Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics

Holding equipment and weapons, Nightwing rushed into the cave with a sudden brake, using his gun-holding arm to block the person behind him, instinctively sensing something was wrong.

This kind of insane laughter had not echoed over Gotham for a long time, so much so that people had forgotten the danger it brought.

But Nightwing would never forget.

In this cosmos, Dick Grayson wasn't the first Robin, Jason Todd was, and Nightwing knew this; he had even inquired Batman about his predecessor's whereabouts.

Batman did not explain much, but later through indirect inquiries, Nightwing learned that Batman's first assistant Robin had been killed by the Joker.

Since then, the Joker was not just a nightmare for Batman alone, but also for Nightwing; he knew that if he wanted to stand with Batman, he would inevitably have to confront this terrifying madman.

But he never thought that day would come so soon.

He watched helplessly as the skin on the female figure in front of him rapidly healed, leaving behind mottled scars, and her hair grew out, only it was a vivid green.

Within a flash, Nightwing saw a shadow whisk past him from the side, and his companion behind him shouted.

"Watch out! He's coming!"

Zzzila—

The sudden braking left a charred trace on the ground by the tire, Bruce was shaken and his forehead hit the glass, swelling up instantly; as he was about to ask the pale knight why he braked, he saw him bend over in pain.

"What's wrong?!" Bruce quickly reached out to help him but was pushed away by the pale knight, who took a deep breath and then said, "What did Shiller give me to eat? Why can't I feel the effect of the medicine anymore?"

"He mixed some special stuff into your medicine... oh my God, that means you only took half of the medicine!"

The pale knight began to constantly exhale, as if he wanted to laugh but couldn't, his lungs became like a bellows, constantly pumping out air.

Bruce hurriedly took out a medicine bottle from the drawer in front of the car, wanting to give it to the pale knight, but the pale knight lay there for a while and then raised his head somewhat blankly.

"Quick, your medicine..."

The pale knight slightly shook his head, saying, "Something's wrong, it's strange, he... he seems to have become weak..."

"Who?"

"The Joker." The pale knight took a deep breath and said, "When there is no suppression by the medicine, he would always fight me for control of the body, but this time it was so short, he's becoming weaker and weaker."

The tone of the pale knight revealed confusion, but Bruce seemed to think of something; he had previously seen Shiller carrying a syringe filled with blood-red liquid coming out from the room where the Joker was locked up, could that stuff be the Joker's blood?

Bruce gently patted the pale knight's shoulder, then said, "You're not feeling well, let me drive."

The pale knight indeed felt weak, he and Bruce switched places, Bruce started the car, driving through the valley.

As he reached the valley, the ominous premonition grew stronger, he said to the pale knight, "The Joker inside you doesn't weaken for no reason, if there has to be a reason, it's probably because a new Joker has been born."

The pale knight looked at him in shock.

Bruce got out of the car, slammed the door, walked over to the pale knight's side, and said through the window, "You can't leave now, because if you see the new Joker, the Joker inside you might use all his strength to seize control of your body and then kill the new Joker, which would cause great harm to you."

Bruce added in his mind, "The key point is that the Joker inside you might not be able to defeat the new Joker, and the damage caused by the drug to the body is shared."

"No way." I must find out what's going on, the pale knight said, "This is very important."

Bruce still wanted to persuade him, but at that moment an engine roar sounded behind, and a pitch-black car drove over.

The other party obviously recognized them, the Batmobile slowly stopped next to the car Bruce was driving, Batman rolled down the window.

Bruce immediately realized this was a good opportunity, he turned to Batman and said, "The Joker inside the pale knight is weakening because a new Joker has been born, we suspect it is Maria, are you here for this?"

Batman paused for a moment, then said, "I received a distress message from Nightwing, he said he saw the Joker, I thought it was you."

"I'm afraid it's worse than that." Bruce said, "Someone created a new Joker because the Joker inside the pale knight was unwilling to cooperate, and this one is stronger than the one inside the pale knight."

After speaking, Bruce pulled out the pale knight from the car without caring whether Batman wanted to or not, then pushed him next to the Batmobile and said, "You need to watch him, don't let the two Jokers fight, otherwise the whole city will be destroyed."

"Where are you going?" The pale knight looked at Bruce and asked.

"Haven't you understood yet?" Bruce said with a hint of helplessness, sitting in the driver's seat, then saying, "This Joker wasn't naturally evolved, but artificially created, this means that something more terrifying than the Joker is currently moving freely within the city, what do you think I'm going to do?"

Batman obviously hesitated, he felt Bruce was talking nonsense, how could the Joker be artificially created? But the scene described by Nightwing did indeed look like the Joker revival, and the pale knight was standing here fine, which made him have to believe what Bruce said.

The door of the Batmobile opened, Batman looked at the pale knight and said, "Get in, after I leave, I will lock the car, even if the Joker takes over your body, he won't be able to leave this car."

Bruce threw the medicine to the pale knight through the window, then said, "Now is not the time to consider side effects, try to delay a bit longer."

After finishing, he turned the car around and drove off, the pale knight watched his departing figure, appearing somewhat powerless.

He had already guessed who the person Bruce mentioned who created the Joker was, which gave him the feeling for the first time that he was leading a wolf into his house.

Shiller did weaken the Joker, but don't worry about how just yet.

Bruce drove towards the city, calculating in his mind that though the pale knight was not the Joker, nor was he Batman, Greed resembled the Joker, and certainly could not be Batman either, as he himself was no longer Batman.

So now in this city, there was only one Batman, the one he had just seen, and according to the principle of Batman corresponding to Joker, it means there can only be one Joker in the city.

This is the rationale behind Shiller weakening the Joker inside the pale knight; Maria was pushed into a chemical pool by Harry and suffered severe injuries, and then was injected with Joker's blood by Shiller.

This meant that she met the two primary conditions of the Joker—falling into the chemical pool and possessing the Dionysus Factor, and she had even garnered a great deal of Batman's attention.

The pale knight had been taking medication to suppress the Joker within him, while Maria, recently, had been Batman's main enemy, completely replacing the ecological niche of the Joker.

Thus, Maria met all three conditions—falling into the chemical pool, infesting the Joker virus, and under Batman's watch.

She was rightfully transformed into the new Joker.

And since there could only be one Joker, once she became the new Joker, the Joker within the pale knight would gradually disappear.

Bruce had to admit that this was an effective method, because if there was destined to be a Joker, as long as it wasn't the pale knight, they would preserve a good person and not create an additional villain.

But is this a method a person could think of? Is it something a person could do?

However, Bruce knew he was the least qualified to criticize Shiller, as he had also done such a thing.

At the intersection, Bruce slightly slowed down the car, wondering where Shiller would be, at Arkham Insane Asylum, or at Wayne Manor?

Actually, neither. Shiller was now in the laboratory of Mr. Freeze, Victor Fries.

Taking advantage of the gap when Maria was transforming into the Joker, he had rescued Victor. The Victor in this cosmos seemed much more affected by life's hardships than the arrogant one; it looked like he wasn't having a good time.

Shiller poured a cup of hot coffee for Victor and said, "That's basically the situation, I need assistance to deal with that cunning thief. As long as you help me, your lab will receive long-term funding."

Victor was packing up his things on the side and said, "You should know that I'm not like those madmen at Arkham Asylum, I am a normal person, I don't want to use anything I created to attack anyone."

"That's exactly why I came to you, if I wanted to kill that thief, I would have gone to Bane. I hope to control him, not harm him."

"I won't give you the cryogenic weapon."

Shiller sincerely said, "Even if you did give it to me, I wouldn't use it, I'm terrible with guns, so I hope you can bring your equipment and accompany me on a trip."

"Also, I think guns are a bit too aggressive, if there were something like an Ice Trap, that would be even better."

"Your definition of aggressiveness is truly unusual," Victor remarked, clearly wavering, "Just for that, are you willing to give me 200,000 dollars? That's a lot of money."

"I told you, it's not just this amount of money. If the effect is good enough, I'm confident I can persuade Batman to fund your lab long-term."

"I won't work for him," Victor shook his head, appearing very lucid, "Batman is one of those people who will go insane with anxiety if the weapon isn't completely controllable by him, I don't want to handle his madness."

"Then let the city government fund it, how about the pale knight pays?"

"You think I don't know the city's situation? The pale knight means well, but he doesn't have money."

"Then where do you think I got 200,000 dollars to give you?"

Victor glanced at Shiller and said, "You look like someone who has never lacked money."

"You're very observant, so are you willing to make the deal?"

Victor took a deep breath and said, "I do need some money to upgrade the security of my lab, I don't want to be kidnapped again."

"Then, I'm willing to contact GTO to provide you continuous long-term security services, funded by the city government."

"GTO is about to change owners, can you convince the new boss?"

"I won't ask how an ordinary physicist knows so much, but if you are willing, I can make it happen."

Victor hesitated for a moment, then nodded, "Okay, but I won't personally go to Wayne Manor, I don't want to offend Batman. I'll give you a small cryogenic device, you just need to place it on the thief's inevitable route to ensure it can control him."

"Won't hurt anyone?"

"It won't, and it can at least immobilize him for two days, making sure he can't move but can speak."

"Very good, we have a deal. Is there a free gift?"

"What free gift do you want?"

"How about that?" Shiller pointed towards something in the corner of the lab.

"That?" Victor turned his head, noticed what Shiller was pointing at, and saw it was a high-power ultraviolet flashlight.