Chapter 1013: Scarecrow's Bad Luck (Part 3)

Jonathan was choked again and froze in place. The environment he was actually in told him that what Batman said was the truth, but there was another set of imaginations in his brain—that was his original plan.

Cat Getan's villains have a characteristic, especially a series of high-IQ criminals led by Joker, Scarecrow, Two-Face, and Riddler. They are very good at creating a double-bind contradiction to make Batman break his defenses.

Simply put, it's the Trolley Problem. Choose one or choose two? Choose rich or choose poor? Choose male or choose female? Choose old or choose young?

Of course, there is no correct answer to this kind of question. No matter which one is chosen, it is wrong. Or rather, no matter which one Batman chooses, these villains have their own set of twisted logic to point out Batman's mistake.

This is why many comic readers feel that Batman always seems a bit powerless when facing this kind of multiple-choice question, and his methods of handling them are also a bit rough. Actually, it's because Batman has long known that this is a trap from beginning to end. Choosing either one has no meaning.

This is actually just a one-sided interrogation, not a duel. And this time, Jonathan also planned it this way.

He knew that Batman would definitely be able to find out that someone had poisoned Cat Getan's drinking water source, and with Batman's methods, he would sooner or later trace it to his residence. So, Jonathan waited here for him, waiting for this feast of interrogation to begin.

Back then, the missing persons cases in the Morson District allowed the fledgling Batman to witness the cruelty and inhumanity of this group of serial killers. Jonathan knew this must have left a very deep impression on him. So, his first step was to mobilize Batman's nerves and make him fall into anger.

If it were the original Batman, upon hearing Jonathan's proud, self-satisfied speech, he would definitely have felt anger. Even if he didn't show it temporarily, the anger would definitely have gathered in his heart.

Next, Jonathan would reveal the truth about Cat Getan's rainwater to Batman. Regardless of whether Batman already knew this truth, Jonathan had to emphasize it, because next was the beginning of the real performance.

Because of the previously accumulated anger, when Jonathan provoked Batman and asked him to arrest him, there was a high probability that Batman would take action against him. This fit Batman's psychological profile very well in Jonathan's mind.

Even if it wasn't this little bat, but the scheming Batman, facing such an arrogant criminal, breaking a leg was the least of it.

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Jonathan looked forward to Batman beating him up. Of course, he wasn't a masochist like the Joker, nor did he have superhuman recovery abilities. At least for now, Scarecrow was indeed just an ordinary university professor without any superpowers.

And when Batman rushed up and beat him half to death, Jonathan would tell Batman the truth: that was not poison but an antidote. It was not destroying Cat Getan, but saving Cat Getan.

Perhaps psychologists always have commonalities; they are too good at exploiting the weaknesses of human emotions. If Jonathan were to give his interrogation this time a nice name, he would definitely say "Guilt is a good knife."

The criminal and poisoner Batman thought he was, was actually a vigilante and savior just like him. There was no difference in the nobility of their two actions, but in terms of results, what Jonathan did was more effective.

Scarecrow was indeed a genius. The hallucinogenic drug he developed could not only fight the toxins in the rainwater within the human body but even establish permanent antibodies for most people.

As long as the toxins in the rainwater didn't mutate, then after this event of citizens going mad, the vast majority of Gothamites would be immune to the toxins in the rainwater. At the same time, this antibody would be written into the genes and passed down permanently.

And if the other side changed the toxins in the rainwater, Scarecrow could also use the same principle to develop a corresponding antidote and establish antibodies again. Next would be the moment of infinite involution.

It was based on such a foundation that Jonathan knew that if Batman severely injured him, perhaps he wouldn't necessarily feel guilty. After all, the citizens who became experimental subjects were innocent, and Jonathan was indeed a murderer, so receiving punishment was deserved.

But Batman would definitely suffer. Because in order to save Cat Getan, he had to keep Jonathan alive to deal with potential mutated toxins. In other words, he had to personally save the criminal he hated the most, and he had to save him as quickly as possible, which could be called anxious.

A self-proclaimed high-and-mighty savior discovers that he actually hasn't done as much or as well as a criminal.

And for that ethereal goal, Batman had to be in the same boat as the criminal, had to send the criminal he beat half to death to the hospital, and spend money to treat him—and this was precisely because of his impulsiveness and recklessness.

Along this journey, the inner torment Batman suffered was the most beautiful music to Jonathan.

But things didn't develop according to his imagination at all.

Batman seemed to have suddenly changed from a fierce tiger to a house cat. From entering the door to sitting down, to the negotiation, he didn't raise his fist even once, being even calmer than Jonathan.

Jonathan even felt a formulaic response strategy on him, as if he had rehearsed this scene countless times, or he had really encountered this kind of scene countless times.

Batman was as skilled as an old farmer breaking corn in the fields, carrying a kind of confidence left in his limb movements from years of repetitive work, and a dull, boring quality in his facial expressions.

Jonathan even felt that some of Batman's remarks were like muscle memory, without any lag, without a thinking process, directly blurted out. Every word was telling Jonathan to hurry up to the next link, more urgent than a host urging the flow at a wedding.

Jonathan didn't understand at all what was going on. His meticulously prepared stage and lines, his exquisite acting practiced in advance, didn't come into play at all. Batman was telling him with all his actions and eyes that he had long since grown tired of this play.

Actually, Jonathan's level of performance was stable. This performance could be called relatively characteristic and relatively perfect among Cat Getan's high-IQ villains.

First, he utilized his professional characteristics. He used his professional specialty as a chemist to create a chronic toxin and put it into Cat Getan's water source, making Cat Getan's citizens accumulate enough drug properties from years of drinking it.

After it broke out in a short time, it fought to a draw with the toxins in the rainwater, creating a massive chaos that often appears in the climax of comics, and then lured Batman to his residence for a profound dialogue that often appears at the end of comics.

If there were no accidents, the next scene should be Batman standing on the roof of a building, watching the departing ambulance, with the final shot fixed on Batman's face. There seemed to be pain between his brows, and his eyes revealed deep thought. A comic would be finished just like that.

But if there were no accidents, there were definitely accidents. Schiller made Batman have too many accidents. Although it led to him having accidents himself now, it also implicated Jonathan, leading to him having even bigger accidents.

Jonathan's design idea was good, and his level was stable. If one had to say where he went wrong, it was that the power-up bar was too long and he came a bit late.

Joker Schiller and Joker Jack, this pair of "crouching tiger, hidden dragon," gave Batman a mixed doubles beating for four years. Plus, arrogant Schiller didn't mix in any personal grudges of teaching. Batman struggled in hell-level difficulty for a full four years. Wherever he went, things happened. As long as things happened, Schiller, Joker Schiller, and Joker Jack took turns appearing.

Even the Batman in his forties in the later stages would at most only deal with multiple Jokers for a period of time. In the vast majority of time, he still only played with one Joker.

But the Batman of this world was different. At the same time, at least two Jokers existed. And these two Jokers not only got along harmoniously but also cooperated. Not only did they cooperate, but their abilities complemented each other.

Joker Schiller was good at hiding behind the scenes to plan, plotting a major event, and then leaving a gap for Joker Jack to step onto the stage to perform. Joker Jack was good at frontal fighting, bringing one wonderful performance after another for Batman.

And arrogant Schiller always managed to help out on the side. Before the event started, he scolded Batman. During the event, he took time to scold Batman. After the event ended, he scolded Batman again. In the intervals between events, he had to chase Batman for his thesis. If Batman didn't hand it in, he would scold Batman again.

So much so that, until now, Batman still felt that Joker Schiller and Joker Jack cooperating was just to make him unable to hand in his thesis.

Therefore, until now, even though Batman hadn't experienced the baptism of iron and blood in hell, honing a cold and decisive military temperament, Jonathan's play was really hard to satisfy him.

"Having seen the vast sea, the water is no longer water." Jonathan couldn't even be considered "a beginner," because the "Pure Essence" not only was still alive but was becoming more and more numerous.

Looking at Jonathan breaking his own defenses, Batman seemed to have lost patience too. He directly said:

"Many people say that I am a mental patient. You say so, Schiller says so, and Jack also says so."

"I took a prescription to Arkham Asylum yesterday to get medicine. It is a medicine for relieving anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms. You should know what it is."

"After using the medicine, I feel much better. And then I discovered that you are even more abnormal than me. You are like this, Schiller is like this, and Jack is also like this."

"You always project too much attention on me, as if my reaction can determine the direction of your future life."

"When I caught you and put you in prison, the reason you didn't repent and didn't feel guilty was also because I was the one who caught you."

"Because this proved that I was paying attention to you. I projected a lot of attention on you. You were ecstatic about this. This excitement covered up anger, frustration, and guilt, causing this to become a kind of reward."

Batman shook his head and said: "Although this might be a bit late, I still suggest you go take medicine. I've tried it, and the effect is good. At least it relieved my neuro-excitatory insomnia."

Jonathan was completely frozen in place. He just stared with his eyes, arched his body, and stared straight at Batman.

And Batman looked at him with those blue eyes and said: "If what you said is true, that the hallucinogen you put in can lift the toxins in the rainwater, then you indeed did a good thing."

Jonathan suddenly reacted. Within a few seconds, his eye sockets were filled with tears. He looked at Batman, reached out his hand to pinch his own neck, and while retreating, shouted: "No! No! Shut up! Shut up quickly!!!"

But Batman continued on his own: "Cat Getan's citizens can't thank you now, but I am also one of Cat Getan's citizens, so... thank you."

Ten minutes later, Gordon, who rushed in, only saw Jonathan fainting on the ground. He looked at Batman in surprise and then said: "Your technique for knocking others unconscious is truly becoming more and more skilled. There isn't even a trace of struggle here, and there are no wounds on his head or neck. High-level technique, Batman."

"It wasn't me who knocked him unconscious. He should be in a neurogenic coma." Batman still stood in place, looking at Jonathan's posture on the ground. He pursed his lips and then muttered to himself:

"Also, I seem to know why Schiller can't wake up." ===== CHAPTER 1014 =====