Night of the Return of the Joker (Part 3)

Batman glanced around, then turned to Schiller and said, "Do you think it's a good time for me to punch him?"

As a Tactical master, Batman is not the kind of person who is blindly confident. He sees hundreds of madmen around him, drawn by the smell of alcohol, and the infected madmen are surrounding him in layers.

As the Dionysus Factor continued to spread, restless sounds began to emanate from distant buildings, indicating that more people had been infected.

"If I say you can do it, then you can do it." Schiller shrugged and said, "This is a mock exam. If you don't pass, be prepared to be beaten up by the real examiners."

"I have a feeling you're implying something."

After Batman finished speaking, he still threw two Batarang at Alberto. He knew that he had to attract the attention of these lunatics. If he left, these crazy monsters would rush into Gotham and cause countless tragedies. So even though he knew that leaving was the best tactic, he couldn't leave.

Alberto Laughing Man as he dodged the Batarang and pounced, and the two began to fight.

Meanwhile, Schiller had already entered the church. He stood at the edge of the green pool, looking at the liquid inside, and muttered to himself, "This one that fell into the Dionysus Factor isn't... is it from the Evolution Factory? Or the Circus? Could it be..."

Then, somewhat puzzled, he continued, "Batman didn't choose him? I thought..."

At that moment, a man wearing a bird-shaped mask emerged from behind the pedestal of his Jesus statue and said, "It really is you. You've been interfering with us all along."

Schiller rolled his eyes and said, "Don't disturb my thinking."

"You will pay the price for going against the Court of Owls."

Schiller seemed a little impatient with him and said, "What, haven't the fate of your companions made you any more restrained?"

"You mean those idiots you trapped? I'm not one of them..."

"I'm referring to those who urinate in feces."

The person opposite him choked for a moment, seemingly disgusted by his own instinctive association. He said, "You actually dare to mention that despicable trap!"

"That's still much better than your stupid and uncreative plans. The Water Source Plan? What other stupid ideas do you have? The AllSpark plan?"

"A foolish plan?!" The person on the other end raised their voice. "Look at this! We've used Fine Wine to create a true immortal madman! He will be Gotham's eternal nightmare! Look outside..."

Outside the church, Batman was in a fierce battle as the first wave of infected lunatics surrounded him. He was being attacked by dozens of people, and his superior martial arts skills did not give him much of an advantage. He had already sustained some injuries.

"What you created is not important. What is important is that Batman did not choose him."

"What are you talking about? Can't you see? The Fine Wine has already boiled over! It will spread throughout Gotham! Everything you've done is in vain! This city is going to go mad..."

Schiller watched Alberto, who was ganging up on Batman with a group of people, and sighed, saying, "If I were Batman, I wouldn't choose him either."

The bird-masked man opposite him continued talking to himself, "This is the greatest achievement of the Water Source Plan! Gotham's eternal nightmare! As long as he exists, destruction and chaos will never stop! He will drag the entire city into the Abyss!!"

"... How should I put it?"

"Your formula is correct, but the numerical values are incorrect."

Then he added with a touch of emotion, "No one can control Batman, and no one can control his opponents, not even the Court of Owls."

"Batman? You mean that stray dog outside that's about to be beaten to death?"

"I advise you to go and save him now, or it will be too late."

"Are you threatening me? How cliché..."

No, of course not.

The man in the bird-shaped mask stared at him and then asked, "You still have the nerve to play dumb? In less than ten hours, most of Gotham City will be infected by the madness. Do you understand what a terrible situation that would be?"

"That's not scary. You don't understand. What's truly terrifying isn't a zombie apocalypse..."

Schiller sighed, seemingly uninterested in continuing the conversation. He vanished before the man's eyes, teleporting to the top of the cathedral's bell tower, where he finished his unfinished sentence. "What's truly terrifying is... Return of the Joker."

Downstairs, the situation was becoming increasingly unfavorable for Batman; there were simply too many people surrounding him.

At this moment, Batman no longer had the ability to fly or dive, and suddenly found himself in such a fierce battle, making it difficult for him to gain the upper hand. More importantly, these lunatics didn't care about anything, and some methods used to distract the opponent were useless. They were completely unaffected by those tactics, and even if they were hit in vital areas like the eyes by Batarang, they would still scream and pounce on him.

Batman had never dealt with such a fearless opponent before, and he suffered from his lack of experience.

Batman felt blood seep into his eyes from his forehead, turning his vision bloodshot. He felt a brick hit his shin, and a sharp pain shot through his ankle, causing him to kneel on one knee. Then came a hail of fists and weapons. A jumble of chaotic sounds filled his mind, and it felt as if his internal organs had shifted.

Batman collapsed, panting heavily.

Through his blurred vision, he saw a flash of bright light on the street in front of the church. He saw countless legs surrounding him, like a dense black forest. Outside the forest, a beam of intense light shone in, melting away the dark tree trunks.

In a daze, he saw the high beams of a truck. As screams came from afar, a huge truck drove straight into the crowd, knocking countless people flying, before stopping in front of Batman.

Batman lay on the ground, panting heavily. In the instant he looked up, he saw a pale face and a sinister smile on the truck seat.

Suddenly, boundless fear rose in his heart, and the dark tide within him began to surge. He lay on the ground, and in the intense light of the car headlights, he saw a familiar night sky. In the flickering light and shadow, it seemed as if those familiar bats were flying by again.

He seemed to have become that helpless Little Bruce again, blood dripping from his forehead and splattering on the ground like a string of blood-red pearls.

He heard a burst of laughter, not as loud or piercing as he had heard before, but rather deep and soft, as if it were echoing in his heart. Yet, it drove Batman to a frenzy, making him want to get up and see who it was.

Alberto turned to look at the truck. The truck door was open, and the driver inside was wearing overalls. He chuckled softly, his shoulders twitching as if admiring his masterpiece.

The laughter didn't sound crazy at all; it even carried a touch of childlike innocence, like when you were a kid and you rammed your toy soldiers with a toy truck, watching your toys fall to the ground and freely radiating the malice unique to a child.

Alberto and the other madmen paused for only a moment before attacking the strange intruder.

To everyone's surprise, the truck driver screamed, as if he had just realized what was happening, and ran away yelling as if he were fleeing for his life.

He ran across the street, hid behind the wall of a building, and peered out from the corner of the building, as if curious about what was happening on this side.

Alberto lowered his head, intending to continue fighting the fallen Batman.

Then, the truck exploded.

A violent roar erupted, sparks flew, and the entire church, along with the street in front of it, was instantly reduced to ruins.

Only a small number of churches located far from the main street survived, Schiller's figure reappeared on the spires there.

A figure limped out from across the street. Clearly, he had also been affected by the blast, his face and head covered in blood, and his leg injured. But he still ran towards the center of the explosion with ecstatic joy.

When he arrived, he looked around blankly, seemingly unable to find what he was looking for. Suddenly, a figure appeared not far from him. Schiller pointed to the right and said, "Batman was just blown up. He's over there."

The truck driver glanced at Schiller, blinked, and seemed a little confused as to how Schiller had appeared.

Schiller ignored him and continued, "The person I'm looking for... let me see... oh, here he is, how did he fly so far?"

"That's because I built a super, super, super big bomb!" A burst of snickering accompanied by a hoarse voice rang out.

"Yes, this bomb is indeed powerful enough. You've solved the problem physically," Schiller said rather perfunctorily.

The truck driver glared at him and asked, "Are you saying I was too rough? How could you say that?"

"I advise you to hurry up and find Batman, or he'll be dead."

As if suddenly realizing something, the man quickly limped off in the direction Schiller had pointed.

Schiller bypassed the church doors and found Alberto in some ruins across the street. He walked over, arms crossed, and said gloatingly, "The Dionysus Factor will only keep you from dying, but it won't keep you from feeling pain. How does it feel, Falcone?"

Then his tone turned cold, and he said, "Or should I call you, Alberto, the Claw of the Court of Owls?"

Schiller turned his head and saw that the man wearing the bird-shaped mask was also lying on the ground, covered in blood and looking like he was about to die.

Schiller then said gloatingly, "I told you something terrible was going to happen, but you wouldn't listen. You had no way to escape, yet you dared to get so close to the center of the battlefield. I don't know whether to praise your bravery or call you stupid."

As the One standing unharmed on the battlefield, Schiller launched into a merciless taunt, echoing the words of the Court of Owls member. "Look, look over there, that's the magnificent creation of your Water Source Plan!"

"Oh, that's not quite right either. He wasn't created by you, and he doesn't listen to you at all."

Whether the Court of Owls member was angry or choked while trying to speak, he coughed violently, his mouth and face covered in blood.

Schiller then turned to Alberto and said, "If Batman had chosen you, things might have been different, but unfortunately, he didn't."

"Not only him, no one chose you, including me."

Alberto, who possessed superhuman regenerative abilities due to the Dionysus Factor, quickly recovered from his near-death state, but he had a bad feeling.

He suddenly realized that his body was out of his control.

He looked at Schiller in horror, noticing a gray mist welling up in his eyes. Alberto clutched his neck, crying, "No, no!!!"

Schiller muttered to himself, "This is indeed my Easter gift to you..."

A wisp of gray mist, glowing with a faint green light, floated out of Alberto's eyes. Schiller then took a jar, caught the mist, and put the lid on.

Happy Easter, Evans.

The blond youth lost consciousness and fell to the ground.

Schiller took the jar, walked up to the members of the Court of Owls, waved it at them, and said, "Thank you for helping me extract the pure Dionysus Factor."

The last thing the members of the Court of Owls saw before their deaths was Schiller's chilling smile.

Aha!

When you thought the Joker had appeared

He didn't appear.

When you thought he hadn't appeared

But he still made an appearance.

Hahahaha, so many people were fooled by my feint! Hahahaha, I even wrote out the answer overnight! Hahahaha, I've been waiting for this part for so long! Hahahaha, I thought of it even before I had an outline! Hahahaha, writing is so much fun! Hahahaha!