"Kid, you're gonna like this intel."
"What? Didn't I ask you to investigate the murder games happening in Gotham City? Did you finish that?"
"Of course I did. Not only that, I also found a bunch of interesting stuff—straight from the police department's classified files. Listen, the Joker's murder game in Gotham might not even be his original idea." Neo spoke like he was presenting a treasure. Besides being a computer genius, Neo had a talent for analysis—or really, imagination. He often jumped to conclusions, but most of the time his analysis turned out right. Like figuring out Liu A'dou was actually Kaitou Kid, and that he was a transmigrator. Only a few details were off due to overthinking.
So while digging into the Joker's case, Neo also checked similar incidents across the U.S., and found connections to Jigsaw and his followers.
Neo believed the Joker's game was clearly inspired by Jigsaw.
"What's that?" Liu A'dou asked.
Then Neo listed out over thirty similar cases that had happened across the country. Among them, only fifteen were confirmed to be designed by Jigsaw's disciples. Of course, none of the perpetrators had been caught.
Three of those cases happened in Gotham City. The police said only two, but Neo insisted there were three. "I think in the first game, you can already see the Joker's influence. He started off as a participant but then turned into the game master. So the first game was designed by a Jigsaw disciple, and the next two were Joker's own creation."
"You got any proof?"
"None. It's all my own analysis," Neo replied proudly. "So? What do you think?"
After hearing the case breakdown, Liu A'dou actually agreed with all of it. Basically, someone had messed around and ended up getting reverse-trapped by the Joker.
Jigsaw and his disciples… After the shock wore off, Liu A'dou could only laugh bitterly. He'd seen the bloody horror flick Saw, and knew about the twisted minds that designed those deadly games. He didn't expect them to exist in this world too—and now they'd provoked the Joker.
If it was just evil vs. evil, Liu A'dou wouldn't care. But innocent people kept getting dragged in. In the first case, maybe the gunshot victim was one of Jigsaw's own, but the victims in Joker's next two games were regular civilians.
"What's Joker's endgame here?" That was usually Batman's problem, but now Liu A'dou had to figure it out too. Still, his main plan was to get Harry into one of the games. Compared to Joker's pranks, Jigsaw's games were way more intense and better for building resilience.
Wait a second… Could Joker's goal be Jigsaw?
That thought hit Liu A'dou. Since Joker had been forced to play one of those games, he must've developed an obsession with Jigsaw.
All the evidence pointed to a clear difference in their styles. Jigsaw always left a sliver of hope, a way to survive through deadly games. But Joker? He played with life for the fun of it. So maybe Joker was doing this on purpose—to provoke Jigsaw's disciples.
"You're thinking the same thing I am," Neo said. His analysis led to the same conclusion. "I bet Joker's pissed. He's the king of crime in Gotham, and someone dared to kidnap him into one of those trashy games? No way he lets that slide. So now he's mocking them by creating games that flip Jigsaw's whole philosophy upside down—just to piss them off and lure them out."
"You think Jigsaw and his crew will take the bait?"
"Of course they will," Neo said without hesitation. "If they let Joker do whatever he wants, their philosophy will collapse. And without that twisted ideology, they're nothing. They have to defend it. It's the only thing that justifies their existence."
"Didn't expect you to know psychology too."
"Don't underestimate my IQ," Neo laughed, then got excited. "So, are we going into action? Catching the Joker or Jigsaw?"
"Uh…" Liu A'dou was actually thinking of checking if there were any games Harry could join. "Keep monitoring Gotham City. I think the games will start gathering here."
"You think like I do. I've already set it up. Just wait for the good news."
But Liu A'dou was wondering how the showdown between the Joker and Jigsaw would go. It wouldn't just be a body count, would it? Jigsaw's aim was punishment—killing came second. But the Joker's aim was just killing. If we're talking pure destructive power, Jigsaw really couldn't compare to the Joker.
So what would actually happen? Liu A'dou was genuinely curious. Whatever it was, it definitely wouldn't be good.
Batman wasn't going to let the Joker go, so he also found out about the Jigsaw games. His analysis matched Neo's—the Joker was mad. But what the Joker would do next was unpredictable. Gotham City belonged to Batman, sure—but it also belonged to the Joker. Who knew what the Joker would do to Jigsaw and his disciples?
They had to find the Joker—but there were no leads. Wait, Batman suddenly had an idea: why not reverse it? If the Joker's target was Jigsaw and his group, why not track the Joker through them?
Jigsaw and his disciples left way more clues than the Joker ever did. Batman could totally find them first, then use them to trace the Joker. That was the only play right now.
"Silver Chariot!" Harry Osborn shouted, calling out his Stand. He was training with Liu A'dou.
"The time your Stand lasts depends on your physical state. Let's see how long you can keep him out," Liu A'dou said.
"Just stand here like this?"
"That's right. Only when you're fully awake and focused can you command your Stand. You afraid you can't handle it?"
Harry shook his head. "I hit the gym every week. I got this."
"Good. Then just stand still. Keep your mind sharp, because only then will your Stand have power."
"Got it!"
Under the blazing sun, Harry stood there for two or three hours. Liu A'dou stayed with him the whole time. But unlike Harry, Liu A'dou had food and drinks and didn't feel tired at all.
Silver Chariot started to flicker. Harry had hit his limit. Even if his body could still hold on, he couldn't keep his attention sharp enough to maintain the Stand. Still, that wasn't bad—almost three hours. Definitely a guy who hit the gym every weekend—pretty good endurance.
Harry tried to keep going, but in the end, Silver Chariot faded away.
"That's enough. Three hours is long enough for a fight."
Harry looked disappointed. He thought he could keep it up for a whole day, not just three hours.
"As time passes and you burn energy, your focus drifts. That's what you need to train next—concentration," Liu A'dou said. "The best way to do that is meditation."
"You know how to meditate?" Liu A'dou asked.
"Is that like doing yoga?"
Yoga counts as a kind of meditation. "Right. I think if you keep practicing, you can make Silver Chariot stay longer. Then we'll start speed training, one step at a time. I know you're worried about your father, but right now the most important thing is to master Silver Chariot."
Harry nodded. He understood. His path of cultivation had only just begun.