old man was gone. He puffed out his chest, his lats bulging, as if a devil had taken up residence in this small body.
He closed his mouth tightly, the sock on his left hand moving back and forth, his voice reverberating in the confined space:
“Give us Mr. Scarface back.”
“No, don’t do that, I talked to Batman. You’re a good man, you were forced to do bad things by me, weren’t you?”
The Ventriloquist froze.
The voice came from Scarface.
Chen Tao closed his mouth tightly. You think you’re the only one who can do ventriloquism?
As an actor, mimicking others is basic training, including their voice. The Ventriloquist should have shot him through the head at their first meeting, but he couldn’t.
Therefore, it was his turn now.
He never considered treating the Ventriloquist by normal means.
Mr. Socksock sensed danger and shouted at Arnold to shoot.
“Don’t shoot. I talked to Batman. You are a good man. You were forced to do bad things by me, weren’t you?”
“No no, I didn’t say that, Scarface. I want you to shoot, shoot!”
“Yes, listen to Scarface, shoot…”
“No, I command you in the name of Scarface, you must listen to Batman.”
“Stop…”
Four voices were mixed together, Chen Tao’s ventriloquism and the Ventriloquist’s ventriloquism were fiercely vying for control of the Scarface puppet.
This was the Ventriloquist’s fatal weakness: his split personalities brought suspicion. Chen Tao’s tricks were easy to replicate. He imitated his enemy’s behavior patterns, making his imitation of Scarface’s voice alternate with the real Scarface’s voice, completely confusing the Ventriloquist.
Amidst the fierce argument, Chen Tao’s other hand opened his satchel, which was full of puppets (a kind of toy where you can put your hand inside and control the puppet’s movement). There were all sorts of types. Arnold’s gaze was drawn to him, he asked subconsciously: “What’s that for?”
Chen Tao suddenly extended his hand.
“Damn it!”
In a flash, the Ventriloquist’s gun sprang toward Chen Tao’s chin.
But it was too late. The Scarface puppet’s voice almost simultaneously gave the Ventriloquist the opposite command.
So by the time the Ventriloquist sorted out his messy brain, the sock was already in Chen Tao’s hand.
Disarmed.
“No! Mr. Socksock!” The Ventriloquist let out a thunderous scream.
“What do you want to do to Mr. Socksock?”
Having lost his Socksock personality, he turned back into the ordinary little old man.
Chen Tao ignored him, kicking the poor little old man into the corner. “You’re safe now, get out.”
“Yaaaa!”
The hostages looked at each other, then all screamed and ran out, even the guard who was lying on the ground, managed to climb up himself, screaming and showing off his injured hand, running faster than a rabbit.
“…”
Chen Tao maintained his Batman-style poker face until the hall was empty, then walked up to the Ventriloquist, raised the smelly sock expressionlessly, and then in front of the Ventriloquist… tore it to shreds.
“No!!!!!!!!”
The Ventriloquist, as if he had lost his parents, rushed forward, grabbing the remains of the sock: “Woooo, no! Socksock! How can I live without you? Socksock! Socksock, take me with you, take me with you Socksock…”
But before he could cry halfway, Chen Tao grabbed him from the ground, slapped him twice: “Stop crying, look, what is this?”
“Scarface!”
Arnold was just about to rush forward, when with a snap, Chen Tao twisted the Scarface puppet into a pretzel in front of him, then stomped it to pieces on the ground.
“Aaahhhhhhhhaaaooooohhhhhaaaooooohhhh!!!”
“Get up!” Chen Tao dragged the little old man, who was about to start wailing, from the ground, slapped him left and right, knocking him dizzy, stopping his impending breakdown with brute force.
After forcefully diverting his attention through physical means, Chen Tao tossed him onto his satchel full of puppets: “Stop thinking about your old puppets, try something new. There are dozens of them here, choose whichever you want!”
The Ventriloquist was completely stunned by the personality correction punches. His eyes went blank, still not recovering from the blow of losing two personalities in a row.
He absentmindedly picked up a puppet. The next second, a new voice emerged from his stomach…
Due to his extremely severe multiple personality disorder, the Ventriloquist had a tendency to create evil alter egos. Essentially, these alter egos were all “protectors”, to protect the vulnerable main personality, “Arnold”.
But in the space of a few short seconds, his two protector personalities were violently destroyed by Chen Tao.
Therefore, at this point, he was in a state of extreme fear, lacking his protector personalities.
Under normal circumstances, the Ventriloquist would involuntarily seek something, imbue it with a personalized image, then wear it on his hand, creating a new personality to protect himself, just as he had previously used an ordinary woolen sock to create the evil personality “Mr. Socksock”.
But… what would happen if he was suddenly given dozens of toys at this time?
Whew, this is Chapter 2, huh?
(End)
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