'Sarah, please don't let anything happen to yourself.'
Inside a police car, Gordon anxiously slammed the accelerator, racing toward the restaurant.
In fact, the police car chasing the Joker's gang earlier was his own. He had witnessed the gang members throwing laughing gas into the restaurant. However, after a brief moment of hesitation, he had made a decision.
He informed his colleagues to assist with evacuating the civilians, while he continued to pursue the Joker's gang members who were causing chaos by speeding through the streets.
But in the end, he couldn't catch up.
Gordon prided himself on his driving skills, but it was no match for the reckless driving of the Joker's gang! Their feet never left the gas pedal, and they were riding more nimble motorcycles.
Once the Joker's gang took their bikes into an alley, he was completely out of options.
Just as he was about to give up and plan to regroup, one of his officers reported the situation at the restaurant. The moment Gordon heard the name of the restaurant, a sense of dread gripped him.
Because he remembered.
If it hadn't been for the Joker's gang causing trouble, tonight he would have been on a date with his wife at that very same restaurant. Now, his wife was likely waiting for him there.
Realizing this, Gordon had no time to catch his breath. He immediately turned the police car around, knowing how deadly the laughing gas could be. He had to reach his wife, safe and sound.
...
Meanwhile, inside the gas-filled restaurant, Reid looked down at Sarah, who was laughing uncontrollably. A moment of hesitation flickered in his eyes.
Before coming to this world, he was just an ordinary person, raised in the city. He had never even tried to kill a chicken, let alone take a human life.
The reason he had been able to kill without guilt was that he had always reminded himself that murder was a necessity. To survive, he had to kill. Killing allowed him to establish himself quickly in Gotham, and only the dead posed no obstacles to him.
But now, killing Sarah didn't seem to be necessary. Whether the Joker's mission was truly as important as he had initially thought, he wasn't entirely sure.
Without external pressure or compromise with reality, killing Sarah was his own idea, simply based on his own assumptions.
As Reid hesitated one last time, a familiar figure slowly emerged from the mist of laughing gas.
"This is...?"
Reid was momentarily stunned. Was that him? No, it was the Joker...
The Joker stepped out from the smoke and finally sat at a nearby table.
"Joker! It was you, influencing me! It's you..."
It was as if he had found a release valve. Reid threw all of his changes, even his decision to kill Sarah, onto the Joker. He blamed everything on this soul he had forcibly summoned.
The Joker didn't argue, merely continuing to smile at him.
Gradually, Reid's voice softened.
With the Joker's role playing percentage at 100%, and having gained all of the Joker's abilities, Reid was now able to analyze his own heart. He knew that no matter how much he threw a tantrum, it wouldn't change the fact that he had made the decision himself.
"It seems, my friend, you've discovered the key to the situation." the Joker said, jumping off the table and walking up to Reid.
"Look at you, we are so alike. The world is cruel, sad, and in such a world, life is meaningless. So, I use madness to explain this truth to the world."
"And you, my friend, you are the opposite of me. You long for a better world, but you cherish your life even more. Only madness is the best way to fight against the world..."
Reid fell silent.
He didn't agree with the Joker's view of life. He didn't think life was meaningless, and he would never become like the Joker. But there was one thing the Joker had said that was true.
He valued his own life far more than this world. To Reid, this world was nothing more than a comic world, a virtual realm. Fighting for it wasn't worth it.
If survival was the goal, then rather than adopting the values of superheroes, taking on the superhero persona and standing firm in this world, it was better to become like the Joker — carefree, wild, and unrestrained. This way, he could plot and scheme more freely in this world.
Good people would always have guns pointed at them, but only villains could live to the end.
Clearly, Reid was determined to survive, no matter the cost.
"Joker, what do you want..."
Reid didn't believe the Joker had simply appeared in front of him on a whim.
Maybe at first, the soul of the Joker was drawn to him unconsciously, but when the Joker regained his ability to think and appeared in front of him in the form of an illusion, Reid realized that the Joker definitely had his own purpose.
"You really are my friend!"
The Joker laughed loudly, slapping his thigh hard, and then, as if he had hit himself too hard, he immediately started rubbing his leg while making exaggerated sounds of pain.
But from the way he gasped and gave Reid a sly look, it was clear that the Joker wasn't actually in pain at all.
After a while, seeing that Reid wasn't coming over to comfort him, the Joker pouted and said, "I want to experience this world again. Watching your actions makes me itch..."
Reid knew that a character card with a 100% role-playing degree could turn into a clone and act independently. The split clone would definitely obey Reid's orders and would not do anything detrimental to Reid.
Thinking about it carefully, Reid realized that he couldn't constantly focus on the Joker's identity. Same goes for the Joker's gang-related matters, it was best to leave those for the Joker to handle.
"Let's wait until this matter is finished."
"Alright! I will follow your orders, my friend!"
The Joker shouted excitedly, then turned into mist and dissipated, as if he feared staying here too long might annoy Reid.
With the Joker's disappearance, the scene before Reid returned to reality. Sarah was still kneeling on the ground, laughing uncontrollably.
From the start, Reid hadn't planned to kill anyone here. The concentration of laughing gas was low, which is why other guests had the strength to run out.
However, if Sarah remained in the gas for too long, even at this low concentration, it could still be deadly.
But now, Reid did not continue to be merciful. He reached down, pulling Sarah up from the ground, making her face his smiling face.
"Ha ha ha... Joker! You ha ha ha... will definitely be brought to justice!"
It seemed that Sarah had sensed death approaching. Instead of fear or pain, her expression turned into one of fierce hatred, staring at Reid as if she wanted to tear him apart.
"Is that so?" Reid said with a slight smile.
"Then, I ask you to go and pass on that unwavering will of yours to the Gotham Police Department."
Sarah froze for a moment. From the Joker's words, she instinctively thought that he was going to spare her.
But the next moment, Reid gently squeezed the model flower on his chest.
A large amount of green liquid, steaming with white mist, immediately shot out from the flower's center.
"Ah!!!!"
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