Chapter 271: Fear Joker (Middle)_1

Question: What could be more terrifying than opening your eyes and finding that you've transported to another place?

The answer is waking up to find that you've been transported to Gotham.

So, what could be more terrifying than finding yourself transported to Gotham?

The answer is waking up to find yourself transported to Gotham and witnessing Batman and the Joker fighting in front of you.

Is there anything scarier than seeing Batman and the Joker battling each other?

It's waking up to witness two Jokers fighting in front of you.

What could be more terrifying than seeing two Jokers clashing against each other?

That would be to wake up and find three Jokers battling it out.

What could be more terrifying than witnessing three Jokers fighting?

That would be to see three Jokers going at each other, with Batman just watching from the sidelines.

What could be more terrifying than witnessing three Jokers fighting, with Batman just standing there watching?

The answer is seeing Batman teaming up with the two Jokers to brutally beat down the other Joker...

Because usually when something like this happens, it means that the editor's real father, Wei Yixiao, has arrived…

On the very edge of Batman's consciousness, such a fight is taking place. However, the figure they are facing is not the Laughing Bat, but a monster that looks like the Joker but is somewhat different.

Its limbs are long, slender, and only barely capable of supporting its body, but it stands tall undefeated. Its head is a grey egg with a terrifying smile on it.

At that moment, blood covered the gaping mouth and its teeth, while Jack clutched his hand, blood dripping from his fingers.

Just moments before, this monster had escaped from the operating table and taken a bite out of Jack's hand.

The injury to Jack's hand wasn't severe, just a bite mark on his wrist, but it hinted at something far more dangerous. It suggests that the peril deep within Batman's consciousness may be more than just a Joker.

Its ability to escape from the combined clutches of Joker Schiller and Jack, and even counterattack Jack, indicates that its power may be stronger than it appears. Most importantly, it is still just an embryo.

No one knows what kind of creature this laughing embryo will hatch into, and everyone, including Batman himself, harbors an awful premonition. He had never realized that such a terrible creature was lurking deep within him.

At the edge of Batman's dream stands Gotham, a city shrouded in everlasting darkness, where storms rage incessantly. The rain is intensifying, thunder is becoming louder, the darkness is growing deeper and more profound. The two Jokers, the Laughing Egg, and Batman are all standing above the city.

The battle is now contentious. Joker Jack is wielding daggers, each strike creating bone-deep wounds on the Laughing Egg's slender limbs, while Joker Schiller, a more mage-like fighter, uses an invisible force to control the movement of the Laughing Egg.

Batman stands still, but he's not a mere spectator. He's in a struggle for control of the dream with this monster.

Yes, this deformed, mouth-headed creature has almost the same privileges as Batman in the dream world. Batman has to exert all his efforts to resist its dominance in controlling the dream.

Originally, when Batman didn't know the truth and the Laughing Egg wasn't discovered, Joker Jack and Joker Schiller had some control over the dream world. But as soon as the rightful owners appeared, the control of the dream world returned to them completely. And now, the two are still clashing in an unseen realm, trying to gain complete control over the dream and consciousness space.

To Batman's surprise, he isn't fighting an enemy but himself. Every move feels as awkward as arm wrestling with himself. It's as if his left and right legs are tripping each other up, and his left and right arms are tangled, trying to strangle each other.

Batman had never encountered such a situation and was initially at a disadvantage. Thunder rolled across Gotham's dark sky, lightning nearly striking the two Jokers. Clearly, the Laughing Egg was using the power of the dream to interfere with their actions.

Fortunately, perhaps due to the grotesque embryo not fully hatched yet, it's wild and violent but lacks rationality. It behaves like a premature infant, instinctively weak. Even the young Batman swiftly regained the upper hand.

One Batman and two Jokers began to press harder against the malformed creature. The unhatched embryo was clearly struggling to resist the attacks from two Jokers and one Batman.

The cold wind in the dark night howls, and the rain pelting the body feels like bullets pouring out. Even Batman, standing in such heavy wind and rain, is slightly unsteady, his cape flapping noisily in the storm.

It seemed like he heard a childish voice wailing mixed with an undertone of insane laughter. This sound echoed in Batman's mind, evoking feelings of sorrow and deep pain, as if he was marching toward his own demise.

He finally realized that the terrifying, deformed monster before him was actually a part of him, a persona lurking deep in his consciousness, an aspect of himself. And when this persona faces death, he too feels the same fear.

In such heavy rain, Batman slowly knelt down. The fear conveyed through his consciousness into his mind made his entire conscious space tremble.

No one in this world is fearless in the face of death, especially when one's own death is unfolding before their eyes. A dark emotion began to swell in Batman's heart.

Amid the rainstorm, both Joker Jack and Joker Schiller's hair were wet, blown by the wind. When Schiller looked up, he saw a thin black line appearing on the edge of the sky. Waves quickly followed, prompting Jack to rub his forehead and announce, "Uh oh! Looks like we're in trouble!"

But in just a blink of an eye, the thin wave was already upon them. It was an overwhelming black tide, exuding an aura of fear.

The attack and provocation on the Laughing Egg unleashed the black tide deep in Batman's consciousness, forming into an irresistible violent wave, assaulting everything at the edge of the dream.

Almost instantly, the Laughing Egg at the forefront was swallowed up. The monster's slender limbs were completely incapable of defending against the horrifying waves. In a brief moment, its limbs were corroded away, leaving only an egg with a smiling face floating on the surface of the ocean.

Schiller and Jack began to run, until the raging black tide had reduced the edge of Gotham in the dream to ruins. The waves finally slowed down, but the world had already been entirely destroyed. The dream's edge was lacerated with gaping holes, with the whereabouts of the Laughing Egg unknown.

Standing on the edge of the fluctuating black tide, Jack burst out in hysterical laughter. He said, "I told you Batman wouldn't disappoint me! This is him, this is him! Hahahaha!"

"This is his darkness, his fear…" Jack spread his arms, in a dream-like monologue, "This is Batman, this is his inner self…"

However, the black tide that breached everything had not completely stopped. Numerous whirlpools formed on the water surface and spun faster and faster until towering waterspouts erupted upwards.

Countless little waterspouts started to converge towards the center, then they merged into one gigantic tornado. The massive waterspout sucked up the entire Gotham at the edge of the dream.

The two Jokers standing at the edge of the dream could barely resist this terrifying force.

All the water from the black tide transformed into a giant tornado, springing upwards continuously, breaching layer upon layer of dreams.

Upwards, ever upwards, the black tide formed tornado cut through like a sharp sword, breaching layer upon layer of the deep consciousness dream, until it arrived at the barrier between the conscious surface and the depths.

More and more black tide surged up, shaking the whole consciousness space. Almost all of the Gothams in numerous layers of dreams collapsed simultaneously. After a brief moment of silence, Batman's barrier of conscious surface was breached.

After reaching Batman's conscious surface, the black tide did not stop there. Instead, it continued to surge upwards, breaking free from his body through his soul.

While Bruce was still unconscious, an invisible terrifying force, following his body, shot towards the sky.

Schiller, standing in his office by the floor-to-ceiling window, suddenly turned his head. He squinted to look outside of Gotham City. Meanwhile, many mysterious forces in the cosmos felt the indomitable fear of the black tide.

This was a completely abstract force. In the real world, it was invisible. Yet, those with special perceptions and senses could feel its devastating power.

After breaching Bruce's body, the tornado formed by the black tide did not stop, but surged higher into the sky.

Over Gotham, over the East Coast, over the entire American Continent, until it reached the outer atmosphere, beyond Earth.

Within the vast and mysterious cosmos, a black sword arose, ascending higher into the stars, piercing every barrier, until in the depth of the cosmos, a mysterious existence suddenly perceived this terrifying fear.

As Bruce's consciousness gradually pulled from the black tide, breaking through the hole punched by the black tide tornado from layers of dreams, until he regained control over his body, he heard an ancient, deep voice echoing in his ears:

"Dark day is endless, bright night is clear,

Evil ones in cohort, fear my holy light,

Fearful fire cremates, oppose me and perish,

Fear is the source, my power is the law!"

"Lifeform with wisdom has been locked, Batman of Earth, you have the power to inflict immense fear upon others. Welcome, to the — Sinestro Corps!"