civilwarnovels Chapter 3757 Rapid Pursuit (2)
Chapter 3757 Rapid Pursuit (2)
Chapter 3757 Rapid Pursuit (Part Two)
“It’s a pleasure to see you all here,” the man said. “I don’t think I need to introduce myself much, as you are all probably familiar with me and my family. I need to focus on introducing the beautiful lady beside me—Talia Ressougu.”
The woman in the green halter-neck dress exuded a cool and aloof air amidst her stunning beauty. She gently tucked her black hair behind her ear, smiled and nodded at the crowd, appearing both noble and elegant.
“Thank you all so much for attending tonight’s dinner.” Her voice was pleasant, and she showed no stage fright in front of the various celebrities and reporters with microphones. She smiled and said, “This building marks a new beginning for the Wayne Group. The construction of such a landmark building would certainly have been made possible by the help of our good partners. Thomas, could you introduce them to me?”
The man called Thomas smiled and nodded. He put his arm around Talia's waist, and with his other hand reached out to pull a young figure next to him, saying, "This is Jason Todd, the newly appointed president of Gotham Defense Group's 'Red Line'."
Then he waved enthusiastically to a figure in the crowd and said, “How could we forget our old friend? The kind and just Chief Justice Harvey Dent. And of course, the renowned businessman and philanthropist Oswald Copperpot. They are all my dear friends and pillars of Gotham’s security and economy…”
Just then, a gust of cold wind blew from behind, followed by a loud bang as the golden door, which had just been carefully opened, was violently kicked open. Police officers swarmed in, led by a complete stranger.
“Good evening, Mr. Thomas Elliott. This is Jack Napier, Operations Specialist for the Gotham Police Department’s Joint Task Force. Two hours ago, the Gotham Internal Revenue Service’s tax audit team visited your residence. We suspect you have manipulated your tax returns for the last quarter. Please come with us.”
Just as Elliott was about to glare at the man, an ID was slapped in front of his eyes. The hand holding the ID was exceptionally pale, and when the ID was put down, it revealed an even more terrifying pale smile.
"My God!" Greed exclaimed, watching the scene unfold. "How did the Joker become a policeman?! You know what, he actually looks pretty convincing!"
"You actually have the nerve to mock others for not understanding it." Arrogantly looking at the large number of colored lines on the screen, he said, "This is clearly not the Joker. Although it looks like the Joker, it is a character like the Pale Knight."
"Which universe is he from?" the agent couldn't help but ask.
"What? You feel like he'll be very compatible with your temperament?"
“I just find it ridiculous,” the agent said. “The Joker’s tax investigation has gotten to Batman…”
“Stop talking, you didn’t understand either,” Arrogance had to say. “That guy is clearly not Batman, he’s Silent Thomas Elliott.”
"But wasn't that Detective Joker talking about Wayne Enterprises? How come Elliott inherited Wayne Enterprises?"
"It seems there really is such a universe," Greed said after thinking for a moment. "It's called something like 'The Dark Multiverse: The Silence.' Of course, in this universe, Batman still doesn't have parents..."
"Bruce Wayne was adopted by the Elliott family, but went insane after witnessing his parents' deaths and was eventually sent to an asylum. After the Elliotts also died, their only son, Thomas Elliott, inherited the entire Elliott and Wayne families' fortunes, becoming the world's richest man and replacing Batman to take control of the city," Arrogance said.
The others also recalled the story, but they were all certain that it didn't include the Joker checking the accounts. If nothing unexpected happened, this suddenly appearing Jack Napier was one of the players.
“He can’t be the Pale Knight,” Greed continued. “Although the names are the same and the personalities seem similar, there are still subtle differences. At least the Pale Knight wouldn’t wear this kind of makeup.”
Although the screen was almost entirely filled with various blocks of color and lines, one could still vaguely make out some aspects of the real world. The clown standing in front of Elliott wore the most classic clown makeup, his green hair was neatly combed back, and his slightly manic smile remained unchanged.
“I think I know who he is,” the agent suddenly said. “Do you guys remember that Earth-3 is a universe where good and evil are reversed?”
His arrogant movements paused. He said, "You mean the universe where Night Owl lives? You think this is the Joker from that universe?"
"That's right, the Joker on Earth-3 is a vigilante. Although he doesn't look much different from the Jokers in other universes, he does what Batman does, and is even more extreme and violent."
"That's possible, but why do you think the Joker from the main universe would hire such an accomplice? They wouldn't get along."
"Whether we get along or not isn't important; what matters is how well we work," the agent continued. "Do you feel like you're in your element in the Dark Multiverse? Or is that a better description of me?"
Arrogance and greed were speechless. Greed waved his hand and said, "Alright, alright, I know you're powerful."
However, they also acknowledged that in the extremely complex Dark Multiverse, especially in those universes that were deliberately set up with traps and shrouded in dark conspiracies, the agents' method of skipping all plot dialogue and killing their way through was indeed more likely to open up new possibilities.
Analyzing conspiracies can be helpful, but decisive action is far more effective at breaking the deadlock. This straightforward approach is better suited for quickly and efficiently dealing with the complexities of the Dark Multiverse.
“This is interesting,” Greed said, stroking his chin. “But this clown was certainly quick. I remember the opening scene of the comic was at this banquet, right? Now that Elliott has been taken away, how can the banquet continue?”
“Elliott won’t be taken away so easily,” said Arrogance. “He represents several factions, and they won’t let the Joker succeed so easily.”
“I think there might be some misunderstanding,” Talia said, her tone turning somber. “Wayne Corporation has always been law-abiding and would never use such crude methods to evade taxes. I suspect this might be a frame-up. Besides, isn’t it rather impolite of you to trespass into Elliott Manor without permission? Judge Dante, what do you think?”
“I also think this is inappropriate,” Dante said, walking over. “Neither the Gotham IRS nor the Gotham Police Department should break into a private residence to conduct an investigation without solid evidence. This violates federal law. As for the tax issue, that’s utter nonsense. Wayne Enterprises has always been a model taxpayer; there’s no way they would tamper with tax details.”
“Who sent you?” Jason interjected. “I’ve never heard of the Gotham Police Department having a joint operations task force.”
“You really shouldn’t have heard of this,” the Joker said expressionlessly. “Because this organization is newly established, perfectly legitimate, and has all the necessary paperwork. You have no right to question the legitimacy of my identity. Now I require your cooperation in the investigation, Mr. Elliott. If you’re determined not to come with me, you may later face charges of resisting arrest and related offenses. Are you sure you want to do this?”
Elliott's face darkened. He pulled out his phone and said, "I'll call Gotham City Police Commissioner Brock!"
“No, sir, you’d better keep quiet until your lawyer arrives. Otherwise, anything you say could become evidence against you in court,” Dante said in a low voice. “Once the investigation begins, all of this could be documented. If you contact the police chief, you could face charges like bribery and manipulating the government. It’s best not to do that.”
Elliott's face darkened further. He stared intently at the Joker, at his disheveled makeup, and said, "How could the Gotham Police Department hire someone like you as a cop?! You look like a complete madman!"
“You can continue your personal attacks in court, Mr. Elliott. I’m just explaining the consequences if you refuse to cooperate.” The Joker appeared calm and unperturbed, completely unfazed by Elliott’s aggressive attitude. “Besides, your personal attacks aren’t very effective. The people I’ve encountered are far worse than you.”
When Elliott met his gaze, he couldn't help but shiver. It was like the look a cat gives a mouse.
“That’s not surprising,” Arrogance said after thinking for a moment. “The crime syndicate on Earth-3 is full of tough guys, and Night Owl is especially difficult to deal with. The Joker in this universe must be very strong to have been able to hold his own against them for so long.”
"I'm wondering why he's coming to cause trouble for Elliott. His target should be Batman, right? But the news that Bruce Wayne is in Arkham Asylum is public knowledge, so why doesn't he just go directly to Arkham Asylum?"
“Perhaps he needs to gain people’s trust,” the arrogant man said after a moment’s thought. “Although the Joker knows in his heart that Batman is Bruce Wayne, there is no Batman in this universe, and the Dark Knight has never appeared. So even if he approaches Bruce, he may not be able to convince him to become Batman.”
"That's true. The Joker doesn't know the plot. When he learns that there has never been a Batman in this universe, he knows that looking for Bruce is useless. The other party is very likely a pitiful little guy who knows nothing from beginning to end. So we still have to start with the culprit."
"But how did the Joker know that Elliot wasn't a good person?"
“His first stop in Gotham will definitely be the police station,” the agent said. “If it were me, I would definitely do the same. Once he gets there, it’ll be easy to find out that the chief of this cosmic Gotham Police Department isn’t Gordon. A little investigation will also reveal that Gordon is dead.”
"This is very unusual. After all, this Joker has already made contact with Jokers from other universes and must have exchanged information. He would know what Gotham is like in most universes. In any case, it's not right for such an important character as Gordon to die so young. He couldn't have died from some ordinary accident; he was most likely silenced."
“If we follow this lead, there aren’t many suspects in sight to begin with, and even fewer who have had contact with Bruce. Elliott’s suspicion has increased significantly. Even without evidence, we can fabricate other charges to get him in, and then we can ask him anything we want.”
"Such identical spy tactics," he said with an arrogant smile. "It seems you'll get along quite well with this clown."
"Wait a minute. If we're watching from another first-person perspective, doesn't that mean I'm also at the banquet?"
As soon as Greed uttered this, everyone else realized that they were now seeing things from a first-person perspective, which meant that at this very moment, the morbid person was standing in the crowd, witnessing everything firsthand.
"Oh no, we're doomed."
No sooner had he finished speaking than a corpse fell from the sky at the banquet, landing right between Elliott and the Joker.