Chapter 274: Deng Deng Deng Deng Deng Deng (2) (Patreon)

In DC World With Marvel Chat Group : Table of Content/Chapter List

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In the deepest reaches of Batman's consciousness, the battle rages on. The black tide summoned by the Joker's fear-inducing magic has become a hindrance to Batman himself, as aquatic birds attack the monster's legs from beneath the sea surface.

The Penguin, in his transformed state as Copperpot, is not limited to bird beak attacks. When he flaps his wings, he stirs up water currents, creating whirlpools that draw closer to the Joker. Every time the Joker is struck by these whirlpools, his supporting legs are pulled in a certain direction, destabilizing his balance.

Meanwhile, in mid-air, Alberto swoops down, folding his wings, and delivers a powerful strike to the Joker's side. Even if the Joker doesn't fall, the massive monster is left shaking.

The blizzard in the area, along with Gordon's heavy firepower, inflicts the most damage on the monster. Bullets and ice cones resembling bullets rain down on the monster without respite, tearing through its flesh and consuming its energy in the process.

Green Lantern Hal takes on the role of crowd control. As he attacks the monster with his green lantern energy, he realizes that he is helpless against the monster's lower body, specifically the Parallax's part. It seems to possess a special defense that withstands the power of his green lantern energy. No matter how Hal attacks, the monster remains unyielding.

Despite the monster's grotesque appearance, its physical form proves advantageous against the onslaught. Its lower body resembles that of a centipede, with multiple legs and a long tail, providing relative stability. Even if one leg is injured, the monster remains standing.

The upper body retains a humanoid form, featuring two powerful arms. Each swing of its arms forces the airborne combatants to evade, as a direct hit would be devastating.

"The head, it's the weak point," Copperpot's voice echoes in the ears of the group. Victor's voice soon follows, "In dreams, we don't need physical proximity to communicate; our thoughts are enough, just like this."

"I also agree that the head is its weak spot. Whenever we try to get close, it shields it with its arms."

"My goal has always been a headshot!" Gordon crouches on a rooftop, stating, "But its head is heavily protected, and I can't find an opportunity!"

"I'll distract it while you find a chance to attack its head!" Alberto's voice echoes from mid-air. The sound of wind accompanies his rapid circling around the monster, causing the fear-inducing Joker to continuously turn his head, searching for Alberto's presence.

Copperpot relentlessly attacks the monster's lower body, preventing it from turning, leaving it only able to hastily defend. Victor seizes the opportunity, conjuring a massive ice crystal in the air and launching it toward the monster's head.

The ice crystal appears behind the Fear Laugher, forcing it to rotate its upper body and shield the back of its head with its arms.

In that moment, Gordon positions himself in front, unleashing an enormous missile that propels itself from the launcher. Almost instantly, it reaches the Fear Laugher, striking its small head with tremendous force.

A resounding "boom" fills the air as the monster lets out an intense scream. Its body trembles uncontrollably, indicating that the attack has been effective.

Yet, it's not only superficial damage. There is another battle taking place within the monster's body.

Just as Schiller predicted, Parallax, the Laughing Egg, and Batman cannot coexist peacefully. The Laughing Egg, a native of this realm of consciousness, primarily opposes Batman. The Laughing Egg brought Parallax into this space, intending to join forces against Batman and ensure its own successful escape.

But Parallax is an extremely chaotic creature, and it's difficult to reason with it. In the past, it was the sole occupant of the consciousness space of its host, and it didn't want to share that space with anyone else. Even when the Laughing Egg let it in, it turned around and attacked the instigator, aiming to consume the Laughing Egg and take over Batman's consciousness space.

Batman cannot allow two monsters to wreak havoc within his consciousness space. Whether it's the Laughing Egg or Parallax, neither is a benevolent entity, and Batman has no intention of cooperating with either of them. Thus, both are his enemies.

The Laughing Egg wants to escape, Parallax wants to claim Batman for itself, and Batman wants to eliminate both of them. This leads to a three-way conflict within the Fear Joker's body.

Initially, the Laughing Egg held the advantage. Even in its undeveloped state, this malformed and eerie embryo possessed formidable strength. Parallax and Batman could only barely withstand its attacks.

However, external attacks still played a role in shifting the tide of battle. A powerful strike landed on the head of the Fear Joker, the part controlled by the Laughing Egg, causing significant damage.

This was also part of Batman's plan. He knew that once this monster came into existence, both the two clowns and Professor Schiller would not ignore it and would attempt to attack it.

The monster consists of three parts: the head controlled by the Laughing Egg, the upper body controlled by Batman, and the lower body controlled by Parallax.

Whenever an attack approached the head, Batman would manipulate the monster's arms to block it. However, this was not to protect the Laughing Egg but to signal to the outside world that the head was the monster's weak point.

Batman believed that those outside would understand his hint, and indeed, they utilized a clever diversion and coordinated attack, inflicting severe damage upon the Laughing Egg.

The head controlled the monster's overall coordination, and when it was injured, the monster's control over its internal will weakened. Batman seized the opportunity to escape. After the monster let out a scream, yellow scales spread to its upper body, gradually erasing the black and bat motifs.

Soon, the Fear Joker transformed into a Parallax monster with the head resembling the Laughing Egg. The bat elements completely vanished from the monster's body, and Batman appeared in the skies above Gotham.

Taking in the surroundings, Batman noticed various bizarre beings, except for one resembling a green light in a traffic signal, whom he had never seen before. It didn't take long for him to deduce the identities of these strange creatures.

Instead of immediately launching an attack, Batman approached Gordon and asked, "Did you see the two clowns?"

"Clowns? What clowns?" Gordon replied.

"Who brought you here?"

"Oh, it was Schiller. Why do you ask?"

"Then where did he go?"

"He said he had something to do."

Batman narrowed his eyes; he figured that Schiller was planning something significant, but he didn't anticipate the method Schiller would use to reverse the current situation.

While he pondered this question, he suddenly heard a crisp "click" sound within his consciousness space.

It resembled the sound of a door unlocking and the coupling of a freight train's compartments. But following that sound, Batman looked toward the horizon, where a swirling mist akin to a sea of clouds churned.

The gray mist swiftly surged forward, engulfing the entire city of Gotham in an instant. Batman recognized it as the same ability Schiller employed during the Battle of Living Hell.

However, this mist caused no harm to anything present on the battlefield. It seemed genuinely natural, silently arriving and departing like ordinary fog.

The gray mist billowed and rolled between the buildings of the city, as if the entire city had suddenly drifted into a sky-high expanse of clouds. The Fear Laugher, having lost Batman, paid no attention to this harmless fog.

But soon, the mist grew denser and rose higher, eventually submerging even the tallest structures in the city.

The Fear Laugher realized something was amiss. It lunged forward and wrapped itself around Wayne Tower in the realm of consciousness, resembling a centipede. Finally, it settled on the rooftop.

The gray mist rose from beneath its feet, transforming from a faint light gray into a deep and rich dark gray, ultimately turning the lower levels pitch-black.

No one knew where this mist originated, but they all sensed an indescribable sense of mystery and danger emanating from it.

The mist permeated the entire realm of consciousness, claiming dominion over all regions, including the sky. Within the sky, a mirage-like shadow loomed.

Batman lifted his gaze and beheld what appeared to be a towering spire, seemingly piercing the heavens. He meticulously surveyed the height of the tower, concluding it to be no less than three hundred stories tall.

As the mist grew thicker, the tower's form solidified further. It eventually coalesced into a tangible entity—a colossal Tower of Babel that descended upon the heart of Gotham.

All attention fixated on this immense tower. And as everyone watched, its pinnacle continued to ascend, with bricks and tiles being stacked, and beams and columns supporting upward. In a mere moment, more than a dozen additional floors were added.

After catching sight of the tower, the Fear Joker sensed immense danger due to the sharp intuition of Parallax. He swiftly flew towards the tower, with Batman's voice echoing in everyone's ears: "Stop him."

Instantly, the air filled with the piercing screams of birds, a storm of wind and snow, and the thundering sound of machine guns. Yet, none of it compared to the presence of a black figure.

BatmanDark's cape danced in the gray mist as he effortlessly flew through the air without relying on any tools, even faster than Green Lantern.

He charged ahead and stood before the Fear Joker, delivering a powerful slap that sent the colossal monster tumbling. Clearly, when it came to willpower, no one could surpass Batman.

The others quickly caught up and joined the assault on the monster, driving it back from the towering structure. As the battle intensified, the Tower grew taller, resisting the barriers between deep and surface consciousness.

Unyielding to the resistance of the barriers, the tower continued to rise, breaking through layer after layer of dreams, from the depths of consciousness to the surface. It surged beyond the confines of the physical body, like a terrifying black tide, surpassing the sky, the atmosphere, and the obstacles of the ordinary universe, extending into the boundless depths of the mysterious cosmos.

At that moment, Schiller's voice reverberated within the realm of consciousness, saying, "Everyone, prepare yourselves..."

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