Chapter 54 Murder
"Of the 30 million people in Gotham City, 5 million have directly or indirectly participated in first-degree murders."
This is an underground safe house in Gotham City, the Riddler's lair, the safest and most secret one.
This place is arranged like an ordinary study room. Killer Croc, who was sitting on the sofa, took out a copy of Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason" from the bookshelf next to him. After flipping through it for a while, he found that he couldn't understand a word, so he threw it on the ground angrily.
The ventriloquist picked it up and stuffed it back.
"About 15 million people have committed crimes before, and the remaining 10 million people who have not committed crimes are not because they are good civilians, but because they are all hidden gentlemen, gamblers, and prostitutes in the red light district."
The Riddler's voice rang in the room. Jim Gordon was tied to a chair with his eyes covered and a cloth stuffed in his mouth.
"And the reason they didn't join the criminal army is not because of any noble qualities, but because they were not forced into a desperate situation."
The picture was playing on the TV. The Riddler confirmed that it was a live broadcast. Batman was there, just as he planned. He continued:
"So you understand? There are no good people in Gotham. The only good people are drug addicts and gamblers, because they will not hurt anyone except themselves."
"I'm too tired, year after year, day after day. Living in a pile of garbage, committing crimes all the time."
"If committing crimes is so tiring, why don't you stop?" Movie Freak said, "You can stop committing crimes?"
"No, you don't understand at all."
Riddler stood up a little nervously, then stood on the sofa and squatted down, hugging his legs, like a lonely and helpless poor child.
"This is a war. If we really give up committing crimes because we are tired, then he wins... Batman wins."
"So what? Can't we live without committing crimes?"
Killer Croc found a bag of potato chips next to him, opened it, and threw it directly into his mouth.
"No, it's not like that. Batman won, but I didn't lose."
Huh? Killer Croc thought he was completely crazy.
He knew that telling riddles was the Riddler's specialty, just like the uncle selling hot dogs at the entrance of the park would have his own unique recipe. But the Riddler had never told such a difficult riddle, at least not in his memory.
The Riddler was a little nervous, hugging his knees, like a little boy hiding in a corner during a thunderstorm.
"You don't understand, I'm not me at all. I mean, I don't represent myself at all."
He babbled, "I am naturally attracted to people of my kind, just like bats have always attracted all of us. Just like you, Killer Croc, you have always attracted all the criminals in Gotham City who have the same beast-like heart as you.
"So you can easily pull up an army that is extremely loyal to you.
"You are their king. The pure beast-type criminals are around you, just like the high-IQ criminals around me, the desperate laughers around the Joker, and the fearful worshippers around the Scarecrow."
"We, our so-called super criminals, are their spiritual pillars. Bats said it right, most criminals are superstitious and blindly follow..."
The Riddler continued:
"We have the same characteristics as them, but we are much stronger than them, so they will be easily convinced by us."
"We no longer represent ourselves, but a part of Gotham's sin. We represent those people and become a kind of concrete incarnation of this sin."
He stared at the TV blankly.
"Killing me is useless. If you kill me, Tutankhamun, Clue Master or some other criminal who is similar to me will take my place. He may not be as strong as me, but he must be the strongest one among the remaining ones, and so on and so forth!"
"We are never special! So Bat knows very well that killing us will not stop crime. On the contrary, his act of murdering us will only aggravate the growth of crime."
"Every successful crime is a great encouragement to other criminals. Once this opening is opened, he really becomes a part of the darkness, so he can no longer eliminate the darkness, you understand."
"If Bat really does that, then he will be like us. He will attract other criminals and attract others to imitate his murder. If a criminal commits a crime, this metropolis of 30 million people will become a slaughterhouse, with rivers of blood and piles of corpses. Because if you want to be serious, everyone is a criminal! "
Riddler said:
"Everyone can kill people at will under the banner of justice, and the law will become a piece of waste paper. Bats will never do that."
"Scaremongering." Movie freak commented: "Super villains are just special."
"What's special about me?" Riddler said:
"Before us weirdos, there was Roman Falcone, and before Roman Falcone, Gotham had the Lion King, and before that, there were the four major families of Gotham, and before that, before that, I was just a puppet of Gotham's sins, a marionette. It doesn't matter whether this puppet is called Riddler or Edward. "
"Like the Joker, the Joker has died so many times, how dare you say he is still the same Joker?"
"We saw him disappear in the explosion, and then he came back after two or three months, fell into the river, disappeared, and came back again after two or three months. He came back again and again, and he will always come back. He can only be dispelled but not killed! Gotham only needs a madman who can crack his mouth from ear to ear. What is the real name of that madman? Does it matter?"
"He beat me again and again, and our game will never stop until one side can no longer hold on and falls. Bats tried to reverse the situation with his own strength. Turn the whole city! You don't understand how shocking this is. He can't be knocked down, never hesitates, and doesn't need to rest. He is extremely smart and wise. His will is as strong as steel, just like a god walking on earth! "The Riddler's voice gradually became louder. He stood up and waved his hands: "This is unscientific, this is impossible! Why can such a person exist!" "You don't understand how desperate it is to face such an opponent!" "No matter how hard you struggle, you will be sent back to Arkham. This is too sad!" He fell back on the sofa. "Death may be a relief for me. In this way, I don't have to worry about my own incompetence and the sin of Gotham. I can't stop committing crimes."
"It's not just because of my mental illness. No matter what kind of determination I make, no matter what I plan to do except committing crimes, the sin of Gotham will be like an invisible big hand to pull me back on track. It enslaves me! Entangling me!"
"No matter how I cry and struggle, he will force me to use that damn puzzle to manipulate me! To show his fangs to the son of Gotham who was born in darkness but betrayed darkness! I am a dragon that should be killed by the knight, but I am also a servant of darkness!"
"Only death can let me rest. But Batman... The bat is unwilling to give me a gift. He doesn't even kill the clown! A human beings live in this world, and sin and crime are absolutely impossible to end! But he just did it! "He whispered:" So there is no riddle now, no test, and no game again. Posted together with Jimding, and then held up his temple with a gun. "No riddles, no hints, now I have only one order. Kill the Joker, otherwise Jim Gordon and I will have our heads blown off immediately."
"Either kill the Joker and save me and Gordon, or let the Joker go and let me and Gordon die."
"Batman, you can hear me, make your choice, don't think about pretending to stab or shoot the Joker in a non-lethal position, I want you to cut the Joker into pieces, only when I see him dismembered, I will confirm his death and release Jim Gordon."
"Whether it's you, me, the principles that are wrapped up, the iron law that cannot be broken, must all be destroyed today, if you can't destroy them, then destroy me."
"I decided to use femtosecond laser crushing technology to kill the Joker. This technology can crush materials at a microscopic scale. In a sense, the Joker will be cut into pieces."
"Yes, do it now."
The Joker got into the red cabinet, and soon, the wooden boards of the cabinet fell off, revealing its original appearance of a crystal coffin.
"Kill him immediately, no matter what method you use!"
But Batman ignored him, he walked up and talked to the Joker for a while.
"You killed him, why didn't you...wait."
The Riddler suddenly realized something. He wasn't such a stupid person. He shouldn't have realized it now.
A bat with pointed ears appeared behind him. The Riddler heard the voice. It was Batman.
"Look, I made a mistake. I always thought that super villains like you liked games. I thought your desire for games was endless."
"I'm a fool, just like you. Look, you are in your room now, making the same smart mistakes as me."
"You assume that I can't break the iron rule."
"You assume that I am defenseless and have no expectations."
"You assume that my mercy is endless."
"You assume that I don't have the courage to deal with the situation after the iron rule of not killing is broken."
"You assume that these are not prepared videos in front of you, and assume that I am talking to the Joker in the old Wayne Tower. "
Amygdala wanted to move, but was immediately held down by Killer Croc. He was pinned to the ground and tied up.
"You also assume that the ventriloquist and Killer Croc are not my people."
"--You assume that the movie freak can't be Batman in disguise."
Click!
The Riddler pulled the trigger, but no bullet came out. Although he had expected this result.
"You even assumed that I didn't secretly replace the bullets in your gun."
"Why do you underestimate me so much, Edward Nygma? Why do you assume that you are the only one who will break the rules?"
The Riddler turned his head and smiled bitterly.
"So, the Joker was not killed? You fooled me?"
"Nygma, Nygma... You are still so arrogant."
"Guess, Edward-you and I have only met once, but you will know me forever from now on. Who am I?
"Please note that what I am going to say next is not a metaphor, rhetoric, theory, or anything else."
The Riddler heard Batman say:
"The Joker has been killed by me. ”
In fact, I originally wanted to spend a few pages writing about how the Riddler recruited Killer Croc and the Ventriloquist, describing it from the perspective of the Riddler's first victim, and how the protagonist disguised himself as a movie freak to blend in, hiding clues of the protagonist's existence in the chapters, repeatedly hinting to everyone that there was something wrong with the movie freak, and then creating this amazing reversal. But maybe it's really not right to let the protagonist disappear for too long, and the existence of the Joker also raised expectations, too much of a distraction, and readers' feedback was very bad, so I just used a sentence to mention the Riddler recruiting Killer Croc and others. I originally thought that the Joker's death was not the climax of this story unit, so I put it in It should be no problem to pull it out for flashback, and then slowly narrate the Riddler... I didn't expect the popularity of the Joker to be beyond my expectation. Everyone was looking forward to the Joker, and no one cared about the poor Riddler. I had to greatly cut the Riddler's role. I was wrong. Next time I will never play this wrong operation method again. I will add one more chapter as compensation. Everyone must remember to read it!
And recommend a good friend's book:
Title "Miss Witch, Please Respect Yourself"
[Recommendation]: The original title of the book is "The Taste of Witch is Really Good", but it was sent for special reasons.
Formal recommendation: What is it like to marry a witch right after crossing?
Roy said: "The taste of witch is really good."