Chapter 54 Murder

"Of the 30 million people in Gotham City, 5 million have directly or indirectly participated in first-degree murders."

This is an underground safe house in Gotham City, the Riddler's lair, the safest and most secretive one.

This place is arranged like an ordinary study room. Killer Croc, who is sitting on the sofa, pulls out a copy of Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason" from the bookshelf next to him. After flipping through it for a while, he finds that he can't understand a word, so he throws it on the ground in anger.

The ventriloquist picks it up and stuffs it back.

"About 15 million people have committed crimes before, and the remaining 10 million people who have not committed crimes are not because they are good civilians, but because they are all hidden gentlemen, gamblers, and prostitutes in the red light district."

The Riddler's voice rang in the room. Jim Gordon was tied to a chair with his eyes blindfolded and a cloth stuffed in his mouth.

"And the reason they didn't join the criminal army is not because of any noble qualities, but because they were not forced into a desperate situation."

The picture was playing on the TV, and the Riddler confirmed that it was a live broadcast. Batman was there, just as he planned. He continued:

"So do you understand? There are no good people in Gotham. The only ones who can be called good are drug addicts and gamblers, because they will not hurt others except themselves."

"I'm too tired, year after year, day after day. Living in a pile of garbage, constantly committing crimes."

"If committing crimes is so tiring, why don't you stop?" The movie freak said, "You can stop committing crimes?"

"No, you don't understand at all."

The Riddler stood up a little nervously, then stood on the sofa and squatted down, hugging his legs, like a lonely and helpless poor child.

"This is a war. If we really give up crime because we are tired, then he wins...Batman wins."

"So what? Can't we live without crime?"

Killer Croc found a bag of potato chips nearby, opened it, and threw it directly into his mouth.

"No, it's not like that. Batman won, but I didn't lose."

Huh? Killer Croc thought he was completely crazy.

He knew that telling riddles was the Riddler's specialty, just like the uncle selling hot dogs at the entrance of the park would have his own unique recipe. But the Riddler had never said such a difficult riddle, at least not in his memory.

The Riddler was a little nervous, hugging his knees, like a little boy hiding in a corner during a thunderstorm.

"You don't understand, I'm not me at all. I mean, I don't represent myself at all."

He rambled on: "I am naturally attracted to people of my kind, just like bats have always attracted all of us. Just like you, Killer Croc, you have always attracted all the criminals in Gotham City who have the same beast-like heart as you.

"So you can easily gather an army that is extremely loyal to you.

"You are their king. The pure beast-type criminals are around you, just like the high-IQ criminals around me, the desperate laughers around the Joker, and the fearful worshippers around the Scarecrow."

"We, our so-called super criminals, are their spiritual pillars. Bats said it right, most criminals are superstitious and blindly follow..."

The Riddler continued:

"We have the same characteristics as them, but we are much stronger than them, so they will be easily convinced by us."

"We no longer represent ourselves, but a part of Gotham's sin. We represent those people and become a kind of concrete incarnation of this sin."

He stared at the TV blankly.

"Killing me is useless. Kill me, and Tutankhamun, Clue Master or some other criminal who is similar to me will take my place. He may not be as strong as me, but he must be the strongest one among the remaining ones, and so on and so forth!"

"We are never special! So Bat knows very well that killing us will not stop the crime. On the contrary, his act of murdering us will only aggravate the growth of crime."

"Every successful crime is a great encouragement to other criminals. Once this opening is opened, he really becomes a part of the darkness, so it will never be able to eliminate the darkness again, you understand. "

"If Bat really did that, then he would be like us. He would attract other criminals and others to imitate his murder of criminals. Then this metropolis of 30 million people would become a slaughter field, with rivers of blood and piles of corpses. Because if you want to be serious, everyone is a criminal!"

Riddler said:

"Everyone can kill people at will under the banner of justice, and the law will become a piece of waste paper. Bat would never do that."

"Scaremongering." Movie Freak commented: "Super villains are just a little special."

"What's special about me?" Riddler said:

"Before us weirdos, there was Roman Falcone, before Roman Falcone, Gotham had the Lion King, before that, there were the four major families of Gotham, and before that, before that, I was just a puppet of Gotham's evil, a marionette. It doesn't matter whether this puppet is called the Riddler or Edward."

"Just like the Joker, the Joker has died so many times, how dare you say he is still the same Joker?"

"We saw him disappear in the explosion, and then he came back two or three months later, fell into the river, disappeared, and came back two or three months later, he came back again, and came back again, and he will always come back, he can only be dispelled but not killed! Gotham only needs a madman who can crack his mouth from the corners to the roots of his ears, what is the real name of that madman, does it matter? "

"He beat me again and again, and our game will never stop until one side can no longer hold on and falls. Bats is trying to reverse the entire city with his own strength! You don't understand how shocking this is. He can't be knocked down, never hesitates, and doesn't need to rest at all. He is extremely smart and wise. His will is as strong as steel, like a god walking on earth!"

The Riddler's voice gradually became louder. He stood up and waved his hands:

"This is unscientific, this is impossible! Why can such a person exist!"

"You don't understand how desperate it is to face such an opponent!"

"No matter how hard you struggle, you will be sent back to Arkham. This is too sad!"

He fell back on the sofa dejectedly.

"Death may be a relief for me. In this way, I don't have to worry about my own incompetence and the sin of Gotham. I can't stop committing crimes."

"It's not just because of my mental illness. No matter what kind of determination I make, no matter what I plan to do except committing crimes, the sin of Gotham will be like an invisible big hand to pull me back on track. It enslaves me! Entangling me!"

"No matter how I cry and struggle, he will force me to use that damn puzzle to manipulate me! To show his fangs to the son of Gotham who was born in darkness but betrayed darkness! I am a dragon that should be killed by the knight, but I am also a servant of darkness!"

"Only death can let me rest. But Batman can't stop me. Batman was unwilling to grant me this last peace. He didn't even kill the Joker! Do you know? Batman is a cruel avenger, but his revenge target is not me, not Two-Face, not the Joker! It's the sin of Gotham City! He doesn't want to end the criminals, but the crime itself!"

"But sin and crime can never be ended. As long as there is a human being living in this world, sin and crime can never be ended! But he did it! He was trying to achieve an absolutely impossible goal, torturing himself and everyone! He is not a human being at all!"

He seemed to have lost all his strength, and he sat slumped in the chair as if all the bones in his body had been pulled out.

"I'm tired, I'm really tired."

He murmured in a low voice: "So now there are no more puzzles, no more tests, and no more games. Everything should come to an end."

He picked up the phone on the table and called Batman on TV: "Batman - now, do as I say, kill the Joker!"

He walked to the whimpering Jim Gordon, took out a pistol, put his head side by side with Jim Gordon, and then put the gun to his temple.

"No riddles, no hints, now I have only one order. Kill the Joker, otherwise Jim Gordon and I will have our heads exploded immediately."

"Either kill the Joker and save me and Gordon, or let the Joker go and let me and Gordon die."

"Batman, you can hear me, make your choice, don't think about pretending to stab or shoot the Joker in a non-lethal position, I want you to cut the Joker into pieces, only when I see him dismembered, I will confirm his death and release Jim Gordon."

"Whether it's you, me, the principles that are wrapped up, the iron law that cannot be broken, must all be destroyed today, if you can't destroy them, then destroy me."

"I decided to use femtosecond laser crushing technology to kill the Joker. This technology can crush materials on a microscopic scale. In a sense, the Joker will be cut into pieces."

"Yes, do it now."

The Joker got into the red cabinet, and soon, the cabinet's wooden boards fell off, revealing its original appearance of a crystal coffin.

"Kill him immediately, no matter what method you use!"

But Batman ignored him, he walked forward and talked to the Joker for a while.

"You killed him, why didn't you...wait."

The Riddler suddenly realized something, he was not such a stupid person, he shouldn't have realized it now.

The bat shadow with pointed ears appeared behind him, and the Riddler heard the voice, it was Batman.

"You see, I made a mistake. I always thought that super villains like you like games, I thought your desire for games would never end."

"I'm an idiot, just like you. Look, you're in your room right now, making the same smart mistakes as me."

"You assume that I can't break the iron rule."

"You assume that I'm defenseless and have no expectations."

"You assume that my mercy is endless."

"You assume that I don't have the courage to deal with the situation after the iron rule of not killing is broken."

"You assume that these are not prepared videos in front of you, and that I'm talking to the Joker in the old Wayne Tower about my last words."

Amygdala wanted to move, but was immediately held down by Killer Croc. He was pinned to the ground and tied up.

"You also assume that the ventriloquist and Killer Croc are not my people."

"--You assume that the movie freak can't be Batman in disguise."

Click!

The Riddler pulled the trigger, but no bullet was fired. Although he had expected this result long ago.

"You even assume that I didn't quietly replace the bullets in your gun."

"Why do you underestimate me so much, Edward Nygma? Why do you assume that you are the only one who breaks the rules?"

The Riddler turned his head and smiled bitterly.

"So, the Joker was not killed? You fooled me?"

"Nygma, Nygma... You are still so arrogant."

"Guess, Edward - you and I have only met once, but you will know me forever from now on. Who am I?

"Please note that what I am going to say next is not a metaphor, rhetoric, theory, or anything else."

The Riddler heard Batman say:

"The Joker has been killed by me. ”

In fact, I originally wanted to spend a few pages writing about how the Riddler recruited Killer Croc and the Ventriloquist, describing it from the perspective of the Riddler's first victim, and how the protagonist disguised himself as a movie freak to blend in, hiding clues of the protagonist's existence in the chapters, repeatedly hinting to everyone that there was something wrong with the movie freak, and then creating this amazing reversal. But maybe it's really not right to let the protagonist disappear for too long, and the existence of the Joker also raised expectations, too much of a distraction, and readers' feedback was very bad, so I just used a sentence to mention the Riddler recruiting Killer Croc and others. I originally thought that the Joker's death was not the climax of this story unit, so I pulled him out There should be no problem in doing flashbacks, and then slowly narrate the Riddler... Unexpectedly, the popularity of the Joker exceeded my expectations. Everyone was looking forward to the Joker, and no one cared about the poor Riddler. I had to greatly cut the Riddler's role. I was wrong. Next time I will never play this wrong operation method again. I will add one more chapter as compensation. Everyone must remember to read it!

And recommend a good friend's book:

Book title "Miss Witch, Please Respect Yourself"

[Recommendation]: The original title of the book is "The Taste of Witch is Really Good", but it was sent for special reasons.

Formal recommendation: What is it like to marry a witch right after crossing?

Roy said: "The taste of witch is really good."