"Let me finish before you ask questions."
Batman increased his tone slightly. He didn't mind the casual interruptions from Deathstroke and Green Arrow; the key was that as these two smart individuals engaged in divergent thinking, Arthur and Diana seemed eager to join in...
Not today. Now is not the time for exercises.
"At the founding of Gotham City, several foundational families bestowed upon it a beautiful vision, seeing it as the political, cultural, and economic center of this country."
"But as Gotham developed, the increasing population brought various problems: infectious diseases, drugs, parasites, harmful organisms, and so on."
"The foundational families began to worry that the heart of the country in their eyes would become a burden to the nation, and they vowed not to let Gotham become the source of darkness."
At this point, even Batman was somewhat at a loss for words because everyone present, as people from the future, was well aware of the current situation in Gotham.
It's not just the United States' biggest contaminant; you can't find a place darker and more chaotic than Gotham worldwide, except for a few areas in constant military conflict.
The foundational families had actually been infiltrated by the Owl Court. What they did while holding onto their beautiful vision was actually preparing to hatch the Dark God Barbatos.
However, Batman only stammered for a moment, sounding like a normal pause in speech, and he continued his narration.
"They set up a system called 'Final Smile,' based on the literal meaning of the term. It was a system that would sever all ties with the outside world whenever Gotham faced external or internal problems and would allow Gothamites to remain pure."
"Perhaps in their minds, 'Final Smile' has two meanings: one is that if Gotham were internally contaminated, they would activate 'Final Smile' and 'purify' the entire city population together with a carefree smile left for the world before death."
"Another is if an external disaster occurs, like a biohazard spreading or other calamities sweeping the world, they would also activate 'Final Smile,' leaving Gotham isolated from the world, smiling to the end."
Hearing this, Su Ming felt a bit of a toothache.
Because this 'Final Smile' system must have been borrowed by the Owls since Gotham now absorbs all the world's darkness, which contrasts with the system's original intent.
This can probably be considered a contribution to the world? After all, the dirty things are concentrated here. Elsewhere, even nearby places like Metropolis and Midtown have excellent public safety environments.
Batman continued his narration quickly: "This system would destroy all roads leading to Gotham while deploying vaccines or poison citywide via airships. They also established secret granaries and armories underground during sewer construction, something I learned about after a confrontation with the Owl Court."
Diana tilted her head and leaned beside Su Ming. "Sounds like a good idea? If the world becomes unsafe, ensure one's undefeated position. If one decays first, don't burden comrades—very noble."
Su Ming shrugged, smelling the cherry scent on her: "Perhaps the original intent was good, but after the Owl Court's manipulation, what use is the system? I guess if activated, it would sacrifice the entire city's population to summon Barbatos? Or draw the Dark Multiverse to collide with our universe?"
Batman overheard their whispering, his sharp ears equipped with directional receivers, nodded: "I naturally know the 'Final Smile' system might have issues, so after dealing with the Owl Court, I started building my own 'Final Smile,' like the energy barrier protecting the city during the last flood incident—that was part of the plan."
"But that wasn't very effective."
Su Ming shook his head; the fishy smell lingering on the streets was enough to indicate the situation.
"That's because combating an apocalyptic flood exceeded its original design philosophy. It's a system meant to address biochemical attacks. Once fully operational, Gotham will be isolated overseas, independently purifying air and water and laughing to the end."
Batman turned around; he had said almost everything he needed to, and Green Arrow and Deathstroke should understand the situation next.
According to his understanding, the Laughing Bat would definitely target this system. Last time, his attempt to transcend through game tactics was thwarted by Deathstroke, so this time he'll undoubtedly play by the rules.
Outside the walls now lies only void.
Batman believes the Laughing Bat's plan should involve killing the Joker, acquiring the Joker's toxins, then using the 'Final Smile' system to spread it throughout Gotham City, turning everyone inside into Joker.
Earlier, his assassination plan for Joker failed; Joker escaped—exactly as expected. Therefore, Laughing Bat won't idle next; unable to find toxins, he'll need to secure the other hardware aspects.
Su Ming and Oliver understood his meaning. Their gazes passed over Arthur, who looked cute but took up the most space, almost in unison asking.
"Where is that system?"
Batman placed his hands on the armrests, stretched out his legs, leaned completely against the chair back, and dimmed the lights, instantly vanishing into the darkness.
"The central hub is in the upper floors of Wayne Tower, the most secure level. To enter, one must pass through multi-point DNA scanning..."
"Let me guess, Laughing Bat's DNA matches yours." Diana's instincts kicked in again.
Batman simply remained silent; even Diana guessed it—making the answer obvious.
Diana turned to Su Ming, signaling to reuse that disgusting teleportation gate.
Su Ming sighed, stood up to change into the Holy Statue Armor: "Alright, uh, Batman, we'll discuss the price after this."
"You can't keep using the blinding technique with money forever, I can roughly guess what you really want." Batman's calm voice echoed from the darkness.
Bruce had foreseen that Batman would see through the request for a reward as just a facade, but he didn't expect Batman to choose this moment to lay his cards on the table.
He glanced at the dark silhouette of pointed ears, "No matter what I want, to someone as wealthy as you, it's nothing but a trifle."
"...." Batman played dead again.
Bruce walked in the front, followed by Green Arrow, and then Diana, with Arthur being the extra who had to enter last.
Before entering, he noticed Batman still sitting in the darkness, staring motionlessly at the teleportation gate, showing no intention of coming along.
"You're not coming along?"
Batman leaned back in his chair, "No, I'm waiting for a guest."
"A guest? Oh, okay, we'll be back soon." With that, Arthur hurriedly held back his nausea and stepped into the teleportation gate, which closed in front of Batman with a pink-purple tunnel.
He remained in the same posture, leaving others guessing what he was thinking, only the faint glow on his goggles was visible in the darkness.
"Young Master, breakfast is ready."
Ah Fu came down from the elevator carrying a large tray, uncovering it to show Bruce the dishes on top.
Although it was just breakfast, it had to be nutritionally balanced, given that the young master had just lost a lot of blood, he made sure to prepare iron-rich red wine-braised foie gras to be spread on French bread flown in from Paris.
The imperfection lay in the bread not being fresh, but stock shipped in before the recent flood. With no chicken eggs left, they had to use peacock eggs for omelets....
"Just leave it there and help me deactivate the waterway security system," Batman sighed softly.
"I don't understand, young master, if you disable that, the rocks will move, and the underground river below the Bat Cave will connect with the outside world."
Though voicing confusion, Ah Fu still placed the tray down, walked to a hidden panel on the wall, and, after pressing a few buttons, entered a code.
"I know," Batman replied, "and he knows too."
"Who? Young master, to whom are you referring?" Ah Fu stood to the side, maintaining the poised stance of a classic butler.
"Hehehe... of course, it's me. Perhaps I should knock first?"
As the voice trailed off, a soaking wet figure emerged from the staircase, a broad smile stretched across his pallid features, dripping water trailing behind him.
With each step, a series of dark footprints were left on the ground.
Batman had anticipated this; if there was indeed a safe place left in Gotham for the Joker, it was undoubtedly the Bat Cave.
All security measures were in full effect here, the level of defense exceeded that of the Hall of Justice, ensuring no nuclear bombs could be smuggled in.
Mad Laugh wanted to kill the Joker, but the Joker wouldn't offer his neck willingly; he had no choice but to come here.
Batman remained slumped in his chair, relaxing a bit after the others left, the pain in his body and pounding in his head made him reluctant to converse much with the Joker.
His previous loss of control had not been triggered by the Joker killing Selena, as Batman knew ways to revive a person. What nearly drove him to madness was the feeling of helplessness and the constant unexpected developments thwarting his plans.
The Joker had shown him he was still so vulnerable, no different from a teenager.
And against Mad Laugh, such weakness had no chance of victory.
Various emotions, memories, and concerns for the future of the world weighed down on him, pushed him to cut off external input under the influence of laughing gas.
But not anymore, he had let go of everything about Bruce Wayne, now, he was just Batman.
Those memories were precious to him, but he was willing to sacrifice everything, just to defeat Mad Laugh and the Destruction Legion.
"You're safe here, my old friend, I had Ah Fu prepare two servings of breakfast, and if you'd like to take a bath, feel free to do so."
Batman slightly lifted a hand, gesturing for the Joker to sit down, Ah Fu, although unhappy, complied with the young master's decision and placed the platter on the table.
The Joker ran his fingers through his hair, his head bowed and trembling, his shoulders shaking more and more before he burst into uncontrollable laughter.