Chapter 1625

The second target Spider-Man set his sights on was the Riddler, who had two records of committing crimes recently.

The Riddler's way of committing crimes was still the same old routine: killing people and leaving riddles, attracting Batman to solve them.

The reason Spider-Man set his sights on the Riddler was that he was recently doing another serial murder case, and there were already two victims.

Spider-Man saw the photos left at the two crime scenes in Batman's archives, and then he went to the Cat Getan Police Department to retrieve the victims' appearance, fingerprints, and genetic characteristics.

He personally went to the first victim's home. It was a young man living alone in a middle-class apartment by the Cat Getan River, 26 years old, with no significant features.

He lived on the 23rd floor of the apartment. Spider-Man climbed up directly from the apartment wall, flipped through the window into the room, and then saw the riddle left by the Riddler in the room.

The riddle was carved on a wall full of bloodstains, and in the center of the wall, it was written in blood-colored text: "What makes life fade, yet makes life new?"

Spider-Man checked here and didn't find any useful clues. The victim's autopsy report said he was stabbed from behind, but there was no murder weapon here, nor any footprints.

Unexpectedly to Batman, Spider-Man didn't stay here for even a second. He didn't even have any intention of looking for clues, but left here very nimbly, not even looking at the riddle more than once.

Immediately after, he came to the second victim's home. This time it was in a wooden house on the outskirts of Cat Getan, also a single adult male, with no special features worth noting.

The riddle left on the wall this time was "What makes seeds grow, yet casts seeds away?".

Spider-Man turned around here again, then found an empty space near the graffiti wall in the old town, found a piece of chalk thrown on the ground, and drew a rough map of Cat Getan on the wall.

He marked the locations where the two victims lived on the map, then randomly pointed a few points in other districts, and finally marked a center point on the traffic route.

Half an hour later, a huge light projection appeared at the Cat Getan central roundabout, on which it was written.

"Riddler! I've guessed your riddle! The password representing the answer is: The unique strong solution of the Navier-Stokes equations plus the positive second digit of the Zeta function of the Riemann hypothesis plus the ordinal number of the Collatz conjecture where infinity is not 1 plus the first digit of the largest cardinal number..."

After seeing the reply that was as long as a small thesis, Batman was slightly stunned, then shook his head. Most of the mathematical conjecture propositions above were still without accurate answers obtained by humans to this day. Even cracking one of them would take a mathematician half a lifetime or even a whole lifetime.

Batman knew that the Riddler possessed very powerful mathematical abilities, but that tended more toward cryptography, not mathematical conjectures. He didn't think the Riddler would really delve into these conjectures because of this reply.

Batman's intuition was right. The Riddler didn't plunge into the vast ocean of mathematics because of this. He just jumped out of the vast sea of Cat Getan criminals and roared angrily at Spider-Man: "Damn kid! You want to play with me, you are insulting my riddles!!!"

When Gordon arrived, the Riddler was pinned to the roof by Spider-Man. Watching the Riddler being handcuffed and sent to the police car, Spider-Man said to him very seriously: "I really guessed your riddle, I didn't lie to you, the answer is 'man'."

The Riddler immediately let out a sharp laugh. The two male victims he chose had both let their girlfriends or wives have abortions for them, which indicated the end and beginning of life, the growth and casting away of seeds. In a sense, the answer "man" was correct.

But this riddle also hid a deeper answer, which was Batman. Both riddles indicated the relationship between Batman and Robin. Batman let Robin be born, and let Robin die; let Robin grow, and cast Robin out of Cat Getan.

The Riddler just wanted to proudly tell Spider-Man this hidden answer, but Spider-Man shrugged in advance and said: "I know you have another answer, but I just hid that hidden answer in that pile of conjectures. Before you solve them, how can you deny that I haven't solved your riddle?"

"But, but those are unproven..."

"I come from another universe, how do you know that these things haven't been proven in our universe?"

Instantly, the Riddler's mood was heavier than Cat Getan's night—someone couldn't sleep at night, but anyway, it definitely wasn't Spider-Man.

The third target Spider-Man chose was the Joker. It could be seen that he was very angry about the Joker's previous actions, but Batman didn't hold out hope for Spider-Man being able to deal with the Joker.

The Joker was indeed the most comprehensive villain in Cat Getan City, or rather, his abilities were relative to Batman's.

To give an example that just happened, Batman made a uniform for Spider-Man that was impervious to water and fire, and he could immediately find a metal to make a needle, pass through this uniform, and pierce into Spider-Man's skin.

This was more like a rule. Batman could always counter the Joker, and the Joker could always counter Batman. This was a necessary law for the universe to continue running.

Because Batman was the incarnation of the top intelligence in this universe, being able to counter Batman meant the Joker could counter anyone. If Spider-Man had appeared in front of him for the first time, it would be fine, and his spider-sense could let him gain the upper hand. But now the Joker was already prepared for Spider-Man's abilities. Trying to succeed again would be harder than reaching the sky.

And what happened next was beyond Batman's expectations.

Spider-Man found the Joker's home, but this actually wasn't difficult. Too many people in Cat Getan City knew where the Joker lived. Batman, of course, knew too, but what could he do? Beat him up again and throw him into the asylum, then watch him break out of prison again, and listen to his taunts about "Batman disregarding the law"?

But Spider-Man didn't rush into the Joker's home. He asked Batman for a credit card and then bought out all the discounted goods in all the cheap supermarkets within a ten-kilometer radius of the Joker's home.

The Joker, who came home from work after a bombing case to buy groceries, looked at the completely emptied cheap fast-food section and the expensive boutique vegetable section next to it, and was stunned.

He ran out of this supermarket as if fleeing for his life, arrived at another supermarket before getting off work, and then found that the French bread, burger buns, and near-expiry luncheon meat that should have been discounted were all gone.

And that kid named Spider-Man was pushing a shopping cart full of near-expiry food and greeting him.

"Hey, Mr. Joker, you're here. Did you get off work from the circus? What a coincidence, you also came to buy discounted fast food?"

"I'm afraid I can only tell you that you're late. During the day today, I helped the stock clerk of this supermarket move some things. He likes me very much, and we left each other's contact information."

"He said that once the goods are discounted in the future, he will notify me to come half an hour early. As soon as the price tag is put on, I can take it to checkout."

Spider-Man snapped his fingers, then pointed at the Joker with his index finger and said: "Let me tell you another little trick. Usually, buying discounted goods doesn't earn supermarket points, but if you go to buy the combination products promoted by the salesperson, he can include the discounted goods you bought in the points along the way."

"Supermarket points can be exchanged for many good things. You can exchange them for a large roll of toilet paper in about two weeks. If you save enough, you can even exchange them for a VIP card. You haven't missed them all before, have you? That would be too much of a pity!"

"Alright, the things I want to buy have been bought. Have a happy life, Mr. Joker, goodbye."

Spider-Man whistled and left, pushing a shopping cart full of discounted goods, leaving the Joker alone standing in front of the empty shelves in a mess.

Half an hour later, the Joker returned home empty-handed. Just as he wanted to sigh and rest on the sofa for a while, he heard a harsh noise of "Zzzzt—" coming from upstairs.

The Joker looked up at the ceiling. After the noise disappeared, he was just about to relax when he heard "thump thump thump thump thump thump" coming from upstairs.

The Joker clenched his fists. The brain nerves, which were already a bit chaotic due to madness, began to buzz. When the noise came from upstairs for the fifteenth time within an hour, the Joker finally couldn't bear it anymore.

He carried a fire axe and knocked on the neighbor's door, but the one who opened the door wasn't his thin and dark neighbor Richard, but Spider-Man.

"Oh, Mr. Joker, you live here, what a coincidence! I'm helping my new friend Richard fix his crooked door frame. He lives alone and has tuberculosis, so he really doesn't have the strength to push the door frame straight. But it doesn't matter, I'll drive a few nails in, and I guarantee it won't be crooked for a year."

The Joker gritted his teeth. Just as he wanted to say something, Spider-Man stretched out a finger and said: "Don't worry, I've already reported it to the nearby community, and all construction will be completed within the specified time, absolutely not disturbing the residents. I also called the police station to report all the tools I used."

"I also made a special trip to the renovation supply store in the suburbs. All the wood, paint, and glue comply with New Jersey's environmental regulations. I checked the store owner's tax issues at the tax bureau to ensure he didn't evade taxes, and checked Richard's rental contract and the landlord's background to ensure everything is legal and compliant."

"Just now when I went to deliver candy to the neighbors, they all agreed to my construction because they felt that Richard's noise when opening the door at night was all because of that crooked door frame. As long as I fix it, it will be fine."

"Oh, just now when I went to deliver candy to the neighbors, I heard that Aunt Mary's stove downstairs was broken. I did a preliminary check, and it might be a problem with the gas pipeline. Her home's wiring is too old, so I'm preparing to contact the Gas Bureau and the Electric Power Bureau to re-lay the pipelines, and by the way, change the height of her stove, which isn't very ergonomic."

"Before going to the roof to confirm the building structure, I found that this old-fashioned apartment seems to have some rain leakage problems. I went to the nearest construction site to ask if they could give me the unused plastic sheets. They agreed, but I have to work part-time moving bricks there. After two days, I can re-lay the waterproofing on the roof."

"In that case, I'll repair the door frame from Monday to Thursday, wait for the Gas Bureau and Electric Power Bureau to come and check on Friday, rest on Saturday and Sunday, rebuild the stove from Monday to Wednesday, lay the waterproofing from Thursday to Friday and the following Monday, and then change the tires on old Bond's wheelchair on the second floor, and help clean up his house."

"By the way, Mr. Joker, I saw earlier that your house number seems a bit crooked, maybe the nail fell off. I happen to have extra nails here, so while the glue is setting, I'll help you change it."

"I don't need... you stop!"

"Sure enough, the nail was crooked. Don't worry, give me five minutes, I guarantee the house number will be like new. Friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, you can trust me..."

"Mr. Joker, you forgot to close the door. Oh my god, why is your house so messy? You must be too busy with work or have mobility issues. How about I go get some cleaning tools and help you tidy up?"

"Oh, God, your bedroom door frame is also crooked, and your stove, is this for a three-year-old? It's too low, it's bad for your waist. Since you have a shovel and a screwdriver here, I'll help you change it together... Oh my god, Mr. Joker, what happened to your face?!"

"Don't come over!... Batman!!!"