American comics: From Hogwarts to God on Earth

Chapter 360 Visiting the Joker

Chapter 360 Visiting the Joker

During the Cold War, the nuclear threat between the Soviet Union and the United States made nuclear explosion protection facilities standard equipment in many cities, including Gotham City.

At the time, Gotham City was one of the most prosperous cities in the United States, so naturally a large number of air-raid shelters were built. After the Cold War, many cities chose to dismantle most of their nuclear explosion protection facilities, but Gotham did not.

Not only were they not abandoned, but as time went by, these nuclear explosion protection facilities were gradually forgotten. However, this did not mean that these facilities were completely abandoned. The vigilantes of Gotham City, including Owl Hunter, a clown, renovated one of the long-abandoned nuclear explosion protection facilities into a shelter.

This shelter, located 300 meters underground, is surrounded by lead to block Superpower's X-ray vision, and the original entrance has been abandoned by Jester.

The clown knew very well that Night Owl was an extremely capable detective, even considered the greatest detective in the world, so he had to be careful.

But such a defense cannot stop a mage.

click, click, click—

The sound of boots striking the ground echoed throughout the secret base.

Because Gotham was cursed by Zeus, it rains 320 days a year, and even the secret bases located underground in Gotham cannot escape the effects of the climate.

The sanctuary's damp air was thick with the pungent smell of industrial alcohol, blood, and perfume. The unstable power supply caused the fluorescent lights on the walls to flicker, casting the mage's distorted shadow onto the scratched lead metal walls.

Surgical instruments and several torn law books can be seen scattered around the operating table in the center of the house.

At the far end of the room, a figure in a purple suit slowly turned around on a chair.

His green hair was combed into an exaggerated slicked-back style, and his pale face was painted with heavy lipstick. A huge, bright red smile suddenly bloomed on this man's face, giving people a strong visual impact.

At first glance, anyone's first impression of him is that he's a madman, a madman you absolutely shouldn't mess with.

Standing next to him was a woman dressed in a classic court clown costume. She also wore pale makeup, had a smile on her face, and held a huge hammer in her hand, but her eyes were bright and her figure was curvaceous.

"Hello, Jester," Rune greeted. "Or should I call you—Gotham City's conscience, the vigilante?"

'

Upon hearing Rune's greeting, the madman jumped up from the swivel chair, his smile widening. He seemed delighted to be addressed that way, and even twirled in front of Rune as if he were performing ballet.

"Oh, what a wonderful nickname, what a nostalgic title—" He was laughing happily one second, but the next second his face instantly darkened. "But I prefer you to call me Judge!"

Rune nodded. He wasn't intimidated by the clown; in fact, it fit his image of a clown quite well. Earth-3, where the Crime Syndicate is located, is indeed a world where good and evil are reversed, but the people there more or less possess some of the characteristics of their alternate-dimensional counterparts.

For example, the clown is still quite insane, and Luther's methods are also quite ruthless.

"So this one must be your assistant, Harley Quinn?"

"Oh, of course, of course!" The clown hopped over to the mage, one hand on Rune's shoulder, his entire weight leaning on the mage. "She's my most capable subordinate—"

"But!" The clown's hand, which was resting on Rune, suddenly jerked, and a scalpel that had inexplicably appeared was pressed against Rune's throat. "I don't like people coming in without warning—"

The clown's voice was sickeningly sweet, making Harley Quinn giggle incessantly. "Tell me, who are you, and why have you come to visit me, um—this righteous madman?"

Rune glanced down at the scalpel in the clown's hand. Without any movement, the sharp scalpel instantly melted into a silver liquid, which hissed as it dripped onto the ground.

The clown's eyes widened, then he withdrew his arm, clapped his hands, and laughed loudly: "Fun, so much fun! This magic trick is way more spectacular than the 'sudden explosion' I performed for the Court of Owls back then!"

"I've come to you to discuss a deal." Rune looked at the clown, still having some doubts in his mind.

Even if the Joker symbolizes justice, is it really a good thing to bring him back to his own DC universe?

Rune's favorite Joker is Martha from the Flashpoint universe. She is Batman's mother and transformed into the Joker after witnessing Bruce Wayne die at the hands of criminals. She can not only work well with Batman, but will also never harm him.

Upon hearing Rune's suggestion, the clown licked his lips. "Oops, this lipstick is a bit too sweet. Now, what deal do you want to make with me?"

"What do you think about killing the crime syndicate?"

After Rune said those words, the huge room suddenly fell silent. But soon, the clown couldn't help himself and burst out laughing. Harley Quinn was stunned for a moment after hearing that, and then she also burst into laughter.

The two men's laughter was unusually high-pitched and piercing, and extremely sarcastic. However, Rune simply watched calmly as the two men went from smiling to laughing loudly, and finally even rolling on the ground laughing, completely disregarding their image.

After a long while, the clown finally stood up, panting. He wiped away the tears he had shed from laughing, and in an instant, his expression became unusually calm.

"Do you know, Mr. Magician—"

The clown slowly pulled a deck of cards from his pocket and began shuffling them.

"Every day, countless self-important idiots come to me to discuss collaborations. They call themselves—what were they called again?"

The clown turned to look at Harley Quinn, who was lying on the ground, laughing loudly, "Some say they're rebels, some say they're resistance fighters, and some others—hahahaha—"

At this point, she seemed to have a bit of a grudge against Bengbu.

"They call themselves superheroes! Hahahaha—"

"Yes!" the clown smiled. "Yes, they said they would overthrow the crime syndicate, but it turns out they're just a bunch of idiots!"

He randomly picked a card. "And you? Are you an idiot?"

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about overthrowing the crime syndicate." Rune's expression remained calm. "I mean, I'm going to kill them."