Chapter 3763

Because Anatoli got there first, and Bruce interfered, the Joker never became one of Barbatos's top generals, so naturally he didn't gain any great power from him.

Without a strong foundational power to support him, even with precognition, many plans couldn't be executed. Just crossing the universe is a hassle—it requires a lot of energy. Without Barbatos's investment, everything had to be figured out by the Joker himself.

This greatly limited the Joker's range of activity. He couldn't just appear in whatever universe he wanted, as in the original comics; most of the time he could only circle within a few limited universes.

As a result, he didn't know many Batmen, and didn't understand them well. Most of the time, he'd read their thoughts through the spiky eye patch on his head when they were off guard, then judge their strength based on their life history.

This method wasn't very reliable—it only gave a rough idea. After struggling to find a few decent dark multiverse Batmen and making a series of plans to recruit them, he still got outmaneuvered by Bruce and his allies.

That simply wouldn't do. The Joker couldn't allow his plan to conquer the universe to fail in his own hands. After painful reflection, he finally decided—blame God.

As said before, the Joker wasn't particularly strong when he was Batman. If he truly had immense willpower, he wouldn't have been infected by the Joker virus. Look at Arkham Batman—he speedran Gotham in one night while infected with the Joker virus, fighting not only external criminals but also the Joker in his own mind. Later he was hit with an enhanced fear toxin, yet still mopped the floor with everyone, as if nothing was wrong.

The Joker felt his constant misfortune stemmed from his weak innate constitution. As Batman he wasn't strong, so his corresponding Joker wasn't strong either—combined, they weren't formidable. If he were born invulnerable to blades and bullets, or could use magic, would this dilemma still exist?

Therefore, his predicament wasn't his fault—it was God's failure to give him a good body. If he'd had a strong body, he'd have long since rampaged across the multiverse.

The Joker's mindset has always been this way, even in the original comics. After gaining Barbatos's power at the start, he formed the Dark Knights, but never properly managed them—instead, he went to steal the body of the Batman who might become Doctor Manhattan, then later stole crisis energy.

Such people don't think about improving themselves—they only want to take what's already made. Whoever is strong, they steal from; if it's useless, they move on to the next target, endlessly cycling, never truly owning anything.

Of course, if they could steal successfully every time, that might count as finding a niche skill. But the key is, even when stealing, they don't steal wisely. They can only pick what looks strongest within their limited perspective, regardless of whether it's truly the strongest or suitable for them.

Within the Joker's frame of reference, the strongest Batman he could access was probably Arkham Batman.

This is the flaw of that approach: the Joker only goes for those who appear visibly strong, so his ability ceiling is limited by his cognition. Otherwise, he should have tried to steal Bruce's body—but he didn't, because he couldn't make sense of Bruce.

Though the main universe Batman isn't weak, he's relatively restrained—what was earlier called "restraint." Even in the battle realm, his missions look like they're just "barely completed." Though he gets what's due, he often lacks flair, appearing less stylish.

Arkham Batman is different. Like agents, he's a speedrunner, pursuing extreme efficiency—skipping, skipping again, skipping. Clearing dungeons is like chopping vegetables; from appearance to demeanor to combat style, it's flashy, absolutely appealing to most people's aesthetics. The Joker is no exception.

The Joker knew of the battle realm's existence and had considered it before. Though the battle realm's level is too high for him to break through temporarily, when he decided to steal a body, he immediately thought: he could create a trap universe to lure various Batmen, then pick the strongest.

The Shattered Batman instance was the best trap he found. He used Batman and Robin's sympathy to lure them in, then carefully set it up and conducted screening.

In fact, far more than just Dick and Arkham Batman came to rescue the Shattered Batman—many Batmen showed up. But because the Joker had schemed while they were unprepared, he set up numerous obstacles, then used the ghost city to stall them, so almost no one reached the end. Even some weaker Batmen were eliminated at the start.

Thus, the Arkham Batman who made it to the end naturally became the Joker's target—he wanted exactly such a powerful body.

The Joker used the ghost city to defeat Arkham Batman, but didn't immediately execute his body-stealing plan because Arkham Batman was still in a battle realm mission at the time. And players in the battle realm, even if dead, only revive there, with their physical state reset. The Joker couldn't contend with such a high-level existence, so he couldn't take Arkham Batman's body from the battle realm—he had to lure out the true body without an active mission.

So he deliberately stayed in the Shattered Batman's universe, waiting for the frustrated Arkham Batman to come find him. But possibly because the Batman in that universe was in such poor condition, the Joker couldn't implant an egg in his body, so he had to take a detour: lure Arkham Batman from the Shattered Batman universe into the Silent Batman universe, transfer the egg from Silent Batman's body into Arkham Batman's, then figure out how to hatch it and successfully steal Arkham Batman's body.

"Wait." After leaving the elevator, Shiler suddenly stepped in front of Arkham Batman and said, "Don't go over there."

Arkham Batman looked at him. Though he said nothing, his stance was clear.

"I'm saying, the Joker's Batman is a very obsessive person." Shiler said. "He thinks your body is the best, and no other Batman compares, so he'll get you no matter what. Before that, he won't waste this chance on other Batmen—they're temporarily safe."

Arkham Batman narrowed his eyes. He slowed his steps, looked at Shiler, and asked, "What method does he plan to use to take my body?"

"An egg, similar to a parasite." Shiler thought for a moment, then said. "I don't know the exact method, but I suspect it doesn't require defeating you first."

"He really shouldn't be that foolish." Arkham Batman said in a low voice. "What changes happen after being parasitized?"

"Possibly mental derangement." Shiler said. "Or maybe your earlier comment reminded me. This universe's young Bruce, due to mental issues, ended up in an asylum—possibly because he was parasitized. But only at the moment of parasitization did he show symptoms; afterward he gradually became normal, so now we can't tell whether this universe's Batman still has an egg inside him."

"What are you planning to do?" Arkham Batman asked.

"You absolutely must not make contact with this universe's Batman, especially not be in the same space as him and the Joker. Fortunately, the Joker now only has a head left—if we get rid of that head, the risk drops significantly."

They arrived at the door. Shiler said: "Even if he's just a head now, he can still read minds. This matter shouldn't be known by too many people—you also need to prepare."

"Don't worry." Arkham Batman nodded and said. "You said that plan needs to be executed quickly—if there's another him, he won't have time to come bother me."

"I have another plan." Shiler smiled and said. "If it works, things will get interesting."

After speaking, he pushed the door open and walked in. Three pairs of eyes locked onto him simultaneously. The main universe Batman stepped forward first and said: "What's wrong? Anything the matter?"

"I forgot to pick something up." Shiler looked at the Joker's head on the table and said, "I don't think he'll have a pleasant chat with you, so I'll take him away first. Goodbye."

The main universe Batman didn't object—he was busy figuring out what kind of Batman this universe's version was. Shiler took the Joker's head but didn't leave; instead, he went to the nearby lounge to wait, clearly intending to speak with the main universe Batman after he finished his business.

When Shiler and the main universe Batman discussed their plan earlier, and later when he and Arkham Batman went over execution details, the Joker's head was present. The Joker heard all their plans and knows what they intend to do.

Shiler spoke without reservation, so the two Batmen knew he might have ulterior motives, and thus played along with his words, pretending not to know the Joker could hear them.

Shiler indeed had his own calculations. He never intended to hide anything from the Joker—since the moment his head was chopped off, the Joker had already lost agency. Whatever Shiler does next, the Joker can't stop it.

But now knowing the Joker's head might still be able to transfer the suspected Joker egg in Silent Batman's body to another body, Shiler had another idea.

It's known that the Joker knows they want to exploit a bug to create two Jokers—meaning the new Joker born from a new body and the current Joker with only a head will use different bodies, and they will inevitably fight.

So will this old Joker actually give the new Joker a good body? If so, when they fight, wouldn't the old Joker be putting himself at a disadvantage?

Since the old and new Joker are destined to clash, if the old Joker were crazy, he'd give his opponent such a strong body. If the new Joker took Arkham Batman's body, then what would the old Joker even fight for—nothing!

Shiler plans to exploit this to make the Joker destroy himself. But first, he still needs to add fuel to the fire. The Joker isn't very smart to begin with—if he loses his rationality, he'll be even easier to deal with.

After a while, the lounge door was knocked. Shiler came out of the lounge and saw the main universe Batman sitting in a chair.

"Did you call someone to handle the corpse?" Shiler asked, looking at Elliot's body on the floor.

"Not yet. What's wrong?"

"Don't rush to call anyone. Don't forget—our plan to revive the old Joker's body still has no resolution. I think Elliot's body isn't bad—what do you think?"