Chapter 9: Maybe We Shouldn’t Expect Gotham to Be Saved (Ch 826568638)

“Very good…very good!”
The weak illusion clapped its hands, looked at Lucian with a look of surprise and expectation, and asked softly: “You really surprised me… What else? Do you have any other inferences?”
The wind carrying moisture and heat blew away the smoke in the room, and the curtains curled up and straightened reluctantly.
“Then I have another question.” Lucian held the sponge filter in his mouth:
“I have retained many memories of the Joker’s theories – although I cannot confirm their authenticity, the Joker virus is notorious and feared. In almost every fan fiction that attempts to kill the Joker, people are hesitant and confused… It seems too fake to disappear so easily, with such a simple blood transfusion.”
“As fake as the Joker’s death.”
“Are you really dead?”
The hallucinatory clown faced him with pale lips, blood flowing from his lower abdomen, and his limbs lost the ability to move. Lucian could even smell the blood.
“That’s beyond doubt… After all, I’ve already written my epitaph.” He was very frank: “Well, did my ridiculous way of death make you laugh?”
Is there?
Lucien scoffed.
He couldn’t get anything out of this thing and even felt that this conversation was a waste of time.
After looking at the clown for a long time, I felt itchy and decided to give it one last try:
“How about we cooperate?”
“What do you want to cooperate on?” The clown shook his head, listening with interest and patience.
“Tell me what will happen in Gotham, and I am willing to give you the right to use my body for 24 hours.” Lucian said in the same manner, seriously and sincerely: “Perhaps there is something else you want?
“Tempting terms… But unfortunately, you are right. I am just an incompetent hallucination. I don’t know clearly.” The Joker said in a regretful and innocent tone.
Lucian closed his eyes. He could hear that perhaps this was the Joker’s mockery of his theory: Since you think I’m just an incompetent hallucination, how would I know what will happen next?
This piece of shit.
He completely lost interest in talking to the clown.
He put out the cigarette, looked at the fire outside, thought for a while, and decided not to call the fire department.
It was not for any other reason, his memory told him that calling the fire department in America cost money.
So I closed the window and pretended to be out of sight.
“Woo-woo—woo—”
Two tones, one high and one low, are emitted alternately with a fast rhythm, and the sound is loud and penetrating.
It’s a fire truck.
White water jets sprayed onto the burning building, and after a while, the fire was reduced.
A man with burns covering more than 40% of his body was carried out. He seemed to have insufficient oxygen and was somewhat unconscious.
“Hello, sir, this is the Gotham Fire Department. Since you do not have fire insurance, you need to pay a $500 emergency fire service fee.”
“…But, but my house burned down.”
“Yes, but we got you out, sir.”
“But my money is all in the house…”
“If you are willing to pay $2,000, we are willing to salvage your property right now.”
Those who had nothing left fell silent.
“Well, sir, if you don’t need the above services, we can take you to the hospital, and you will only have to pay $1,000 for emergency and initial treatment.”
He let out a very sarcastic laugh.
As mentioned before, the Joker broke the balance that had always existed, and the order that was previously understood collapsed again.
The rich are bidding up supplies, charging high medical fees, not paying insurance, raising rents, and cutting staff. The real main reason why Gotham is in such a state – the gap between the rich and the poor – has become even more severe.
The greedy blood-sucking worms did not miss any opportunity and began to completely drain the pond of fish.
There is a saying: Capitalists are far more terrifying than robbers – robbers can only leave you with nothing, while capitalists can make you heavily in debt.
“…I don’t need medical treatment, please put me down.”
“Okay, the stretcher fee is $300, and the emergency fire service is $500, for a total of $800. Would you like to pay by cash or card?”
“The cash is in the second drawer of my room, go get it…”
“Well…there’s also $2,000 in property salvage fees, so the total is $2,800.”
“ha!”
The victim looked at him sharply and hatefully: “I only have one thousand dollars, what do you mean! If I don’t pay, I only need to pay eight hundred dollars, but if you pay, I will give you two thousand eight hundred dollars!”
“I’m going to go from owing you eight hundred dollars to owing you eighteen hundred dollars?!”
The firefighter looked at him calmly and said, “We clearly mark the price. If you rush into the fire to save your property yourself, we will not charge you any fees. Of course, if you use our firefighting clothing and tools, you will need to pay $200. If you are unfortunately caught in the fire, you will need to pay another $800 for us to put out the fire again.”
Look, this is Gotham.
A man with 40% burns on his body staggered to his feet from the stretcher and gave a desperate look to the silent fire brigade.
Then he was thrown into the sea of ​​fire.
This is Gotham.
In a Gotham like this, the Bat Family alone cannot maintain peace. In this place, ridiculous jokes happen all the time.
The crowd watched blankly for a while, then dispersed and went to repay their loans with tired looks.
“Well, it looks like the person is dead.” The firefighter sighed with regret and closed the notebook in his hand: “So… who called just now? Please come over and pay $800.”
The embers of the fire were burning, illuminating the sky with a bright red glow. The residential building, which already had a very low occupancy rate, was completely silent except for the occasional building collapse.
“Oh… it seems no one is here. Well, let’s apply for subsidies from the government and Wayne.” The firefighter smiled after watching the fire being completely extinguished: “A total of two thousand eight hundred dollars.”
“Wayne Enterprises has cut its funding for firefighting by 30 percent and has announced it will refuse donations if this happens again.”
In the afternoon, the car radio began broadcasting.
It seems that Batman has solved another problem quickly and accurately.
But alas, Gotham’s troubles go far beyond this:
Maybe we shouldn’t expect Gotham to be saved
“The Chief of Justice and the Knight of Light are dead, so what about the bat monster?”
“Do we really need so-called superheroes?” such remarks are making the rounds.
Oracle Barbara, daughter of the former chief of the Gotham Police Department, became a walking hot spot after Gordon’s death. She was born with the favorability bonus of righteous people. She used this advantage to roam among the media to guide public opinion, but obviously, the results were minimal.
The Clown Killing Gang did not disappear after Jace was captured. Instead, it became more and more intense like a prairie fire.
Batgirl has to focus on this, but people are powerless against the crowd, especially since the Joker Gang, compared to other forces dedicated to controlling a certain area, are more likely to organize, parade, and protest – this is legal, which makes them more inclusive and stable.
But this kind of stability is more like an anti-tank bomb. The slightest movement cannot detonate it, but a strong stimulation is enough to blow up anything that dares to ride on it!
Gotham’s catastrophic final madness brought a heavy burden to the surrounding cities, such as Metropolis and Blüdhaven. As the vigilante of Blüdhaven, Nightwing had to go back to maintain order after a brief appearance.
As for Red Robin… he’s researching the strange things that have been going on in Gotham lately.
There have always been a lot of strange things happening in Gotham, and strange things generally represent some death data. Death is not uncommon in Gotham, but these deaths themselves are not normal, and the only thing they have in common is – Batman.
The locations where the victims were killed are extremely close to Batman’s patrol routes.
Red Robin didn’t even have to guess that this was another superhero targeting Batman. He had this preconceived idea and did the same thing when investigating, but this idea didn’t last long because soon the Red Hood came to find him.
“Xiaohong, look at something.”
Red Hood took off his hood, revealing his unruly hair that was slightly damp and docile due to the moisture. He scratched his hair, swore meaninglessly, and handed Red Robin a USB flash drive.
“USB drive?” Red Robin was puzzled. “Is there anything you can’t transfer over?”
“Heh.” Red Hood sneered, “You’d better have an independent receiver that has not been connected to the Batcomputer.”
“…What is this place?”
“Why don’t you open it and take a look?”
The audio content is nothing special.
But the sound coming out of it was scary enough.
“Hahahahahahahaha—”
A faint laugh.
Extremely familiar.
The time shown in the surveillance video was just a while ago, and the location was… one of Batman’s patrol routes.
The intermittent laughter was familiar, the madness in it reminded people of the clown, but no one could misunderstand the tone, it was…
Batman.
Red Robin couldn’t describe his feelings. He looked at Red Hood, opened his mouth, and closed it again.
“Batman?” The voice seemed to come from the resonance of the chest.
“Yes.” Red Hood said indifferently, “It seems that blood transfusion is useless… We need something else. Besides, I doubt it.”
“His will has been affected, and this audio is a deliberate flaw… He wants us to catch him.”
“…Okay, okay.” Red Robin pinched the bridge of his nose: “Next, I will notify the Watchtower. In addition, control the other four people infected with the Joker virus.”
He snorted and laughed: “Lucian and Batman are the only ones out of sight… There is still hope.”
“I’m going to find Lucian.” Red Hood came and left in a hurry, riding on a motorcycle, and the buzzing sound seemed to shatter the darkness.
But the evening wind in Gotham is slightly cool, and with a hint of water vapor it seems sticky. You can’t feel any coolness while speeding in it. Even if you drive at maximum speed, it feels like you are wandering in a sticky swamp.