Chapter 602: I, Joker (Part One)
Chapter 602: I, Joker (Part One)
This scenario is based on DC Comics' Batman: I, Joker. Any resemblance is no coincidence.
………
[Mad Bu Jue, Level 43]
[Wang Tan Zhi, Level 40]
[Siyu Ruoli, Level 40]
[Beiling Xiaogu, Level 40]
[Please select the game mode for your team to join.]
[You have selected Team Survival Mode (Common), please confirm.]
[Your squad is joining Team Survival Mode (Common). Team size randomization complete: four players.]
[Your team has entered the queue, searching for other ready players or teams.]
[Match complete. Coordinating nerve connection. Scenario generation in progress...]
[Loading started, please wait.]
"Welcome to... Terrifying Paradise", a deep male voice intoned the opening line.
[Loading completed. You are now entering Team Survival Mode (Common).]
[This mode provides a scenario overview, with chances to trigger side quests/hidden tasks and special world views.]
[Scenario Clearance Reward: Randomly select one piece of Equipment appropriate to your level.]
[Now playing scenario overview. The game will begin immediately after playback.]
As the system prompt finished, the players instantly shifted to a first-person perspective for the opening cutscene.
Before their eyes, a night sky abruptly materialized.
Here, no moon or stars shone. Instead, countless surreal hues—green, blue, yellow, purple, white, and black—splattered like paint across a canvas, staining the heavens in grotesque beauty.
Beneath this sky loomed a city.
To Feng Bu Jue, the place felt both familiar and alien...
Like the same character drawn by two artists with clashing styles, yielding two entirely different auras.
"Is this Gotham...?" Feng Bu Jue mused. "What kind of story awaits us this time?"
[Perhaps Bruce never imagined a future like this.]
The same man’s voice returned as narration: [Gotham City has become an Order-dominated, tyrannical realm.]
[Its people, consumed by terror and fanatical devotion, kneel before the same "god."]
[The_Bruce.]
[That is his name. Of course, they also call him God, Prince, Gotham King... or Batman.]
[He is no true Bruce Wayne (Bruce_Wayne). The legendary first Batman is long forgotten history.]
[He is Batman’s descendant—the man who inherited the Mantle, Gotham’s ruler.]
"I see... So this is that grotesque storyline", Feng Bu Jue realized. He’d read the comic before. By searching his Mind Palace, he could already glimpse the story’s silhouette. Details would soon clarify.
Still, Feng Bu Jue knew well: in Terrifying Paradise, set scenarios rarely followed original plots. Relying too much on prior knowledge could lead to disaster.
[December 21st—the longest night of the year. A Night of Pursuit and Challenge.] The narration continued.
[As every year, the "Ritual" begins at that castle—the cathedral with black bat wings, belonging to The_Bruce.]
As the narration played, the camera panned downward, revealing a grand gothic castle.
Its spires pierced the sky, arches towered overhead, and stained-glass windows glowed with vibrant colors. Outside, flying buttresses and slender clustered columns framed a cliff-like terrace (a balcony without walls or roof, ringed by stone-carved railings).
"Long live Batman!" A gray-haired, bespectacled man in a brown trench coat shouted from the semicircular terrace. This fifty-something figure bore an uncanny resemblance to Commissioner Gordon of old.
"Praise Batman! Gotham King!" Thousands gathered below, clad in tattered futuristic rags—cheap, ragged versions of Saiyan combat suits. They raised their hands, gazing devoutly at the figures above.
"What day is this?" the man above roared. "Who am I?"
"Night of Bloodbath! Gordon (The_Gordon)!" The crowd erupted in response.
"Correct! I am Gordon, your Supreme Administrator, Bruce’s Harbinger—the messenger foretelling his arrival!" He bellowed hoarsely. "Praise Batman! Celebrate his righteous slaughter of Gotham’s enemies!"
[This is the Night of Purification.]
[Tonight, those who once opposed Batman will be "Revived"... and Batman will kill them again.]
[Thus, this is also an Eternal Night with no end...]
"Behold... your ancient foes, risen from death!" Gordon’s fervent sermon continued. "Bound once more by Bruce’s Strength!"
As he spoke, four cylindrical glass pods emerged from the castle. Each held a figure shackled in metal.
Anyone familiar with Batman comics would recognize them instantly...
"Joker (Joker), Harley Quinn (Joker’s woman, Harley_Quinn), Two-Face (Two_Face), Poison Ivy (Poison_Ivy)..." Gordon named them one by one, then paused. "The Ritual demands their release..." A sinister grin twisted his face.
His laughter boomed through a communication device at his lips, broadcast across the city’s omnipresent screens—close-ups of his face, his terrifying cackle...
"A century-old horror will flood the streets again—explosions, gunfire, cries, screams..." Gordon pressed on. "Only Batman can save you! Batman shares your terror, your rage... He will reward your faith with the blood of these villains!"
The self-proclaimed prophet leaped about, face contorted, preaching like a madman.
"Long live Batman! Gotham King! The_Bruce!" The city thundered in unison.
At that moment, the CG shifted.
High above the castle, a solitary, muscular figure unfurled his black "wings", descending like a god upon the city’s peak.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
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