Chapter 182: Phantom of the Opera (Part 2)

When you feel something is abnormal, yet everyone says it is normal, do you start to think you are the one who has gone mad?

Batman is currently in this state; the Batman who has only just started out, his opponents are merely gang thugs or robbers, the most powerful of whom are no more than a talented thief like Catwoman or a powerful gang boss like Maroni.

Cat Getan has not yet reached the level of the later Cat Getan Grand Stage, therefore, the current Batman is still a vigilante whose thinking remains relatively normal.

But suddenly one day, namely tonight, he suddenly discovered that he seemed to be surrounded by madmen.

A madman shot a host dead on television, then raved that he would hold a performance at the Cat Getan Grand Theater, and everyone around him thought this was perfectly normal; they even bought tickets according to the procedure, including his ordinary psychology professor, the Godfather of Cat Getan, the priest, Gordon...

It seemed that no one questioned this absurd matter, which made Batman wonder if he himself had gone mad.

Humans all have a herd mentality; when their attitude contradicts everyone else's, very few can choose to persist in their own stance. Although Batman has not yet wavered, that strange feeling in his heart is gradually weakening.

Actually, if you think about it carefully, this is not absurd either, because this is Cat Getan; Cat Getan went mad long ago, and now it is just a little madder.

After checking the tickets and collecting the popcorn, the three of them formally headed to the performance hall. The Cat Getan Grand Theater has only one main performance hall; when Schiller and the others walked in, the rest of the people were already seated. Besides those few acquaintances of Schiller, there were actually quite a few onlookers.

Below the stage was a group of television cameramen. Schiller lit a cigarette and went to chat with their boss.

"What? Why am I here? Of course because someone hired me. Actually, even if he didn't pay me, I would be willing to come over to help, because he took out that most annoying host."

The head of that group of cameramen was a man with a big beard. He took the cigarette Schiller handed him and said, "You don't know how annoying he is; he causes so much trouble every day, making it impossible for us to get off work on time."

"That green-haired guy is a bit mad, but he doesn't seem very interested in money. Many people who wanted to buy tickets put their money in the television station's mailbox; that was several hundred dollars, enough for us to go on an outside assignment."

Schiller thought, it seems this Joker is not completely without reason, or rather, he understands human nature best.

That cameraman pointed to the backstage and said, "It's not just us; he somehow got an entire troupe of backstage staff. I heard they are actually people from this old theater. He told them that the Cat Getan Grand Theater is about to be revived, and tonight countless people will be watching here, so they helped him prepare the performance. Look over there, there's even an orchestra..."

Schiller followed the direction of his finger and saw that people were indeed rehearsing.

Schiller didn't feel very surprised, because he knew something about the Joker, but Batman was different; he was now really starting to suspect that he himself might be mad.

Why in such an absurd situation does everyone behave in an orderly and normal manner, with no one raising any objections?

Schiller returned to his seat and found Batman deep in thought. He said, "I told you long ago that Cat Getan is a book that can never be finished; there are new discoveries every day. Cat Getan is different every day."

"Recently, natural disasters and man-made troubles have been constant; roads have cracked, buildings have collapsed, and many people have nothing to do. During the logistics renovation before, almost everyone earned a sum of money. If they don't squander it, what else can they use it for?"

"I think holding a performance is not bad; it's much better than a strip club grand gathering, right? Evans?"

Evans sat stiffly in his seat and said, "Professor! Why didn't you tell me my father would be coming? If I had known he was coming, I wouldn't have come! If he sees me holding a bucket of popcorn, I'm dead!"

"Don't worry, your father should forgive you for this little mistake. After all, the fact that you are still alive is good enough."

Although he said that, when Falcone turned his head and glanced back at his son, Evans frantically stuffed the bucket of popcorn in his arms into Batman's hands.

Suddenly, a loud noise came from the stage. A person wearing a purple tailcoat limped onto the stage. He held a megaphone in his hand and shouted loudly, "Ladies! Gentlemen! Look at me! Look at my newly bought suit!"

He moved his shoulders vigorously as if he had lice growing on him, twisted his waist left and right, and said, "Damn it, this collar is a bit tight. I shouldn't have listened to that shop assistant; I should have bought a size larger..."

"Alright, this isn't important. I'm just a host; you can call me Mr. Jack!"

"Let me see... Good heavens! There are so many people! You all came to support me, I am so moved. Wait! Who is that? It's Batman!! It's Cat Getan's big star Batman!! Let's cheer for him!!!"

Accompanied by his vigorous waving of arms, the orchestra made a commotion, and the people below were actually led into cheering as well. Batman continued to sit silently in the audience.

"You should stand up and bow left and right, nodding to show your respect." Schiller said to him, "This is a necessary part of the interaction between the host and special audience members."

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Batman turned his head left and right, finding that it seemed everyone was looking at him expectantly, but just as he hesitated, the Joker on stage shouted, "Alright, who else? Good heavens! The Godfather of Cat Getan has also come!"

The Godfather did not stand up, but he extended one hand and waved it left and right.

"And..."

The Joker choked as if suddenly strangled. He said, "How do you pronounce that word? Wait, uh..."

He twisted left and right while rummaging in his pocket, pulled out a small piece of paper, looked at it and said, "Rod... riguez Professor!"

Schiller stood up, nodded to the left and right, and then waved his hand.

"I hate this name; it's really too convoluted," the Joker muttered under his breath.

Then he regained his enthusiasm and said, "Welcome to the grand opening performance of the great comedian Jack!"

"What did I say before? What did I say this plan was called?... 'Owls in Big Trouble'? No, no, no! I changed my mind; that name is too vulgar, it doesn't suit me!"

"Now I will call it—The Death of the Owl!"

Accompanied by his high-pitched tone, the orchestra played an opening piece. Instantly, the curtain behind him "whoosh" pulled open, and several spotlights focused on the center of the stage.

There, several hemp ropes hung down from the ceiling, with people tied from head to foot dangling at the ends. They were men and women, old and young, but they all shared one characteristic: they wore white bird-shaped masks.

The Joker took a strip of cloth and tied the megaphone to his body, which made his suit full of wrinkles and looked somewhat ridiculous, but he didn't care at all.

He happily rushed into the band, grabbed a triangle, struck it vigorously, and then shouted loudly, "Ta-da-da-da! The actors have appeared! Our protagonist has arrived!!!"

"Hey, over there cameramen, are you ready? You must ensure that all the audience in Cat Getan can see clearly!"

The big-bearded man made an OK gesture.

The Joker spun around, facing those victims who were tied up and suspended in mid-air by hemp ropes, and said, "I guess you must be very puzzled about how I found you?"

"Do you remember a charity banquet you held on Elizabeth Street a few days ago? The ingredients that day were delivered by me driving..."

"And which day? Oh... it should be more than ten days ago, I don't remember. Which restaurant was it? That was me too; I am a hardworking driver. I also often go to those places you frequent most!"

"You thought you hid very well. 'Owls without feathers showing all kinds of ugliness,' you can't hide anymore, hahahaha, your feathers have all been plucked out, looking ugly like newly hatched ducks, hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!"

One of the tied-up people, whose mouth was not taped shut, shouted loudly, "Impossible, our disguise was clearly..."

"You are heartbroken!" The Joker interrupted him and said, "You put on an indifferent attitude, thinking you are no different from usual, but your hearts are bleeding; I can smell that bloodstain."

"What have you lost? What made you lose your composure and feel heartbroken? Could it be..." The Joker chuckled and said, "Could it be money, hahahaha!!"

"Hahahaha, sorry, I shouldn't laugh, but I really can't help it. You actually... you actually!!! Hahahaha, actually for money!!!"

The Joker laughed until he was out of breath. He bent over and covered his stomach, as if he was about to laugh himself to suffocation in the next second.

Laughter also came from below the stage. Batman looked at Schiller. Schiller, as if suddenly reacting, covered his mouth and said, "Oh, it's nothing; I just couldn't help it a bit, because it really was quite funny, especially..."

Schiller looked left and right and whispered to Batman, "... especially when thinking about how all that money is now in my pocket."

The Joker gradually recovered from his state of wild laughter. He found that the Owl members he had tied up were all silent. His smile had not yet disappeared. He asked, "Why are you so serious?"

"Isn't this funny enough?"

Having finished speaking, he asked the audience: "An organization that calls itself the ruler of Cat Getan! And yet it fell apart just because it lost money... hahahaha! A secret society that claims to be a great dark existence, exposed simply because of money—could this possibly... hahahahahaha!!!!"

Many in the audience began to laugh, which gradually escalated into uproarious laughter.

The only ones remaining silent were Batman and the members of the Court of Owls on stage.

Now, the members of the Court of Owls felt exactly as Batman did: had they gone mad, or had the world gone mad?

"Why can't we... you bunch of poor country bumpkins! Do you know how much money that was? It was a trap; we were extorted; we..."

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" The Joker rushed forward and wildly struck the member's head with the small iron rod used to strike the triangle. He said, "The person who explains a joke is the flaw in a perfect joke! Shut up quickly!"

After a while, the Joker, panting, walked back to the front of the stage and said, "Alright, the opening ceremony is over; we are about to begin the real show!"

Having said that, he walked among the group of people hanging there, tore the tape from their mouths, and then said to them, "You should have seen it; you are hanging at different heights..."

"And now..." The Joker stomped his feet and said, "There is a big surprise beneath the floor, just like the one I gave you before."

"From this moment on, the ropes binding you will slowly descend. If even one person touches the ground, then... Boom! Hahahaha!"

"Of course, you also have a way to save yourselves. When one person dies, their rope will stop descending."

"You should already feel it; in your hands, bound behind your backs, you are each clutching a button. When you press this button, a random person among you will die."

"And my audience!" The Joker turned around, raised both hands, and said, "Take out your tickets; they contain clues!"

He then said to those who were bound, "Each of you may choose one audience member to question, to guess who the button in your hand corresponds to, or whose button corresponds to you."

"And then!" The Joker raised his voice and said, "Consider whether or not to press the button in your hand..."

He turned, bowed, and stood in the center of the stage. The spotlight cast the shadows of his stray hairs as pitch-black silhouettes. The smile on his face became somewhat terrifying, and his voice echoed through the empty theater, becoming rhythmic and modulated:

"When I heard that a savior named Batman had appeared in Cat Getan, I almost thought I had gone mad."

"But I am not mad, so he certainly is not a savior."

"But this damn madman disguised as a bat, he rejected me, ignored me, and even insulted me by saying I was a mass-produced killer made by someone else..."

"Now, I have proven that I am not. So, it is your turn... Batman."

----------Author's Note----------

Writing about the Joker, I definitely need to have a drink. Goodnight, everyone.