Laughing American comics, I am becoming more and more like a clown

Chapter 179 Who is born from ACE?

The Silent Bat stood on the high platform, no longer paying attention to the chemical pool where no temperature or vital signs could be detected, and his eyes searched the chemical plant made of reinforced concrete.

He was looking for Jack, who had disappeared after cutting the rope, but it was obvious that there was no result, so he turned on the headset: "Afu."

Alfred reached out from under the quilt and turned on the communicator beside his pillow: "What is it, Master?"

"Are you asleep?"

"It's three in the morning, how can I possibly sleep?"

Silent Bat ignored his sarcasm and said, "Jack is missing."

"If I remember correctly, Jack and you will go to test Mr. Turner tonight. He should be with you..." Alfred lifted the quilt, walked to the secret door, and entered the Batcave through the elevator.

"Yes, but he's gone."

"Okay, although I'm not young, at least I don't have Alzheimer's." Alfred sat down in front of the Batcomputer, tapped the keyboard, and called up the ACE surveillance footage.

"…After Lucien was captured, Jack cut the ropes to help him escape, and then he himself disappeared."

Alfred asked, "Have you been betrayed?"

"..." The Silent Bat was silent for a long time: "I'm afraid so."

----

It's not cold, nor is it stinging, but warm.

In the house where the cold wind is raging, the fire in the fireplace is flickering, and you feel warm sleeping in the bed wrapped in a wool blanket.

Like the amniotic fluid in the mother's belly, like the egg liquid of oviparous creatures.

It was warm enough to make people ignore the fact that they had no umbilical cord, could not breathe or take in nutrients - they would rather drown in it.

……

His body temperature was approaching zero degrees, which was not a temperature a living person could have, but Lucian was indeed still alive. In fact, during the long deep dive, he even doubted that he had died from drowning.

After climbing out of the chemical pool, wet water dripped from the corners of his clothes. The oncoming heavy rain washed away the liquid on his body. Due to the temperature difference, Lucien felt warm instead.

He raised his face, like the one at the end of Shawshank, and spread his arms high—

……

Lucien had long understood one thing: the Joker was not created by "The Worst Day" or "ACE Chemical Factory".

This is an obvious thing - "The Worst Day" and "Falling into a Chemical Tank" do create a criminal, but they don't quite do enough to create the Joker.

High-energy particle physics, quantum mechanics, thermodynamics, various chemical industrial technologies, philosophy, psychology, martial arts, firearms ballistics, engineering mechanics, art, explosives, architecture, materials science, mathematics, biology, pharmacology, psychoanalysis... The Joker is an expert in all of them. Coupled with his grasp of human weaknesses, his ruthless style, his unpredictable madness, and his strong drive, he can be said to be a rare talent, even in the world's top universities.

Well, now such a person stands in front of you, and you ask him: "How did you become what you are now?"

You think he'll talk about talent, hard work, diligence, genes... but then he tells you with extreme seriousness: "Because I experienced the worst day, because I fell into a chemical pool."

The so-called worst day is a fallacy, and falling into a chemical tank is also a deception.

If Lucian pursued this day to explore, he would be truly trapped and unable to extricate himself. Forty years later, he, who could be called a clown, is the best example of this.

As for the Joker...

Lucien also wants to understand what it is that shaped the Joker - malice, and Batman.

Jack would definitely get jealous seeing the Joker confronting Batman and would try to kill Lucien.

Will try to be a clown...

Those waste liquids are just the cloakroom of the clown, but does that make the person who puts on the clothes become a clown? No, what is the difference between a clown like that and a cosplayer?

……

The rain wet his hair and blurred his vision. Lucian saw through the rain the chemical plant that looked like a huge monster under the dim light.

"This is your own choice." He smiled. Although his body was cold and his limbs were stiff, there was a fire burning in his heart, and his strange green eyes reflected the cold fire.

"I did nothing, no pushing, no tricking—I confessed my love to you facing the moon... I didn't even touch you."

"This is your active choice, your decision from the heart."

Put the facts in front of people, wait for them to make their own choices and move towards the inevitable tragedy, then tell them about their innocence and love over and over again in front of the desperate people, making them confused, self-blaming, hesitant and helpless.

——This is what the Joker had done to him. Lucien had to say that the Joker was a very good teacher. He would also learn from him and tell Jack, who had reacted, "This is the result of your own choice."

Lucien will imitate what the Joker once said to him and say to Jack, who has become a Joker: "I love you."

----

Human love and human penchant for cruelty are essentially the same thing.

—Yukio Mishima, The Locked Room

……

Jack didn't know why he ran, why he hid to avoid being found.

Of course, there was no point dwelling on this, just like dwelling on why the ropes had been cut and Lucien had fallen into the pool—no point.

But he had to leave Wayne Manor, where he had lived for many years, on a rainy night and crawl under the smelly and dark bridge like a city wanderer.

When he slumped down on a cardboard box that someone had brought in, Jack realized that his whole body was soaked by the rain, he was cold to the bone, and his hands were shaking violently.

...This shouldn't happen. He has killed and hurt many people. He has no morals and he even has mental problems.

But his hands were shaking uncontrollably.

Jack couldn't tell—whether it was fear or excitement or trepidation.

He wasn't sure what to do next—leave, then what? Go back? Or escape completely?

No, definitely not escaping.

He thought: This is definitely not what I want.

Holding his hand down... didn't work, the hand kept shaking, so Jack put it in his mouth and bit it hard.

…The blood flowed out and the hand was at peace.

But as if nervous, Jack did not take his hand out. He gradually adapted to the darkness and saw a stone in the bridge hole.

The image of the stone - like two people facing each other.

He couldn't help but recall the scene when he saw Lucian confronting the Silent Bat.

Thinking of the pungent smell at that time... Jack was touched, and he thought: How boring it was for me to live in harmony with bats in the past.

So boring...

I should be like him, on the other side of the bat… I shouldn't just be his friend.

Chapter 180: Clown - I Endorse Women's Beauty Products

Outside the rain was pouring down, the river running beside Jack, but he paid no attention to it.

He bit his hand, completely immersed in his own world:

"I helped Bruce become a bat, helped him seek revenge and learn skills. He grew up under my watch and achieved his goals... The first half of my life revolved around this old Shakespearean story."

"But this story is a little too strange. Am I going to become his friend, mentor, and jailer of those he hates, and then spend my life in emptiness in the dark Batcave?"

"Should I witness someone else appear before him—like Lucien, the one he's confused about, the one he's looking at—the bat does bring me warmth, we're family, we're friends, but is this what I want?"

The rain showed no sign of abating, and the water level continued to rise, becoming black and turbid, like the mythical Acheron River - the only way for the dead to enter the underworld.

The place where Jack was was dangerous. If the rain did not stop and the water level rose, the bridge arch would be flooded - this was why none of the experienced wanderers stayed there.

"I'm happy to see him get better, become more determined and goal-oriented, and then become a supporting role to him - no, no, no, that's not right, why should I be a supporting role? Why can't I be the protagonist - no, no, no, that's not what I want, and I don't want to be the protagonist."

He was confused like a headless fly, and at this moment, the stone in his sight became clearer and clearer, and the appearance of Lucian confronting the Silent Bat also became clearer.

Jack didn't hear what their conversation was about, nor did he care about it...he was just thinking.

If the man hanging upside down, facing the bat...

It felt like something had been revealed, as novel as when Columbus first discovered the New World... or perhaps it was an unhealthy mental state that was stimulated.

Jack looked at the water gradually spreading to his feet and licked the corner of his lips. It was hard to say what he was expecting.

……

"Morning news: Due to heavy rain last night, a few bridges in the Black community were washed away. Emergency repairs are underway. Please pay attention to driving safety..."

Lucian listened to the news on TV while taking a thermometer to measure his temperature...

It wasn't a cold. He stretched out his fingers and pressed on his skin. The fingers sank deep and it took a long time to return to its original state.

Frostbite? But not really cold.

Thinking of the clown's inhuman feeling, Lucien had a bad guess. After waiting for fifteen minutes, he took out the thermometer - the mercury in it showed no sign of rising.

In other words, Lucian's body temperature didn't cause it to expand or contract... room temperature.

He suspected that although the pool of waste liquid did not change his appearance, it changed his physique and turned him into a cold-blooded animal like a snake.

"..." Lucian put down the thermometer that had been used for more than five measurements: "Look at the bright side, at least I don't need to hibernate."

He clenched and unclenched his fists several times, then put his palms to his face to feel them.

The temperature rises, but there is no sweat on the hands.

"...my hairs."

I remembered a dirty joke I once made about the Joker: "Because the chemical pool destroyed the Joker's vitality, he has no beard and is weak."

Lucien touched his chin with his palm and sadly found that he had not shaved today but there was no stubble.

The boomerang finally hit him, and he consoled himself:

"Perhaps a female hair removal cream developed based on this could be as profitable as hair dye, scar repair, and skin-whitening products."

……

Zaven Allison, a former gangster, later inherited his father's inheritance - several houses in the East District. He rented them out and earned commissions... He made a lot of money, enough for him to have some spare money to buy himself an insurance policy this year.

Of course, he still retains the habits of a gangster, and hidden cameras are everywhere in the rented house. Coincidentally, Zaven is a homosexual.