"Long ago, my teacher once told me that the original reason he became entangled with me was my gaze—or, more specifically, my choice. When I took an interest in him, he became the Joker, and the Joker was destined to be inseparably entangled with Batman."
"As his teaching went deeper, more information surfaced in his scattered remarks. Batman and the Joker's entanglement seemed to be a destiny woven for the two of them by this world, something no one could break. Its priority was almost above everything else that happened in this world."
"Later, I learned that the Joker and Batman complemented each other. Their madness was like plants whose roots had intertwined while they were still seedlings, their veins long since joined, impossible to separate."
"From this, one could infer that the stronger Batman became, the stronger the Joker became. And I had indeed experienced that firsthand."
"When I desperately pursued strength and wanted to save Gotham, whether it was the Joker inside my teacher or the other Joker in Gotham, they were both utterly insane and reckless."
"But when I gradually began to let go of all that and pursue my own life, I discovered that the madness within them—the madness that had once driven me to despair—seemed to have healed itself. Though some pathological thinking remained, they were more like philosophers and artists."
"So I began to have some other ideas."
Bruce stood atop the highest spire of Westminster Abbey's chapel, looking down over all of London. Hearing the mad laughter and vampires' screams below, he continued speaking to Beelzebub in his mind.
"Given: first, I can use certain methods to turn other people into Jokers; second, the stronger the Joker becomes, the stronger Batman becomes."
"Then is there a possibility—I find someone powerful enough and turn