wjnovel Chapter 249 How do I merge with the Joker?
Chapter 249 How do I merge with the Joker?
Chapter 249 How do I merge with the Joker?
"Oh, bat... my bat. You haven't come to see me in so long, how cold."
The Batcave is not a single-story building; perhaps no one except Batman knows how many hidden chambers it actually has.
Descending the steps along the bat cave, crossing several gates requiring authentication and hidden passages, we can reach the lowest level of the cave—
The cell where the clown is imprisoned.
At this moment, Chen Tao appeared here. He hadn't visited this place for a long time, and even his food was prepared entirely by robots.
For him, there was no obligation to feed the clown well; he only needed to keep him from starving.
"Don't pretend that you've been fighting me all these years, Joker No. 33, codename: Martial Artist."
He slowly walked to the transparent cage, where the clown was bound by countless chains, tied up like a dumpling. Chen Tao's face, hidden by a mask, revealed no emotion.
"You are nothing but a defective product, a pathetic stand-in used to maintain the criminal myth of the Joker when the real Joker can't fight me."
Chen Tao said, "But we all know what's going on. It's just a relay race between antelopes."
Antelope relay race refers to antelopes that look alike pretending to be the same one in front of a hunter, and then taking turns running with the hunter. When one gets tired, it hides behind a rock, and then another one pretends to be the previous one to take over, creating the visual effect that the antelopes seem to have unlimited stamina.
"Antelope relay? No...no, no, no, Bat, you've got it all wrong."
But he heard the clown in front of him sneer.
"Don't you understand? A Joker is a Joker. There's no such thing as a copy or the original. Every Joker is a Joker; we are one. One, understand?"
He spoke somewhat incoherently: "Every clown is part of the clown."
Chen Tao pursed his lips.
These things were irrelevant to him; he wasn't there to compete with the martial arts clown in front of him for the status of clowns.
He has more important things to do.
The Joker? The Joker is outdated. Faced with a crisis in Darkseid or any other multiverse, it's clear the Joker isn't as important.
Honestly, it wasn't that he wanted to deliberately provoke the Joker; the important thing is that it's true: he's already forgotten about the Joker.
If it weren't for the fact that Joker's requirement was "a Joker," he wouldn't have looked at the Joker again, or even contacted him again, unless one day, like Brainiac's time, he needed to use the Joker's mind to disgust his opponent.
He pressed a button on the transparent cage, and the door opened. He walked confidently to the Joker, examining the chains on his body from head to toe.
He had previously carried a vehicle (Batman, Class F) and a live dinosaur (Batman Dragon, Class E), but he had never carried a living person.
This is completely illogical! Is he going to merge with the Joker like he merged with a car or a dinosaur?
What exactly is the Alfred Protocol all about?
A scene involuntarily popped into Chen Tao's mind: he was wearing a battle suit in the style of Dragon Ball, then bent his waist at a 90-degree angle, interlaced his two index fingers with the clown who was making the same move, and then shouted "Merge!" Just like Gotenks in Dragon Ball, he merged into the Laughing Bat in a burst of dynamic light effects.
"..."
This is absolutely ridiculous.
Despite thinking this, he still placed his hand on the clown's shoulder.
……
?
The Alfred Protocol didn't react at all; normally, he would have said something like, "Dear Batman #52, you have found a Joker."
But now the other party is as if they are dead.
This actually made Chen Tao breathe a sigh of relief. He had been very conflicted when he came here, after all, the clown was not the dinosaur or car he had previously transported. Even if the other party was crazy and perverted, he was still at least a living, breathing person!
If he were to load the other person up without hesitation, just like before, letting them melt into his body like a wax solution, what would that make him? A Hannibal Lecter Batman version of Dr. Cannibal?
Did the joke I made to Red Hood, where I said I wanted to eat people, actually come true?
Even the Laughing Bat wouldn't do something so extreme.
It's now clear that he messed up the loading method, which conveniently avoids ethical issues, and he no longer has to worry about it.
However, figuring out how to load up the Joker became another problem. He planned to load up the Joker before heading to Atlantis.
Among the countless Batmen he has portrayed to date, the Joker is undoubtedly a unique figure.
Not just because he's the only synchronization object associated with the Joker, nor just because the Alfred Protocol has a bug that repeatedly says "Error, Error, Batman Who Laughs, Error—" during synchronization, let's talk about the most important issue.
The Joker is not Batman from a parallel universe at all!!!
Joker is the benevolent version of the Joker from Earth-3. The Joker in that world fell into a chemical substance, but it didn't turn him evil. Instead, he continued to uphold justice and fought against the evil version of the Justice League, the Crime Syndicate.
Logically speaking, if Chen Tao wanted to synchronize with the Batman of that parallel universe, the object of synchronization should obviously be the evil version of Batman [Night Owl], not the Joker.
The Alfred Protocol often goes awry and acts erratically when dealing with Joker-related matters. He's gotten used to it after a couple of times, but this time it's different. He needs to load Joker Man and urgently needs the Alfred Protocol to provide a clear loading method, rather than an abstract description like "find a Joker."
He's found the Joker, but he still can't load it. Is he stuck like this?
The Alfred Protocol wasn't some intelligent question-and-answer robot capable of easily responding to Chen Tao's questions in real time; it simply couldn't answer him. Thus, the situation quickly reached a stalemate. Therefore…
So why not ask the magical sea... cough, he naturally has other ways.
"goodbye."
He said to the clown.
"Bat, are you leaving now? Sit a little longer!"
Chen Tao walked away expressionlessly.
"Hey, Bat! You can't just leave like this!"
He reached out his hand, and the transparent cage closed again.
"The Joker will return! I will return! Don't think you can just abandon me like this—remember, Batman's greatest enemy has always been the Joker!"
Ignoring the other party's insults, Chen Taocheng took the elevator and slowly ascended into the cave.
He walked up to the Bat computer.
Soon, the silvery-white particles began to surge, and Chen Tao's appearance transformed into that of a bat mage.
He pulled out Shazam's spellbook.
"Where can I load up the Joker?"
That's right. Problems that science can't explain can simply be left to magic. He wanted to see where divination magic would lead him.
Divination that combines Shazam magic and irony is at least not too far off in terms of accuracy.
"Um……?"
Chen Tao lowered his head and frowned.
"How does the Joker character have anything to do with this place again?"
He stood up.
On Shazam's spellbook, several large words were written:
Eternal Cellar.
……
……
……
I am... the Supreme Little Superman.
I was born in the Primordial Universe.
That was an era incredibly far removed from the present, what many stories often refer to as "a long, long time ago."
Back then, the timeline hadn't been rebooted as many times as it is now; it was a golden age where numerous heroes flourished and the world shone brightly.
I was raised by my adoptive parents, Naomi Kentjeri.
In the universe I live in, heroes are just characters in comics, and I was just an ordinary person until I was 15... mediocre and unremarkable.
But when I was 15, the Crisis on Infinite Earths happened.
An unprecedentedly powerful villain, the Anti-Monitor, devoured one positive matter universe after another using the Anti-Life Equation he had mastered, until only five positive matter universes remained.
Meanwhile, the Anti-Monitor's nemesis, the "Monitor," recruited heroes and villains from the last five universes to engage in a final battle against the Anti-Monitor.
It was at that time that an elderly Superman from Earth-2 accidentally traveled to the primordial universe where I exist, and Halley's Comet, which crossed the sky, also triggered my power, granting me the abilities of Superman.
Superman invited me, and at that time... I was full of vigor and high spirits after suddenly gaining power, so I readily agreed to go with Superman to save the universe.
however……
No sooner had I left than the Anti-Monitor devoured my primordial universe, and my parents and girlfriend all perished...
I lost everything. But Crisis on Infinite Earths is over.
I saved everything, didn't I? Even if the price was the merging of countless universes into one, and I was confined to the [Heavenly Dimension], unable to travel to the new universe…
But I saved the world, I'm a hero!
But what about it?
What did that new world give me in return?!
Look at this: Robin is beaten to death by the Joker (the Family Deaths incident); Green Lantern Hal Jordan, bewitched by Parallax, nearly destroys the world (the Emerald Twilight event); Wonder Woman hangs a criminal in front of the whole world...
At midnight... an identity crisis... one tragedy after another!
I originally thought... I originally thought that after all the sacrifices we made, we would create a paradise where everyone could live and work in peace and contentment. But this new universe is nothing short of hell!
Those heroes of the new world were greedy and evil, suspicious and wary of one another. They were morally corrupt and easily began to do evil. They possessed such a wonderful new world, a new world created by the sacrifice of countless people—yet they did not cherish it at all!
Why should I be confined to this paradise, silently enduring the pain of losing my family? They don't deserve to be heroes!
I saved the wrong world; this universe should be erased, not saved.
Little Lex Luthor, who fell into the Heavenly Dimension with me, and I prepared a plan together...
I'm trying to restore the multiverse so that everyone can live their perfect lives as they did in the past.
But those scum who don't deserve to be called heroes banded together.
They actually ganged up on me! I just wanted to do something good! I wanted to restore the prosperity and peace of the universe as it once was! Once the multiverse is restored, we can return to the Golden Age—
(Note: In the era of Superman Supreme, all heroes were morally upright; good people were simply good people, without complex character arcs. Therefore, he only encountered morally upright heroes and could not tolerate the character flaws of the heroes in the rebooted world.)
In that era, every hero was a moral exemplar!
But those scumbags who don't deserve to be called heroes treated me like a bad guy, rushed up and attacked me, causing me to lose control and kill one of them, thus becoming a murderer and a villain!
It's all because of these stupid heroes in this world that I've made myself this way!
I was utterly disillusioned with this world, so I went on a killing spree.
They simply don't understand that as long as I destroy Planet Oa, causing a cosmic Big Bang that destroys the universe, I can then restart the universe and create a new world! A perfect world!
My former mentor, Superman, is now on my opposite side. He knows perfectly well how evil and dark this world is, knows perfectly well that our past sacrifices have become meaningless! The Golden Age will never return, yet Superman still believes in those fools!
I beat him severely, and I beat him to death. But that didn't change the fact that I ultimately suffered a crushing defeat.
I am trapped in a cage... As a monster, I am trapped on the Origin Wall, and I still am. This is the edge of the universe, and unless someone helps me, even I cannot break free.
But that's impossible; no one would be willing to let me go.
A few days ago, a little maggot called the Meditation Mite visited my cell, but that damned bastard would rather release those weaklings that I could crush with one hand than look me in the eye.
I'm afraid I'll have to stay in this dark corner forever...
Huh?
The Supreme Superman in the cage raised his head. At this moment, half of his body was covered by the Origin Wall, and he could only see who the newcomer was by looking at his head.
A small iron gate materialized in the void before him, behind which lay the Eternal Cellar: a transit point connecting to countless unknown locations throughout the universe. The Mite of Meditation had also passed through that very location, via the Origin Wall that imprisoned him.
"Batman?"
The other person's attire was somewhat strange, wearing a mage's cloak, but Supreme Superman could still recognize him.
Seeing a living person again excited him. Although he knew the other party wouldn't release him, it didn't stop him from yelling and shouting at them:
"Let me go! Let me go! You despicable, foolish—"
"Shh! Stay calm for a moment."
However, Batman did not ignore him like the Mite had before.
He saw Batman turn around and say to him in a gentle tone, "Now is not the time to release you. Wait a little longer, Superman Supreme. I promise you will be free one day, but can you be a little quieter now? I have other things to do. We can talk about releasing you after I've finished my business."
"...?"
The other party's seriousness surprised even the Supreme Superman.
But Batman ignored him. Through the door that led to the Eternal Cellar, Superman saw the other man standing against a wall, muttering something.
"The portals are wide open... the portals are wide open! I understand now, the Eternal Vault can connect to the prisons of those terrifying monsters from the multiverse, and it can also serve as a transit point to other places..."
"As long as the right magic is used..."
"Found it!"
Then Superman watched as Batman lifted his foot and walked straight into a door that appeared in the wall.
Haha, this is a plot hole that's been buried for a long time. When I was writing about the Joker, many readers asked: "Hey, this isn't Batman at all. Why is this guy popping up among a bunch of Batmen?"
As you might have already realized, the protagonist, except for the first volume, is currently syncing with a Nightmare Batman from the Dark Knights in every volume. Eventually, in one volume, he will be syncing with the Batman Who Laughs.
(End of this chapter)