"Who's there?"
The noise was heard by Kevin, who happened to be returning from outside. Vought Corporation headquarters provided rooms for important employees, and many employees with busy schedules lived here.
Kevin walked toward the sound out of curiosity, only to be startled by the stranger's bizarre makeup. Looking closely, he finally recognized him.
"Joe Cole?"
He let out a sigh of relief, his voice noticeably louder.
"What's that painted on your face?" Kevin looked disgusted. "You couldn't find a film crew to take you, so you finally decided to join the circus and play the Joker??"
Little did he know, the man was also taken aback.
"That name... you know me?" The man's tone was clearly a bit terrified, as if the name were some kind of monster.
But after saying that, the man shook his head violently. "You know Joe Cole but you don't recognize me?"
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Kevin looked confused.
"You're right, I am the Joker!" The man grinned widely, his smile somewhat eerie.
Kevin felt the person in front of him was a bit crazy and immediately wanted to leave, not wanting to deal with him.
Unexpectedly, the man grabbed him by the shoulder.
"Where are you going?"
"I think we have a little game to play."
On the man's pale cheeks, the outline of his red lips was very prominent. But what made Kevin freeze was the utility knife that appeared in his hand.
"This game is very simple." The man pushed out the blade. "It's called: I ask, you answer!"
"He-ha-ha-ha-ha!"
Thirty minutes later.
"So it's another World."
"Joe... I didn't fall into the chemical vat." It was clear the Joker was wary of the name. "It seems I was saved by Batman and even became... an actor?"
The Joker stared at the display wall of Vought Corporation, which was covered with the works of the company's artists. Despite Joe Cole having the most works, the space they occupied was very small.
Clearly, these works weren't exactly high-quality.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk." The Joker shook his head. "It seems that day wasn't so bad after all."
"Batman actually accidentally prevented the Joker from appearing in this World. How boring."
Kevin didn't actually know about Joe Cole's past, nor did he know anything about Batman.
But the Joker knew, because his former name—was Joe Cole!
The Joker only remembered being caught by Batman for the umpteenth time. He was just telling Batman a story when he suddenly fell into this place.
If Fang Yuan were here, he would recognize this as the Joker from "The Killing Joke," and the future Joe Cole was originally destined for.
Perhaps it was Joe's obsession that broke through the already unstable barrier of this World, allowing the future Joker to travel here.
"How can Batman not have a Joker?"
The Joker was very dissatisfied with this result, but another matter made him quite happy.
"A new Batman, hehehe, this will surely be interesting."
He skipped cheerfully to the door of Joe Cole's room and knocked loudly.
"Who's knocking?"
Joe Cole climbed out of bed in a daze and opened the door without any precaution.
He was met by a weirdo with Joker makeup on his face, which instantly startled him awake.
"The person knocking... is yourself, ha-ha-ha-ha!"
The next day, Fang Yuan came to Vought Corporation again.
The Gotham Police Department arrived even before he did.
"It has been determined that the deceased is actor Kevin Smith..."
Of course, there was also a crowd of reporters.
Fang Yuan wouldn't have made a special trip just for the Death of one actor, but since his employee Joe Cole was also missing, it was worth checking out.
"Based on the scene, the physical characteristics of the killer are very similar to Joe Cole's. We cannot rule him out as a suspect."
"Therefore, we need Vought Corporation's full cooperation to assist in our investigation."
The speaker was a middle-aged man with a signature mustache that revealed his identity—Jim Gordon, the Director of the Gotham Police Department.
As the light of justice in Gotham, Director Gordon didn't like sitting in an office; he preferred charging on the front lines.
"No problem!" Fang Yuan agreed readily. "Tell me if anyone at Vought Corporation dares to stall, and I'll fire them."
Gordon was a bit surprised. In his experience, these media companies were always slow to cooperate to control public opinion. He hadn't expected Fang Yuan to be so straightforward.
This immediately gave him a good impression of Fang Yuan. However, they didn't exchange much small talk before Gordon hurried off to handle the murder case.
"Barbara is only 15 this year. Don't even think about it."
After everyone around them had left, a familiar voice suddenly appeared behind Fang Yuan.
"Director Gordon is also an important figure in Gotham. How does showing a little friendliness turn into me eyeing someone's daughter?" Fang Yuan was naturally unwilling to accept such an accusation. "Am I that kind of lecherous person?"
Bruce asked a soul-searching question: "Then wasn't it you who slept with more than half of Vought Corporation's actresses in just one short week?"
"Ahem, they were the ones who took the initiative," Fang Yuan quickly explained. "How could such a kind person like me refuse the goodwill of my employees?"
Batman didn't continue to argue with Fang Yuan about this, as there were more urgent matters at hand.
"By the way, why are you here?" Fang Yuan asked Bruce.
"My detection device found an extra-dimensional intruder in this World," Bruce replied.
Since the accidental crossover of the Little Penguin and the Riddler from the TV series "Gotham" World last time, Batman had taken the matter to heart and created a device specifically for detecting other dimensions.
"Who is it?" Fang Yuan asked.
Bruce shook his head. "Currently, I can only confirm the location, which is right here at Vought headquarters."
"But come to think of it, I already know who it is." He murmured, staring at the distant murder scene.
Blood was splattered everywhere on the walls, and the footprints on the floor were not hidden at all. The body had been taken away, but the mark left by the killer on the wall was particularly eye-catching.
A smiley face—painted in blood.
"Oh, this is going to be fun." Fang Yuan was amused.
He had also guessed who the killer was.
"Your old friend is here," he teased Bruce.
"The Joker deleted the Vought Corporation surveillance footage. Alfred is using the Batcave's equipment to track his whereabouts." Bruce was quite calm because there were quite a few Jokers among his old friends.
"Alfred is looking?" Fang Yuan noticed the key point. "The Joker is here, and you're not going out yourself?"
Bruce coughed lightly. "News came from the League of Assassins that Deathstroke has escaped. I need to go protect Talia and Damian."
Hearing this, Fang Yuan immediately began to feel indignant for the Joker. "The Joker traveled across Worlds to find you, and you don't even want to deal with him."
As for Deathstroke escaping, Fang Yuan wasn't surprised at all.
"Isn't that why you're here?"
But he never expected those words to come out of Batman's mouth.
"Between the two of us, who is whose White glove?"
"It's only because you just unlocked a reward for me that I'm helping you watch over Gotham," Fang Yuan muttered to himself.
"And... if I leave, Gotham still has a Batman," Bruce added.
Fang Yuan thought of a certain Batman who had killed all the villains, and he immediately chuckled as well.
You will get 90 chapter ahead for this fanfiction.
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