Chapter 47: Hostages.

Incandescent light shone across the tiled floor, casting a pale, cold glow. Scattered on the floor were lockpicking tools, medicine bottles, and a plastic fork snapped in half.

All the doors were open. Someone had scratched a few words into the walls with a knife, the words scrambling crookedly along the surface:

"Why so serious?

" Bruce stood frozen in the center of the room, his fists clenched, staring intently at the message.

His heart pounding as he realized a harsh truth:

he was too late. The Joker had lost control and taken Jason.

"Damn it."

He quickly opened the terminal, secretly thankful that he had asked Jason to wear a tracking device at all times. Now he could use the signal to locate them.

But his fingertips froze on the screen.

Jason's location overlapped with his own. This meant— the Joker had discovered and discarded the tracking device. He scanned the room and, as expected, found a small disc on the floor, next to the cardboard box, flickering a faint red light. 

... 

...How long had they been gone? Five minutes? Ten minutes? 

Bruce quickly dialed Alfred's number. 

"One penny." 

"I'm here, sir." 

"Go to the Batcave. I need you to retrieve all the camera footage from the last ten minutes within ten kilometers of my current location—traffic surveillance, residential surveillance, everything, immediately." " 

One penny received." 

Faced with such a sudden request, Alfred didn't ask any questions. He always trusted Bruce's judgment, like a father's unconditional trust in his child. 

Bruce hung up the phone and was about to search for the two when he suddenly found a message. He clicked it and saw that 

"Jack" had shared a location. 

It was an abandoned amusement park nearby. 

————————————— 

The sky was overcast, clouds gathering over the city, brewing a heavy rain. A sports car pulled up in front of the amusement park. 

Bruce got out, the wind whipping up the corners of his clothes. His expression was grim, and his heartbeat was like a drum. 

It was so familiar, so familiar. He knew the significance of this place all too well. It was the Joker's declaration of war, his favorite place to set up his "games." 

He hadn't even had time to put on his combat uniform today, leaving the house with only a tactical belt. 

But no matter what, he had to rescue Jason from the Joker... and find out what was going on between the Joker and Jack. 

The amusement park's perimeter was cordoned off by barbed wire, and the buildings inside were dilapidated, the gates rusted, and long abandoned. 

He took a deep breath and stepped inside. 

Bruce walked through the scattered glass, stepped over overgrown weeds, and skirted the dilapidated carousel, heading for the location the Joker had sent him— a circus arena with a red ribbon hanging from the entrance. 

The arena was high and sprawling, dimly lit, and he saw no one. 

Suddenly, a shrill male voice rang out from the surrounding speakers. His voice was a little trembling, sounding both comical and passionate. 

"Ding dong, the circus show is about to begin. Please enter in an orderly manner. Our program is on the table to the right of the entrance—" " 

Joker," Bruce roared. 

The person speaking over the loudspeaker seemed to be able to see Bruce's every move. He paused and grumbled, " 

How boring! You can't keep interrupting my opening, Bat." 

Suddenly, the lights in the arena lit up one by one, spreading from the center to the surroundings, illuminating the entire venue. 

Bruce's attention was instantly drawn to a figure suspended high in the air in the distance. 

He was suspended from a high wire, his body dangling in mid-air, his mouth taped shut, his limbs bound by ropes. He was struggling— 

Jason! 

Bruce almost immediately wanted to rush over to save him, 

but a humming sound stopped him in his tracks. 

Not far away, on the stage, Jack… no, the Joker… stood there. He had found a ridiculous red Afro from somewhere and put it on his head. His face was painted white with powder and his lips were smeared with lipstick. 

He stood on the stage, humming a tune, holding someone in his arms, as if dancing a double waltz. 

"Long time no see, Batsy." The Joker looked happy, almost radiant, his bright red lips trembling. "Did you miss me? How long has it been since we played this game? Uh—" 

As he turned to face Bruce, he suddenly stopped talking strangely. 

He actually looked a little disappointed. 

"Why aren't you in your costume? I gave you time to change—" 

"Joker!" Bruce interrupted harshly, roaring, "Put Jason down!" 

"Oh, oh!" The Joker spread his hands nonchalantly, rummaging through his pockets, then pulled out a black remote from his coat pocket. "Okay, okay! Even though you don't take our date seriously, I'll still be gracious enough to tell you the rules of the game—" 

He fiddled with the remote, showing Bruce the two buttons. 

"Same old rules! Multiple choice!" 

The Joker smiled, his crimson lips glaring against his pale skin. 

"Listen up, Bat, we have two shows today! The first is Little Red Bird performing a high-altitude bungee jump for us—" 

He raised his chin in Jason's direction and continued: 

"The second show is an office building with quite a few people. It's nearby. I just went there to put some small gifts—" 

He laughed loudly, bent over, and pounded his knees with his hands. 

"Haha...hahaha, which show do you want to see, sweetheart?"