The news of an impostor Batgirl in the Justice League has been conveyed to Cindy. Whether or not to take out the Nameless is up to her own judgment.
Both understood how the Laughing Bat managed to infiltrate the Hall of Justice. Based on speculation, it seems the Laughing Bat outmaneuvered the Joker by one move. But this is expected, as the Laughing Bat is also Batman.
The Nameless has already achieved all her goals, and killing her now would be useless.
Given that the Joker just wants to play with Batman, Cindy decides to keep the Nameless, without letting the Justice League know, only making a secret deal with her.
A shapeshifter that can be hired might prove useful in the future.
If the guess is correct, once the Justice League returns to Earth, this woman will take the opportunity to slip away. Seeing the explosion of the Origin Wall, she probably isn't interested in earning money anymore.
Anyway, Su Ming's attitude is that as long as they don't provoke him, he's too lazy to care about what happens to the Justice League.
In a way, the Joker might even be helping Su Ming. If Batman is played to the point of uselessness, then the command of the Justice League might...?
Previously, Green Arrow foresaw Batman bursting into tears. Though unsure of the exact situation, such a scene would indicate Batman's mental breakdown. Even if others wanted him to continue leading the Justice League, he probably wouldn't want to himself.
Dispatching Harley and everyone else still couldn't keep up with Batman's 'Sipide,' and those people would most likely just pick up the pieces.
For instance, after the Joker deals with Batman, capturing the Joker would be killing two birds with one stone....
Of course, there's also the possibility of things spiraling out of control. If the Joker goes berserk and gets himself killed, it's hard to say. But this time, Su Ming has more faith in the Joker.
After leaving the Destruction Legion, the Joker should have made up his mind.
Su Ming observed the museum for a while and inquired about Harley and Damian's findings, contemplating all along the way.
The Joker's game might appear plain and unremarkable, without much commotion.
But that's likely all a façade.
He starts by numbing others with familiar scenes and methods, like the cliché hostage dilemmas, the well-worn choices reflecting human nature, getting beaten by innocent citizens, and so on, starting with some old tricks he's played before.
Everything is so ordinary, familiar surroundings, familiar props, familiar tricks, familiar laughter....
It seems so familiar, right? Even Batman is likely to fall into such a habitual trap.
While he uses his old plans to tackle these issues, the Joker will repeatedly go easy on him, letting Batman win, over and over...
Although Batman won't get overconfident, the Joker will also take psychological factors into account. That pale-faced madman will prepare at least fifty mini-games for Batman.
Batman is destined to win all the preceding levels, but when it comes to the end... Bang! A brand new version that Batman has never played!
By the time he realizes it, it will be too late.
It's a trap aimed at cognitive inertia, designed to catch someone off guard after a series of old tricks.
..............
Pandora was indeed understanding, not even demanding payment, she handed over the Magic Box on the condition that it be returned after use.
That didn't concern Su Ming; the item was given to Green Arrow, and whether it gets returned doesn't concern Zorro.
So, under the cover of the station's awning, he directly opened a Teleportation Gate and sent her to the Eternal Trace Rock. Little Fortune Ape is quite familiar with her, so reception could be left to the secretary.
The Seven Deadly Sins were sold to Satan. Theoretically, the Pandora's Box still contains one final thing, which is 'hope.'
Once they had the item, Su Ming immediately had Oliver open it, only to find the mouth of the Golden Skull empty, devoid of any hope.
Though they speculated it might be a light ball or a conceptual aggregate, seeing it empty, the three of them couldn't help but purse their lips.
Sure enough, mythologies are all lies.
The rain showed no signs of stopping, and the three, having separated from the main group, were now huddled under a bus stop shelter, watching a terminal.
They had just seen the Bat Flying Vehicle head towards the subway station. Despite the image only showing an indistinct black shadow, Su Ming and Green Arrow could recognize it, and Diana pretended to listen sincerely.
"So, the Joker is in the station? Shall we head over too?" She urged eagerly. While others were busy fighting, she hadn't had a chance to take action, and it was stifling her.
"No need, the Joker is just an ordinary person, and we've already sent a dozen people." Su Ming put away the communicator, leaned against the plastic steel panel behind him, and lit a cigarette shoulder to shoulder with Green Arrow, "Adding us would just be a waste of resources, we have to trust Batman."
Diana thought about it and realized it made sense; actually, with Harley and Charise, the Joker would have a hard time dealing with them.
The strongest mercenary is right in front of her, who else could the Joker hire? So just as they said, she should trust Batman.
She pinched her chin, thought for a moment, and then sat honestly next to Su Ming, starting to wring the water out of her cloak.
"So what do we do next? We can't just wait at this little station for the Laughing Bat to deliver himself to us, can we?"
Oliver took the cigarette, brought it to his lips with damp fingers, "The satellite hasn't seen any trace of the Laughing Bat, but I feel he's bound to come to Gotham; why don't we head down to the sewer first and wait?"
Su Ming rolled his eyes; going into the sewer according to plan was for concealment, but going down without a plan was just hiding away for no reason. How could a real man like him just go down into the sewer without reason?
Green Arrow was really too dark; after assembling his trifecta, he seemed entirely reclusive.
"Actually, we do have some clues now. Haven't you noticed that Gotham is unusually lively tonight?" Su Ming sat on the bench at the station, nodding with his chin towards the distant city where flames occasionally erupted.
"Explosions, quite common, right?" Diana didn't find anything unusual, Gotham nights often resembled fireworks displays; explosions and gunshots never stopped.
Su Ming smiled while smoking, appearing calm and collected.
"From a criminal psychology perspective, bombers and arsonists share some common traits; do you know what they are?"
"They may both have anti-social and anti-government tendencies. They turn structures, the embodiment of human society's wisdom and industrial crystallization, into rubble, satisfying their mad desires. And whether it's an explosion or arson, the destructiveness of flames is always strikingly visible. Both types of criminals want their actions to be noticed."
Oliver, at crucial moments, was perceptive; his profiling was almost like an FBI analysis, essentially saying what Su Ming intended to say.
Diana tilted her head, listening, and offered a begrudging nod; was that really important?
Su Ming chuckled, took out a few cups of hot tea from his belt, and handed one to each of them as they watched the rain sipping tea. "This is Gotham, and it's the post-flood survival Gotham. Suddenly, there are frequent explosions in the city; where did they get their explosives?"
"Military-grade explosives like C4 and RDX should be heavily regulated by the government. I've been cracking down on the smuggling of military explosives into Star City regularly; Gotham should be similar, right?" Green Arrow narrowed his eyes, understanding dawned.
Su Ming raised his cup to clink it with his, "Exactly, Batman's control over military explosives is stricter than yours. In Gotham, you can only get industrial explosives on the black market—the big red firecrackers."
Diana also nodded; she understood now. Her beautiful eyes opened wide like a cat's, "Even if TNT is stored properly, unless specially prepared, typical detonators, fuses, wireless devices, and detonators are not waterproof..."
Su Ming poured the black tea down his throat, feeling the temperature spread through his body, sighing comfortably.
"That's right; how much waterproof explosive could be found in flood-soaked Gotham? And now, who are they putting on a bombing show for? This is Gotham, and setting off bombs only attracts Batman..."
"It's the explosives the Laughing Bat brought from the Dark Multiverse. He wants to use them to lure out Batman." Diana almost broke the handle of her tea cup, the liquid inside shaking violently.
"Indeed, Gotham is Batman's city, generally speaking, he would never allow bombers to destroy this city. However, Laughing Bat probably did not expect that with both himself and the Joker presented to Batman, Batman would choose first to handle the Joker. So Laughing Bat's mood might not be too bright right now."
Su Ming made a cold joke and pointed at the sky for them to see the rain.
"Great, finally a lead... Uh, so what now? Go catch a few bombers?"
Diana tilted her head back and quickly downed her tea, her white neck moving, but she slowed her action, seemingly remembering something.
Su Ming stood up, clinked glasses again, clicking his tongue a couple of times.
"No need to chase after clues from the tail end; it's too troublesome. We all know from whom arms deals run through in Gotham, let's just directly find him. The local bully is surely more informed than us outsiders, right?"
"Are you talking about the Penguin?" Green Arrow rose to his feet.
Su Ming tossed the tea cup casually aside, extending his arm towards Diana, "So, Your Majesty, would you do me the honor of joining me for a late-night snack?"
Diana smiled, shook her head; still, she placed her small hand on his elbow. Wasn't it a bit improper to eat two free meals off the Penguin?
She played with the ends of her hair, and Green Arrow sighed beside them; he was already full. Seeing the two flirting as if no one else was present was sickening.
The teleportation gate opened again, transporting the three directly to the entrance of the Iceberg Lounge. But the atmosphere there was markedly different from a few hours ago, appearing dead silent.
The door Su Ming had pried open before was now broken, the dark entrance like a mouth missing its front teeth; all this signaled that something had happened.
Diana, who had been smiling not too long ago, drew her weapon and shield alertly, while Green Arrow unslung his folding bow in reverse. Su Ming took a deep breath and led the way toward the inside of the Iceberg Lounge.