Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics

Batman slowly picked up a tissue and wiped the water off the table. The laughing voice echoed in his mind, lingering for a long time. He hadn't felt this unsure of what expression to wear in quite a while.

Batman tried to understand the thought process of Laughing Bat. For instance, maybe Laughing Bat was tired of being Batman and wanted a different identity, which would not only help shed his infamous reputation but also allow him to infiltrate Battleworld and access more of the cosmos.

However, Laughing Bat had already come into contact with this universe's Jason. In most universes, Jason Todd is Robin. Most Batmans are slightly suspicious of Robin, but a little acting can easily gain their trust.

Talya is even more so. In most universes, she is Damian's birth mother. Having a child with Batman doesn't need further explanation for its significance. For Damian's sake, there is always room for negotiation between the two. As for gender, to Laughing Bat, it's probably the least important issue.

If those two people's physical qualities aren't strong enough, Nadik is also a good option. This universe's Dick has undergone training by the Court of Owls, showing no fear of pain and possessing outstanding skills. Gaining his body wouldn't be bad either.

Why does it have to be Shiller?

Batman contemplated another thought. Could it be that Laughing Bat felt that Shiller ruined his plans and intentionally wanted to cause trouble for him, rather than truly wanting to take over his body?

But upon further thought, that didn't make sense either. Laughing Bat is in a dire situation now, with only the metal visor used for hypnosis as his card. However, hypnosis isn't foolproof; if discovered, he's done for. Convincing Jason with eloquence is a precious opportunity; trading with Jason even more so. Why would he be willing to waste this chance on revenge?

Eliminate all impossible answers, and whatever remains, no matter how strange, is the truth. Batman finally thought of the answer he didn't want to consider: could it be that Laughing Bat merely desired Shiller's body because of his great strength?

Of course, Batman has some understanding of the powers Shiller possesses. Arrogant has hinted at some things, and he himself can gather quite a bit of information through observation.

Shiller is very thin, lacking significant muscle mass, which shouldn't logically result in such power. If such muscle mass can produce such strength, there's only one possibility: there's no limit to how his brain utilizes his muscles.

Considering Shiller's bizarre mental state, Batman believes this possibility is very likely. And arriving in this universe has made Batman even more certain of his hypothesis because Shiller has become stronger.

Even in the hospital, despite their obvious weight class differences, Batman gained no advantage in close combat. This, of course, was abnormal.

However, considering that Laughing Bat previously used drugs—specifically, a large amount of stimulants—in the so-called transport device against Shiller, which significantly enhanced Shiller's powers, the issue likely lies within the central nervous system.

The brain is the most crucial component of the central nervous system. If Shiller's power stems from muscle restraints lifted due to brain abnormalities, and those brain abnormalities arise from mental issues causing anomalies in brain waves, then the key is the brain, not the body.

In other words, if Laughing Bat were to replace his brain with Shiller's body, it wouldn't be any different and might even be weaker. After all, Laughing Bat was formerly Batman, with traces of training; Shiller is purely a civilian.

Could Laughing Bat have not considered this point? Batman couldn't help but think. He probably isn't so mad as not to notice the mismatch between Shiller's body type and his strength. Does he believe Shiller's formidable strength comes from his physique?

This possibility does exist, Batman thought. Laughing Bat isn't willing to admit he's inferior to others. Or rather, when facing aspects where he's inferior, he subconsciously avoids acknowledging them, preferring self-hypnosis.

He wouldn't want to admit Shiller's brain gives him such power because admitting that would mean he's not even the most insane.

This, of course, is something Laughing Bat cannot accept. Since he can no longer defeat most Batmans with force, what sets him apart, what showcases his uniqueness, is his madness—he's the only insane Batman in the multiverse.

Ultimately, losing uniqueness is still uniqueness. Stepping in dog poop on the street can undeniably be considered distinctive, can't it?

Laughing Bat doesn't care how many Joker viruses other Batmans have defeated; he is the only one infected, he is unique, he is powerful.

Because he can't defeat Batman physically, he relies on this to support his spirit. But if someone comes along more insane, doesn't that obliterate even this small glimmer of hope?

Batman thinks Laughing Bat might just not want to admit a straightforward fact—that the Joker virus infection hasn't benefited him and has only made him weaker.

When discussing the original storyline, some people argue that Laughing Bat's strength comes from being a combination of Joker and Batman and that he's strong because he was infected by the Joker virus.

This is a completely results-oriented view without strong evidence. The writer might want to express this feeling, but there hasn't been concrete imagery to support it.

Where did Laughing Bat's starting capital come from?

It wasn't schemed out by his wisdom, nor was it exchanged through the Joker's madness, but rather Barbados inexplicably found him. So many dark multiverses, so many peculiar Batmen, and Barbados just had to seek him out, without giving any particularly special reason. If anything had to be said, it's just the classic trope; Barbados felt that he was unique enough to shoulder such a responsibility. Simply put, the screenwriter bestowed him a golden finger.

The truth is, reflecting on Laughing's life, there was no demonstration of how the Joker virus strengthened Batman.

Some say the evil brought by the Joker virus made Batman break boundaries, capable of using those cruel methods, thus becoming stronger.

But what exactly did Laughing accomplish with these cruel methods?

In reality, he didn't accomplish any real tasks. He did kill quite a few people and did some disgusting things like turning Robin into a rabid dog. But these did not contribute anything substantial to his grand plan. Aside from disgusting people, the actual harm caused to his opponents was zero.

Of course, the mad Robins did inflict some damage. However, if Laughing had spent the energy used to create them on more important tasks, imagine the damage would have been a thousandfold, a hundredfold.

This view reflects the mentality of many: I'm so dissatisfied now because my inner moral boundaries limit me. If given an opportunity to break through these boundaries, I could surely reach the pinnacle of life.

Furthermore, they might think: people doing better than me must be secretly doing unscrupulous things. Surely, it's because their morality is inferior to mine that they can obtain more benefits than I do.

But this contradicts another viewpoint they uphold, which is "human nature cannot withstand tests."

Truly morally noble people are rare. The boundaries of most people are worthless. The vast majority unhesitatingly choose great benefits over maintaining moral boundaries when faced with the choice — provided such an opportunity exists.

No pie falls from the sky. Benefits obtained must be linked to a person's inherent value. A person must have utility for someone to promise them substantial benefits.

Those who frequently think "it's my moral boundaries and law-abiding society that restrict me" likely cannot create any worthwhile value and will never have an opportunity to break moral boundaries.

And even if he is fully mentally prepared, self-considered as pious as a saint, imagined countless self-moving scripts such as "great achievements ignore minor details," "better let me betray the world than let the world betray me," "only by sacrificing can one gain," and finally determined to break through boundaries, his capabilities most likely amount only to disgust others for a while.

Laughing is such a person. When he decided to accept the Joker virus, surrendering to the evil within, it might have been with great anticipation, filled with hope for a better future.

He would feel those days of constraints were finally over, and he could finally use his full abilities to unabashedly roar against the dark multiverse, showing Batman what true darkness is.

So when his plans didn't go smoothly, he would particularly be devastated. He would think: I've already broken moral boundaries; why can't I still defeat Batman?

He utterly fails to understand why, for Batman, nobility doesn't become the epitaph of nobles. Batman's nobility became both his armor and sword, pushing back Laughing, the vile character with a pass, in repeated retreat.

Every bug that vilely slanders in dark corners, envying in shadows those truly noble people living under the sun, never wishes to believe there exist people who can be both righteous and powerful in this world.

Sometimes, the sunk cost of such spiritual victory is even harder to abandon than the material sunk cost.

For example, Laughing has already been devastated to this extent, yet he still has to confront Shiller.

Not to mention missing a piece of his mind, even if he had only one brain cell left, he would still do it. He just cannot accept the inability to defeat Batman in the sane realm, nor defeat Shiller in the madman realm.

Some might ask: So what about the Joker? Isn't Laughing supposed to defeat the Joker in the madman realm?

But the key is, during the hospital events, Shiller pursued Joker to kill. In Laughing's view, this means Shiller had already beaten the Joker. He doesn't want to vie for second place with Joker; he just wants to beat the first and become the most unique one.

Having roughly analyzed Laughing's psyche, Batman doesn't know how to evaluate it. If possible, he'd offer Laughing everything but help: respect his choices, praise his courage, and maybe sing him a song of "wish you success."

Originally, things could have ended here, and Batman planned to do something else. But then he heard Jason's voice coming through the bug:

"Shiller? That agent? Couldn't he be the one who turned you into this? Looks like he was involved in that murder case at the banquet as well... But no worries, I'll go meet him myself."

Batman slapped his forehead.