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

You can't let yourself become a joke from the beginning.

……

After tonight, everything went on as planned. Lucien still ignored all possible problems and just maintained a bright and beautiful appearance.

Go out every day and expand your influence blindly.

But Zaven died in an accident... It was Lucian who asked Wilbur to kill Zaven.

Poor big fool from the metropolis, he opened his eyes wide and thought that Zaven was discovered in this matter, so Lucian was so angry that he was ready to kill him.

Although Wilbur was pitiful, he showed no mercy and found a reliable way for Zavin to die, and then threw the body into the Gotham River.

……

Zaven is truly dead, but he is also truly alive.

Just like last time, a substance of unknown origin allowed him to come back to life, restore his health, and change his physique to a certain extent.

After Wilbur left, Zaven floated up from the quiet Gotham River... alive.

The water washed away the dye on his hair and the brown lenses in his eyes - since his last resurrection, Zaven had very conspicuous green eyes and green hair.

Perhaps due to the cold autumn water, his cheeks grew paler, and his body began to appear a white-purple color similar to that of a corpse.

Like the water ghost image in British countryside legend - Green-toothed Jenny.

……

Here we can't help but mention the origin of the Dionysus factor in this world. One theory is that it is underground in the Bat Cave, and another theory is that it is underground in the ACE Chemical Plant.

But no matter which one, it intersects with the Gotham River. When Zavin was pushed into the Gotham River, the waves and whirlpools brought him to the Dionysus factor of this world - he is the Joker.

That's why Lucien let Wilbur kill him.

Lucian is certain that Zaven can be resurrected and looks forward to his return.

----

It was slower than expected. Zaven died in October, but until January of the following year, when snowflakes were falling from the sky, Lucian's group had not changed at all. They still maintained the makeshift team in their original form, and were almost crumbling.

Various incidents began to emerge every day, making Lucien extremely annoyed... He couldn't do anything about it, as he had to maintain his hopeless corruption.

But after the 15th, there was a slight change - probably starting from the logistics department. It was not that things suddenly became regular, but that people died.

It seemed like a killer or an assassin began to kill people silently.

From the cooks, the managers, the distributors... one by one they fell like rice being harvested in autumn. Lucien guessed who it was, but he still pretended to be unaware.

Every day I either go to capture other scattered people, or climb to the roof to see the scenery, or sleep all day.

The turning point was that one day, Wilbur, who was keeping vigil for Lucian, suddenly died.

A sharp knife pierced the throat of this big fool, and his face was full of disbelief, followed by a threatening letter - condemning Lucian's crimes in the tone of a righteous man, and listing the number of deaths caused by it.

Lucian was furious and vowed to find this person, completely unaware of the increasingly strange looks people were giving him.

……

That night, before going to bed, Lucian cursed the hypocrisy of this so-called righteous man, and then tossed and turned before finally falling asleep.

Something cold pressed against his neck.

……

Lucian pressed his tongue against the back of his teeth, trying his best to appear angry rather than excited.

I opened my eyes and saw a pair of green eyes through the faint light that sneaked in from the window.

Dark green, like the green eyes of an animal with night vision.

It’s Zavin.

But Lucien knew how to irritate him, so he frowned and asked, "Who are you?"

……

who are you?

Again.

Zawen looked at the person in front of him, and he couldn't help but feel an itch in his throat. Should he laugh at his own joke?

But in the end, he said lightly: "You know me."

"Really?" Lucian scoffed. "I know a lot of people, but not everyone is worth remembering."

"Uninvited guest, are you going to kill me now, just as you killed my companion?"

Zaven was determined to kill Lucian - he had no reason not to, but he had to do something before killing him, such as: "Companions? You think of them as companions? I'm afraid your companions don't think of you that way. They can't wait to kill you."

"Come on," Lucien said, "just based on that threatening letter you wrote?"

"If I weren't there, do you know how many more people would be dead in Gotham right now?"

At least Lucian did not break his original promise, and he did ensure that his men had enough food and clothing.

"They should be grateful to me." So Lucian was justifiably arrogant.

……

Zaven felt unfamiliar... At this moment, Lucian not only did not have the high spirits that he had when he first met him, but also did not have the cunning and viciousness that impressed him the last time. It was as if he had been corroded by something, without the attractive outer skin, only a rotten and festering inside.

Zavin was disappointed.

Chapter 225 Who will become whose nightmare?

The moonlight shines in, covering everything with a hazy veil, vaguely like a shy naked girl.

She acts like a fool, but in reality, she is a prostitute who is seducing others.

Lucian looked into Zavin's familiar green eyes. Although clearly in a lower position, he looked down at him. "You should also be grateful to me. Without me guaranteeing your basic survival, how could you have the chance to stand here... and point the knife at me?"

As if he had received an irrefutable argument, he shouted even louder, "What a greedy person! You opposed me, tried to kill me, to prove me wrong... You don't know how to be grateful! It's just hypocritical!"

It can be described as sarcastic and mean: "Don't think I don't know what you want - Ha! I've seen people like you many times, making a fortune from wars, and always trying to put on a cloak for yourself. You are condemning me... but, have you saved more people than I have?!"

They are standing on the moral high ground: "Why don't you admit your true motives? You just want money! You want to seize power! And you don't want to be blamed for it. So you say bad things about me and put all the blame on me!"

Zaven saw the mockery in Lucian's eyes and heard the words from that mouth: "No matter who you are, you are hypocritical!"

……

From the perspective of saving lives alone, Zavin acknowledged Lucian's contribution. In reality, without Lucian's coercion, almost all the children and elderly people in Gotham would have died in the fight for food.

But now, they were not starved or beaten to death for food.

Zaven thought that maybe in the end he would let Lucian go because of his contribution and not kill him... But now: "You can do better. You are just condoning all the bad things to happen!"

It's not just about saving lives, but about restoring order and establishing complete fairness so that almost everyone can get what they want.

"Ha." A short syllable emerged from Lucian's throat. He became curious, and his expression became strange and indescribable: "Were you just condemning me from a moral high ground?"

No one in Gotham right now is qualified to stand higher than Lucian.

So Zaven fell silent.

"All right."

Lucian said, "Hurry up and do it, before I reveal more of your hypocrisy. Do you still want to listen to my condemnation of you?"

"Now, while you are feeling moved by your heroic behavior, come and kill me."

……

Zaven realized that one of his mistakes was that no matter he was high-spirited, cunning, or corrupt, one thing was beyond doubt.

Lucian was very good at using his bright red tongue and words to achieve his goals.

Therefore, feeling the force of Lucian actively pressing his neck close to the blade, Zavin retreated instead.

He let go.

The knife fell on the bedding, not making the crisp sound of a cold weapon, but a dull sound.

Accompanied by the words "Can't you bear it, Zawen?"

Zaven looked up suddenly and met the teasing eyes - Lucian had not forgotten him at all.

Zaven suddenly realized...Lucian didn't say he didn't know him at all. What he said was "Who are you" and "Not everyone can make him remember" - he kept fiddling with that damn tongue.

……

The moonlight was still hazy, but the gauze dress of the shy girl was suddenly lifted, revealing the syphilis growing on her skin - she was a prostitute!

The decay and rot were fake, and Lucian was still treating him like a dog, as a joke - he was cunning and mean, and he laughed at Zavin without any concealment.

After thinking about this, Zaven could hardly control his anger and almost picked up the knife again and stabbed it into Lucian's neck.

But before actually doing it.

"Don't be angry." Lucian tilted his head and looked at him, smiling: "Don't you like this kind of reunion ceremony? Doesn't it bring back good memories for you?"

What good memories?

A memory that was treated as a joke?

Zaven's eyelid twitched uncontrollably, but it seemed as if his emotions had reached a threshold, and he calmed down instead: "Aren't you worried that I might kill you?"

"Oh, I'm worried. Of course I'm worried, but, dear." Lucian sat up from the bed and stood on the ground, forcing Zaven, who was clinging to him, to retreat step by step.

In the moonlight, a vague shadow was cast on Zavin. Zavin's retreat made his previous threat laughable, while Lucian's pressure answered the question for him.

"If you wanted to kill me, you wouldn't be wasting your time here talking to me—you would have stabbed that knife into my throat before I even woke up, Zaven. You wouldn't want me to die."

He was determined, staring at Zaven.

The expression on Zawen's face froze, becoming more and more solemn, like a melting wax figure.

Lucian's ridicule intensified. "What a jerk you are! Is it true that only by being abused can you feel happy and safe? It would be a shame if you didn't become a bastard."

Zaven's pale face suddenly turned red - this was a naked humiliation, but he was helpless, and even in the depths of his heart where no one was paying attention, he almost cried with nostalgia.

But at least on the surface, he punched Lucien in the face.

……