Chapter 3256: Blood-Spattered New City (16)

Nightwing, who rushed into the cave with equipment and weapons, made an emergency stop, blocking the people behind him with the arm holding the gun. He instinctively felt something was wrong.

This kind of crazy laughter had not echoed over Gotham for a long time, so much so that people had forgotten the danger brought by this madness.

But Nightwing would never forget.

Dick Grayson in this universe was not the first Robin; Jason Todd was. Nightwing knew this, and he had once asked Batman where his predecessor had gone.

Batman didn't explain too much, but in later probing, Nightwing knew that Batman's first assistant Robin had been killed by the Joker.

Since then, the Joker was not just Batman's nightmare, but also Nightwing's. He knew that if he wanted to stand with Batman, he would sooner or later have to face this terrifying madman.

But he never thought this day would come so quickly.

He watched with his own eyes as the skin on the female figure in front of him healed rapidly, but still left mottled scars, and hair grew out, only it was a bright green.

In a flash, Nightwing saw a black shadow flash past his side, and the companion behind him roared.

"Careful! He's coming!"

Zzz—

The sudden braking left a charred mark on the ground. Bruce was shaken and hit his forehead on the glass, which swelled up in an instant. He covered his head and just wanted to ask the Pale Knight why he braked, when he saw him bend down in some pain.

"What's wrong with you?!" Bruce reached out to help him, but was pushed away by the Pale Knight. He took a deep breath and said: "What did Schiller feed me? Why can't I feel the existence of the medicine?"

"He mixed some special things into your medicine... Oh, my God, that means you only took half the medicine!"

The Pale Knight's throat began to make constant exhaling sounds, as if he wanted to laugh but couldn't. His lungs became like a bellows, constantly rising and falling to squeeze out air.

Bruce hurriedly took out the medicine bottle from the drawer in front of the car, wanting the Pale Knight to take the medicine, but after the Pale Knight lay there and rested for a while, he raised his head blankly.

"Hurry up, your medicine..."

The Pale Knight shook his head slightly and said: "Something's wrong, it's a bit strange, he... he seems to have become weak..."

"Who?"

"The Joker." The Pale Knight took a deep breath and said: "Without the suppression of the medicine, he would always fight me for control of the body, but this time the time was so short, he has become weaker and weaker."

The Pale Knight's tone revealed confusion, but Bruce seemed to have thought of something. He had previously watched Schiller walk out of the room where the Joker was locked up, holding a syringe filled with bright red liquid. That thing wouldn't be the Joker's blood, would it?

Bruce patted the Pale Knight's shoulder gently and said: "You're not in a good state, let me drive."

The Pale Knight was indeed a bit weak. He and Bruce swapped positions, and Bruce started the car and drove all the way from the valley.

When he reached the valley, the ominous premonition became stronger and stronger. He said to the Pale Knight: "The Joker in your body wouldn't become weak for no reason. If there must be a reason, it might be that a new Joker has been born."

The Pale Knight looked at him in shock.

Bruce got out of the car, slammed the door, walked to the Pale Knight's side, and said through the car window: "You can't leave now, because if you see the new Joker, the Joker in your body will likely use all his strength to seize control of your body and then kill the new Joker. That will cause you great harm."

Bruce added in his heart, "The key is that the Joker in your body might not be able to beat the new Joker, and the damage the medicine does to the body is shared by both sides."

"No." I must go, the Pale Knight said: "I must figure out what's going on. This is very important."

Bruce wanted to persuade him again, but at this time, the roar of an engine sounded behind him, and a pitch-black car drove over.

The other party obviously recognized them too. The Batmobile stopped slowly beside the car Bruce was driving, and Batman lowered the window.

Bruce immediately realized this was a good opportunity. He turned to Batman and said: "The Joker in the Pale Knight's body is becoming weak because a new Joker has been born. We suspect it's Maria. Are you here for this?"

Batman paused slightly and said: "I received Nightwing's request for help. He said he saw the Joker. I thought it was you."

"I'm afraid it's worse than that," Bruce said. "Someone created a new Joker because the Joker in the Pale Knight's body was unwilling to cooperate, and it's stronger than the one in the Pale Knight's body."

After speaking, Bruce, regardless of whether Batman was willing or not, opened the car door, dragged the Pale Knight out, pushed him to the side of the Batmobile, and said: "You have to watch him. Don't let the two Jokers fight, otherwise the whole city will be destroyed."

"Where are you going?" The Pale Knight looked at Bruce and asked.

"Don't you understand yet?" Bruce sat in the driver's seat with some helplessness and said: "This Joker wasn't naturally evolved, but artificially created, which means something more terrifying than the Joker is now moving freely in the city. You tell me what I'm going to do?"

Batman was obviously hesitant. He felt Bruce was talking nonsense. How could the Joker be artificially created? But the scene Nightwing described to him was indeed very much like the Joker's revival, and the Pale Knight was standing here well, which forced him to believe what Bruce said.

The door of the Batmobile opened. Batman looked at the Pale Knight and said: "Get in. After I leave, I will lock the car, so even if the Joker takes over your body, he won't be able to leave this car."

Bruce threw the medicine to the Pale Knight through the window and said: "Now is not the time to consider side effects. Delay a little more time."

After speaking, he turned the car around and left. The Pale Knight watched his departing back, looking a bit weak.

He had already guessed who the person Bruce mentioned who created the Joker was, which made him feel for the first time that he was inviting a wolf into the house.

Schiller did weaken the Joker, but don't worry about how exactly he weakened him for now.

Bruce drove into the city, calculating in his heart: the Pale Knight, although not the Joker, is also not Batman; greed is very much like the Joker, so he is even less likely to be Batman; he himself has long since ceased to be Batman.

Then there is only one Batman in this city now, which is the one he just saw. According to the Batman-Joker correspondence principle, this means there can only be one Joker in this city.

This is Schiller's idea to weaken the Joker in the Pale Knight's body. Maria was pushed into the chemical pool by Harley, suffered severe damage, and was injected with the Joker's blood by Schiller.

This means she met the two main conditions of the Joker: one is falling into the chemical pool, and the other is possessing the Dionysian factor. She even gained Batman's attention to a large extent.

The Pale Knight has been taking medicine to suppress the Joker in his body, while Maria was Batman's main enemy in the past period, completely replacing the Joker's ecological niche.

In this way, Maria met all three conditions—falling into the chemical pool, being infected with the Joker virus, and being watched by Batman.

She deserved to become the new Joker.

And because there can only be one Joker, once she becomes the new Joker, the Joker in the Pale Knight's body will gradually disappear.

Bruce had to admit that this was an effective method, because if there is destined to be a Joker, as long as it is not the Pale Knight, they have saved a good person, and there is no extra bad person.

But is this a method a human can think of? Is this something a human can do?

But Bruce knew he was the least qualified to blame Schiller, because he had done such things too.

At the fork in the road, Bruce slowed down slightly. He was thinking about where Schiller would be. At Arkham Asylum? Or at Wei En Manor?

Actually, neither. Schiller is now in Victor Fries's lab.

Taking advantage of the gap while Maria was transforming into the Joker, he rescued Victor. Victor in this universe is much more weathered than the one in the Arrogance universe, and it seems his life hasn't been very good.

Schiller poured a cup of hot coffee and placed it in front of Victor, then said: "That's about it. I need to deal with that cunning thief. As long as you are willing to help me, your lab will receive long-term effective funding."

Victor was tidying up things on the side. He said: "You should know that I am not the same as the group of madmen in Arkham Asylum. I am a normal person, and I don't want to use anything I've built to attack anyone."

"That is precisely the reason I came to find you. If I wanted to kill that thief, I would have gone to find Bane. I hope to control him, not hurt him."

"I won't give you the low-temperature weapon."

Schiller said very sincerely: "Even if you give it to me, I won't use it. My marksmanship is terrible, so I hope you can bring your equipment and accompany me on a trip."

"Also, I think guns are still a bit too aggressive. It would be even better if there were some ice traps or something."

"Your definition of aggressiveness is truly different from ordinary people." Victor was obviously a bit shaken. He said: "Just for this, you are willing to give me 200,000 US dollars? That's 200,000."

"I said, it's not just this money. If the effect is good enough, I have the confidence to persuade Batman to fund your lab long-term."

"I won't work for him." Victor shook his head. He seemed very sober. He said: "Batman is the kind of person who would be anxious to the point of madness if this weapon couldn't be completely controlled in his hands. I don't want to bear his madness."

"Then let the city government fund it. How about the Pale Knight paying?"

"Do you think I don't know the situation of the city government? The Pale Knight is kind, but he has no money at all."

"Then where did I get 200,000 to give you?"

Victor looked at Schiller and said: "You are the kind of person who looks like you've never been short of money."

"You are a good judge of character, so are you willing to trade with me?"

Victor took a deep breath and said: "I do need a sum of money to upgrade the security equipment of the lab. I don't want to be kidnapped again."

"Then I am willing to contact GTO and let them provide you with continuous long-term security services, paid for by the city government."

"GTO is about to change hands. Can you persuade its new master?"

"I won't ask how an ordinary physicist like you is so well-informed. If you are willing, I can do it."

Victor hesitated for a moment, nodded and said: "Fine, but I won't go to Wei En Manor myself. I don't want to offend Batman. I will give you a small ice generation device. You just need to place it on the thief's only path, and it will guarantee to control him."

"Won't hurt anyone?"

"No, and it can control him for at least two days, making him completely unable to move, but he can speak."

"Very good, deal. Any freebies?"

"What freebies do you want?"

"How about that?" Schiller pointed to something in the corner of the lab.

"That?" Victor looked back and found that Schiller was pointing at a high-power ultraviolet flashlight. ===== CHAPTER 3257 =====