"I can help you, Luthor, you see, the Justice League is also my enemy."
In the darkness, only a beam of light shone from above, enveloping the Laughing Bat, making the black attire even more profound, with the bloodstains more vivid red.
He spoke to Luthor in a raspy voice, not in a hurry to reveal his plan, but rather silently guiding Luthor's line of thinking.
Like placing a small cube of sugar under a streetlamp at night.
What would it attract? Moths? Or maybe ants?
But since the Laughing Bat's last defeat to Deathstroke, he realized that the unknown is the most fun...
Now that there is nothing outside the Fourth Wall, the world is like a wild horse that has broken free, and everything is different from what the Laughing Bat saw before.
Hey, but it's okay, he is also Batman, and Batman is the best detective in the Multiverse. Even if the laughter in his own mind lingers on, it does not hinder his thinking.
Luthor was indeed tempted; the enemy of an enemy is a friend, a wisdom humanity has always followed.
He asked the Laughing Bat about his terms; this was a trade.
The Laughing Bat indeed had terms, but they were insignificant.
"The condition is to release me, let me help you, agree to let me keep my own plans and act independently."
"Why should I trust you?"
The Laughing Bat laughed up at the sky, as if Luthor had told a joke: "Oh, Lex, you don't need to trust me, trust is an act of folly, you just need to believe in yourself, believe in your own feelings, believe that you will surely win..."
"...Deal, tell me what you know."
Luthor and the Laughing Bat reached an agreement. It's always quick when smart people do business.
The Laughing Bat surprisingly kept his word, and after being released, he did not rush to leave but told Luthor quite a lot about the Totality.
According to him, the Wall of Origin is a prison meant to confine the existence of the Totality.
The Totality is a dark power of creation, a high-dimensional conceptual aggregate, an endless mysterious energy source, a super-strong radioactive core.
"Oh, she has another name, Perpetua, does it sound nice? Hehe..."
Perhaps he finished sharing what he knew, or perhaps he was still holding back, but the Laughing Bat only told Luthor this before waving and disappearing into the darkness.
............
Time returns to the present, Luthor is in his laboratory studying the Totality.
He used all his means, whether technology or magic, but still couldn't touch the existence within the Totality at all.
The layer of polyhedral barrier kept all prying eyes out.
"Can you hear me, Perpetua? Can you point the way for me?"
The Totality, of course, didn't answer him, it continued to emit a faint blue glow, quietly resting on the test bench.
Suddenly, Luthor felt a green-haired figure flash by the door, but when he turned to look, there was nothing there.
A hallucination?
In the corridor, there was only darkness, the surroundings filled with the peculiar smell of artificially generated oxygen.
The voice of Grud rang in his mind, reporting to Luthor that others had arrived.
In fact, Luthor didn't need other people, he had already secured all necessary powers, but Grud insisted on recruiting more villains to serve the Destruction Legion.
They lost the Manta Ray, whatever the reason, the Destruction Legion is now at a disadvantage.
Grud didn't like feeling weak; he must prove to the Justice League that they haven't lost.
But given that Earth had just undergone a crisis and many people turned into fish, the same was true for the villains, and those they could find were very limited.
Most of them broken out of Arkham Prison, the likes of Mr. Freeze, Scarecrow, and the ventriloquist, considered the elites of Arkham.
Of course, there were also some more capable ones, like the long-time adversary of the Justice League, the Undying, Solomon Grundy.
And the infamous Scorpion Beauty, the 'Queen Bee' who could control minds through pollen and honey.
They were all blindfolded and brought to Luthor's secret base.
"I need you and the Joker to come over as soon as possible to maintain our dominance." Grud stood by the wall, Sinestro and Cheetah beside him.
Sinestro's invisible light uniform was very unstable, appearing and disappearing, and the same was true for his Lantern Ring, yet he couldn't find the reason.
Upon hearing Grud's telepathic message in the Mind Network, Cheetah continued to watch the newly recruited villains: "What a primitive way of putting it, maintaining dominion? As if we're not doing enough."
Luthor sighed, removing his experimental equipment: "I still insist this reinforcement is unnecessary; we already have everyone we need. These eccentrically dressed guys can't help us obtain the remaining two hidden Divine Powers."
"Forming an alliance with people like us was to make the Justice League feel fear in the first place." Grud bared his teeth: "Luthor, we lost the Manta Ray, so we can find one almost like him to replace, to prove to the Justice League that their adversaries are forever endless."
"Who brought the Riddler here? He's become a joke." Luthor noticed from the surveillance footage that the Riddler was indeed part of the team.
Why bring him? Do they plan to laugh the Justice League to death?
"Hmm? I didn't invite him, did you?" Grud looked suspiciously at the two beside him.
Cheetah shrugged; she had been busy healing her injuries, where would she find the time to invite anyone?
Sinestro was the same, still pondering the issues with the ring; something seemed to have gone wrong with the Invisible Light.
The Riddler wasn't invited by any of them.
But even when uninvited, the more people in the legion, the better.
"Ssss, this smell." The Riddler's forced smile was easily recognizable. He was just pretending to be casual, but his heart was full of scars: "I thought of a riddle, can you guess where we are now?"
Surrounded by metal corridors, with no windows or markers, everyone felt as though they were trapped in a bowl.
"Hmm? A gift."
As others approached the round table, waiting for Luthor's appearance, Queen Bee noticed a small gift box on each chair.
Green wrapping, purple ribbon, full of Luthor's style.
"The Villain Alliance doesn't give out welcome gifts." Grud was even more confused; things were becoming increasingly strange.
Cheetah also looked puzzled: "Don't look at me."
At this moment, the Riddler, quicker with his hands, had already opened the gift: "I want to see the answer to the riddle!"
As the ribbon was torn away, green gas spewed from the gift box, triggering a chain reaction, activating the gift boxes held by everyone, and green smoke rapidly filled the meeting room.
"Luthor..."
"I'm here, you black-haired monkey, you should be more patient."
Grud's harassment in the mind network made it impossible for Luthor to concentrate and continue his experiments. He had to straighten his suit and tie, ready to meet those fools.
"Luthor...hey...we have a...ha...problem now...hahahahahahaha!"
Grud's voice twisted as though trying hard to endure, but eventually, he couldn't suppress his laughter.
Luthor widened his eyes; something was amiss.
While he was in a daze, the base's broadcast system was turned on, emitting a frenzy of hysterical laughter.
The laughter was so indulgent it seemed the owner might stop breathing any moment, and the sound reverberated through the empty base, giving Luthor chills.
"I really wish I could stop laughing, but it's different this time, truly special." In the main control room, the Joker pulled at his hair, nearly popping his eyes out from laughter: "Especially the way it echoes in your mind..."
"Joker..."
"Tsk, you should see the central hall. I doubt the newcomers can be unified, look, they're starting to tear each other apart." The Joker laid back on the chair, clutching his abdomen as though exhausted, laughing so hard he had to lean against the backrest to avoid slipping off.
"You..."
"I know you had high expectations for the gorilla, but I used a special laughing gas formula on everyone. For days, that talking monkey has been enjoying 'special care' from Uncle Joker, hehe..." The Joker leaned over the control panel, grabbing the microphone like whispering in Luthor's ear: "Even the newcomers, the affection and warmth in the Joker gift boxes will make them repeat customers, haha, of course, they'll have to survive this time first..."
Luthor turned back to the laboratory, locking the door behind him. He needed to prepare to deal with the Joker.
"You've done something stupid, Joker, far beneath your villain standard."
"You're the one who broke the agreement first, Lex." The Joker's voice came through the broadcast; though it sounded amusing, the malice in his tone was like poison.
Luthor and the Joker indeed had an agreement regarding the Laughing Bat.
Luthor purchased the head of the Mad Laugh from the Joker, but on the condition that he must imprison the crazy Batman forever to gather information.
But Luthor released him, in exchange for a helper.
There should only be one Batman in the world, and it should be the Joker's Batman, the Laughing Bat was nothing!
He previously warned Luthor, in the Destruction Legion, that it was either the Joker or the Laughing Bat, only one.
If there's the Joker, there's no Laughing; if there's Laughing, there's no Joker.
Luthor chose to release Laughing, thinking he exploited a loophole, as Laughing Bat indeed didn't join the Destruction Legion.
The Joker said nothing at the time, but all of this, everything that's happened recently, greatly displeased the Joker, especially the Laughing Bat.
Once released, Laughing would definitely go after Batman, and the one who played with Batman should only ever be the Joker...
For these days, the Joker had been plotting, a big trap, already well-prepared for Luthor.
Nobody dares to break the Joker's agreement; those who do only find a dead end.
A Hell filled with laughter and wide-mouthed smiles was waiting for Luthor on his path, and the reception inside, the Joker assures, would be more spectacular than any circus in the Cosmos.