Chapter 102 The Art of Quantum Mechanics is a Dud
Although the Penguin is a true Gothamite, the successive waves of Gotham madmen in recent years have always been an eye-opener for him.
That's what he was thinking when he and that claw were hung on the sulfuric acid pool in the chemical plant.
"Did your damn owl boss tell you what we're supposed to do now?" The Penguin gritted his teeth. Based on rational thinking, he had originally thought that the first to strike would be this Claw, who was suspicious from head to toe. He never expected it to be the Joker.
"Who told you to choose to cooperate with the Joker?" Claw's voice was eerily calm, as if he wasn't the one hanging there. "What normal person would cooperate with the Joker?"
“Who knew he was such an idiot? I was actually thinking of bringing him into my fold,” the Penguin said bitterly. “I thought he was just a cyborg robber with a bit of criminal talent who wanted to be famous, but I didn’t expect him to be so short-sighted. Even if he kills me at this critical moment, he won’t gain anything.”
“It seems you don’t understand this madman at all. The Joker doesn’t really care about any benefits or not,” Talon said to Penguin. “His next plan is to find that quantum bomb, start a countdown to destroy Gotham, find a bunch of victims scattered throughout Gotham and start a death countdown, then force Batman to choose between saving people first or defusing the bomb first. And the bomb’s detonation time is just a little less than the limit time Batman can save everyone… unless Batman can be faster than his own limit time.”
Just then, the clown's voice rang out, reaching the penguin's ears intermittently.
"Hahahaha... Bat... Save people... Choose... Bomb... Gotham..."
And the ropes binding them began to descend little by little.
"How do you know so much!" The penguin gritted his teeth, trying to free himself from the rope. "So you know him?"
“Although this one is also annoying, he’s actually a little different from the Joker I know,” Claw explained calmly. “Just think of it as me watching a lot of Joker-related videotapes.”
"And then, just how powerful was that bomb?" The penguin struggled even harder. "Is it possible that it was slightly smaller than a nuclear bomb, putting us just outside its blast radius...?"
“It can unleash almost limitless destructive energy,” Claw’s voice remained calm. “I’ve tested it; it can easily destroy the entire Earth.”
After saying that, he used his strength to easily break the rope. In the instant he fell, he grabbed the broken rope with one hand, grabbed the penguin with the other, and swung towards the suspension bridge next to him.
This move was a little dangerous; the penguin's feet almost got dipped in the sulfuric acid pool.
“I’ve had enough,” the Penguin slammed his fist on the railing in anger. “Why are these lunatics always picking on Gotham? Killing people is enough, why do they have to blow up the whole world… Where’s my umbrella?”
“Probably here,” Claw walked toward the pile of debris and pulled out a black umbrella. “Looks like they haven’t developed the habit of cleaning up their trash yet.”
“Thank you,” the Penguin said, feigning compliance as he reached out to take back his umbrella. “Give it to me, let’s stop that clown and Thomas Wayne together…”
Those words just now almost perfectly proved that there was something seriously wrong with this Claw in front of them.
From the moment he got the locator, the Penguin was suspicious of the Claw in front of him, and when he discovered that the Joker seemed to have actually found the bomb through the locator, he became even more certain of this.
If Thomas Wayne Jr. really did manufacture that bomb, then there would be no need for him to go to the trouble of creating a dedicated locator for the bomb, or even storing it separately at Wayne Enterprises; that would be illogical.
Even if he was worried about losing the bomb, he could install a miniature signal device inside the bomb and carry the receiver with him, which would be much more discreet.
Before he could finish speaking, Claw retracted the umbrella from his hand.
“Stop your stiff acting, Oswald,” said the claw, no longer concealing his true identity. “I know you never trusted me from the start.”
"What exactly are you trying to do?" the Penguin gritted his teeth. "What good will it do you if that bomb explodes in the Joker's hands?"
“No, I’m someone who values rituals quite a bit,” Claw shook his head, “so I just decided to stop him.”
“And I happen to be going to stop him!” the Penguin roared at him. “Give me the umbrella, Night Owl.”
“I’m not Night Owl. I thought you’d recognize me, Cobblepot, but it seems you didn’t.”
Claw casually removed his mask, revealing a face that Penguin Man would dream of stomping on.
"Thomas Wayne Jr.? It's you..." The Penguin's expression froze, immediately overturning the conclusion he had just reached in his mind. "So you did it on purpose, you wanted to lure the Joker to the bomb!"
"Of course, I put in a lot of effort for this," Thomas admitted without hesitation. "Sometimes, if you want to create some complications, you have to spend more time and energy."
He started preparing for today a month ago.
Disappearance, impersonating Claw, using the Penguin to spread messages, using old Thomas to dismantle the possible alliance between the Batman of the multiverse and the Batman of this universe, carefully and cautiously hindering information exchange, observing a large number of worlds to obtain basic information... all for today.
To ensure the plan was executed perfectly, he even confirmed small details such as that the Joker wouldn't pay much attention to anyone other than Batman and wouldn't usually remove the hostage's mask.
“I have to thank you for misjudging people, Oswald,” Thomas said casually, twirling the black umbrella in his hand. “I was planning to secretly spread the word that you were going to search for the quantum bomb with me, and wait for the Joker to follow us and steal the locator. I never expected you to choose to cooperate with him.”
"So your goal is to get that crazy clown to destroy the world for you?!" the Penguin practically roared. "Madmen! A bunch of madmen!"
“Of course not. How could I possibly give my bomb to the Joker as a toy? That would be such a waste,” Thomas shook his head. “I am confident that I can stop him in time.”
“You’re quite ill too, Wayne,” the Penguin spat, already furious with this group of people eager to wreak havoc on the poor planet, completely forgetting he was a “gentleman.” “You’re gambling with everyone’s lives here!”
“This isn’t gambling. I’m confident in my luck.” Thomas Jr., unconcerned about Penguin’s slight offense, put his claws mask back on.
Without needing anyone to remind him, Thomas knew better than anyone how bad his luck could be, so he had no intention of relying on luck at all. Instead, he directly prevented the Joker from detonating the bomb through hardware and technological barriers.
Putting aside the fact that this bomb has a very complex operating system and identity verification system built into it, it doesn't even contain a quantum missile. It's just a beautiful, powerful, and incredibly energetic... dud. Its greatest destructive power is that it can crush a person to death when it falls over.
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“This attack must be related to Thomas Wayne Jr.,” Batman asserted as he piloted the Batwing at top speed. “There’s no doubt he’s not in bed right now.”
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The author's note: The operation of a quantum essential state bomb is visibly complex.
In the movie, an owl arrived on the original Earth and spent a long time trying to control the explosion, and could even cancel it at any time, which felt like a child lock to prevent teammates from accidentally touching things (not really).
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