mtl008 Chapter 3777 Rapid Pursuit (22)
Chapter 3777 Rapid Pursuit (22)
Chapter 3777 Rapid Pursuit (Twenty-Two)
Batman slowly picked up a tissue and wiped the water off the table. The maniacal laughter echoed in his mind, lingering for a long time. He hadn't felt this unsure of what expression to make in a long time.
Batman tried to understand the Maniac's line of thinking. For example, he might be tired of being Batman and want to change his identity, which would not only get rid of his infamous reputation, but also allow him to infiltrate the Battleworld and use it to access more of the universe.
However, the maniacal laugh has already reached Jason in this universe. The vast majority of Jason Todd in most universes is Robin. Most Batmen have only minor doubts about Robin; a little acting is enough to convince them.
Talia is even more so. She's Damian's mother in most universes. The significance of having a child with Batman goes without saying. For Damian's sake, there's always room for negotiation between them. As for gender, it's probably the least important issue for The Man who Laughs.
If you feel that these two aren't physically strong enough, then Dick is also a good choice. This universe's Dick has received training from the Court of Owls, is impervious to pain, and is incredibly skilled. Obtaining his body would be quite appealing.
Why does it have to be Schiller?
Batman changed his mind again. He wondered if the Maniac felt that Schiller had ruined his plans, so he was deliberately causing trouble for Schiller, rather than actually wanting to take over his body.
But thinking about it carefully, that didn't make sense either. The Laughing King was in a terrible situation; his only remaining option was to use the metal blindfold to brainwash Jason. But brainwashing wasn't a foolproof method; if he got caught, he was doomed. Being able to persuade Jason with his eloquence was an invaluable opportunity; making a deal with Jason was even more so. Why would he waste that opportunity on revenge?
The idea is that by eliminating all impossible answers, what remains, however bizarre, must be the truth. Batman finally realized the answer he was reluctant to consider: Could the Maniacal Laughter simply be because Schiller possessed immense strength, and thus coveted his body?
Of course, Batman has some understanding of Schiller's powers. Pride has revealed some to him, and he can also gather a lot of information through observation.
Schiller was very thin, with relatively little muscle mass, so he shouldn't have possessed such strength. If someone with that much muscle mass could generate such power, there's only one possibility: his brain had no limitations on the use of his muscles.
Considering Schiller's bizarre mental state, Batman thought this was highly likely. And after arriving in this universe, Batman became even more certain of his guess, because Schiller had become stronger.
Back in the hospital, despite the significant difference in their weight classes, Batman didn't gain any advantage even in close combat. This is certainly unusual.
However, considering that the Laughing Man had previously tricked Schiller with drugs from the so-called teleportation device—that is, a large amount of stimulants—which led to a significant increase in Schiller's power, the problem is more likely to lie in the central nervous system.
The brain is the most important component of the central nervous system. If Schiller's strength comes from the release of muscle limitations caused by brain lesions, and those brain lesions in turn stem from abnormal electrical waves caused by mental health issues, then the important factor is actually the brain, not the body.
In other words, if the Maniac were to transplant his head into Schiller's body, it wouldn't be much different from his own body, and he might even become weaker. This is because the Maniac was, after all, a former Batman, and had some training; Schiller, on the other hand, was purely an office worker.
Didn't the Maniac have considered this? Batman couldn't help but wonder. He couldn't be so insane as to not notice the mismatch between Schiller's size and strength. Did he think Schiller's immense power came from his body?
"That's certainly possible," Batman thought. The Batman Who Laughs is unwilling to admit that he's inferior to others. Or rather, when faced with areas where he's inferior, he subconsciously avoids them, choosing instead to hypnotize himself.
He wouldn't be willing to admit that Schiller's brain could give him such power, because if it were, wouldn't that mean he couldn't even be as crazy as others?
This is certainly unacceptable to the Laughing Man. Since he can no longer defeat most Batmen in terms of physical strength, what makes him stand out from the rest of Batmen and what makes him unique is his madness—he is the only mad Batman in the multiverse.
As the saying goes, even a loss can be unique. How can walking down the street with your feet in dog poop not be considered unconventional?
The Maniac doesn't care how many times other Batmen have defeated the Joker virus; he's the only one infected, that makes him unique and powerful.
Because he can't beat Batman, this is the only thing he can rely on to sustain his spirit. But if someone suddenly appears who's even more insane than him, wouldn't that mean even that pitiful hope is gone?
Batman thinks that the maniacal laughter might be an attempt to deny an obvious fact—that being infected with the Joker virus didn't benefit him at all, but instead made him weaker.
When discussing the original plot, some people believe that the Laughing Man's strength comes from being a combination of the Joker and Batman, and that he is so powerful because he was infected with the Joker virus.
This is a purely consequentialist view, lacking strong supporting evidence. The screenwriter may have intended to convey this feeling, but didn't actually depict it in the script.
Where did the Batman Who Laughs get its initial funding?
It wasn't something he calculated with his intelligence, nor was it achieved through the Joker's madness; Barbatos simply approached him out of the blue. Among so many Dark Multiverses and so many peculiar Batmen, Barbatos just chose him, without giving any particularly compelling reason. If you had to explain it, it's the old cliché: he's unique enough to shoulder such a responsibility. In short, it's a cheat code given to him by the writers.
The truth is, looking at the life of The Maniac Laugh, there is absolutely no indication of how the Joker virus actually enhanced Batman.
Some say that the evil brought by the Joker virus caused Batman to cross the line, enabling him to use cruel methods and thus becoming stronger.
But what exactly did the maniac laugh do with these cruel methods?
In reality, he didn't do anything productive. He did kill a lot of people and did some disgusting things, like turning Robin into a rabid dog. But this didn't contribute to his overall plan at all. Aside from being disgusting, he didn't cause any real damage to his opponents.
Of course, the Mad Robins didn't come away empty-handed. However, if the Laughing One had focused the energy he used to create them on something more important, the damage would have been a thousand times greater.
This view reflects a common mentality: "My current misfortunes are due to my own moral constraints. If I had the chance to cross those lines, I could definitely reach the pinnacle of life."
Consequently, they might think: "Those who are doing better than me now must have done something wrong. They must be able to gain more benefits than me because their morals are lower than mine."
But this contradicts another view they advocate, namely that "human nature cannot withstand the test."
Truly morally upright people are extremely rare. The bottom line of the general public is worthless. When faced with a choice between enormous potential gains that could elevate them to great heights and maintaining their moral bottom line, the vast majority of people will unhesitatingly choose the former—provided, at least, that such an opportunity exists.
There's no such thing as a free lunch. Any benefit you can obtain is always linked to your intrinsic value. A person must be useful for someone to offer them substantial rewards.
Those who constantly feel that "my moral bottom line and the rule of law limit me" are mostly unable to create any decent value and will never have the opportunity to cross the moral bottom line.
Even if he had prepared himself mentally, considered himself as devout as a saint, and imagined countless self-indulgent scenarios like "great men don't concern themselves with trifles," "I'd rather betray the world than let the world betray me," and "you have to give to receive," and finally decided to cross the line, all he could do was disgust others for a while.
The maniac laughs like that. Perhaps when he decided to accept the clown virus and surrender to the evil within him, he was filled with great anticipation and longing for a better future.
He would feel that those days of being held back at every turn were finally over, and he could finally use all his skills without restraint to roar in defiance at the Dark Multiverse and show Batman what true darkness was.
So when his plans don't go smoothly, he becomes particularly vulnerable. He thinks: I've already crossed moral boundaries, how come I still can't beat Batman?
He simply couldn't understand why, in Batman's case, nobility didn't become the epitaph of the noble. Batman's nobility became his armor and sword, driving this despicable man with the pass into a state of utter defeat.
Every worm who has ever despicably slandered and secretly envied those truly noble people living in the sunlight in the dark corners of the world has never been willing to believe that there are people in this world who can be both righteous and powerful.
The sunk cost of this kind of spiritual victory is sometimes even more difficult to give up than the sunk cost of material gains.
For example, even though the Laughing Man was already in such dire straits, he still insisted on confronting Schiller head-on.
Even if he were missing a brain, or even if he only had one brain cell left, he would still do the same. He just can't accept that he can't defeat Batman in the realm of normal people, and he can't defeat Schiller in the realm of madmen.
Some might ask: What about the Joker? Shouldn't the Maniac be the one to defeat in the realm of madness?
But the key point is that in the hospital, Schiller chased after the Joker, trying to kill him. In the Maniac's view, this was a sign that Schiller had already defeated the Joker. He didn't want to compete with the Joker for second place; he only wanted to defeat the number one and become the most unique person.
Having roughly analyzed the Laughing Maniac's psychology, Batman was unsure how to react. If he could, he would offer the Laughing Maniac all the support he could, except for help: respect his choices, praise his courage, and sing him "Good Luck."
The matter would have ended there; Batman was even planning to go do something else. But then he heard Jason's voice coming from the bug:
"Schiller? That agent? Could he be the one who turned you into this? It seems he's also involved in the murder at the banquet... But it doesn't matter, I'll go and meet him myself."
Batman slapped him on the head.