บท 414: The Mad Joker
Batman jumped from a high-rise window, holding Lau.
Outside, a plane flew by, and Batman shot out his grappling hook, which latched onto the plane. This allowed him to evade pursuit and safely bring Lau back to Gotham.
The next morning, people gathered outside the Gotham Police Department to see a shivering Lau, who was immediately taken into custody. Joker's prophecy came true again – this guy had been laundering money for Gotham's underworld and had been working as an accountant. When he had shifted the black money, he claimed he was trustworthy.
But now, facing police interrogation, he didn't hold out for long. He quickly offered cooperation, unwilling to reveal the massive black money but willing to provide a list of all his clients.
Harvey Dent cheered at the news. With this list, he could go after the major players in the underworld for serious crimes.
They swiftly launched an operation based on the list provided by Lau, arresting hundreds of mob members.
When Harvey Dent and Commissioner Gordon reported the situation to the Gotham Mayor, he warned them that mass arrests like this were crazy. However, this was part of Harvey Dent's plan. Even if the mob tried to bail out their top leaders, they couldn't save all their henchmen.
These discarded henchmen were likely to provide evidence to reduce their sentences, becoming witnesses for the prosecution.
In a private conversation with Harvey Dent, the Mayor warned him that he had angered the mob bosses too much, and these criminals would likely seek revenge.
While he was speaking, he walked towards the window, and at that moment, a body hanging from above crashed into the window with a loud thud!
The Mayor was terrified and collapsed on the spot. Harvey Dent, however, approached to inspect. The body was dressed as Batman, with a Joker playing card marking it. This body was undoubtedly not the real Batman but a Joker impersonator, and it was Joker who had killed him. Joker had even recorded a video before this murder, which the police made public.
In the video, Joker warned Batman that unless he revealed his true identity and turned himself in, people in Gotham would die every day because of him!
This was undoubtedly Joker's official declaration of war against Batman!
In order to prove that he wasn't lying, Joker acted swiftly. He killed the Police Commissioner, and a female judge, and issued a death threat to Harvey Dent, the well-known District Attorney, or the White Knight.
"Madman, he's completely insane," Peter Parker said, his face serious. "Mr. Wayne, be careful when dealing with someone like this. Their actions are unpredictable!"
Bruce Wayne remained calm, but when he saw the video where Joker entered a party and threatened his childhood friend, Rachel, he couldn't help but clench his fists.
In the video, Joker walked up with a knife, threatening Rachel. "Look at me. I used to have a beautiful wife just like you. She always said I looked too serious, and that I should smile more. But she got herself into a mess with gambling debts, and one day, someone scarred her face. We didn't have money for surgery, and she was in excruciating pain, unable to bear it. I just wanted to see her smile again, to let her know that I didn't care about the scars. So, I put the knife in my mouth and made a small cut..."
Joker spoke with emotion as if it had really happened, but when he was talking to the African-American boss, it was a different story.
Taking advantage of Joker's enthusiasm, Rachel suddenly kneeled him, and Joker laughed, "You're fierce, I like that."
"Then you'll surely like me."
Batman burst into the scene, taking down Joker's henchmen within seconds. However, Joker was not his equal.
But Joker didn't engage in a direct fight with Batman. Seizing an opportunity, he captured Rachel again, threatening Batman to take off his mask.
Batman had reservations, but Joker was ruthless. He pushed Rachel out of the damaged window. Batman couldn't hesitate and dived to save her, ultimately rescuing Rachel by using himself as a shield.
The crisis was averted, but Joker was still at large, and at a later event, he caused chaos at a memorial for the deceased Police Commissioner and the female judge.
He and his henchmen disguised themselves in the honour guard, then suddenly turned their guns towards the stage and started shooting randomly.
In a crucial moment, Commissioner Gordon shielded the Mayor but got shot and died.
Seeing this, Gordon was taken aback. Even he hadn't expected to see his own death prediction in these videos.
"Well, Commissioner Gordon..." Peter Parker tried to console him.
However, Gordon waved it off and said, "You know, I've been mentally prepared for this. Since the day I put on the police uniform, I knew I might have a bad ending. I can accept it."
Peter Parker scratched his head. "Commissioner Gordon, I just want to say that the future can be changed. From the moment we watched these future videos, the future has already changed."
Commissioner Gordon understood this as well and nodded. "Let's continue watching. What should we do to catch this reckless madman?"
In the video, Batman finally realized that Joker was not like ordinary mobsters. This madman posed a massive threat.
He began searching for Joker's whereabouts and found the mob boss Maroni. Batman dropped him from a building in an attempt to force information about Joker's location from him.
However, even with his legs broken, Maroni refused to talk. The reason was simple – everyone knew that Batman had principles and wouldn't kill anyone, but Joker was different; he had no rules. So, nobody would risk angering Joker.
But Maroni did say that if Batman removed his mask, Joker would come on his own. He also warned Batman, "Don't let more people die because of your indecision."
In the footage, Batman fell into silence. The symbol of justice in Gotham seemed cornered by a dark and insane force.
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