Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics-Chapter 4538 - 3621: Edge of Tomorrow (30)

"This is too passive," Harley said. "If the terrorists placed bomb materials in every subway station in Gotham, once they get inside, they could assemble them in minutes and then detonate. Unless we conduct a thorough sweep, there's no way to prevent it."

"A thorough sweep is necessary, especially since we have Brainiac. He can have people search. Moreover, the materials they're using are relatively safe, and ordinary people can dispose of them. However, if they notice our actions, they might advance the detonation time."

"Then should we station people at all subway points simultaneously?"

"But what if there aren't only subway points?"

Harley rubbed her temples, saying, "Powdered explosives are even harder to handle than liquids. If they can get TNT, they might also get plastic explosives. Those things won't be detected by security machines, which makes it even more troublesome."

"You're right. Just tracking and blocking is indeed too passive," Shiller paused slightly before saying, "Our ultimate goal is to stop their plan. Maybe blowing up Diamond Street directly would also work." freeweɓnøvel.com

"Wouldn't that be a bit... ah, wait a minute. We're the Villain Alliance!" Harley's eyes lit up gradually, and she said, "Yeah, we're not police. We know who's causing trouble. Why not just kill them all?!"

She turned to Jack and gave him a big smile.

"The Joker has been quiet for too long, letting some think they can rule this city. Now we must show them how wrong they are!"

"They made only one mistake," Jack said, playing with a large ace in his hand, standing up and stretching his shoulders with a maniacal grin, "they should never... ever... play bombs with the Joker! Hahahahaha!"

Gotham Diamond Street, 5:00 PM.

Rush hour. The whole street was packed, barely moving. All the office buildings were still brightly lit; the majority of people hadn't left work yet.

A delivery guy rang his bicycle bell and sped past pedestrians but was soon stopped outside the police cordon.

"What's going on?" he craned his neck to ask.

"Investigating the stock massacre. Some witnesses claim that the perpetrator is the notorious mercenary Deathstroke. Someone said they saw him again this afternoon. To catch this ruthless guy, we've cordoned off the whole Diamond Street."

"During the investigation, employees and their vehicles must have work badges to enter. Outsiders are not allowed near. We hope you cooperate with our work..." a policeman said to the news camera.

"You're delivering food, right?" a young policeman came over, took the bag from the delivery guy, and said, "Give me the address, and we'll find someone to deliver it for you. You shouldn't go in; that mercenary might not have gone far."

"Okay, thank you, officer." The delivery guy smiled at him, turned his bike around, and pedaled back the way he came.

The young officer carrying the takeaway bag was about to walk inside. The policeman at the blockade entrance checked the address on the delivery bag and exchanged a glance with his colleague beside him.

"Deliver it later," an old cop with graying hair said while puffing a cigarette, "Traffic's bad now. It takes 20 minutes to walk to this address from here. Better wait until traffic clears and drive over."

"True," the young officer nodded and said, "I'll put it aside for now."

He laid the bag next to a police car where a sunshade and table full of coffee were set up. Other takeout orders were piled on one side of the table.

After setting the delivery down, he glanced at the addresses on the other bags—all without exception pointed to the same building: "Tages Financial Building."

Just as he turned towards the police car, he suddenly noticed a purple flash reflecting off its window. Turning back quickly, he saw all the electronic billboards on the office buildings light up simultaneously.

A figure in a purple suit with green hair appeared on the screens. Without making any sound, he just gestured a few numbers with his hand.

"3..."

"2..."

"1..."

"Boom——!!!!!!"

A massive explosion sent smoke billowing into the sky, forming a small mushroom cloud on Gotham's skyline. The police ducked behind their cars the moment the purple figure appeared, with fragments leaving deep marks on the car bodies.

Screams and cries filled the air. Flames soared, and smoke engulfed the area. This street often dubbed the "most brutal financial battleground," became a real battlefield at last.

Tages Building, at the center of the explosion, collapsed slowly, taking down two neighboring structures with it. Countless ground vehicles were destroyed, and those outside the blast range fled in panic.

On the distant skyline, just having parachuted from a helicopter, Injustice Batman looked gravely toward Diamond Street and slowly uttered one word: "Joker..."

"Is that the Joker?" Batman, who landed behind him, frowned but swung down from the rooftop faster than Injustice Batman, heading towards Diamond Street at the fastest speed.

By the time they arrived, the aftermath of the explosion had already settled. But just by looking at the state of the scene, it was clear how devastating the explosion had been—a significant portion of the street was leveled to the ground, and the entire street was affected. Every person above and below in three buildings couldn't escape the disaster.

Feeling something in his heart, Batman suddenly looked up. On the tallest building, he saw that purple figure.

A playing card slowly floated down, landing right in front of Batman. After landing, it faced upwards; the inverted Joker and "JOKER" were ignited by the sparks on the ground, gradually turning into charred ashes.

What frightened Batman the most was that, the Joker just left like that.

No maniacal laughter to attract Batman's attention, no jumping in front of Batman and giggling for a beating, nor loudly boasting about his masterpiece demanding Batman's opinion.

He came silently and disappeared silently, only leaving behind that card symbolizing his identity, yet it seemed more like a cruel and precise—deadly joke.

Who is the best criminal in this world?

Is it the Joker?

No. Batman thought, the best criminal in this world is the Joker who is not interested in Batman.

The survivors started the cars that could still be started, leaving the dangerous explosion site as quickly as possible, but in such a scene, some still headed towards the danger—of course, not the police or doctors who came to save people, but reporters.

A Chevrolet with the Gotham TV Station logo drifted and stopped sideways in front of Batman. Reporters and camera operators, armed with gear, rushed towards the center of the explosion. Behind them, reporters from the New Jersey TV Station, also competitive, held their heavy camera equipment and sprinted.

What Batman did not know was, Brainiac's voice simultaneously echoed in their earpieces: "According to Brainiac's estimation, this is the largest urban explosion disaster of the century. And the disaster center is now stable. Obtaining firsthand reports would surely be the best news of the year."

Reporters, fueled with adrenaline, charged in, striving to be the first to capture information from the explosion area. The air force was not far behind, and helicopters from major TV stations arrived at the scene swiftly, strafing every corner with long-focus lenses.

"Hello, Batman. We see you're at the site of the explosion scene, did you see the perpetrator? Rumor has it that the Joker issued a warning three seconds before the explosion. Do you think this is an act of provocation by this brutal criminal towards Diamond Street?"

"Hello, Batman. When did you arrive? Did you record the entire explosion process? If you want to sell footage of the explosion scene, please contact us..."

"Hello, Batman. Brainiac claims this case is the most significant urban explosion case of the century, even surpassing the Twin Towers terror attack. How likely do you think it is that the Joker is the perpetrator? Can we label him a terrorist?"

Two Batmans were squeezed against the walls by countless reporters, unable to leave. Batman shouted: "Stop crowding! Stop crowding! Let us out to save people! There are still many in the debris..."

He glanced toward the explosion site. It's logical, with reporters already here, the police should be arriving soon.

But when Batman managed to escape the reporters' entanglement and rushed over, he found that the police had arrived, but they just set up a cordon around the explosion site, showing no intent to save people.

Batman tried to breach the cordon but was blocked. A police officer swung a baton and said, "Don't go over, no one go over! The building is still collapsing! It's very dangerous there, don't go over!"

Batman was about to say something when a reporter near the building was hit by falling debris and was carried to an ambulance by his colleagues.

"There are still many people in the building!" Batman said solemnly, "They may not be dead yet, we need to get them out!"

"Sorry, but the situation inside the building is too dangerous right now. We can't let anyone in," the police still insisted, "Letting people in for rescue may just cause more injuries."

Batman couldn't be bothered, he climbed over the cordon directly and rushed into the disaster area. The fallen debris from the building piled into a small hill. Just as he was thinking about where to start, he heard the rolling sound of wheels in the distance.

A row of police cars drove over from the other side of Diamond Street, followed by heavy machinery. There were excavators and cranes. Chief Gordon of the Gotham Police Department stepped out of a vehicle, directing the machinery to clear the building debris.

Batman breathed a sigh of relief and walked toward Gordon. But Gordon wasn't showing him any goodwill.

"James, I just saw the Joker on the building..."

"You have some nerve!" Gordon said somewhat fiercely, "Since Batman no longer existed in this universe, the Joker hadn't appeared. But once you guys showed up, the Joker started making trouble again. How do you explain this?!"

"Uh..." Batman was a bit embarrassed. He knew Gordon was stating facts. He had been in this universe for quite some time, and it was the Joker's first crime since his arrival. Could it really be because they arrived in Gotham that the Joker re-emerged?

"Enough. You can't save many people here alone, just don't cause any chaos." Gordon waved him off impatiently and said, "I'm warning you, if you want to go after the Joker, you'd better not break anything. Or I'll make you pay!"

What Batman didn't know was, not far away, a reporter was faithfully recording everything Gordon said, with Brainiac's words circling in his mind.

"Tomorrow morning, there will be many reports about the explosion case. But most will just report casualty numbers. If you can expand on other topics from this, you can stand out in the sea of reports."

"I've already thought of the news headline," the reporter said to Brainiac, "It will be titled 'Gotham Police Department Chief James Gordon reveals: Diamond Street terror attack was Joker's attempt to intimidate the re-emergence Batman!'