Chapter 181 Smile (Part 2)

He saw the torn paper balls scattered at Alberto's feet. They were no different from the tickets in his hand. They were all messy press releases and pieces of white paper.

Since when did he really think that this thing was a ticket? Did he really think there would be clues on it?

Was it when Schiller insisted that he drive the Batmobile to the mailbox of the TV station to buy tickets? Was it when they really ran to the ticket office of the theater to check the tickets? Or was it when Schiller and Alberto looked at him with confidence and read out clues one by one?

Batman suddenly realized that these were not the most important reasons. The fundamental reason was his arrogance.

He had always thought that everyone was drunk and he was the only one who was sober. He felt that the madman on the stage was no different from the group on the street. He disdained to understand him and disdained to invest, so naturally he did not participate from beginning to end.

So he was fooled.

There were no clues from beginning to end. This was just a group of madmen punishing a group of idiots.

"Do you know what this means?" Schiller stood up, resting his hands on the back of the chair in front of him, and asked Batman.

"This means that the previous joke was really funny."

Schiller turned around and took the popcorn bucket from Alberto's hand, grabbed the paper ball in his hand, and then threw it into the air. He said: "See? This is 'money'."

"... This is what they are pursuing. Isn't it funny?"

The clown on the stage stared at Batman. He suddenly lowered his head to let the green hair cover his eyes. He asked Batman: "Do you really not want to laugh at all?"

"Enough." Batman jumped to the front of the stage.

"The farce should end." His voice was annoyed.

"Before coming here, I checked out all the historical data of the Gotham Grand Theater, including the design drawings for its construction."

"And in the past few minutes, I have read them all."

As he spoke, Batman cast his gaze towards the center of the stage and said, "The people who built this theater were once European nobles. In order to prevent the actors' footsteps from being too loud and affecting the effect of the drama performance, the stage they used was not the hollow wooden stage commonly used in American opera houses, but a solid stage made of complete rocks. Your previous footsteps also proved this."

"From the time you issued the notice to now, if you do not use explosives, it is not enough for you to dig a hole in such a stage, then "The Joker stared at Batman, and suddenly, he asked angrily: "Why don't you understand yet? This is not a detective drama! You idiot!" "Forget it, you will understand, you will..." He twisted his neck and waist, then he pulled off his tie and unbuttoned his suit jacket. His body was full of bombs. He said while unbuttoning: "I said I should buy a larger size. It's really a bit crowded." "Oh, look, you are right! Great Detective Batman! The bombs are here!" "Look, there are so many!" The Joker lowered his chin and lowered his head, trying to see the bombs hanging on his waist. "I'm going to detonate them! You and the idiots on the stage will be blown up together!"

The Joker threw away the triangle in his hand, took out a pistol from his waist, pointed it at Batman and said, "Don't try to stop me!"

Batman stood opposite him. He didn't hesitate at all. Before the Joker could make the next dangerous move, several bats flew over the stage with a sound of breaking through the air, cutting the hemp ropes hanging those people. A group of people fell to the ground and screamed in pain.

The Joker was attracted by the sudden high-pitched scream. In an instant, Batman rushed up, first kicked his arm joint, let the pistol fly directly, then punched him in the face, and then strangled his neck directly, dragged him back, and removed his other arm.

The Joker screamed and fell to the ground. Batman squatted down, trying to remove the bomb on his body first. Just when he lowered his eyes to look at the Joker, he saw a successful smile on his face.

There was a sudden scream in the center of the stage. Fatty Haru fell to the ground, holding his neck. A small iron rod for hitting the triangle was stuck in his neck.

It was another strong man who took action. He grabbed Haru's neck and pulled out the small iron rod. In an instant, blood splattered. Haru fell to the ground, holding his neck, and lost his life. The man said: "You are a bunch of low-level nouveau riche! How dare you humiliate us, I..."

Before he finished speaking, a gunshot rang out, and Cheri held the pistol with trembling hands. He shouted viciously: "I've had enough of you! If you hadn't insisted on holding that party! How could we have made such a big fool of ourselves?!"

Two people died in an instant, and all the court members began to quickly break free from the ropes tied to their bodies.

When they were hung in the air, it seemed that no matter how they struggled, it was useless, but after the rope hanging them was cut, the hemp rope tied to them was not knotted. As the rope head was cut, the binding became loose, and the strong man was the first to break free.

The triangle and the pistol thrown by the Joker had been picked up. In the melee, everyone used whatever they found. Some took broken bricks, some untied hemp ropes. Everyone's eyes were red, and they attacked each other like crazy.

But soon, they found the best place to snatch the murder weapon.

One person rushed into the orchestra quickly, trying to pick up the music stand as a weapon, and the other rushed over to hit him. After the two fought for a round, one of them quickly picked up the violin bow next to him, seized the opponent's weakness, and strangled his neck from behind.

He shouted: "It was you who threatened me just now, and asked me to obey their demands so that you can get the real answer! Go to hell!!!" Gu Bei

He strangled hard, and blood spurted high, rushing straight to the ceiling of the stage, like a blood-red fountain, and also like a flower vine climbing on the frame.

Batman, who had just rushed over to stop it, was splashed with blood, and the strong smell of blood rushed into his brain, making him dazed for a while.

Until the body on the opposite side fell to the ground, the murderer suddenly panicked and knelt down, he said: "No! No... What did I do? But..."

"I'm not wrong, I'm not wrong, I saw him trying to press the button, he wanted to kill me..."

The same words rang countless times, screams came one after another, Batman turned his head stiffly, he looked at the stage, it was already stained with blood.

The old curtain on the theater stage, from the original dark red, turned back to bright red, as if back to that glorious era.

He heard laughter coming from the direction of the Joker, first only a breathy chuckle, then turned into a crazy laugh, he laughed out of breath, he said: "Hahahahahahaha, you really..."

His arms could no longer move, but he still struggled to sit up, and then stood up against a corner of the stage, he laughed and did these movements, choking himself and coughing.

"I want to congratulate you... Batman! Your revenge was successful!" The Joker staggered over, he almost fell down, but still tried to support his body.

"Your enemy is dead, did you see it?"

The Joker's nose was bleeding all over, but he still tried to move, walked to Batman, and said breathlessly:

"Your enemy is so miserable, so embarrassed..."

He swallowed his saliva, his voice was like dry rotten wood, he said with some effort: "This is my gift to you, Batman, my gift."

His voice was full of joy, even a little flattering and expectant. He sniffed his nose, trying to suck back the blood, but failed, so he looked a little funny. He said: "Although the gift you gave me made me bleed so much, I am still very happy."

"I think my gift is well prepared, you see..." The Joker swallowed his saliva again, he shook his head, as if trying to make himself sober.

"I'm a bad guy. I organized a kidnapping case, and then I got a lot of people to support me."

"And the TV station... they can all see it. Ha, I admit it. I did it. I... I'm a criminal, a villain."

"And you... you're a hero. You saved them. You bravely rushed to the stage and faced the vicious kidnappers with bombs tied to your body. You showed your wisdom and courage, and then you successfully saved them, right?"

"Your enemies are all bad guys, a bunch of selfish ghosts, so after you saved them, they killed each other and died." The clown's tone began to get more and more excited.

"But you are innocent, you have tried your best, you are even a hero..."

The Joker was a little out of breath, and some of his crazy words were drowned in his panting. Then he looked up at Batman with difficulty, looking straight into his eyes, and said: "I have done so much for you, and I only need you to answer me one question, just one question..."

"Please be kind, Master Batman, answer me! Answer me, a poor man..."

"I am really hurt, it really hurts..." The Joker cried, but soon, he tried to suck the blood from his nose and said:

"When you see my performance, and see the enemy you hate being so humiliated, tortured, and ugly..."

He began to tremble all over, and he asked frantically: "Answer me, answer yourself..."

"Have you ever had a moment... want to laugh?"

Batman's fists gradually clenched, and the blue veins on the back of his hands almost broke out of the gloves. The Joker leaned forward, as if he wanted to put his ear on Batman's chest and listen to his heartbeat.

The Joker couldn't hold on any longer. He fell down, groaning in pain, but with a snicker, and he said, "You can't accept the answer in your heart, right?"

"Why do you feel unbelievable? Why do you feel uncomfortable? Why do you feel that your mood is getting worse?"

"A person who thinks he is crazy because he wants to laugh is really crazy!" The Joker shouted as loudly as he could.

"Why did you do all this?" Batman finally spoke.

He finally realized the difference of this madman, and finally stood on the stage level with him, asking him questions and waiting for answers.

The Joker lay on the ground, his chest heaving, still gasping for breath, and he finally stopped laughing. He said, "Because I am a clown."

"I just want you to smile."

Finally, as the lights in the theater went out, Batman heard a plea in his tone:

"Smile...Batman."