Two Madmen

Christmas,

Gotham,

0:02,

5 hours and 28 minutes remained until the Time-Space Gate opened.

Gotham Merchants Bank, vault.

Li Zu, wearing a Santa hat, tilted his head.

Deathstroke stood beside him without saying a word. The barrel of the gun in his hand still smoked faintly, trembling lightly with his breathing.

Across from them, the female teller wore a bizarre smile as she laughed loudly. Terror filled her eyes, while a horrifying grin covered her face, weaving together the most dreadful picture.

"Hahahahaha!!"

Joker held a gun in his right hand and draped an arm around the female teller's shoulders.

A blade had carved a wide smile into the corners of his mouth, stretching all the way to his cheekbones.

"You know me?" Joker leaned forward, staring at Li Zu.

Li Zu's earlier gaze, as well as the knowing smile he wore when Joker removed Black Mask, all proved that Li Zu knew him.

"Well, how should I put this?"

Li Zu tossed aside the rifle whose ammunition had run dry, took the Meat Saw toy from his pocket, and gave it two casual swings through the air. It made a soft swishing sound.

Even Deathstroke, standing beside Li Zu, looked at him strangely. From their time together, he had believed that Li Zu had no fears, nothing that could frighten him.

His mind was like a muddied pond, with no fish, aquatic plants, shrimp, or crabs visible beneath its surface...

But this green-haired... Joker was dressed like a terrifying circus clown.

And yet this bizarre fellow had made Li Zu show caution.

"These two really are unexpectedly..." Deathstroke took two steps back and left the circle of battle.

He looked at Joker, then at Li Zu.

The two were utterly different. One had green hair and looked ugly and terrifying; the other had black hair, pale skin, and a defeated air about him.

Yet Deathstroke got a feeling from the two completely different men.

"They really do resemble each other..."

"Well, how should I put this?" Li Zu raised the Meat Saw toy and pointed it at Joker. "If you don't like wearing dresses, then we aren't really that familiar~"

His heart was pounding wildly.

He could feel his "fear" of Joker. It was the fear a rational soul felt toward a chaotic, insane monster.

At the same time, he could feel "excitement"—the excitement of the beast slumbering in his body, a beast equally born of chaos and madness, upon seeing another beast.

That beast let out a roar through Li Zu's mouth,

"Hahahahaha!!!" It was laughter.

"Gah gah hahahahaha!!!"

Deathstroke stood off to the side with his arms crossed, watching the two madmen clutch their stomachs and laugh. It was like a ritual for some Elder God, with two humanoid priests praying, chanting, and dancing in strange, twisted movements, vainly seeking to summon chaos.

Still laughing, Joker shoved the female teller away. In this bizarre exchange of laughter, she was as inconspicuous as a tiny stone.

The female teller fell to the ground, curled up, and laughed wildly, adding a dull backdrop to the pair's strange laughter.

Li Zu and Joker walked toward each other. One carried a Plastic Meat Saw, the other a handgun. At that moment, they saw nothing but each other.

The two laughing men looked as though they were about to embrace... like two old friends who had not seen each other in years.

They stood face-to-face,

Bang!

Joker suddenly raised his right hand and fired without warning.

The smoking barrel tilted slightly. The bullet grazed Li Zu's cheek, leaving a tiny wound on his face.

"Hahahahaha!!!" Joker was still laughing, clutching his stomach as he laughed.

He slowly moved the barrel until it pressed against Li Zu's brow.

The Plastic Meat Saw in Li Zu's hand was already pressed against Joker's neck. It gradually transformed into steel teeth, piercing Joker's throat.

Like a vicious tiger biting through Joker's skin, blood gushed steadily from the wound.

Neither of them yielded in the slightest. They ignored the weapons that could take their lives at any moment and instead focused on each other's eyes, trying to catch a glimpse of fear.

Joker put away his gun. "You really are a mad dog~"

He lost interest in Li Zu. He preferred pushing people into darkness and watching them struggle, but he despised freaks who already belonged to the darkness.

"Seeking the truth of the world has always been a crazy thing to do." Li Zu also smiled as he lowered his weapon.

He admitted that he sometimes went mad, but unlike Joker's aimless chaos and insanity, he had a goal. He was not a mad dog without purpose.

One of Deathstroke's eyes remained fixed on the two throughout, watching them suddenly fight to the death, then abruptly make peace.

Bang!!

An explosion suddenly sounded overhead, and stones and broken bricks rained down from the ceiling.

It interrupted the atmosphere that had made Deathstroke uncomfortable.

A black figure descended from above as well, landing in a half-kneel at the center of the room.

A jet-black cape spread out across the floor.

Batman had arrived!

Batman rose from the ground and lightly shook the stone debris from his cape.

The situation here was completely different from what he had expected.

Corpses lay scattered everywhere,

A vehicle loaded with the emptied-out vault roared as its engine prepared to pull away,

The female teller on the ground laughed maniacally,

And the masked man standing nearby... he recognized him at once. Deathstroke, mercenary!

In an instant, Batman made a deduction based on the scene before him.

The person impersonating Roman Sionis had wanted to empty Gotham Merchants Bank, but another group—Deathstroke and his companions—had also come here. The two sides had exchanged gunfire and fought, leaving behind this field of corpses and blood.

Not far from Batman,

A green-haired freak with a smile carved into his mouth by a blade held a handgun and stared at him curiously, his eyes full of interest.

The man in the Santa hat whom he had encountered atop Blackgate Penitentiary was also standing there with a Meat Saw, watching him with an expectant look, as though he were ready to watch a good show.

Two freaks, both wearing smiles,

"Where is Roman Sionis?" He scanned the room, finally fixing his gaze on the green-haired freak.

Both his instincts and the clues at the scene pointed to the same conclusion: this green-haired freak was definitely connected to Roman Sionis's disappearance.

"Batman, Batman, Batman, Batman~~~" Joker threw back his head and let out a strange, cackling laugh.

He suddenly swung the gun around and aimed it at the female teller curled up on the ground, laughing hysterically.

"Ha ha ha ha." The female teller was still laughing and showed no intention of dodging.

Batman immediately lunged at the female teller, wrapped his arms around her, and rolled away across the floor.

But the gunshot never came.

When Batman helped the female teller to her feet and turned around, he saw that Joker had merely been aiming the gun at him without firing.

"Gah gah gah hahahaha!"

Joker fired. He fired while laughing, catching Batman completely off guard.

All three shots struck places that were not fatal, but were painful enough.

Batman fell to the ground, his body twitching.

A few minutes later,

When Batman rose from the ground, clutching his chest, Joker, the Santa hat, and Deathstroke had already left in the armored truck.

Beep beep beep--

A timed explosive had been thrown in front of Batman.

Thanks to "The Voice of the Blindly Idiotic Celestial Body" for the 1,000 Qidian Coins tip.

(End of Chapter)