Gordon and Shiller sat silently in the Joker's car. Gordon really didn't know what to say. It wasn't surprising that the Joker chose to help, after all, this electronic entity tirelessly hassles Batman, purely as an outsider intruding. It would be strange if the Joker didn't hate it.
However, for the Joker to drive a truck, and do so steadily under these conditions, indeed overturned Gordon's stereotype of this madman.
Gordon was never interested in the psychic battlefield of mental patients, so he considered the Joker to be a psycho. In his impression, the mentally ill had no capacity for self-care, and were daily consumed by either attacking others or babbling nonsense.
But in this moment, he suddenly realized that the Joker didn't seem like a patient. Because driving not only requires clear awareness but also hand-eye coordination. And to drive such a large truck amidst a raging storm is no easy task, several times the crosswinds blowing from the roadside almost caused the truck to lose control, yet the Joker was always quick to adjust, proving his driving skills were quite good. As a truck driver, he wasn't just serious, he was excellent.
Although this truck was somewhat special, the current environment was even more harsh, so if he drove a regular truck under normal circumstances, the Joker should also be able to drive just fine. So why on Earth wouldn't he take up truck driving?
Gordon initially thought he was utterly mad, which was why he persistently made trouble for Batman, but now it seemed otherwise. He couldn't help but wonder, if it wasn't because of Joker's mental derangement, then why doesn't he just live a peaceful life and instead insists on troubling Batman?
The car quickly arrived at the highway entrance. The Flash was hiding under a billboard, blown silly by the storm. Happy to see someone was coming for him, he stepped up into the car but stopped smiling the moment he saw the driver.
"You, you, you, you, you..."
Before The Flash could finish, he turned and saw Shiller sitting in the back, which made him breathe a sigh of relief. Gordon truly didn't know what relief he felt.
Fortunately, they reached the hospital without any incidents. The running wheel was placed in the storeroom on the top floor of the hospital. The Flash exclaimed in awe as he walked in: "Wow, this running wheel is indeed quite beautiful, Batman wasn't lying."
Though called a running wheel, it was actually more like a large treadmill. It had a flat base, a semi-transparent cover on top, and a lot of lines connecting to a hemispherical energy conversion device, seeming to collect and store divine speed energy.
Overall, it had a bright silver metal material, with sleek curves, looking like equipment that only appeared in science fiction movies. Indeed, it was quite beautiful and matched The Flash's aesthetics.
Red Robin assembled the machine according to the instructions Batman left. The Flash warmed up, got onto the treadmill, and tried it out. As he started running, golden light flickered continuously inside the cover, instantly lighting up the neighboring converter, and with a "whoosh," the formerly dim room was filled with light.
All the police and medical staff cheered and rushed out to restart the surgeries. Gordon also breathed a sigh of relief, then asked Red Robin: "Did you guys pull the wires?"
Red Robin shook his head and said: "No, I also thought your plan was good and wanted to try it first, so we didn't pull the wires."
"Then is it possible…"
"I'm afraid it's difficult," Shiller interjected, "The moment the Batcave opened, the electronic entity likely went in. Now it's just a matter of how long it will take to completely crack the equipment inside the Batcave and what it plans to do with that equipment."
"By the way," Shiller seemed to suddenly recall something, turned and looked at the Joker, "Did it contact you?"
"Who are you talking about?" asked the Joker, wiping rainwater off his head with a towel, "Oh, that ghost? It sent me an email full of babbling nonsense, I thought it was simply mad, so I blocked it."
Gordon beside couldn't figure out how to comment. How come the Joker seemed so normal when Batman wasn't around? And he even righteously accused others of being mad, is that reasonable?
"Indeed, if no information can be tracked, blocking is the best choice, but I think it surely sent the message to more than just you. I guess the Riddler might have fallen for it."
The Joker knitted his brows and said: "The Riddler? Probably not just him, there are plenty of fools in Arkham Asylum. Killer Croc can't use a phone, Clayface has too low of an IQ, Harley already forgot the password to her 12th email, Harvey's inbox is full of work emails, Hugo and Teige might choose to collaborate with that guy."
"What I care about is why it chose Penguin Man's people again. The person who died in the police department was someone Penguin Man recently bought, costing him quite a bit, he might've even thrown in a subordinate. So quickly getting killed again, Penguin Man would surely be furious."
"Of course, it wants to incite Penguin Man, because Penguin Man controls the upper-class of Gotham. If he goes mad, Gotham will be plunged into chaos much faster, and Batman won't be able to do anything about the magical defense network." A cold gleam flashed in the Joker's eyes.
Shiller didn't say anything further, the Joker surely understood what to do. Sure enough, not long after, Gordon received a report from his informant: Penguin Man was kidnapped by the Joker.
Since outside was flooded, getting back without a truck was difficult, so they lingered at the hospital. Gordon and Shiller stayed in the lounge on the top floor. Gordon was very surprised when he received the call.
"What did you say? The Penguin Man is asking for my help? I didn't know when Batman changed his name to Gordon... Yes, I'm the police commissioner; it's my responsibility, but how do I save him? I don't even know how to swim!"
"It's not that I won't save him. I'm in a tough spot myself, and besides, the one who kidnapped him is the Joker. If I could handle the Joker, I wouldn't need Batman. Furthermore, he now has a truck that goes wherever he pleases, making him even harder to catch. Just tell him to hold on; maybe Batman will return soon."
Gordon didn't say much more and directly hung up the phone. But as he looked at his phone, his pupils suddenly shrank, and he stood up from the sofa with a "whoosh."
Shiller turned to look at him, and Gordon said, "Tim was attacked; I need to save him!"
"Wait," Shiller hurriedly stopped him and then said, "Are you sure it was Tim who sent the message?"
Gordon paused and then said, "Messages can be forged, but the distress signal he sent is encrypted. It's the unique code Batman uses to contact me, and electronic life forms couldn't possibly know it."
Though Gordon said this, Shiller still followed him. They made their way to the hospital's rooftop. After the hospital restored power, Red Robin should have taken a plane from here to leave.
He was a bit careless. The electronic life form didn't tamper with the plane before because he needed Robin to open the Batcave door. But now that he's infiltrated the Batcave, Red Robin is of no use. Modern equipment like planes is entirely defenseless in front of electronic life forms and could likely be manipulated to crash.
Luckily, no matter how advanced the electronic life form is, it still has to obey physics and can't alter Earth's gravity, so during the crash, they could parachute. It's unclear whether Red Robin failed to parachute successfully or was attacked after jumping.
Gordon observed the direction but couldn't tell anything from it. Red Robin's distress signal didn't contain specific coordinates, leaving Gordon only able to speculate on Red Robin's direction.
"Drake Manor," Shiller suddenly said.
Gordon suddenly realized. Since he couldn't return to the Batcave and Wayne building had lost power, Red Robin would likely choose to go find his family, especially since Alfred was also there.
He looked in the direction of Drake Manor and quickly ran downstairs. Fortunately, at that time, the hospital managed to come up with a speedboat to act as an ambulance. Gordon borrowed the speedboat and headed towards Drake Manor as quickly as possible.
Shiller didn't accompany him on the speedboat but gave him an umbrella. About twenty minutes later, Gordon helped Red Robin into the hospital lobby.
The emergency doctors and nurses hurried out, and Shiller also walked over to take a look. Red Robin was shot in the abdomen and had a slash on his arm. From Gordon's angry expression, it seemed some of the police he previously sent had betrayed him.
Shiller's eyes darkened. He knew this touched Batman's 'reverse scale.' If the electronic life form was only obstructing him from building the defense network using technical means, Batman could take his time with it. But cutting off the hospital's power and injuring Robin was purely asking for trouble.
Shiller didn't believe that the Primary Universe Batman, who had already gained magic energy, didn't make any preparations. Sure enough, not half an hour after Red Robin was injured, the Primary Universe Batman appeared at the hospital.
"What's going on?" he asked Gordon.
Gordon truthfully reiterated the events. The Primary Universe Batman's silence started to fill the entire room with a dark and deep atmosphere.
"I originally intended to give it the Batcave; I set up many riddles in there. If it wants to know my secrets, it will have to solve them. Though it may not stop it, it'll delay it for some time. I didn't expect it to choose to harm Robin."
"What do you plan to do now?" Gordon asked.
"I wanted to stall it and then build the magical defense network. Once the defense network is complete, it will have nowhere to hide. But it seems it's trying to prevent me from finishing my work."
The tone of the Primary Universe Batman was laden with an indescribable sense of danger. Gordon had already noticed that ever since Batman got involved with magic, he had become more aggressive.
But Shiller knew this wasn't because of the magic. It was due to Batman's encounter with the Multiverse. The Multiverse's situation was forcing him to step out of his comfort zone and relinquish the street hero identity. He had to look beyond Earth, even the cosmos, because if he didn't, his universe might end up as the sacrificial victim in the Multiverse's battle royale. When disaster strikes in the future, his universe would be the slow front row. No one wants to be that front row; it forces you to fight your way to the front.
The Primary Universe Batman remained silent for a long time, then opened the Battleworld communication and sent out the first message in the Batman group chat in a month: "Let's meet for a conference."