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

"Do you want to become stronger?"

"Or rather, do you want to save Gotham?"

Bruce hummed softly.

"Even though the real culprit behind your parents' murder has been dealt with, and your revenge is complete... do you think so too?"

Ordinary people probably go back to their lives after getting their revenge.

Bruce still didn't change his mind.

Lucian flicked the ash off his cigarette and thought.

Maybe this is what a hero is?

"I can help you."

"How can you help me?"

Lucian thought, "I once spent a lot of time with a madman with a high IQ. I can teach you how to get along with a madman without going crazy."

"Will this save Gotham?"

"This could save Gotham."

Bruce didn't ask any further questions, but simply asked, "How else can you help me?"

"I can help you maintain your bottom line."

"Bottom line?" Bruce whispered. "You mean I can't kill anyone?"

"Of course you can kill people." Scarlet flames burned at his fingertips. Lucian said, "But I don't want you to become a murderous madman... like that bomb."

"You scared me... Such lethality... Do you want to kill everyone?"

Bruce didn't answer, apparently agreeing.

"Dear Bruce, this is what I want to talk to you about the most." Lucian sighed:

"Do you want to be a hero or a villain?"

Bruce said, "I don't want to be... I just want to make sure there are no more people like you and me in Gotham."

"Are you revenge? Are you the night?" Lucian asked tentatively.

"I'm not," Bruce said in a childish voice. "I haven't figured it out yet... I need some time to think about it. In fact, I have nothing but the broad dream of saving Gotham."

There was silence again. The cigarette that Lucien had lit had burned out. He put the butt out on the ground and said:

"I want you to be a good person... but I don't want you to be a good person with everyone else's hopes."

"I hope you become a person with a bottom line, but I don't want your bottom line to be drawn by me."

"I hope you become a saint... but I saw a saint being gnawed by rats until he couldn't stand up."

Chapter 71 Am I the person you hate the most?

"So I don't know either... So I want to say, Bruce." Lucian smiled: "You are a child who is much smarter than me. You will always make the most correct decision and you will always get the most appropriate answer."

"But not before getting an answer."

"Let's make a pact, okay?" Lucian stretched out his hand in the darkness.

"If you want to kill someone, before you kill him... please kill me first."

"I am the person you should hate the most."

……

Lucian felt the touch of another fist and couldn't tell whether it was a lie or the truth.

Pig-mouthed bats flapped their wings and flew over their heads, making a noisy and rhythmic sound. Light fell from above, it was the rising sun in Gotham.

……

"It's pitch black up ahead, I can't see a thing!"

"Not really. It will be beautiful after daybreak."

——The King of Comedy

----

Grant Park, where the Fashion District meets the Civic District.

When government officials passed by here in the morning, they were shocked to see a human figure hanging on the street light.

And red paint writing on the wall:

"The Court of Owls is watching, it watches over you, high above the stone walls and shadows, ruling over Gotham."

"It watches over your hearth, it watches over your bed. Never mention its name, or its claws will claim your life."

The Court of Owls

Looking at the face of the person on the street light, reporters swarmed in and flashbulbs exploded in the crowd.

By the time the Gotham Police Department finally arrived, everything was over.

Looking at the confused and angry crowd, the police could only pretend to be calm and rescue these people.

"Mr. Elliot?" Looking at the pale Thomas Elliot, the young police officer asked tentatively, "What happened?"

No one spoke, their faces were tense, as if they still existed under the white mask.

……

"Look, I told you they'll die today." In a low-key car on the street, Lucian tapped his cigarette ash out the window and said to Bruce, "I'm going to die today."

“A journalist’s pen is worth three thousand Mausers, but sometimes, a journalist’s pen is three thousand Mausers.”

"It's not enough." Bruce leaned against the glass and looked at them: "You still need me."

"Yes, you clever boy. Now I need you to be a witness to identify the person..." Lucian handed him the bag he had been holding.

"There are some forces here that have been targeted by the court just like you. You can get help from them."

Bruce took it, scanned the names one by one, and said, "Thank you."

"...Oh." Lucian made a sound similar to a sigh.

……

One sorry, one thank you.

Clown, no wonder you are called a clown.

……

"But why is Falcone in there?" Bruce interrupted his consolation and asked, "Isn't Falcone cooperating with the court?"

Yes, why is there Falcone?

Lucien then remembered that although in some settings they were in cahoots with each other, in other settings Falcone and the court were hostile.

He slapped his forehead, blaming himself for not checking it in advance.

But seeing the look Bruce was giving him, Lucien had to smile: "Well... I don't know anything about Falcone."

"That man is not here to kill you, right?" Bruce was referring to the black man.

"Correct."

"Are you...framing someone?"

Lucien nodded without arguing.

If this were in the "everyone will realize how good I am after I die" literature, then the question would end there.

But obviously, our eight-year-old little president is much smarter than those twenty-eight-year-old domineering presidents.

Bruce thought for a moment and said, "He's bullying you, isn't he?"

"Correct."

"Are you...protecting yourself?"

Just like before, Lucian nodded, and a smile involuntarily appeared on his face.

……

Lucien did it on purpose. He deliberately gave Falcone's file to Bruce.

Batman never disappoints…not the young Batman, not the Batman who didn't become Batman.

……

"So what now? Do you want to take revenge on that person?"

Lucian heard Bruce's question and looked at him:

"Emotionally, I didn't want to... He just hurled some harmless verbal insults at me, and I cursed him back, but I was obviously more powerful."

Lucian took a puff of his cigarette and said, "He... piss, I'm going to get revenge on him for what happened to me. Through you, I'll have his superiors scold him."

"that's it?"

"that's it."

"I thought you would be more cruel."

"Yes, it's cruel." Lucien watched the smoke dissipate into the air outside through the car window, and suddenly asked another question: "Should I not smoke in front of my children?"

He looked back at Bruce and continued to mutter:

"Where were we just now... Cruel, yes. Intellectually, I also think that dealing with him this way is too easy. He should be crippled."

Bruce also didn't say anything about his smoking. It seemed that this noble young master had become accustomed to the smell of low-quality secondhand smoke. His attention remained on Lucian's words:

"Emotionally, you think this is enough, but intellectually, you think it should be more?"

His tone was a little hesitant: "Shouldn't normal people be more emotionally impulsive?"

"Yes, dear, that's what normal people would do." Lucian winked playfully.

"But this is called restraint... I restrained my emotions."