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CHAPTER 24
🕑 Added 2025-05-06 17:10:22 +0000 UTCBatman was indeed caught in a dilemma.
Firstly, his years of experience fighting the Joker had taught him that the Joker's words could not be trusted!
What the Joker excelled at was using linguistic traps and rhetoric to deceive and unearth the ugliness of human nature.
He would offer hope, only to snatch it away in the next instant, forcing people to experience the most profound despair.
The Joker claimed there were two timers, and either could defuse the bomb. This alone was highly suspicious!
Knowing the Joker's personality, he wouldn't engage in the kind of foolish games the Riddler enjoyed.
Therefore, in Batman's view, this was a verbal trap designed to make one believe that destroying a single timer could save Gotham City.
But based on Batman's understanding of the Joker, both timers probably needed to be destroyed simultaneously; otherwise, it would be a gamble on the Joker's integrity.
But... did the Joker have any integrity?
Anyone with half a brain knew the answer: no!
The Joker never offered real choices; what he presented were always overt schemes laden with despair, essentially leaving no choice at all.
Just as Batman was preparing to save Jason first...
A goofy voice came from behind the factory wall:
"Yah! Dual Hands White Hole Attack!"
BOOM—!
The chemical plant's wall was directly blasted through by two white beams of light!
Sunlight streamed through the opening, and a giant white egg, wearing a strange costume, flew in through the hole. It hovered in mid-air, much like Superman.
It arrived with a silly grin:
"Ehehehehe, good thing I was smart enough to give Robin a piece of my shell, otherwise I really wouldn't have been able to find you! This blasted place is too big, finding people is too much trouble. Are you two okay!"
Fuck, the egg is talking!
"What the fuck? What the hell is this thing?" The Joker's worldview suffered a considerable shock.
The Joker sought to subvert order and plunge Gotham into chaos, but he had never imagined plunging Gotham into a fantasy epic!
He had originally thought the Court of Owls, with their immortal assassins, was already impressive. He hadn't expected something even more bizarre!
That egg—wearing a cockroach-like helmet, a scarlet cape, and a golden belt around its stomach. And on that golden belt, there was... a fried egg! An egg wearing a fried egg!
Most crucially, this bizarre, talking monstrosity could actually fucking fly!!!
The Joker's unhinged mind was currently in disarray: Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing? Am I fucking dreaming?
Dream or not, who the hell would believe this story if he told it?
Batman, seizing the moment of Joker's distraction, unhesitatingly charged at him, kicking the Joker away from the electric winch.
"Egg, go save Robin! I'll deal with the Joker!"
Batman had no time now to ask Brother Eggbert how it was flying.
He only wanted to wrench the location of the dirty bomb from the Joker!
The Joker, without hesitation, pulled out six small knives from his pocket, holding them between his fingers, preparing to take on Batman.
"You should call me Brother Eggbert... Ah, never mind, I'm only an egg for an hour anyway. Don't worry, leave Robin to this prophet!"
Super Eggbert flew over, drew circles in the air with his hands to power up, and used a "White Hole Attack" to shatter the chains. He caught the falling Robin and flew him to a safe place.
The moment they landed, Jason complained, "Where were you just now? And what's with this getup? It's hideous!"
Super Eggbert touched his helmet and flicked his cape.
"You have no taste; this is super cool, okay! After I revived, I went to the chemical plant's employee cafeteria. To be honest, their food is terrible! I searched for a long time and only found eight eggs. My current appearance is the result of eating fried eggs. The transformation energy from fried eggs is very limited. Watch out for yourself; I'm going to help Batman!"
Super Eggbert soared into the air and dashed towards the Joker.
"Hey! You!"
Jason wanted to say more, but seeing Super Eggbert already engaged with the Joker, he held his tongue.
"White Hole Attack! White Hole Attack! White Hole Attack!"
Super Eggbert continuously drew circles, and the power unleashed by the shining white rings was comparable to small missiles.
When the energy rings struck the Joker, they left behind white lightning-bolt marks on the impact area.
These marks would continuously discharge electricity, persistently disrupting the Joker's healing ability. However, after enduring so many light blasts, the Joker, apart from looking a bit battered, showed no signs of dying.
"What's going on?"
Super Eggbert initially thought his energy was too low, hence the reduced power.
But when his White Hole Attacks struck the factory's pillars or walls, the ease with which they blasted large holes didn't seem weak at all!
"Could it be... with Brother Eggbert's abilities, I can't kill anyone!!!"
Max (as the narrator, referring to the character's internal thought) considered it carefully. This was indeed a real possibility!
In children's cartoons, did anyone ever die?
No matter how exaggerated the characters' combat power was portrayed, at most they'd end up with smoke coming out of their heads or seeing stars. They just wouldn't die.
He tried to use "White Hole Attack" again, but the circles Super Eggbert drew no longer glowed, as if they were out of power.
"Forget it, Batman, you got this. I'm out of energy! Leaving now!"
Using his last bit of strength, Super Eggbert flew to Jason's side. Just then, a white light flashed, and the costumed Super Eggbert reverted to the plain white Brother Eggbert.
"Too bad! Out of power!"
Jason asked, "What was that all about just now?"
Brother Eggbert was still complaining, "It's all this damn factory's fault! So few eggs! It caused me to not have enough fried eggs, and now the fried egg power is depleted. I'm out of juice."
Jason roughly understood. "That's simple! I'll just have Alfred make some more!"
At this moment, Brother Eggbert shot him a disdainful look, as if looking at an imbecile:
"Of course, Alfred can make fried eggs. But the problem now is, I don't know if there's enough time! The Omnitrix's transformation time is limited. By the time Alfred delivers the fried eggs, my time will probably be up!"
"Then what do we do? If you have no power, you can't fight the Joker. Should we look for the dirty bomb? Would the Joker really keep it in this chemical plant?"
Batman had already beaten the Joker to the ground. He, a mere mortal, had subdued the Joker, who was enhanced by Dionesium, and had him pinned firmly.
"Hehehehe, save it, Batsy. If the dirty bomb were here, would I still be wasting time with you? Ahahahaha..."
The Joker's contorted facial expressions were the epitome of mockery, vividly displaying "I'm totally messing with you" all over his face!
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Batman grabbed the Joker's hair and slammed his head against the ground, forcing his face to kiss the metal floor multiple times. The Joker's nasal bone was broken.
"Talk! I don't have time to waste with you!"
"Hehehehe, kill me! Just kill me, take out my heart, and the dirty bomb will never explode. Otherwise, hahahaha, let all of Gotham go see Satan! Hahahaha..."
"Satan?" Brother Eggbert couldn't help but quip, "That lazy bum wouldn't want to see a Gotham lunatic like you!"
Thwack!
It sounded like the echo of a flick to the head.
Brother Eggbert inexplicably shattered into pieces on the ground, then reformed at light speed.
This time, he didn't dare speak carelessly. He was afraid of retaliation from that petty guy in Los Angeles.
Jason: "...", although he didn't understand what Brother Eggbert had done, he was thoroughly shaken!
Holy crap, could Satan actually be real?!
"Smack!"
"Don't think nonsense, Robin! You're not immortal like me."
Brother Eggbert slapped Jason on the back of the head sharply to stop him from having wild thoughts. Offending Satan could be very troublesome.
However, Brother Eggbert could still make something out of what just happened.
"You saw how I just 'died,' right! Joker, you don't want to end up like me, do you!"
But the Joker didn't seem intimidated at all. He laughed maniacally, "Hahahahaha... I won't die! The Joker will never die! All it takes is one bad day to create the next Joker!"
Thud! Thud!
Batman delivered two more heavy blows. He had just understood the Joker's implication.
The Joker intended to die before talking. Among the survivors of the dirty bomb in Gotham, who knew how many new Jokers would be born.
"Talk! Joker!" Batman's hoarse voice was filled with rage. Even through the mask, one could sense his furious expression.
The Joker, with a look of utter indifference, taunted, "If you want to save Gotham, then kill me, Little Bat! Kill me, and all your problems will be solved, right? Why don't you do it? Aim for the heart. Just dig out my heart, and you can resolve this crisis! Hahahaha, come on! Do it!"
"No!"
After uttering this word, Batman's furious expression vanished, replaced by an utter coldness!
His voice was icy as he said, "I will send you back to Arkham and keep you there until you die!"
With that, he took out a pile of high-tech gadgets from his utility belt. In his hands, these quickly assembled into a shackle.
"After learning you could create those undead monsters, I studied those teeth for a long time and came up with this. This shackle can disrupt your body's magnetic field and limit your healing ability! A normal person wearing this would die in less than five minutes. You, however, will wish you were dead! Tell me, where is the dirty bomb? Or I won't stop!"
Within the minute he had been speaking, the Joker's smiling expression had disappeared, replaced by extreme agony!
He felt as if every bone, every cell in his body was shattering and disintegrating, only to be勉强 pieced back together by the powerful healing ability of the Dionesium.
"Ah—Ahahahaha—Ha!"
A standard, bitter laugh escaped the Joker's lips.
Jason and Brother Eggbert had already retreated to a corner.
Good grief, this Batman is terrifying! That weapon sounds incredibly cruel!
It was as if it was specifically designed for criminals with powerful healing abilities.
Brother Eggbert, who claimed to be immortal, was instinctively trembling, terrified of being clamped by that device!
"Maybe we should head back first! Batman looks pretty busy; we shouldn't disturb him!" the white egg suggested, trembling.
Jason nodded frantically. He felt that Batman was terrifyingly brutal right now; Robin needed Alfred's comfort!
………………
Meanwhile, at the Gotham City Police Department.
Gordon, who had been on patrol, suddenly received news about the dirty bomb and immediately slammed the gas pedal, racing back to the precinct.
He roughly pushed open the precinct doors, ran to the front desk receptionist, and took the phone.
"This is Gordon, please give me the information! Yes! What! Are you absolutely sure? Okay, okay, evacuate immediately, I'll send people over right away!"
Hanging up the phone, Gordon rushed out again, agitated.
As soon as he jumped into his patrol car, he opened all police channels and immediately roared, "Everyone, head to Gotham University immediately! That scumbag Joker sent the dirty bomb to Gotham University!"
"Fuck! Damn Joker!" came the chorus from multiple officers.
Without Gordon needing to emphasize further, all police cars sped off, well over the speed limit!
Several officers had children attending Gotham University!
Among these officers was the Commissioner's own daughter!
Hearing Gordon's announcement, those officers whose children were still at the school felt as if their worlds were collapsing!
If they'd had nitrous oxide, they probably would have used it to boost their patrol cars!
…………
Batman, coldly watching the Joker being tortured by pain, suddenly received a message from Alfred:
"Sir, the dirty bomb has been sent to Gotham University. The police department just received the information. Gordon is already on his way!"
