What Bad Thoughts Can Batman Have 88

## Chapter 88: The Joker’s Appearance (Request for Follows)

Bruce Wayne’s heart pounded, the situation unfolding as he’d expected.

“Batman, we’re trying to track the Joker’s signal,” Tim’s voice crackled in Bruce’s earpiece. “Give us a little more time, we’ll find him… find the location of that nuke!”

“Even if the Joker isn’t with the nuke, if he has any remote detonation device, we can pinpoint the nuke’s location through him… so we just need a little more time!”

“You won’t use the nuke to destroy Gotham.” Bruce stated. “You only want to conquer the city, not destroy it. What good is a pile of rubble to you?”

It was a rhetorical question. The reason nuclear blackmail was called blackmail was that there was always a specific target.

Even if it wasn’t Gotham City, it could be another city. Bane needed a bargaining chip, and what specific city that chip was didn’t matter.

Bane knew that Batman, with his sharp intellect, would figure this out. He also knew that Batman wanted to buy time, but he didn’t seem to care.

“Hello, big bat, can you hear me? Oh boy, hahaha, shouldn’t I be the one holding the big fireworks now?” The Joker yelled into the communicator. “I’m angry, I’m going to launch the big fireworks!”

“Be quiet.” Bane told him.

And the Joker actually shut up. He froze right there, like someone had pressed the pause button on a video.

“So I never intended to blow up Gotham,” Bruce heard Bane say. “The nuke was pre-programmed to target Metropolis.”

Damn it, what did Metropolis have to do with this?

Bruce’s heart sank. He’d already sent Alfred to Metropolis to find Clark Kent, but hadn’t found him yet. With Metropolis’ vast population and constant influx of people, it would take a while to find a stranger like Clark Kent in a city of millions.

But according to the timeline, if Jimmy was already working as a photographer under Lois Lane, and Clark Kent hadn’t joined the Daily Planet yet, then it meant our Kansas boy was probably still in the midst of finding a job, freshly arrived in the big city of Metropolis, having just left his family farm.

Would Superman, in his current state, be able to protect millions of people from a nuclear bomb?

If he failed, would he, witnessing such a tragedy, drive the world directly toward a “Injustice” or “Justice Lords” scenario? (Note: these two parallel universes featured a tyrannical Superman and a dictatorial Superman respectively.)

He was counting on retiring after everything was over, finding Superman to take his place, just as he’d promised Alfred…

He had thought that even if Bane attacked, he would prioritize attacking the surrounding cities of Gotham… but it didn’t matter, if the nuke flew out of Gotham, it would be a river of blood, or rather, blood would be evaporated, millions of people dying. No matter what, it was not a result he could accept.

Therefore, he had prepared ample backups, like a true Batman, and had multiple contingency plans in place.

“Bruce, we’re still searching, locating, we’ll find it soon…” Robin’s voice kept coming through the headset. “Just wait a little longer…”

“If you intend to use the nuke to destroy Metropolis, then Metropolis will be destroyed.” Bruce tried to say something nonsensical.

“…”

Bane didn’t know what to say for a moment. He wanted to say something threatening, but his train of thought was immediately disrupted by Bruce’s stream of nonsense.

He shook his head, as if trying to shake his brains into place, then organized his words again. “Destroying Metropolis would mean nothing to me, nor would destroying millions of innocent lives be my intention.”

“If life is destroyed, then life dies.” Bruce continued his stream of nonsense, urging in his heart.

Hurry!

“Don’t… interrupt me again!!!”

Bane snorted angrily, trying to adjust his voice back to its cold and cruel tone, but failing.

“Ah, damn it, I didn’t have a complete intention of blowing up Metropolis—

“I did all this for you!”

“You!”

“To defeat you, to conquer your city, to weaken you—”

“Batman, I offer you a way to save Metropolis.”

Bane took a breath, finishing everything he wanted to say. “An opportunity for self-sacrifice.”

He beckoned to Martha Wayne who was standing beside him, and she walked over, her body suddenly splitting open at the waist.

Bane reached into her belly. “Here, a miracle of life, born after ten months, isn’t it?”

He pulled out a pre-prepared vial of liquid from Martha Wayne’s body.

“But this place can also store poison that takes life.”

Bane placed the vial in front of Bruce. “This is my gift to you, Batman. You have to drink it.”

He spoke with malice. “To weaken you, I specially created this poison for you, a cure for your body.”

“After that day, I studied the essence of your body, those tiny nanobots, and some of your transformations into cars and dinosaurs, I know you like the back of my hand now.”

“This was developed specifically for you, it can destroy your nano-body, making it impossible for you to face me again.”

“I don’t know when you developed your scientific skills.” Bruce said oddly, thinking:

Does Bane have this setting? Developing this in just four days?

“You can believe it or not. I guess you’re thinking at this moment that it’s impossible for me to have this kind of scientific ability, to develop such a targeted drug in just four days.”

Bane pointed to the poison he was carrying on his back. “But it’s also possible. After all, I have mastered the art of creating poison, a self-taught master of toxins.”

“So, are you going to gamble, Batman? Gamble that I’m lying to you?”

“Even if it’s true, you won’t die. I can tell you very clearly that I don’t have the ability to develop a poison that can kill you.”

“You’ll just be weakened. You have faith that you can beat me, right?”

Bane whispered.

And Tim’s voice came through as well. “Batman, I found the place, but it’s completely empty!”

!

Bruce frowned, putting the headset on speaker.

“No Joker, no nuclear weapon, no control panel… wait, no broadcast, it’s just a recording…”

Bane suddenly looked at the communicator on his wrist.

He looked even more surprised than Bruce.

“How?” he said. “I clearly told the Joker…”

Bruce whispered into the earpiece. “Contact Harley and Poison Ivy, we have a backup plan, it’s okay…”

But before he could finish, he heard a familiar laugh.

“Hahahahahahaha!”

Bruce had an idea. The seeds he’d sown by provoking the Joker and Bane were finally bearing fruit.

He turned around to see the Joker appearing at the corner of the hallway, his malicious gaze fixed on Bane.

“I… how could I let you steal Batman’s love like this?”

Ah, this Friday might be the day we go on sale! I really should save some manuscripts,呜呜呜. Damn it, I write so slowly.

(End of chapter)

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