Chapter 1888

The bus sped along the wide and flat highway until the light at the end of the sky began to change constantly. When they set off, it was noon, but this bus drove all the way forward, and the sun seemed to be setting in the east, faintly revealing the dawn.

The first day of The Decameron began.

The bus stopped steadily next to a sign on the side of the highway. With a "clatter," the door opened. Damp water vapor mixed with the scent of fallen leaves made people feel refreshed in the exceptionally bright air of the early morning.

Natasha and the main-universe Batman got off the bus a bit quickly. Bale-man looked at their figures, one after the other, with some confusion.

Weren't this female agent and the doctor on the same team? Judging from her previous expression, she shouldn't know Batman. How did they end up together again?

Of course, Natasha's naked, undisguised, and fiery gaze was also seen by Bale-man. However, Bale-man thought that such women were best at using their beauty and debauchery to cover up their original purposes. Men were very susceptible to this, but if they expected Batman to fall for it, they were thinking too much.

And then the other self fell for it.

Bale-man watched with his own eyes from the bus window as he and that beautiful female agent whispered something to each other, not knowing what they were saying.

Facing another self and saying nothing, but opening the conversation box when meeting a beautiful woman?

No, it probably wasn't that simple. Bale-man considered himself successful in love for many years and wasn't so much like a young boy who had never seen a woman that he would fall for it when seeing a beauty.

Then what made two people who had never met before and didn't seem to get along very well suddenly become like allies with common interests, even starting to share secrets?

Bale-man stood up. Just as he was about to walk out, he found Schiller, who was sitting in the front row, standing in front of the seat and waiting for him, letting him go first.

Bale-man hesitated slightly, but still flicked his cape and strode off the bus. At this moment, the main-universe Batman and Natasha seemed as if nothing had happened and gathered toward the bus door.

Schiller and Nightwing also got off the bus.

As Schiller stepped down the stairs at the bus entrance, he took off his glasses and put them in his pocket. He took off his white coat, held it in his hand, and looked at the others, asking, "Do you feel it?"

Natasha rubbed her arms with both hands, looked around at the environment, and said, "It's still quite cold here. How strange. It must have been more than 20 years since I felt cold."

"This pales in comparison to your hometown." The main-universe Batman took the initiative to speak, "But I don't think that's the reason."

"Our physical fitness has been weakened. Excuse me, ma'am, can you count your heart rate?"

Natasha held her breath and concentrated, then shook her head and said, "No, there's no change in heart rate or vital signs, and I don't feel weak or uncomfortable."

"Then it seems the limit has changed. Perhaps the limit of endurance and strength has decreased, and explosive power might also be weakened. But since we have to face terrifying serial killers continuously for the next 10 days, it's better not to waste physical strength on testing."

"It seems the form of this test is a horror movie." Bale-man led the way into the woods and said, "Have you seen that kind of very typical American highway horror movie? It's a group of college students driving to a camping party, and when they camp, they happen to choose the territory of a serial killer, and then they are chased by the killer and killed one by one, with blood spraying all over the screen."

Everyone understood his meaning very quickly. This type of horror movie was very popular in the United States in the 1980s and 1990s, and many classic works were produced, winning many awards.

At that time, slasher films could only be said to be just starting, but there were many people looking for excitement who loved to watch this. This type of movie didn't have any particularly deep spiritual core; what you watched was a tense chase and the cruel scene of limbs and blood flying everywhere.

For those watching the movie, this might be stress-relieving, but for the protagonists of the movie, it wasn't like that. Clearly, the five of them were now playing the protagonists of the movie and were about to meet a serial killer at the camping spot ahead.

There was only one small path leading into the woods, surrounded by bushes, and the road was covered with fallen leaves, making it a bit difficult to walk. But this road was unexpectedly long, and they had been walking for five or six minutes without entering the woods.

Bale-man, who was leading, frowned. He stopped and turned to look at his companions behind him. It went without saying that the other Batman and Nightwing were wearing masks, but Schiller's expression was normal, while his chest was heaving significantly faster, and Natasha was already panting.

"Are American college students all of this physical fitness?" Natasha said irritably while panting, "Tired after walking for 5 minutes? Don't you feel like you're dragging down the human race?"

But the main-universe Batman, who was bringing up the rear, shook his head and said, "No, this is probably the physical fitness of an ordinary person, and we feel a bit tired because we are still walking forward according to our previous stride and frequency."

Everyone was stunned. Natasha frowned and recalled, and at this time Schiller nodded and said, "That's right. That forest ahead doesn't look far, but it's at least two kilometers away from our starting point."

"The reason you think that forest isn't far is because the speed at which you estimated walking two kilometers in the past was very fast. But actually, for an ordinary person, this distance still takes a while to walk."

"More importantly, even if you walk forward according to your previous pace, it's still much slower than before, and you've become more tired. This might be a manifestation of weakened physical fitness."

Bale-man nodded, acknowledging this statement. Although he and the other Batman didn't show it, he could also clearly feel his heart rate rising and his breathing frequency becoming faster.

In the past, it was almost unthinkable to start having physiological changes after walking such a short distance, and they hadn't even marched at their fastest pace. But just maintaining the original pace was already slow and tiring.

Bale-man's face gradually became serious. He realized where the difficulty of this game lay. To be honest, with his and the other Batman's intelligence, dealing with a serial killer was not a problem, and it could even be said to be very easy.

Even if the strength trained in the past couldn't be used, tactical brains and strategic decisions weren't weakened. That kind of game would seem too simple.

But once you add the adjustment of physical fitness, they would need a period of time just to adapt to the new physical fitness. In the process of fleeing and dealing with the killer, it was also possible to make mistakes due to miscalculating their own physical strength.

"This is a process of fighting against instinct." Schiller said, "You must now give up the habit of using your limbs as before and establish a new, efficient system to control your bodies and distribute your remaining limited physical strength more reasonably."

"Then what do you think should be done? Doctor." Bale-man took the initiative to ask. In this regard, he had always been willing to ask for advice; he believed that professional matters should be left to professionals.

Schiller being a doctor wasn't particularly special, and being an Arkham attending physician wasn't a position with particularly high requirements, but being a psychological consultant for Wei En Enterprises was a bit shocking. The professional level had to pass Batman's test.

Obviously, the other Batman was older and had been Batman for longer. Just from his temperament and power, he was stronger than himself. Being able to pass his test meant this doctor definitely had some skills.

Bale-man turned and continued to walk forward, but his pace was slower, and he paid more attention to adjusting his breathing. Then he heard Schiller's voice coming from behind him.

"That's very good, Mr. Wei En. The physical strength of an ordinary person is too limited and must be placed in the most important places. The organizer didn't specify when we should arrive, so we can walk slowly to save physical strength for use in a crisis in the future."

"It must also be emphasized that many times, the plans you come up with succeed because you have strong enough execution. But now everyone's execution has been weakened, so certain plans definitely won't apply. I suggest you rethink."

Bale-man was shocked. This doctor actually knew that Batman was good at preparing plans. Could he really be a member of Batman's professional team?

However, this did remind the two Batmen that they had already formulated many feasible plans to complete the game upon hearing the game rules. But now it seemed that the vast majority of those plans couldn't be used.

Not to mention anything else, just those methods of one person luring the snake out of the hole or diverting the tiger from the mountain while others set traps—now it seemed the risk was too high. Everyone's physical fitness had been weakened, so they might not have lured the serial killer very far before the bait was miserably killed, and the traps wouldn't have been completed in time.

Bale-man thought very cautiously, picking out the feasible ones from the plans hovering in his mind one by one, and then perfecting them as much as possible.

But even so, they couldn't get a perfect plan, because this group of people now probably couldn't sprint for more than a kilometer at full speed, and they were even worse than soldiers or athletes among ordinary people. All plans that relied on endurance and physical strength had flaws.

But dealing with a cruel serial killer couldn't do without these elements. To put it bluntly, intelligence in the brain that couldn't be transformed into action was useless.

Bale-man, who was walking in the front, turned his head slightly and saw the two Batmen and Natasha at the back again whispering something. Bale-man suspected that they would roll into bed together tonight.

"Oh, we're here." Schiller's voice came again.

Bale-man looked back in a daze, finding that he had been focused on thinking about the plan for too long. They had actually walked into the woods and found a not-so-small clearing. It seemed this was where the unlucky horror movie protagonists camped.

Sure enough, Bale-man found rolled-up folding tents and sleeping bags, some food, and a box of beer in the bushes nearby, as well as a few flashlights for lighting, but the power was pitifully low.

Bale-man looked at the logo on the flashlight and sighed lightly. He didn't understand why such a low-power flashlight needed to be invented. Why didn't they just bring a few glow sticks?

Schiller had already shaken out the tent and was preparing to set up camp. He called Nightwing to help set up the tent, then waved at the two Batmen and said, "You go check the situation around here. Oh, Natasha, you go too. The two of us are enough here."

Bale-man felt a bit strange, and then he saw the other Batman give him a wink, even putting his hand on his shoulder and pushing him forward. Natasha also followed behind the two of them.

Bale-man was pushed away without knowing why.