"Out of Gotham City's 30 million people, 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 arranged 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 word, so he angrily put it down. Dropped on the ground.
The ventriloquist picked it up and stuffed it back.
"About 15 million people have committed criminal acts, 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."
The Riddler's voice echoed in the room, and Jim Gordon was tied up in a chair, blindfolded, and stuffed with a ball of cloth in his mouth.
"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 is 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'm so tired, year after year, day after day. Living in a garbage dump and committing crimes constantly."
"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, and if we do stop committing crime because we're tired, then he wins... Batman wins."
"So what? Can't we live without committing crimes?"
Killer Croc found a bag of potato chips nearby, opened it, and threw it directly into his mouth.
"No, that's not the case. Batman won, but it wasn't me who lost."
ha? Killer Croc thought he was completely crazy.
He knew that telling riddles was the Riddler's specialty, just like the man selling hot dogs at the park entrance would have his own unique recipe. But the Riddler had never told such a difficult riddle, at least not in his memory.
The Riddler was a little nervous. He hugged 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 am naturally attracted to people of my kind, just like bats have always attracted us all. Just like you, Killer Crocodile, 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, and those pure beast-like criminals surround you, just like the highly intelligent criminals around me, the despairing laughers who have been knocked down by life, the clowns around me, and the scarecrow around you. 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 blindly obedient..."
The Riddler continued:
"We have the same qualities as them, but we are much stronger than them, so they will be impressed 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 embodiment of this evil."
He stared blankly at the TV, where Batman kept beating the Joker.
"It's useless to kill me. Kill me, Tutankhamun, Clues Master or some other criminal similar to me, and he 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 this hole is opened, he truly becomes a part of the darkness, so the darkness can no longer be eradicated, 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 has become a massacre field, with rivers of blood and piles of corpses. Because if you want to be serious, everyone is a criminal!"
The Riddler said:
"Everyone can kill people at will while shouting the banner of justice, 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 Falcone, the Romans, and before Falcone, there was the Lion King in Gotham, and before that there were the four major 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 Ed 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, then came back two or three months later, he came back, came back, always will come back , he can only be driven away but will not die! Gotham only needs a madman who can split the corners of his mouth to the base of his ears. Does that madman’s real name matter? "
"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 reverse the entire city with his own power! You have no idea how shocking this is, he can't be knocked down, He never hesitates and doesn’t 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're going to be sent back to Arkham. That's 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 my determination is, and whether I intend to do anything other than commit crime, the evil of Gotham will pull me back on track like a pair of invisible hands. It enslaves me! Encirclement 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 that the bat is a cruel avenger, but the object of his revenge is not me, not Two-Face Man, 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 slumped down 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 say, 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 Joker or Jim Gordon and my brains will explode in no time."
"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 and make your choice. Don't think about pretending to stab or shoot the Joker in a non-fatal position. I want you to cut the Joker into pieces. Only when you see him being dismembered will I Only then will his death be confirmed and Jim Gordon released."
"Whether it is you or me, the bound principles and the iron laws that cannot be broken must be destroyed today. If you can't destroy them, then destroy me."
"I decided to kill the clown using femtosecond laser crushing technology. This technology can crush materials on a microscopic scale. In a sense, the clown is going to 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 a minute."
The Riddler suddenly realized something. He was not such a stupid person. He shouldn't have realized it now.
"Look, I made a mistake. I always thought that super villains like you like games. I thought your desire for games would never end."
"I'm a fool, just like you. You see, you're in your room right now, making the same smart mistakes I did."
"You're assuming that I can't possibly break an iron law."
"You assume that I am unprepared and unsuspecting."
"You assume that my mercy has no end."
"You assume that I don't have the courage to deal with the situation after the rule of not killing is broken."
"You're assuming that these aren't pre-prepared videos, and that I'm in Old Wayne Tower talking to the Joker about his deathbed nonsense."
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 aren't my people."
"—you're assuming that the movie freak can't be Batman in disguise."
Click!
The Riddler pulled the trigger, but no bullet came out. Although he had already thought of this result.
"You're even assuming 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 will break the rules?"
The Riddler turned his head and smiled bitterly.
"So, the Joker wasn't killed? You lied to me?"
"Nigma, Nygma...you are still so arrogant."
"Guess what, Edward - you and I have only met once, but you will know me forever. Who am I?
"Please note that what I am about to say is not a metaphor, rhetoric, theory, or anything else."
The Riddler heard Batman say:
"The clown has been killed by me."
