Chapter 569: I, Joker (8)
Translator: Lonelytree
And now we shall move to the other side of the city. Inside the Bat castle, in one of the labs. At that moment, the screen on the wall was broadcasting the battle at the parking lot of the police station. When Ruoyu used Fallen Blossom Sweeping Slash, every viewer showed a plain expression of disbelief. Even the robin who was helping The Bruce put on the battle armor was too shocked to keep working, he stared at the screen and mumbled, “Oh my god… this is impossible…”
When the six in the camera leaped onto the rooftop of the police station and escaped from the surveillance angle, Professor Klibon opened his mouth to tell the Bruce, “Five minutes ago, this set of video was captured by the camera near the police station parking lot. The leading up to this was… our spy, Mr. Dar has taken on himself to contact a nearby patrol and convinced them that he has managed to create an opportunity where we can ‘eliminate the entire rebel organization and capture Joe Collins alive’.” The professor shrugged. “But in the end… in just a few seconds, our soldiers were disintegrated by a kind of super power that was impossible to analyse.” He pushed on the glasses on his nose and shook his head. “Forgive my straightforwardness but this is already beyond my comprehension. I am afraid even I am not able to provide an explanation to this phenomenon.”
Gordon shouted at the side, “This is the end of the world… a tragedy!” This prophet of the bat was showing obvious panic. He mumbled without going through his mind, “She… and that Joker, they are all demons!”
“Shut up, Gordon!” The Bruce warned dangerously, “Even if they can do something that is beyond normal understanding, it does not mean that they are some kind of supernatural existence.” He paused, “They are still humans, just… different from normal…” At this point he had finished putting on the ‘battle-use combat suit’.
“Hmm… this feels…” After The Bruce activated the armor system, he said to himself, “…different.” His eyes focused on the piece of glass on the front of the his right eye and the various data of the armor suit was floating before his eyes.
“I have made some modification to it.” Klibon explained quickly. “It has been too long since you last used it in a battle. During this period… in every few years, I will clear up my schedule to conduct some updates on it to prevent the combat suit from getting outdated.”
“Very good, Klibon.” The Bruce nodded. “That is exactly what I wanted.” He tried to grip his fist. “Super defence, increase in strength, and…” his eyes darkened dangerously, “various lethal weapons.”
“he… he he…” Gordon wiped away the cold sweat from his forehead and forced a smile. “That means that… we do not need to worry about that Joker and Harley Quinn anymore, right?”
Huff—
Before he could finish, the gale of wind. In that moment, The Bruce morphed into a black ghost and appeared before Gordon in an instant; and he grabbed Gordon collar by one hand and lifted the man up from the ground.
…
“Oh— No!” The suddenly change frightened Gordon. In that one or two seconds, he really thought the Bruce would kill him. Thankfully…
“Put some faith in your god, Gordon.” The Bruce said with an icy smile as he slowly put Gordon down. “Do not care what kind of power the four mouse that are scurrying through the city have obtained…” He scoffed. “Because when I am fully prepared, they do not have a chance at survival at all.”
“Of… of course…” Gordon sighed in relief when both of his feet landed on the ground. He swallowed the anger rising in his heart, arranged his collar and said, “I know that of course you are unbeatable.”
“No.” The Bruce immediately denied the man’s flattery and replied, “Based on my knowledge, there is indeed someone—someone very special that has the power to defeat me…” He said as he turned around to pick up the cape on the table. “Ha ha… and that excites me.” A passionate smile appeared on his face.
“One or two criminals or madman is no threat to me.” The Bruce continued, “The man that is the real threat is Joe Collins.”
“The kid from the rebels?” Gordon asked in curiosity. “But…” He pointed at the monitor. “His remaining people has just been all eliminated by us. Even the Dar who silently threw his fate with us has just been killed by that Joker.”
“Number is never a problem.” The Bruce said, “as long as he can prove himself, there will always be a new batch of people who are willing to sell lives to work for him…” he lifted his head to sigh. “The reason I have that Dar return to his side was for him to keep a close tab on him. Who would have thought… that idiot would take on his own initiative and not only sacrifice the lives of my people and has made me lose complete control over Joe.”
Obviously, The Bruce’s brilliance and cunning was extremely high. He already had a full plan to deal with the reals. If the man had any weakness, it was his overconfidence in his physical prowess. After all, he had not encountered a worthy opponent in decades already.
“Gordon.” The Bruce thought for a few seconds and then ordered, “Send a team to destroy the base of the rebels at the underground sewer. Dar has already been exposed, there is no point to leave the place standing anymore.”
“Understood.” Gordon instantly made a signal at a Robin behind him, the latter nodded and left in a hurry.
“Currently, it looks like…” The Bruce continued, “Joe has already met up with the four strange criminals, even I do not know how tonight will end… Hah… things are getting more and more interesting…” There was trace of anticipation in his voice, “Joe… This one’s a true descendent, I know it.”
“How is that possible?” Gorden gasped in shock. “You have already killed them all in ‘that war’.”
“No, Gordon.” The Bruce flapped his cape and turned towards the exit, “One survived…”
“He’s mad…” Gordon took several steps and turned his face around to whisper to Klibon.
“Ha ha…” Klibon laughingly lit a cigarette for himself, “Ain’t we all, ducks.”
When the two spoke, The Bruce had already stepped out of the lab. It was not that he did not hear Gordon (the combat suit provided super hearing) but he was to lazy to deal with it. The current Bruce was strangely excited. He rushed down the hall of the castle with blood boiling in his veins. His blood that had cooled for decades finally found a reason to boil again. His innate fear and panic had already been overcome by his overwhelming mental strength. At that moment, he just wanted a blood bath, to prove to the public—that he was still the God king of Gotham.
“The Joker, Two Face, Black Mask, Crocodile, Bane…” After The Bruce walked for a while, he stopped and stood next to the window. He looked down the city’s skyline. “My ancestor Bruce Wayne has once fought these actual super villains for many years and i… was never given that chance.”
He lifted his head to look at the night sky. The colourful lights showered into the hall through the large windows. The bat signals shot out from multiple spotlights slowly wavered in the night sky. That was the Bruce’s symbol, the sign of the ruler. They reminded the people of Gotham daily to—believe in the bat.
“If God is real, then I have to thank him to have sent these four people before me.” The Bruce started to mumble to himself, “Repeating these shows before the mobs every year, taking on the challenges of these cockroaches dulls me and makes me nauseous…” He grinned wickedly, “Hah… these four are the challengers that I have been waiting for….” He said confidently, “I will use your blood to prove that—my power is greater than everything else.”
Just as our friend is giving his monologue with his head lifted at 45 degree. Suddenly…
A shot of white and an extremely bright light appeared in his line of sight.
“What… is that…” The Bruce’s smile disappeared. His eyes widened and his pupils rapidly shrunk…
At that moment, there was a giant symbol that lit up the night sky of Gotham. The brightness and scale of this symbol was far greater than the other symbols in the sky. A century ago, the real Inspector Gordon used this large spotlight at the top of the police station to summon ‘that hero’. And tonight someone had lit up this spotlight that had not been used for a long time already. But… the symbol that it shot up into the night sky was not that of a bat but a grinning face with a smile that split down the sides of his cheeks…
People looked on… as the smiley face slowly crawled up into the clouds…
Its glow overshadowed the rest of the bat signals. It was like a full moon, descending on the night sky of Gotham.