Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics

Everyone turned to look at Arrogant, but Arrogant just smiled and said nothing more. No one pressed further because whatever Arrogant thought of, they could view in the memory bank after watching the movie.

"I still don't understand, what's he going to do with Laughter's head?" the agent asked, "Even if he wants to kick it like a ball, the mask would hurt his foot, wouldn't it? And leaving the body there, doesn't that matter?"

"I guess Morbid is trying to verify something."

"What thing?"

"Remember the egg dug out from Bruce's Psychic_Battlefield back in the day, and later the one the monsters from Divine Speed took to another world?"

"You mean the Laughing Egg?"

"That's right. Anatoli plotted against Mad Laugh, so Mad Laugh would naturally retaliate. He left Laughing Eggs in many places; they're essentially his backups. When do you think he'd activate them?"

"Certainly when the situation deteriorates to a certain extent." The agent thought for a moment and said, "Mad Laugh can't predict us, but he should be able to anticipate part of Anatoli's actions. Knowing he can't completely thwart Anatoli's schemes, he prepared by storing many backups, possibly foreseeing that one day we would push him into the current predicament."

"Exactly, he laid eggs everywhere waiting for this day," Greed said, "Though he's not dead yet, just having a head is almost like being dead. When he feels he has no room to struggle, he should activate those backups."

"Wait." Greed suddenly realized something and said, "There should be only one Mad Laugh in the Multiverse, right?"

"I guess Morbid wants to test that," Arrogant said, "Suppose Mad Laugh realizes his situation is dire and wants to regain freedom by activating backups. The backups are triggered, but the original isn't dead. What would happen?"

"Could such a situation really occur?" The agent frowned and said, "Logically, when a backup is activated, the original dies; there is always only one primary consciousness. Anyone with a bit of sense would program it this way, right?"

"It can't be denied, Mad Laugh is also Batman. In such matters, he shouldn't make mistakes. So, I guess Morbid wants to exploit a bug."

"You mean..."

"In the previous universe of Broken Bat, was the brain in the jar alive or dead?"

"If we talk about the body, it was dead for sure... Wait, if it was completely dead, the Battleworld task wouldn't determine he needs saving. The source code of Battleworld is advanced, basically the cosmic base code. If Battleworld deems him alive, it proves even just the brain counts as living."

"That's the issue. If we take Mad Laugh's brain out and put it in a jar, from the cosmic base code perspective, he should still be alive. Since he's alive, he can be revived, but Mad Laugh's own revival code might very likely determine he's dead, then activate a backup. By then, when we fish the brain out of the jar, the cosmos would have two Mad Laughs."

"Oh my god." Arrogant couldn't help but exclaim, "Isn't one enough? Do we need another? Can I have a few days of peace?"

"No, no, no." Greed immediately showed an interested smile and said, "If there's only one Mad Laugh in the cosmos, he's just a heap that insistently drills under everyone's feet, determined to disgust everyone like dog shit. But if there are two Mad Laughs, they'd focus on eliminating each other before disgustingly targeting others."

Arrogant's expression froze; then he said, "Makes some sense."

"Mad Laugh is the type who would rather die than admit he's Mediocre. He'll find ways to prove his Uniqueness, proving himself exceptional. This mindset destines him not to tolerate another version of himself in the world. If there are, it surely leads to a life-and-death conflict."

Arrogant slowly nodded. He understood that when comic writers created the character of Mad Laugh, they said he was a fusion of Batman and Joker, but subsequent plots didn't actually show characteristics of Batman or Joker. Instead, his personality resembled other classic comic characters, like Kawakami Fumie from Ito Junji.

Fumie is depicted as an exceedingly beautiful, highly charming woman who incites everyone's sadistic urges. In many stories related to him, he gets dismembered and splits into different versions of himself. Without exception, all these versions ultimately go down the path of mutual destruction.

It can be said that this is the comic author's setting, but its essence is that it reflects the personality of a certain type of people, which is built upon a strong desire to 'pursue uniqueness'. Only being one-of-a-kind has significance.

Ordinary people may find it hard to understand just how extreme and dangerous this desire can be. Many might think that pursuing uniqueness doesn't seem to be an issue, as expressing one's distinctiveness is a right everyone possesses.

But in fact, not everyone has the ability to stand out through victories. For instance, in a running race, if someone runs the fastest and wins the championship, naturally they are unique. But isn't the person who finishes last also unique? How can the uniqueness gained through failure not be considered unique?

If they can win, of course these people would want to gain a unique sense of presence through victory. But when capabilities are limited, if they can't win, then they can only lose in a more noticeable way.

This brings us to another well-known personality type, which is the performance personality. The core of a performance personality is a strong desire to pursue uniqueness, but rather than proving their uniqueness through steadfast victories, it's done through making jokes, seeking attention, or even more extreme acts of deception, exaggeration, and hysteria, gradually evolving into manipulation and mental violence directed at others.

To put it simply, if there's no way to keep winning, then all that's left is to rely on lying and brainwashing to make others believe one is unique. Any mental output with an extreme purpose is inevitably accompanied by mental violence, causing significant harm to those around them. That's where the danger lies.

This type of person cannot accept others of the same kind, because they always pursue being 'the most unique'. If the 'uniqueness' is lost, how can it still be considered one-of-a-kind? When two performance personalities come together, they inevitably battle until the heavens are dark, and even the path itself is worn away.

Therefore, the best method to punish this kind of person is to find someone similar to torment them.

Of course, finding a similar person is not that easy. Even within the same type of personality, there are subtle differences that may not necessarily step on the other person's tail. So actually, the best way to deal with these people is to become a mimic.

Especially when the other person is someone very close to you, temporarily inescapable; whatever they are good at, you learn it; however they usually act and speak, you do the same. If you can surpass them in certain areas and attract other people's attention, even better, it will surely irritate them, making them shed tears of frustration under the covers at night.

As for the Laughing Bat, the best way to deal with him is not to foil his schemes, or to beat him half to death, or even to turn him back into Batman or the Joker, but to send him an identical version of himself.

In fact, similar plotlines exist in the original comics, where after escalating into the Blackest Knight, the Laughing Bat's original corpse was revived by a Black Lantern Ring, and he even stood on Batman's side, fighting against the Blackest Knight he had become.

The Blackest Knight's goal is to create a Laughing version of the Multiverse, a cosmos destined to be crazily twisted. Logically, Laughing Bat has no reason to stop it, but he still chooses to fight against the Blackest Knight. This proves that even if he wants another crazy Multiverse, he absolutely cannot tolerate the cosmos being created by another version of himself.

And due to the meddling of Anatoli, Shiller, and Bruce, it's doubtful that the Blackest Knight can ever come into existence. But this doesn't mean they can't nauseate the Laughing Bat.

If a dog bites you, although you can't bite the dog back, kicking the dog into a cesspit is still possible. Laughing Bat, like a flying giant cockroach, has been sickening them throughout the Metaverse for so long, it's time he takes a big bite of it.

"Having just a head isn't very useful," the agent pondered, "How to preserve the brain, how to make the Laughing Bat activate the backup, and how to rescue the original after activation, it's quite troublesome."

"The most crucial step has been completed," said Greed. "Actually, the hardest part of this plan is making the Laughing Bat think we're just suddenly going crazy, starting retaliation. That way, although he will run, he won't use his ultimate life-saving means, otherwise catching him wouldn't be that easy."

"Another point," the agent supplemented, "not only must the Laughing Bat be kept in the dark, but also Prime Universe Batman and Arkham Batman, making them think we're purely having a breakdown. Otherwise, although Laughing Bat cannot predict our actions, he can detect the thoughts of Prime Universe Batman and Arkham Batman. If they notice something and get mind-read by Laughing Bat, it won't be easy."

"Fortunately, they both seem quite accustomed to my breakdowns," Arrogant couldn't help but snort with laughter, "I've heard that even when I chased them from Broken Bat's universe to the current universe, they weren't surprised in the least and even pursued swiftly, as if convinced I wouldn't kill them."

"Arkham Batman hasn't dealt with you much, so it's normal he didn't pick up on it. But I believe Prime Universe Batman surely has realized Morbid has ulterior motives. Otherwise, why would he stop trying to stop you after seeing you target the Joker in the hospital?"

Arrogant paused momentarily, then said, "Indeed, Batman wouldn't give up on anyone; he wants to save everyone. There's no reason he would diligently save the Joker one moment and then ignore me killing the Laughing Bat the next. He probably discerned I had other intentions and refrained from meddling recklessly, without understanding my plan."

"He's quite the partner," said Greed, "Just wonder what he'll feel if he sees you already have Laughing Bat's head in your hands."

Arrogant looked back at the screen where colorful lines flowed rapidly, indicating complex and unsettled thoughts. Behind the office desk, Batman watched as Shiller placed the Laughing Bat's head on his desk with a 'bang', momentarily at a loss for words.