Parallax Hal: Have It Your Way, Happy Now?

Throughout this chaotic battle involving all sides, Emperor Joker's objective had remained unclear.

Or rather, simply talking about having an objective was absurd for Emperor Joker.

But because of that, his actions had fallen completely beyond control and become impossible to fathom.

Hal did not dare let him approach, because he could not be sure what the other man was thinking. Barbatos had never included Emperor Joker in his plans to surround them, because no one knew when that madman might stab his own teammate in the back simply because the teammate's pose was not attractive enough.

The reason Barbatos dared to use The Batman Who Laughs was that, in his view, although The Batman Who Laughs had been tainted by Joker's insane way of thinking, he was still Batman. His actions were predictable, and his logic was clear. Only his methods were unpredictable.

But with Joker himself, everything was a muddled mess. No one could predict what he was thinking. Even Chen Tao had not expected to actually predict Joker's actions—but if you thought this one success meant you could claim to understand Joker completely, then Black Death Emperor was already grinning viciously at you.

Prime Universe's Lex Luthor and countless other unlucky fools who had once worked with Joker all proved that Joker's favorite thing in life was to personally help you build glorious achievements of your own, then smash them to pieces right in front of you.

Even more dangerous was the fact that Joker treated a "successful prediction" as a psychological "reward." Step by step, he drew you in, made you addicted, and manipulated you before you even realized it. Harley Quinn, who had once been a psychiatrist, was one such victim. She had once believed she had Joker under control, but in the end, she