Chapter 102 “Opening” (Ch 834000718)

The minute hand of the clock passed the number twelve. It was now four o’clock in the afternoon.
A snow-white dove flew past the window, its feathers coated with a layer of golden luster.
Lucian looked down at the man who was dressed exactly like a traditional clown. Arthur did not avoid or evade, but maintained that smile, narrowed his eyes, and looked into his eyes.
Same hair and eye color, same thin frame.
Similar outward appearance, except that he was revealing his features while Arthur was heavily made up.
…
Lucien had long known that there was something wrong with his memory. Not just his memory, there was something wrong with his understanding of the world.
He maintained his life as usual, but ignored all the abnormal situations around him. It was not until recently that he suddenly realized the existence of the Saint Bat.
Now there was an Arthur who looked like him, just like the answer was printed on the test paper, as long as he followed the steps to copy it, he would be able to reveal it…
But if you look through many things, you will find that they are not interesting, so Lucian said:
“How about we skip the middle step and just tell me the truth?”
After a long moment, Arthur said, “Okay.”
…
Then Lucien saw Arthur putting his fingers to his eyes.
…pulled out a pair of green contact lenses from inside.
Wet a towel with water and rub your hair, revealing the brown-black base color over time.
He looked at Lucien with his grey eyes and smiled again: “I’m not a clown.”
…
“You are the clown.”
…
I don’t know why, but even though Gotham is shrouded in clouds all year round, the dusk and dawn are exceptionally beautiful.
Lucien was half leaning against the wall, holding a cigarette between his fingertips, with smoke rising up, and his eyes looked at the red clouds through the gaps in the building.
Since his return from Ms. Taylor, his ordinary life has been turned upside down.
Jenny who has mental illness, the holy bat who rules the city, Lilith who is actually a rebel, the one who suddenly recalled her memories of DC and fanned the flames and participated in the resistance, Arthur who is suspected to be a clown… and herself who is considered to be a clown.
Some like…
“……How are you?”
Jenny came over, looking concerned.
“It’s okay.” Lucian came back to his senses, threw away the cigarette he had just smoked, and stomped it out with his foot: “Let’s go.”
Some are like the opening of a novel or a movie.
————
The nightclub where they worked was called “Moulting” and was located in Linyinfang. Public transportation had been scrapped more than ten years ago because no one was working or maintaining it, so they had to walk there.
Along the way, Lucien saw broken street lights, dilapidated roads, and shaking vehicles.
It was hard for him to imagine why he used to be indifferent to all these things and firmly believed that he lived in a peaceful and stable city.
…
With his hair tied up, Lucien stood at his work station, but this time he let Jenny take the lead and he acted as the assistant, correcting her movements while focusing on the customers.
It was under the psychedelic lights, the wabi-like atmosphere, the moans, the crisp clinking of wine glasses, and the absurd scenery reflected by the red liquid.
They drew a “w” with a horizontal line through it on the table.
If you observe carefully, you will find that there are very few people who actually come here to drink and dance… There is not even any encrypted calls or secretive cover-ups, and they just exchange information with each other.
Lucien was slicing the lemons for his men, his face expressionless.
…
By four o’clock, the crowd had thinned. Jenny took out a few cakes from the kitchen and placed them in front of her, lamenting her tiredness today, expressing her admiration for Lucien, and chattering about her heart-to-heart talk with her mother last night.
“We both cried. This was the first time she told me about her father…” Her smile was sad and sweet:
“They met at school, she said…”
The dim light softened the contours of the mother’s face, and she looked like a young girl: “Your father has been very upright since he was a child. His idol is Harvey Dent, who is known as the Knight of Light. You probably don’t know this name… He is an upright prosecutor, and we all regard him as the hope of Gotham.”
“Only later he became Two-Face… a super villain who was killed during the rebellion against the Sage Batcave fifteen years ago.”
“Dent was a very good person before half of his face was burned off… Many people confessed their love for him.” The mother was a little embarrassed and said in a low voice: “I also had a crush on him.”
After saying this, he pretended to be serious and returned to the topic: “Your father was sad for a long time after knowing that his idol became a villain.”
The mother shrugged: “I was sad for a long time, too.”
“But to be honest, it was also the first time I realized that your father looked very beautiful when he cried, so I confessed to him not long after.”
“He agreed. Later, when I asked him the reason, your father said that he remembered Harvey’s girlfriend… No matter what he remembered, we got married anyway… Jenny, remember, if you meet someone you like in the future, you must seize the opportunity and take advantage of it.”
Jenny nodded, and her mother smiled and stroked her curly hair. Her tone became softer, as if she was telling a fairy tale:
“Then a case occurred in the school and was solved by Gordon – he has been dead for a long time, but he was the chief of justice in Gotham at the time – so your father’s idol became him again.” She sighed slightly:
“Your father doesn’t advocate for anyone. I feel that he is more like advocating something uncommon, the so-called truth, goodness and beauty – he is an idealist… To be honest, I was not surprised when he later told me that he was secretly helping Batman… I think if he has any special powers, he would be happy to join the Justice League to maintain peace in the universe.”
“By the way, do you know what his dream is?” The mother couldn’t help laughing: “He dreams of becoming Batman’s Robin.”
…
Lucien felt envious as he listened to Jenny’s story, and then wondered in his heart: Where is my mother?
Why don’t I have a mother?
…
Logically speaking, after experiencing all these things and being identified as the Joker, Lucien should try to get some information from Catwoman after finishing his work.
Whether it’s about the Joker or Batman.
But he did not stay, and left with Jenny after completing the work step by step.
It seems that knowing the truth about the world beyond his cognition has no effect on him.
Still calmly and paranoidly living an alternative so-called “ordinary person” life.
————
It was that dream.
Lucian wandered on the beach, trying to approach the figure, but there seemed to be something like a membrane separating them.
So he kept changing the angle, trying to see the face of the person under the hat, but the wide brim and the shadow it cast blocked his view.
…
[You exchanged your illusion, immortality, and memory for the chance to become an ordinary person]
The sound echoed in my head, deafening.