Chapter 70: Laughter Gas

"Joker (Clown)."

Ma Ma Zhaodi looked at the thin figure before him and instinctively spoke that name.

He was one of DC's top villains, yet no one could ever confirm his name, no one could ever know his past, and no one could ever understand the meaning of his actions.

He had no superpowers, no matching fingerprints, no DNA records, no dental records; the character of the Joker remained an eternal "mystery" in the DC world.

In Ma Ma Zhaodi's view, the Joker might just be an identity rather than a specific person, representing some abstract concept rather than a biological individual.

He was chaos, madness, evil, corruption, senseless crime, and the part of human nature that forever leans toward wickedness.

Thus, he had no fixed goals, no distinction between good and evil, doing whatever evil deeds he pleased like a dangerous madman.

And in reality, he was a dangerous madman, just smart enough to rival Batman, evil enough to corrupt Superman, and dangerous enough that Gotham itself could not contain him.

Such a character was now his opponent.

Ma Ma Zhaodi thought rapidly in his heart: if the target was the Joker, then first, he could not be killed, because according to his thin knowledge of comics and games, anyone who killed the Joker would become the next Joker—or something worse.

That probability might be small in this universe, but Ma Ma Zhaodi would not gamble.

So, how to deal with the Joker?

"Oh oh, Santa actually knows my name, hahaha hehehehe."

The Joker immediately doubled over with laughter as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world: "So I count as a good child too, hehehehe, then where is my gift?"

"Is this red bag filled with candy? Or snacks? Or perhaps a big black bat?"

"It is a Christmas gift," Ma Ma Zhaodi replied. "I found it very convenient to sneak into houses dressed as Santa to steal gifts; if discovered, I could just pretend to be Santa delivering gifts."

"."

The Joker clicked his tongue, and the smile on his face suddenly turned slightly disdainful: "Damn, that rotten joke is almost funny—I hate it when others are funnier than me."

"Click"

The sound of the hammer triggering rang out as the trigger of a revolver so large it could be called a hand cannon was pulled.

The atmosphere fell into an eerie silence.

Ma Ma Zhaodi stared at the dark muzzle, his body hair standing on end; after meeting the Joker, he had only managed to speak two sentences before the man had fired a shot while he wasn't paying attention.

"Protective Cross (8/9)"

He looked at the status bar, completely certain that this dud was no mistake; the previous shot had been a lethal one—this was the first time since arriving in Gotham that he had faced such decisive killing intent.

No hesitation, no morality; the first sentence confirmed he knew the Joker's identity, the second confirmed he had other purposes, and the very next second he had opened fire to eliminate any outside factors that might affect his plan.

This was the usual ending for anyone facing the Joker—life snatched away by a careless bullet, no grand spectacle, no earth-shattering drama, dying simply and suddenly; for the Joker, it was nothing more than pulling a trigger.

And he did not mind pulling a trigger at random.

Several more seconds passed.

"Are you serious?" The Joker broke the awkward atmosphere first, peering with one eye into the dark muzzle while his hand kept pulling the trigger: "You jam right now? I spent so much effort and money on you, little sword-wielder, and this is how you repay me?"

"Bang!"

A scorching gust of air grazed the Joker's scalp and pierced the ceiling above, sending wood shavings and wall paint raining down, nearly drenching him.

"Ha, thank God." The Joker paid no attention to the fact that he had almost blown his own head open; he kissed his pistol with a beaming smile, then immediately aimed it at Ma Ma Zhaodi again: "Ahem, excuse me, that was an accident—let's try again."

Santa spat fiercely: "Who the hell is trying again with you—bad children get punished—Solomon!"

"Solomon Grundy, born on a Monday!"

A massive bluish-gray figure leaped through the window into the room, its huge size expanding the windowsill by a full double, and crashed toward the Joker who was drawing his gun on Ma Ma Zhaodi like a dump truck.

The moment Ma Ma Zhaodi shouted the first word, he immediately dove to the side; he clearly saw the Joker completely ignore the massive crash behind him and Grundy's roar, pulling the trigger twice more at him, at which point the Cross's count refreshed again.

"Protective Cross (6/9)"

Undoubtedly, the Joker's aim was quite accurate.

"Boom!"

Solomon slammed the Joker away, pinning him against a wall; dust filled the air, earth and stones flew, and the wall was smashed straight through; beneath the dense pile of bricks and rubble, only the Joker's half of a pale hand holding a gun could be faintly seen sticking out.

"Solomon Grundy, born on a Monday!"

Grundy roared again at the ruins below, venting the anger in his heart; seeing his best friend attacked instinctively ignited a fierce rage within him.

Ma Ma Zhaodi stared in shock at the collapsed brick wall and the Joker buried beneath it, his heart surging with turmoil.

"Is that... it?"

The Joker, DC's top villain, Batman's archenemy, the always-prepared mastermind behind the scenes, the embodiment of chaos, evil, and madness—was he just taken down like this?

No, that was definitely impossible; the Joker might take his bow, but never so hastily.

But seeing him lie motionless, Ma Ma Zhaodi was genuinely worried he had been crushed to death, in which case Grundy would likely be the one to suffer.

"Cough cough cough! Cough, cough!"

A hand pushed aside the broken bricks and rubble, and the Joker, dressed in a purple suit and covered in dust, crawled out from under the wall; seeing this, Ma Ma Zhaodi breathed a sigh of relief.

"This is not fun at all." The Joker brushed the dust off his body, bared his teeth and spat out several mouthfuls of blood, then laughed coldly: "The Joker and Santa playing together on Christmas, this should have been such a fun game—but you just called a fool to ruin it."

"So boring, so boring, hehe, so boring—but luckily I can always make things... more interesting."

"Hehe, hehehehehe..."

"Hehe, hehehehehe..."

Hearing the two chilling laughs, Ma Ma Zhaodi's expression instantly grew increasingly Solemn.

Pale moonlight shone in through the broken windowsill; the motionless giant figure raised its head in that moonlight, and the same eerie smile appeared on its zombie-like bluish-gray face.

"Hehe, hehehehehe..."

PS: The Joker's disdain. jpg is as shown below.

(End of chapter)