Chapter 2478: The Bizarre Ancient Bat Family (21)

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Batman sat in a lounge chair in the garden, comparing Shiller's notes with a paper on the relationship between psychoanalysis and behavioral science. A gust of wind blew through a gap in the garden wall, scattering leaves that fell behind him. It was a rare moment of tranquility for him.

The Arkham Band's ability to hold Batman's attention was only average, and it would take a psychology expert to truly divert his focus. The debate between good and evil was a trivial matter; real time-wasters involved dealing with petty household squabbles.

Yet these Batmen had all reached a turning point in life, in need of a life coach to guide them, didn't they? Although the guidance might be a bit too cutting to the quick, one has to wonder if it could eventually solve the problem.

After looking at the paper for a while, Batman packed up his computer, crossed the corridor, took the elevator down, and arrived at the Batcave.

"Have you dealt with those burdens?" a sinister voice asked. Rounding the corner, Joker wasn't in prison at all but was properly seated in front of the instrument panel, not even joking around, but staring seriously at the data.

"Temporarily dealt with." Batman walked over to adjust the machine; the screen above showed bizarre images of two entirely different colors constantly intertwining and engulfing each other while maintaining a strange balance.

"Then let's talk about the next plan, big hero," Joker turned around, his paper in front of him filled with an assortment of even more abstract patterns.

"This is definitely more troublesome than we imagined. I need a more professional and powerful team..."

"The Justice League?"

"No, that's completely out of the question—they don't understand Batman well enough, let alone Joker, so they can't deal with the union of us two."

"I never thought such a disgusting creature could really exist." Joker's expression was darkly terrible; viewed from the side, he even resembled Batman, but with an added layer of cruel evil. "If I catch him, I'm going to tear his face off."

Batman took a box out of the safe, then dragged the anesthetized Hugo from the prison and used his fingerprint to unlock the brainwave machine seized from Hugo's possession.

Batman made some adjustments to the machine and then opened the box, inside of which was a blood-red syringe—the blood of the Joker.

To be precise, it was the Joker Serum, a refined substance from Joker's blood, with a color and form vaguely resembling that of the mysterious blood.

Green Lantern Batman had bitten Joker, and Green Lantern Batman was fine, which led Joker to suspect that Green Lantern Batman's body contained components of the Joker virus, so he conducted a fusion experiment.

Although Harley Quinn on the Bat Tyrant Dragon knocked Joker unconscious by crashing into him, it also caused the two types of blood in his test tube to fully mix, becoming a complete form of the mysterious blood.

The Batman who went to arrest Joker naturally noticed this, and upon waking up, Joker saw it too. In jail, Joker pretended to go mad, starting with a rant at Hugo, grabbing him through the bars and refusing to let go, while Batman injected Hugo from behind.

The two coordinated flawlessly, and their rapport came from realizing one thing from the true composition of the mysterious blood—there was a cosmos in which Batman and Joker merged into one.

Putting aside whether it was Joker becoming Batman or Batman becoming Joker, and who would prevail, both Batman and Joker were disgusted.

Especially Joker, he simply couldn't accept that there could be a Joker who merged uniquely with Batman. We're all chasing stars, so you're the one marrying your idol?

Of course, this was a joke. The real sense of crisis for Joker and Batman came from the fact that they knew very well how powerful they would become once they merged, and more importantly, how nasty their combined persona could be.

This meant that this guy would eventually appear before them, trying every possible way to disgust them.

Batman and Joker have never been the type to sit and wait for doom. Once they realized this, they almost immediately became the firmest of allies. When it came to dealing with their own kind, no one could cooperate more sincerely and tacitly than these two.

Batman had a plan.

Brainwave theory was becoming increasingly perfected, and the Joker virus was extremely special. Arkham Batman's experiences gave Batman a bold idea, but before that, he needed to take a trip to the world of Arkham Batman.

"I believe he is very powerful, firm of will, and most importantly, deeply understands Joker," said Batman, packing up the box. "That is the criterion for selection."

"You're still so serious... Alright, I guess I have to put up with that now. So, what about that young guy?"

Batman knew Joker was referring to Bruce but couldn't give a straight answer to Joker's question at the moment, so he merely said, "He's a bit too powerful and understands Joker too well."

"I will also find suitable evil geniuses," Joker bragged with a laugh. "They will be stronger and understand Batman better than yours. Look at us; we'll cause a storm in the cosmos, hahaha!"

"Don't forget the serious business," Batman responded without further comment, taking advantage of the rare free time when everyone at Wayne Manor was busy looking for Shiller to prepare for his trip to Arkham Batman's world.

Joker didn't even stay in the Batcave—a place he deeply yearned for—for a second longer than necessary—nobody knew how he left, and he not only left the Batcave but also this cosmos.

That was the plan of Batman and Joker, to recruit teams of Batmen and Jokers separately throughout the cosmos to deal with the confirmed existence of the Batman-Joker amalgamation.

Shiller had been busy the entire day and had appointments with the Robins the next day, but he had some time during dinner in the evening.

The one he was most interested in, yet who hadn't approached him, was the Green Lantern Batman. Shiller's greatest interest lay in his twisted personality, as Shiller had never been up close with such a classic case of a patient regressing due to the loss of control over their power.

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However, Green Lantern Batman is currently stressed and unable to communicate smoothly. To engage with him in this state, Shiller needs to provide some sense of security, or at least the illusion of safety.

The quickest way, of course, was to give Green Lantern Batman some Green Lantern energy, something he had always wanted. This would also help ease his feelings of helplessness.

But this was happening at Wayne Manor, and it wouldn't do to let him regain his full power and wreak havoc. So, Shiller had Aisha bring over a Green Lantern Central Power Battery from her cosmos. The Lantern Furnace could provide Green Lantern energy, and as Parallax, Aisha could restrain Green Lantern Batman's movements.

Green Lantern Batman's fingers had been reattached, but due to the Joker's poor surgical skills, his entire arm was covered in dense scars. Even with the special medicine that Batman provided, these marks were difficult to erase.

The process of channeling energy from the Lantern Furnace into the Lantern ring went smoothly, and the ring that had been silent for so long finally lit up once more. Along with the restoration of energy, Green Lantern Batman gradually regained his vigor.

"Don't... get up... come over... come here..." he muttered.

Shiller immediately stood up, walked over to the chair where Green Lantern Batman was lying, lifted his eyelids, and deeply frowned at the sight of his pupils expanding.

Green Lantern Batman began to convulse wildly again, and not even Aisha could hold him down. She shouted anxiously at Shiller: "This isn't a problem with the Green Lantern energy! He's having a seizure! He's gone mad!"

"This isn't a seizure," Shiller said calmly as he pulled Aisha back, first strapping Green Lantern Batman in place, then picking up the Mad Liquor.

"Wait! Professor!" Aisha grabbed Shiller, saying, "He's gone insane! It's dangerous! The psychic world is shattered!"

Shiller shook his head and said, "There is something in his psychic world, currently battling for control of his body, which is why there are physical manifestations. Wait here for me."

After speaking, Shiller lay down in the chair, opened the bottle of Mad Liquor, entered the dreamland, and almost instantly arrived in Green Lantern Batman's psychic world.

As expected, two shadows were locked in combat—both were Bruce Wayne, one green and one yellow.

The green one was prevailing due to the abundant energy, overpowering and hitting the yellow one. But the yellow one was not giving in, continuously punching the green one in the face.

Shiller's brow furrowed as he realized the yellow energy on this yellow Bruce Wayne was Yellow Lantern Energy.

If he were to judge based on Western comic plotlines, when Yellow Lantern and Green Lantern fought, he should naturally support Green Lantern, since, no matter how outrageous, Green Lantern was usually on the side of justice.

But knowing that Green Lantern Batman's mind had already been twisted, Green Lantern might not necessarily represent justice; perhaps helping Yellow Lantern would be the better choice.

Shiller, however, didn't choose either. He opted to shout at them, "Stop it!"

Yellow Lantern Batman stopped.

Then Shiller knocked down Green Lantern Batman with an umbrella.

"Thank you, Professor!"

"You know me?"

"We share vision and memory."

"Dissociative identity disorder?"

"Yes, I am another personality."

"The reason."

"It wasn't just the Green Lantern Ring that came initially, but also the Yellow Lantern—one—I came first!"

Shiller raised his eyebrows.

"But none of that matters, Professor, 'say hello to Dr. Anatoli for me!'"

Shiller's gaze hardened as the Yellow Lantern Batman looked at the approaching umbrella, stepped back a few paces, and shouted, "No, I'm just repeating a phrase! It's what the guy who gave me the Yellow Lantern Ring said! Not me!"

Shiller paused in his actions.

"Who?"

"I don't know!" Yellow Lantern Batman swallowed and said, "All I remember is that as the ring flew to me, a voice was saying something about 'Sai's authority'!"