Chapter 1014: Joker's Bad Luck (Part 1)

Watching the police take the unconscious Jonathan away, Batman turned his head and stared at the water stain on the dining table. It showed a dreamy and charming luster under the illumination of the faint light.

After leaving the alley on Green Street, Batman originally wanted to come to the tall building nearby to call for a helicopter. But just as he turned the corner of Green Street, he saw the bright light of truck headlights on the wall, casting a very obvious arc-shaped trace.

The light circle of the headlights got closer and closer to Batman, until it shone on his face. A massive truck drove toward him. Batman squinted his eyes but didn't dodge at all, until this vehicle stopped less than a meter in front of him.

Batman looked up and saw a pale face. Joker grinned his big mouth and smiled at Batman. Afterward, he rolled down the car window, rested his elbow on the bottom of the window, poked his head out, looked at Batman, and said: "Look at our great hero, arresting another evil criminal today!"

"Such a chaotic and crazy Cat Getan should have made me feel very happy, but I have been very sad for a period of time recently. This is all because of you! Batman! You are not in Cat Getan, and I don't even have anyone to chat with!"

Joker lit a cigarette and put it into his mouth, but didn't smoke it, just letting the smoke drift out of the car window. Batman looked up at the truck head that was close at hand.

This giant truck was like a terrifying beast. If it were in the past, he would never have allowed the truck driven by this lunatic to get so close to him.

Because Batman didn't know whether Joker would step on the accelerator. If he really stepped on it, Batman would have no way to dodge. Before this, he would never have entrusted his life safety to the thinking of a lunatic.

In the past, he always felt that these lunatics were chaotic and crazy, completely incomprehensible. But now, Batman felt that they were no different from one math problem after another. Although every problem was different, the core theory and formulas were completely consistent.

So Batman said: "Can you give me a ride?"

Joker flicked the cigarette ash with his finger, shook his head toward the inside of the car. Batman walked to the other side of the car door, opened it, and sat in. Joker skillfully put the cigarette in his mouth, held the steering wheel with both hands, and asked like an experienced taxi driver: "Where to?"

"Rodriguez Manor." Batman answered.

When the truck started, it always carried a rumbling sound. When the engine started running, that kind of tremor from industrial power was like a symphony with a rapid rhythm.

Batman heard a "cluck-cluck" strange sound coming from the carriage behind. He turned his head to look at Joker and said: "Professor Victor told me that you and other truck drivers helped transfer those frozen crazy citizens, solving a big problem in Cat Getan City."

"What kind of big problem is this to you?" Joker said while driving: "If Batman were here, there would definitely be a more efficient method, instead of like us poor citizens, only able to use the stupidest method."

"I didn't leave Cat Getan alone on purpose."

As soon as Batman's words landed, Joker's fingers tightened. He lowered his head, letting the bangs on his forehead cover his eyes, and used the root of his palm to rub his mouth hard, making the lipstick he painted on his face blur, which made the smile on his face look even more brilliant.

"... Some accidents appeared, and I had to go to another world to solve some troubles. So, this place could only be left to Gordon, Victor, and the gangs. I heard that you and the gangs cooperated well?" Batman turned his head to look at Joker.

Joker only paused for an instant. Afterward, he shrugged and said: "Yeah, Old Man Batman, I will certainly do it well. Because if we didn't do it well, and you saw a chaotic, dirty, and broken garden, you would definitely whip us, *woo-woo-woo*..."

"In your heart, is Wei En Enterprises this kind of image?" Batman seemed a bit relaxed. He leaned his back against the chair and then said: "Although I didn't participate in the saving of Cat Getan, this journey did indeed tell me some truths."

Batman was like a traveler returning from a journey, wanting to share the beautiful fragments of the journey with his friends. But Joker's hands tightened, and he instead seemed a bit nervous.

"Someone told me that Wei En Enterprises is wrong, but it's not wrong in our business strategy or development plan, but wrong in our existence."

"As long as capitalists like me still exist, then the bottom-level people like you will never have a happy life. Do you think this theory is correct?" Batman looked at Joker and asked.

Suddenly, Joker's tone became deep, like a philosopher thinking while narrating. He said: "This has to be looked at as two questions."

"Isn't this one question?"

Joker shook his head hard. When the green bird's nest head shook, it looked a bit ridiculous. He said: "I guess you must be full of noble awareness now, feeling that by burning yourself, you can save me, feeling that as long as you offer up Wei En Enterprises, you can save Cat Getan..."

"But you are not a capitalist. There will always be someone who is. Batman, the truth I have always wanted to tell you is: don't think about saving those who are not as noble as you, and even more, don't think about sacrificing yourself for them, because that is simply not worth it..."

"You have to love yourself, of course you have to love. You are the most perfect genius in this world, and you are very far from me and other ordinary people." Joker's tone seemed much calmer. The truck kept driving forward, but from the muscle marks of his arm exerting force when turning, one could see that his mood at this time was actually not as calm as he expressed.

"Capitalists don't exist, there is no oppression and exploitation, everyone is equal... but do you think they will be satisfied?" Joker shook his head lightly and said: "If I and other truck drivers lived ten times better than now—no, not just ten times, perhaps a hundred times, a thousand times—by then, each of us would have big villas, yachts, and each of us would be Bruce Wei En."

"However, no one will be satisfied." Joker controlled the truck to turn another corner and then said: "If all of us had a hundred houses, then there would definitely be someone who wanted a hundred and one."

"If it were for living, then one house would be enough. And the extra house he wants is just to be higher than others."

"Batman, you have to understand, humans are just this ugly. They exhaust their whole lives, using all kinds of despicable means, just to step their own kind under their feet, satisfying their greedy desires and vanity."

"Even if you offered up all your wealth, letting everyone in this world be fed and clothed, they wouldn't thank you. They would only feel: why didn't you choose them, letting them become the most special one among everyone, riding above others?"

"And if you really chose a manager, or just gave him an empty honorary title higher than others, they wouldn't thank you either. They would only feel that this is what they deserve, and it is what they should have obtained because of their wisdom, courage, and other beautiful virtues."

"That might even make them look down on you, or even be dissatisfied with you and want to replace you. They might even think you are stupid, feeling that if they were in your position, they would definitely not care about the life or death of others."

"Wake up, Batman. No one in this world can understand you. Those you saved are not your subjects, and what you sacrificed won't change anything."

Joker turned his head to look at Batman. Under the illumination of the headlights, the complexions of the two were equally pale, so they had a few similarities. Joker said in a low voice: "They are simply not worth you dedicating yourself."

"Then what about you?" Batman asked.

Joker was stunned. He repeated: "... What did you say?"

"I said, then what about you? Do you think you are worth me dedicating myself?" Batman looked back at Joker. The moment their eyes met, Joker was the first to turn his head back.

"Suppose I dedicate all my wealth and can exchange it for you to live the life you truly want. I mean, not the life you have now as a criminal, but the kind of life you once wanted, the kind of life you once saw hope in..."

"Jack, if I did that, would you choose not to be a criminal?"

With a "Zzz-la—" sound, a harsh braking sound came. Joker fell onto the steering wheel. When he straightened up, blood flowed from his forehead. The blood flowed to the corner of his eye, staining half of his cheek red. He looked at Batman with a sincere gaze like a child and said:

"Batman, you're crazy!"

"I'm not crazy." Batman shook his head and said: "I took the full amount of medicine according to the doctor's orders before coming here. My thinking is very clear now, so I can propose such a hypothesis."

Batman asked again: "If I were willing to abandon everything I have to save you, let you return to the moment you had the most hope, and choose again, would you still walk on such a path?"

Joker's hands gripped the steering wheel. He looked at the road surface outside the windshield.

Cat Getan was raining again. When the rainwater sprinkled on the ground, under the illumination of the headlights, a layer of mist rose, just like the ground was smoking.

"I know I made many mistakes before, and one of the biggest ones was that I wasn't determined enough."

"If I really want to strike at criminals, I shouldn't skimp on any power. Whether it's Batman or Wei En Enterprises, as long as I want, when the massive capital machine starts running, all evil will be wiped out by me, even if the price is becoming an evil dictator."

"And if I want to save the people, I shouldn't divide them into criminals and ordinary people because of my own personal grudges. If I want to save, I must save everyone, including the criminals I hate the most, and including you, Jack, regardless of whether they are worth saving, and regardless of whether they want to be saved."

Joker's body suddenly trembled. His chest began to heave violently. He covered his face with both hands and slowly slid down, until the red bloodshot eyes inside his eyelids were all clearly visible.

"Which path do you think I chose?" Batman looked at him and asked.

Suddenly, Joker revealed a smile. But when it looked into Batman's eyes, this smile wasn't as crazy as usual, but carried some begging and humbleness.

Joker bent down, took out a flashlight from the toolbox beside the driver's seat. He looked at Batman with that humble smile and said:

"Batman, do you want to hear a joke?"

Without waiting for Batman to answer, Joker pushed open the driver's door, rushed into Cat Getan's rain, came to the front of the truck, and turned on the flashlight. The beam of light shot straight into the sky.

Joker wiped the rainwater from his eyes with some difficulty and said somewhat stumbling: "Look, there is a pillar here. As long as I climb up along this pillar, I can pass through the rain clouds and never be drenched again."

"But I can't climb. Do you know why I can't climb?"

Batman looked at him in silence. Joker took the flashlight to his front, letting the beam of light block his eyes. His hand was on the switch, looking at Batman's eyes.

Joker sniffed hard and shrugged, curving his eyes into an arc. His figure looked a bit hunched. Batman saw the old people he had once seen in him, carrying a familiar fawning, like every little person living at the bottom of Cat Getan.

But suddenly, his facial expression became ferocious again. The muscles around his nose wrinkled, his features crumpled into a ball. He lifted his lips to reveal his teeth and gritted his teeth, saying:

"I will never allow a perfect genius to burn himself, turn into a ladder, and send that group of ugly fools to heaven!"

"Batman... they don't deserve it!"

Joker turned off the flashlight and threw it hard on the ground. As the parts flew, he looked at Batman and said word by word:

"If one day you really want to save all the fools here, then leave Cat Getan's rainy night to me. Say goodbye forever to your dear friend and respectable opponent. I will never be in the same boat as those ugly, dirty, and stupid ordinary people!"

"Then what if I choose you?" Batman asked.

Joker was stunned there. He repeated incredulously again: "... What did you say?"

"You don't want to be saved at the same time as the ugly, dirty, and stupid ordinary people you speak of. Then what if I choose you between the two of you?"

"You wouldn't... You couldn't! You of course... You of course wouldn't..." Joker roared: "I am a criminal! I have tried to kill you several times! I could manufacture a bombing case right now and blow half of Cat Getan to the sky!"

Batman was just about to speak, but Joker shouted violently: "Stop making hypotheses, Batman!! I know you learned a lot of rhetoric from that psychologist professor of yours!! It's just to provoke me!! You couldn't possibly do that!!!"

"Between the Cat Getan citizens you have always wanted to save and the evil criminal with whom you have a life-and-death hatred, how could you possibly choose the criminal?! There is no logic supporting you to do so!!!"

Batman sat on the truck seat, looking down at Joker. Although his actual position was indeed higher than Joker's, there was no doubt that he still occupied the high point in terms of momentum.

He looked directly into Joker's eyes for the first time and said calmly:

"Then guess, why did I abandon Cat Getan before?" ===== CHAPTER 1015 =====