HCB Chapter 55 Funeral
Chapter 55 Funeral
Chapter 55 Funeral
Yes, so.
This is the end.
The Riddler watched in a daze as Batman and the Joker spoke for a while on TV, then he turned on the machine.
Right before his eyes, the Joker turned into a disgusting lump of meat paste inside that crystal coffin.
There was no staged death, no feigned death, no disappearance. He didn't vanish in an explosion or accidentally fall off a cliff.
There was only simple death.
The Riddler has staged his own death several times before, using the Clayface or Snakeskin (another shapeshifting Gotham villain), but never like today.
Batman killed someone, and he did so without hesitation.
The riddle-maker saw the video zoom in, and the clown appeared in front of him.
Let's turn back the clock to the moment the Joker died.
"So all of this was a lie? You didn't turn into the clown?"
"Never," Chen Tao said.
Silvery-white particles shimmered, and as the crystal coffin closed completely, Chen Tao breathed a sigh of relief.
Lucius's technical skills are beyond question; there is absolutely no way the Joker could escape through such a thick crystal coffin.
Yes, he did it. He fooled the Joker, the very Joker who had caused the original Batman, Bruce Wayne, countless defeats and sufferings, and now he was trapped inside the crystal coffin, all he had to do was press that one button…
Through a pane of clear glass—the Joker was certain it was a high-polymer, strong-sealing material—the Joker looked at Batman.
"Haha, ahahahahaha... Batman! You've caught me again, hahaha, I'm such an idiot, hahaha—but this is really funny, this joke is hilarious—damn it! You were such a good actor. I won't do it again next time—"
The clown was laughing so hard he was breathless, but Chen Tao opposite him remained completely calm.
"There won't be a next time, Joker."
"What?"
The clown stopped moving.
"As I said, you are going to die. This is not an impulsive act or a crime of passion, but a pre-planned outcome."
"I've decided to kill you using femtosecond laser pulverization technology."
Chen Tao reached out and gently stroked the transparent coffin: "This isn't a birdcage, it's a coffin."
Killing the Joker was a decision he had made long ago. Ever since the Joker used laughing gas on the battlefield to cripple more than 2 soldiers, he had no intention of continuing to tolerate the Joker's existence in this world.
Of course, as a huge fan of American comics, he had heard the debate about whether Batman should kill people many times.
Countless people have repeatedly argued from political, military, philosophical, and even social theoretical perspectives, or from the real-world factors of comic book sales, saying that he should be killed or not. For decades, this debate has never stopped.
But the problem is—Chen Tao isn't Batman.
Therefore, these arguments are meaningless. There are no moral choices, no epic tales of fate. In Chen Tao's view, the Joker is just a nuisance. If he could, he would even consider killing the Joker with a knife or a gun. Bane's memories have given him the skill to murder others, and he can handle any weapon with ease.
But he still chose the safest approach. The story of the Laughing Bat made Chen Tao uneasy. In the comics, Batman had mentioned more than once that even if he murdered the Joker, Gotham would give him something worse in return.
He absolutely did not want to find himself, after traveling through time, to discover that he was the Batman Who Laughs himself, and then start laughing maniacally as he went on to destroy the multiverse.
This is hilarious! Even a trashy novelist who's drunk three kilograms of fake liquor couldn't write such a nonsensical plot.
Therefore, he must be extremely cautious when it comes to murdering the Joker. Could there really be poison gas on the Joker's spine that could turn others into clowns?
Maybe he will, maybe he won't, but he would never gamble with his life.
The clown inside the crystal coffin clutched his own neck. He began to have difficulty breathing.
Chen Tao walked to the crystal coffin and began operating it silently. Once the power was connected, the machine would start working, shredding the contents of the coffin into powder in one go.
Whether it's clown gas or some other strange thing, as long as this coffin isn't opened, they'll never be able to escape.
After the clown dies, Chen Tao will seal it with multiple layers of steel, and then seal it with cement in the darkest corner of the lower level of the Batcave, until the end of time.
The Joker so readily noticed the murderous intent in Batman's eyes. He would tell nonsensical jokes one moment, and reminisce with Chen Tao the next, but Chen Tao completely ignored him, and so ultimately—
He suddenly appeared unusually calm.
"I understand. It's over now. You're not going to play this game with me anymore, are you, Batman? Okay, I accept it, this is the end. But you're always running away from the people around you, have you ever thought about how you've never told me—"
"I hate you. Those words, I hate you, clown."
"Listen up, Batman. If today is the end, then I think I still have the right to prepare my last words."
"Femtosecond laser cutting is ready."
The machine emitted a mechanical sound.
"Please note, please confirm that everything is ready. Countdown: 10 seconds."
"Batman!"
Chen Tao stood in front of the crystal coffin, indifferent, watching the clown suddenly pounce on the transparent coffin door.
"I'm going to die, I'm going to be killed by you, but listen carefully, Batman—I hate you."
"Your turn, Bat! Hurry up, it's your turn, say that line!"
Time ticked by, and Chen Tao turned his head away. The hope in the clown's eyes gradually faded.
"7 seconds."
"6 seconds."
"Me too," Chen Tao replied. "The clown."
"Haha, hahahahahahaha—"
The clown let out a hysterical laugh, a laugh he had made many times throughout his life, but never as manic and twisted as this. He laughed until tears streamed down his face, his stomach ached, and he banged his forehead against the coffin door repeatedly.
"That's right, that's right, bat."
"I'm glad you've finally discovered this today, because in the past, you know, I would never let you see how I died."
"I fell from a helicopter, crashed off a cliff, and disappeared in an explosion, but I always come back. I shouldn't have let you see me die, but it seems this situation was unavoidable today."
"Listen up, I'm not going to die, Batman, that's a fact."
"I am a thought, an idea, and I will continue to live in the shadows, living in Gotham's discontent... You will see me again soon, hahaha, hahaha, ahahahahaha—"
First, a line of blood started to spread from his forehead, and then his head began to collapse.
The clown is dead.
And also help recommend books to friends~
Oda Nobunaga's Island War Chronicles
A condensed account of the life of Oda Nobunaga, the "Sixth Demon King" of Japan's Sengoku period.
Let's see how he launches a surprise attack on Imagawa Yoshimoto, the Kirin of the Tokaido, and defeats Azai Nagamasa, the Lion of Omi.
After defeating the fierce leopard Echizen, Asakura Yoshikage, he faced off against the monk King Kenryo of Honganji Temple.
He bravely confronted Takeda Shingen, the Tiger of Kai, and shattered the invincible myth of the Takeda Red Cavalry!
(End of this chapter)