louisehourcade Chapter 595 The Laughing Bat vs. the Emperor Clown: The First Battle
Chapter 595 The Laughing Bat vs. the Emperor Clown: The First Battle
Chapter 595 The Laughing Bat vs. the Emperor Clown: The First Battle
The fact that the Laughing Bat attacked Chen Tao on its own this time was not in the interest of its master, Barbatos. Therefore, this matter must not be known to the other party, or at least it must not be caught in the act.
This is why the Batman Who Laughs used the name Batman Dragon when recruiting Ommac Blue Beetle and Earth Terra. Strictly speaking, everyone present except for the two of them, and Queen Hecate, were actually recruited by "Batman Dragon" and were members of the Dark Multiverse Resistance.
Despite their malicious intentions, this fact remains undeniable.
Therefore, Chen Tao tried to mislead the henchmen brought by Mad Laugh by revealing his true identity, but this idea was ruined by Mad Laugh tearing off his suit three times...
Look, since it's so easy for the two of us to forge identities, how do you know he's not faking it?
Therefore, if Chen Tao still wants to use his identity as an excuse, he must prove that he is himself.
But it's clear that this can't be proven in a short time, and the thugs that the Batman Who Laughs brought in... didn't really obey Batman Dragon's orders.
The Lantern Horror finally made his move; he was likely the only one among everyone present capable of confronting Chen Tao head-on.
He swung a flaming greatsword at the Laughing Bat and Chen Tao. Even before the scorching heat of the fire giant Surtur reached them, it had already made Chen Tao's hair stand on end.
The Batman Who Laughs retreated quickly, running fast to avoid the attack range. He had already achieved his goal; it was all part of his plan. His appearance in front of Batman in his true form was a deliberate act to create an opening, making Batman think he had a chance to kill him and reveal his power to the Lantern Horror.
Therefore, Surtur, who is now trying to destroy everything, will naturally prioritize attacking Chen Tao, a powerful enemy. Even though he can't distinguish between the Batman Who Laughs and Batman Dragon, does it matter to a world destroyer? No.
The important part is that, for Lantern Horror, this Batman who can fire Omega-effect rays is the most threatening and the most likely to stop him from destroying the universe before him. As for whether the other party will actually stop him? That doesn't matter. The fact that the other party has this ability is enough for Surtur to attack him.
The Fire Giant's title is Destroyer of All Things, therefore both the Batman Who Laughs and the Batman Dragon are objects to be destroyed by the Lantern Horror, controlled by the Fire Giant Surtur.
"Ugh..." While the Lantern Horror's target was clear, Queen Hecate beside him was groaning in pain.
She absorbed too much of Chen Tao's power; both Hecate and Wonder Woman Diana were tainted by it.
However, the Batman Who Laughs temporarily blocked this control using dark matter energy from Barbatos, but instead of helping Queen Hecate break free, he controlled her in return, and then competed with Chen Tao to see who had stronger control.
Caught in the middle, Queen Hecate naturally wailed in agony. But soon, the small amount of Barbatos energy brought by the Laughing Bat was no match for Chen Tao's power and gradually lost in the battle within Queen Hecate's body. Then, Queen Hecate once again felt Chen Tao take away control of her body.
Not far away, the Batman Who Laughs, having dodged the Lantern Horror's attack, was also silently observing the situation. Beside him, Ommac Blue Beetle and Terra Earth had already launched their attack; everything was proceeding according to the Batman Who Laughs's plan. To Terra and Blue Beetle, regardless of whether this Batman was the Batman Who Laughs or not, the one with greater power was always easier to overwhelm than the one without. The Batman Who Laughs's plan had succeeded.
Even if Chen Tao controlled Queen Hecate beforehand, so what? It's meaningless and doesn't change anything.
Even if he can control Hecate now, because the Maniac Laugh has added Barbatos's power into Queen Hecate's body, Batman will not be able to completely control Queen Hecate even if he forcibly regains control. In the battle, she will not only not be an ally, but will become someone who needs to be protected.
She will become a "useless teammate".
The combined strength of Lantern Horror and Ommac Blue Beetle is enough to hold off Batman. As a creation with the artificial intelligence of the Brother Eyes, Ommac Blue Beetle can help Lantern Horror restrain Batman's Metal Spirit power to some extent, at least in terms of computing power.
Immediately afterward, Earth Terra alone was enough to wipe out all the mages in Queen Hecate's world. No matter how strong a mage is, they still need to see the enemy cast a spell, but Earth Terra's power is strong enough to control the stars. She can turn all the land on Earth into liquefied oceans in an instant.
On Earth, any mage who is standing on the ground and bound by gravity will be caught off guard and fall into the liquid ground when Terra liquefies the entire surface.
If a mage cannot even recite incantations, then they are no different from ordinary people.
Even if some possess great power, like Shazam, we can capture them specifically when the time comes.
Furthermore, if only a few sorcerers remain in the end, Batman will not be able to use them to break through the barrier of the universe controlled by the Black Death Emperor and obtain the Spirit of Existence.
Everything is now under his control, as he laughs wildly, as long as...
"Drink!" the Lantern of Horror roared, his eyes wide with shock. Drops of blood and tears streamed from his eyes, then ignited by Surtur's flames, turning into leaping flames that made it appear as if the Lantern of Horror's eyes were spitting fire.
That was Alan Scott, the original Green Lantern, weeping with remorse as his body was possessed by the fire giant Surtur. He was about to witness the birth of yet another victim, all for his selfish plea to Surtur to spare his world.
For a long time, he had been deeply pained by this outcome, yet he was powerless to change it.
As he roared, he raised his flaming sword high once more, this time determined to cleave Batman Dragon in two. But then, the Batman Who Laughs saw Batman summon Queen Hecate, who then grabbed his belt from behind and lifted him up like a shield against the charging Lantern Horror.
Huh, what's going on?
The Bat of Laughter seemed to realize what the other was about to do, but it was too late to stop it.
Queen Hecate let out a desperate wail, and then the grotesque face of the goddess Hecate rose abruptly from her body. Like a ghost, it flew directly towards the Lantern of Horror, who was rushing towards them. Caught off guard, the Lantern of Horror was suddenly thrust into the body of the goddess Hecate, which Chen Tao had expelled from Queen Hecate.
Chen Tao had read novels in his previous life. As everyone knows, if your body is controlled, what is the best way to break free quickly?
If we disregard those overpowered cheats, another method is to introduce another variable that controls your body.
Two forces are vying for your body, just as two factions are vying for power in the court, and the king can remain in the middle, acting as a referee, or even taking sides.
Once the two forces reach a balance and a system crash occurs, then this is where the king holds and exercises power...
The perfect time!
……
……
……
"We must stop the Emperor Joker from growing stronger at this time; he's getting too powerful too quickly..."
In the shadows, members of the Third Legion were whispering and exchanging information.
"The Emperor Joker will come to reality with the help of the Black Death Emperor, and then somehow find the fifth dimension. He then manages to capture the Mischief and absorb his power, thus truly returning from history at his peak."
A member of the Third Legion said, "Although we don't know exactly how he found the troublemaker, we can tamper with the timing of his arrival in reality, but we can't do it too quickly or too much."
"That's right. We must accumulate advantages little by little. We must never allow a large-scale butterfly effect to occur, otherwise history will be completely skewed in another direction, which could very likely cause a huge chain reaction."
Their repeated discussions and deliberations over the details resembled those of a foolish fanfiction writer who dared not change the original plot.
"First of all, thanks to our intervention, Batman has made early contact with members of the Dark Multiverse Resistance," said a member of the Third Legion. His face under his hood had no mouth or nose, but he spoke clearly, and his voice was exactly the same as everyone else's.
"But without the world-by-world salvation, Batman's control over these Dark Multiverse Resistance members is weaker, which is good. If he were to conquer each world one by one as in the original timeline, with each world's recruits tightly controlled and trained like dogs on a leash, his forces would be too powerful in the final battle. The current strength is just right."
"But by doing this, we also allow the Emperor Joker to begin planning his invasion of the main universe earlier... If he gains more of the mischievous powers than in the original timeline, he will become excessively powerful in the final battle, and we will have disrupted the balance of history once again."
"So how do we help Batman suppress the Emperor Joker? He's about to make his move in secret!"
"Let's just let him go. I refuse to believe Batman will die right now," one of the Third Army members said. "The Batman Who Laughs is so hard to kill, do you think Batman Dragon will die so easily?"
But before he could finish speaking, another member of the Third Legion jumped out and said, "No, Batman really will die! I came from that timeline. Batman couldn't hold on in the end, he died, and our plan completely collapsed. That's why I came back to the present—to remind all of us that we must never take any chances!"
"Damn it!" cursed the Third Legion member who had suggested letting things slide.
"Alright, since that's the case, we'll just intercept him directly. There's no other way." One of the Third Legion members said, "What else can you do? He's already planning to ambush Batman. He's stopped pretending. He intends to eliminate Batman's existence from the very beginning. As for Batman, the Emperor Joker is an opponent he hasn't even considered. He has no idea that the Emperor Joker has become so powerful that he can launch attacks directly in reality. And all of this is due to the butterfly effect we caused."
"But now..."
"Everyone! This is no time for debate. The fact is, if the Emperor Joker were to attack Batman now, the Black Death would follow, Barbatos would follow, and Batman Dragon would die a horrible death. Once he dies... he must complete that time loop before he can die!"
The final decision cut off the chaotic discussion.
Everyone fell silent. After a long while, one of the members of the Third Legion cursed:
"That damned Black Death Emperor, how could he so easily open Pandora's box for the Emperor Joker..."
"Enough. There's no point in blaming the Black Death Emperor. His actions changed because of our intervention. I've said it before: it was a bad idea to fight the Black Death Emperor directly in the Land of Death. Although he didn't participate in the final battle, he did a lot of things in the early stages of the whole event, and his actions had far-reaching consequences. We should avoid doing that..."
Their discussion was not yet over when another member of the Third Army Corps, who was in charge of monitoring, issued a warning.
"Stop talking nonsense, just do it!"
Amidst the chaos, everyone finally ceased their arguments. On an unseen level, countless members of the Third Legion joined forces to form a radiant giant hand, intercepting the clown's enormous hand that was returning downwards in the realm of the trans-temporal flow.
Rumble rumble rumble rumble!
The timeline roared deafeningly, countless spaces and times were torn apart, and with the blessing of the Black Death Emperor's death power, the Emperor Joker's power briefly gained the right to exist in the current reality.
The paradox has been erased, the time-travel illusion has been debunked, the attack has been successfully detected, and a distorted reality is about to appear in Queen Hecate's world. It's an attack no one anticipated, but...
"what?"
In the Third Legion, everyone heard a soft sound. The enormous hand touched the hand formed by the combined efforts of the Third Legion members. At the same time, in Empress Hecate's world, the Laughing Bat suddenly raised its head.
An image flashed in his mind... and his eyes widened suddenly.
The image was of a clown wearing a crown.
The members of the Third Army got one thing slightly wrong: the Emperor Joker was indeed attacking the mortal realm, but his target wasn't Batman Dragon...
It was the Bat of Laughter himself.
(End of this chapter)