Although Poison Ivy had previously cooperated with Shiller, she was aware that he was a native of this cosmos, and the biggest adversary she would have to face in the future was still the Batman of this universe; fostering good relations with people from other universes couldn't prevent her from eventually being held accountable by Batman.
However, establishing a good relationship with the Batman of this universe was challenging; on one hand, she had no idea where he was, and on the other, if the impulsive Batman found out that it was her mistake that opened the portal, chances were slim that he would listen to her explanation.
Poison Ivy decided to take a different approach, knowing how much Batman valued the Batman Family. She would help the Batman Family during this incident, hoping that when the time came for settling scores, she would receive some leniency in her punishment.
It wasn't that Poison Ivy was particularly afraid of Batman; the problem was that now, Batman's internet use was real-name registered, and his other identity was President Wayne.
Ask criminals if they're afraid of Batman, and eight out of ten will say no; ask them if they fear the wealthiest man, and twelve out of ten will immediately claim they are exemplary employees, never having committed any illegal acts, the same logic applies to the president.
To ensure she could live a normal life in the future, and possibly even curry some favor with the President to initiate more plant protection laws, Poison Ivy decided to start with the Robins, giving them more clues to increase her favorability with these young pests.
The most critical information Poison Ivy had pertained to the portal she opened, especially now that she knew the portal was just a facade; the real effective element was that hole.
After Poison Ivy shared this information with the Robins, they didn't think of any dreamworlds; they only thought of King Robin, who had come from the portal. Since the portal was a fake, he must have escaped through that hole.
His escape didn't matter much, but he still had the cape in his possession. Even if the cape didn't carry any critical information, the Robins couldn't allow an individual named King Robin to take away their Batman's cape.
"I think we still need to go take a look," said Dick, "We can't just let King Robin dig a hole and escape."
"I agree," mused Nightwing from the Prime Universe, "But there might be some dangers around the hole."
"I can go with you," Poison Ivy said. She didn't really want to be that helpful, but the problem was that the contaminated plants were still after her.
She had previously lured a bunch of plants into Whirlpool Hospital to give herself a breather, but in no time, they had gathered again. Poison Ivy couldn't be bothered to plan and eliminate them once more; if she didn't provoke them, she could avoid them.
The Robins were aware of Poison Ivy's abilities and her strength, which gave them a certain confidence, so they decided to go and check it out.
After the Robins followed the hole and jumped down, unsurprisingly, they arrived in Dreamworld. They came one after the other with Arkham Batman, only one came through that hole and the other by Bat Cat.
Bat Cat had been staunchly opposed to Arkham Batman going over, but suddenly, he changed his mind, not only agreeing but also using the authority of Cat of a Thousand Dreams to locate the dream bubble and then sending him over.
After sending Arkham Batman over, Little Kryptonite looked at Bat Cat, puzzled and said, "What are you thinking? You know his mental state is not good, sending him over will cause trouble."
Bat Cat snorted coldly, "Cause trouble? Haven't you realized? We're already in big trouble."
New Jersey City had also fallen into trouble.
A criminal who claimed to be Joker declared that he had planted bombs at twelve locations in the city, and if the bombs were detonated, everyone nearby would die.
The explosives would affect a circular area with a radius of four kilometers. Anyone within this circle was certain to die, and to survive, one had to ensure they were outside the circle.
The locations of the twelve bombs would be revealed one by one, with one location announced every hour, and within ten minutes of the announcement, the bomb would explode.
However, if there was no one within the blast radius when a bomb exploded, the location of the next bomb would not be announced but would instead be detonated immediately.
Joker announced the location of the first bomb at the New Jersey Police Department—the combination of the Gotham and New York Police Departments.
Everyone was fleeing in panic.
Four kilometers is neither a large nor small distance; if it seems small, walking out of it in just ten minutes is quite unlikely, necessitating transportation. But by car, with a pedal to the metal, this distance is not much.
If it were a straight road leading out, of course, it would be quick, but this is the city center, where it's virtually impossible to have direct roads leading out of the area, requiring at least a couple of turns. Even driving at 60 mph, it would take six to seven minutes.
Another point is, in a situation without traffic jams, it indeed looks like this. But now, it's impossible not to have a jam, with everyone within the affected area rushing outwards at the same time, and only one fastest route out, how could there not be a traffic jam?
Considering the time taken to take detours and the time wasted in traffic, ten minutes became intolerably insufficient. But nobody dared to bet on the words of a lunatic who could dominate the screens of major media outlets. If this were a terrorist attack like that at the Pentagon, they would not want to be the pioneers to fall.
Crowds surged onto the roads like ants, driving their cars toward the highway as fast as possible. At this crucial moment, no one obeyed traffic rules or thought about yielding; they only wanted to go faster and faster.
No matter how fast they were, 10 minutes was still not a very long time. Accompanied by arrogance, howling, spitting, and arguing, the convoy still stretched out in a long queue on the road, but the time had already arrived.
People began to pray that it was all a joke, but it wasn't.
The bomb exploded with a loud bang, and everything within a 4-kilometer radius was reduced to ashes—whether it was cars, people, or those buildings that boasted of their sturdiness, everything collapsed.
Gordon saw Ge Yin's body on the television; he was helped onto a wheelchair by Bruce and for the first time in decades, he left his bedroom to see a television with images.
Even if the long-term depletion had numbed him, faced with this scene, he still closed his eyes.
"Why don't you watch?" Bruce asked, "All you can do now is watch. When you were a cop, you couldn't necessarily save them, and now even less so. All you can do is watch, so why not?"
"Because I am still human!!!" Gordon finally couldn't restrain himself and roared in a weak voice, "The sympathy of the human race makes it impossible for them to directly witness the tragedy suffered by their fellows!!!"
"Is that so? What about those who plundered my inheritance? Why didn't they show mercy for the tragedy I suffered?" Bruce asked.
Gordon seemed like someone had choked him; he let out a short syllable, but his eyes still overflowed with grief and anger, and tears kept swirling in his sockets.
"Go save them, go save them... Bruce." Gordon was still muttering.
"I can't, Uncle," Bruce shook his head and said, "I'm just an ordinary person, and I also don't have a car; I can't make it to the scene in time, and I wouldn't be able to help much even if I did. It would have been good if I had learned some medical skills before, but it's a pity I couldn't afford medical school."
Gordon's hands were trembling non-stop, and scenes from the past kept resurfacing, but in the end, he couldn't say anything; he just shook as if he were about to take his last breath.
"Should we drive out of the city?" a gentle lady softly covered her still flat belly and said to the tall man in front of her, "Neighbor Mrs. Wilson said it's very unlikely that the bomb was placed outside the city, perhaps we would be fine if we just drive out."
The tall man turned around, unconsciously touching his face as he said, "The roads out of the city must be jammed now, and it would be terrible if the bomb was placed on the crowded exit roads. Let's wait and see first."
The woman didn't say anything more and led the child to the backyard. The child's carefree laughter quickly filled the yard, but the man standing on the porch kept touching his face, staring somewhat blankly at the table.
There was a family portrait of three, which looked very happy, but the man always felt something was off.
He picked up the photograph, and on the back were names, one of which he had signed himself—"Jason Todd."
He always felt he should have another photo, with three people, but not these three. But who exactly were they?
Jason couldn't remember, but the current situation made him feel terrified, and what frightened him even more was that his terror wasn't for the potential danger the bomb posed to his family, but rather a more bizarre fear.
When the name Joker appeared in the news broadcast, Jason instinctively shuddered and even threw the fork in his hand, which almost hit his child.
But in truth, he had no memory of where he had heard this name. After all, he had been severely ill many years ago, had a high fever, and couldn't remember many things; perhaps he had seen a horror movie about a Joker before.
But ever since that scare, Jason had been feeling bewildered, and when he touched his face for the third time involuntarily, he couldn't resist going to the bathroom to look in the mirror.
His face was smooth, with nothing on it, but Jason still felt uncomfortable; it always seemed like there should be something there. This time, when he touched it again, he felt a sting.
Images flashed in the mirror; he seemed to be bound somewhere, a knife carving into his face, and as he suddenly looked up at the owner of the hand, a terrifying smiling face appeared before his eyes.
Jason let out a pained groan, and his wife immediately rushed out. He gestured that he was fine, and to avoid disturbing his family's rest, he chose to go back to his room.
There was also a TV in his room, which was broadcasting news of the bomb attack. The host said that because people had died this time, the next bomb's location will be announced truthfully.
Jason felt an inexplicable urge, as if something was urging him to leave the room, leave the house, rush out onto the street, and then find the real culprit.
No, of course, he couldn't do that; Jason thought rationally, his wife was pregnant, and their child was still young, how could he possibly abandon them at a time like this?
More importantly, what could he do if he rushed out? Although he did get into fights often when he was young, how could a small-time troublemaker resolve a terror attack of this scale? It was still best left to the police; better to take care of his own family first.