Chapter 179: Smile (Part 2)

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Everyone present heard their whispers, just like the Owl Court members thought. If Alberto lied and pressed the button, it wouldn't be Haru who died, but someone else. And it wasn't just a few percent chance that it could be themselves, everyone felt that this chance wouldn't fall on their heads.

If Alberto didn't lie and killed Haru, they wouldn't have any losses, but instead could avoid the risk of the bomb exploding because Haru landed first.

Just like they said, Haru, who had already had his mask removed, would eventually die. Even if he didn't die today, The Godfather wouldn't let him see the sun the next day.

"I don't want to die!! I don't want to die! You can't press...Cheri, are you crazy? Do you want to kill me! You can't press!!!" Haru started to cry desperately, tears and snot covering his face, his fat body twisting non-stop.

"Hey!" Gordon suddenly stood up, pointing his gun at the tall, thin man and said, "You can't press it, murder is a crime, I will arrest you."

"Is that so, detective?" Schiller stood up and said, "He just pressed a button from a distance, and another person died. What evidence do you have to prove that he killed someone? What are you going to use as a murder weapon? The button?"

"Please, officer! Don't listen to them, save me!!!" Haru screamed and cried.

Falcone spoke up, "Officer, without evidence, you can't just shoot, but you can demand that he identify himself in the name of the police. Even if he doesn't have a driver's license or other identification, he should at least take off his mask."

The tall, thin man screamed in despair, "No! There are no rules like this! You can't expose my identity!!!"

"Quickly press it, Cheri! Kill him quickly! How do you know that his belly won't hit the ground during the next descent? Then we will all die!"

"Don't press it! I don't want to die! If you press it, your mask will also be taken off, and you and your family will all die..."

"You can press it, you know in your heart that this is killing someone, I will arrest you!"

"Of course, you can press it! This detective has no evidence, and police rules don't work here..."

Like a chaotic montage movie, everyone was shouting their own reasons loudly. The light slid from one person's face to another, and even before one shot could focus, it switched to the next.

Finally, it was Joker who took the crazy approach of hitting the triangle iron with force that made the argument stop.

Cheri was sweating profusely, and Haru was even paler. Suddenly, Haru, who seemed to have just thought of something, said, "The first answer, the first answer points to the woman! If you dare let Cheri press the button, I will press my button too!"

"No!" A woman hanging in the air shouted, "You're crazy! Cheri is my lover, I will let him kill you first, you fat pig idiot!"

"Haru...please, you're already dead, Falcone knows who you are, you know you're going to die, why don't you contribute to our survival?" The woman suddenly started crying again.

"You're the crazy one! You bitch! Do you really think Cheri is a European aristocrat! He's just a fraud! He's a poor sailor! You two are a match made in heaven!!"

"If I die, I will make sure you all go down with me!" Haru shouted with spittle flying everywhere.

"Damn Owl Court! Damn senior senator! I've had enough of you, a fraud who makes a living by scamming people, a whore who climbs the ranks by offering herself, and you guys! Do you really think you're someone important? You've always looked down on me!"

Haru seemed to have completely broken down mentally, cursing loudly.

Cheri began to tremble all over, his voice trembling as he said, "I can't do that, they will take off my mask. Falcone will kill me and my family. I have a wife and child, dear God! Please save me!"

Upon hearing Cheri's plea, Father drew a cross on his chest, but he didn't say anything.

"Ding ding! Time's up!" Joker banged on the triangle iron, his tone light and cheerful. "He didn't make a choice, so we default to not pressing it. Okay, next!"

He deliberately bypassed the people next to him and walked to the somewhat old figure. He said, "It seems you're their leader, so I'll give you a privilege and let you choose first. Who do you want to choose?"

The old man who was tied up didn't seem flustered. His tone was very low, and he said, "I choose the professor."

"What?" Joker pretended not to hear and banged the triangle iron hard, making noise. He said, "He said he chose Falcone..."

"I heard him choose me," Schiller stood up, and the Joker cursed under his breath. He said impatiently, "You've used up your clue, he can't..."

"Then I'll buy another ticket. You still have some left, right?" Schiller glanced at the Joker's suit pocket and said, "I saw one in there earlier."

The Joker grumbled as he began to search his pockets. After a while, he found a crumpled piece of paper. He impatiently balled it up and threw it at Schiller.

The paper fell to the ground, but somehow it flew towards Schiller, who caught it. The old man spoke up, "Even if you don't have a clue, I chose you because I see that you can shake up the rules of this game."

"But I'm sorry, there's no reason for an actor to leave midway. After all, I paid for my ticket," Schiller said.

"I'm not asking you to leave, just hoping for a change in the rules."

"What part do you want to change?"

"If you make a request of me, I can choose to give up my clue and ask for a favor from you instead."

"Tell me your request first, then I'll consider whether or not to agree."

"I want to give up my button, and you take it away from me."

"What? Mr. Mung! Are you crazy? What if someone tries to kill you and you don't have the button?" Schiller suddenly lowered his head, laughed, and said, "It seems like you're a former member of the Court of Owls, right?"

"I can only say that if it were your generation, this method might work, but you've already destroyed yourselves by choosing the wrong path."

"You think that by demonstrating a way out of this predicament, others will follow you? If that were the case, they wouldn't have been exposed."

"Everyone understands the reasoning. If everyone throws away their button, there's no more play, and neither the audience nor the host can do anything to you."

"We're not killers, our purpose isn't to kill. We just want to see a good show. If you refuse to perform in this way, we won't start a massacre because that's too boring."

"But unfortunately, your companions around you are no longer the Owls who pursue ultimate darkness and chaos. They're just the Talons you brainwashed into becoming brutal killers. They no longer have your noble beliefs that transcend personal interests."

"They won't give up their buttons. They believe that they're weapons to threaten others not to press their own buttons."

"Even if I tell them the answer now, they won't be willing to do it."

The old man sighed and said, "It seems like there's no cure for everything. I take back my choice, I'll choose...Batman."

As the word fell, countless spotlights once again focused on Batman. The Joker's body leaned back, his mouth wide open in a very surprised expression.

He quickly ran to the front of the stage and waved light over, asking him to shine all the lights on him. He made faces at Batman and found that Batman ignored him. He then ran to the band, clumsily picking up a drum and moving it to the center of the stage, rolling up his sleeves to start playing.

After a while, he realized that Batman was still ignoring him and slumped down in disappointment. He said fiercely, "I should have tied myself up there. When I said I chose Batman, he would definitely have been very surprised. He might even laugh."

At this moment, standing Batman saw time freeze in the entire opera house. Whether it was on stage or off stage, everyone froze into a scene from a play, with every expression and movement clearly visible.

Falcone was talking in a low voice with Father Daniel, his face lined with the ravages of time, but his eyes still sharp.

Batman saw madness in them, like when he stood by his son's bed on countless nights, wanting to kill the monster. He may have already been driven insane.

Alberto, who was sitting in the back seat, was silent and bowed his head. He was also insane. In several nights, he faced his father's deep malice and hatred, and then he stabbed his biological father in the chest with a knife.

Father Daniel, who was talking to Godfather, was also old, even older than Falcone. His white hair floated in the air under the shining of the desk lamp, but his eyes were full of kindness and peace.

But maybe he was already insane. No normal person would think that there was a faith that could save Gotham, but he still dutifully acted as a Father here. He even became a good Father, but in Gotham, the better, the crazier.

The same goes for Commissioner Gordon. Perhaps he looked like the most normal person in Gotham, but he was a policeman, a real policeman, a good policeman who harbored justice and upheld his beliefs. Such people could appear anywhere in the world without being conspicuous, but he just wanted to stay in Gotham, and was equally crazy.

Professor... he was crazy too.

The Joker... he was crazy anyway.

Batman stood in the midst of this group of lunatics, watching their frozen movements, watching them freeze on the stage, and then the stage began to rotate.

The more the stage rotated, the faster it became. Between light and shadow, it turned into a crazy vortex. Batman stood in the center of the vortex and was gradually swallowed up.

He felt that he should be crazy too.

He was sure he might be crazy.

In the center of the rotating stage, Batman stretched out his palm, holding a crumpled piece of paper in his hand. It was the ticket he got and the clue he was going to read next.

But just now, when Batman opened it, he found that it was blank, with nothing written on it.

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