Jack ruffled his freshly dyed green hair, purposefully disheveling it to regain his previous Joker appearance. From somewhere, he had even procured a bright purple short-sleeve shirt, as if meant to remind Bruce of his Joker persona.
Bruce took some time to respond to Jack's words, taking a few seconds to process and understand them. He then realized that Jack was probably hinting that he might fail the upcoming test.
Bruce glanced around at their surroundings. The location was a basement in a residential building. Despite being a basement, it had a higher-than-usual ceiling, giving it the feel of a windowless hotel. The environment was cozy and comfortable.
The warmth from his belly signaled to Bruce that he had recently had a satisfying meal. The tally of the warehouse inventory had shown they had enough food to feed the entire gang for half a month.
Regardless of how it was viewed, though, should establishing roots in a city like Gotham within less than two weeks really be considered a direct hit to Shiller's reputation in the education sector?
Bruce bluntly voiced his opinion, but Jack sighed deeply and said, "I'm truly grateful I'm not your psychology professor. Wait a second, didn't Shiller mention that Batman and the Joker's abilities would shift in balance?"
Before the words had fully left his mouth, Jack darted to the window in the hallway, keeping his distance from Bruce. Bruce watched him helplessly, "You act as if I have some contagious disease called 'failure in psychology.'"
"It's not acting." Jack grinned falsely and swiftly moved, seemingly intending to slip away.
But Bruce cornered him in the hallway, pushing him back into the room, forcing him to sit on the sofa, saying, "Explain yourself clearly. Am I someone who disregards other people's opinions?"
Jack sighed again, scanning the room's decoration. Bruce sat opposite him, saying, "I know this isn't a significant achievement yet, but given the short time, once another month, no, another half a month passes..."
"Sigh..."
Jack cut off Bruce's words with a long sigh, then propped up his face with his hand and regarded Bruce. "The formula's wrong. No matter how many calculations you perform, in another half a month you're going to score zero."
Bruce stared at Jack, "Are you saying my approach is wrong? Then tell me where it's wrong."
"Let's change the subject. Has another Batman from a different universe come here yet? Guess what he's doing now."
"Which Batman are you referring to?"
"The older one."
"I don't believe his progress will exceed mine. After all, this is the Gotham you built, my homeland. I'm surely more familiar with the ways of the mob than him. Even if his progress is commendable, it should be on par with mine."
Jack took a sip of water from his cup and looked at Bruce, "Could there be a possibility that he doesn't need to get familiar with the mob scene?"
Bruce was taken aback.
"No wonder Shiller was so delighted when you graduated with honors," Jack said, shielding one of his eyes with his hand. "You might truly be the only Batman in all the universes lacking a gift for psychology."
Before Bruce could respond, Jack interrupted him: "When I said I built Gotham in the Kingdom of Dreams, you took this to mean I built only Gotham. But why not consider trying to buy a ticket from Gotham airport to Metropolis and make some business there, away from mob interference? In half a month, you could certainly buy Gotham."
Bruce frowned deeply.
'I built Gotham in the Kingdom of Dreams' - I didn't lie, I have built Gotham, but I didn't say I built only Gotham. A simple linguistic trap and basic psychological suggestion."
"You interpreted it as me building a city as a testing ground, and you had to achieve a certain goal within this city to score high. You didn't even try to buy a ticket to see if other destinations would show up. You've already lost all your basic points."
After taking a deep breath, Bruce quickly reacted, asking the Joker, "Has the other Batman already left Gotham?"
"Yes, and he even thought that you wouldn't. If everything goes as expected, by tomorrow you will be reading news headlines like 'Metropolis Witnessed Business Prodigy'."
As Bruce opened his mouth, Jack interjected, "He could make such a big move because Metropolis has laws. As long as he earned his money through his own intelligence, all of his assets are legally protected."
"If someone tries illegal means, he could use his money to hire protection. The worst crime in Metropolis is bank robbery, which can be handled by hiring a couple of retired tough guys."
Jack looked at Bruce, "What do you think the purpose of this test is? To test your survival skills in Gotham?"
Bruce was about to agree, but Jack cut him off, "Why would the same test be taken twice? If it were to measure progress, then the variables shouldn't change too much. You should have lived here as an adult, just like before."