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

He disappeared behind the scenes again like a ghost.

Unless something unexpected happens, the army will not leave Gotham until all hidden dangers are cleared up and order is restored... and this will take at least three years.

In other words, Gotham will remain peaceful on the surface for at least three years... This is enough time for the "good people" hidden in all walks of life to participate in urban reconstruction and institutional planning.

...The only trouble is Lucian.

The Silent Bat frowned, feeling that there would be a bigger one waiting for him.

On another screen, there are densely packed changes and coping methods that may occur after Jack's resurrection, as well as a three-dimensional structure house. The red dot inside is exactly Lucian's location.

The Silent Bat didn't go over, but left after installing the camera... He was really like a spider, he would only take action after making sure that there would be no accidents, no danger, and that the prey had fallen into the trap.

"Quinn was last seen at the court's former experimental site... He belongs to the Claws and has no independent thinking. If he hadn't cooperated, Lucian wouldn't have ordered him to capture Jack."

This is what Silent Bat couldn't figure out... How did Lucian get in touch with the court? Until the severely blurred video was restored, a round object appeared on Quinn's waist -

"It looks like your head, sir." Alfred examined it carefully. "Perhaps it's a clone... Its eyes are blue."

Silent Bat: ...

……

Quinn and Bruce know each other, and their appearance has not changed much since they were young. Since Silent Bat can recognize him in the court, Quinn can naturally recognize Silent Bat... provided that Silent Bat is not wrapped in bandages on his face.

So there is this possibility:

Lucien found the head of a Bruce clone from somewhere and used the fact that they were childhood friends to convince Quinn to help.

This is reasonable.

But if Lucian were here, he would be very curious and say: The idea is good, but you're overthinking it.

Of course, if he were here, he would be able to recognize what was around Quinn's waist.

It is the entity of the Bat Lantern.

……

Lucian never thought there was anything wrong with the Bat Lantern being an illusion - it was originally a gift from another world, a product of memory and stereotypes, and even if it was occasionally ooc, it was normal.

It's abnormal if it's a physical entity...

Bat Lantern saw that Lucian became a little sleepy after getting used to the pain in his back. His eyelids struggled for a moment, then closed calmly and finally fell into a deep sleep.

This is a dark room, filled with blood, corpse oil, formalin... It looks like a horror scene, but Lucian sleeps very peacefully, as if it wasn't him whose spine was peeled off.

There was still only a dim light as the only source of light, coming from afar and not very bright, it could only simply outline Lucian's facial features - he did have a gentle face, without any aggressiveness, and could be said to be harmless.

Like the god with his head bowed and eyes closed in classical oil paintings.

……

The Bat-Lantern is a reflection of Batman in his prime at the age of 40, and the people he interacts with closely - his own children, who are very resilient.

Dick, Jason, Tim, Damian, Barbara, Kate... maybe rebellious, maybe impulsive, but they are all tenacious, or in other words, they always struggle to stand up after being knocked down.

But Lucian was different.

...After he was knocked down, he lay on the ground and took a nap.

It's not that it's bad, to some extent it is a way to deal with the Joker, but it will become very difficult for him to stand up and move forward.

……

I am a mental patient without a mental hospital, in a lucid sleep, dreaming crazy dreams.

——Imagine a Rose of the Future

……

Lucien didn't actually dream about anything, he was just sleeping. It was the pain, sleepiness, and discomfort caused by blood loss that gave him a feeling of death.

In a trance, you are already dead, and the dead naturally do not dream.

...Unfortunately, after his sleepiness disappeared, he still woke up.

The bat lantern was still there, and Lucien asked, "How long have I been asleep?"

There was no light in the dark room, nor a clock. The bat lantern replied, "Three minutes."

"...It feels like a long time has passed." Lucian paused, then said, "Did I really die just now?"

His breathing was indeed weak and his chest was not rising or falling, so Bat Lantern said, "We can rescue him in three minutes."

“…So I said he was really dead, right?”

Although it is impossible not to die due to nerve damage, excessive blood loss, bacterial infection and high fever.

His arms hung over the edge of the bed, and his fingers rubbed against them involuntarily, causing the solidified blood clots to fall off.

Lucian began to mutter, "Illusion, immortality, how do these two work?"

There was no need for a scientific, objective, and comprehensive answer from the Bat Lantern. He muttered to himself, "The core of the illusion is death... except that it's someone else's death. If the conditions are met, I can prevent them from dying..."

"The core of immortality is immortality... I can survive no matter what, and I won't die no matter what."

As if he were drunk, he was a little confused: "I can't be the illegitimate child of death."

"She gave me the golden finger to prevent me from dying, but she was afraid that the queen would find out, so she didn't give me a big one."

This was of course impossible, so Lucian added:

"I could also be the editor's biological son. I died in real life, and the editor drew me into the comic because he missed me. The comics editor was worried that if I died, he would stop drawing, so he didn't let me die."

This of course doesn't make sense.

Lucian was just talking nonsense without any logic, and then changed the subject without warning:

"Alright, before you give the spine to Jack, you have to take a picture - it's not often that you get a picture of someone with their own spine sword."

I was worried again: "Will Jack become me after he is resurrected? It better not happen."

Finally, he looked in the direction of the bat lantern and said, "You are hiding something from me." Then he asked, "Is it a surprise?"

Bat-Lantern didn't deny it.

"That's good."

……

Gotham is gloomy and cold in autumn, with frequent drizzles. Mixed with fallen leaves and Gothic buildings, it looks like a landscape oil painting.

Chapter 211

When Jack died, he almost thought it was a dream. There was no heaven or hell. His nerves stopped, his thoughts stopped, and he just died. Then he was buried seven feet deep, rotting and infested with maggots.

But when he came back to life, it was as if he was not dead, but had a dream with cold sweat, excruciating pain, and he could not remember the content.

……

The corpse soaked in formalin sat up, and the suspenseful scene immediately turned into a horror movie.

Omosen's eyes suddenly widened, he was indeed terrified, but also because of the strong heart he had trained during this period of time - he looked in the direction of Lucian.

Lucien noticed this as well, and looked at Jack with great interest. He nonchalantly and gently consoled him, "Don't be nervous, sir. He just had a rare and serious illness. He's recovered now... Help him out quickly."

Omosen swallowed hard and mustered up the courage to walk over.

…Formaldehyde covered every inch of Jack's skin, and it felt sticky and moist like the amniotic fluid when a baby first came into this world.

He certainly looked like a newborn baby—including his blank expression and uncoordinated limbs.

This made Lucien gradually start to doubt... Could it be that because he was dead, the Dionysus factor could not completely restore his nerves?

"Jack! What's this?" He then stretched out the thumb and little finger of his left hand and asked.

Jack looked over, his eyes slowly narrowing and then opening. He involuntarily stepped closer, most of his body weight resting on Omosen. Just when he thought he couldn't speak, he suddenly opened his mouth, and the voice rolled out from his throat, hoarse and broken: "Six."

Lucian looked at his extended thumb and pinky finger and said with regret: "How stupid..."

"One, two... That's two, Jack."

It was hand gesture six, Jack was right, but Lucian's statement was not unreasonable.

Jack held it in for a long time, then squeezed out the words forcefully from his throat: "...Six!"

……

It seems ridiculous, but Lucien is giving Jack a simple test to judge his vision, cognitive flexibility, emotional feedback, logical reasoning ability, self-awareness and self-confidence, etc., to determine whether he has retained his personality.

The conclusion is... Jack is just mentally retarded on the outside, but he is very normal on the inside.

"How does it feel to die?" Lucian asked expectantly.

Jack's faculties hadn't fully recovered yet, so it took him quite some time to think about his answer. However, when people want to know what they're looking forward to, they tend to be extremely patient... until Jack asked back:

"Am I... dead?"

Lucian: "...Six."

From the shadow to the light, although it was not very bright, the eyes still felt uncomfortable, not to mention that the body that had just been resurrected from the dead was begging for recuperation.

Jack sat on the chair... but he didn't sit firmly and gradually slid to the ground. He refused Omosen's support and gasped weakly in an almost paralyzed posture.

Walking a few steps is as difficult as asking Lucian to do two pull-ups.

After panting for a long time, Jack said in a strange voice: "...Nothing."

He added: "Dead... I don't feel anything."

Lucien wasn't happy with this answer. It wasn't because he was unhappy with the boring death, but because he was unhappy with Jack's description: "Give me something I can imagine, something I can relate to."

There was silence again, a silence that lasted for a long time. It was not the silence of thinking. Omosen left quietly, and the liquid dripping from the edge of the bathtub had stopped.

There was only a respite that could hardly be described.

Lucien understood what he meant.

----

Surprisingly, only two decrees were issued after the suppression of all the uprisings - heavier punishment for those who gathered in large numbers and raising the minimum wage standard.

It's just appeasement, but it's understandable... Gotham is a city in the United States after all, and it's not appropriate to use overly radical and cruel means. Even the Air Force did not send any more reinforcements after effectively restraining itself.

But some people have been ignored - the remnants of the court... Although Silence has killed almost all the people in the court, they always have families, subordinates, and heirs... They hid from place to place because of the uprising and saved their lives. After the arrival of the army, they returned to their positions. After all, if they want to participate in the work, there must be people who provide work.