Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics

It was mentioned before that due to Anatoli's quick actions and Bruce's interference, the Laughing Bat did not become one of Barbados' major subordinates, and naturally did not receive any powerful strength from him.

Without strong foundational power as support, even with prediction abilities, many plans could not be executed. Simply traversing the universe is a troublesome matter, requiring a lot of energy. Without Barbados' investment, the Laughing Bat had to figure everything out himself.

As a result, this greatly limited the Laughing Bat's area of activity. He couldn't appear in every universe he wanted like in the original comic, often stuck in only a few select universes.

This meant he didn't know many Batmen, and wasn't very familiar with many of them. Most were identified through the spiked eye mask on his head, reading their inner thoughts when they were unprepared, then judging their strength through their life stories.

This method, of course, isn't very reliable, only offering a rough understanding. After finally finding some decent Batman from the Dark Multiverse and executing a string of schemes to recruit them, Bruce and his team intercepted them.

This was unacceptable. The Laughing Bat could not allow his plan to conquer the universe to collapse under his own hands. He reflected deeply and finally decided—to blame God.

Back when he was Batman, the Laughing Bat wasn't very strong either. If he had super willpower, he wouldn't have been infected by the Joker virus. Just consider Arkham Batman. You have to know, Arkham Batman sped through Gotham overnight while infected with the Joker virus, fighting these criminals outside and the Joker in his mind. Later on, he was hit with a strengthened version of fear gas, yet acted as if nothing happened, defeating everyone.

The Laughing Bat felt that his unsatisfactory conditions were due to his inherently weak physical traits. He wasn't strong when he was Batman, so the corresponding Joker wasn't strong either, resulting in mediocre strength overall. If he were born invulnerable, or could use magic, would this current predicament be a problem?

Therefore, his predicament wasn't his fault, but because God didn't give him a good body. If he had a good body, he would have been wreaking havoc in the Multiverse long ago.

The Laughing Bat's ideology always followed this, even in the original comic. After obtaining power from Barbados at the beginning, he assembled the Dark Knights, but did not effectively manage them, instead opting to steal the body of the Batman who might become Doctor Manhattan, then stealing Crisis Force later.

Such people never think about improving themselves; they only aim to snatch what's ready-made. Whoever is strong, he steals from, and if it's not useful, he steals from the next, repeating endlessly with nothing truly belonging to him.

Of course, if he could always steal successfully, then it could be considered a skill. But the problem is, even in stealing, he hasn't figured it out. He can only choose, within his scope of vision, the one who seems strongest, regardless of whether they truly are the strongest or suitable for him.

Within the Laughing Bat's scope of vision, the strongest Batman he could access was probably Arkham Batman.

This is the flaw in such a method. The Laughing Bat can only find those who visibly appear strong, limiting his ability to those he perceives. Otherwise, he should try to steal from Bruce. He didn't do this simply because he couldn't comprehend Bruce's situation.

Although Primary Universe Batman's strength is not bad, Primary Universe Batman is relatively restrained, which is the previously mentioned "self-control." Even in Battleworld, while completing tasks, it often seems "just barely done." Though he takes what must be taken, often lacking some stylishness, therefore not looking so cool.

Arkham Batman is different. Similar to the agents, he speeds through everything, pursuing ultimate efficiency, constantly skipping steps. Every battle like cutting through butter, from appearance to aura to combat style is vigorously cool, appealing to most people's aesthetic. Laughing Bat was no exception.

The Laughing Bat knew of Battleworld's existence, having previously eyed it. Although due to Battleworld's high level, he couldn't currently break through, when deciding to steal a body, he immediately thought of creating traps in some sub-universe, luring various Batman, then selecting the strongest.

The "Broken Bat" copy was the best trap he found. Using Batman and the Robins' sympathy to draw them over, placing obstacles carefully, and then screening them.

In fact, more than just Dick and Arkham Batman came to rescue the Broken Bat; many Batmen joined. However, as the Laughing Bat schemed without being scrupulous, creating numerous hurdles, and used Ghost City to cheat, essentially no one could reach the end. Additionally, some weaker Batmen were eliminated at the start.

Reaching the end, Arkham Batman naturally became the Laughing Bat's target. He wanted that strong body.

The Laughing Bat used Ghost City to defeat Arkham Batman but did not immediately execute the body-stealing plan, because Arkham Batman was still in a Battleworld task at that time. During tasks, even if players die, they only revive in Battleworld, with body states reset. The Laughing Bat couldn't deal with Battleworld's high-level existence, hence he had to lure the real body without tasks.

So he purposely stayed in the "Broken Bat" universe, waiting for the angry Arkham Batman to find him. Yet perhaps due to the poor state of Batman in the "Broken Bat" universe, the Laughing Bat couldn't lay eggs in his body, forcing him to take a detour, luring Arkham Batman from the "Broken Bat" universe into the Silent Batman universe, then transferring the egg from Silent Batman to Arkham Batman, with plans to break out and successfully steal Arkham Batman's body.

"Wait." After leaving the elevator, Shiller suddenly stopped Arkham Batman, saying, "You shouldn't go over."

Arkham Batman looked at him, saying nothing but clearly stating his stance.

"I'm saying, Laughing Bat is a very obsessive person," Shiller said, "He believes your body is the best, and all other Batmen fall short, so he will obtain you at any cost. Before this, he won't waste this opportunity on other Batmen; they are safe for now."

Arkham Batman narrowed his eyes. He slowed his pace and asked Schiller, "What method does he intend to use to take over my body?"

"An egg, similar to a parasite," Schiller thought for a moment and said, "I don't exactly know how, but I think you might not need to defeat him first."

"He surely shouldn't be so foolish," Arkham Batman said seriously, "What happens after being parasitized?"

"It might lead to madness," Schiller said, "Your earlier words reminded me. Little Bruce from this universe entered an insane asylum due to mental issues, possibly because he was parasitized. However, the signs only appear right after the parasitization, and he starts becoming more normal later, so now it's hard to determine if Batman in this universe has an egg inside him."

"What do you plan to do?" Arkham Batman asked.

"You must absolutely avoid contact with Batman from this universe, especially don't be in the same space as Batman from the Prime Universe and 'Mad Laugh'. Luckily, 'Mad Laugh' is now just a head, so the risk is much lower if we get rid of that head."

They arrived at the door. Schiller said, "Even if he's just a head now, he can still read minds. It's better not to let too many people know about this, and you should be prepared."

"Don't worry," Arkham Batman nodded and said, "You need to execute that plan quickly. If he has another version of himself, he won't bother me anyway."

"I have another plan," Schiller smiled and said, "If it works out, it will be interesting."

After saying that, he pushed open the door and walked in. Three pairs of eyes simultaneously focused on him. Prime Universe Batman approached first and asked, "What's wrong? Is there something up?"

"Just forgot to grab something," Schiller looked at 'Mad Laugh's head on the table and said, "I believe he won't have a pleasant chat with you guys, so I'll take him away now. Goodbye."

Prime Universe Batman did not oppose, he was busy figuring out the situation with Batman in this universe. Schiller took 'Mad Laugh's head but didn't leave; he waited in the adjacent lounge, clearly waiting for Prime Universe Batman to finish talking and discuss something with him.

Earlier, when Schiller was discussing the plan with Prime Universe Batman, and later when he discussed execution details with Arkham Batman, 'Mad Laugh's head was present. 'Mad Laugh' listened to all their plans and knew what they intended to do.

Schiller spoke openly, knowing the two Batmans might be up to something and naturally followed along, acting as if they didn't know 'Mad Laugh' could hear.

Schiller indeed had his calculations. He didn't intend to hide anything from 'Mad Laugh', because ever since he chopped off the head, 'Mad Laugh' had already lost control. From now on, whatever he does, 'Mad Laugh' can't stop him.

But now knowing that 'Mad Laugh's head might have a way to transfer the 'Laughing Egg' suspected to be in Silent Batman's body, Schiller had another idea.

It's known, 'Mad Laugh' knows they want to exploit a glitch to create two 'Mad Laughs'. This means the new 'Mad Laugh' born from the new body and the old 'Mad Laugh' who only has a head now will use different bodies and are sure to fight.

So will this old 'Mad Laugh' really give the new 'Mad Laugh' a good body? If that were the case, when they fight, wouldn't the old 'Mad Laugh' suffer losses himself?

Since it's destined for new and old conflict, the old 'Mad Laugh' would be crazy to give his opponent such a strong body. If the new 'Mad Laugh' seized Arkham Batman's body, how could he possibly win?

Schiller planned to exploit this point and have 'Mad Laugh' destroy himself. But before that, he needed to add fuel to the fire. 'Mad Laugh' wasn't particularly clever to begin with; if he lost his sanity, it would be even easier to deal with him.

After a while, the lounge door was knocked. Schiller emerged from the lounge and saw Prime Universe Batman sitting on a chair.

"Did you call someone to handle the body?" Schiller looked at Elliot's corpse lying on the ground and asked.

"Not yet, why?"

"Don't rush to call someone. Remember our plan still lacks a body for the revival of the old 'Mad Laugh'. I think Elliot's body is quite fitting, don't you think?"