Chapter 1741: S: The Apocalypse Event (Part 44)

"It makes me very helpless when students don't study well, and it makes me very angry when they can't learn no matter how much I teach, but what truly affects my reputation in academia is grade inflation," Schiller said with a sigh.

"The topic for Bruce's graduation exam is manipulation and counter-manipulation. Which one do you think is harder?"

"Manipulating others versus not being manipulated by others?" Helen thought for a moment and said, "I suppose manipulating others is harder. It requires learning many techniques, and one must be able to quickly analyze a person's personality and formulate targeted strategies."

Schiller shook his head and said, "Techniques can be learned. Finding the weaknesses in another's soul is not a technical job. It is difficult to understand a person in a week, but as long as you are willing to invest the time, if you spend years circling around someone, no matter how hard they are to understand, you should know them well enough."

Helen nodded thoughtfully. She touched her chin and asked, "Is it hard not to be manipulated by others?"

"It is hard not to be influenced by others," Schiller said, taking another sip of tea. "It is very difficult for people to avoid being influenced by their surrounding environment. The more important a person is to you, the greater the influence they exert on you. It is impossible to be completely immune to this influence."

"And once the other party wants to manipulate you, their understanding of you and their important status in your heart become the most powerful weapons. The inability to resist is not because of weakness, but because the essence of manipulation is that they love you, and you feel their love, and you think that can compensate for their manipulation of you."

Helen silently committed these words to memory, then she said, "Since Bruce has graduated, that proves he has learned both how to manipulate others and how to resist manipulation."

"Jack himself is also manipulating Bruce; this is the same knowledge point, just in a different form," Schiller said with a sigh.

"And the simplest way to resist manipulation is to stop seeking validation from others, to completely give up thinking about whether others will feel disappointed in you because you did this thing, and just do it."

"I understand," Helen said, holding up a finger. "Jack emphasized to Bruce that if he didn't participate in the exam, you would be very disappointed. If he worries and feels anxious because of this, or even takes the initiative to find ways to get a high score, he is actually being manipulated by Jack."

"This proves he hasn't truly completed this assignment," Schiller sighed deeply. "It also proves that I inflated the grades for his graduation exam, and the fact that I previously publicized the news of his excellent graduation will definitely deal a major blow to my reputation in the education sector."

"This is really so hard!" Helen slumped onto the single sofa and said, "Who can avoid paying attention to the feelings of those close to them? If one never considers their thoughts before doing things, wouldn't it truly make them sad?"

"That is why grasping the scale is the most important thing," Schiller said while aligning the corners of his newspaper. "Thinking too much leads to anxiety about gains and losses; being heartless leads to inevitable loss. Everyone holds a knife called 'emotion' in their hands—either use it to hurt others, or dull its blade; either feel guilty, or feel pain. There is no other choice."

"However, this question isn't that hard to solve; there is actually another line of thinking," Schiller said, changing the subject.

"What is that?" Helen asked, a bit curious.

"Either Bruce realizes he shouldn't focus on my opinion, thereby resisting Jack's manipulation, or he can also realize that saving this Cat Getan is meaningless."

"It is not that the Batman of another universe needs to save Cat Getan, so he needs to do the same. After all, the Cat Getan of another universe is different from his own."

"The Cat Getan where the other Batman resides has already reached a dead end. Because Batman failed to establish order at the first opportunity, it is difficult to explore the path most suitable for his city during the golden age. If he starts exploring now, the cost is too high."

"Then a virtual Cat Getan, unaffected by dark forces, is the best experimental ground. This is a quite valuable opportunity for him, so of course, he should try boldly."

"But for Bruce, the Cat Getan he resides in no longer needs exploration at all. His Cat Getan has already found its route and only needs to develop step by step. Thus, finding another way to save Cat Getan is meaningless—at least, it is not the top priority."

"But if he wants to do the top priority, he still has to let go of his anxiety about exam scores. When it comes down to it, isn't it still the same thing?"

Schiller shook his head and said, "That depends on what the top priority is, or rather, whether there is truly such a thing worth him bearing the risk of disappointing me to do."

Helen stared at Schiller, not missing a single trace of expression on his face, but she still didn't see any emotion. Just as she withdrew her gaze, she heard Schiller say in a low voice.

"If there were, why would I feel disappointed?"

In front of the screen, the ringtone of Gordon's phone drowned out Schiller's voice. Gordon answered the phone and said, "Hello... Clark? What's wrong?... Your cat is missing, and you can't get through to Bruce? You want me to help you ask him if he's seen your cat?"

"Sorry, Clark, we can't reach Bruce right now either, but I don't think a cat can run from Metropolis to Cat Getan... He has superpowers? Then I should have received a crime report about it long ago..."

"Oh, he's not crazy, is he? But I really haven't heard any news... No, it's fine. When Bruce comes back, I will immediately... What? Your cat is back? Okay, goodbye."

Clark hung up the phone, picked up the Bat-Cat that had jumped onto the phone stand with both hands, held him in his arms, and rubbed his head vigorously, saying, "Where on earth did you go? You disappeared in the time it took me to make a sandwich. What's this about Bruce you mentioned? You said he was looking for you?"

"He was indeed looking for me just now," the Bat-Cat said, licking his paw. "But the call came through very vaguely, and I couldn't determine the exact location."

"Is he in some kind of danger?" Clark said, somewhat anxiously. "He invited me to Cat Getan before, but I couldn't get away from work at the newspaper, so I didn't go. Could he have run into some trouble?"

The Bat-Cat swiped at his whiskers with a paw, dodging Clark's stroking hand, and said, "I am more inclined to believe he might be trapped somewhere in the Dream Realm."

"Why?"

"Otherwise, why would he contact me instead of contacting you directly?" The Bat-Cat looked up at Clark and said, "If he had the opportunity to send a message, his first choice would definitely not be a cat, unless he could only send the message to me."

"And the only limitation that allows him to send a message to me but not to you is that I come from the Dream Realm and am part of the Thousand Cats' Dream, capable of communicating with Maocheng Cat Getan at any time. You are a human, and when you aren't dreaming, no one in the Dream Realm can contact you."

"Bruce is trapped in his dream? Then I must hurry to find him. Didn't you say before that dying in a dream means you're really dead? He must be in great danger right now..."

As Clark spoke, he turned to leave. The Bat-Cat yawned unhurriedly and said, "Do you think the Dream Realm is a place you can just walk to?"

Clark only then realized, stopped in his tracks with some embarrassment, and said, "Uh, I guess not. Can you take me there?"

"I can, but why don't you think about how great a danger it must be to trap Batman?"

Seeing Clark's blank expression, the Bat-Cat had to explain, "Batman's soul strength is very strong, and his willpower is unparalleled in the world. Logically speaking, as long as he realizes it's a dream, he should be able to wake up."

"But since he sent a message from the Dream Realm, it proves he is temporarily unable to return to the real world. That proves that whatever trapped him in the Dream Realm must be very difficult to deal with. You going alone might not be useful."

Clark put on a serious expression. He patted the Bat-Cat's head and said, "You're right. Whatever can trap Batman must be no simple matter, but I don't know much about these mystical things. I have to go ask Diana."

Before long, in a cafe next to the Metropolis Museum of Art, Diana held a coffee cup with both hands, took a sip of iced coffee, and said, "You say Bruce might be trapped in the Dream World? I don't know much about that place either, but how did he contact you?"

Clark looked at the Bat-Cat beside him. The Bat-Cat was squatting by the table, tail hanging below it, and said in his usual serious tone, "This brings us to the origin of the Thousand Cats' Dream. Do you know? This world was once ruled by cats."

Clark laughed. He wanted to reach out and touch the Bat-Cat, but the Bat-Cat dodged, looking at Clark with a very serious expression, saying, "This is not a joke; it's true."

"A long, long time ago, cats ruled the world, and humans were the slaves of cats. But one day, a thousand humans collectively had a dream. They used this dream to change reality, and thus humans ruled the world, and cats became pets."

"Then how did the Thousand Cats' Dream appear?" The Bat-Cat asked and answered himself, "A Siamese cat who had become a human pet followed her reproductive instincts and gave birth to her kittens, but her owner only thought these little mongrels were troublesome, so he put them in a bag and sank them to the bottom of the river."

"The Siamese cat felt darkness and fear. The profound grief of losing her children awakened extraordinary emotions in her. She began to pray like a human, and a mysterious dream responded to her prayers."

"The Siamese cat found herself appearing in this dream. The place she wanted to go was remote and mysterious, and there were powerful guards, but none of this could stop an angry mother. She went through thousands of hardships to reach the cave, and waiting for her was the Cat God, who had another name you are familiar with, the Master of the Dream Realm—the Sandman."

"The Sandman told her about the grievances between humans and cats. From then on, this cat hoped to find a thousand cats to form the Thousand Cats' Dream, using the dream to rewrite reality and return the era to one ruled by cats."

"Wait, I have a question," Clark proposed. "If cats once ruled humans, why is there no trace left in history?"

The Bat-Cat sighed and said, "Because this isn't history at all. The Thousand Humans' Dream completely changed reality. The material world that exists now has been ruled by humans from the very beginning, and the world line where cats ruled has been completely erased."

"So that means if the Thousand Cats' Dream really takes effect, the timeline ruled by humans will also be erased?" Diana asked.

"Yes, but that didn't actually happen," the Bat-Cat said after twitching his ears. "The end of the story is that the Siamese cat woke up. In reality, she kept repeating her story to her companions. She wanted to find a thousand cats to have the same dream."

"This Siamese cat's speech caused a world with only cats to appear in the dreams of more and more cats. Therefore, places like Maocheng Cat Getan began to appear in the Dream Realm. The residents there are only cats; we are part of the Thousand Cats' Dream."

"But you still haven't said how Bruce contacted you."

"I told him this story," the Bat-Cat said after a pause. "Therefore, he knew the method to make the Thousand Cats' Dream hear his call."

"What is that?"

"The weeping of the grief of losing a child."