Batman's arm began to tremble, and layers of illusions appeared before his eyes. These bluish lights formed a blizzard that sent chills down his spine.
Just then, a gentle "clack" echoed in his ears, hitting Batman's heart as hard as a heavy punch.
The door to the surveillance room opened.
Batman stood there, his body stiff, his leg muscles straining. His limbs wanted him to turn around, but another voice in his mind told him not to do so.
Because a bad premonition was circling in his mind, he knew. This is all a trap set up by the Joker, and if he steps out of this door now, he would fall right into it.
For some reason, Batman no longer felt confident this time. Because he saw another Joker on the surveillance screen, wearing Shiller's face.
Batman recalled the dark days when he first started, the most memorable place during those times was not the crime-filled alleyways of Gotham, but Shiller's office.
Has the Joker become Shiller or has Shiller become the Joker?
Batman didn't know, but he hoped it was the former, he hoped it was just a trick played by the Joker, not that Shiller really became the Joker.
Because if it were so, he couldn't even imagine what kind of interrogation he would face once he leaves this door.
Batman took a deep breath. In the end, he turned around and left the room. Before leaving, he glanced at the Batman puppet lying on the ground.
In the banquet hall, the once elaborate tables and chairs are scattered across the room. Lavish table cloths ripped and thrown on the floor, silver candelabras broken from impact, and other than the faint glow coming from the blizzard outside, there was no other light source.
Clark was lying in the midst of this wreckage, surrounded by broken debris. Blood was flowing down his forehead and dropping straight to the ground.
At this time, Joker Schiller came over, he crouched down, looked at Clark's face, and said:
"Do you know? The man who wanted to crucify Jesus was called Judah."
"People wrote a book recoding Judah's every misdeed, and they treat the teachings in this book as the Bible."
"But to this day, when people face a benign, good, just, and tolerant son of God, everyone is Judah."
"Clark, do you know why?"
There's something different between this Shiller with Joker makeup and the other one. His voice wasn't as sharp, instead, it was deep and even gentle:
But what he was saying cruelly destroyed Clark's last shred of faith, making it impossible for him to alleviate his pain through prayer.
"People only pray for God's arrival when they need him, and when they don't, they crucify him on the cross, like Jesus, like you."
"No matter how perfect you are, they will find reasons to kill you, when they no longer need God, your perfection will become your evidence of guilt."
Clark closed his eyes in pain, his Adam's apple was shaking incessantly. Even the muscles on the side of his neck were trembling, he turned his head as if trying to avoid Schiller's voice, but the devil's whispers infiltrated every crack.
"No…" Clark wanted to deny, his voice was hoarse:
"I don't save people for their gratitude, I just want to save people…"
"Even the ones who actually want to kill you?"
Clark's jaw was trembling, and Joker Shiller tilted his head, looking into Clark's eyes and asked, "What are you thinking about while pondering this question?"
Clark closed his eyes again, his eyelashes trembling, lips tightly pursed together as if he didn't want to voice the answer.
"You found that you're not that great, right?"
"When I asked that question just now, you realized you can't completely forgive them."
"You are not great enough to sacrifice your life for a crowd who wants to kill you."
"Why do you feel guilty about this?"
Joker Schiller kept staring at Clark's face, asking curiously:"Do you really consider yourself a god?"
"Do these thoughts come from your kindness and justice, or, does playing the role of a savior high above, somehow, make you happy?"
Clark's chest was heaving faster and faster. An emotion was brewing in his chest, but Joker Schiller continued:
"When they want to kill you, the most intense emotion you feel, is it betrayal, sadness, and loss, or…"
"Laughing at the stupidity of these creatures, weaker than you, just as you expected"
"Enough." Another cold voice came, a dark figure walked into the banquet hall, carrying the cold from the snow outside as he entered.
Another voice echoed in the long silent hall, attracting many bystanders to come out of their rooms, and some shouted: