"Among the 30 million people in Gotham City, 5 million people have been directly or indirectly involved in first-degree murder."
This is an underground safe house in Gotham City, the Riddler's lair, the safest and most secretive one.
The place was decorated like an ordinary study room. Killer Croc, who was sitting on the sofa, pulled out a copy of Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason" from the bookshelf next to him. After flipping through it for a while, he realized that he couldn't understand a single word, so he angrily put it down.
Lost it on the ground.
The ventriloquist picked it up and stuffed it back.
"About 15 million people have committed crimes, and the remaining 10 million people who have not committed crimes are not because they are good civilians, but because they are hidden gentlemen, gamblers, and prostitutes in the red light district."<
/p>
The Riddler's voice rang in the room, and Jim Gordon was tied up in a chair, his eyes blindfolded, and his mouth stuffed with a ball of cloth.
"And the reason why they did not join the criminal army was not because of any noble qualities, but because they were not forced into a desperate situation."
The picture was playing on the TV, and the Riddler confirmed that it was a live broadcast. Batman was there, just as he planned. He continued:
"So do you understand? There are no good people in Gotham. The only ones who can be called good people are drug addicts and gamblers, because they will not harm others except themselves."
"I am too tired. Year after year, day after day, I live in a garbage dump and commit crimes non-stop."
"If committing crime is so tiring, why don't you stop?" said the movie geek: "Can you stop committing crime?"
"No, you don't understand at all."
The Riddler stood up nervously, then stood on the sofa and squatted down, hugging his legs, like a poor, helpless child.
"This is a war. If we really give up crime because we are tired, then he will win...Batman will win."
"So what? Can't we live without committing crimes?"
Killer Croc found a bag of potato chips nearby, then opened it and threw it directly into his mouth.
"No, that's not the case. Batman won, but it wasn't me who lost."
Huh? Killer Croc thinks he's completely crazy.
He knew that telling riddles was the specialty of the Riddler, just like the man who sells hot dogs at the park entrance has his own unique recipe. But the Riddler has never told such a difficult riddle, at least not in his memory.
The Riddler is a little nervous. He hugs his knees, like a little boy hiding in a corner during a thunderstorm.
"You don't understand, I'm not me at all. I mean, I don't represent myself at all."
He babbled: "I was born to attract people of my kind, just like bats have always attracted us all. Just like you, Killer Croc, you have always attracted everyone in Gotham City who has the same beast-like heart as you.
of criminals.
"So if you respond to a hundred calls, you can easily raise an army that is extremely loyal to you.
"You are their king. The pure beast-like criminals are by your side, just like the high-IQ criminals around me, the despairing laughers who are knocked down by life by the clown, and the scarecrow around you.
Those worshipers of fear."
"We, our so-called super criminals, we are their spiritual support. Bat has a saying that is right. Most criminals are superstitious and follow blindly..."
The Riddler continued:
"We have the same characteristics as them, but we are much stronger than them, so they will be convinced by us so easily."
"We no longer represent ourselves, but a part of Gotham's evil. We represent those people and have become some kind of concrete embodiment of this evil."
He stared blankly at the TV.
"It's useless to kill me. Kill me, Tutankhamun, Clues Master or other criminals who are similar to me, and they will take my place. He may not be as strong as me, but he must be the remaining one.
The strongest among those people, and so on... and so on!"
"We are never special! So Bat knows very well that killing us will not stop crime. On the contrary, his murder of us will only intensify the growth of crime."
"Every successful crime is a great encouragement to other criminals. Once he opens this hole, he really becomes a part of the darkness, so he can no longer eliminate the darkness, you understand."
"If the bat really does that, then he will be like us, he will attract other criminals, attract other people to imitate his behavior of murdering criminals, and then this metropolis of 30 million people will
It turned into a massacre field, with rivers of blood and piles of bones. Because if you want to be serious, everyone is a criminal!"
The Riddler said:
"Everyone can shout the banner of justice and kill people at will, and the law will become a piece of waste paper. Bats will never do that."
"Alarmist." Movie Freak commented: "Super villains are just a bit special."
"What's special about me?" The Riddler said:
"Before us weirdos, there was Roman Falcone. Before Roman Falcone, Gotham had the Lion King. Before that, there were the Four Families of Gotham. And before that, and before that, I was just Gotham Crime
A puppet, a marionette. It doesn't matter whether the puppet is called the Riddler or Edward."
"Just like the clown, how many times has the clown died, how dare you say he is still the same clown?"
"We saw with our own eyes that he disappeared in the explosion, and then two or three months later he came back, fell into the river, disappeared, and two or three months later he came back again, and he came back again, and he will always come back.
, he can only be driven away but will not die! Gotham only needs a lunatic who can split the corners of his mouth to the base of his ears. Does it matter what the real name of that lunatic is?"
"He beat me time and time again, and our game never stopped until one team couldn't hold on and fell. Bat was trying to single-handedly reverse the entire city! You don't understand how shocking this is, he is unbeatable.
On the contrary, he never hesitates and does not need to rest at all. He is extremely smart and intelligent, and his will is as strong as steel, just like a god walking on earth!"
The Riddler's voice gradually became louder. He stood up and waved his hands:
"This is unscientific, this is impossible! Why would such a person exist!"
"You simply don't understand how desperate it is to face such an opponent!"
"No matter how hard you struggle, no matter how hard you struggle, you will be sent back to Arkham. This is so sad!"
He slumped back onto the sofa.
"Death may be a relief for me. Then I don't have to worry about my own incompetence and the evil of Gotham. I can no longer stop committing crimes."
"It's not just because of my mental illness. No matter what determination I make and plan to do anything other than commit crime, Gotham's evil will pull me back on track like a pair of invisible hands. It enslaves me! Coerces me.
Hold me!"
"No matter how I cry and struggle, he will force me to use that damn puzzle to manipulate me! To show his fangs to the son of Gotham who was born in darkness but betrayed darkness! I should be beheaded by a knight.
He is a slaying dragon, but he is also a slave of darkness!"
"Only death can give me peace. But the bat is not even willing to grant me this final peace. He won't even kill the clown! Do you know? The bat is a cruel avenger, but the target of his revenge is not me, not Shuang.
The Masked Man is not the Joker! He is the evil in Gotham City! What he wants to end is not the criminal, but the crime itself!"
"But evil and crime cannot be ended. As long as there is a human being living in this world, evil and crime can never be ended! But he just did that! He was trying to achieve an absolutely impossible goal,
Torture yourself, torture everyone! He is simply not a human being!"
He lost all his strength and collapsed on the chair as if all the bones in his body had been ripped out.
"I'm tired, I'm really tired."
He murmured softly: "So now there are no more riddles, no more tests, and no more games. Everything should come to an end."
He picked up the phone on the table and connected to Batman on the TV: "Batman - now, as I said, kill the Joker!"
He walked up to the whining Jim Gordon, took out a pistol, put his head side by side with Jim Gordon's, and then pressed the gun against his temple.
"No riddles, no hints, now I have only one order. Kill the clown, otherwise Jim Gordon and my brains will explode immediately."
"Either kill the clown and save me and Gordon, or let the clown go and let me and Gordon die."
"Batman, you can hear me, make your choice, don't think about pretending to stab or shoot the clown in a non-fatal position, I want you to cut the clown into pieces, only to see him being dismembered,
Only then will I confirm his death and release Jim Gordon."
"Whether it is you or me, the principles that are bound up and the iron laws that cannot be broken must be destroyed today. If you can't destroy them, then destroy me."
"I decided to use femtosecond laser crushing technology to kill the clown. This technology can crush materials on a microscopic scale. In a sense, the clown will be torn into pieces."
"Yes, do it now."
The clown got into the red cabinet, and soon, the wooden boards of the cabinet fell off, revealing its original appearance as a crystal coffin.
"Kill him immediately, no matter what method you use!"
But Batman ignored him. He walked up and talked to the Joker for a while.
"You killed him, why don't you... wait."
The Riddler suddenly realized something. He was not such a stupid person, and he should not have realized it now.
A bat shadow with pointed ears emerged behind him, and the Riddler heard the voice, it was Batman.
"Look, I made a mistake. I always thought super villains like you liked games. I thought your desire for games was endless."
"I'm a fool, just like you. Look, you're in your room right now, making the same smart mistakes as me."
"You assume I can't break the iron rule."
"You assume that I am unprepared and have no expectations."
"You assume that my mercy will never end."
"You assume that I don't have the courage to deal with the situation after the rule of not killing is broken."
"You assume that these are not pre-prepared videos, and that I am in the old Wayne Tower talking to the clown about his deathbed nonsense."
The amygdala wanted to move, but was immediately held down by Killer Croc. He was pushed to the ground and tied up.
"You're also assuming that Ventriloquist and Killer Croc are not my people."
"—You're assuming that the movie freak can't be Batman in disguise."
Click!
The Riddler pulled the trigger, but no bullet was fired. Although he had already thought of this result.
"You even assumed that I didn't quietly change the bullets in your gun."
"Why do you think so little of me, Edward Nygma? Why do you assume you are the only one who can break the rules?"
The Riddler turned his head and smiled bitterly.
"So, the clown wasn't killed? Did you lie to me?"
"Nigma, Nygma...you are still so arrogant."
"Guess what, Edward - you and I have only met once, but from now on you will know me forever. Who am I?
"Please note that what I am about to say next is not a metaphor, rhetoric, theory, or anything else."