Starting from scratch, Batman crushed my dream of getting rich

Chapter 238 The Laughing Clown

"You're someone who can be predicted and understood; you're a puzzle that I want to guess and can figure out. I should have already figured it out!"

"I started this war, and then I lost it! And you—you should be laughing!"

While the Riddler was raving about the Joker, Batman's thoughts were scattered.

He thought of little Charlie.

“I was there,” he thought. “Nigma poisoned him and almost killed him just to tell a joke.”

Meanwhile, Nigma continued his incessant chatter to the clown: "Do you want me to explain it to you in even more detail?!"

Batman thought of the child's tears, who, on his deathbed, asked his father if he was being sent to a bad place because he had said that bad word.

That almost became his last words in this world.

Nigma's voice still buzzed in Batman's ears: "Are you that stupid? Do you want me to break all this down and explain it to you?!"

At this moment, rage surged from the bat's brain into every corner of his body; at this moment, he remained extremely calm and rational; at this moment, these two emotions converged and merged within him—his face was like ice, but his heart was like a raging fire.

He no longer wanted to listen to the riddle teller.

His steps were steady and agile. In just a second, he darted to the desk, picked up the knife on it, and ran towards the Riddler.

At that moment, the Riddler turned around and looked surprised. He saw Batman's eyes, his hand holding the knife, and his clenched teeth.

He was angry, but that's not surprising; Batman gets angry all the time. And whenever he gets angry, he always breaks all the bones in his body more brutally—a tactic the Riddler is very familiar with.

But this time it seems to be different.

"He's going to kill me," the Riddler thought. He had no concrete evidence, but looking at Batman's face, the thought just popped into his head—"He's going to kill me."

That's impossible. Batman never kills. This has been proven countless times by the Joker over the past year. No matter how the Joker tries to persuade him, or even offers himself as bait, Batman is always unwilling to take that step. This has almost become a fixed idea in everyone's mind.

Like an unstoppable giant wave encountering an unshakeable reef—this is also why Batman seems so out of place in Gotham City: Batman is a madman who fantasizes he still has a bottom line; he won't kill.

Now, the reef seems to be starting to shake.

In the instant the Riddler grasped the situation, he even subconsciously dismissed the possibility in his mind. Batman was a mystery he had already solved, and his actions at this moment were completely unexpected.

But his body was more honest; while he was denying it in his heart, his cry for help had already been uttered.

"What are you going to do—no!"

You want to kill me?!
"Damn it, of course!"

Batman roared at Charlie's words and plunged the dagger into the Riddler's face.

I'm going to kill you.

This was not an accident. I don't think I would make a mistake. I didn't lose control or go crazy. I know who I am, I know what I'm doing, and I made my choice.

I thrust the knife forward—precisely to kill you.

puff!
A flower of blood bloomed.

The riddle-maker, still in utter astonishment, stared at what lay before him—the knife hadn't pierced his face, but rather a hand. A hand wearing a purple glove.

The clown's hand.

The pale-faced madman looked at the madman with the knife, then turned to look at the madman who had started this war, and the corners of his drooping mouth slowly began to turn upward.

An unexpected event, he thought, an utterly absurd event, one that neither the clever Riddler nor Batman had anticipated, allowed him to do something I had never been able to do before.

He made me realize that Batman is not an "unshakable rock," and that he can become a murderer just like me on just one bad day!

Upon realizing this, the clown couldn't help but smile.

With a renewed sense of purpose in life, hope for the future, and the possibility of achieving his goals, he suddenly realized that today's situation was a clever accident—and quite amusing.

The Riddler, who had foreseen everything, failed to foresee that he would die here because of an insignificant nobody, nor that he would be saved by the Joker. As a result, he suffered a complete defeat—all his goals failed except for winning the war.

Batman never imagined that the Riddler had planned everything, nor did he expect that he would start the Gotham war just to amuse the Joker, and he never expected that the Riddler would break his own rule of not killing—and then be saved by Batman.

He never expected to see a Batman who wanted to kill someone today. Just a little Chuck could make both of them the biggest losers at the same time, and the best part is that he was able to save him.

Batman, whose principle of not killing was broken by the Joker.

This is hilarious; the clown couldn't imagine any joke in the world that could be better.

“Now then,” he said, his face beaming, the familiar, manic, chaotic smile returning to his lips, “this is going to be interesting!”

"Hahahaha hee hee—"

The Joker's maniacal laughter grew louder and louder, almost echoing throughout the entire building. Amidst this laughter, Batman slumped down, and the Riddler's expression gradually contorted. Although the Joker was no match for either side at this moment, he seemed to have become the biggest winner.

But the riddle solver refused to admit defeat.

He looked at everyone on the field, his face contorted and ferocious. He could lose the battle, but he couldn't accept losing the puzzle he had always been most confident in.

He misjudged the Joker, and he misjudged Batman.

"I'm going to kill you!" he growled in a low voice. "I'm going to kill both of you!"

"Everyone, charge! Kill them! Kill them!"

Firefly and Zas immediately rushed forward, but they soon realized something was wrong.

"Why are you all just standing there watching?" Zazz asked. "You don't really think the two of us can beat Batman, Catwoman, and Kite Man on our own, do you?"

“No, that’s not it.” Ma Zhaodi laughed from the side, “I know you can’t beat the two of them—but I’m a traitor, I was just cheering for the kite man.”

"?"

“I knew it all along, cowardly cowards are no good.” Firefly spat. “Whether you’re Batman’s inside man or the Joker’s inside man, you’re finished now—kill everyone, including him!”

However, the riddle teller remained silent.

Looking at the other super criminals silently idling around him, a sense of foreboding suddenly welled up in his heart.

(End of this chapter)