Hawks from the Land of Light are calling me a dove and an undercover agent in the chat group.

Batman wasn't fooled. "Do you think I'd believe someone like you would just let the Joker control you like that?"

"Okay, actually there's another reason."

Constantine raised his hands in surrender. "Anyway, I was going to be in Gotham soon anyway, so I just happened to come along."

That makes sense.

Batman nodded. This meant that Constantine had also taken advantage of the Joker's good intentions, adding some color to the journey. Moreover, he believed that although Constantine might not be able to do much against the Joker, he would definitely give the Joker something as a return gift when they parted.

So, from now on, the problem changes.

"Whom does the Joker want you to kidnap in the Metropolis?"

Chapter 136 Ultraman's Influence on Gotham, Stirring Up the World.

"How would I know?"

Constantine curled his lip. Jokers were like dog shit to him; they didn't hurt him much, but of course, the farther away the better. Hearing that this lunatic was going to the Metropolis, he was more than willing to avoid that place, so why would he bother to find out the inside story?

Moreover, as a smart man, Constantine understood a tactic, a cunning strategy used by wise men: some things are fine if you don't know them, but once you know that information, you are inevitably drawn into it.

He assured that, given the Joker's intelligence, he would be very adept at such schemes.

He believed that if he asked who the Joker was going to kidnap in the Metropolis, he would be forced to go and help him with some information. In that case, he might as well know nothing.

"The Metropolis..."

Batman frowned.

Metropolis isn't far from Gotham; it's a relatively close city, but he'd never heard of any superheroes or supervillains living there.

However, in reality, there might actually be someone hidden who even the Joker had to treat with great seriousness and caution, to the point that he had to go around inquiring and finding out about a magic expert like Constantine before daring to kidnap him and recruiting his helpers?

No, perhaps that person wasn't the Joker's target for kidnapping. The Joker was probably trying to kidnap one of the person's friends or family.

Batman kept his eyes fixed on Constantine while remotely issuing an order to Alfred via a special secret communicator. The order instructed Alfred to immediately send out a large number of advertisements in Metropolis, informing them that a terrorist named Joker had arrived there.

The ad could subtly imply, "Hey, is there a superhuman here? The Joker wants to harm those you care about. If you want to protect your family and friends, go to Gotham, shine the Bat-Signal, and find Batman."

Batman is waiting for you!

This is the only thing we can do for now. Hopefully, it will be in time and have a sufficient effect.

"I'm talking to you,"

Constantine, having eaten and drunk his fill, stroked his beard, looked at Batman, and retorted, "I've heard you have this so-called oath of not killing, but don't you think it's a bit idiotic? At least you should kill a menace like the Joker, right?"

"Aren't you afraid that if you keep this kind of thing, someone might have a moment of madness, sneak into the White House, and unleash all the nuclear weapons, starting a global war?"

Constantine wasn't a good person, or rather, he wasn't a good person in the broadest sense, but even he knew that the Joker had to die, otherwise who knows what big trouble he might cause.

If a nuclear war breaks out, there will be no one left to make cigarettes or alcohol, and all the beautiful women will probably die.

This is a major event that will directly affect his future enjoyment, so he needs to take it seriously. If he can persuade the old Batman, who is not simple like the Joker, to die together with the Joker, wouldn't that be perfect?

Batman paused, remained silent, and shook his head. He wanted to say, "I will never break my vow not to kill," but... in the end, he said something else: "The Joker cannot die."

"why?"

Constantine frowned.

"I can't explain it."

Batman's tone was unusually distressed.

The Joker absolutely cannot die. He used to only adhere to the oath of not killing, but after his trip to the world of Hachiman and the removal of some of the curses from his body by Kassadin, upon returning to Gotham, it was as if a thin layer of mist had been cleared away, and he found the Joker increasingly terrifying.

Although he didn't know why, his intuition was warning him that if the Joker died, there would be serious consequences.

Constantine clicked his tongue and immediately laid down his arms, saying, "Fine, you said it. No matter what mess he makes, if you can't fix it, I'll hold you responsible."

"You are the one who is a prisoner."

Batman succinctly explained their current positions and then asked, "Why did you come to Gotham in the first place?"

"Because of you."

Constantine gave a half-smile. "As a homegrown superhero, don't tell me you didn't notice that bright light that rang out in Gotham a while ago. After all this time, you must have found out something by now, right?"

Batman remained silent, simply looking at him.

Constantine, neither annoyed nor angry, lazily stretched his back, stood up with a crackling sound, and walked lightly in his shackles, continuing his monologue as he hummed softly:

"Gotham really did something amazing!"

"Anyone with a basic understanding of magic can see that this place has been a dark place where a large number of curses have been concentrated for at least several hundred years. Originally, a place like this should be the easiest passage for demons to come from hell to the human world."

"As a result, Gotham became one of the places with the fewest demons over the centuries because it was so dark and had so many curses.

“A cursed place like this should have accumulated a large number of evil spirits, but because the people of Gotham are so dark, even evil spirits are hard to produce. Although some are still left, many are basically wiped out once they appear, leaving only the remains and fragments of evil spirits.”

"These debris and fragments just kept drifting around Gotham, gradually filling the entire city, from the ground to the sky, not to mention the streets and houses inside and out, to the point that you could eat a mouthful of evil spirit debris with just one mouthful."

"The stench is unheard of. You won't find another place in the world as scenic as Gotham. It's a unique and extraordinary area, so extraordinary that even magic-based people would avoid it immediately."

"But now, everything has changed."

Constantine stopped pacing and looked at Batman provocatively.

Yes, everyone knows that all the changes started on that day.

A beam of pure light, so pure that even from a distance across multiple cities, is enough to cleanse one's dark soul. Its intensity is so great that neither magic novices nor living fossils who have lived for thousands of years can discern the source of its divine power.

This is the first time such a situation has occurred in the world.

Anyone with sufficient magical skill could see that the pillar of light seemed to be purely purifying all evil and darkness; it wouldn't even distort anyone's thoughts or make anyone believe in it.

How beautiful and pure it was, it was like a savior descending from heaven.

Oh, by the way, if we're going by the rhetoric of that really good TV series that's been getting popular in Gotham lately, maybe comparing it to something like Ultraman would be more appropriate.

But don't be silly, bro.

Even a fool knows that this world is never beautiful; in fact, it's very dark, pitch black.

Anyone who has truly ventured into the magical world knows very well that there are gods in this universe, and the power of magic originates from the gods. The relationship between magicians and gods is like that of debtors and creditors.

This is a world so dark that even using the smallest spell requires borrowing money.

The path to extraordinary power has long been blocked, especially in the realm of magic. While some of the gods and creditors may be considered to have a decent temperament, they remain aloof and superior to humanity.

Constantine even learned a deeper secret through an accident, a secret that perhaps only the old wizard Shazam, a living fossil of the magical world who was about to die of old age, knew, or even that Shazam himself might not know.

That means that even gods have creditors.

In short, the reality is that no god is truly completely selfless—even if it appears selfless and doesn't actually have any evil intentions, it will still hold onto its power.

If it needs to, it can easily reclaim the borrowed power, or even forcibly control the representative it has chosen, or even directly possess their body.

Does God love the world?

Well, at least God doesn't love people in the way humans interpret love; otherwise, with God's power, the world wouldn't be in this mess.

Moreover, even if God lends power, He can always easily take it back; it will never truly be given away.

The power of the gods is never truly dispersed, nor is it truly given to others.

But the beam of light that erupted in Gotham was different.

That power was so clean that even Constantine was shocked, because no matter how he probed, he could clearly feel that the owner of that power had not left the slightest mark or backup plan in that power.

He could feel it; it was a true force of freedom, and once he obtained it, it truly belonged to him!

"Do you know the basic rules of the magic side, Batman?"

Constantine bluntly stated, "All magical power is borrowed."

"We can either borrow from the old gods, from Heaven or Hell, from other-dimensional demons, or from special beings that transcend our dimension. Such borrowed power is neither safe nor stable, and it is very likely to come with interest."

"They are always stingy with their strength, they are obsessed with their strength, and they will never let go of their strength even when they die."

"But the power in Gotham is different—do you know how tempting that is for us sorcerers?"

Is Kasa's power free?

Batman silently recalled for a moment. Yes, this had happened several times in the Ultraman series. Ultraman's power could be used by others to attack Ultraman after leaving him, but Ultraman would not manipulate those powers to turn against him again.

Even after Jack himself was injured by the Ultra Bracelet, there was still no mark set for the Ultra Bracelet.

All of this is enough to prove that if an Ultraman lets a part of his power leave him, he will never have any backup plan. That power is indeed free and is no longer a part of Ultraman himself.

Although those powers can still resonate and attract Ultraman to the location of those powers, it is only a well-intentioned protection and has no other effect.

The morality of the Giants of Light has always been the same, and there is never any need to doubt it.

Although he didn't understand the magical side, he understood himself. Batman always deliberately left at least one or two countermeasures when giving something away. By extension, he could understand the actions of those magical creditors.

Batman pondered for a moment, then asked, "If that's what you said, then why has Gotham been so peaceful lately? I haven't seen any sorcerers arrive."

"I'm scared."

Constantine shrugged. "Who knows if some powerful being deliberately set up a trap to harm someone? If we rush in, we might become scapegoats."

The fundamental rules of the magical world are so deeply ingrained that when such a rare opportunity arises, although everyone is envious, they are too afraid to come, fearing that they might accidentally enter a powerful being's game and die by mistake. That would be ridiculous, and they would have nowhere to seek justice.

Of course, besides fear, there was also the fact that the beam of light had clearly been completely used up, although fear was the main reason.

Constantine is incredibly bold. After some preparation, he's about to come over. He can sell his soul to the Lord of Hell and still live a good life thanks to his intelligence, so what is there to be afraid of?

Unexpectedly, I ended up getting entangled with the clown and being pestered for several days, which made me deeply realize the truth that dog shit is more disgusting than the devil.

"tell me,"

Constantine pulled out a pipe from somewhere, became serious, and scanned the old bat like a detective solving a case. "What exactly is that thing? Don't try to fool me. If someone like you doesn't know what it is, how can you sleep at night?"

Although it was their first meeting, the intuition between these two intelligent, scumbag-like individuals had already made them instantly intimately familiar with each other.

Constantine's previous cooperation was also aimed at obtaining this intelligence.

In any case, he didn't do anything bad in Gotham. It was just a case of getting to know each other through a fight. He had already let Batman get so much information for free. If Batman didn't say anything, then he would be ungrateful and wouldn't want to cooperate with him again.

He believed that someone like Old Bat would understand which was more important: a full meal or a full stomach every day.

"...I don't know what you're talking about."

Batman paused, pondered for a moment, but still shook his head, not intending to reveal any of Ultraman's secrets. This was his biggest and deepest trump card at the moment, and he absolutely could not let the outside world know even a little bit about it!

Moreover, even without mentioning that, he has enough reward to tempt Constantine.