Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics-Chapter 4730 - 3803: Deadly Pursuit (11)
"How could Shiller appear at that corner?!" Mad Laugh felt a sudden shock, then suddenly looked towards the hospital building. ππ³π¦ππ€ππ£π―β΄π·π¦π.πππ
Right. Although he had already hacked the surveillance cameras of all the gates at the hospital, there were no cameras at the rooftop door. Moreover, on the right side of the hospital was a building about as high as the hospital, not far from them.
While he was focused on the chaos in the street, Shiller could have already gone all the way up, exited from the rooftop door, then jumped onto the building next door, and come down from that building, completely avoiding the hospitalβs cameras.
And that building is not far from this intersection upfront, almost no detour is necessary to get here. Mad Laugh calculated the time in his mind and determined that Shiller must have taken this route.
But he wasnβt too nervous. Because even if there werenβt many people at the street corner, there were several trucks and many soldiers, all dressed similarly. It was impossible for him to find himself that quickly, and these soldiers wouldnβt allow him to search here openly.
The spiked eye mask on Mad Laughβs head wasnβt merely decorative but an instrument capable of reading brainwaves. Although it couldnβt reach the level of Mind Reading Technique, it could judge a personβs emotions through brainwave changes. Some patrolling soldiers at the street corner were already suspicious. Mad Laugh wanted to see how Shiller would deal with these heavily armed security personnel.
He thought he could sit on the truck and watch the situation like a spectator, but the next second, the figure with a knife came rushing straight towards him.
No searching, no confirmation, even completely without reason, he just charged towards the truck.
Mad Laughβs hand tightened instantly on the steering wheel, but he comforted himself: "He might be charging straight in to break through the street cornerβs defense line. He has no reason to recognize me."
But this moment of hesitation cost him the best chance to escape. When Shiller was still a few meters away from the truck, he suddenly leapt up, smashing heavily onto the front hood. Utilizing the impact and descending gravity, the long knife slammed into the corner of the front windshield. The bulletproof glass of the armed truck and the A-pillar dented inward, with the long knife wedging into the glass. Shiller pried down the handle with force, and with a harsh sound, pried the windshield open.
Mad Laugh abruptly pushed open the car door and ran out, losing his bearings. By now the patrolling soldiers guarding the street corner had already noticed the anomaly here and opened fire directly. Weapons fired frantically, and bullets flew past his ears with a "whoosh".
Mad Laugh immediately realized that he was asking for trouble because the thing chasing him was not afraid of bullets at all. A stray bullet or two would not affect it as long as itβs not a vital area; but if he got hit, he would inevitably slow down, and once caught, wouldnβt he be minced meat?
Mad Laugh had to dodge stray bullets while running. There was a damned marksman either missing or precision shooting, hitting the metal support of a nearby sign. The sparks of metal against metal flashed, and the bullet rebounded, hitting Mad Laugh on the head.
He already had an unfinished brain, and now a bullet was embedded in it. If not for the Joker virus maintaining his Undying property, heβd definitely be dead by now.
This bullet was extremely troublesome, not only piercing the brain but also damaging part of the optic nerve, causing blindness in Mad Laughβs right eye. And because it was stuck there, neither the Self Healing Power could digest it, nor could it be pushed out. Until he figured out a way to remove the bullet, he would remain blind in his right eye.
Suddenly losing vision in one eye would not only limit the field of view but also affect oneβs balance. Normally, it wouldnβt affect walking much, but Mad Laugh was on a desperate run now, and he just couldnβt run straight anymore.
And bringing in so many guards was like shooting himself in the foot. If the street were empty, his crooked run mightβve been fine; the problem now was so many people on the street, and he was driven into the crowd by Shiller. He had to run while evading people, moving carefully, threading the needle to avoid collisions. Usually, his skinny body would be advantageous, but now he staggered, bumping every few steps.
"Bang!"
Mad Laugh went headfirst into the leg of a two-legged robot. It dazed him. He turned back, seeing Shiller closing in slowly, but that slow pace brought even greater pressure.
Mad Laugh struggled to get up and continued stumbling forward. He knew he couldnβt continue this way, so he manipulated a drone again, trying to find any advantageous terrain nearby.
There was no advantageous terrain; instead, the commotion on his side attracted more guardsβ attention. Shiller was already lost among the crowd, appearing inconspicuous, and now he faced so many enemies.
Bam, bam, bam...
The security personnel began to shoot, bringing a moment of fierce firepower. Mad Laugh couldnβt hold on. He no longer cared for any advantageous terrain and dashed into a doorway. Only after running inside did he realize it was a bank.
He stood in the center of the hall, looking around. Because the street was under lockdown, the bankβs customers and staff hadnβt left, nervously watching the scene outside the window. Seeing someone burst in suddenly startled them.
But the bankβs back door was sealed too; they had nowhere to escape. Mad Laugh quickly grabbed a female teller, shielding himself.
He figured it was to prevent that madman Shiller from slicing him, but the security personnel who charged in after him didnβt know that. Though they noticed Shillerβs bizarre attire and unusual long knife, the person holding a hostage was the priority.
Soon, a group of people swarmed into the bank hall, including Elliotβs security personnel joined by police, with one shouting through a megaphone:
"Listen up, robbers inside! Robbing a bank is illegal! Release the hostages immediately! Release the hostages now! Otherwise, we have the right to shoot you on the spot..."
Gotham doesnβt care for negotiations; itβs all or nothing, even if it means killing both hostages and robbers. Gothamites are indifferent to life and death; that female teller was struggling madly, seemingly unafraid of Mad Laugh killing her.
Mad Laugh was caught between a rock and a hard placeβhe wasnβt even there to rob the bank! If it were Batman or Joker, they wouldnβt bother explaining, but Mad Laugh couldnβt just swallow this. So he shouted at the police, "Someone wants to kill me! Catch that assassin, or Iβll kill her!"
The police were dumbfounded by this statement. An assassin? Whereβs an assassin? Is this really a case of the thief shouting to catch the thief?
Mad Laugh might have been away from Gotham for too long and completely forgotten its nature. Even though Elliot had always ruled Gotham through violence, this was the chaotic Old Town, and conditions hadnβt improved much, making it a madmanβs haven.
Anyone daring to commit a crime here is far from normal, mostly just insane. So to the police and onlookers, Mad Laughβs statement was just a crazy man ranting senselessly.
The symptoms of Mad Laugh did indeed seem like madness; many madmen have paranoia, constantly imagining someone wants to kill them. Gothamβs police are experienced and unfazed by strangeness.
"Put down your weapon immediately!" the police continued to shout at him, "Release the hostages, or weβll shoot! Repeating again..."
As they repeatedly warned him, Mad Laugh felt immensely frustrated. It was his first time calling the police, yet they didnβt believe him! He was a victim too, wasnβt he?!
His gaze subconsciously swept over the police and into the crowd, and he saw: Shiller, who had been holding a long knife and covered in blood, had at some point changed into a suit, standing there with a face watching the fun.
"Him! Itβs him!!!" Mad Laugh pointed at Shiller, "He wants to kill me!!!"
The police behind him turned to look but couldnβt tell who he was pointing at. Unless someone had important business, no one would come to the bank at this time. Those behind were all suited business people, none of whom looked like an assassin.
The police arrived late and hadnβt seen Shiller chasing Mad Laugh with a knife, so they couldnβt recognize him either. After scanning the crowd, they were even more convinced Mad Laugh was insane.
"He has a knife!!!" Mad Laugh shouted again, "He has a very long knife, someone saw it before!!!"
At the mention of the long knife, the guards did have some impression. But it was nighttime, and it was raining outside; they couldnβt clearly see what the person with the knife actually looked like. Recognizing someone by an outline was just too difficult.
But they werenβt the police. To report back to their supervisors, two guards still approached Shiller for inspection. Not even speaking of a knife, there wasnβt a hint of metal on him.
Mad Laugh saw Shiller leisurely pick up a document beside him and hand it to the guards, saying, "Iβm here to conduct business. This is the material I need to submit. Just how long do you plan to block this place? I have very important things to do."
The guards seemed a bit awkward. They werenβt blind; looking at Mad Laugh, then at Shiller, it was clear who was crazy. Moreover, judging by Shillerβs suit and demeanor, he seemed like an important person, possibly someone in the league of their boss. They didnβt dare to offend him, politely saying, "Sorry, sir. The situation here will be resolved soon. If youβre in a hurry, you can leave first."
Looking at Shillerβs cheerful expression, Mad Laughβs heart chilled repeatedly. Suddenly he realized: Shiller wasnβt insane.
Shiller hadnβt lost his mind and didnβt become a killing machine due to losing it. He could freely switch between that unstoppable berserk mode and this disguise mode; no one could spot the problem.
Shillerβs human facade was too perfect, ordinary people couldnβt see any flaw. Heβs a monster whose true face can only be seen by a designated target.
Rather than being chased by a monster, seeing the truth but unable to express it, even shouting wouldnβt make anyone believe it, feeling isolated and abandoned by society was a longer, sharper blade than that guillotine.
Mad Laugh was convinced Shiller had used it to kill many people.
Mad Laugh suddenly realized somethingβordinary people could never see Shillerβs true face. Only monsters like him could see his essence.
This meant anyone who could see wasnβt innocent. Therefore, the best way to avoid him was not to let him know you saw him.
But Mad Laugh realized this too late.
![Read The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL]](http://static.novelbuddy.com/images/the-royal-military-academys-impostor-owns-a-dungeon-bl.png)
